Tech that, old schoolers

"There are days when my son can’t manage to take down class notes. It's true of every child. That’s when I’m really glad that, as a parent, I can turn to the school application and access all the material,” says 35-year-old Payel Tiwari, mother to a Class III student at Ryan International School. The Android and iOS run Ryan Parent Portal app is not the only digital platform hoping to bridge communication and make allies of the traditionally tense parent-teacher-student equation. While this particular platform offers everything from worksheets/practice templates, pointers for revisions, teacher's comments, exam time tables to a school fee payment facility (introduced during demonetization), other city schools have proven themselves equally proactive in this positive exploitation of technology.

“Technology is the key to creating future-ready citizens—it is up to school authorities to prepare both students and parents for this,” reckons Vandana Lulla, Principal, Podar International School. Lulla’s school has been living up to this philosophy of complementing traditional knowledge with technology-based learning through its BetweenUs portal, which houses a multi-pronged device called the Learning Management System (LMS). The LMS is a software through which e-versions of prescribed textbooks are shared with students, so kids don’t have to carry anything other than stationary. Quick assignments are allotted, solved and uploaded, and attendance recorded on this guardian-inclusive forum, which includes a comment section for parents. Like with the Ryan app, the main benefactors seem to be the reticent children, ones who cannot always ask questions, take notes or understand lessons within the competitive ecosystem of a physical classroom. Almost as a foil, these platforms allow ample online teacher-student interaction. In both instances, unique student/parent email id and log in open up the wonders of such online academic assistance.

Billabong High International School, affiliated to the ICSE and IGCSE boards, boasts of a digital dashboard, which essentially dispenses relevant information—an upgraded avatar of the notice board that parents would earlier hustle with each other to catch a glimpse of. While the platform, MyClassBoard, might not be interactive, it has proven to be a boon for working parents who no longer feel the need to badger reluctant kids for classroom details.

For the CBSE / ICSE/ IGCSE offering VIBGYOR High, improved technology translates to better security of their students. Their School Bus Tracking System updates parents about the child's entry and exit from the school premises, a feature that can be extended into minute-by-minute location tracking of the school transport (bus) your child is on, in lieu of a small fee. While the idea might appear intrusive or controlling to some, Ashish Tibdewal, CEO, VIBGYOR group, says, "It is accepted that responsibility for a child's security shifts from the parents to the teachers the moment they enter the school premises. But we believe that the school should be involved with the child right till they reach the safety of their homes."

Of course, this means that students cannot partake in the youthful transgression of bunking classes like the previous generations, but looking at the school's "low stress, no homework policy", videography-led lessons and minimal emphasis on pedantic learning, they might just not want to. Add to this, an online grievance forum for parents and a school app waiting to be launched—and you realise how tech-driven learning is making a splash at schools like VIBGYOR.