During my 31 years of teaching I had followed the conventional methods. Technology never caused any hindrance to the free flow of knowledge or ideas. But towards the fag end of my career I found technology creeping into a time-tested teaching-learning system destroying the serenity of the class rooms. I am talking about the excessive use of power point presentations (ppt) replacing conventional black board and chalk method. I could never accept it. No doubt ppt is a very powerful tool to drive home a point in the least possible time. But then, teaching is not attempting to drive home a point and leaving. Teaching to me is like the 'Raga Vistharam' in Karnatic music. Raga Vistharam is not simply a tread along permitted swaras in permitted order. It is the instincts of the musician that brings out the life and soul of a raga that get conveyed to the audience. Michelangelo once said,"I saw an angel in the marble and carved until I set him free". Isn't the teacher too doing the same thing? With a ppt where will you spot the Angel? Forget about carving and setting him free. In the ppt teaching (!?) the student hears a disembodied voice. I cannot think of talking to my students without looking into their eyes. It was Sabitha ('02 MSc batch; now a PDF in Netherlands) who told me of the magical effect of the teacher looking far into the eyes of the student. I have always felt that looking this way, the teacher is encrypting the idea into a students inner self.
With more and more people employing ppt I even started doubting myself. For clarity I discussed the issue with Renjan. He told me that at the top most centres for Theoretical Physics in India like TIFR, HRI and IMSc no teacher uses ppt for teaching though every lecture room is equipped with one. They all use black board and chalk. With the 'new gen' or 'next gen' teachers going for new and newer technologies, I talked to a broad spectrum of students. My faith got vindicated when not even one student from graduate or post graduate classes favoured ppt.
PPT is good in seminar presentations where the speaker addresses his peers. There they should save time and speak more. It is good for a salesman trying to sell a product. It is even better where a company presents its annual report. Whatever I have said so far about ppt is regarding Physics teaching at the BSc and MSc levels.
I quote William Butler Yeats, "Education is not the filling of a pale. It is the lighting of a fire". ppt will fill the pale fast. But will it ever light the fire???
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Note If you are a Physics student or teacher, please respond. If you were my student, you must.. And of course, anybody can.
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Really loved it sir...Those who don't know how to teach escapes from their job using ppt...My room mate just loved all the blogs..She and my all other friends are now your fans.Miss you sir ...Proud to be your daughter ... ......just need a place in your heart.. waiting for that
ReplyDeleteStill doubt??
DeleteNo doubt...feel proud..........thank you sir
DeleteThe eyes !!
ReplyDeleteEyes? Of course. But eager to know how many ayes and how many nays.
DeleteThe ppt would be the chosen tool to present huge data sets of complex figures. Let us say, to present three or four dimensional data from reciprocal space of a crystal. Or to show the Fermi surface of a metal or even to show the band structure of Silicon. Tools to aid teaching have always been a topic of discussion for the didactic department. Am sure that ppt also was introduced in a similar vein.
ReplyDeleteFor a pure theory course, no argument, a piece of chalk and the (black or green) board is ideal. And probably most efficient.
Given a choice, I would try to combine both. Being an Indian I am a proponent of the winsome strategy of consensus.
-- Hari
sir ...a teacher using ppt or ohp is my most dreadful thoughts...everyone just love the way you teach..i could never forget the chalk writings on the 3rd year and Msc 1st year boards of our cms...
ReplyDeletesir... we still love the bpt (black board presentations)..
ReplyDeleteme too share your views dear sir and we have talked about it when we met last week. I use the board method despite of instruction from managment to do the other. i am confident and satisfied because my students like the way i am teaching. And sir, I want to become a teacher like you.
ReplyDeleteസർ,
ReplyDeleteസമയലാഭത്തേക്കാളും എന്തുകൊണ്ടും പ്രാധാന്യം നൽകേണ്ടത് വിദ്യാർത്ഥികൾക്കാണ്..അവരിൽ ഏതൊരറിവും പകർന്നു നൽകാൻ കഴിയുന്നത്,ഒരു സാങ്കേതിക വിദ്യക്ക് അപ്പുറം ഒരു നല്ല അധ്യാപകനാണ്.മുന്നിൽ ഇരിയ്ക്കുന്ന കുട്ടിയെ മനസ്സിലാക്കി അവനെ അളന്ന് അറിവ് പകർന്നുകൊടുക്കേണ്ടത് അന്നും ഇന്നും ചുവരിൽ ചേർന്ന്കിടക്കുന്ന ബ്ലാക്ക് ബോർഡിന്റെ സഹായത്താലാവണം എന്നാണ് എന്റെ അഭിപ്രായം😇.