Smart School: Is it worth the hype?

Smartphones, Smart TVs, Smartwatches, and Smart Schools – the demand for smart products is at an all-time high. People living in this “smart” era can easily prove how smart devices have made their lives better in multitudinous ways. But, is there anyone who can vouch for smart school system’s effectiveness? Does a smart school make a significant difference in children’s development? Or is it just another gimmick to score better than traditional schools? We have covered all your questions here to help you decide why installing smart classes in schools is imperative!

Let’s Start with Basics – What is a Smart School?

Smart school is a technology-based teaching-learning institution that prepares children for the information age. In smart schools, teachers take the help of a wide array of multimedia tools including movies, photos, audio, slides, etc., to make the teaching-learning process more effective and efficient. Unlike traditional schools, the curriculum and guidelines are not rigid and teachers can employ a variety of multimedia tools for enhanced learning.

The definition of smart schools appears to be straightforward. However, the approach about the impact of adopting smart classes in schools needs to be pondered upon. A majority of smart schools today use advanced technologies to transfer traditional school program. In other words, these schools stick to the traditional curriculum and only use new technologies for disseminating information. On the contrary, there are a few educational institutions that adopt smart school systems staunchly to change the education and tools thereby outpacing traditional educational system.

Smart School Goals – It makes all the Difference!

Today’s goals determine tomorrow’s actions. And this is why smart school goals are farsighted and best-suited for the Information and communication technology (ICT) era. Smart school systems focus on a holistic (physical, mental, emotional and psychological) development of students. It is a proven fact that no two individuals are the same. Then, how can we achieve miraculous results by treating every student alike? Smart schools are designed to identify and hone an individual’s abilities thereby helping them excel in an area of their choice. One of the key goals of smart school systems is to stimulate public participation amongst students. By doing so, students are made to overcome their fears while learning to express their views that further prepare them to face the outside world.

Building Blocks of Smart Schools

Student Management System
The first step towards being a smart school involves having a student management system in place. This system automates many processes of your institution and allows you concentrate on teaching and imparting knowledge.

Curriculum
The curriculum for smart classes in schools is designed for all-round development of students. It is framed in a unique way to integrate knowledge and skills to ensure balanced and comprehensive development.

Pedagogy
It gives freedom from typecast lesson plans of a traditional educational system and allows for blending in learning strategies for more effective and efficient knowledge transfer.

Assessment
Assessment in an educational system is as important as the teaching-learning process. The assessment in smart classes is continuous, comprehensive and integral. Accurate feedback is another important component of assessment in ICT educational system.

Teaching Methods
The teaching methods in smart schools are student-centric. The teachers can use a variety of multimedia tools and materials for the development of students’ abilities and talent. Teachers can even record their lessons and put them on a central network so that students can refer to it whenever required.

Having talked about smart schools in detail, it can be easily concluded that smart school system is brilliant and should be adopted in schools for more effective teaching-learning. It’s true that establishing smart schools in India is challenging but every step taken in this direction will make our educational system and nation strong and superior!

Take the first step towards making students’ lives better by introducing smart classes in schools.