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The Digital Evolution of Education: Balancing Progress with Human Connection, a Vital Imperative

Ms. Saswati Sarangi is the Head of the Computer Science Department at Navkis Educational Centre. An MCA graduate from NIT Rourkela, she brings 20 years of experience in IT and education. She has held leadership roles in top schools, received commendations from the Govt. of India, reviewed CBSE AI courseware, led award-winning AI projects, and trained 150+ teachers. She is also a trained Hindustani classical singer. She has authored a blog titled The Digital Evolution of Education.
-HOD Computer Science

When Isaac Asimov published his short story titled "The Fun They Had" in 1951, people scoffed at him, saying that there was no way in which computers would take over education and children would no longer go to school. However, fast forward to nearly 70 years later, we got our first taste of this cyberpunk-themed future during the Covid-19 pandemic. Children were forced to stay at home, dependent on their digital devices for education and socialisation. This has caused a dependency effect on their minds, making them overly reliant on technology, which means that the need for people has slowly become obsolete over time. This overreliance on technology could lead to a future where human connection is lost, and caution is needed to prevent this.

We already have education institutions with human teachers replaced by artificially intelligent teachers. We envisage seeing a variety of futuristic technology, such as holographic projections, neural sensors, and even cybernetic data transfers, taking place simultaneously while learning.

In such a futuristic world, it is daunting to maintain a balance between learning and entertainment. If it exists, we would end up with a generation of children purely motivated by raw, unregulated dopamine, looking for the most satisfactory result while putting in the least amount of effort, which would completely upend the base of society. People could become 'immortal' by storing their consciousness as data on storage devices, potentially living on in a digital form. The possibilities are endless.

However, we must ask ourselves, how far is too far in a world where development has advanced so much that people forget the value of their external environment? It must be noted that such a world is only possible once the educational system is changed. We need to contemplate an extension of the above question: how much of our humanity are we willing to swap for better education?

We will all agree that virtual interactions lead to isolation and mental health issues like anxiety and depression. Children need to create connections and form communities to seek companionship. Face to-face interactions will help them share their experiences, empathise, and, most importantly, gain mutual support. Parents and teachers play a pivotal role as change-makers in this journey to build equity between progress and social connection. They must devise strategies to minimise the damage wrought by technological advancements and their use.

Parents are the first and foremost influencers in a child's life. Children observe and emote their parents. Demonstrating empathy, kindness, respectful behaviour, and communication by parents will assist children in developing their social skills. Parents need to lend their ears for listening and time for bonding with family. Teachers must create inclusive classrooms emphasising collaboration, social-emotional learning and building positive relationships. Therefore, it is a joint venture of parents and teachers that will aid children in maintaining their sanity in a world of digital revolution.