The classroom environment has a major impact on the way a child absorbs, assesses, and assimilates shared information. While the medium of modern education has evolved from the chalk-and-talk model to e-learning, one constant is the essence of learning outcome: to create lifelong learners who can collate the knowledge and take meaningful actions as required. An optimal learning environment incorporates the three E’s of education.
Efficiency: An essential element of learning outcome is sparking students’ curiosity and providing them with opportunities that will extend their interest in experimenting with their world, and staying curious while problem solving. However, schools have limited resources in the form of content, time, or teachers, to achieve this. An educator must, therefore, use available resources judiciously to achieve maximum impact and this is called efficiency in learning. This includes prioritisation of available resources for value generation, promoting collaboration among educators, and inculcating a sense of responsibility in students through effective delegation. Additionally, teachers can use digital aids to identify the students’ strengths and weaknesses and create a customised study path for an effective and efficient learning outcome.
Effectiveness: Learning typically involves retention of knowledge and its transfer in a given situation. Any learning disconnected from real-life situations is incomplete. An effective learning pedagogy is about creating a hands-on learning experience that will create confident and knowledgeable individuals who can thrive in any situation. Educators should work on the students’ strengths, ensure that they have the confidence to express themselves and learn from their mistakes. Such a learning environment will not only help shape their characters at a young age but also create lifelong learners.
Entertainment: Combining experiential learning with interesting content in the form of interactive videos, infographics, result-oriented assessments, and more fosters a sense of curiosity and creativity, and creates opportunities for open-ended engagement. Visual aids provide sensory stimulation and increase retention. Adopting an interactive response system improves the ability to discuss appropriate topics, clear doubts and fosters a sense of collaborative learning. Engaged learners are intrinsically motivated and willing to invest in learning.
Many common learning barriers can be overcome with the implementation of these three E’s of Learning. Designing and implementing learning activities around them has the power to transform the education system.
The writer is CEO and founder of the edu-tech start-up Cymatic.
