25/02/2022
Digitalization of Education: A Critique
Introduction
The system of education has seen a drastic change over the years. From Gurukul to schools then to the laptops, we have crossed a long way. During the Ancient times the education that one received was closely linked to nature and life and the students would stay at the Guru’s house as long as they wished. Then the classrooms were made, bricks and walls became more visible than the nature. From understanding the life’s philosophy, education system became more about learning from textbooks and memorizing for exams. And then a sudden change happened, we stepped into the digital mode of education. In this modern technological era, digitalizing the educational system is the new policy. This system has arrived in the western world a little earlier. This system was warmly welcomed by the surplus seekers due to its direct capitalist features. Using the pandemic situation, it was very easy for this system to invade the existing mode of educations in the third world countries like India and others. Their rush to be in this ‘Pseudo’ race of literacy around the sphere is like, ‘jumping from a malfunctioned airplane to save life, without a parachute.’
Social interaction at risk
As we know, school is the most effective institution of socialization after family. In school one meets more children of his/her age. They spend a particular time together, they observe each other and they share ideas and adopt from others. Where teachers play a huge role in this system to guide students with life experiences which brings the social awareness among the children. Society is not made by an individual, society is a network of critical interrelations between humans. In school one child spends his/her total adolescent period, from childhood to adulthood he/she experiences so many social dilemmas and gets to know the norms and values of the society from others.
Now if we digitalize the education system there is no more need of schools. It would be like socialization behind the bars. Where a child is locked in a room and a machine is speaking louder and louder as per routine. Peer groups would be no more effective in this scenario, a child will lost his/her interest to interact with others. Slowly the solidarity between humans will be on stake. Capitalism is always active to decrease the interaction between humans in every field. For example, we had huge markets before where a lot of people were engaged at a time as well as interaction between them was in good manner. Then we stepped into shopping mall culture where the interactions became narrower and now we can buy anything from home , no more need of interactions , you just need a mobile. Unfortunately now it is time for the education system. Digital education system with its tremendous capitalist features is pro active to cut the human interactions from the root. If a man won’t interact with others, his self won’t be developed, he can’t even recognize himself in the society. He will lose his ability to protest. Digitalized education system will create nothing but some dumb labourers.
A Choice or a Push?
‘Get a free trial, and buy a course’, ‘use a code and get 10% off on every course’, looks so profitable right? Depended on your choice? Seems so pocket friendly? Just remember when digitalization was started in India, 4G network came in here, telecom companies started providing free internet and talked about internet for all. And now we all know the present scenario. From network for all, from convincing that digitalization is the future to network for who can afford and the future for the higher class, the exploitation is on peak. The exploiter and exploited system would be more visible in this digitalized education system.
These corporate giants with their huge amount of capitals are now showing very much activity in the third world countries to generate surplus by selling education. By investing huge capitals they are promoting their brand in every possible way. From advertising on television, on news channels, on social media, huge banners on roads, to sponsoring the national cricket team they are everywhere. Using popular actors in their eye catching advertisements they have successfully proven how much money or capital they have, and in capitalism we want to drench in monetary rain. It is like seducing people with their monetary efficiency. Popular actors with their charismatic ability are very much acceptable in the society. By continuously showing their glamorous face they are targeting the psychological state of a man and killing his ability to think anything thing off the stream. They are trying to prove there is no other choice, like capitalism says it is the only option. Using the pandemic situation it was easier for them to push us in a digital education system. Remaining the schools closed, they brought school inside a handful device. Lock yourselves in a room, look at the ceiling and listen through a machine, it is where they are pushing mankind.
Robots in Making
What should be the goal of education? Whatever it is, digitalized education will turn you into a robot. Career oriented and competitive nature of education was already there but now you are alone inside a room. Wake up in the morning, grab a coffee turn on your mobile, lock your room and join a class. Your parents are very much pleased because if it was school, you may bunk classes. But inside a room, you have nothing to bunk. Take classes as much as you can, even at the nights, Sundays, everyday is a class day, every hour is a class hour. You have nothing else to do just eat, sleep and read. Be like a programmed robot, the more classes you do, the more numbers you will get, as well as more money you get. In capitalism we pray for money and more money, desire for money is endless.
Digitalized education is very much rational in its nature. Its goal is to make students efficient in a particular sector that he/she can serve the system in a very much efficient or rational way like a robot. Digital education system is not about what student wants from the system rather than what capitalism wants from its slaves. Digitalized education will alienate humans from the society and create selfless men with some particular abilities to work in a particular sector. The digital education is more utilitarian in the sense of efficiency. Here efficiency denotes the choosing of means to reach a specific end rapidly, with the least amount of cost or effort. And thus more we pray to be efficient in sectors, we become a prey of capitalism.
Discrimination
Digital education for whom? In India 20cr people go to sleep on empty stomach every day. Unemployment, poverty, social discrimination is on peak in these third world countries. In this pandemic we have seen a large amount of students left education because they couldn’t afford online classes. How can you ask a student who is hungry for 2 days to buy a mobile, get internet connection start taking online classes to become an efficient slave. Now if we look after the connectivity, only 41.0% people have internet connection, in Pakistan it 17.1% only. A large amount of people are unconnected. Either they can’t afford or it is technology who still couldn’t reach them. Now if we look after the African countries, school education has not even reached there till now. It is impossible to inaugurate these nations in this mode of education. Now if we jump into this digitalization it would be a massacre. Ha huge amount of people are overlooked in this system, who belong from lower economic class. Students who don’t have enough economic stability will lose their interest in education slowly. And they will turn out into cheap manual labourers. This education system will remain just for the higher classes in society. This will create a massive discrimination in the educational sector. The exploiters will become more visible and the exploited will be more exploited. And the discrimination continues in a cycle.
In a summary
As we know change is the only constant, we didn’t see that much change in the educational sectors for a long time. Digitalization is a sudden change and a huge change. Students who were habituated in school education are having severe problems to adopt this new mode of education. This system has so many new goals and features which are very much related with surplus generation. As a change must happen, this shall also be changed someday, a new system will arise as well as conflicts and again a change.