User:Gita Mathur/Teaching and Learning-My Experiences of three decades

I have been teaching Botany to undergraduates for more than twenty five years. I have seen a sea change in the approach and perspectives in both teaching and learning.

When I was a student in University of Delhi the scene was as follows:

• teacher knows all and can not be challenged
• Very few books available, only international editions and out of reach for purchase
• students had to sit in the library and make notes on every topic
• for that we had to reserve a book and wait for it to be returned by the student who was reading it
• the paper we used was rough and pens were only fountain pens with liquid ink
• libraries had ink pots to refill ink in our pens
• no personal vehicles for commuting, only overcrowded buses
• no bookshop on the campus, only University cooperative store which had a strong smell of cheap brown washing soap
• Coffee house which served hot water with only the smell of coffee

The improvements started with :

• advent of the photocopy machine
• release of Indian editions for many good books
• new books by Indians, many of our teachers, with examples from our country
• better quality paper notebooks and registers
• improved lab instruments
• advancement in techniques
• computers with DOS

The scene today:

• Computers at home as well as work place
• easy to use operating systems
• Internet which is a total revolution for education
• totally new approach to access to learning materials
• advanced gadgets filled labs
• finer and more accurate instruments
• power backups