Have you ever wondered why reading and writing is such a big deal in school?
The first thing that is taught in a school to any kid that starts schooling is to read and to write.
From that day on, for the next two decades, students go through a rigmarole revolving reading and writing — tests, exams, assignments, and so on.
One of the answers to this question lies in the fact that for almost a 1,000 years, knowledge resided in books: if one was to gain knowledge, they had to read, and if one had to propagate this knowledge, they had to write.
Up until a few years ago, the biggest difference between a literate and illiterate person was that the knowledge was accessible only those who knew how to read and write.But the reality of the world we live in today is that more knowledge, information and news is created and shared through audio-visual (AV) mediums.
The era of audio-visual learning
- The very definition of literacy is being questioned: you don’t necessarily have to read in order to gain knowledge, and you don’t need to necessarily write to share knowledge
- In fact, not many people realize that we are presently living in a knowledge revolution
- If reading and writing meant literacy in a world of books, ever wondered what is the new meaning of literacy in the audio-video era?
- It is a known fact that kids don’t like to read and write as much as the generations before them
- Kids are increasingly consuming content through the AV medium and in the recent past, they have shown great appetite to create abundant AV content
The right content for children
If you read good books, you will write good stuff; similarly, if children have to create good content, we have to expose them to good films and content.It is imperative that we expose children to good content, but this is where the tragedy lies: the quality of content that they are exposed to is very substandard.
Cinema, TV, digital content and all other channels alike: all have very low quality kids content.
In fact, according to YouTube, the least amount of content uploaded on their network is for the age group between 6 to 16 years.
WHAT WE NEED TO GIVE CHILDREN TODAY
- If we have to engage children today, and teach them effectively, it is imperative that educators and curriculum designers explore the audio-visual medium to teach.
- Presently, there is a content that is available to teach children science and math and other curricular subjects through films; however, what is required is films and content that teach children more about life and life skills.
- There is a need for film makers and content creators to make films that not just entertain but teach children valuable lessons of life, that will make them live a better quality of life and encourage them to be contributing members of our society.
Article Credit: – IndiaToday