Sharing Webinar Report & Video
THE UNSEEN REVOLUTION: Technology, Education and Life
On Thursday, March 16th, 2023, Pallavan Learning Systems, in association with Ritinjali and the Centre for Escalation of Peace, launched a new webinar series called ‘On a Quest to Learn: A series on the evolving nature of one’s learning journey’. In this first episode ‘THE UNSEEN REVOLUTION: Technology, Education and Life’, the profound impact that technology and artificial intelligence have on education and society was explored. More than 100 participants from various countries, including Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cabo Verde, India, Nepal, Russia, the UK, and the USA, attended the webinar. The audience had a diverse range of occupations, such as students, teachers, principals, parents, educators, researchers, founders, counselors, professors, doctors, influencers, entrepreneurs, psychotherapists, special educators, and curriculum developers.
We would like to thank those who have attended the webinar and those who missed it, we hope that you will join us next time. We are delighted to share with you the webinar report and the video. We look forward to hearing your comments and views.
Let’s keep this learning community vibrant through active participation.
Summary of the Webinar
The Unseen Revolution: Technology, Education and Life
On the 16th of March 2022, Pallavan Learning Systems, in collaboration with the Centre for Escalation of Peace and Ritinjali organised their 10th webinar on the topic ‘The Unseen Revolution: Technology, Education and Life’. The webinar was a part of the series ‘On a Quest to Learn: A series on the evolving nature of one’s learning journey’, and was geared towards having an informed discussion on the profound impact that technology and Artificial Intelligence continue to have on education and society. More than 100 participants from various countries, including Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cabo Verde, India, Nepal, Russia, the UK, and the USA, attended the webinar. The audience had a diverse range of occupations, such as students, teachers, principals, parents, educators, researchers, founders, counselors, professors, doctors, influencers, entrepreneurs, psychotherapists, special educators, and curriculum developers.
Poojan Sahil, who is an educator and musician, gave the opening and closing remarks in addition to being one of the panellists. Armaan Mathur, who is currently pursuing Political Science Honours from Kirori Mal College, Delhi University, was the moderator for the webinar. The other esteemed panellists were Dr. Kavi Arya, professor, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, and Dr. Annie Koshi, Principal, St. Mary’s school in New Delhi.
The webinar started with a basic introduction to the latest advancement in technology, such as ‘ChatGPT’ and ‘Dall-E’. The question posed to the panellists was whether or not we have opened a pandora’s box and how we can prepare learners for this unseen revolution, both inside and outside educational institutions. The discussion that followed examined the fact that a technological revolution has in fact been underway since the industrial revolution, and these digital advancements exist on a continuum. Historically, every advancement has led society to question its impact on young people, including radio, television, calculators and so on. From that perspective, the discourse on how society will use technology has a long history.
This resulted in a deeper discussion on the entanglement between questions of ethics and morality on the one hand and technological advances on the other. While it was argued that despite many technological advances, the problems of poverty and suffering remain rampant, the counter argument was that technology is inherently neither good nor bad. Technology is simply just a tool in the hands of the wielder. How we decide to use these tools remains up to us, thus making what we teach young learners exceedingly important. The concepts of citizenship, responsibility and accountability were examined, with panellists agreeing that critical thinking and the ability to ask the right questions will increasingly become the most important thing to teach in education institutions.
The panellists discussed the fact that the latest advancement in digital technology and artificial intelligence will change the nature of the classroom, in which the simple transfer of knowledge and facts will no longer be relevant. Similarly, these advancements will increasingly take over jobs that require high level of automation. What cannot be replaced is the ability to be creative and to think innovatively to response to challenges faced by society and the planet. That is why the role of educators remains ever important. Helping learners how to think, how to create and innovate, how to ask the right questions, and how to always continue learning and become persons of substance – will remain the purpose of education.
I read the report and it's was informative