When there’s a will to learn
Thursday, 22 September 2016
FOLLOWING the Bernama report on the YouTube-trained
“dentist” who was fined by the sessions court in Kuala Terengganu for providing
illegal dental service, social media is now abuzz with a discussion on the
issue.
Some are
questioning the authorities and the light penalty imposed (considering the
implication on the patients) while others are impressed and amazed at how she
developed and mastered the high-level orthodontics skill just by watching
videos on YouTube.
Welcome
to the future of education!
This intriguing story of the YouTube-trained
dentist is not an isolated case. During the recently concluded Rio Olympics, we
read an inspiring story of “YouTube man” Julius Yego, Kenya’s self-taught
javelin world and Rio Olympic champion. The CNN headline, “How YouTube made
Julius Yego an Olympic medallist”, said it loud and clear. The Kenyan secured a
gold medal and attributed his success to watching videos of Olympic javelin
champions on YouTube. “My coach is me, and the YouTube videos,” Yego said.
Closer to home is the inspiring story of
Wayan Sumardana, a 31-year-old man from Indonesia who managed to create a
self-made bionic arm in his workshop. He suffered a stroke that left him
partially paralysed but instead of indulging in self-pity, he set out to change
his fate. He used tips from the Internet (including YouTube) to develop a
bionic arm from scrap and used metal parts so he could continue to work as a
welder and provide for his family.
Of course, there are countless stories of how
YouTube has changed people’s lives, like the British Olympian diving superstar
Tom Daley’s bid for Olympic gold and the Haitian Olympian who used videos of
Michael Phelps to learn how to swim.
After the fake dentist story, my curiosity
led me to Google the Internet and what I discovered were hundreds of detailed
step-by-step “how to” videos and websites demonstrating dental procedures from
the simplest to the more intricate orthodontics techniques. But I was not
surprised at all because for highly motivated learners (regardless of motive),
it is not impossible to acquire and master even intricate skills if they can
get access to very high-quality learning resources. It goes back to the basic
adult learning theory – adults will learn if they have motivation and reason to
learn. It’s that simple!
The stories mentioned here illustrate the
impact of YouTube videos and other learning resources available from the huge
Internet repository. This is arguably the game-changer in the future of
learning.
According to a 2015 report from Google, more
people are turning to YouTube now to search for how-to videos, with the number
of searches increasing by 70%. Indeed, some of the most popular channels on
YouTube provide tutorials and how-tos on just about anything you can imagine.
The report also reveals that 67% of young people say they can find a video to
teach them how to do ANYTHING now.
On the positive angle, I view the case as an
example of informal education at its best. After all, this is what
outcome-based education is all about – competency. It’s the outcome that
matters, right? If the fake dentist can go through the formal authentic
assessment and pass with flying colours, can we deny that she is equally
competent as those qualified dentists who have had a formal education? This is
how competency-based education should operate.
On a cautionary note, self-directed online
learning would not be suitable for a highly regulated profession such as
medicine and dentistry.
The main point I’m trying to make here is
that many low or risk-free occupations which are mainly skills-based can be
studied fully online if there is a need for it. Blending face-to-face with
online learning (blended learning) is perhaps the best but the creative and
powerful technology available combined with increasing connectivity opens up
unlimited opportunities for everyone who are motivated and have reason to
learn.
Regards
Pralhad Jadhav
Senior Manager @ Library
Khaitan & Co
Note | If anybody use these post for forwarding in any social
media coverage or covering in the Newsletter please give due credit to those
who are taking efforts for the same.
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