A massive information tsunami has hit educational institutions. Its swelling and rolling waves have changed the landscape of classroom learning forever.

 The proliferation of increasingly cheaper broadband Internet connection has brought with it unprecedented ease in accessing information of any kind. Children may still come to school and sit through classes but they really don't need teachers to impart knowledge. They have as much access to knowledge as their teachers, thanks to the worldwide web (www).

 To know about anything, all that a slightly grown up child needs to learn is how to search for information on Google, Yahoo or Kosmix or any other search engine. Teacher is no longer the only knowledge-giver and classroom is not the only place where learning happens.

This points to existential crisis for any teacher. How can you survive?

Detailed, in-depth information on just about anything is available on the Internet, mostly free of charge. A portal like the Wikipedia provides the continuously updated information on any subject and the pace of updation of details is unlikely to be matched by a schoolteacher. What's more, given the online availability of visuals, images, videos, audios and maps, the learning process in the virtual world appears vastly superior to a learning process in classrooms using only textbooks.

That's not all. The multiplicity of cable and satellite TV channels and easier availability of glitzy books & magazines has placed more options for children to access information. Think about this: would you want to teach a child about say, volcanoes (as part of a Geography  lesson), in a classroom setting, while the child has the option to watch an award-winning three part National Geographic TV Channel series on the same subject or access the National Geographic website totally free of charge?  

In short, you are in competition with the most attractive and formidable information forces. There is no way you can win...that is, if you perceive a teacher's role as the provider of facts in classroom setting.

There is an option, perhaps the only one: instead of trying to take on the information Tsunami, why not learn to ride the waves?

Here are some tips to do so and remain an effective teacher in the information age.

• To teach any topic in any subject, first check out the possibility of how the learning could be made richer by accessing Internet-based sources, TV-based sources and print material other than textbooks. A few hours of pointed surfing on the web, checking out the schedules of educative TV channel programmes, etc would equip you with lots of tools to tackle the issue in a holistic manner.

• (At the NimbleKits website, you would find links to a large number of Internet-based resources for teaching Fractions and Geometry in Math for Class 3, including teaching aids, concept notes, videos, activity sheets, worksheets, assessment models... what have you. Check it out. Try putting together a similar collection for whatever topic you teach. Write to us about your experience in resourcing from the virtual world. We will be keen to hear from you.)

• Children may be flooded with information. But they need you to make sense of them. Help the children make the right connections between facts. For example, after they have learnt everything about weather, get them to appreciate that Sun, as the provider of heat, is the primary reason for weather anywhere in the world.

• Get them appreciate bonds between subjects. For example, can your children write a note on how geographical features such as mountains, oceans, deserts, etc have determined the course of history? Can they appreciate the math in music, dance, plants, cooking…?

• Co-opt parents, particularly when you ask children to explore the virtual work for information. You can also tell them what they can do in terms of taking their children out to visit some places, watch specific TV programmes, access specific websites, etc to support the children's learning.

• When you are dealing with a topic in the classroom, if a child butts in with information that you don't know or information that contradicts what you have been saying, ask for the source and check it out yourself and then take the necessary corrective measure.

• Internet and TV information sources also offer a great opportunity to get the children to revisit concepts without getting bored. For example, months after you have taught them all about Bridges, if there is a TV programme on the world's great bridges, you could ask them watch it at home or watch it along with them if the school has a TV, ask questions, recap, etc and generate far more excitement than by redoing the 'chapter' in the book again.

There may be more ways to effectively steer the children in a world where information is free. If you have ideas, experience or queries, please share them with us.  Write to support@nimblekits.com