After much debate on the adverse effect of social networking on the youth today, looks like the Rajasthan government is close to finding a concrete solution. In an effort to use the concept of social networks to promote education, the Rajasthan government has decided to come up with a portal on the lines of Facebook to help youngsters brush up their academic knowledge.
“The idea is to utilise the popularity of social networking sites among students. Most of them spend a lot of time on such websites every day,” a senior official of the state’s information technology department, which is developing the portal, was quoted saying. While the authorities have a plan in place, teachers and students talk about the credibility of such an initiative.
Geeta Anand, a cousellor with the CBSE, is of the opinion that this will score over other parallel mediums of education. “We have to make significant changes with the changing times. Such an arrangement will be knowledgeable and will score over coaching classes and private tuitions. Children today are hooked on to social networks and this is a promising way to reach out to them,” says Geeta.
Fourteen-year-old Ocean Khadwal, who is given a few fixed hours to access Facebook, says he would love accessing a portal like this. “My mom allows me to log in to Facebook only for thirty minutes every day. I use the Internet for my school assignments, but it’s boring. If I have a portal where I can add friends and study at the same time, it’ll be fun,” he says.
Some also feel that a little fun element added to studies goes a long way in encouraging students. But as far as education is concerned, isn’t this a little too casual an approach? “It is definitely a great idea, but it has to be worked out carefully as it shouldn’t turn out to be another networking site where kids sit and enjoy posting pictures,” says Sunita Kakkar, a teacher.
Prof. Veena Ravi Kumar, associate professor, department of Political Science at LSR, finds the proposal quite distracting for students. “I’m not being conservative and I’m all for the use of technology for teaching, but something like this is too distracting for students. In fact, in the West, they’re having a tough time trying to curb social networking and this would just make our youth addicted to social networks, this time for academics.”