| |9 November 2016HIGHERReviewthe students to synchronize their thought process with the instructor's, which a power-point deck and video can never accomplish. Power points and videos do have their place in our society. However, instructors should use them sparingly and only as a supplement to the blackboard, where students are directed for review, for practical applications of fundamental concepts and for team presentations. In Indian classrooms, unlike the U.S.A., the blackboard figures prominently. While it may be a mat-ter of compulsion (since not all Indian schools and universities are well en-dowed in financial resources), there is no reason to bemoan the existing facilities as long as they meet the basic criteria. A dedicated teacher, who can motivate students, a well-ventilated classroom, neatly organized desks and tables, and a blackboard, chalk pieces and duster, are the core ingredients for good education. Not state-of-the-art class-rooms with their smart technologies and free Wi-Fi, which have caused lethargy and a precipi-tous decline in the attention span of the students. This semester, I returned to the old-fashioned way of teaching. Dur-ing the sessions, I used only the Black-board. I did post all the power-point decks and videos in advance for the students to review. Since I did not use the computer and the podium, the stu-dents also put their computers down. I was able to gauge the absorption ca-pacity of the students. I used a trick my high school mathematics teacher in New Delhi had perfected decades ago. He expected every student to participate in the steps to solving the complex calculus or trigonometry problem on the board, by calling out our names in the order in which we were seated. Not surprisingly, our en-tire high school section of 42 students learned sound mathematics skills. While the subject I taught in the U.S.A. was MBA strategy, I was still able to employ my mathematics teacher's method, modified slightly by calling on small groups of students instead of individual stu-dents so as not to embarrass them, even in sessions requiring no quanti-tative skills. Class participation sky-rocketed and shy students were able to contribute. At the end of my first session, I eagerly glanced at my arms. In the olden days, they would be covered in chalk dust; it was a reminder that "something attempted; something done had earned me a night's repose: HW Longfellow, The Village Blacksmith." There was no such reminder this time. The chalk was state-of-the-art. Dust free! As the late President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam quotes, "Black color is sentimentally bad, but Blackboard makes the student's life bright." Writing on a blackboard enables the students to synchronize their thought process with the instructor's, which a power-point deck and video can never accomplish
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