Are We Limiting Ourselves with Just Books? Digital Education Has the Solution

                                 BOOKS vs VIDEOS

Books for long have been the instrument of mass revolution, serving as a doorway for shaping humanity as we know today, sparking mediocre minds to brilliance over generations, bringing world peace and making trials and tribulations of life easier to cope up. A companion that is second to none, it has enthralled both the purists and the casual readers and shall do for ages to come. 

With that being said, the technological advancements in the field of education promise not to dismantle but add a feather to it, not belittling but still urging to not be complacent by ignoring the upgrades available at our disposal. One domain where books find a limitation to it in today’s world is education where without an instructor, a magnificent book comes down as some glorified amalgamation of bunk phrases. With ever-rising distraction and a surge of half-hearted teachers lacking drive, the purpose of education seems to have hit a glass ceiling.

The urgency is reflected in a much bigger scale in a country like ours, India, the land serving a mass of 1.3 billion. With a student body of around 325million, greater than the total population of the USA, there has never been a more dire need of inspiring teachers, filled with zeal and drive. But contrary to the need, barring a few hubs in the country which makes up the billion dollar coaching industry, mainly for engineering and medical aspirants, where students spend lakhs putting their family at stake, there is a strong lack of good teachers. With the socio-economical hindrances, the student finds it impossible to manifest his abilities. In the majority of this population, books remain a popular choice. But times have changed and even more with the advancement of technology where e-learning has come on the forefront to address the issues of good teachers and economic hindrances.

It would rather be an understatement to say “Video Lectures are the new books of the 21st century.” Without dismissing the usefulness of books, we would need to go on exploring the advancements in technology that have brought new modes to access education, taking it a notch up both in terms of ease and performance. The topic has become even more necessary with the Digital India Campaign carried out by our Prime Minister which has made the access of devices comfortable to middle-class Indians and possible to the poor in the rural areas. 

One can read a book anywhere, anytime he wishes, so can one watch the video lectures. There is almost no difference in terms of availability but there are certain areas where video lectures evidently appear as better options.

#1 Comprehension: The books require mostly a teacher to be comprehended but that is covered by a video lecture where the brief 15 minutes video is backed up by an hour of preparation and is finally presented to the student.

#2 Attention: Books require one to be in a high mode of concentration to grasp the concept but the video lectures lower the barrier i.e., invites the student to carry on with it and eventually merge with the flow.

#3 Portability & Accessibility: It is possible to carry a book or two but definitely not a bunch of them, at least not with the heavy syllabus. Video lectures have no such problem. With silicon chips and integration playing its part, all subjects can be put into a sleek phone, making it accessible to wherever the user goes. 

#4 Doubt Clearance: A lot of e-learning facilities have come up with doubt clearance and forums where it can be addressed which is not seen in case of books since it is only a one-way communication and is limited by the knowledge of one or handful of authors, unlike a bunch of experts dedicated to solving doubts.

#5 Tests: Books have a few handful of mock tests which is suitable for final revision but is rendered useless in exams requiring extensive preparation. E-learning platforms fuse daily practice problems, topic wise test series, full test series etc. which makes up for comprehensive preparation.

#6 Direction: The students are often left with the task to make their customized path for studying all subjects and being able to do that without the costly coaching programmes from multiple books written by different authors with different approaches is a herculean task. Video lectures have a pre-determined path that makes it easy for the student to follow rather than waste time on changing the pathways clearly removing the problem of re-inventing the wheel.

Having mentioned the usefulness of video lectures, it is important to admit that this takes nothing away from the distraction-less learning experience that a book provides, the way it nurtures the thought process but it is equally important to be contemporary. There are certain timeless books that needs to be in the collection, but we have to adapt to the advancement of technology and use the benefits present in our arsenal to make the most of it. India is currently in need of a technological revolution and that needs to start from the youth and dominantly in the field of education, where it is also strongly felt. Video lectures along with books can make the aspirations and dreams come true of the mass of young children who deserve a better future, a better tomorrow.