During one of my big data analytics class a few weeks back (before lockdown started, when we were having regular classes), I asked a question to a class packed with about 80 students. None of the students were able to give a proper answer till an unexpected one replied. I could immediately comprehend that the student had used google to find out the right answer. At that instance, I was testing perhaps the ability to remember facts among my students. BE OMNIPRESENT Today, when I recall the incident while conducting online classes and tutorials, what I feel is that classroom might not be an essential place for learning anymore. Some of us may think that, nothing’s going to change in these few months of lockdown and we are going to get back to our conventional teaching methodology but the students are getting into a habit of learning from us online, surfing content and clearing doubt online. While a teacher is delivering lecture, she/he cannot be sure that the student will be glued to their laptop/mobile phone/tab/PC screen dedicatedly to listen to them. Rather she/he may be busy surfing the internet to find some stuff of their interest or may be judging the lecture by finding out content on the same topic online. Thus, the way we deliver a lecture, controlling the class, establishing our authority over the students, may cease to exist. This in turn will result into a situation wherein our intellect and innovation in delivering a lecture online will decide whether a student wants to attend to our lecture or not. The more views our lectures get in youtube would decide who is the “Jeetu Bhaiya” (the famous physics teacher of web series “Kota Factor”) and who is “Batla Sir” (the infamous chemistry teacher in the same web series). Digital prowess or shall I say online prowess will be a necessary skillset to be present in a teacher’s sleeve of skills. While online learning was already there affecting adversely the conventional classroom contact teaching, the growth rate was not considerable enough. But coronavirus effect has changed the scenario completely for online mode of learning to a great extent. LET THE TECH TALK Landing of technology start-ups and legends in the education space has brought out a new terminology, Edtech. Simultaneously, our responsibility as a teacher has also increased to a great extent in becoming savvy with these newer technology products. It is important to remember that technology is a tool, not a subject and thus the way we handle them/learn them is different than the way we traditionally learn a subject. Many of us fail to understand this aspect of technology. The biggest weapon in our sleeves is the intent behind trying new things. A teacher of the future will be like a CEO of a start-up tech firm who is willing to try and learn new technology and once the prowess is established she/he will be able to implement the same in creating a better learning environment for the students of future. THE “JASON BOURNE” SYNDROME Jason Bourne is a famous espionage series originally written by Robert Ludlum and later conceived as a very successful movie series. In almost each of these movies, we see the protagonist speaking multiple languages and acquainted with various culture making himself comfortably mix among the aliens. Likewise, a future teacher while teaching marketing, might use a media and journalism tool to create a better use case. Multidisciplinary approach towards the subject matter will be the new mantra – “jack of all trades and the master of all trades also”. SAY NO TO 9-5 All the above factors prepare us to face one final stand-off. Am I bound by time or am I ready to pounce on to the forthcoming opportunity? The teacher of tomorrow needs to be free from the traditional work hour model. Teaching will no longer be confined within the boundaries set by time, rather a 24X7 approach will work here. A typical day in the life of a teacher for tomorrow will have a classroom lecture delivery, a peer review meeting, an online lecture, a web meeting with stakeholders, research work, consultancy work and many more. SECOND ANGLE: THE STUDENT’S ANGLE As a student myself, I feel that my best friend is not an individual in my class or in my home town anymore. My socializing is happening on my Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) only, i.e., my mobile phone. Information is available to us from all available sources, just like what we studied as the characteristics of a perfectly competitive market in economics. So, there are lot of service providers (Higher Education Institutions or HEIs) and lot of service takers (students) available with almost no barrier to entry and exit. I AM THE KING A student of the future (very near future) will behave like a typical customer demanding education as per their convenience and requirements. They will expect customization and personalization of education as a product based upon their field of interest and dream. Traditionally, we have seen a set pattern of programs being run in various HEIs and the students subscribing to them year on year, but the future set of programs will be more of an a la carte combination of courses chosen and decided by the student. A student will be the only qualitative assessor of these programs because they will have a feeling that – “the customer is the king”. We can also say that the legal maxim of caveat emptor will be applicable for them as well. SUPPLY WHAT IS DEMANDED When I completed my mechanical engineering, many of my classmates from the same branch and many other branches of engineering joined a reputed Indian IT company (name withheld). Later on. I came to know that, all of them were converted (the correct word would be reskilled) to work as IT professionals within a span of three months of them joining that company. Whatever my friends had learnt over last 4