Pedagogical Shift from Text to Hypertext: Language & Literature to the Digital Natives

This blog is part of thinking activity assigned by Dilip Barad sir as Lab activity. How we can use basic google tools or AI in our daily life.

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Key Insights  

Digital Pedagogy is a Necessity, Not an Option:  

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of online teaching, revealing gaps in digital readiness among teachers. Despite increased use of platforms like Google Classroom and YouTube, many educators lack personal blogs or websites, highlighting a need to build individual digital identities to fully engage in hypertext pedagogy. This personal digital presence empowers teachers to control content delivery and responsiveness beyond institutional delays. 

 

From Text to Hypertext – A Paradigm Shift: 

Traditional printed texts are static and “dead,” whereas hypertext is dynamic, interconnected, and multimedia-rich. This shift demands teachers redefine their pedagogical approaches. Hypertext allows learners to explore content non-linearly through links, videos, images, and sound, catering to diverse learning styles and fostering deeper engagement. This transition aligns with the habits and expectations of digital natives accustomed to interactive screen-based experiences. 

 

Blended, Flipped, and Mixed Mode Teaching Models: 

Professor Bharat underscores the importance of hybrid models combining synchronous and asynchronous teaching. Blended learning integrates digital resources with in-person instruction; flipped classrooms invert traditional lecture-homework roles to stimulate curiosity and questioning; mixed-mode teaching addresses real-world constraints by simultaneously engaging in-person and remote learners. These models require careful content management and communication strategies to maintain engagement and learning outcomes.  

Innovative Technology to Mimic Face-to-Face Interaction:

The glass board innovation allows teachers to maintain eye contact and demonstrate writing or drawing while facing the camera, effectively simulating classroom board work in online settings. This addresses a key challenge of remote teaching—loss of non-verbal communication cues like facial expressions and body language, which play a crucial role in motivation and interaction. Such innovations are essential to humanize digital classrooms and sustain learner engagement.  

Addressing Language Learning Challenges with Technology:

Linguistic components such as pronunciation and stress are difficult to assess online due to network issues. Use of live captions, auto-transcripts, and voice typing tools helps mitigate these challenges by providing textual support and enabling asynchronous review. Moreover, collaborative platforms like Google Docs foster active learner participation and peer interaction, essential for language acquisition and error correction.  

Hypertext Enriches Literature Teaching by Providing Context:  

Teaching English literature online faces unique challenges due to cultural and historical distances. Hypertext tools help bridge these gaps by linking texts to images, videos, artworks (e.g., Google Arts & Culture), and mythological references, enhancing comprehension and appreciation. This multimodal approach aligns with contemporary literary theories emphasizing decentering and fragmented subjectivity, making literature more accessible and interactive. 

 

Emerging Role of AI in Literature and Pedagogy: 

The rise of generative literature, where AI algorithms produce poems and texts indistinguishable from human creations, raises questions about authorship, creativity, and assessment. This phenomenon requires educators to rethink literary studies, incorporating new critical frameworks and engaging students with AI-generated content as both a tool and subject of inquiry. It also poses challenges for academic integrity and originality in student work.

  
Digital Portfolios as Authentic Assessment Tools:

Instead of relying solely on traditional exams, digital portfolios allow students to showcase curated work from blogs, videos, presentations, and assignments, reflecting continuous learning and digital literacy skills. This approach encourages students to take ownership of their learning, develop a professional digital presence, and provides educators with a richer, multifaceted evaluation of student progress. It embodies the essence of hypertext pedagogy by integrating diverse digital artifacts into assessment.

Simplicity and Accessibility of Tools are Crucial:

Given varied digital proficiency among teachers and students, selecting user-friendly, free, and ad-free platforms like Google Suite tools (Google Drive, Classroom, Docs, Sheets, YouTube) is critical. Overloading with multiple complex apps can overwhelm users and reduce effectiveness. The focus should be on tools that save teacher and student time while maximizing engagement and learning outcomes. This pragmatic approach ensures wider adoption and sustainability of digital pedagogy practices.  

 Conclusion  

This lecture offers a rich, insightful exploration of the evolving pedagogical landscape shaped by hypertext and digital technologies, amplified by the exigencies of the pandemic. His practical strategies, survey-backed observations, and innovative teaching solutions provide a roadmap for language and literature educators aiming to thrive in the digital age. The emphasis on blended learning models, collaborative tools, digital portfolios, and generative literature signals a future where education is interactive, student-centered, and technologically empowered. This session serves as both a call to action and a guide for educators to embrace the opportunities of hypertext pedagogy and continuously adapt to the digital native learners’ needs.