| From Black Board to Smart Board: A Teacher’s Journey Through Changing Times | | The classroom changed, the technology changed, but the purpose of teaching remained the same. | | Prof. (Dr.) Parshant Bakshi Head, Division of Fruit Science, SKUAST-Jammu | 9/4/2026 9:36:47 PM |
| I still remember the classrooms where I began my journey as a teacher with a blackboard, a piece of chalk and a group of curious students sitting before me. There was no smart board, no YouTube, no digital classroom and no Artificial Intelligence. The teacher, the textbook and the blackboard were the principal tools of learning. More than two decades later, the classroom looks completely different.
Today, a lesson can travel from a university campus to a student’s home through a mobile phone. A diagram that once took several minutes to draw on a blackboard can be displayed instantly. A lecture can be recorded, revisited and shared with learners far beyond the physical classroom. Having spent more than 22 years in teaching, research, student mentoring and extension, I have witnessed this transformation closely. For me, the journey from blackboard to smart board is not simply a story of technology. It is a story of how a teacher must continuously learn, adapt and reinvent the ways of reaching students.
• When the Blackboard Was the Smart Board
For an earlier generation of teachers, the blackboard was perhaps the most important technology in the classroom. A piece of chalk could turn an empty board into a world of knowledge. Equations appeared line by line. Diagrams of plants and fruits were drawn by hand. Important points were underlined. Difficult concepts were explained, erased and explained again.
There was something deeply personal about that process. The teacher could see the student’s faces, understand their expressions and immediately know whether they had understood the lesson. The blackboard was simple, but the teacher made it powerful. Today, technology has expanded those possibilities enormously.
• The Classroom Goes Digital
The arrival of smart boards, projectors, online learning platforms and digital resources has changed the teaching-learning process. A teacher can now combine text, photographs, videos, animations, demonstrations and interactive material in a single lesson. Students can access information from around the world and continue learning beyond the scheduled classroom hours.
But technology has also changed the responsibility of the teacher. When information is available at the click of a button, the teacher’s role is no longer limited to providing information. The teacher must help students understand, analyse, question, evaluate and apply knowledge. The teacher has become not only an instructor, but also a mentor, facilitator, motivator and guide.
• When COVID-19 Changed the Classroom
Then came COVID-19. Universities closed, students went back home and the traditional classroom suddenly became inaccessible. At a time when physical teaching was not possible, I decided to use YouTube as an additional teaching platform so that my students could remain connected with their subjects. But I did not want online teaching to become merely a one-way lecture delivered through a screen. I wanted students to become active participants in the process. That idea led to an initiative that remains one of the most satisfying experiences of my teaching journey.
• When Students Became Content Creators
Under my guidance, students prepared educational videos on the production technology of fruits, vegetables and floricultural crops. Around 120 videos were prepared by students and uploaded on my YouTube channel under the “Student Talk” playlist. The exercise transformed the way students learned. To prepare a video, a student had to first understand the topic, collect and organise information, prepare the content and then communicate it clearly before the camera. In doing so, students developed not only subject knowledge but also confidence, communication skills, creativity, presentation skills and digital literacy. The student was no longer simply receiving knowledge. The student was creating and sharing knowledge. That, to me, was the real strength of digital education.
• More Than 110 YouTube Premieres
The initiative went a step further. More than 110 YouTube Premieres were organised, through which students could interact with me online while the videos were being presented. These sessions provided opportunities for questions, discussion, feedback and academic interaction. The digital platform therefore became more than a repository of recorded lectures. It became a space where students could participate, communicate and learn together. The experience reinforced a principle I strongly believe in:
The best teacher is not the one who speaks the most, but the one who creates opportunities for students to learn, think and express themselves.
• From Classroom Teacher to Learning Facilitator
The evolution from blackboard to smart board has changed the tools of education, but it has also changed our understanding of the teacher. Earlier, the teacher was often considered the primary source of knowledge. Today, knowledge is everywhere. A student can access lectures from leading universities, read international research papers, watch demonstrations and use Artificial Intelligence to explore a topic. Therefore, the teacher’s greatest responsibility is increasingly to help students navigate this enormous ocean of information.
What information should they trust? How should they analyse it? How can knowledge be converted into practical solutions? How can scientific knowledge be used for the benefit of society? These are questions that technology alone cannot answer.
• My Journey Beyond the Classroom
Over more than 22 years, my teaching journey has taken me through many different kinds of classrooms. I have had the privilege of serving as Head, Advanced Centre for Horticulture Research (ACHR), Head, Centre for Organic and Natural Farming (CONF), and Head, Division of Fruit Science, while working with students, researchers, teachers and farmers. My classroom has not always had four walls. It has been a lecture hall, laboratory, orchard, demonstration field, farmers’ training programme and, for a period, a YouTube channel. Each has taught me something.
The lecture hall taught me the value of structured teaching. The laboratory taught me the importance of scientific enquiry. The orchard taught me that knowledge must ultimately reach the field. The farmer’s field taught me that research becomes meaningful when it solves real problems. And the digital classroom taught me that distance need not be a barrier to learning.
• What Technology Cannot Replace
As we move towards smart classrooms and Artificial Intelligence, there is an important question we must ask:
Can technology replace the teacher?
I believe it cannot replace the human dimension of teaching. A computer can provide an answer, but a teacher can recognize a student’s potential. Artificial Intelligence can explain a concept, but a teacher can inspire a student to pursue it. A digital platform can deliver a lecture, but a teacher can build confidence. Technology can provide knowledge.
A teacher provides direction, values and purpose.
The relationship between teacher and student is built on trust, encouragement and human connection qualities that cannot simply be programmed into a machine.
• The Teacher of Tomorrow
The teacher of tomorrow will undoubtedly be more technology-enabled. Smart boards, digital content, Artificial Intelligence, virtual laboratories and online learning will become increasingly important. But the successful teacher will not be the one who merely knows how to operate technology. It will be the teacher who knows how to use technology to make learning more meaningful. The smart board should not replace the teacher. It should extend the teacher’s reach. Artificial Intelligence should not replace thinking. It should encourage deeper thinking. Digital education should not reduce interaction. It should create more opportunities for interaction and collaboration.
• A Tribute to Teachers
On Teacher’s Day, I often think about how dramatically our classrooms have changed. From chalk to digital pen; From blackboard to smart board; From textbooks to digital libraries; From classroom lectures to online learning; From physical classrooms to YouTube and virtual platforms. Yet, beneath all these changes, the essence of teaching remains the same.
A teacher enters a classroom with one fundamental responsibility to make a difference in the life of a learner. Sometimes that difference comes through a lesson. Sometimes through encouragement. Sometimes through a research opportunity. Sometimes through a simple sentence:
“You can do it.”
Years later, students may forget the details of a particular lecture, but they often remember the teacher who believed in them. That is the enduring power of teaching.
• From Black Board to Smart Board - The Journey Continues
My journey from the traditional blackboard to digital teaching has been a journey of learning, adaptation and continuous experimentation. The experience of engaging students in creating around 120 educational videos and conducting more than 110 interactive YouTube Premieres during the COVID period remains a special chapter in this journey. It demonstrated that when teachers are willing to adapt and students are given responsibility, technology can transform a difficult situation into an opportunity for creative and participatory learning.
The tools will continue to evolve. Tomorrow’s classroom may look very different from today’s.
But one thing should never change:
The teacher must remain at the heart of education.
Because a smart board can display knowledge, but a teacher can ignite curiosity. A computer can provide information, but a teacher can inspire wisdom. And technology can connect a student to the world, but a teacher can inspire that student to make the world a better place.
From Black Board to Smart Board, from Chalk to Click, from Classroom to YouTube - the technology has changed, but the commitment to teaching remains the same.
“A classroom may change its walls and its technology, but a true teacher never stops shaping lives.”
Happy Teachers’ Day to All!
The author of this article is Professor & Head, Division of Fruit Science, SKUAST-Jammu. |
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