Authors : Dr. Titiksha Nagar and Prof. Ashok Nagar
Page Nos : 125-132
Description :
The expansion of digital technologies, mobile devices, and artificial intelligence has transformed higher education practice and policy worldwide. While these innovations promise increased access and pedagogical flexibility, empirical research also identifies several failure modes: attention fragmentation, superficial engagement, and rapid spread of low-quality or misleading information. This paper synthesizes interdisciplinary literature from cognitive psychology, educational technology, and historical pedagogy to argue that traditional pedagogical practices, characterized by sustained teacher–student relationships, dialogic instruction, disciplined writing and recitation, and apprenticeship-style mentorship, are particularly well aligned with the cognitive conditions required for deep, conceptual learning in higher education. Focusing on rural India, where students often begin higher education with weaker academic preparation and limited digital literacy, the paper proposes a pedagogically informed model in which traditional methods provide the foundation for learning while carefully scaffolded technologies serve as amplifiers rather than substitutes for human-mediated pedagogy.
