Blind teacher who uses ICT in classroom

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The lad with a cropped hair seated on the front row of the seminar hall did not take his eyes off the speaker on the stage. The speaker was a short, blind, pleasant-looking man. He was presenting the demonstration of a new screen reading software in Malayalam. The rest of the audience followed the lad; no murmurs, no unwanted chatters, as they sat rapt, watching the man on the stage, speaking in crisp details, what exactly the new software meant.As the presentation ended, the man slowly walked up to the lad who was trying hard to match the loud claps that rung in the room for his father. It was during the seminar organised by ‘Insight’ on the possibilities of ICT for the differently abled, Sunny P O, a blind high school teacher from Kollam, impressed everyone with his sound grasp over the education softwares. However, the students of Government HSS, Thodiyoor, near Karunagappally,  won’t be surprised, for this has been a familiar sight for them for more than a year. Sunny, basically a Mathematics teacher, has been teaching his students Chemistry, Mathematics and even a bit of language using the computer softwares at Govt HSS, Thodiyoor. He makes them draw geometrical figures and shapes on computer using the self-taught Geo-Gibra software. He takes them through pictures, poems, maps, globes and planets with the softwares he has learnt himself and all these without even seeing what his students have drawn.‘’Seeing and knowing are two different things. Even if I don’t see how my students draw, I know very well how they follow my lessons.  As they draw, I always ask them if they have got it right. Accordingly, I will explain to them again and till date all my students have always answered me in the affirmative,’’ explains Sunny.Sunny, who lost his eyesight at the age of 20, does not feel anything extraordinary about his work. ‘’IT is a compulsory subject in the school. This is something every other teacher does,’’ says Sunny. But there is a slight difference between this man and the other teachers. While IT was being made a compulsory topic in schools, there was no way a blind man like Sunny could have picked up the softwares. However, he was not to be left behind.