Age is just a number for 80-year-old Ambuja Iyer, a Maths teacher. At her age, she has started giving Maths lessons online. She decided to learn and understand the ways of online teaching as she found that many teachers were finding it extremely difficult for the new ‘virtual’ mode after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
To handle a topic as complex as Maths, Ambuja Iyer first created ‘good content’ and then listed out ‘useful methodologies’ to be used to impart lessons.
After this, she formed a WhatsApp group of 50 teachers called Math Forum and started giving them tips on ‘effective online Math teaching.’ Now, the guidance and the mentoring platform have over 200 members.
This apart, she also gives Math classes to students in cases VI to X, online. For this, she has started a YouTube channel a well. Her classes are free and no fee needs to be paid. Her students are spread over the UK, Indonesia, the US, UAE, and India.
Ambuja Iyer, who has over the years taught thousands of students, says she hasn’t felt much of a difference between online and actual classes. She says the essence of good teaching lies in creating good content that students would like.
She spends five hours a day creating content. Then a typing assistant keys it in for her. She then uses tools like WebX to impart lessons.
Ambuja Iyer, who finished her graduation at the age of 17, secured admission to the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). She but could not pursue her studies as her father passed away then. She got a job in a school as a teacher on a temporary basis first. She recollects how she worked her way up without giving homework to students.
Whatever had to be learned would be completed in the class itself. She said the biggest satisfaction as a teacher was that her students remembered whatever was taught in class. And, that is probably why she is ever so happy to teach and be at the forefront of knowledge dissemination; always young at heart.