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Չարլզ Դիքենս - 2012 / Մասնակիցներ
Վարկանիշ` 2662
Լիանա Մնոյան
ք. Երևանի թիվ 94 ա/դ
12-4
What Would Dickens Write Today?
"It’s already too late and I am too tired, how I would like to finish this chapter and only then go to sleep,’’ thought Charles Dickens to himself while he was working in his room at Tavistock House in late spring of 1853.
"Where are you, Charles? Are you working?" called Catherine.
These were the last words of his wife that he heard in the far distance and fell asleep. He could not even imagine that wakening up he would find himself in one of the Armenian high schools of the 21st century during English lesson.
"Where am I? Who are these children sitting in groups and discussing something? What black boxes are placed on the tables?" All these questions immediately rose in Mr. Dickens’s mind when the teacher announced the end of the discussion time and asked the presenters from each group to present their group’s points of view.
"Teacher? Are these children students? Yes, I heard they call her a teacher and she address them students. Am I at school? No, it cannot be. Why are they not dressed in school uniforms? Why are they gathered around a table, and why is that boy speaking in a sitting position?"
Mr. Dickens became thoughtful when one of the students told the teacher that their group had prepared slides and they would like to make their presentation with PowerPoint. Telling this, he switched on the computer and connected it with the projector. In a minute, a slide showing generation differences appeared on the wall. While he was presenting, the slides were changing. When the children finished their presentation the teacher corrected their mistakes, made comments at the same time praising and motivating her students.
“I am probably in the school of the future, where physical punishment and cruelty towards children is absent, a place where besides knowledge students get emotional support and understanding. How I wish my heroes, the pupils of the Victorian Era, Oliver Twist, Paul Dombey and David Copperfield studied in such a school. If it were so, they would not undergo sufferings under the control of the cruel headmasters and teachers as they did at Blimber's school and Salem House. I am glad to know that teaching methods have been cardinally changed providing students the opportunity of collaboration, discovery learning and social personal development. I see that technology has also revolutionized education. Different tools have been developed that make learning experience much more interactive and interesting.
"Charles, Charles, are you sleeping?" Mr. Dickens again heard his wife’s voice and woke up.

References
1. Dickens, Ch. (1947). The Personal History of David Copperfield. Oxford University Press
2. Dickens. Ch. (1950). Dealings with the Firm of Dombey and Son: wholesale, retail, and for
exportation. Oxford University Press
3. Dickens, Ch. (1994). Oliver Twist. London: Penguin Books
4. Charles Dickens’s biography. Retrieved January 11, 2012 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens