Edtech Startup Ulipsu raises $3.2 Mn in Pre-Series A funding

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May 25, 2023

Ulipsu, an edtech startup has raised $3.2 million in a pre-Series A investment round that was extended and valued at $50 million. This brings the platform’s round of investment to a close with total funding of $5.7 Mn.

Existing investors as well as high-net-worth individuals (HNIs) from Canada and the Middle East participated in the round. The business further asserts that its seed investors participated in a secondary sale of $225K.

Ulipsu will use the funds to boost its domestic operations and broaden its reach internationally. By expanding its product line and introducing new ones, the firm will use the financing to fuel expansion. To promote growth in the upcoming year, a portion of the cash will also be used to increase hiring.

“Ulipsu offers curricula and material of international standards for more than 15 skills, along with examinations, projects, and skill reports. Schools are valuing Ulipsu greatly since NEP promotes the value of skill development, and we see a huge market opportunity both in India and beyond, according to Sumanth Prabhu, Co-Founder and CEO, Ulipsu.

Srajan Shetty who is an investor shared his reaction and said that “Ulipsu’s planned product development, healthy tractions, strong unit economics, and the likelihood that it will become one of the major players in the K-12 space in the next 2-3 years have enabled the brand to raise a new round of investments this season.”

Ulipsu, an educational technology company founded in 2022 by Prabhu and Nikhil Bhaskar, provides organised skill-based learning programmes for kids between the ages of 6 and 16. Additionally, it offers schools a plug-and-play learning infrastructure that enables them to integrate a variety of courses into their curricula, including those in entrepreneurship, finance, AI, and communication.

Technological innovations geared towards accessibility, convenience and engagement: Dr. Ankur Jain, Vanasthali Public School

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May 24, 2023

Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and the Internet of things are still not a part of mainstream education, despite massive strides in the field nonetheless shared Dr. Ankur Jain, Director, Vanasthali Public School, Ghaziabad in an exclusive conversation with Sheeba Chauhan of Elets News Network. Edited excerpts:

Equitable access to learning opportunities and improved skills development in primary education ensures a better future. Do you think catering to primary education mindfully can transform the education ecosystem?

Our world today is making history every minute, every hour and every day. It will change many things for us, equity in education being one of them. For many years now our education system has been trying hard to ensure equitable access to every child in the school.

It is very important to ensure that primary education is inclusive of every child particularly the most marginalised, including those with different kinds of disabilities or even if they belong to a minority group.

It can transform the education system completely because in order to ensure equity education the school must improve the measurement of learning outcomes. Teachers must be trained to deliver inclusive education and the schools can also improve the quality of the learning environment. Initially catering to primary education only can initiate big change at the later levels.

If we take care of small things, big things automatically fall into the right place.

244 million children and youth are out of school globally, of which 118.5 million are girls. Apart from the several other concern, this is the major concern seen in school-going students. Your comments on the same.

The major cause of the declining number of educated women is the lack of proper infrastructure and facilities for women. The increase in female literacy rate was 3.15% more as compared to the male literacy rate as per the census of 2011. The girls at an early age are engaged in domestic chores. As many parts of our country still have gender bias i.e., either due to social discrimination or economic exploitation. This is also one of the causes of the low retention rate and high dropout of female child unless part of the country still people believe in the system of early marriage. A complete reformation of the education system is required to bring alarming changes to accelerate the graph of girl education.

World Education Summit 2023 in Dubai aims to unlock fresh strategies and foster new approaches to build a future-ready education ecosystem. How do you think such conferences help to uplift education standards at a global level?

A learning ecosystem is a system of people, content, technology, culture, and strategy, existing both within and outside of an organization, all of which have an impact on both the formal and informal learning that goes on in that organization.

Waves of technological innovations geared towards accessibility, convenience and engagement are driving important everyday choices for students that translate to how they absorb new information and integrate it with existing repertoire.

Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and the Internet of things are still not a part of mainstream education, despite massive strides in the field nonetheless.

Conferences held at the global level will surely uplift the education system because such Conferences held at a global level are an exciting biennial gathering of experts in the scientific, technical, and socio-economic dimensions of restoring damaged and degraded ecosystems. In fact, conference attendees are passionate about discussing and debating big-picture issues and broad trends, as well as specific tools, techniques, research, and policies for restoration.

“The age of all things connected: the age of instant generation.”

What is your take on international collaborations for early childhood education?

International student collaboration at an early age helps to promote and revitalise local communities. It is a turning point for the student as it increases interaction between two universities and leads to the improvement in the quality of children.

Children get exposure and opportunities to group problems from multiple perspectives. It also promotes Science and technology development and helps to create global leaders the primary stage of collaboration provides evidence through advocacy and communication on enhancement.

According to UNICEF, over 600 million children and adolescents worldwide are unable to attain minimum proficiency levels in reading and mathematics. What do you consider the issue in developing foundational skills in literacy and numeracy?

Many researchers have proved that the main barrier to understanding mathematics relates to language and the inability to visualise the world problems due to lack of vocabulary leads to an inability to solve the problems. People who have difficulty in sounding out written word struggle to match letters to their proper sounds and will also struggle in comprehending the content of mathematics too. Reading in issues also affects students understanding of symbols and similar words.

A lot of intricate detail and in-depth knowledge is required to relate literacy and numeracy in order to deliver effective education.

Indo-US collaborative working group on education and skill development launched

Government News

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May 23, 2023

The India-US Working Group on Education and Skill Development was established by the Indian Ministry of Education and the US Department of State with the goal of enhancing bilateral collaboration in the field. The Working Groups from India and the US were co-chaired by Neeta Prasad, Joint Secretary for International Cooperation, Ministry of Education, and Donald Lu, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, US Department of State.

On the margins of the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue between India and the US that was conducted in Washington, DC in April of last year, the leaders announced the formation of the India-US Working Group on Education and Skill Development.

Themes that were covered between the two parties included matchmaking between US and Indian higher educational institutions working with the commercial sector, certification and recognition, and skill-building and vocational education.

“Both sides agreed on the value of vocational training and education in today’s industry-focused society. Both parties agreed to promote cooperation between educational institutions, industry stakeholders, and relevant government agencies in order to connect skills training programmes with industry requirements. According to a senior MoE official, this agreement intends to close skills gaps, improve employability, and foster entrepreneurship in both countries.

“The delegates resolved to support and facilitate such alliances in order to promote intellectual and cultural interchange, raise the standard of instruction, and develop innovation and knowledge-sharing. Both parties concurred that stronger connections between educational institutions should be encouraged. The Indian side suggested that the possibility of creating joint, dual, and twinning courses in areas of shared interest be investigated, the official said.

The two parties recognised the value of working with the private sector to align the needs of the education sector with those of the job market, according to MoE officials.

“Both sides agreed to explore avenues to promote public-private partnerships in education and skill development initiatives,” the official stated.

The Indian side emphasised the necessity for swift visa issuance and reiterated their ongoing work on this issue, noting that student and faculty exchanges are at the core of the knowledge collaboration between both nations.

MoE and PARAKH organises workshop to discuss curriculum standards

Government News

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May 23, 2023

The first session to discuss school assessments, examination practices, and equivalence of boards across the nation was organised by the Union Ministry of Education (MoE) and the national assessment body PARAKH.

There are now 60 school examination boards operating in various Indian states and Union Territories. According to Sanjay Kumar, School Education Secretary, “the goal is to create a single framework that permits smooth transitions for children switching between various boards or areas.”

“This includes aligning curriculum standards, grading systems, and evaluation methodologies to enhance the credibility, recognition, and results of certificates and grades obtained across boards,” he continued.

The National Education Policy’s PARAKH reform will establish assessment norms for all boards to assist eliminate score inconsistencies among students registered with various state boards.

All accredited school boards will be required to follow the norms, criteria, and guidelines specified by the Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development (PARAKH).

The National Council for Education Research has picked Education Testing Service to establish the regulatory platform. Education Testing Service administers important exams including the TOEFL and GRE.

“The workshop’s main topic was equivalency between educational boards. Several stakeholders were made aware of PARAKH’s conception. The conversation focused on the requirement to reevaluate the prevalent culture of rote assessment in our educational system. There is a growing understanding that comprehensive evaluations, which consider many aspects of a student’s abilities and potential, are equally significant, according to a top official in the Ministry of Education.

“Further, the discussion underlined the necessity for well-designed, standardised test questions to ensure fairness and uniformity across schools and boards. There is also a demand to balance formative and summative tests in order to lessen the strain of high-stakes exams while still accurately gauging a student’s progress. He said, “An analysis of the intermediate and higher secondary boards’ examination results was also presented.

AI tools unlikely to make editors obsolete: Gunjan Pandita Khashu, Accuracy

Interviews

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May 23, 2023

While the advent of AI tools may change the nature of some editing jobs, it is unlikely to make editors obsolete. There will still be a need for human judgment, quality assurance, personal attention, specialized expertise, and creativity in the editing process. These tools can support the editing process but definitely cannot replace human editors shared, Gunjan Pandita Khashu, COO, Accuracy in an exclusive conversation with Sheeba Chauhan of Elets News Network. Edited excerpts:

Accuracy is acing the language solutions in the most simplified ways. Explain to our readers about your varied services.

At Accuracy, we provide three primary services depending on the client’s end goal and the level of intervention required in the document:

Proofreading: This involves checking for spelling, grammar, punctuation, and formatting errors.
Copyediting: This involves reviewing the text for errors in grammar, syntax, and sentence structure. The editor may also suggest revisions for clarity and concision.
Premium editing: This involves a more in-depth review of the text to ensure that the content is well organized, logically presented, and easy to follow. The editor may also suggest revisions to improve the style, tone, and voice of the writing.

With the enlarged AI market and applications like ChatGPT, do you think it can affect the services like yours in the market?

Though academic editing services and AI tools both have their unique advantages and limitations, here is why I feel these services win over AI:

AI tools often lack the contextual understanding and expertise that human editors have, accounting for the specific field of study, academic standards, and authorial voice.
AI tools lack the human touch and personal attention that editors can provide. They can work with authors to understand their unique writing style and goals, and provide feedback and suggestions that are tailored to their needs.
Though AI tools can detect errors and suggest corrections, they often lack the ability to recognize more subtle writing issues, such as coherence, tone, and clarity. Academic editors can provide a more comprehensive review of a document that goes beyond simple grammar and spelling errors.
Academic editing services involve a team of trained professionals who can provide quality assurance and ensure that the final product meets high academic standards. This includes reviewing citations, formatting, and adherence to style guidelines.
With academic editing services, there is a level of accountability that is often lacking with AI tools. Academic editors can be held accountable for the quality of their work.

World Education Summit 2023 in Dubai aims to unlock fresh strategies and foster new approaches to build a future-ready education ecosystem. How do you think such conferences help to uplift education standards at a global level?

Such conferences can help bring together stakeholders from different backgrounds and regions to share knowledge, collaborate on solutions, and promote policies and practices that can improve education outcomes at a global level. Through this event, we look forward to having a unified platform to convey our message to our target audience.

We appraise your 100% accurate work in editing but today a lot of experienced editing professionals are fearing job loss due to the advent of AI tools. Your comments.

In line with my response above, while the advent of AI tools may change the nature of some editing jobs, it is unlikely to make editors obsolete. There will still be a need for human judgment, quality assurance, personal attention, specialized expertise, and creativity in the editing process. These tools can support the editing process but definitely cannot replace human editors.

Accuracy promises that your documents will be edited and polished to the highest quality standards. How do you manage such high standards of quality? Do you use any specific tools to maintain so?

You can have the best AI tool in the world, but it can still lead to a dissatisfied client. In contrast, we follow some key practices to ensure that we deliver nothing but the best:

We have a very stringent process of hiring only experienced and qualified editors, who have relevant academic and professional qualifications, as well as extensive experience in editing.
We have developed clear guidelines and processes for our editors to follow, including standards for grammar, syntax, style, formatting, and citation, and ensure that these are communicated effectively to them.
We provide ongoing training and support to our editors to ensure that they stay up-to-date with the latest trends, techniques, and tools in academic editing.
We continually monitor the performance of our editors to ensure that each document meets the highest quality standards. This can include having a second editor review or performing regular quality checks.
We communicate effectively with our clients to understand their needs, provide clear feedback and suggestions, and ensure that their expectations are met.
We continuously evaluate and improve our editing processes based on feedback from clients and editors, as well as changes in the industry. Besides editing, one of our major strengths is technology. We are working on innovative solutions that can provide a smooth research cycle to the authors.

AIUB’s Journey of 28 Years in Higher Education: Ishtiaque Abedin, American International University- Bangladesh

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May 22, 2023

American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB), a government-approved private university in Dhaka, Bangladesh, has completed its 28 years journey. In this long journey, over 32,000 domestic and international students have been enrolled in its Undergraduate and Graduate Programs. All of them have achieved recognition in various fields, which include jobs, business ventures, sports, etc., both in Bangladesh and abroad.

In 1994, Dr. Anwarul Abedin founded AIUB under the “Bangladesh Private University Act, 1992”. The permanent campus of AIUB is situated in Kuril area, Dhaka, Bangladesh. AIUB has four academic faculties, namely the Faculty of Engineering, the Faculty of Science & Information Technology, the Faculty of Business Administration, and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Each of these faculties consists of various departments offering several Undergraduate and Graduate Programs. AIUB also conducts short courses on language learning, enterprise networking, system administration, graphic designing, animation, programming, web development, and emerging technologies.

AIUB has efficaciously organised 21 convocation ceremonies to date, which include Chancellor’s Award, Vice Chancellor’s Award, Dr. Anwarul Abedin Leadership Award, and numerous different several other academic awards. Moreover, various scholarships such as merit-based scholarships, need based scholarships, freedom fighter category scholarships, and international student scholarships are offered to the students enrolled in the university.

AIUB has academic partnerships with renowned universities in countries all over the world, including USA, UK, Canada, Japan, Australia, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Taiwan, Philippines, South Africa, and India. Higher education international exchange programs feature regularly in almost every semester and are participated in by faculties, officers, and students. AIUB has many collaborative partners, including Cisco Networking Academy, Oracle Academy, Microsoft Imagine Academy, Bangladesh Cricket Board, Bangladesh Football Federation, etc.

For its fervent contribution to higher education, AIUB has been ranked among the World’s Universities with Real Impact 2022 Rankings. Furthermore, AIUB has been featured in QS World University Rankings, Times Higher Education World University Rankings, Scimago Institutions Rankings. AIUB has been recognized by many organizations, such as ISO 9001: 2008 domestically and internationally, for its steadfast contributions to the quality of higher education.

Since its establishment, AIUB has been regularly publishing international standard journals titled AIUB Journal of Business and Economics and AIUB Journal of Science and Engineering. AIUB is also involved in research work functioning through its Center for Sustainable Energy Research, Center for Nanotechnology Research, Center for Biomedical Research, Center for Robotics & Automation and Business Incubation Center. International conferences and seminars are organized by AIUB every year. These conferences are mainly concentrated in the subject areas of business and management, computing advancement, sustainable development, robotics, and electrical and signal processing techniques.

AIUB enjoys an eco-friendly campus with modern classrooms and an ultramodern library with an accommodation capacity of over five hundred students at a time. The library has about 44,000 books, 69,000 online journals, millions of e-books, and other educational materials. In addition, there are computer labs, language labs, engineering labs, physics labs, chemistry labs, 3-D animation labs, IP labs, moot court, architecture studios & media studios, and daycare facilities.

AIUB is proud to offer modern multipurpose halls, auditoriums, cafeterias, food courts, a world-class medical center, and an ultramodern gymnasium. AIUB has separate prayer rooms for people of various religious beliefs available to everyone on campus for freely practicing their faith.

AIUB facilitates 24-hour free Wi-Fi internet services. AIUB students enjoy ultramodern sports facilities, including football cricket ground, basketball court, tennis court, volleyball court, badminton court, and indoor games venue. There are a total of 16 clubs at AIUB premises for co-curricular activities, and each club registers eager new participants each semester.

Several prominent sports athletes of Bangladesh have enrolled as students at AIUB. Litton Kumer Das, Taskin Ahmed, Sabbir Rahman, Mominul Haque, Afif Hossain, Abu Hider Roni, Anamul Haque Bijoy, and Akbar Ali are all remarkable players who regularly feature in Bangladesh national cricket. On top of that, Sanjida Akhtar, Monika Chakma, Krishna Rani Sarkar, Mishrat Jahan Moushumi are all proud AIUB alumni who are members of the Bangladesh women’s football team.

Renowned alumni of AIUB Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah Riyad are all skilled players of the Bangladesh national cricket team, while Zahid Parvez, Faisal Mahmud are serving the Bangladesh national football team. The first Bangladeshi to become the Principal Engineer of Google, Zaheed Sabur is also a former student of AIUB. Ex-students of this university are currently occupying prominent positions like in various enterprises in Bangladesh and beyond.

AIUB is committed to imparting the highest quality technology-based higher education meeting the 21st Century market demands.

It is unequivocally certain that AIUB will be a practical hub for higher education, fulfilling the dreams of parents and students of international students. So, what are you waiting for? Come, join AIUB, and be a force to be reckoned with!

Views expressed by Ishtiaque Abedin, Founder Member and Chairman, Board of Trustees, American International University- Bangladesh(AIUB).

Educated students are key to a successful future for India and the world: Dr Madhuri Sawant, Brainquartz

Interviews

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May 19, 2023

AI tools ultimately synthesize content in a much more focused manner than search engines, so one can think of them as “the next generation of search engines. Another aspect is that we will absolutely have to change our systems of evaluating talent. There may be a shift to more synchronous forms of learning or identifying deliberate flaws in AI reasoning, or more, shared Dr Madhuri Sawant, Founder & MD, Brainquartz in an exclusive conversation with Sheeba Chauhan of Elets News Network. Edited excerpts:

From the doors of IIT Bombay to building Brainquartz, your journey seems incredible. Let us know about your journey, success, and pitfalls in the path. Your vision behind starting Brainquartz.

Completing my PhD from IIT Bombay was an intense but incomparable experience, especially as a woman in the 1970s. Those five years taught me a lot of life skills including patience, acceptance of failure, and resilience. Thereafter, I continued teaching at IIT, and then in various university departments for some time before I joined the corporate sector.

Subsequently, I was involved in an ambitious Government of India’s Aakash Tablet project to distribute tablets to students for learning from rural areas. There were certainly challenges, but the results were astonishing to me in terms of the ease of uptake of technology by children and their selfmotivation. I then served as an education advisor to my home state of Maharashtra, where I conducted satellite internetbased teachers’ training for over 1000 teachers at a time in 10 remote, geographically dispersed districts – the first of its kind in India. This experience taught me how technology can be leveraged to drive better outcomes for teachers.

These experiences along with my deep, decades-long interest in learning and teaching drove me in starting Brainquartz. Our ethos is very simple: educated students are key to a successful future for India and the world, but we must have teachers who are capable of nurturing such students since they are the pillars of the education institution. This requires world-class teacher training, which is what Brainquartz provides.

How are you executing your mission of building a world-class learning experience? How technologies are leveraged to make this mission a great success?

Brainquartz’s mission is to provide the best training to teachers from the broadest set of backgrounds. This is not a trivial task. Many teachers are apprehensive about using technology. Some are apprehensive of new teaching techniques. Some are simply uncomfortable with change.

We recognise and address all of these concerns through the use of empathy, simplicity, and a gradual approach to the value of technology in helping them and their students. We provide example based learning that empowers them with subject knowledge and demonstrates the effective use of the right combination of approach and technology for each subject. We practice what we preach by using this combination to develop our own high-quality content which teachers and learners alike can use.

In terms of specific technologies, our content uses Q&A type videos which provoke reflection right in the moment. We also use animations to assist with visualizations of abstract concepts. And we use responsive design to make sure that our content can be viewed on any device at any time.

With the enlarged AI market and applications like ChatGPT, do you take this as a peril or promise for your target market?

A little bit of both. The peril is at two levels. The first is using tools like ChatGPT to generate answers to questions without having to put in the critical thinking that would otherwise have been required to generate those answers. This means that written answers can no longer serve as an effective proxy for understanding, which encourages cheating, etc. The second level is that with our current systems of learner evaluation, we run the risk of certifying entire generations of learners as qualified in skills that they clearly would not have, which is not desired.

But there is also promise. AI tools ultimately synthesize content in a much more focused manner than search engines, so one can think of them as “the next generation of search engines. Another aspect is that we will absolutely have to change our systems of evaluating talent. There may be a shift to more synchronous forms of learning, or identifying deliberate flaws in AI reasoning, or more. AI certainly isn’t perfect, and identifying flaws in its reasoning, or having it as a virtual “debate opponent”, could sharpen skills in ways that we haven’t had a chance to explore before.

World Education Summit 2023 in Dubai aims to unlock fresh strategies and foster new approaches to build a future-ready education ecosystem. How do you think such conferences help to uplift education standards at a global level?

I commend the work that the organizers of World Education Summit 2023 are doing. Conferences such as this facilitate these exchanges of ideas & best practices through both presentations (one-to-many) and networking (one-on-one).

Today we are at the intersection of multiple global megatrends: ubiquitous connectivity, high-value use cases such as digital payments, remote work/remote education, misinformation, and climate change. However, globally, there is no uniformity in education systems, every country follows its own style of school education system. Such platforms and conferences could bring uniformity and best practices and ideas which could be adapted globally to standardise school education system.

The exchange of ideas and best practices, ideally in an in person setting, helps educators, technologists, businesspeople, and policymakers from around the world drive higher standards in their respective spheres and as a result for the whole world.

Your aim is to make knowledge more accessible through simple methods of learning and making education more relevant to students. How is Brainquartz bringing accessibility while keeping a watch on quality education?

The Brainquartz philosophy stands on three pillars: (1) no compromises on the quality of content; (2) leveraging of technology to make this content more accessible; (3) relying on natural human curiosity to drive learning.

One of the most powerful aspects of technology is the ability to separate content creation and distribution. Previously, high-quality training used to require a high degree of in-person presence, but now we can create content ahead of time, have a lesser in-person presence to stimulate engagement, and continue engagement online after the fact. We have found this “online/ in-person/online” cycle to be very effective at driving high-value outcomes for teachers and students.

Our ongoing assessment of the students after completing every topic keeps the track of their understanding of the concepts in the classroom/ online teaching quantitatively. While the collaborative projects, story writing, storytelling, and lab experiments activities monitor students’ engagement in the subject, and respect for others’ ideas qualitatively

How Chat GPT is transforming the role of teachers in today’s world of digital learning?

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May 19, 2023

There is no doubt that Chat GPT has come to capture the imagination of everyone including tech geeks, professionals, businesses, school and college students, among others. In a clear advancement on the preeminent Google search, this generative large language model tool has promised to do, and indeed proved it as such, what no technology or device has done so far – namely, offer well-reasoned, synthesized answers to possibly all questions that a human can have, replicating the human language and thinking process.

While the full implications of its advent and rise are still being debated with a plethora of views and opinions doing the rounds depending on where one came from, the AI-based chatbot seems to be particularly impacting the education profession and the larger educational community. And within this community, even as students the world over are relishing the idea of using this newly found ‘homework assistant,’ the teachers are still trying to get their heads around it.

So, at a time when digital or online learning, buoyed by the emergence of new-age edtech companies and startups, is on the ascendancy, how is Chat GPT really transforming the role of teachers?

Accepting Chat GPT and not negating it

First, instead of continuously looking at the downsides and finding faults with it, most teachers are accepting Chat GPT as a fact of life and are trying to use it to maximize teaching-learning efficiencies. With AI increasingly becoming a more integral part of our everyday lives, teachers realize that it is better to embrace technology than to wish it away. Even if they ban the AI-based tool on the school’s servers or the students’ mobile phones, they know full well that it would be practically impossible to ban its use altogether. And therefore, they are increasingly incorporating Chat GPT as a part of their teaching strategy and toolkit.

Reinventing ways of classroom engagement

Second, Chat GPT has prompted teachers to restructure their forms of classroom engagement with their students in many ways. For instance, instead of plainly asking students to carry out a certain written assignment – that may involve a mix of pre-stored information retrieval from memory or experience, subjective yet coherent thought process, sequential as well as abstract reasoning, and structural language skills – teachers are asking students to make a comparison of what they can come up with and what Chat GPT has to offer on a given subject. In other words, they are helping students to explore for themselves the capacities as well as limitations of this AI bot.

Using it as a teaching assistance tool

Third, teachers are taking recourse to Chat GPT as a form of teaching assistance with a view to prepare lesson plans, devise assessment and testing material including exercises and quizzes while also generating explanations, descriptions and summaries. With GPT emerging as a source of instant and ready-to-access information and knowledge, they are also using it to give instant feedback and observations on student’s performance during activities and discussions in the classroom, both physical and online. In addition, they are using it for assessment and scoring of students in tests and examinations. By using Chat GPT to automate repetitive tasks, they have been able to focus on more meaningful and worthwhile tasks critical to students’ learning outcomes.

Employing Chat GPT for research

Fourth, since teachers are essentially also researchers and scholars aiming to produce new knowledge and insights on a regular basis, they are using Chat GPT to good effect as a research assistant. Moreover, they are also guiding their students in learning to use it efficiently for research. In the process, they are also helping their students in navigating the ethical complexities of ownership and attribution rights for a pre-existing research or written output.

Using Chat GPT’s capacity for translation to source quality learning material

Fifth, as a potent tool for translation, teachers are also sourcing the best of learning material in other languages and using Chat GPT to translate it for the benefit of their own students.

Therefore, by embracing Chat GPT, teachers are not only showing themselves to be resilient and adaptive but also making their students future-ready. Simultaneously, while being vigilant on cheating and plagiarism issues, they are simultaneously helping their students to use it ethically and efficiently.

Views expressed by Aarul Malviya, Founder, Zamit

UGC launches two websites to enhance quality education in India – UTSAH and PoP portals

Higher Education

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May 17, 2023

Two new projects have been started by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to promote the National Education Policy 2020 execution and raise the standard of higher education in India. In addition to a new, user-friendly website, the UGC has also established a portal for professors of practise (PoP) and a thorough UTSAH (Undertaking Transformative Strategies and Actions in Higher Education) portal.

Information for various stakeholders, including as students, teachers, and universities, is categorised on the revamped UGC website to make it easier for them to find. The website serves as a one-stop shop for all information pertaining to UGC by providing information about important initiatives, student and teacher corners, and e-governance portals.

The National Education Policy 2020 and its strategic initiatives are intended to be implemented across all higher education institutions (HEIs) in the nation, and the UTSAH Portal attempts to monitor and facilitate this process. The portal will act as a repository for rules, norms, and policies published by the UGC and give comprehensive information regarding UGC initiatives for qualitative improvements in higher education. The UTSAH Portal will also keep track of outputs and results in areas including internationalisation, industry-institute partnerships, and digital learning.

HEIs will be asked to enter information on various activities falling under the 10 selected thrust areas into the UTSAH Portal using their AISHE code. Based on the data supplied by HEIs, the UGC will produce monthly reports that will help with future planning and informed policy-making.

The Professor of Practise (PoP) Portal was launched by the UGC in accordance with the National Education Policy 2020 to make it easier for institutions to find qualified professionals with the necessary expertise. Experts from any discipline can register on the PoP Portal and complete their profiles with specific information, including their area of knowledge, years of work experience, location, and type of engagement. Universities and other organisations can sign up for an account on the portal, upload adverts for the employment of PoPs with the necessary number of posts and domain, and read the profiles of experts who have registered there.

Digital wave has the potential to revolutionise education: Nirmal Singh, Wheebox

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May 15, 2023

The rise of digital education platforms can help bridge the gap between students who have access to the internet and those who do not. Many platforms offer free online courses that can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection. These platforms can help students learn at their own pace and provide them with quality education shared, Nirmal Singh, Founder & CEO, Wheebox in an exclusive conversation with Sheeba Chauhan of Elets News Network. Edited excerpts:

Two-thirds of the world’s school-aged children do not have an internet connection in their homes. How do you think the revolutionizing digital wave going to mitigate the same?

I believe that the revolutionising digital wave can play a crucial role in mitigating the lack of internet connectivity for school-aged children. Governments and Private organisations are working towards developing digital infrastructure in remote and rural areas to ensure so, that students have access to the internet. They are hugely investing in laying down fiber optic cables, providing Wi-Fi hotspots, and investing in satellite-based internet services.

The rise of digital education platforms can help bridge the gap between students who have access to the internet and those who do not. Many platforms offer free online courses that can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection. These platforms can help students learn at their own pace and provide them with quality education. In my views, companies must build digital native apps that only take one-time internet connectivity to download and then subsequently the content and assessments can be run within Apps.

Wheebox examination platform can be accessed through low cost smartphones. We are also partnering with governments and organisations to equip them with online assessments empowering schools, higher education and other public institutions for on demand and scalable examinations using digital native apps for low stake tests or test preps.

Overall, I believe that the digital wave has the potential to revolutionise education and provide equal opportunities for all, but it is important that we work towards solutions that are inclusive and accessible to everyone, regardless of their socioeconomic background.

Assessment and Evaluation is one the significant step when it comes to teaching & learning. Do you think remote proctoring will ever be able to replace the physical watch of teachers?

I believe that remote proctoring is a powerful tool that can aid in the assessment and evaluation process that ensures the same rigour as online exams. At Wheebox, our scalable and secured AI-enabled remote proctoring solution provides a secure and reliable assessment experience for both test-takers and exam administrators. Our AI ensures advanced features such as face recognition, screen monitoring, 360-degree viewing, and voice and keystroke biometrics to ensure the integrity of the exam. We believe our solution will complement teachers while conducting tests anytime, anywhere rather than competing with teachers for Physical watch.

As a company, we will continue to innovate and improve our remote proctoring solution to provide a reliable and secure assessment experience.

Wheebox designs tailor-made assessments after a thorough analysis of clients’ main requirements. Let us know about the technologies used for developing the same.

I am proud to say that our assessment solutions are backed by the latest and most advanced technologies available in the market. We use a combination of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analytics to design and develop assessments that are tailored to meet the specific needs of our clients.

Our team of experts works closely with clients to understand their requirements and create customized assessments that are both reliable and valid. Our strategic partners Microsoft, Amazon, and IBM ensure that we produce cutting-edge technologies to ensure that our assessments are not only accurate but also efficient and cost-effective.

In addition, we constantly strive to stay ahead of the curve by researching and adopting new technologies that can further enhance the quality and effectiveness of our assessments. At Wheebox, we believe that technology is the key to delivering innovative and impactful assessment solutions, and we are committed to leveraging it to its fullest potential.

World Education Summit 2023 in Dubai aims to unlock fresh strategies and foster new approaches to build a future-ready education ecosystem. How do you think such conferences help to uplift education standards at a global level?

I believe that conferences like such bring together the brightest minds in the field of education to unlock fresh strategies and foster new approaches to building a future-ready education ecosystem. This can lead to the development of policies and initiatives that can benefit students, teachers, and educational institutions globally. Our mission for 2024 is to study the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Future of Education, Work and Mobility. The summit gives us the opportunity to explore innovative technologies, methodologies, and best practices that can help in transformation.

I strongly believe that the conferences by the World Education Summit 2023 can serve as a catalyst for change and inspire stakeholders to work towards creating a better future for education.

Wheebox is measuring the world’s talent and skill potential. Based on your analysis, let us know about the 21st-century skills that can make an individual industry ready worldwide.

I can say that in the 21st century, skills that are essential to make an individual industry ready have evolved beyond just technical skills. Our analysis shows that the following 21st-century skills are essential to make an individual industry-ready worldwide:

Digital Proficiency
Critical Thinking
Learning Agility
Interpersonal Skills
Communication skills
Leadership

In conclusion, the rapid pace of technological advancements, coupled with the changing nature of work, demands a combination of hard and soft skills.

Apart from remote proctoring, what are the other solutions the company is building to enhance cognitive development in the education sector?

I am proud to say that our company is dedicated to develop innovative solutions to enhance cognitive development in the education sector beyond remote proctoring. One such solution is our Adaptive Learning platform, which uses artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to tailor content and learning experiences to each individual student’s needs and learning style. This platform provides personalised learning experiences that are more engaging, effective, and efficient for students, enabling them to learn more effectively and retain knowledge longer.

In addition, we are continuously enhancing our Gamification based Learning platform that leverages the power of gaming to make learning more fun and engaging for students. Overall, at Wheebox, we are committed to developing cutting-edge solutions that help students improve their cognitive development and achieve their full potential in the education sector.

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