Giving Life Another Chance

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October 1, 2010

How the USAID supported programme, Ek Mauka, is providing basic livelihood and employability skills to out-of-school deprived youth

If India is to realise its vision of being a world leader, it has to empower its burgeoning youth population by providing them with relevant education and skills. Currently, the lack of quality and relevance in the education system results in most of the children leaving school before they complete their basic education. Those who complete their education often lack basic skills, like communication, critical thinking, and life skills that can help them find employment opportunities once they are out of school. It is estimated that only 25% of technical graduates and 10 to 15% of general graduates have the necessary skills for immediate employment. Access to vocational training is also limited, with only 2% youth receiving formal and 8% receiving informal skills training.

This shortage of knowledge and skills has resulted in a workforce that does not meet the demands of the current and future job market that largely caters to a globalised economy. This in turn has led to an increase in the number of unemployed youth despite steady economic growth. Of those who are employed, a large proportion is underemployed with jobs that are not commensurate with their educational qualifications. The continued exclusion and disillusionment of these young people May prove costly for India in terms of social stability. Uneducated and unskilled youth tend to become socially marginalised; the resultant boredom and idleness can be significant drivers of violent extremism among such youth.

The government, civil society, and the private sector are all aware of the extent of this challenge. However, a holistic, coordinated effort to address this challenge has been lacking. Over the past few years, both the government and the private sector have made significant investments in this sector. The government has launched new programs and expanded existing schemes. However, the quality of the various government programmes is not consistent and significant gaps remain, including; poor linkages with emerging industries and the current job market; weak monitoring; and outdated pedagogy. The majority of these programmes do not assure job placement. Therefore, their credibility is low among potential students. Private sector efforts, on the other hand, mainly cater to better-off students and therefore are limited in their reach.

Given these gaps in skill development, a number of NGOs, funded by donor organisations and private foundations, have launched skill development initiatives for the poor and disadvantaged. Many of these programmes have been very successful, having placed a number of disadvantaged youth in new economy jobs. As the courses offered are short term and flexible and have no access barriers, they are also popular with students.

The USAID supported Ek Mouka programme provides basic life and employability skills to deprived out-of-school youth. Implemented by the CAP Foundation, a Hyderabad based NGO, the programme provides training to youth, aged 18-25, in market-oriented skills, such as computer usage, spoken English, communications, and customer relations to make them more employable. Poor and marginally educated youth are mobilised, provided training in the skills sought by industry, and then linked to jobs. The programme is designed in close collaboration with the private sector and fulfills their need for trained manpower. Apart from providing financial resources and sharing training costs, the private sector is also engaged in market surveys, curriculum development, classroom lectures, training, and placement. Partnerships have also been established with government and non-government organisations for supporting scale-up, implementation, technical cooperation, and resource mobilisation.

Over the past four years, Ek Mouka has provided training to over 100,000 youth across 15 states, with a placement rate of over 70%. The placement figure does not include a number of graduates opted to pursue further education instead of employment as a result of the programme. The average entry level salary of the graduates is ` 3500 per month and, in most cases, this has made a significant difference to the lives and families of these poor youth. The quality of the training has been ensured through a dynamic curriculum, digitised content, frequent training of trainers, regular assessments, and close monitoring, including tracking of students post placement. The entire process, from mobilisation to final job placement, was standardised and internationally certified (ISO 9001:2008).

Some of the key lessons learned from the implementation of this programme include:

At every stage, close engagement of the industry is critical to the success of any skill development programme;
The curriculum needs to be dynamic and flexible and must reflect the demands of local industry;
Students need to be multi-skilled, particularly for entry-level jobs. Training them in specific technical skills limits their career path;
Life skills, including workplace readiness skills, are a key component of any skill; development/vocational training intervention, especially if its target group is poor and disadvantaged youth;
The trainers are a key link in the entire process. Adequate investment must be made to build their capacity; having trainers from the same community as the trainees help;
Use of technology for delivering content, as well as for assessment and monitoring helps ensure quality in large scale programmes;
Linking training to placement ensures accountability of the service provider;
Education and skill development needs to be seen as a continuum. Skill development programmes should emphasise the importance of education in a career.

Ek Mouka has provided training to over 100,000 youth across 15 states, with a placement rate of over 70%

Through another initiative called Skills for Youth (SkY), USAID is attempting to use some of these lessons to strengthen current government programmes and policies on skill development. A holistic approach to skill development will need to have the following essential components:

Improved quality of the secondary and higher secondary education systems, with an emphasis on critical thinking, communication, teamwork and strong career counseling. At the end of high school, students should be able to make a conscious decision on whether they will pursue higher education or vocational education;
Improved quality of vocational training programmes. Programmes should be closely linked to the industry; provide strong life skills/workplace readiness skills; and be linked to job placement. While there could be a broad curricular framework at the national level, service providers should have the flexibility to adapt this framework to local industry demands;
An integrated vocational education and higher education system. Students should be able to carry over credits from vocational courses to a university degree course;
A parallel “second chance” system for those who have not been to school or dropped out of school early. This system should have provisions for lateral entry into the education system. Given the Right to Education and the government's emphasis on universal elementary education, such a parallel system should not be required in the long term.

Although the author is employed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and May or May not be those of the Agency.

Technology @ British School

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digitalLEARNING Network

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October 1, 2010

Technology @ British School

www.british-school.org

digitalLEARNING brings to you a peek-view of The British School. It is an international school which is based n the National Curriculum Of England, with suitable adaptations, to take into account the location in New Delhi. It has approximately 650 students on roll and currently has 58 nationalities. Its a diverse cultural mix with the truly international flavour

By Yukti Pahwa & Sheena Joseph

The British School, New Delhi, was founded in 1963. It is a not-for-profit day school with an international student population of about 60 nationalities, with around 640 students enrolled in classes from nursery to year 13. The school offer’s a unique teacher to student ration of 1:6 and holds professional affiliations with the cambridge International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO) and is an accredited member of Council of International Schools.

It has a fully wireless campus, has on-line research databases, facilities for teachers to plan activites online and has virtual learning environment.

The school facilitates international education by enabling students from Delhi who have a clear vision or who May think of opting places like UK , USA and Canada for their higher studies, through their course and curriculum.

It also has runs the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme that includes a period of industry training. The objective is to help the students with soft skills that go a lon way in their careers, as also help student prepare for the real world challenges. This has been done due to the fact that at this age children have the widest grasping mind and intellect power. This programme runs for the final two years of a student’s secondary education.

Intercultural Schooling with a Difference!

Graham Ranger
Director, The British School

In conversation with, Graham Ranger, Director of The British School, New Delhi. There he teaches on the IB Diploma Programme. He has been heading the school since July 07. From 2002-07 he was one of Her Majesty’s Inspector’s of Schools, in England, with national responsibility for helping to improve some of the most dysfunctional schools
in inner city areas. Here is what he had to say about the school:

What are the measures taken by the school to provide international education with Indian soul?

We do not set out to be an Indian school. We do not follow ICSE or CBSE. We set out to follow overseas curriculum and 90% of our teaching staff is Indian. The aim to have such a large percentage of teachers is to be able to imbue Indian culture amongst its students. We have students of about 60 different nationalities in our school. We work towards forming an inclusive society through the education system we follow.

Kindly elaborate on the teaching-learning and other activities at school.

Our school is a reservoir of privilege. Our teacher student ration is 1:6. What is offered here, as compared to some other schools, is learning with technology. Technology has played an important part in changing the role of a teacher in the present day scenario, in terms of making teaching learning process interactive and having group based learning. We encourage students to participate in their education, speak and evaluate their education.

I do not want students to come to school, sit silently throughout the day and absorb wisdom, which is a very outdated traditional method. We are an accredited school by Council of International Schools. There are many schools who are members with CIS but only five schools are accredited by CIS and we proudly, are one of them.

What are the challenges and opportunities that ICT brings to education in your school?

The challenge for teachers is the role change/ cultural change, not being the only source of information students can access, which was the case earlier. Secondly, to keep up technologically with students, especially, on what the students do with it in their leisure time. If we do not use the technology as well as the students, then I think we are letting them down.

One downside is the amount of control you have to bring in, in form of filters and checks. Talking about opportunities, we have a fully wireless environment; children can bring their laptops and access any information anywhere.

We have Promethean interactive whiteboards in every classroom and there is a time to time training for the teachers to make them adept with the technology being used so that they are at ease while using the same with students. For teachers, one of the benefits is that they are using IT now, they are using software where system track the progress of the students and reduce the menial administrative work required of teachers. We also have intranet facility for parents and students, to cut down on emailing. So, all students can just access the website and get all updates. We are, also at present, trailing with Moodle, which is an online virtual learning environment/ platform with primary and secondary students.

What are the efforts taken by your school to enhance the capacity building amongst teachers?

Everybody gets a full induction of all the technology available at the school. We invest a high percentage of our budget into training the teachers, that is, six percent. This is because we have to have internationally competitive staff and we have to give them exposure to the technology being used across other international school.

Does the school hold any collaborations? What do you opine about PPP in school education system?

We have collaborations with a lot of corporate houses, in order to provide students who are about to graduate with work experience. The students are also later, additionally, put through CRS units of corporate houses to get a week of experience with NGOs and social work. We have membership with Round Square. About PPP, it is a good model for schools but only when much needed invest comes from private players but at the same time accountability is maintained through public aspect of the partnership. It becomes a topic of concern when it leads to springing up of school like mushrooms, especially with respect to the quality of education it brings along.

Is RPL a Myth in India?

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digitalLEARNING Network

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October 1, 2010

Is RPL a Myth in India?

Workers with few, or no formal qualifications are most vulnerable in securing decent employment. By formally recognising workers' skills, Recognition of Prior Learning is seen as a means of creating a level playing field in order for them to gain opportunities for further learning and to improve career prospects

By Mamta Srivastava & S S Jena

The Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) provides individuals with an opportunity to validate skills and competencies, which have not been formally recognised. The importance of recognising skills, including prior learning and previous experience, irrespective of the countries where they were acquired and whether acquired formally or informally, is also highlighted by the ILO's Recommendation (No. 195) on Human Resources Development: Education, Training and Lifelong Learning.

Open and Distance Learning need to address issues on how to standardise competencies within the broad framework of RPL for placing a comprehensive educational system

The role of RPL as a means of facilitating participation in formal education and training is often highlighted. However, in India no documented studies have examined the practice of RPL in the workplace, or otherwise, despite its potential contribution as a means of enhancing employability, labour mobility and career prospects.

The need for giving emphasis on skill development, especially for the less educated, poor and out of school youth has been highlighted in various fora. The skill level and educational attainment of the work force determines the productivity, income levels as well as the adaptability of the working class in changing environment. Large percentage of population in India is living below poverty line. One of the important causes is lower percentage of skilled persons in the workforce.

Those workers who acquired skills predominantly on the job or through other activities are often disadvantaged in gaining access to formal education and training, or in securing employment which adequately reflects their skills and experience. Workers with few, or no, formal qualifications are most vulnerable in securing decent employment due to absence of opportunity both vertically and horizontally.

By formally recognising their skills, RPL is seen as a means of creating a level playing field in order for them to gain opportunities for further learning and to improve career prospects. Recognition of skills can contribute much to the self-esteem and motivation of workers. For the growing enterprises, a better recognition of workers skills is a way to overcome skills shortages and match skills demand with supply. It can also provide an opportunity to improve the overall skill level and work performance of an industry.
In India, skill development at present is taking place mostly in the informal way, i.e. persons acquire skill at the work-place when they help their parents, relatives and employers etc. and such skills get transferred from one generation to another.

However, as been observed often, such persons do not have a formal certificate and thus earn lower wages and are exploited mostly by their employers. They have come through informal system due to socio-economic circumstances of the family and the compulsions of earning a livelihood rather than attending a formal course. While their productivity is low, their contribution to the national GDP cannot be ignored.

It is in this context that there is a growing demand to create a system of certification, which not only recognises their skills but also provides education and training in a mode that suits their economic compulsions. It will not only benefit the workforce to earn a decent living but also contribute to the national economy by better productivity of this workforce.

What Open and Distance Learning should do?

The ODL need to address issues on how to standardise the competencies within the broad framework of RPL for placing a comprehensive educational system, a clearly defined qualifications framework linked to occupational standards, and a sufficient resource capacity to administer the system and ensure quality. For this, the system needs to draw emphasis on several aspects.

These include an established framework of credit, qualifications and/or occupational standards and awareness among employers, practitioners and candidates. Autonomy for providers to develop their own system according to target group, needs and resources are also to be looked into.

Rigorous assessment processes to ensure quality and clear, jargon-free information to the learner is also required. Sufficient resources and investment in the skills of practitioners and assessors will be required to administer the system. There is a need for recognition of, and investment in, skills needed by applicants to access an RPL process.

The major concern in the context is the absence of a well laid down Vocational Qualification Framework in India and how the competencies and the skills be graded. The question of equivalency also needs to be addressed. Awareness among employers is another issue, which needs to be addressed consistently.

The Challenges

As has been observed, majority of the workforce are in unorganised sectors in India and those are the workforce that possess skills required for a particular job. Hence, there is a huge challenge in identifying where skills exist, communicating to potential candidates, and administering the process, is immense, including low levels of literacy and numeracy among potential candidates. Also, RPL is expensive (as mentioned in documents of other countries), yet should be less expensive than training. In developed countries, RPL has tended to incur costs for learners. Cost could be reduced by streamlining processes, using online support, and workshops for candidates.

There have to be clear indications of who is required to pay for what, and when. A nominal charge May help adult learners value the process. In many countries, outcomes are linked to occupational standards rather than curricular structures, leading to a lack of connectivity with further education and a mindset that a certificate of recognition is an end rather than a means to further development. Developing a critical linkage between the practitioners and the trainers in the context of the RPL is required. Record keeping and its updation is the real challenge for the certification. Establishing relationship with the skills and requirement in certification in a graded system and establishing the relationships between RPL, and regular assessment process, within a broad, flexible framework for assessment are the other areas of concern.

Qualifications are regulated because the public – learners, employers and others who use qualifications – want qualifications that are appropriate, of high quality, valued and respected by others in the community and understood by those who take them and use them. Can RPL fit into this framework of traditionally defining the qualification framework needs to be seen in the context.

Dr. S S Jena
Chairman National Institute of Open Schooling
(NIOS)

Dr. Mamta Srivastava
Deputy Director
Vocational Education Department
National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS)

Open Access to Engineering Education

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digitalLEARNING Network

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October 1, 2010

www.cdeep.iitb.ac.in

The Live Webcast project at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay provides web based distance education solution for engineering aspirants and benefits those living in remote areas

By Rahul Deshmukh

The live webcast course at Center of Distance Education Programme (CDEEP) IIT Bombay has been started with the objective of providing quality education in the field of science and engineering, to any willing individual, free of cost. Live webcast courses are ideally suited for individualised learning. They seek to benefit all those who live in remote areas, and those who want to update their knowledge. With the spread of the virtual classroom, CDEEP is proving that distance is no longer an obstacle to learning. The project provides web based distance education solution for those wanting to pursue an engineering degree.

Why Distance Education?

About 500,000 students enroll in engineering studies in India every year at the undergraduate level which is only 2.5% of the age group. Although only a select group studies engineering, according to McKinsey report, only 25% of the engineering graduates of India are employable. The main reason for this state of affairs is deficiency of quality faculty in the engineering colleges of India. Because of this dismal state, not many students with a Bachelor's degree in engineering are ready to go for higher studies. Moreover, less than 1% of them can hope to enroll in Masters programs. This has resulted in a big shortage of Masters and Ph.D graduates in India.Also, out of the astounding number of students who throng to give the engineering entrance exams, only 1% of the aspirants succeed in getting admitted to the IITs.

Major structural changes are required in order to solve the creases facing engineering education in India. Distance education and the internet are the tool though which effective transformation of the situation can be brought about.

Live Webcast Course

IIT Bombay has been active in distance education for the past eight years with the satellite transmission. In January 2008, IIT Bombay signed a MoU with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to transmit its courses, free and unencrypted, through the satellite EDUSAT. In return, ISRO has agreed to provide free bandwidth. Any institution that has a student interactive terminal (SIT) May receive the courses free of cost, but May not record them without IITB's explicit approval.

The project is basically designed to target the individual as an audience called “SOLO mode”. It intends to give complete time flexibility through the video on demand service. It also provides off line interactivity through the learning management system.

With the spread of the virtual classroom, CDEEP is proving that distance is no longer an obstacle to learning. The project provides web based distance education solution for those wanting to pursue an engineering degree

Looking in to the cost and availability of bandwidth in India and to minimise the cost per view, streaming was done on 100kbps so that the common user with 128kbps dialup/broadband connectivity can also participate in the program. With internet being used as the tool for communication, the project has a global reach. The project has also transmitted courses from virtual sets with the best presentation tool like ticker, document camera, presentation, presenter and edutainment concept. The learning management system gives a platform to the external student to interact with the faculty and other fellow students through discussion forum and chat. All the presentations, class notes, assignments, question paper and sample solutions are made available on LMS. Video on Demand provides the time flexibility for reruns and for better understanding.

The Pilot Phase

The project started with a pilot of 600 students and 32 faculties of different engineering colleges from the state of Gujarat. Five courses were beamed in the pilot phase. Till date more than 100 courses are transmitted on live webcast of different disciplines of science and engineering from IIT Bombay.

The project has more than one lakh beneficiaries including students, faculty, working professionals, researchers and individuals. The Government College of Engineering Poona (COEP) has accepted the courses of CDEEP IIT Bombay as plug in replacement for their regular courses.It has also attracted international participation from countries like USA, UK, Australia, Japan, China, France, Norway, Pakistan, UAE etc. Apart from the educational institutes and individuals, corporate like Wipro Ltd., Persistent, Tech Mahindra Ltd. have used the courses for quality improvement and as refresher courses for their employees. The same service is also being used by the Ministry of Human Resource Development for their teacher training programs.

Project OSCAR

The internet boom in the world today has resulted in the introduction of several educational initiatives for the benefit of the student community. It has now become a prominent mode of instruction for diverse courses meant to be transmitted through distance learning. Technology is now being extensively used and newer opportunities are being explored as a means to support different education methodologies.

However, the dearth of relevant course material is one of the constraining factors in distance education. Even in situations where the content is available, they often tend to be costly and May also lack quality. There has been a severe want of cost effective and high quality software, which would facilitate an interactive setting for students so that they can gain easy access to course material and also provide for a wider dissemination of education.

In this background, Project OSCAR (Open Source Courseware Animations Repository) was launched with the objective of creating a wide repository of web-based interactive animations of different concepts and technologies. Concepts have been taken from numerous quarters ranging from topics taught in school to advanced subjects. Attempt has also been made to translate animations to local languages. Coursewares and animations that have been developed are brought together and transferred to a compact disc at regular intervals. These are then distributed to interested organisations. Material can also be obtained through open source and under the Creative Common license. Students can use and download the material for non commercial purposes.

The Project OSCAR portal enables subject experts, school/ college teachers to register as mentors while programmers and students can register as developers. Mentors suggest topics where animations would be useful. Developers build these animations using the Project OSCAR development methodology and tool kit, with periodic feedback from mentors. Project OSCAR provides communication channels like email, a discussion forum and a bulletin board, for interaction between mentors and developers.

Bridging the Skills Gap in Education

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

October 1, 2010

Engineering education in India today stands as one of the biggest educational systems globally. The dearth of skilled and technically trained manpower has only added fuel to the process. Correspondingly, however, there are innumerable complexities associated with the mushrooming number of engineering institutes. Not only do we need to nurture the large number of student aspirants vying for an engineering degree, but also look into concerns of providing quality in education and industry relevant skills.

An engineering degree will not serve any purpose if it does not qualify as appropriate for industry requirements. While comparing engineering graduates of the developed nations, it is evident that they possess highly technical skills which gives them the confidence to handle complex problems. Such skills are lacking in their Indian counterparts.

Part of the problem is the need to identify certain foundation skills, which then becomes the governing principle for evaluating the quality of all academic programs. These necessarily have to be in tandem with business demands. Sprucing up technology skills is one of the important challenges to meet the demand for quality education.

The twentieth century has already witnessed an extraordinary growth in education technology. There is no indication that the speed of expansion will be any less in the current century. The shelf life of majority of the technologies is by now much lower than the duration of any three or four year degree program. The speedy trend of technology becoming obsolete is compelling the educational system to buck up and enable graduating students to be highly skilled in multiple aspects.

This is where skills development becomes imperative. And not just in the subject knowledge, but also in a host of soft skills which are the pre-requisites for climbing the ladder in a highly competitive economy. Educational institutes in our day have realised the importance of life long learning and self learning skills – in wake of the rapid trend of technological obsolesce – and want to ensure that their student inculcate the abilities of information retrieval and acquisition of latest knowledge.

The new age requirement of the globalised world means that all stakeholders have to be on their toes. Rising up to challenges and meeting ever increasing pressures can only be acquired through reforms in the educational system, skills training and imparting education par excellence. The future of India lies in our hands.
.

Teaching Tools for Student Engagement : Jaemes Shanly, Latin America & Indian Subcontinent, Mimio

Interviews

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digitalLEARNING Network

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October 1, 2010

Mimio began in 1997 with a singular philosophy: to make learning more engaging for students. Yukti Pahwa and Sheena Joseph, in conversation with Jaemes Shanley, find out more about their interactive teaching technologies and what it takes to integrate them to the Indian classrooms

Mimio has recently introduced the new Mimio Classroom Product Suite. Could you tell us more about it?

We have introduced a new product which is a completely revamped whiteboard system. The new Mimio Classroom Product Suite is based on the feedback, experience and knowledge gained from interacting and observing more than three lakh classrooms globally, thereby resulting in better refinements in the design and, most importantly, integration of several technologies into one comprehensive system. This includes the student response systems, white boards and document cameras or data visualisers.

How is the technology expected to benefit teachers in India?

All three of the technologies – the student response systems, white boards and document cameras – are being used in significant numbers in classrooms across North America. One of the challenges that was observed, for teachers, was that it becomes a difficult and complicated process to integrate independent systems while teaching, all of them being controlled by different softwares. The Mimio Classroom Suite is an integrated and easy-to-use suite of interactive teaching tools and services tailored specifically for the Indian educators. It allows the interactive whiteboard devices, student assessment systems, document cameras, accessories and software to seamlessly work together or on their own.

What are the differences that you have observed in terms of technological integration in India and abroad?

According to me, the differences that exist are reflective more of the differences among teachers in terms of their positioning in the technology fluency curve. This implies that on a scale of 1-10 (where 1 signifies total ignorance and 10 represents expert in usage of technology), we will find teachers who populate the entire scale. Although, it can be visibly observed that, the percentage of teachers from North America or Britain populating the higher end of the scale will be more than the teachers from other parts of the world.

Countries like USA are more in the evolutionary stage of technological integration, while in India the trend is more of a transformation.

Could you tell us about the partnerships that Mimio has entered into with other companies in India?

With our tie-up with Educomp Smart Class, Mimio now has over 30,000 classes in India. Smart class is a comprehensive system in terms of content, teacher training and technology usage in classrooms. ICT is a very dynamic industry, with a lot going on in this field. We need to be careful so as to not make ICT a tidal wave which inundates and overwhelms everyone. In India we find a lot of elements which are extra ordinary, be it in terms of the incredible quality of digital content, interactive software and systems like smart class, which have managed to transform classrooms in India from being abysmally equipped to being technologically sound.

How are the Mimio interactive teaching technologies different from other products in the market?

Two significant aspects which can differentiate Mimio from others are, firstly, our approach to whiteboards – which is to bring technology to the board rather than build technology into the whiteboard. This has a host of positive implications in terms of costs, transportation, implementation, installation, and after service support. In a market size like that of India, all these factors are really important. But it also has to be made easy to use. Document cameras are an important transitional technology as it allows the teacher to pull anything from the analog world into the digital content and be able to use them more broadly and flexibly. We also invented a system where the teacher handsets automatically renumber themselves when returned to the recharging tray- a convenient and time saving feature for both teachers and students. When stored in a tray, handsets recharge automatically, so there’s no need to deal with the hassle or expense of replacement of batteries.

The most powerful aspect of this technology is that the teacher can assess the student learning and understanding of the class. It allows the teacher to constantly get feedback and then look at those results and find out who has not understood. There has been a lot of research into learning styles and not everyone learns in the same way. One of the advantages of ICT is that it allows teachers to present content in different ways and lessons can be structured accordingly.

ICT is a very dynamic industry, with a lot going on in this field. We need to be careful so as to not make ICT a tidal wave which inundates and overwhelms everyone

What is the role of Mimio in creating content and curriculum standards?

Every country has its own curriculum standards and objectives, and there can be certain commonality of design. We have done some work in the US, and are looking at the discipline and structure of measurable and observable learning outcomes based on curriculum standards. We are hoping that over time we can extend this globally and contribute to healthy educators and link educative interactive technology with curriculum standards.

We have our software application and a content gallery, but most of it has been influenced by the requirement standards of North America- which is our largest market. We also have a web portal, with more than 40,000 members worldwide, where teachers can share, upload and download content. Over time we seek to move towards a more neutral content, which can then be universally used.

THE PRODUCT

DYMO/Mimio Interactive Teaching Technologies Launches New MimioClassroom Product Suite

Provide real-time assessment with easy, flexible test creation options.

Inspired by teachers and students, the MimioVote student assessment system is the easiest, most accurate way for teachers to assess student comprehension. The rechargeable MimioVote system provides real-time assessment and flexible testing options. Newly designed MimioStudio software and intelligent illuminated response buttons eliminate student error

Technology @ British School : Graham Ranger, The British School

Interviews

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

October 1, 2010

Technology @ British School

www.british-school.org

digitalLEARNING brings to you a peek-view of The British School. It is an international school which is based n the National Curriculum Of England, with suitable adaptations, to take into account the location in New Delhi. It has approximately 650 students on roll and currently has 58 nationalities. Its a diverse cultural mix with the truly international flavour

By Yukti Pahwa & Sheena Joseph

The British School, New Delhi, was founded in 1963. It is a not-for-profit day school with an international student population of about 60 nationalities, with around 640 students enrolled in classes from nursery to year 13. The school offer’s a unique teacher to student ration of 1:6 and holds professional affiliations with the cambridge International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO) and is an accredited member of Council of International Schools.

It has a fully wireless campus, has on-line research databases, facilities for teachers to plan activites online and has virtual learning environment.

The school facilitates international education by enabling students from Delhi who have a clear vision or who may think of opting places like UK , USA and Canada for their higher studies, through their course and curriculum.

It also has runs the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme that includes a period of industry training. The objective is to help the students with soft skills that go a lon way in their careers, as also help student prepare for the real world challenges. This has been done due to the fact that at this age children have the widest grasping mind and intellect power. This programme runs for the final two years of a student’s secondary education.

Intercultural Schooling with a Difference!

Graham Ranger
Director, The British School

In conversation with, Graham Ranger, Director of The British School, New Delhi. There he teaches on the IB Diploma Programme. He has been heading the school since July 07. From 2002-07 he was one of Her Majesty’s Inspector’s of Schools, in England, with national responsibility for helping to improve some of the most dysfunctional schools
in inner city areas. Here is what he had to say about the school: