Education minister Harjot Singh Bains confers Swachh Vidyalaya Awards to schools

News

By

-

October 12, 2022

Punjab School Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains gave away Prizes and Certificates of Appreciation to those schools that topped in various categories of Swachh Vidyala Awards of session 2021-22 during a function organized at the head office on Tuesday.

During the award ceremony Pradeep Kumar Agarwal, Director, General School Education, DPI Secondary Education Kuljit Pal Singh Mahi, Director SCERT Dr. Maninder Singh Sarkaria, Deputy SPD and State Nodal Officer Swachh Vidyala Campaign Gurjit Singh and other concerned officials were present.

Appreciating the work of principals and teachers of the concerned schools, the Education Minister said that these teachers and their teams brought laurels for the state with their constructive approach. He also urged the teachers of the winning schools to play vanguard role to improve the situation of sanitation in nearby schools so that more schools can get this national distinction next year.

The Government of India has selected these schools in various categories on sanitation parameters under the Swachh Bharat Campaign. The selected schools included government and private ones. In the overall category of elementary schools in selected rural areas included Government Middle School Kingra (Faridkot), Government Primary School Inderpura (Patiala), Government Primary School Suhali (SAS Nagar), Government Primary School Katarian (SBS Nagar), Government Primary School Fatehpur (SAS Nagar), and Government Primary School Mukandpur (SBS Nagar).

However, the overall category of elementary schools in urban areas included Government Primary School Sheikhupur (Kapurthala), Golden Era Millennium School Mandi Killianwali (Sri Muktsar Sahib), Government Primary School Chohak Kalan (Jalandhar) and Government Primary School Sensi Wehra Amloh (Fatehgarh Sahib).

Similarly, DAV International School Verka Chowk (Amritsar), Government Senior Secondary School Bhawanipur (Kapurthala), Government Senior Secondary School Pakki Tibbi (Sri Muktsar Sahib), Pioneer Convent School Gurmukh Nagar (Malerkotla), The Town School (Malerkotla) and K.V. Barnala was given the Swachh Vidyala were awarded in overall category of secondary schools of rural areas.

While Government Senior Secondary School Model Town Patiala, SGRM Government Girls Senior Secondary School Zira (Ferozepur), B.V.M. Kichlu Nagar Ludhiana and Government Senior Secondary School Boys Amloh (Fatehgarh Sahib) were felicitated with the Swachh Vidyala award under overall category of secondary schools of urban areas.

Apart from this, six schools were also awarded under various sub-categories. These schools included Government Middle School Kingra for Capacity Building and Behaviour Change, Sacred Heart School Dosanjh Road Moga for preparedness and response to cope with Covid-19 pandemic, Sita Grammar School Malerkotla for hand washing hygiene, SGRM Government Girls Senior Secondary School m Zira (Ferozepur) for maintaining good environment and better water supply and efficient use, Government Middle School Kingra (Faridkot) for better hygiene in toilets.

Metaverse meets Education: Transformation beyond traditional trajectory

Features

By

Sheeba Chauhan, Senior Sub Editor

-

October 12, 2022

Leaving the monotonous physical world and entering into enthralling virtual space, seems fascinating! The world that is right now in its infancy phase is bringing the most flexible and ineffable application of virtual reality. A cosmos, full of wonders, creativity, independence, and virtuality. But technically the metaverse is an idea that has been around for a while: A 1992 novel, Snowcrash, by science fiction author Neal Stephenson, also shared a virtual world that could exist alongside our physical one. Today, that very vision is taking shape as a highly immersive version of the internet.

Metaverse is an 8 trillion market today. As the pandemic has opened doors for tech adoption, many other technologies are also flurrying their space in the most unutterable manner. The base privilege that is swaying the consumers of the metaverse is autonomy and control, and the amazing conversion of space from a 2D graphic to a 3D space is also gaining the most of the attraction. Also, the boom took place, as it offered a lot of fortune to developers, service providers, platform enablers, etc. From virtual shopping malls to product launches, it presents ample possibilities in terms of innovation, opportunities, and creativity.

A rendezvous with Metaverse

Most of the populace get introduced to ‘Metaverse’ when the most popular social media giant Facebook (earlier name) renamed itself to ‘Meta’ earlier this year– It was an effort to usher metaverse, a new world built in virtual reality. Retail giants, like Walmart and Nike, are already preparing to create NFTs and cryptocurrencies in order to explore the Metaverse. Gen Z is very familiar with the virtual experience, making the metaverse a good fit for young consumers.

While the metaverse is already swaying an immense industry approach, some Design professionals are also on the way to discovering the tremendous utility of metaverse instead of their day-to-day practice of working in the physical realm. Gloria Maria, a Milan-based fashion curator, took a spree to explore the opportunities in the metaverse and came up with the idea of launching the firstever magazine in the metaverse. “If there is space for art, music, and fashion, there should also be space for journalism in the incredible world of metaverse”, she said while launching ‘ RED EYE – Metaverse born magazine.’

Not just that, a lot of other industries like education, e-commerce, real estate, gaming, and more have forayed into the most fascinating world of the metaverse. It is the future of retail, innovation & consumerism, and but obvious the most successful application of AI and immersive reality.

Metverse meets Education

Nobody imagined the omnipresence of technology and education simultaneously. Educators were settled with picking up a book and teaching, but the trajectory changed almost overnight. However, before covid, it was almost impossible to imagine evolving the education space with virtual reality and its application metaverse.

This is clear – Metaverse has the potential to make education more accessible, entertaining, and interactive than it has ever been. Moreover, it is already going on an envisioned trajectory. Many Indian institutes have already started experimenting with the possibilities. Quite a few schools & institutes in Delhi NCR have launched virtual labs with the help of virtual and augmented reality. Recently, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), India’s core education board, even collaborated with social media giant Meta to explore the use of metaverse in education and training. Dr. Biswajit Saha, Director, training and skill education, CBSE said, “By empowering students through immersive technologies like AR and VR, skilling on metaverse can make our workforce creator and producer oriented.”

Edtech companies are also jumping onto this opportunity to maintain a competitive edge. According to a few industry experts, metaverse is a novel way of learner-centric approach and may allow students to create their own classroom space and can also learn while interacting with teachers and students abroad. Bringing these immersive technologies into learning environments will promote the growth of children through multi modal learning. It would also widen students’ horizons, introducing them to lifestyles and cultures beyond their own.

Another possible usage can be attending multiple events in virtual space both by students and teachers irrespective of their geographical locations. They can have their virtual avatars to represent themselves, they can talk, question, answer, and all of that will be very much like the brick and mortar classrooms. The idea of learning in the presence of a teacher is also retained in the metaverse. In fact, it views the teacher as the main proponent of instruction, learning, and teaching.

Studies also show that students today are more interested in interactive learning and the metaverse is a step higher for the same. It is very much a physical classroom but with a virtual avatar.

Looking through the lens of industry

The industry has a lot to say in the newly formed $8 trillion market, which is continuously bullish for more. To get a viewpoint of the same, we talked to a few of the industry’s people. And this is what they had to say:

Ranga Jagannath, Senior Director, Agora said, “Despite being in its infancy, technology titans, gaming behemoths, and others are building their virtual worlds or metaverses.

We see exciting metaverse use cases emerge in the education sector now. A significant impact that metaverse can have on education is changing learning outcomes by enabling interactive and immersive experiences that permit teachers and students to discover new approaches to teaching processes and information sharing.

As the metaverse gains traction, it will be necessary for developers to build robust platforms that can support this innovative technology. A Real-time Engagement (RTE) platform bridges the gap between limitless virtual and physical worlds, delivering metaverse connectivity from one-to-one to one-to-many using any device. RTE solutions provide the building blocks to create branded virtual worlds at any scale, with a diverse toolset that works reliably across the globe. In the future, with such practices, virtual 3D classrooms, virtual campus activities, and simulating real-life situations are some ways in which we can expect the metaverse to redefine education.”

Chander Damodaran, CTO – Cloud Engineering, Brillio said, “The rapid adoption of digital across industry segments further fuelled by the pandemic has seen a significantly large cross-section of enterprises embarking on their digital transformation journey with an emphasis on digital experiences anywhere, anytime across digital channels. The education sector has specifically seen very quick adoption of the digital medium. With the rapid unfolding of the metaverse, the arena to learn, train and upskill is wide open. There will be changes in working styles, operations, training, and so on to meet the demand of the next-gen workplace.”

“Convergence of virtually enhanced physical and digital reality is no longer limited to gaming, Opportunity to level up people skills with compelling, connected, and immersive experiences that translate to experiential training has led to an increased adoption of #metaverse by the education sector and this will further make way to the ‘forever learner’ in the coming years. This would mean an updated practice of learning that focuses on workplace skills, new reality skills, and cognitive skills”, he concluded.

Rise of metaverse – Peril or promise?

As technology application in education is still in its early stages, a major challenge is infrastructure and enabling it for normal users. On the other hand, people are still wondering how to make the best use of it due to accessibility issues. Though education institutions and Edtech companies are leveraging the metaverse in education to remove distance and physical barriers from learning, the application understanding is making it difficult for normal beings to adapt to it.

Apart from the myriad world of opportunities it offers, it is also evident that it is somehow depleting the in-depth tradition of learning. Edutainment (Education + Entertainment) is a good way of going forward, but some students are focussing more on the entertainment part rather than education.

As technology is still flourishing, glitches and flaws are a part of the journey. The bewildered stage is paving the path for innovation, the entire education ecosystem is looking up to the trajectory it can offer to the already evolving paradigm.

The evolving role of edtech in higher education: The future of learning & skilling

Article

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

October 12, 2022

The global need for skilled workers who are adept at transdisciplinary learning will shift toward upskilling and reskilling. Many low-skilled jobs may be automated as a result of the development of big data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. As a result, there will be a growing demand for skilled workers, particularly those with backgrounds in mathematics, computer science, and data science as well as multidisciplinary skills in the natural and social sciences as well as the humanities. Another change in the future would be to imagine a system of education with roots in Indian culture that directly contributes to making India a knowledge society. All of this is intended to be realised through a restructuring of the school curriculum that is in line with the needs of students at various stages of their development. In order to provide a comprehensive, purposeful, and skill oriented education that instills in young people a sense of usefulness and responsibility as well as essential 21st-century skills, CBSE has started offering about 40 courses at the Senior Secondary level, including courses on Artificial Intelligence, Information Technology, and Design Thinking. Future programmes like the Online Entrepreneurship Program and the AI Curriculum can create a large pool of imaginative and analytical thinkers who possess the necessary abilities and attitudes to help India achieve inclusive economic growth and social development. Here is an exclusive conversation from the panel discussion at the World Education Summit organised by Elets Technomedia. Edited excerpts:

Deepak Singh, Commissioner, Department of Higher Education, Government of Madhya Pradesh, said, “The modern era is an era of technology. The future of education is in digital learning, and emerging technologies will make it possible. NEP itself encourages the use of technology and the government of Madhya Pradesh is working on it.”

Madhya Pradesh has the highest population of tribals, and the challenge for tribal people is internet connectivity. The students of the rural areas are unable to take online classes due to connectivity issues. Therefore, we have started smart classes and virtual classrooms for these students, he concluded.

Shrikant Sinha, CEO, Telangana Academy for Skill and Knowledge (TASK), Telangana,
said, “There are no skills that are given to students today. The industry doesn’t employ
people on the definition of Screwdriver while they have to use it while working. Skills
are needed to be integrated with the education system itself.”

Most of the faculty members are not coming from the education industry, thus we have recently signed up with HSEA ( Hyderabad software and enterprise association) to start a 3 weeks program by the name “faculty immersive experience”, he stated at the end.

Amit Mahensaria, CEO, upGrad Campus said, “In Edtech, Ed comes before technology. In Edtech technology should complement education, unlike other sectors. At upGrad, we focus dedicatedly on how to measure the learning outcomes & how can we use technology to enhance these learnings. Tech should enable better dissemination, better delivery. ”

K. Lalhmingliana, Director, Department of Labour Employment, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (LESDE), Government of Mizoram said, “Pandemic has changed the entire learning ecosystem. There are a lot of learning apps available, but the question is, are these really content worthy.”

Now we are dealing with edTech education for future learning and skilling. Due to poor connectivity, it is affecting the whole ecosystem of the education industry, he concluded.

Prof. B P Veerabhadrappa, Vice-Chancellor, Kuvempu University, Shivamogga, Karnataka said, “Interdisciplinary or Multidisciplinary is a handicap to education ecosystem. It will be very difficult for the principal or vice-chancellor to create such infrastructure if only one student chooses physics or astronomy. A bigger thought is needed to resolve such issues.”

In all the universities of Karnataka, all the Vice-Chancellors are finding it very difficult to have a person who can be able to have the expertise in teaching Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, he mentioned further.

Dr. Nitin Rane, Vice-Chancellor, Avantika University, Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, said that, “If we consider post and pre-pandemic situation, teacher’s role is very important in both the situations. While technology aspect coming into the picture post-pandemic has introduced many benefits to the industry.”

“There are some changes that need to be made in the teaching pedagogy like we need to focus on project-based learning, we need to have some kind of block study pattern, and we need to make changes in the assessment and evaluation system where we can assist the students on regular basis”, he concluded.

Perils & promises of hybrid learning in higher education

Article

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

October 12, 2022

Perils & promises of hybrid learning in higher education

The concept that knocked on our doors post-pandemic, is getting traction in all directions of education now. As the hybrid model is very new to adapt, educators are exploring the perils and promises that it offers. Some of the major edtechs also forayed into offline institutions to adapt to the hybrid model as the way forward. With the rise in technology, schools are also very much on the way to adapting the hybrid model. Recently, UGC also announced that e-degrees are at par with offline degrees and this will boost the adoption of online and hybrid models in the higher education segment at a rapid pace.

With every change that happens, there are definitely going to be some consequences. The continuous change in the education system in terms of the hybrid model, adapting to digital tools, etc poses quite a few perils and promises in the shifting paradigm of education. Here is an exclusive conversation from the panel discussion that happened recently at the World Education Summit organised by Elets Technomedia. Edited excerpts:

Anurag Reddy, Procurement Analytics Manager, Caterpillar Inc. said, “The benefits of online learning is, even a person who is unable to spare time from his/ her lifestyle can do it in the comfort of their homes. Leaving your jobs, or joining an institution for learning is not possible after a certain age because of the burden of responsibilities you have, so online learning is best option in such instances’’.

“According to a survey conducted in 2021, pre-pandemic only 8 per cent of students could attend online education and the number can only go up to 12 per cent during the pandemic”, said Dr. G. Sugumar, Vice Chancellor, Tamil Nadu.

The pandemic has brought an education emergency in the country not only for rural areas but also for urban areas and we are talking about creating this huge infrastructure for Hybrid Learning, it is going to be challenging with the present infrastructure available, Dr. Sugumar further added.

K Narasimha Nakshathri, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Bharatiya Engineering Science and Technology Innovation University (BEST), Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh said, “The education system is going to be online and with multimedia technology even for higher education but there is a difficulty for faculty who are not yet equipped well with the emerging technology.”

Even if they get equipped, a section of the rural areas will never afford these amenities, which is the drawback that needs to be worked on, K Narasimha further added.

Prof. Rajesh Kumar, Professor and Principal, Osmania University, Hyderabad, Telangana said, “Nowadays, through hybrid learning, we can reach anywhere all over the world. We can teach many countries at a single time. Hybrid learning has become the new era of education, with the option of both online & offline learning, everything has become easy.”

Dr. Divya Nalla, Director, Nalla Malla Reddy Engineering College, Hyderabad, Telangana said, “Today we are talking about hybrid learning which is a combination of both online and offline modes. Students can only consume content through online learning but teachers are very prominent when they need to apply these learnings practically for the enhancement of their industry skills.”

Shrihari Prakash Honwad, Senior Academician and Former Vice Chancellor at several universities said, “During the pandemic, we only tried to recreate classrooms through online methods and that was a bad implementation of classroom learning. As in brick and mortar, at least teachers have a 160-degree vision of its class, and reducing it to just small screens was perilous.”

NEP preparing the next generation to thrive in the digital age

Article

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

October 12, 2022

The goal of India’s new educational system is outlined in the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020), which was introduced in July, 2020. In order to ensure ongoing learning, NEP 2020 focuses on five pillars: affordability, accessibility, quality, equity, and accountability. Even in a post-covid world, online learning is anticipated to become the new standard, despite the fact that the future is unpredictable. This development came along at the proper moment since the New Education Policy gave e-learning, digital literacy, and new-age technology significant attention. Technology will be infused into every element of schooling due to the growing digitalisation. Education systems embrace technology in ways that boost teachers’ roles as co-creators and designers of cutting-edge learning environments. Digital learning tools go beyond merely imparting knowledge; they also monitor our cognitive processes to identify the tasks and ways of thinking that we find interesting as well as those that we find tedious or challenging. Here is an exclusive conversation from the panel discussion that happened recently at the World Education Summit organised by Elets Technomedia. Edited excerpts:

Prof. B.S. Murty, Director, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IIT Hyderabad), Hyderabad, Telangana said, “ Pandemic has forced us to venture into digital learning. It is all about learning beyond classrooms while before covid, it was all about learning in classrooms i.e Physical learning.”

Due to covid more or less the whole world has moved towards digitisation direction, and in IIT Hyderabad, we are converting every classroom into digital. Our aim is to make our courses available for anybody in the world, Prof Murty further explained.

Prof. (Dr.) Raj Singh, Vice-Chancellor, JAIN (Deemed-to-be University), Bangalore,
Karnataka said, “ While we switched to blended learning, third-party content like
LinkedIn course, Coursera were not enough to differentiate us from others. So, we
launched 160+ in-house mock courses for our students.”

The whole national education policy in the context of which we are talking focuses on higher order learning outcomes, and more important is how do we expand learning opportunities, added Prof Raj.

Navin Mittal, Commissioner, Collegiate and Technical Education Department, Government of Telangana said, “With the NEP 2020 and UGC’s new regulation of Dual degree and training programmes, has opened an entirely new spectrum for international education or education abroad.”

Increasingly we have to position India as a destination for International students and some of our universities definitely fit into destinations of choice globally, he further added.

M Nagarajan, Commissioner, Higher Education Department, Government of Gujarat elaborated that “Entrepreneurship, Research and Innovation, all three are interlinked. With good research, you reach an innovative idea which will make the base for your entrepreneurship journey.”

A mind to market journey is a long procedure, from idea to the product and then to the market. Thus, we encourage our students and fund their ideas.

If we empower 10 percent of our students to become entrepreneurs they will be able to engage the other 90 per cent of the students, he concluded.

Prof. Anil Kashyap, President and Chancellor NICMAR University, Pune, Maharashtra said, “NEP mainly talks about interdisciplinary aspects. It depends entirely on the curriculum, professional bodies, and the institutions which are the driving force of interdisciplinary actions”.

In Indian context, institutes and universities are already interdisciplinary, there are subjects which are cross functional. However, the importance of curriculum to be interdisciplinary is quite significant in the sense that cross learning is supporting various aspects, Prof Anil further added.

Dr. Shashank Shah, Jt. Adviser/Senior Specialist (Higher Education), NITI Aayog, Government of India said, “NEP 2020 is very similar to the 1991 industrial Policy that transformed the entire fashion of work. NEP 2020 will open the same landscape for the education sector”.

The skills that we need in the digital age are not just the digital skills but several other skills where digital tools and techniques will help us succeed in complex problem solving, negotiation, decision making and ethical orientation, Dr. Shah concluded.

How gamification of lessons can help children to learn faster?

Article

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

October 12, 2022

There are three key factors that need to come together for better learning. Engagement, focus, and the motivation to correct errors. Interest to learn comes from the framing of a concept or problem. If the framing is novel and exciting, it elicits engagement. Focus flows from engagement and narrows attention to the problem at hand. If one is engaged with a problem, then there is motivation to find the right solution. Games provide an environment where these three factors come together in a synergistic manner.

Games can be quite effective in increasing the interest and engagement of students in the classroom. They bring novelty, excitement, and an element of competition that propel the student towards action. A few examples of games used in classrooms can include.

Teaching language:

Teaching prepositions (On, In, At, Over, Under, Above, and Below) through motor skills and movement (Jump ‘over,’ crawl ‘under,’ climb ‘up’ etc).

Teaching phonics by gamifying the correlation between sounds and the written alphabet (guessing games by giving auditory clues and asking students to write down the visual equivalent and vice versa).

Vocabulary and basic mathematics:

For primary students, games such as hangman, word ladder, etc to improve vocabulary. Tricky tables and random tables to improve basic arithmetic. Quizzes in social studies to add excitement to the class.

STEM subjects:

High School students can be taught STEM subjects through gamification. Statistics can be taught through sports data (having students role-play as experts analysing an international sports team’s performance), and physics concepts such as friction, momentum, etc can be taught through robotics or even R C models.

The advantage of games is that there is immediate feedback. When a concept is presented in the form of a game, a student needs to recall and apply it for a brief time. So, gaps in learning can be discovered quickly and teachers can address them. Students are also receptive to feedback since they are motivated to improve their performance.

There are several compelling reasons to include gamification in learning.

Games bring novelty and excitement
They build a positive association with the subject matter in the minds of students.
They motivate students to explore the concept in depth
They encourage creative thinking and increase focus.

The key to learning is error correction from feedback. We learn a topic, apply it, and correct our mistakes and misconceptions so that they are not repeated. Being motivated to learn from an error is key to faster learning. Games provide that motivation. When an error is made in a game, we tend to remember it and work towards ensuring that it is not repeated. And the positive association built with a subject motivates deeper learning.

However, it is important to note that gamification does not replace theory. It is essential to first present the theory to the student so that they have a framework in their minds. When students have to practice problem-solving with the concept, that’s when games are effective. This is so because they have a skeletal level understanding of the concept and games motivate them to work towards a deeper understanding by challenging them in a fun way.

Students are keener to learn when they solve problems through gamification. It is an effective tool for learning faster.

Views expressed by Dr Sindhura, Director, The Narayana Group of Institutions.

A new dawn for learning – digital sphere transforming education space

Interviews

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

October 12, 2022

The Indian education sector has been an entirely offline affair traditionally. The advent of the internet and increased access to the digital sphere has transformed this system. E-learning and digitisation have opened up new and exciting pathways within the education space and allowed vastly more people to attain knowledge and qualifications. When coupled with the increased proliferation of home computers and internet-capable smart phones, and supported by affordable data nationwide, this change has gradually been taking place over the last decade. Learning online is also the edge that is making the change flourishing. This has not only changes the way knowledge can be garbbed but also openned a different set of career opportunities for entrepreneurs. To explore the opportunities such firms/ startups offer to the education paradigm, Sheeba Chauhan of Elets News Network interacted with Abhishek Gupta, Co-founder and CBO, Learnbay. Edited excerpts:

Incepted in the year 2015, Learnbay witnessed more than 300 percent growth from revenue. How has been your journey throughout? Please shed some light on the hurdles in your path.

Learnbay started its journey in 2015 with Python training and eventually added a system designing course. In the meantime, others were providing various courses with industrial and foreign certifications. It was pretty challenging concerning other competitors. Because more than quality teaching, students were attracted to courses offering industrial certification.

AI and Data Science, as we all know, is the most trending technology of today and the future. So in 2017, we launched our first professional data science and AI training course with job assistance.

We never reduced the quality of our teaching because we promised specialised training with 1:1 assistance for students. Likewise, Learnbay never promises false notions with an eye catching feature or staff.

One of the major problems we faced outside our organisation was the change in the data science job market. Very few data scientists hone domain knowledge. Our certified course with domain specialisation helps students to gain domain knowledge and land a lucrative job within six months of course completion.

Today in 2022, we have more than 30 trainers and domain experts from various MAANG with more than five years of experience. We are building our workforce to more than 100 employers. In the era of personalization, we offer personalised data science and AI courses to professionals and our candidates.

What are the live projects Learnbay provides to the students, and how is it impactful?

Learnbay offers live projects from different domains. This enables students to work on live capstone projects of a specified domain. For example, we provide live capstone projects for domains like sales, marketing, HR, healthcare, BFSI, telecom, automotive, manufacturing, e-commerce, supply chain, oil, gas and energy, media, hospitality, and transportation.

Students learn and enhance their skills by working on live projects and even finding a solution for real-world problems that organisations face daily. So students would know which are the latest trending tools or have been used by experts or professionals of top MAANG, MNC, and leading start-ups. So students who complete our courses with domain specialisation are recruited faster because of the live capstone project they have worked on.

What are the benefits of domain specialisation and hybrid courses for students?

Domain specialisation is honing knowledge in a particular field or domain. It enriches students’ knowledge in one specific domain. Students do not have to work again on a domain after course completion; on the other hand, organisations hire candidates with domain knowledge. Because organisations do not want to train candidates with domain knowledge, they want candidates with domain knowledge so they can start working from day one.

The new age of learning is all about live online courses. Hybrid courses let students learn in both ways. Students can learn theoretical lessons from live online courses and complete their live capstone projects in hybrid classrooms because students can work on live projects collaboratively with other batch mates in hybrid classes (project innovation lab). Moreover, students can clear all their doubts on projects in hybrid courses and get a solution from our trainers. This will even help students to complete their projects along with the course.

The platform offers practical training on various technical courses, including data science, AI, web development, and software development, tailored to its learner’s individual needs. So why is Skilling and reskilling need of the hour?

Currently, data science, AI, and software development are the technologies top organisations leverage for business growth and customer satisfaction. These are advancing technologies that yet have to gain their maximum potential. Organisations’ traditional languages and tools have become outdated, and most professionals are experts in their fields. But after the technological advancement of data science and AI, almost all the leading organisations and start-ups are product or service based; all are working along with data science and AI.

So, organisations either lay off employees or have to build a new team with new-age skills and tools that the organisation is working on. This is where reskilling and up-skilling are crucial for any professional, it can even be a computer engineer or any other technical degree.

As I said earlier, it is a new era of learning, and every product or service is personalised today. Learnbay has also personalised the courses with domain electives and live projects. Currently, even organisations look for candidates with many personalised skills and domain knowledge. This is how Learnbay helps professionals who want to reskill or up-skill their ability to be updated with the current technology and its applications..

What are the expansion plans for Learnbay, and any plans for the product portfolio?

We have expanded every aspect, from adding new team members to courses, batches, offices, and hybrid classes (project innovation lab). Learnbay has grown from 30 members to over 100+ members. We have made a few changes to our courses and have added a full-stack software developer course with domain specialisation. We have reduced the number of members in a batch. So it becomes easy for trainers to concentrate on every student in the class.

Learnbay recently added a Full-stack software developer course with domain specialisation and even opened up a hybrid class (project innovation labs). Students and professionals can complete live projects in these hybrid classes and with other batch mates for collaborative learning. These are the recent growth and products that have been added to our organisation.

Digital Detox: Need of the hour

Article

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

October 12, 2022

We all acknowledge that learning continued during the pandemic, in spite of schools being shut, due to Online learning platforms. Edtech came as a great boon to the education sector and proved to be the best solution during the pandemic situation. Teachers utilised virtual classrooms to teach effectively by making use of all the available tools. The Pandemic compelled everyone to stay at home for a long period and obstructed the routine lives of families. Children were deprived of their outdoor activities and to compensate, the adults allowed their children to use devices for playing and recreation. This is how screen time increased tremendously over the past two years. These days we find screens everywhere. They’re on our walls, on our tables, in our cars, and in our hands. Though technology has made our lives easier and better and made learning more accessible and flexible, on the other hand, too much screen time has slowly started impacting us in negative ways like affecting emotional wellness, learning difficulties, social disconnect, and reducing physical activity. The sedentary time spent before the screens can also lead to mood changes and physical problems associated with not getting enough exercise. Using technology late at night could result in less sleep too.

Now that the schools are back in action, the dependency on technology has comparatively reduced. Parents are reluctant to hand over the devices to their children and have totally restricted them from using them. On the other hand, the children, who got used to the devices and the online entertainment it provided, are feeling bereft. This is resulting in a tremendous increase in cases related to behavioral issues by children both at school and at home.

We need to accept this fact and formulate ways to tackle this issue so that children do not fall victim to the thoughtless actions of adults.

Some of the ways which could help us in dealing with children who are unwilling to let go of their fascination for the devices and popular social media apps.

Encourage digital detox:

The concept has received increasing attention as a means of recovering from the ill effects caused by the excessive use of digital media. The basic idea is to disengage from online and digital media, and deliberately engage in “non-digital” tasks by focusing on the physical world, in order to recover from digital stress and overload. It refers to a period of time during which we mindfully “disconnect” from all electronic and digital devices, such as smartphones, tablets, and computers.

This relatively helps to focus more on authentic social interactions and reconnect with the physical world. In fact, one of the best ways to digital detox is by going into green environments.

Set achievable targets

Setting a new habit cannot happen overnight. It takes time and consistency. Screen time should be reduced gradually. The children should be eased into it. Therefore it is important to select achievable goals to avoid the risk of failure.

One can initially start by simply setting smaller time limits and gradually increasing the duration. This kind of “gradual detoxing” helps to effectively eliminate digital dependencies.

Be an example

When you set limits for the children, they would be greatly motivated if you also set aside your device for some time every day and set an example. Possibly, some parents might be more stressed than their children while following this rule, but one should focus to stay calm rather than showing restlessness.

Prepare a schedule

Assist your child to plan and prepare a proper schedule. All the family members must be aware of the schedule and support the child in following the same, consistently. A healthy and safe environment needs to be created around your child. The schedule should have a balanced approach to studies and leisure time, with regard to screen time. Let’s say, the child has to use the laptop for academics, do not consider that screen time while checking the total screen time of the day. This will ensure that the child does not lie about the time spent on academics/leisure screen time.

Spend quality time:

When you expect your children to reduce their screen time, then it becomes the duty of the adults at home to suggest and implement productive and entertaining alternatives. The involvement of parents and other family members in engaging with their children has become a necessity in the present-day nuclear family setup. Discuss the subject/topics they are interested in rather than always talking about your own past and the challenges you faced.-

Chores and hobbies:

Encourage your kids to help you around the house. Involve them in small household chores and make them accountable for the same. After school hobby classes are a great way to keep the children physically and mentally fit and active.

We as adults understand and are cognizant of the consequences resulting in excess screen time. However, snatching away the phones and laptops, switching off the TVs, and hiding the gaming console are not the appropriate methods to reduce screen time. Engaging in family time will result in disengaging screen time.

Views expressed by Amruta Rao, Principal, Greenwich Academy – The School, Hyderabad, Telangana.

Digital transformation: An era of new-age education

Article

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

October 12, 2022

The world of education has drastically changed & learning with a multidisciplinary approach needs extraordinary skill sets (Design thinking & Digital learning) to make the child capable of transitioning into the future of work.

Design thinking

It’s a skill that not only helping the students to understand what they are learning but helping them to question the work they are doing. It’s required for everyone all over the world, not only limited to classrooms.

Design thinking is a part of the project-based learning educational model. It’s a child-centric approach to finding solutions to real-life problems by identifying and developing innovative and creative solutions. Students transform themselves into optimistic, emphatic, and smart working members of society who can solve complex challenges of the coming future.

Design thinking methods encourage students to address challenges with a sense of empathy.

Design thinking can be used in the classroom to build problem solving skills (PSS).

Digital transformation

The Pandemic (COVID-19) has affected educational institutions all over the world both Developed and Developing countries. Students in the world were unable to go to school physically. The impact has been transformative as we educators are looking forward to implementing technology solutions to enable online teaching and learning.

Digital transformation in education is not restricted to online teaching and learning during- COVID-19, but post-COVID also, it’s in Hybrid mode.

Some educational institutions have been using technology solutions for the last many years, and most schools and universities have now realized the significance of digital transformation in education during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Digital transformation in Education means enhancing an organization’s core operations to meet students, parents, and educators’ requirements efficiently.

The Digital transformation is aiming at enhancing the student’s experience by allowing them to register for admission via mobile app or web app, providing a wide array of online learning options, and using technology to track students’ progress. It also helps and allows faculties to organise online classes. Digital transformation in education does not only mean improving students’ experience; it also focuses on enhancing the campus environment, teaching, and learning methods.

Digital transformation in learning environment

Educational institutions have started realising the significance of digital transformation in education with the increased use of online classes and video conferencing solutions. It is the right time to implement and build technology solutions that will transform the new way of learning. We have to understand how technology can help to bring efficiency.

Digital transformation in teaching method

Online teaching is an opportunity to build new teaching method and connect with students efficiently. These days everyone is having smart devices, including smartphones, computers, laptops, and tablets. Learning by using technology is a new effective way to bring better learning & experiences for students.

In the modern educational world, different new methods can be introduced in digital transformation.

At last, I want to tell you that with the digitisation of the learning experience, both students and teachers can enhance their skills to create an engaging educational process. From online learning to the smart classroom, analysis of students’ performance, personalised learning experience, and online examination, we can transform our educational institute in many ways in the 21st century.

Views expressed by Dr. Rajkumar Sharma, Principal, Nimawat International School, Jaipur

Education Technology – Connecting the dots

Article

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

October 12, 2022

The covid pandemic brought about a real revolution in the way children were taught across the world. Almost overnight, millions of children and teachers had to go online and completely adapt to the new way of teaching. While many were unhappy about the lack of visible learning outcomes, but no one can deny that it opened up options in teaching-learning that most had not envisaged.

But today, as we get back to the world of offline learning, the question looms large – are things going to be back exactly as they were before, or are we going to move towards a different hybrid model? The same question is also being asked by the thousands of edutech companies which flourished during covid and school administrators who now have to take decisions regarding the inundation of edutech options.

So in this article, I put forward my way of thinking about this tricky situation. Firstly, each school has to consider its own parent set. After almost 2 years of online learning, parents are a little wary about the issue of screen time and are looking forward to a more social learning experience, and no doubt, that is what a school is all about.

About technology, as with any other decision in a school, the right answer always comes when you put the child in the front and center. What that means is that the best way to make a decision about any technology platform or solution is by looking at it from the lens of the child. Is the technology really making the classroom a better and more inclusive learning space? Is it dovetailing with the curriculum and is it allowing for better and more conceptual learning to happen? So basically, instead of looking at the technology piece individually, look at it as a piece of the educational puzzle where everything – teachers, manipulatives, books, labs, training, and of course, technology fits in. If the technology piece is completing your educational zigsaw, go for it.

Therefore, I strongly feel, that before technology, the first things that need to move are pedagogy and teacher capability. The bane of technology implementation in schools has always been teachers’ reluctance and friction. So what that means is that you, as a school leader or administrator, first make the requisite changes in the pedagogy that uses technology as a medium of efficiency and do a lot of capability development till the demand for technology starts coming from the teachers and not top-down from the management. When this happens, you see the benefit of investment in technology really reaching the students, and the quality of learning surges.

Now, to the next big question- How do you select which edutech product is better? There are so many in the market. One way this can be solved is through a bottom-up approach where the investment happens in the platforms rather than the services. We are fast moving towards a world where content is ubiquitous and free. At the same time, the content and technology is evolving too fast and anything you buy becomes outdated in 1-2 years. In this world, platform solutions that allow any plug-and-play of services are a better investment than the service itself. If you have Rs 1L to spend on technology, spend it on good devices, high speed internet, and easy access to those devices for classes and teachers, and training.

Views expressed by Devidutta Kanungo, CEO, Radcliffe Group of Schools, Hyderabad, Telangana.

LATEST NEWS

Top Trending News

Top Trending Categories