Education Technology

Education-technology boom transforms how children in India learn

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Asia/ India/ 10.04.2019/ Source: www.straitstimes.com.

 

From a multi-billion-dollar education start-up to wired-up mannequins, technology is helping to revolutionise the way Indian schoolchildren are learning – provided their parents can afford it.

A host of online platforms are taking advantage of a surge in smartphone ownership to engage millions of youngsters with interactive games and animated video lessons.

India’s education system suffers from a lack of investment, and the apps aid students who want extra tuition away from overcrowded classrooms and crumbling schools.

Major foreign investors are ploughing funds into India’s growing «edtech» industry as they seek to capitalise on the world’s largest school-age population who face fierce competition for university places.

«I have been using Byju’s since last year and my performance has really improved. I understand mathematical concepts much better now,» 16-year-old Akshat Mugad said, referring to a Facebook-backed, Indian education app.

Byju’s has become one of the world’s largest online learning sites since it was founded in Bangalore in 2011, and is currently embarking on an ambitious overseas expansion.

It is just one of dozens of start-ups betting that children are eager to learn differently from rote memorisation techniques that are used across much of Asia.

Students meditate as a teaching virtual assistant mannequin fitted with Amazon’s «Alexa» plays instrumental music at the Ramakrishna Paramhansa Marg BMC school in Mumbai. PHOTO: AFP

Edtech platforms are also taking off in other Asian economies, notably China and Taiwan.

«We wanted to make education fun,» said Mr Manish Dhooper, the founder of New Delhi-based Planet Spark, which uses «gamified» teaching methods.

Ms Garima Dhir enrolled her six-year-old son into a Planet Spark programme to study maths and English because she wanted him to get used to using technology at a young age.

«With interactive classes, my son is picking concepts without any stress and enjoying the process without fear of failure,» she told AFP.

Robomate, Toppr, Simplilearn, Meritnation and Edureka are others in the market.

India has an estimated 270 million children aged between five and 17.

Its online education sector is projected to be worth US$2 billion (S$2.7 billion) to Asia’s third-largest economy by 2021, according to research published by accounting group KPMG two years ago.

With revenues heading for US$200 million, Byju’s says it has around 32 million users in India using its e-tutorials that feature animations, live classes and educational games to match India’s school curriculum.

It has raised more than US$1 billion in funding since the beginning of last year, including from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, valuing the firm at around US$5.4 billion.

«We want to be the largest education company in the world,» founder Byju Raveendran, 39, whose stake in Byju’s is now thought to be worth almost US$2 billion, told AFP.

Analysts say technology has the power to transform education in India but note that, at the moment, it is largely the domain of middle-class families.

A year-long subscription to Byju’s can cost upwards of US$150 for example, a small fortune for the majority of Indians.

At a state-run school in Mumbai, teacher Pooja Prashant Sankhe is using technology in a rather different way to change how her pupils engage with lessons.

The 45-year-old hides an Amazon Echo device, known colloquially as «Alexa», in a shop window mannequin. When AFP visited, children aged 11 approached the mannequin and asked questions such as, «Alexa, how many states are there in India?»

They also did sums and then asked Alexa for the answer to find out if they had done them correctly. The device plays the Indian national anthem at the start of the school day and healing music during meditation sessions.

Indian media have carried reports of a teacher doing the same thing in another school in rural Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital.

«The kids get really excited when they ask her questions,» said Ms Sankhe, 45. «Pupils are coming to school more regularly now because of Alexa.»

Source of the notice: https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-asia/education-technology-boom-transforms-how-children-in-india-learn

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Education solutions for the growing transformation in technology

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By: http://www.itnewsafrica.com/

society lead by technology is rapidly transforming the way the youth use and digest digital transformation, both socially and on an educational level. As part of Acer Africa’s commitment to bring e-learning into the classrooms, together with the University of Johannesburg (UJ) hosted a 12-week technology crash course which was held as part of the university’s Workplace 4.0 Project, enabling students to think digitally, create and develop from their lecture rooms.

The Project

Entitled the FridayClub, these classes encouraged and taught students to code and learn the basics of the 4th Industrial revolution. Every week lecturers, as well as Acer Africa, met to work through various aspects of digital technology, with a specific focus on the Acer CloudProfessor as a teaching device. The students used the Acer CloudProfessor and Gigo kit to build various mechanical robotic items and program them to perform basic functions.

For example: Building a lift, or rack and pinion motor and then using the CloudProfessor to program it to perform a task. Students majoring in the Public sector were given first-hand experience in understanding how sensors and IoT will impact and benefit administration. One student who is currently doing her masters in farming crickets for food security used the CloudProfessor as a prototyping tool and designed a model of a cricket farm that could be controlled through a mobile app to turn the heat on and off as needed.

Glenn du Toit, Acer Africa BYOC Digital Business Development explained, “The lessons focused on transformation and education around what is possible with the standard of technology we have available to us today. We conducted various practical lessons with students which demonstrated Blockly and Javascript as coding languages.” He adds, “The FridayClub at execution was as an experiment for the teachers and tech experts deploying this into the classrooms. Average classes run for 45 minutes up to an hour, so we had to monitor what we were able to achieve in this time and how much could be taught and learned, in order to adapt our execution on a more permanent basis.”

Technoculture – Where the need lies

‘Technoculture’ as described by Dr. Arno Louw, Centre for Academic Technologies Laboratory at the University of Johannesburg (CATLab), is based on a mix of visual, written, and social media data that could be used in innovative ways to find solutions to emerging global problems. The question asked by many educators is whether students are sufficiently equipped to find these solutions and apply a trajectory to the process.

Acer Africa believes that transformation is needed in higher education among staff and students, where technology becomes an equaliser for 21st-century survival in our Afro-technoculture.

Louw explains that “The student’s backpack has been replaced with a smart device − the electronic device which provides the tools for access, teaching, learning, assessment, discovery, communication, leisure, etc. The use of electronic devices also encompasses the ability (skill set) to master and manipulate these devices over and above the digital skills needed to merely access e-content. Consequently, the art of e-learning is here to stay, and has evolved from future aspiration to daily habit.”

Acer CloudProfessor

The reason why the CloudProfessor was deployed as the programming tool for this project is due to the fact that it ticked all the correct boxes needed for the experiment and class structure:

1. Easy to use for beginners

2. Lessons can be made more complicated for learners who have used technology before

3. It’s durable, functional and tough to be used by kids with hard grips

4. The lessons were available and skills appropriate (i.e. easy to understand)

5. A full lesson was accomplished in under 45minutes

“CloudProfessor is aimed at making technology accessible to everyone and moreover educating the current generation on how to code and use sensors and motors to build a digital solution for everyday problems,” explains du Toit.

He adds, “With CloudProfessor, we are able to give everyone the opportunity to see how easy it can be to design the next great innovation by combining actual sensors and motors and then choosing between a variety of programming languages, including JavaScript, as well as Blockly, to get their innovation programmed and working. This provides younger learners with the building and visual interface they need to start innovating in the new Internet of Things era.”

The Future of Education

Education solutions for real-world problems are the future. The education system is the grass root level where these solutions are born and bred in an open learning environment.

“Electronic device manipulation skills, currently required by the workforce industry, entail customised coding and adding accurate moving parts to devices. The combination of these two skills is generally known as robotics. The CAT Lab established in 2017, endeavours to assist students and educators to learn and experiment on basic computer coding. This programming includes basic robotics,” says Louw.

“The biggest takeaway for UJ from the FridayClub was the learning how technology fits into the various careers learners have chosen to pursue and not limiting the education of the 4th Industrial revolution to only the engineering IT faculty and science faculties. The understanding that IoT and digital technology plays a role in every faculty needs to understood fully in order to bring in a new area of learning,” says du Toit.

While the 12-week project has ended, the Acer CloudProfessor and the CAT Lab team aims to extend the FridayClub to the wider community and to enthusiastic school learners in Soweto. Future endeavours for 2018 will include 3D printing, virtual reality (VR), holograms, and augmented reality (AR) in teaching and learning. A CAT Lab training room and open working space are also available for lecturers with WiFi access.

Edited by Daniëlle Kruger

*Fuente: http://www.itnewsafrica.com/2018/08/education-solutions-for-the-growing-transformation-in-technology/

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How A People-First Culture Is Transforming Education In India

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Por: forbes.com/Laura Garnett

Since 2005, when he became president and later CEO of HCL Technologies, Vineet Nayar has led a remarkable turnaround that saw the company triple its revenues and income growth. He wrote about this in his book, Employees First, Customer Second. The value-based leadership simultaneously resulted in the company being ranked by Hewitt Associates as the Best Employer in India and by BusinessWeek among the top five most influential companies in the world.

Nayar is now trying to transform the education of India’s children. He’s taking on a huge goal, and I’ve always admired his focus on people. I wanted to sit down with him and talk about his current work with his own fund and figure out how he plans to transform education.

Laura Garnett: What is the problem that you’re trying to solve and what is your goal?

Vineet Nayar: In India, government-led primary school education systems suffer from a myriad of issues, not only preventing families from sending their children to these schools but also affecting the learning outcomes for those 144 million children who attend. Most children in grade 5 can’t do basic math or construct simple sentences in English.

 Sampark Foundation was founded with a belief that “frugal innovation,” along with relentless execution in partnership with the government, can drive large scale change in learning outcomes. Our goal is to design and implement frugal innovation ideas that will transform learning outcomes for 20 million children studying in 200,000 rural government schools by 2025, at less than $1 per child per annum. As of today, we have touched the lives of 7 million children across 76,000 schools.

Garnett: How did you come up with the Innovative ideas that you speak about?

Nayar: While many educational change initiatives are in-flight in India currently, we realized they have not been able to deliver impact because they are either sub scale or resource intensive, or they ignore the ground realities surrounding these kids. For example, you can’t just solve this problem by giving away iPads to children in an environment that lacks electricity.

We believe that for any long-lasting change to happen it has to be driven by practical and sustainable solutions that are frugal but at a large scale. Our area of investment and focus was on design thinking and coming up with frugal innovation ideas (low on resources, high on impact) and leveraging them to deliver a comprehensive, multi-fold improvement in learning outcomes that can be sustained.

This led to Sampark Smart Shala: a learning-outcome focused, frugal innovation-led initiative that uses audio technology, a voice mascot called “Sampark Didi,” toys, folklore, board games and teacher training modules combined with rigorous monitoring in collaboration with state governments.

Garnett: What allowed you to have these innovative ideas?

Nayar: Our design thinking was inspired by three ideas. The first came from an unlikely source: Bollywood! Going to a movie in an Indian village is an open-air three-hour deeply immersive experience of life enacted through dance, songs and dramatic scripts. We asked ourselves – could we bring that experience to the classroom too?

The second came from watching people in villages charge cell phones using their bicycles. Could this battery drive an audio device with a big speaker that could be used in a class? And the third inspiration came from Teaching Learning Materials (TLM’s). Students retain 70% of what is said in the first 10 minutes of class and only 20% of what is said in last 10 minutes. Adding visual aids and stories increases retention by 250% even in the last 10 minutes.

Garnett: How are these ideas making an impact on your goal?

Nayar: The results have been nothing short of magical – a 56% increase in learning outcomes measured through an independent assessment study. This is also now a case study at the Harvard Business School, showcasing how frugal innovation can create large scale social impact.

Garnett: How are you bringing people first customer second to your foundation and how does it operate?

*Fuente: https://www.forbes.com/sites/lauragarnett/2018/05/08/how-a-people-first-culture-is-transforming-education-in-india/#134b06435ef2

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Edtech basics for new teachers

Matthew Lynch

Por MATTHEW LYNCH

Resumen: Muchos maestros recién salidos de la universidad y otras instituciones educativas poseen nuevas ideas, pero tienen que prepararse para cualquier desafío en el aula, especialmente en lo que se refiere al uso de la tecnología. Edtech ha ampliado en gran medida lo que un aula puede lograr, por lo que los nuevos maestros tienen que aclimatarse a estas tecnologías tan pronto como sea posible. Este artículo presenta algunas opciones edtech básicas que los maestros necesitan saber cuando entran a sus propias aulas.

Many new teachers fresh out of college and other pathways to teaching possess new ideas, but they have to prepare for any challenge in the classroom, especially regarding using technology. Edtech has greatly expanded what a classroom can accomplish, so new teachers have to acclimate to these technologies as quickly as possible. Here are some basic edtech options that teachers need to know when they first step into their own classrooms.

Locating New Ideas for the Classroom

One of the best resources of where to find ideas to integrate into any classroom would be TeachersPayTeachers. Many teachers use this site to share their ideas with other teachers for the sake of building a stable support system across the internet. It opens gateways to new ideas for teachers of all experience levels. Shared ideas include décor for the classroom, organizational tools, and standards-aligned activities that can be located with a simple search.

Managing Tasks

To-do lists do not quite cut it when it comes to managing all of the tasks that need to be completed when preparing and managing a classroom. For iOS users, 30/30 is a great app to help with managing those many tasks. It can mix personal and work items in a color-coded mode to differentiate types of tasks. For Android users, Tassky functions in much the same way.

 Dealing with Interactive Whiteboards

Many classrooms come equipped with hardware technology, too, like interactive whiteboardsand learning how to use one can be rather difficult without some training. There are several tools available to become familiar with this type of technology and fast. Two examples areFlockdraw and Cosketch. Both of these tools allow for interaction using whiteboard software on any computer. It promotes collaboration, which is another skill that new teachers need to perfect as soon as possible.

Maintaining E-portfolios

A new type of tech that has become rather popular in the last few years is e-portfolios. Students learn through to and how to maintain these portfolios with tools related to Google Sites, Wikispaces, and WordPress classroom edition. They learn how to work on smaller assignments that build to a culminating project alongside learning how to collaborate with other students instead of just submitting assignments to teachers for approval or feedback. A new teacher should familiarize him or herself with these options as soon as possible to begin planning their classrooms around an e-portfolio early on. E-portfolios take a lot of planning and effort on the teacher’s part, so the sooner this process begins, the sooner it can be perfected and improved upon before it is rolled out to students.

New teachers can also take advantage of e-portfolios in another way. An e-portfolio provides a great solution to making lesson plans and units, too. Everything can be organized in a neat and efficient manner, too. The main benefit to using e-portfolios for lesson plans and units is how accessible they can be elsewhere. The days of backing everything up onto a USB thumb drive can end by using e-portfolios in this way. The essential key to not using USB thumb drives is they can be lost or broken much easier than a cloud storage option.

Conclusion

So many tools and apps exist in edtech nowadays that it can be difficult to figure out where to start learning what to use. Exploring these tools can be intimidating, too. Starting off by using these tools as early on in a career as possible will lead to learning how to incorporate other technology over the years, too. Therefore, new teachers need to work on preparing themselves for the evasion technology has made into education quickly to be ahead of the game.

Fuente: http://www.theedadvocate.org/edtech-basics-new-teachers/

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EEUU: Teachers to get a view of hi-tech future at education conference

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EEUU, September 23, 2017. By:education.einnews.com.

Teachers and school workers are being invited to get a glimpse of the future of education at a county conference.

Shropshire Council’s EdTech (Education Technology) conference will be held at Theatre Severn on Wednesday and is for anyone working in a school across the UK, but especially those in Shropshire.

Hosted by Shropshire Council, it is hoped to be the first of many similar conferences.

Large technology and software companies will be attending the event including BT, Microsoft, Sophos and Capita.

There will be a range of exclusive talks and hands-on sessions providing delegates with tools to deal with current IT challenges. They will include everything from e-safety to social media, to digital literacy targets. More than 80 schools have already signed up to attend but there are still limited spaces available.

Nick Bardsley, Shropshire Council’sCabinet member for children’s services and education, said: «This is an amazing opportunity for all local schools and education providers to take control of the ever-evolving face of technology and learn to use it to their advantage.

«The aim of this is to benefit the teachers, support staff and of course students by giving you a glimpse of the future, as well as helping children and young people to be as well-equipped as possible to handle the challenges of navigating the internet, and the potential dangers that come with it.

«Shropshire Council is pleased to have significant buying power, meaning that we can deliver a reduced cost service for those receiving services.

Delighted «I am delighted by the large number of schools already signed up, and would like to take this opportunity to welcome and encourage everyone to book their places without delay.»

People can sign up to attend the event at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/edtech-shropshire-wednesday-27th-septem-ber-2017.

From: http://education.einnews.com/article/405641375/Zt_SN5iNZJcIfx2K?lcf=ZdFIsVy5FNL1d6BCqG9muZ1ThG_8NrDelJyazu0BSuo%3D

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