Online Education

Online Schooling - the new way of learning

Online learning has been around for more than a decade now. Online learning or distance learning started as a trend for postgraduate courses, namely diplomas or Management studies and over time the trend trickled down to lower grades. Online learning in the initial stage was all about studying in isolation and giving an exam; it slowly moved to live online classrooms and then to using interactive tools to make online learning fun and meaningful.

Research conducted by a business wire states that the online education market in

India is poised to grow by $ 14.33 bn during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of 21% during the forecast period.

While online learning became a trend for graduation and post-graduation courses or short terms courses for that matter, it did not trickle down to schools till the pandemic hit the world in 2020. Schools have been using technology as a tool in bits and pieces; however, they never solely adopted online schooling. The reason for this is resistance from all quarters, right from parents to teachers to educators themselves.

The pandemic came as a boon for schools and systems and processes changed overnight. While there have been loopholes and hiccups along the way, many schools have learned to bridge the gaps. Today children attend online school and give their exams online too, and parents and teachers can now see that online education is far more effective than physical school. Online schooling will soon become a norm and widely accepted too. However, we see that there is a huge gap in the quality of online schooling at this point and some of the reasons for that are:

1. Schools are using physical school curriculum online to impart education 2. Teachers are not trained to handle online classes 3. Our IT infrastructure is not that advanced 4. Parents fear their children will get addicted to technology A bunch of educators have realised these gaps and are working towards starting specialised online schools. They are building a curriculum that is meant for the online medium. This curriculum is more interactive and it makes one think and gives them the autonomy to learn at their pace and revisit topics they may not have understood. These institutions are also working towards teacher training and ensuring teachers are equipped to handle online classes and make the class a fun learning environment.

Disruption and rebuilding are what’s going to take us forward and a few visionaries are already working towards doing just that. A few online schools that are doing a great job worldwide are 21K schools, Korroboree online school, Synthesis, Pearson online academy and more.

As the world is changing exponentially, parents, educators and teachers have realised that our current education system would have been helpful if one wanted to be an employee as it teaches one to comply, whereas the future is expected to be all about entrepreneurs and collaborators where one will be expected to think beyond, be creative and innovative and become problem solvers.

Reading

Teachers can rekindle the joy of reading

Many students have nerve-wracking experience when it comes to reading in front of peers. Such situations can develop feelings of embarrassment, shame and frustration.According to the experts, children are sensitive towards reading skills and need social-emotional support from teachers in the foundational years.

As the student progresses to middle school and those who fail to achieve a proficiency in reading disengage from school activities, dropouts loses interest. The most affected are from low-income groups.

“When children are in their middle and high school, they find themselves vulnerable as they are still having a hard time coping with reading problems; they view it as an unachievable task and consider it their failure, which leads to low self-esteem,” said Neelam Agarwal, an associate senior professor in the University of Lucknow. Many students internally develop inferior

Reading

complexity that they are not smart, and think that school is not the place for them and a notion stems that reading is not an interesting activity. In such cases, school can become battlefield for students, who don’t receive proper support and guidance from their teachers. They may be intellectually capable of understanding every concept but still fall apart on multiple fronts. Teachers’ role is crucial here because only a teacher can help students overcome his/her reading flaws. Some of the ways by which teachers can help reduce anxiety and shame in struggling readers. Teachers can accelerate students’ positive feelings, mitigate negative emotions, and foster an atmosphere where students can freely share their problems related to reading, said Ms Nootan Verma, a school teacher in Delhi.

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Teacher’s role

Develop a classroom culture where children without being hesitant can ask for help and even if they make mistakes publicly, they are not subject to mockery.

Teachers can encourage and empower students by organising “choral reading session”, instead of asking them to read aloud in front of the entire class.

Teachers can use innovative strategies like incorporating effective phonics instruction, flexible grouping and other fun activities where students can use his/her artistic skills in reading.

Teachers can give examples of celebrities and other role models who too coped with reading difficulties to show them that this is not the end of opportunities or limit your growth.

Teacher can conduct private read-alouds, where student reads only in front of teacher to develop oral-language skills and fluency. Always include and capitalize students’ strengths and interests in the reading sessions.

Older students who have below average reading skills must be provided with age-appropriate content that is engaging, maintains interest in reading and builds fluency and vocabulary skills.

Perspective

Is Netaji finally getting his due?

T P Venu

The initiatives of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose are finding utterance in history textbooks with prominence

It is an annual ritual. Come January 23, the whole nation pays tribute to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and his avid followers raise their voices for the inclusion of his initiatives for India’s independence in school syllabus. This year, the voices became shriller with the West Bengal Education minister Bratya Basu stating that the government would recommend to the syllabus committee to include in the school curriculum Netaji’s struggle for Indian independence. Not just that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a hologram statue of Netaji at India Gate on the occasion of 125th birth anniversary of the nationalistic leader.

For years, a debate has been raging with staunch followers of Netaji stating that he was relegated to the background and has not been given his due in school textbooks while leaders like Nehru, Abul Kalam Azad and others find mention in abundance. Speaking on the occasion of unveiling the hologram, Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Perspective

said, “Country is correcting ‘mistakes’ made after independence. While there is no doubt that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose made supreme sacrifices his efforts were ignored,” aver followers.

The Indian independence movement led by Mahatma Gandhi with non-violence as the main weapon did not find resonance with Netaji who found his political strategies especially ‘Ahimsa’ ambiguous. Differences they had and Netaji parted ways and was also resigned from Indian National Congress but when Netaji constituted four regiments in Indian National Army (INA) he named three of them after Gandhi, Nehru and Maulana Azad.

Opinions may be divided but there is no denying the fact that he stood his ground amidst towering leaders and escaped to Germany via Afghanistan and the Soviet Union and from there to Japan all along mobilising forces to fight against the British. History lessons leave an indelible mark on students and every leader irrespective of ideology needs to be read. The time, it seems has come, albeit late on the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose to find utterance.

Famous slogans of Netaji

Jai Hind

Give me blood and I will give you freedom!

Freedom is not given, it is taken.

We should have but one desire today. So that India may live.

No real change in history has ever been achieved by discussions.

India is calling. Blood is calling to blood. Get up; we have no time to lose. Take up your arms. The road to Delhi is the road to freedom. ChaloDilli.

Principal & teacher pair-up, a lethal combination

When a teacher and principal team-up and teach a class it is a win-win situation

Often, teachers and educators perceive instructional observation as punitive or being checked upon constantly. Can’t there be strategies where teacher observations are no more stressful and can be reimagined as an empowering factor for both teachers and school leaders? Definitely, there are ways through which instructional observations can be exercised effectively without making teachers anxious about their performance.

This can be facilitated by co-teaching, collaborative and productive interactions. One of the first tasks for school leaders or principals lies in convincing teachers of the

benefits of instructional observations. School leaders’ role is imperative here to make teachers understand why it is necessary to develop a culture of co-teaching and observations and boost it to thrive in the school’s ecosystem.

One of the positive outcomes seen in recent years is principals getting out of their offices and spending more time than ever in the classrooms. With the aim to improve the teaching practice and learning capacity of both students and teachers by evaluating their teaching practices and behaviour to enhance schools’ growth in achievingquality standards in terms of learning outcome. Let’s look at six strategies by which school leaders can help improve teacher observations.

Principals playing coach

In the recent years, we have observed a shift in the school leader’s role. Though principals are tasked with more administrative duties, the instructional leadership role has emerged as a key factor in developing their teacher observations skills. They can also hone their craft or adopt new ideas by observing teachers’ teaching sessions.

Flexible invitation strategy

Teachers have the liberty to choose their observation schedule, which gives them greater autonomy over selecting lessons of their interest and driving the narrative. Teachers can seek advice from school leaders when they are facing challenges and coalesce on finding solutions. In this way, school leaders affirm teachers that their success is the leader’s topmost priority.

Leverage teachers’ strengths

As a leader, we might be quick to point out shortcomings or deficits of teachers and students, which can often discourage and disgruntle teachers’ confidence in their content knowledge and pedagogical skills. Researches have exemplified that people get

Principals playing coach

Leverage teachers’ strengths Flexible invitation strategy

Co-teaching

Teacher flip Feedback

motivated and grow from their strengths rather than flaws. Hence, leaders can look for teachers’ strengths instead of getting overwhelmed by their weak points.

Co-teaching

Under this strategy, principals and teachers design, prepare lesson plans together. They co-taught the lessons in classrooms with the shared objective of leveraging the overall learning outcome. Roles are more effective when the lesson plans are prepared well in advance. Through this exercise, they get the opportunity to discuss each other’s strengths and progress.

Teacher and principal can team-up and teach a class together, taking turns, which allows both of them to observe each other’s teaching techniques.

Teacher flip

In this method, the teacher gives a brief summary of what the class is working on to the school principal in advance. Then the school leader takes the class, and the teacher leaves the class to observe another teacher teaching. Through this process, a school leader learns and simultaneously, acknowledges the instructors’ skills. Moreover, this strategy not only allows teachers to observe another colleague in action but also permits them to reflect on their own teaching practice.

Feedback

It is essential to provide timely feedback to teachers, no matter how distinguished the class session was. School leaders should provide at least one suggestion or tip for improvement that should include practical examples and methods a teacher can implement immediately.

To sum up, instructional observation is a win-win situation for both school leader and teacher as it creates a positive experience for both the players in providing ample opportunities for progress, understanding and learning.

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Sensory Play

Why is it Important for Your Kids?

Kids are born with six senses – See, Listen, Touch, Smell, Taste & Move. As they grow up, they begin to look to adapt them in what is generally called as ‘initial development phase’. Every kid will learn to use them and experience them in different ways. While some kids learn to adapt them quickly and learn fast, others face certain limitations to one or more senses.

By engaging their senses, kids learn new things or facts of life. This aspect of engagement of senses is what experts refer to as Sensory Play that teaches kids how to visualize process and interpret the world around them. Kids as they grow and evolve, get oriented towards these sensory experiences. Sensory Play is any activity that engages the senses, and stimulates them.

It is these sensory activities that encourage kids to use their senses while they play or explore things around them. They also allow them to absorb different sensory information that helps their brain to forge stronger connection with sensory information, and accordingly, process and respond to them. For instance, a kid would find it difficult initially to adjust in an environment with conflicting noises. Through sensory play, kids will learn to understand various noises, hear and adapt and then block out noises that are not of significance.

Factors that underline sensory play’s importance include:

•Provides Sensory Inputs • Facilitates Brain Development • Ensures Better Retention • Regulates Emotions • Enhances Motor Skills • Inculcates Social Skill • Inculcates Scientific Reasoning Skills • Develops Language Skills

One of the better ways to facilitate growing kids learning process is through Toys. Quality and interesting toys that sparks interest in them is what will drive them to learn more. ALPAKS since inception has developed hundreds of interactive toys for children – from clay to educational toys to innovative furniture and more. Every ALPAKS toy has been crucial in helping kid’s and children’s innovative minds and fuel their curiosity to try out and experiment with various toys.

Known for its stringent quality standards, ALPAKS toys today are widely used in Pre - schools and Schools across India. They have also been enormously successful in inculcating in young kids, the importance of environment and the need for developing healthy environmental-friendly habits.

You can contact them on alpaks_kids@yahoo.com or call Mr. Tarun on +91 9347501848