digitalLEARNING-Dec-2010-[20-22]-Event Report-Knowledge Sharing in K-12 Education

event report

digitallearning School Education Conclave 2010

Knowledge Sharing in K-12 Education The School Education Conclave 2010 was organized with the objective of sharing best practices in academic and institutional excellence and to discuss contemporary issues in K-12 education. It highlighted strategies and steps that will help carry forward the educational reforms in India

By Sheena Joseph

T

he digitalLEARNING School Education Conclave provided a platform for senior leadership and management teams of various schools to share ideas and learn best ways for achieving institutional excellence and help them in preparing for the demands of the new era in education.

How to get the Education Reforms Rolling The inaugural session of the conclave enumerated the diverse measures be-

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ing taken to transform the current educational trends to a more learner centric approach. The current century is witnessing some of the greatest transformations in the field of education. Elaborating on the role of Intel in bringing about this transformation, Rajesh Gupta, Director–Sales & Marketing Group, Intel (South Asia) stated that education has been a very critical element in all activities of Intel. IT training activities of Intel in rural areas have enabled students to gain employment and the knowledge has also been used

to spread awareness on social issues. A sound base in education particularly at the primary level helps in economic development and in finding employment opportunities.

Emerging and developing countries have different needs for education in terms of curriculum and methodology.

For a very long time, the classroom approach has been followed, which has only promoted rote learning. However, the kind of exposure available outside the school includes diverse media including the internet, peer influence,

communities etc. There are far more influences being exerted on the child and therefore the paradigm needs to shift from that of teacher centric learning to a wider perspective of including the child’s surroundings. These can positively impact a students’ learning. The teacher plays a major role in the educational attainment of the student.

It was highlighted during the session that Right to Education (RTE) is the most fundamental change in education since independence and this is what will bring about a transformation. The integrated element of curriculum and continuous assessment is necessary.

Hey Math was started in the year 2000 fundamentally to address the problem of teacher shortage in Maths subjects, said Nirmala Sankaran, Cofounder & Managing Director, HeyMath. “Our strength is in building teaching capacity in Maths. Quality of a teacher can have a profound impact on the learning abilities of students. We have to establish how technology can be used creatively to improve teaching learning process.”

Dr SS Jena, Chairman, National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) elaborated that there is a strong paradigm shift taking place in the field of school education. The learning environment today has gone beyond the classroom.

The process now is more learner centric with the role of the teacher being transformed from that of a mere instructor to a facilitator. The role of technology in this is crucial as it can be used not only within the classroom but also to take learning across boundaries.

It is in the hands of the principals and teachers to create the next generation of skilled manpower. India is a country with the largest number of youth population, highlighted S C Khuntia, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Human Resource Development.“This is the time to exploit the demographic advantage and ensure that it does not turn into a demographic disaster.” Problems need to be turned into an opportunity. Every child should get proper education. Education needs to lead to employability. The ICT in School is a centrally sponsored scheme

where every student from class 9-12 will be imparted IT education so that they acquire certain IT competencies before they pass out of school.

Dr Mahendra Nagpal

Redefining Pedagogy and Constructivism: Role of Technology in Curriculum Development

Chairman, Education Committee, Municipal Corporation of Delhi

ICT enablement of education is going to change the paradigm of education.

From a one way process, education would now become collaborative process. With diverse resources available, children now have to also learn the methodology of accessing resources.

Use of ICT as a tool in the teaching learning process should also be for self learning. There is no end to learning when it comes to technology.

Elaborating on the need to use diverse range of tools to supplement the learning process, S Regunathan, Former Chief Secretary-Delhi & Advisor, National Knowledge Commission highlighted that the teaching fraternity should realize that there is a tremendous need of transforming the mode of delivering of education today. Technology has an important role in curriculum development.

“Traditional teaching methods need to be supplemented with technology based teaching. We want to make learning easy for all by providing teaching tools,” said Subrata Roy, Asst. Vice President, Next Education.

S C Khuntia

Joint Secretary, School Education Ministry of Human Resource Development

Dr S S Jena

Chairman, National Institute of Open Schooling

Meera Balachandran

Director, Educational Quality Foundation India

Redefining Pedagogy and Constructivism: Innovation and Technology in Capacity Building of Teachers.

Nirmala Sankaran

Education is seen as a tool that drives national development agenda. The creation of new education technologies and the increasing push towards integration of technology into education has increased the need for teacher education and training. The session highlighted the need for developing regional guiding principles that would enable the integration of ICT into education and simultaneously promote teacher professional development.

Co-founder & Managing Director, HeyMath

Rajesh Gupta

Director–Sales & Marketing Group, Intel (South Asia) digital LEARNING

DECEMBER 2010

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S Regunathan Advisor, National Knowledge Commission

Subrata Roy

Asst. Vice President, Next Education

Amit Gupta

CEO, S Chand Harcourt

Amol Arora

MD, Shemrock and Shemford Group of Schools

Sugat Jain

Director, Ratna Sagar

Prashant Pitti CEO, Fitness Air

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Professional development of the teacher was highlighted as a major step in education reforms. Introducing reforms should not alienate the teachers.

Reforms will necessarily involve changes and adoption of newer elements. This would mandate teacher training in diverse fields. Technology creates a huge influence on children, and if teacher is not trained simultaneously, it would only create an imbalance. Tremendous efforts also need to be put in the continuous development of teacher in the use of ICT, since technology needs to be integrated into school education.

Shaping NextGen Schools: Towards Joyful Learning The session sought to establish how schools can adapt learning styles to make the teaching learning process more fruitful and joyous for the students. Speakers highlighted that school routine today has become more stressful for students, with kids even at the primary stage who reluctantly enter school gates carrying heavy school bags. The solution is to engage students in the learning process, not through banning home work, but by ensuring that the work assigned does not become a burden for them. Moreover, practical and demonstrations should be emphasised upon. The methodology of teaching should be such that it gives an opportunity to develop scientific temper and creativity to students.

There has also been a strong need for lifelong learning skills to be inculcated through the education process. Continuously building self learning capacity is important. Gone are the days when the teaching pedagogy was fixed and the learners learnt what was given to them.

Today, institutions offer what learners want to learn. The shift that is taking place particularly in the field of open and distance learning. Teachers will have to facilitate learning particularly in the field of school education.

Reviewing the functional development programmes of teachers is essential. Strengthening classroom transactions by providing guidelines

on teaching patterns can include group work, activities and project work for students.

Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation The session on Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) witnessed discussions on the current challenges and teaching aspects related to the CCE model. Principals and panelists contributed to the discussions by putting forth their views on how it has been implemented in their schools.

CCE involves learning through feedbacks from students and parents as well as teachers, said Dr Lalit Modak, Principal, Delhi Public School -Vasundara. It does not have rigid parameters. It has to be dependent on the requirements of the school. Teacher orientation to the procedures is important. Several methods of implementing CCE in schools were pointed out by Dr Modak including in house activity books that can be digitalized and made available within the school.

Framework for various activities can be decided and teachers can adapt it accordingly. Equipping teachers and children in all the procedures is important. “CCE has given importance to the creation of report cards for fitness assessment of students. Physical activity can then be assessed through scientific procedures,� said Prashant Pitti, CEO, Fitness Air. For physical education, muscle stability, sporting abilities are analyzed. Simple rubrics are given to the sports teacher so that they can relate their daily sporting activities with CCE. Dr A K Sharma, Principal, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Gole Market explained some of the challenges in the implementation of CCE including the documentation pressures on the teachers owing to the large student strength, need for many more resources to aid in the creation of activities, and better training facilities for teachers.

The School Education Conclave concluded with the awards ceremony to felicitate schools using ICTs effectively in the teaching learning process.\\