The monthly newsletter
SCOPE Issue 87 | November 2012 | www.ei-india.com
This Month’s Issue Make it Fun .................... 01 Joy of Giving ................... 02 Learning in the Field ....... 03 Flipped Classroom .......... 04
ali w i D y p p a us H o r e p os r P & ar! e Y New
Video Review ................. 06 Teacher’s Bite ................. 07 Thoughtful Story ............ 07 Detailed Assessment ...... 08
Make it Fun, and Make it Festive! Are you pulling out the fineries, redoing or spring cleaning your home, going on a shopping spree, or making that one big purchase as a family, that you have been waiting for all year long? Yes, these are all indicators of the arrival of the festive season! Everywhere you look or even listen, you will see a mention of it! Whether it’s the neighbourhood mall, which is dressed up in lights and bright décor, every major playground in your city, which is lit up to celebrate the nine day Navratra festival or the Durga puja pandals that brighten up your street – It’s hard to miss the festive buzz! Even the newspapers these days have a festive splash, what with the different schemes and offers being conjured up by retailers and travel companies across the country. However, having grown up with this festive spirit over the years, as adults, we enjoy and appreciate the meaning of each of these cultural traditions in our lives. We even consider these days to be auspicious to start something new, or make a purchase, but do you think our children are just as clued on? We doubt it! In fact, you can even put it to test – ask your students: what is the significance of the nine-day Navratra celebration; which deity is worshipped during this time; why is Durga puja celebrated; or why do we celebrate Diwali with lights? Your likely responses will range from it being a time to play and dress up, to being a time for
indulgences for the entire family! Students can be introduced to different festivals and even be given a background about why each one is celebrated, he/she will only learn to truly appreciate the festival/tradition when he/she sees his/her parents talking about it and perhaps even celebrating it themselves.
Better Understanding of the Indian Culture: Celebrating festivals is a great way to teach your students about Indian culture. Knowing more about why a festival is celebrated, what its significance is, and why we started celebrating it in the first place, can help a child understand the importance and significance of each festival, and it can be a great way to impart values to the child as well. So, how can you teach your students about the importance of these festivals
and not make it seem like an extra class that he has to attend besides his regular classes. Here are some fun tips to get you started this festive season: Make a Game Out of it: Make the festivities hard to get! Create a mock contest that a student has to win, in order to get his/her gift, the gift can be crackers, rangoli designs, colours or the dandiya sticks for example. Pose questions and urge them to read up and be prepared on the day of the quiz. This not only infuses fun in the learning process, but also helps them value the celebration that much more! Festive Project: Ask students to get involved in the home decoration process this festive season. One has to get involved right from the diya selection, to the rangoli decoration, to making the special festive food. They need to then submit a project note using pictures of the celebration and crafts. While you may already be celebrating the festival in your own special way, the whole idea is to make a concerted effort with your students, to teach him/her the relevant traditions and values in the end, make it fun, and make it festive! After all isn’t that what these festivals are for?
JOY OF GIVING CELEBRATIONS IN SCHOOLS
Sanghamitra School, Hyderabad The ASSET Ambassadors of Sanghamitra School ran a collection drive of grains and pulses. Students were asked to bring a fistful of grains and pulses from home. The proceeds from the donation were sent to an old age home. Other ASSET Ambassadors of my school and I came up with an idea to make our friends and teachers aware of the Joy of Giving week and make them to observe this week and participate with us to help the needy. We sent out a circular asking interested students and teachers to participate by bringing either a fistful of rice or a fistful of pulses. As per the circular, children and teachers whole- heartedly contributed different things. We collected 900kg of rice and 165kg of Tuwar Dal. We gave this collection to an Orphanage, an Old Age home, HIV Infected patients etc. When we visited these places, the people over there were very happy to receive the food. It gave us a sense of happiness. By K Rohan, ASSET Ambassador, Sanghamitra School, Hyderabad
St. George’s School, Alaknanda, New Delhi The students of St. George’s School, Alaknanda, New Delhi, celebrated ‘The Joy of Giving Week’ from 2nd to 8th October 2012 with great enthusiasm in several ways. They eagerly contributed for this noble event and made it a success. The joy they experienced after giving something was commendable. The students were happy to do these activities which brought joy to their hearts as well as to others. Some of the activities done by students were - Imparted education to illiterate people by helping them to read and write, presented toys to the poor people helped them to understand the value of sharing and helping others, gave old clothes to the poor people and helped them understand the value of money, a child contributed her pocket money for her grandfather’s surgery as the father was short of money, gave a ‘Sorry’ card to a friend, gave a flower to a policeman to thank him for all the duties he performs, made a rangoli to decorate the house, gave a gift to a sweeper and a cup of tea to the watchman. It also gave immense pleasure to help rag picker pick the garbage from the ground, to read out the newspaper to the grandparents, to clean public park with a friend, to go to an old age home and read out the newspaper to an elderly person etc. It was an appreciable effort by Educational Initiatives to inculcate the value of giving. Many students uploaded their activities on the ‘Joy of Giving Week’ Facebook link. The students understood that it was essential to understand the needs of others also and not be self-centred but to care for those who are around them. They learnt that to be loved they must love first.
Learning in the Field: The Case of an Enquiry based Learning Water, without it, no life of any form can ever exist. Hence, different cultures and religions have treated water with utmost devotion and respect. One of the tangible heritage structures pertaining to water were the erection of step wells in Medieval India, which are found in most parts of the western Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Locally known as vavs, these structures are also aesthetic wonders, filled with hundreds of divine images and decorative motifs, the most outstanding examples are being the Rani ki Vav at Patan and Adalaj ni Vav near Ahmedabad. However, there are hundreds of lesser known step wells scattered throughout the semi-arid terrain of North Gujarat and Saurashtra. Most of them are in dilapidated condition and covered with thick vegetation. This is mainly because of the ignorance of the local community about their revival as piped water has reached far and wide. Yet their importance in water harvesting in the era of uncertainty due to global climatic change cannot be ignored. Against this background recently I was involved in a UNESCO project with students and teachers of grade 8 at Rachana CBSE School in Ahmedabad at a step-well heritage site near Amirgadh in Banaskanta district, Gujarat. UNESCO, an international body on culture and education has recently
Students were divided into 4 groups; each assigned a topic pertaining to the subject in question. While understanding the history, character and the geographical setting of the vavwas common to all participants, the individual groups were asked to focus on local geography, the social and cultural aspects of the communities and their association with fetching of water in general and the step well in particular. Students were provided with questionnaire sheets but were strictly told not to fill them mechanically. They were advised to feel the pulse of the village life and their social and cultural aspects through informal meetings, observing and recording things in a casual and fun way. The exercise turned out to be an enriching experience, both for students and teachers. They were oriented for the first time towards ‘enquiry based field studies’. Students were also seen sensitised towards the grassroots problems and issues, such as child marriage, gender bias and so on. It was indeed a world class learning experience for the participating students. Feedback:
conducted a project with school students across India to create an awareness of one’s heritage. One of the fundamental objectives of the project was to involve school students in identifying a protecting/conserving a heritage theme that is unique yet known to just a few. I was requested by Rachana School to use my expertise and involvement in the project. As introduced earlier, we decided to work on water and step wells. Out of 2,000 step wells spread across the rough terrain of North Gujarat, we selected Roho ni Vav at Amirgadh in Banaskanta district, North Gujarat. Amirgadh was selected mainly because of its link with the community involvement towards its cleaning and preserving for posterity by the local villagers. We were assisted by Mr. Kapil Thakar, a young archaeologist who is passionate about step wells and their restoration. It was Kapil, who played an instrumental role in its revival and restoration.
Ms. Rati Agrawal (Educator): “It was an educative and enriching experience. The visit boosted the morale of students and encouraged them to take proactive action for the preservation of one’s heritage.” Ms. Saloni Sonara (participant student): “It was a great learning on the traditional rainwater harvesting system when we visited Roho step well. We came to know about the lifestyle and interdependence of different communities living there by interacting with them. We even enjoyed their traditional food. The trip helped us to know the unknown by being a part of it and experiencing it.”
Roho ni Vav is located near the bank of Banas River at the Aravali foothills in a semi-arid plateau. Before taking students we did a pilot study at Amirgadh. After a successful pilot we selected 21 students out of 100 through a screening. The field trip was designed using the enquiry approach. By Jitu Mishra, Educational Specialist, EI
Flipped Classroom: The Full Picture for Higher Education The Flipped Classroom in its simplest terms involves viewing and/or listening to lectures during one’s own time, which frees up face-to-face class time for experiential exercises, group discussions, and question and answer sessions.
A Proposal for Medical Education by Charles G. Prober). Eric Mazur, a Harvard Physics teacher said that two noteworthy problems exist when thinking about using the flipped classroom in higher education settings.
“The core idea is to flip the common instructional approach. With teacher-created videos and interactive lessons, instruction that used to occur in class is now accessed at home, in advance of a class. The class becomes the place to work through problems, advance concepts, and engage in collaborative learning. Flipped classroom teachers almost universally agree that it’s how the instructional videos are integrated into an overall approach, that makes the difference.”(The Flipped Classroom by Bill Tucker).
As Cathy Davidson noted in Why Flip The Classroom When We Can Make It Do Cartwheels?
Several trends are influencing how classes should be taught within higher education settings. “The first is technological innovation, which has made it easier to distribute lectures by the world’s leading instructors. Cognitive scientists determined that people’s short-term memory is very limited – it can only process so much at once. A lot of the information presented in a typical lecture comes at students too fast and is quickly forgotten.” (How ‘Flipping’ the Classroom Can Improve the Traditional Lecture).
“In some ways, the flipped model is an improvement, but it doesn’t come close to preparing students for the challenges of today’s world and workforce. It isn’t likely to change the world. Energized, connected, engaged, global, informed, dedicated, activist learning just might. Transformative, connected knowledge isn’t a thing–it’s an action, an accomplishment, a connection that spins your world upside down, then sets you squarely on your feet, eager to whirl again. It’s a paradigm shift.”
Physics education researchers determined that the traditional lecture-based physics course where students sit and passively absorb information is not an effective way for students to learn. Most students, who complete a standard physics class, are doing it through rote memorization and never understand what the laws of physics mean, or how to apply them to realworld situations.” (http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org /features/tomorrows-college/lectures/rethinking-teaching.html)
Harvard Professor Chris Dede stated in his Global Education 2011 keynote . . .
Sal Khan, of the Khan Academy, states: “There was nothing practical that anyone could do about this broken “learning” model until recently. But we can now deliver on-demand content to any student for nearly zero incremental cost. The video content can be paused and repeated as needed. Students can focus on exactly what they need to know. They don’t have to be embarrassed to fill in remedial gaps. They don’t need to take notes. Crucially, the lectures can be given by superb communicators, with a deep, intuitive understanding of the material. Ten years from today, the classroom will be a place for active interaction. The role of the teacher will be that of a mentor or coach as opposed to a lecturer, test writer, and grader. The institutions that will remain relevant will be those that leverage this paradigm, not fight it.” Charles Prober, MD, senior associate dean for medical education at the School of Medicine, teamed with Chip Heath, PhD, a professor of organizational behaviour, to design and use the Flipped Classroom with a core biochemistry course. “This year, our core biochemistry course at Stanford Medical School was redesigned following this model; rather than a standard lecture-based format, the instructors provided short online presentations. Class time was used for interactive discussions of clinical vignettes highlighting the biochemical bases of various diseases. The proportion of student course reviews that were positive increased substantially from the previous year. And the percentage of students who attended the class shot up from about 30% to 80% — even though class attendance was optional.” (Lecture Halls without Lectures —
1. If video lectures drive the instruction, it is just a repackaging of a more traditional model of didactic learning. It is neither a new paradigm nor pedagogy of learning. 2. Educators need to be re-educated as to what to do with the class time that previously was used for their lectures.” Repackaging Old Paradigms
“I think that the flipped classroom is an interesting idea if you want to do learning that is largely based on presentation. It’s still starting with presentational learning and then trying to sprinkle some learning-by-doing on top of it. A problem with flipping the classroom is that educators, who are used to and trained in using class time for lectures, do not know how to transition from a lecture-based classroom to one that includes more student-centred activities. A major roadblock or barrier to the implementation of this model is that many educators do not know what to do within the classroom, with that “whatever they want to do” time. For educators, who are used to and use the didactic model, a framework is needed to assist them with the implementation of the Flipped Classroom. Professors stick with traditional approaches because they don’t know much about alternatives.” (http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org /features/tomorrows-college/lectures/inventing-new college.html) The Experiential Flipped Classroom Model: Foundation This section describes a model of flipped classroom learning that addresses the concerns discussed. Basic Tenets: The tenets that drive The Experiential Flipped Classroom Model are: • Student engagement through experiential activities is the key to learning • Informal learning today is connected, instantaneous, and personalized with similar experiences in more formal learning environments • Almost all content-related knowledge can be found online through videos, podcasts, and online interactives, and is more often better conveyed through these media than by classroom teachers. • Anyone with connections to the internet has access to high level, credible content.
Flipped Classroom: continued... • Lectures in any form, face-to-face, videos, transcribed, or podcasts, should support learning not drive it nor be central to it. • And from Doug Holton, “Lectures do still have a place and can be more effective if given in the right contexts, such as after (not before) students have explored something on their own (via a lab experience, simulation, game, field experience, analyzing cases, etc.) and developed their own questions and a ‘need to know.’” (http://edtechdev. wordpress.com/2012/05/04/whats-the-problem-withmoocs/) • A menu of learning acquisition and demonstration options should be provided throughout the learning cycle. • The educator becomes a facilitator and tour guide of learning possibilities – offering these possibilities to the learners and then getting out of the way.” Experiential Learning Cycle The Experiential Learning Cycle models emphasize that “good experiences” motivate, encourage, and enable students to go on to have more valuable learning experiences. There is relative freedom to go ahead in activity and “experience”, but the educator also commits to structuring other stages, usually involving some form of planning or reflection, so that “raw experience” is package with facilitated cognitive (usually) (http://wilderdom.com/ thinking about the experience. experiential/elc/ExperientialLearningCycle.htm) The Simplest Experiential Learning Cycle
Do It. Now What?
What?
What will I do differently next time?
What happened? What were the results?
So What? What do these results imply? How did influence the outcome?
Some video archives and related online resources include: Khan Academy; Youtube Education for Universities; Academic Earth; videolectures.net; webcast.berkley; MIT Opencourse; iTunes-U Some tools to help teachers record their own lectures for student viewing include: Camtasia Studio (PC) or Camtasia for Mac, Jing, Snagit,Screenflow, Screencast-o-matic, Screenr, Educreations Free online courses by major universities offer useful materials to assist students in developing an understanding of contentrelated knowledge: Open Yale Courses, Saylor.org, Coursera Through online chats, one can ask questions about the content presented via the videos, podcasts, websites and post thoughts and opinions. Responses can then be provided by co-learners and educators through: TitanPad, TodaysMeet, Google Docs, Elluminate, Adobe Connect or Blackboard Collaborate Rooms with chat functions, Meaning Making: The most powerful learning often happens when students selfmonitor, or reflect. Learners can articulate and construct their understanding of the content or topic being covered through a variety of technology tools like: Blogs, Audio and Video Recordings, Facebook Group Page and Voicethread (http://voicethread.com/?#u1025159.b2349919.i15073398 and http://voicethread.com/?#u1025159.b1372964.i7281354) A list of technology-enhanced ideas/options for the celebration of learning can be found at: http://usergeneratededucation. wordpress.com/2010/09/09/a-technology-enhancedcelebration-of-learning/ An example on how this model was used in a blended undergraduate course can be found at Flipped Classroom Full Picture: An Example Lesson.
compiled by Andrea Corney
Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle David A. Kolb (with Roger Fry) created his famous experiential learning circle that involves (1) concrete experience followed by (2) observation and experience followed by (3) forming abstract concepts followed by (4) testing in new situations. (http://www.infed.org/biblio/b-explrn.htm) For more information, see http://www.ldu.leeds.ac.uk/ldu/ sddu_multimedia/kolb/kolb_flash.htm Experience
In the case of the flipped classroom, this is the time in the learning cycle when the learners view content-rich videos and learn abstract concepts related to the topic being covered. The role of the teacher, during this phase, is to offer the learners choices of video and related online content.
Summary The Flipped Classroom offers a great use of technology - especially if it gets lecture out of the classrooms and into the hands and control of the learners. It is part of a larger picture of teaching and learning. The Flipped Classroom videos have a place in the models and cycles of learning proposed by educational psychologists and instructional designers. Providing educators with a full framework of how the Flipped Classroom can be used in their educational settings will increase its validity for educators and their administrators.
Critical Reflection Source: Excerpts from http://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/ flipped-classroom-the-full-picture-for-higher-education/
Active Experimentation
Abstract Conceptualization
Video Review: BBC – LIFE ‘Life’ is a nature documentary series made by BBC Television, and broadcast in 2009. Life consists of 10 episodes, each of one hour duration. The series take a global view of the specialised strategies and extreme behaviour that living organisms have developed in order to survive, what Charles Darwin termed “the struggle for existence”. The series is written and narrated by Sir David Attenborough. The episode 01 ‘Challenges of Life’ introduces the series by highlighting extraordinary behaviour and survival strategies across animal kingdoms throughout the world. To cite an example from this episode is unusual collaborative hunting techniques by three cheetahs to bring down an ostrich in the Great Rift Valley. The episode 02 ‘Reptiles and Amphibians’ focuses on one of the earliest animal genera in the animal kingdom, which still dominant the planet earth. Though they may seem primitive, reptiles and amphibians still strive, thanks to their diverse survival strategies. One of the highlighted features of the episode is the komodo dragons in Indonesia which prey on water buffalos in the dry season. This provides us a live demo of the Jurassic Age when dinosaur like creatures ruled the world. The episode 03 ‘Mammals’ focuses on the most intelligent animal genera that include us. Intelligence, warm blood and strong family bonds have mammals the most successful animals on the planet. Mammals can adapt to all kinds of climatic condition including the Antarctic winter. Episode 04 ‘Fish’ focuses on the most diverse group of vertebrate animals, fish, which thrive in the rivers, lakes and oceans of planet earth. Slow-motion cameras show the flying fish gliding through the air like a flock of birds and capture the world’s fastest swimmers, the sailfish, plucking sardines from the shoal at 70mph. The episode 05 ‘Bird’ highlights birds, whose features have made them extremely adaptable and enable them to fly. Feathers can also be used for display.
Episode 06 ‘Insects’ shows insects which have assumed a variety of body shape incorporating armour and wings. They have evolved diverse survival strategies and became the most abundant creatures on earth. There are 200 million insects for each of us. Episode 07 ‘Hunters and Hunted’ is all about the survival of the fittest including species from different animals kingdoms. This shows us how mammals have adopted diverse strategies to hunt their prey and evade predators. Episode 08 ‘Creatures of the Deep’ focuses on marine invertebrates which are the oldest known living organism on the planet. These evolved about a billion years ago in our evolutionary history. The episode 09 ‘Plants’ shows how plant endures a daily struggle for water, nutrients and light. For plants, animals can also be a source of food, for example, the sundew traps mosquitoes with sticky fluid, and Venus flytraps close their clamshell leaves on unwitting insects. The episode 10 ‘Primates’ highlights our genera, the most intelligent, curious and complex animals in the animal kingdom. Primates have many unique features, such as they can communicate, can create mental maps of their territories, problem solving and invention. The series is a must for Middle and High School students who are engaged in learning about the natural world and biology. The series can be purchased either in DVD or in Blue Ray format from any leading bookstore or online. Some parts are also uploaded on YouTube. - By Jitu Mishra, Educational Specialist
News Bite CBSE Course Committees to Have Student Nominees Students who have passed out class XII will get a chance to participate in CBSE course committees which are reconstituted every three years. Based on the performance and in consultation with the schools, CBSE will nominate students to these committees. CBSE is confident that the student-nominees will actively contribute towards the development of its courses. It also considers the involvement of students in framing the syllabus essential since the nominees will have a clear understanding of the prospects of the subject along with the limitations. The course committees comprise professors from universities, NCERT experts, teachers and subject experts from Kendriya Vidyalaya Sanghatan, private and public schools and working teachers.
Teacher’s Bite Ms. Arti Chopra, Principal, Sunbeam School, Varuna, Varanasi
Q:
Who has most influenced you to become an educator, and how did they influence you?
I have been highly influenced by Ex-President APJ Abdul Kalam, who is a living epitome of what modern education in all about. His simple yet radical views about the futuristic goals for the youth of the country moved me. His vision of 2020, very clearly balances tradition with technology. His approach to Classroom Management is invigorating and innovative. He is a great visionary and an icon loved by today’s youth.
Q:
What is your approach to classroom management and student discipline?
Classroom management is closely linked to issues of motivation, discipline and respect. There is a need to shift from the traditional behaviour approaches based on rules to affirmative teaching techniques, where students could be guided towards success by positive reinforcement. The classroom should prove itself to be safe and sensitive to the child’s needs. We need to provide an environment that clearly
defines the communication of academic expectations as well as cooperative learning management. For holistic growth of the students a classroom needs to be transformed into a community of well behaved and self directed learners.
Q:
What are your views regarding the Importance of teacher training and development in educating students?
It is important to exploit the pedagogical potential inherent in teacher-learner communities, have an understanding of individual differences, make use of inter-cultural education programmes and develop co-operation skills. A new professional profile needs to be created for teacher- training, and training practices should meet the challenges and tasks of today. Practising educators’ aptitude for self-reflection and needs should be reinforced and teachers should be open to new education methods.
Q:
What is your view regarding the ASSET Test?
ASSET tests are scientifically designed diagnostic Test which are helping our schools use a cycle of: problem discovery, root cause analysis, solution, research and effective feedback. Apart from the comparison of the class average with the national average, a particular class average could be compared with the best section within a particular school so that a benchmark of quality result could be set within the child’s nearest territory.
Thoughtful Story A man was exploring the caves by the seashore. In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls. It was like someone had rolled clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake. They didn't look like much, but they intrigued the man so he took the bag out of the cave with him. As he strolled along the beach, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could. He thought little about it until he dropped one of the balls and it cracked open on a rock. Inside was a beautiful, precious stone. Excited the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each contained a similar treasure. He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left. Then it struck him. He had been on the beach a long time. He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves. Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands, but he just threw it away. It's like that with people. We look at someone, maybe even ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel. It doesn't look like much from the outside. It isn't always beautiful or sparkling so we discount it. We see that person as less important than someone more beautiful or stylish or well known or wealthy. But we have not taken the time to find the treasure hidden
inside that person by God. There is a treasure in each and every one of us. If we take the time to get to know that person, and if we ask God to show us that person the way He sees them, then the clay begins to peel away and the brilliant gem begins to shine forth. May we not come to the end of our lives and find out that we have thrown away a fortune in friendships because the gems were hidden in bits of clay. May we see the people in our world as God sees them!
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