CareerConnect December 2016 edition

December 2016 Vol 5 Issue 3

Postal Registration No. : DL(S)-01/3496/2016-18 Posted at IPMBC on the 9th & 10th same month RNI No: DELENG/2012/43525 Published on the 5th of the same month

The Creative Science of Learning Environments

Contents

52 Pages including Cover December 2016 I Volume 5 I Issue 3 I `40

16 Cover Story

The Creative Science of Learning Environments A lot of the kids in school play Call of Duty. If they fail a level, they won’t give up. They’ll keep trying. We’ve got to bring that enthusiasm into the classroom. The use of technology in schools marks an increasing convergence of the classroom with children’s home lives.

Special Feature l India vs Foreign Education System...........................................10

Letters to the Editor........................................06 News...............................................................08 Events.............................................................42

Feature l Creating a Global Classoom.......................................................24 l Smart Education... Smart Learners.........................................28

Interview l Mansie Dewan,

Author of “Destination MBA”.............................34 l Manish Gupta,

Chairman, JIMS..................................................36

Book Review

l Col (R) Stephen H Robinette, Associate Vice

President for International Programs, MSU.....38 l Aakash Chaudhry,

l

Director, Aakash Educational Services.............40

The 30-Something CEO...................................32

Guest Column Partha Haider..................................................46 Ankur Gulati....................................................48 Ashish Sirohi...................................................50

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Letters to the Editor

Editor and Publisher Smiti Suri Executive Editor Samaya Chhabra Principal Correspondent Ritika Arora Bhola

The Million Dollar Estate Deal T he cover stor y on ‘T he Million Dolla r Est ate Deal’ wh ich g ave a w id e k nowle d ge a b out t he r e a l e s t at e busi ness and its job oppor t u n it ies was really helpf ul.

The topic was covered in depth and was quite informative. Great effort!

Special Correspondent Sana Husain

Diksha Kapoor, Assam

Feature Writer Tariq Ahmed Nicin Varghese Gaurav Dubey

From Bihar to Washington DC

I really liked the story of the you ng ent repreneu r Sharad Sagar. His audacious jou r ney f r om Bi h a r t o Washington DC has given me an immense motivation.

The journey of this young entrepreneur truly filled me with an enthusiasm to achieve my goal of launching my own start-up company.

Ankita Srivastava, New Delhi

Director Marketing Ajeet Kumar Manager Marketing Niti Chauhan Marketing Executive Chetan Pathak Rajesh Basu Asad Mohammad Mehuli Choudhury Marketing Support Sheetal Singh Administration Vipin Marwah Lavish Thakur

Career made with passion

Designer & Visualiser Mayank Bhatnagar Shaique Ahmad

I am a regular reader of your magazine and the story titled ‘Career Made With Passion’ made a huge impact on my mind. Extracurricular activities recharge students’ b r a i n a f t e r a d a y-l o n g rigorous mental exercise in schools. It also enhances the efficiency of the brain and keeps students healthy.

Pranav Gupta, Chandigarh

All material printed in this publication is the sole property of CAREERConnect All printed matter contained in the magazine is based on the information of those featured in it. The views, ideas, comments and opinions expressed are solely of those featured and the Editor and Publisher do not necessarily subscribe to the same.

CAREERConnect is printed, published and owned by Smiti Suri, and is printed at Compudata Services, 42, Dsidc Shed, Scheme–1, Okhla Industrial Area Complex, Phase–II, New Delhi-110020, and published at 6/31B, Jangpura–B, New Delhi-110014.

Editor–Smiti Suri

Edu-Tech – Opening New Vistas in Indian Education

The internet has diminished the borders of classrooms and it has facilitated students to take classes on f lexible timings. I really appreciate the way the story was coined by the writer.

Anoop Thomas, New Delhi

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THE MILLION DOLLAR ESTATE DEAL

EDU-TECH: Opening New Vistas in Indian Education

Social Animals Can “Bumble” Their Way Into Networking

Career Made with Passion

DNA of Every University

The story titled ‘DNA of Every University’ gave me a true insight of top notch universities of the world. I liked the idea of the story and experiences of a lu m n i of p r e st ig iou s colleges and universities. It will def initely help me to choose a right institution after completion of Class XII. Avni Thakur, Delhi

Interview of SK Gupta

Currently, I am preparing for the entrance tests of top engineering colleges of the country. I really got overwhelmed when I saw the interview of SK Gupta, Chairman, Roorkee College of Engineering in the magazine, as Roorkee College of Engineering is also i n my bucket list.

Through this interview, I came to know about their teaching pedagogy and about the modern library of the college.

Farheen Siddiqui, Mumbai

Interview of IIJNM

I have a strong desire to make my career in the field of media.

I am glad to know that IIJNM is imparting education to Indian students with the association of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. I am really impressed by their way of training and I am going to enroll myself for the entrance test of the college.

Rishabh Sharma, Goa

Write to:The Editor, CareerConnect, Surecom Media, 6/31-B, Jangpura B, New Delhi-110014 Email: surismiti@gmail.com CareerConnect reserves the right to edit letters for brevity and clarity before publication.

6 < CAREERCONNECT < December 2016

The link to your future February 2016 Vol 4 Issue 6 January

BEST INDIA'S

July 2016 Vol 4 Issue 11

B LS SCHOO

Postal Registration No. : DL(S)-01/3496/2016-18 Posted at IPMBC on the 9th & 10th same month RNI No: DELENG/2012/43525 Published on the 5th of the same month

Cover Story Distance Education in India: Bridging the ‘Open’ Gap

The ABC of Indian B-Schools

MBA Aspirants: Master Your Career with Caution

MBA: Time for Sensible Choices

Special Feature Foreign Education : In Search of Greener Pastures Course Review Evolving Logistics Sector Seeks Skilled Professionals Feature Covering the Mile Between Native and Global Language

May 2016 Vol 4 Issue 09

Best Distance Education Institutes of India 2016

August August2016 2016Vol Vol44Issue Issue12 12

Inside: Best BBA Colleges in India: P.31

Postal Registration No. : DL(S)-01/3496/2016-18 Posted at IPMBC on the 9th & 10th same month RNI No: DELENG/2012/43525 Published on the 5th of the same month

Postal Registration No. : DL(S)-01/3496/2016-18 Posted at IPMBC on the 9th & 10th same month RNI No: DELENG/2012/43525 Published on the 5th of the same month

Best Professional Colleges of India 2016

FEATURES

Let Your Dreams Take Flight A Career to Break on the Red Carpet The ‘Judicial ‘ Commandments Lend Your Voice to the Masses

EXHAUSTIVE COVERAGE OF THE BEST PROFESSIONAL COLLEGES / UNIVERSITIES

Best Mass Communication Colleges of India 2016 Print Journalism: An apt career choice?

Enlisted: What is India reading?

Industry Ready: The new catchphrase

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October 2016 < CAREERCONNECT < 7

News

Sports could soon become a compulsory subject in schools

T

he Sports Ministry has been pitching hard to make sports a part of school curriculum. In the same row, the ministry recently brought the issue of making sports a compulsory subject in the notice of parliament. The parliament was told that students would have to secure a

A

prescribed mark for promotion in this subject. Earlier, the ministry had sent its proposal to the MHRD. The HRD Ministry in its response said that most of the schools fall under the jurisdiction of state gover nment and it is the discretion of later to take final call on the issue. Educational experts are also

in the favour of this decision of Sports Ministry. They have been suggesting for making sport at schools as a main subject from a long time. It is reported that there are over 1,099 centrally aided schools that comes under the jurisdiction of HRD Ministry wherein sport can be implemented as a major subject.

Law student bags prestigious Rhodes scholarship

final year BA LLB student from Bengaluru, Vanshaj Ravi Jain has successfully bagged the Rhodes Scholarship for 2017. Vanshaj is the law student of National Law School of India University (NLSIU). The Rhodes Scholarships are postgraduate awards supporting exceptional students from around the world to study at the University of Oxford.

Along with him, five more Indian students won the coveted scholarship.

Va nshaj now will be headi ng to the University of Oxford to study international criminal law. According to I nd ia n Express, it wa s wh ile studying at NLSIU, he developed a

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keen interest in international criminal law. He was a f inalist at the ICC (International Criminal Court) Moot competition at Haque and his article was

published in the prestigious Columbia Journal of Transnational Law on the topic of prosecuting ISIS terrorist at international law courts.

News

SC directs center to take decision on National Yoga Policy

T

he Supreme Court bench of Justice M B Lokur directed the Centre to treat the petitions filed on the issue as a representation and take a decision. The Centre has been directed to take a decision within three months on pleas seeking framing of a national yoga policy and making yoga compulsory for students of Class I-VIII across the country. The court was hearing the pleas

filed by Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, a lawyer and Delhi BJP spokesperson and J C Seth on the issue. Upadhyay has also sought a direction from the Ministry of Human Resources Development, NCERT, NCTE and CBSE to “provide standard textbooks of ‘yoga and health education’ for students of Class I-VIII keeping in spirit various fundamental rights such as right to life, education and equality.”

Corporates can start medical colleges: Medical Council of India

T

he Med ical Cou ncil of I nd ia has permitted corporates and “for profit” institutions to start medical colleges in the country. Nearly two months after the Niti Aayog committee recommended privatisation of medical colleges, the general body of the council that met in New Delhi on Tuesday resolved to allow corporate companies to start medical colleges. If the Supreme Courtappointed oversight panel and the ministry of health and family welfare approve this, corporates can apply for new colleges, officials said.

At present, educational institutes are run by government or registered not-forprofit societies or charitable trusts. Foreign direct investment rules also prohibit investments from foreign companies in these societies or trusts. Though a group of doctors in the general body raised concerns that allowing corporates will further commercialise education, a majority of them said that allowing corporates will improve standards to the level of Harvard and Oxford universities. “Many private institutions are anyway making profit through non-transparent and illegal means. If we legalise corporates they would charge a very high fee, but they will be forced to pay income tax,” said Coimbatorebased laparoscopic surgeon L P Thanagavelu, an MCI member, who was present at the meeting.

December 2016 < CAREERCONNECT < 9

special feature

Indian

vs

Foreign Education System The Indian education system has traditionally been marksoriented but it has slowly adopted new standards of education, infrastructure, technology and practice to compete with the global standards of education. But, unfortunately Indian education system has always emphasized on the theoretical knowledge rather than practical learning whereas foreign universities are far ahead when it comes to imparting education at both schools and college levels. Ritika Arora Bhola, with the help of comprehensive research work done by the educationists across India, compares Indian and foreign education system 10 < CAREERCONNECT < December 2016

special feature

December 2016 < CAREERCONNECT < 11

special feature

T

hough Indian education system has evolved over the years and has adopted new standards of teaching and practice, it still stands far behind foreign education system. The reason behind this lag is because education systems of countries like US, UK and Gulf countries is much more advanced, technologyfriendly, latest and well-researched whereas Indian education system has always been struggling to improve and remained a hot topic of discussion for educationists across India.

According to a study compiled by the India Brand Equity Foundation (2016), the Indian student population today is the largest in the world at around 315 million, of which around 120 million students are in the age group of 18-22 years. The education market in India is expected to reach over $200 billion by FY17. Cur rently, higher education constitutes 59.7 per cent of the market, school education 38.1 per cent, pre-school 1.6 per cent, and technology and multi-media the remaining 0.6 per cent.

There are a number of reputed and well-recognized institutions and universities like IIMs, IITs Delhi

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Rote learning has plagued Indian education system for generations now.

Students study only to score marks in exams, and sometimes to crack exams like IIT JEE, AIIMS or CLAT. The colonial masters had introduced such an education systems in India in order to create clerks and civil servants, and we have not deviated much from that pattern till today.

University, JNU, etc which have got recognition worldwide but getting admission here is not a cakewalk.

A student has to score really well to get admission in these colleges. The Gover n ment of India offers ever y

resource possible however, they are still not being able to reach the global standards. Education should make a person broad-minded; it should broaden the horizon and encourage to experiment and ask questions. Ultimately, it should make a person realise what capabilities and shortcomings he or she has. Foreign education gives exposure and incredible chance to meet students of different nationalities and cultures. Part time job culture makes the student selfreliant and gives a chance to gain work experience.

Creating a few more schools or allowing hundreds of colleges and private universities to mushroom is not going to solve the crisis of education in India. In India, people are spending their parentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; life savings and borrowed money on education â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and even then not getting standard education, and struggling to find employment of their choice. Here, millions of students are victims of an unrealistic, pointless, mindless rat race. The mind numbing competition and rote learning do not only crush the creativity and originality of millions of Indian students every year; it also drives brilliant students to commit suicide. Education system in India is falling apart because of more

special feature

Foreign Education System

Indian Education System

Students

Top brains of the world

Mostly Indian nationals

Value of work experience

Practical. Experience is the king

Academic results are valued most

Salary

Salaries are decided as per ideas and challenges

Low starting salaries

intrinsic reasons. There are systemic faults that do not let our demand for good education convert into a great marketplace with excellent education services.

Though the government is doing its best to provide higher education to all the people in the country, illiteracy rate is still pretty high in India. Also, it is because of the corruption that some government officials do not readily invest into education due to which middle class and lower middle class people suffer. As per the reports, the central government spends about four per cent of budget expenditure on education, compared to 40 per cent on defence. Historically, the government just did not have enough money to spend on even opening new schools and universities, forget overhauling the entire system and investing in technology and innovation related to the education system. Still, until today, at least on paper only nonprofit organisations are allowed to run educational institutions apart from government institutions. Naturally, the good money, coming from honest investors who want to earn from honest but high impact businesses do not get into education sector. Rather, there are crooks, money launderers and politicians opening ‘private’ educational institutions which extract money from the educational institution through creative structuring. The focus is on marketing rather than innovation or providing great educational service – one of the major examples of this being IIPM.

Practical Learning vs Rote Learning

Rote lear ning has plag ued Indian education system for generations now.

According to a study compiled by the India Brand Equity Foundation (2016), the Indian student population today is the largest in the world at around 315 million, of which around 120 million students are in the age group of 18-22 years. The education market in India is expected to reach over $200 billion

by FY17.

Students study only to score marks in exams, and sometimes to crack exams like IIT JEE, AIIMS or CLAT. The colonial masters had introduced such an education systems in India in order to create clerks and civil servants, and we have not deviated much from that pattern till today. If there are few centers of educational excellence, for each of those there are thousands of mediocre and terrible schools, colleges and now even universities that do not meet even the minimum standards.

If things have changed a little bit somewhere, elsewhere things have sunk into further inertia, corruption and lack of ambition.

Make reservation irrelevant

In India, reservation in education is because education is not available u n ive r sal ly. E ducat ion ha s to be rationed. T his is not a long-ter m solution. There is no reservation in online education – because it scales.

Today top universities worldwide are taking various courses online, and today you can easily attend a live class taught by a top professor of Harvard University online if you want, no matter which country you belong to. This is the future, this is the easy way to beat reservation and make it inconsequential.

Where the difference lies?

1. Indian education system focuses more on theory part rather than p r a c t ic a l k n owle d ge. I n d i a n education system rest r icts creativit y, whereas in foreig n countries; they focus more on pr a ct ica l le a r n i ng a nd a l low creativity in education.

2. In India; education is a formality.

It is considered as usual part of the routine; every Indian have to have a degree – Engineering, law, medical stream, etc; whether they learn something or not, that doesn’t mat t e r. I n foreig n cou nt r ie s; education is taken as a learning process.

3. Foreig n education cu r r iculu m contains everything - from arts to sports along with studies. US education system has incorporated arts, sports, music and theatre in syllabus. Australian education system focuses more on sports; they have cricket, hockey and boxing in their college curriculum.

Whereas, Indian education system only emphasise on studies and give less importance to extracurricular activities. Though now there is a December 2016 < CAREERCONNECT < 13

special feature

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

little room for extracurricular in our education system.

In Dubai; primary and secondary education is free and it is made compulsory in law. Whereas in I ndia , educat ion is becom i ng business. From privatisation of education to tuitions and coaching institutes; education is generating whopping money. So business minds are now moving towards education. Government schools or colleges though provide free education or charge minimal fee, they lack quality education, welltrained teachers and basic facilities like chairs, tables, blackboards, etc.

In India, students are not given a choice to select their field of interest. One must become an engineer or a doctor. Sports and arts are considered to be made for lef tovers. If you don’t get admission in science or commerce stream, you choose arts. This is what Indians feel.

In India, students are admitted into streams which have higher pay scale or higher number of jobs. And in foreign country; students are admitted according to their field of interest.

In India, students mostly take admission seeing the trends. So if in a particular year, majority of students are rushing towards Mechanical Engineering, you’re b o u n d t o t a ke a d m i s sio n i n Mechanical Engineering. Students are not given choice to select their field of stream. In short, Indians go with the flow. Whereas in foreign countries, students wait until they get admission into their field of interest. However, this scenario in India is also changing and students are becoming more open to choose from different options.

In India, students are required to memorise facts and figures.

T hou sa nd s of equ at ion s of mathematics, birth dates and death dates of freedom fighters, chemical reactions and hundreds of other th i ngs. I ndians emphasise on theory. While in foreign countries, they stress on practical knowledge and learning.

Indian education system teaches

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old t e c h n olog ie s . E d u c a t io n system hasn’t changed much after independence. Indian education system is very bad in adopting latest technologies in curriculum.

In foreign countries; curriculum changes everyday according to upgradation of technology and requirements of the industry.

10. Indians believe in grades and certificates. We believe in taking admission in IITs and IIMs. Foreign countries believe in skills. They don’t care about the institution of education more; all they see is what you learnt during your schooling.

11. Indian education system does not involve much innovative work due

its old and bad structure. They concentrate on concept as opposed to usef ul understanding. They bind students mind by making it restricted in specific areas. As an outcome, students do not get adequate exposure.

12. I n foreig n educat ion system , students pursuing courses like B.E (Bachelor of Engineering) and clinical engineering learn through theoretical courses followed by training. This method provides direct exposure to the corporate world beforehand.

13. Indians study to get admissions in brands like IIMs and IITs, therefore studing to score excellent grades.

However in foreig n, practical knowledge and skills are needed to get admissions and they do not provide the top priority to marks and grades.

India is known for its education worldwide. Indian universities are providing the quality education to the students making them future leaders.

Listed below are few points which highlight the pros and cons of Indian Education System:

Pros 1. Indian universities are better than foreign universities as the quality of education they provide is high.

2. Indian universities equip students with right knowledge and right attitude.

3. M a n y s t u d e n t s f r o m I n d i a n universities are getting placed in top MNCs. 4. Foreign companies also prefer Indian st udents for their ow n companies.

Cons 1. Foreign universities provide better technologies with a new way of studying.

2. Their education system is far much better than India’s education system.

3. In India, we have got really bright minds but the Indian universities don’t know how to convert these minds into something really useful.

4. In foreign universities education is based on practicality than the theory based knowledge.

5. Students get chance to experiment w it h t hei r ideas i n foreig n universities.

Foreign Education System: Opportunities Available

1. Fo r e i g n e d u c a t i o n l e a d s t o inter nationally recognised qualification, i.e. students can look forward to good career prospects when they return home. Whereas, in India, even finding a job after get ting deg ree f rom Indian institution is difficult.

2. Foreign education offers plethora of educational possibilities, so that students can choose a course to meet their career and learning needs. Here, a student is under either peer pressure or the pressure of low income and scope.

3. Foreign education offers a more personalised and independent approach to help students develop intellectual skills needed for the global market. Indian education is restricted within India. There’s less scope outside the country.

4. Foreign education broadens the view and develops skills for the global economy.

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December 2016 < CAREERCONNECT < 15

COVER STORY

The Creative Science of Learning Environments A lot of the kids in school play Call of Duty. If they fail a level, they won’t give up.

They’ll keep trying. We’ve got to bring that enthusiasm into the classroom. The use of technology in schools marks an increasing convergence of the classroom with children’s home lives. Sana Husain discusses the spirited approach that schools have identified regarding interactive learning technology such as building robots, using gaming, 3D visualisation

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COVER STORY

N

i n e -ye a r- old Re id Stainbrook is already a pro at using a 3-D printer after only a few hours of working with it.

He’s grown comfortable with the technology at the Spark16150 lab at Arbor Creek Elementar y in Olathe. “It’s probably one of the easiest things in the lab,” Reid said. His next project? To make a plastic tennis ball that won’t break when he uses it to play with his dog.

Nearby, nine-year-old Colin Johnson was using special building blocks called Cubelets to make some special structures. One of his best projects was a lighthouse with a light that actually spins. He also demonstrated h ow h e c o u l d u s e a Bl u e t o o t h connection with his iPad to make the blocks move. Technology and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education aren’t just the latest fads — they’re here to stay.

Local elementary schools like Arbor Creek and Bluejacket-Flint are jumping to incorporate these lessons into their curriculum by using technology labs and in novation centers k now n as Makerspaces.

According to a U.S. Department of Education estimate, by 2022, the U.S. will need to add about one million professionals in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics to meet the workforce demands of the future. To spark an early interest among elementary-age children, schools are adding legos, robotics and other brain-boosting technology. The idea is to get kids interested in learning and doing robotics and coding while they’re still in elementary school, so by the time they’re in high school, they’ll have a more developed interest and will be able to do more.

“A lot of kids don’t know how to tinker. They don’t know how to just experiment and try things. Now, they’re starting to get comfortable … (they have this sense of) ‘I did this. I figured it out on my own, and no one told me how to do it,” said Kevin Frick, Principal of Bluejacket-Flint Elementary in the Shawnee Mission school district. At Bluejacket-Flint, there’s a special lab full of different technological resources.

The school won a $10,000 grant through

the Hour of Code to build it last year. A big emphasis there is learning to create code for different forms of technology, from simple patterns to more advanced ideas. “All of our robotic stuff is programmable,” said Michelle Brown, instructional coach at Bluejacket-Flint.

That includes Ozobots, little robots that follow different color paths created by the kids; Lego WeDos, Lego projects that can connect to an iPad; and Dash and Dot robots, which the kids can control with different apps. There’s even a robot that students can code to play songs on a xylophone. “Anything you could do with a Lego, you now have a device that can power the Lego,” Brown said. “The options with these go on and on.”

T h e r e a r e v a r i o u s l e ve l s of technology aimed at different ages and skill levels. Little Bits, circuit boards that kids can join together to create electronic connections, can be a good activity that’s somewhere in between low-tech and high-tech, Brown said.

The kids can work solo, but most of the time, they’re working in groups to figure out the devices and create something with them. “For some of our younger students, it might take quite a bit longer (to understand the technology) and a lot more direction, where some of our fifth and sixth graders, you can kind of give it to them, and they can explore,” Brown said. “There’s variation (of code) that even the youngest kids can do.” Brown said they’re hoping to build partnerships

by having older students teach and help younger students with various tech projects.

An Early Spark

It might seem odd to introduce coding and robotics to someone as young as six, but it all fits into a larger strategy to get kids interested in science and technology.

For Ja m ie Sachs, Di rector of Education at New Hampshire-based FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), getting kids interested when they’re young is essential. “Students make a decision in fourth or seventh grade whether they’re good at STEM,” Sachs said. “We want to try and get kids interested or at least help them understand that they can do STEM before they decide they are not good at it.” According to Sachs, the interest in boosting technological learning at the elementary level has grown gradually over the last ten years.

As the prices of various robotics kits, 3-D printers and other technology has gone down, these objects have become more reasonable for a school to purchase as learning tools. They’re still not cheap — an Ozobot classroom kit retails for $1,195—but grants like the one Bluejacket-Flint received make it possible. Sachs doesn’t expect every child who learns about robotics to become a programmer or technology designer. “Even if you’re not going to be a computer programmer, it’s definitely

December 2016 < CAREERCONNECT < 17

COVER STORY

going to be an advantage if you at least understand how it works,” she said. “It affects every profession in some way.”

Innovation and creativity seems to have become the latest driving force for young Mumbaikars who have been showing a sudden inclination towards these topics.

This newfound passion towards

machines and battery changes that use kinetic energy. However, despite the rising demand for practical learning of scientific concepts and easily available raw material required for the same, schools have failed to embrace this concept. Innovation and creativity seem to have become the latest driving force for young Thaneites who have been showing a sudden inclination towards these topics.

Ryan International School, Kandivli, holds robotics workshops for students of class seven during the summer vacations where they are introduced to concepts of design and construction of robots. “Those students who develop a particular interest in the field then take up projects and represent the school in various competitions,” said Anjali Bowen, principal of Ryan International.

Broken A r row P ublic Schools have made a consistent effort to grow the robotics program throughout the district and now has active robotics clubs in almost every school. In October 2014, BAPS received $4,000 through a grant offered by the State Department of Education and the Kiss Institute of Practical Robotics and started robotics teams at eight elementary sites with eight Botball robots. Since then, interest in robotics and computer coding at the elementary level has skyrocketed and now reaches 12 elementary sites and four middle school sites with 40 robots and nearly 200 students. This year, the teams are comprised of 60 percent boys

the world of technology, science and robotics is bringing young children to teach centres where they try their hand at ever ything from building robots to conceptualizing zero waste

and 40 percent girls.

Ch ris W hittenburg of Tactical Electronics said, “As engineers, we all have a real love for designing and building things, especially robots, and

Juliun Ryan, E-learning Lead, Faculty of Development and Society, Sheffield Hallam University “In terms of the application of games technology for learning in higher education however, it is perhaps more challenging. This is partly because the subject matter is more complex and partly due to arguably higher expectations and levels of cognitive sophistication of the students involved.”

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when we saw the opportunity to revive the first robotics program at Broken Arrow High School, we jumped on it.

Fortunately, we work for a company which understand the value in inspiring the next generation of engineers, and we were given both the time and resources to make the team successful. Getting to know the students, seeing them pick up on the technical concepts, and then getting to share in their enthusiasm at the competition was addictive.” The club has also received support from Spartan and a grant from NASA.

The Indian Experiment

Product 1: BiBox Bi Box, or Brai n i n a Box, is an i nt eg r at ed lea r n i ng prog r a m for students to teach them innovation and free thinking parallel to their school curriculum. Taking the help of a scientific approach, trained mentors and a one of its kind electronic kit, the program has been designed for 5th to 10th grade kids. BiBox provides kids with unlimited possibilities to build smart machines, robots and other realworld gadgets.

BiBox is an unconventional means of improving knowledge about the surroundings. It’s mainly built for students to open their minds to various possibilities. “What I like about BiBox is that the mentors don’t provide us rules, except components to solve the problem. During school workshops, it’s difficult for the BiBox people to get all the components to the class. So, there may be some mechanisms that maybe a little expensive or not available over here. I think that’s the only issue BiBox faces, which can be solved in the f ut ure as they invest into the particular p r o d u c t ,” e x p r e s s e s Prajith Prakash, a 10th g rader f rom Delhi Public School, Bengaluru (North).

He a d d s t h at t he BiBox training being two classes every week, for 1.5 hours per week, allows one week for designing a model and the next to automate the model check the best solution for the problem, which he

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believes is ‘quite convenient’. Available at a reasonable cost, the Bibox course enrollment is estimated to be INR 1,500 per student, considering the factors involved and the number of classes scheduled in a year.

Prajith shares, “Before BiBox came into my life, I hadn’t decided on my career choices. Now, I feel that instead of following the conventional routes of engineering or medicine, I want to do something different, which the others aren’t into. Once I finish my course in research, I want to join BiBox and benefit the entire society instead of concentrating on only my selfish pursuits. Unlike submitting tenpage reports in Science class, we are given solar panels to test and see how it actually works and make reports on it without any involvement by Google.

Hence, BiBox is changing the education scenario for the better.”

He says, “Personally, visualising the idea is much more fun, where one realises how different everyone really is. The greenhouse system project has been my favourite so far, where I worked on making solar panel roofs and implemented drip irrigation system.

Now, I look forward to powering the

“It’s not only focused on teaching, but creating an interesting environment to think and solve the problem. After the formation of an idea, the problem is broken to smaller solutions and dealt with accordingly. I believe that innovation starts at home and not directly associated with worldly issues like energy conservation. Government agencies, namely DSIR and DST are the main investors in BiBox. We wanted to demystify this entire engineering concept to make them available for the ten-year-old itself, without syntax and coding hassles, to build from an idea into a prototype. “In the BiBox innovation labs setup in schools across Kerala, Bangalore, Delhi and Tamil Nadu, students firstly work on ideas arising out of their personal needs.”

Mad husudan adds that in this c r e a t i ve - c ol l a b o r a t i ve l e a r n i n g environment, Art plays an equally important role as Science, in order to think beyond the sphere of formulas.

The easiest way to give back to the society is through a source of innovators seeded at the ground level. BiBox will be available for everyone on e-portals, specifically Amazon.

Product 2: KOMPANIONS

water management system model that I recently presented at the competition organised by the Government of India.”

Madhusudan Namboodiri, Cofounder and Director, BiBox observes, “BiBox mentors don’t go into the class and start talking about the technical concepts. They present a real-time situation (for instance, traffic chaos) and ask the class to ease the traffic movement with a solution.

Conceptualised and founded in March 2016, based out of Gurgaon and Mohali, KOMPANIONS is an innovative EdTech- Sci organisation with a vision to re-visualise education and to make the learning processes fun, easy and impactful. The company firmly believes that true learning happens through exploration and discovery, leading to the ability to THINK. KOMPANIONS uses innovative and future-ready technology,

Prajith Prakash,Student, Delhi Public School, Bengaluru (North) “Unlike submitting ten- page reports in Science class, we are given solar panels to test and see how it actually works and make reports on it without any involvement by Google.”

in-depth research, rich content and products to facilitate creative and logical thinking in learners. Solutions include best-of-breed brain training products powered by virtual reality and assessment architecture, augmented reality, gamification, 3D visualisation, brain boosters and skill remediation reports.

KO M PA N I O N S h a s v a r i o u s technology backed products which caters to children in the age group between 3 to 15 years. KUBE is a flagship product which is also India’s first 3D educational gamebox for ages 3 to 12 years. It builds scholastic and coscholastic skills of a child through Brain Training. KUBE is powered by VR, AR, gamification, brain boosters and skill reports which work on building 20 skills of the child. KLAB is a 3D knowledge laboratory for schools, being used in some of the leading schools of India.

It is a 21st century advanced library equipped with elements of VR,AR, Gamification and more to make the learning process highly engaging and easier for students. KOMPASS is a diagnostics assessment architecture that predicts and provides remedial solutions. KANVAS is a movie making project for schools which showcases motivational cinematic representation of themes related to children and learners.

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Madhusudan Namboodiri, Co-founder and

Director, BiBox

“After the formation of an idea, the problem is broken to smaller solutions and dealt with accordingly. I believe that innovation starts at home and not directly associated with worldly issues like energy conservation.”

It involves all students in aspects of cinema like acting, editing, sound recording, screenplay and videography.

KAMP is a series of knowledge sessions such as virtual reality workshops, brain training summer camps, after school classes, etc. with the student, school and parent community. Besides these, there are a few other products that are under development.

Games are enhancing traditional educational tools such as lectures, discussions, lab reports, homework, fieldtrips, tests, and textbooks.

Juliun Ryan is the E-learning Lead for the Faculty of Development and Society at Sheffield Hallam University.

He and his team provide technologye n h a n c e d le a r n i n g s u p p o r t a n d development. They work with colleagues across six academic departments which provide a wide range of courses at undergraduate and post-graduate level that are delivered both partly and wholly online.

Juliun believes that using games to enhance teaching can make for a rich, engaging learning experience. “It seems to me that it has only started to be embraced relatively recently beyond schools, and even then in a somewhat limited way. Maybe this stems from a sense in which the use of games has 20 < CAREERCONNECT < December 2016

had something of a credibility problem – they are too light-hearted or frivolous for use in a ‘serious’ adult education context perhaps?

“I have three daughters aged from seven to nine. Their school provides them with access to games-based online learning platforms for mathematics that enable them to develop key skills and assess their level of performance and mastery relative to their cohort and other players who use the same platform. They can access these platforms outside of school, so it’s a chance to do homework which doesn’t feel like homework to them. I have noticed the positive impact it has had on both their attitude towards the subject of mathematics and on their skills. I have also observed with interest how the element of lowlevel, healthy competition and the use of simple motivational aspects (such as the ability to earn virtual currency to exchange for virtual gifts and simple in-game enhancements) have kept them returning to the games time after time.

“I am quite convinced that the appropriate application of games for learning could work in a wide variety of subject areas and at a range of levels.

In terms of the application of games technology for lear ning in higher education however, it is perhaps more challenging. This is partly because the subject matter is more complex and partly due to arguably higher expectations and levels of cognitive sophistication of the students involved.

There could also be significant potential overheads and resourcing costs in development and training that might be necessary to produce an effective technological games-based learning experience,” states Juliun.

The use of interactive technology in the classroom has been accompanied by a move towards more flexible testing in exams that can be tailored more closely to individual pupils. The exam board AQA revealed last year that it was planning trials of an interactive exam that would generate harder or softer questions according to how a candidate performs. Jissa Cherian, Mentor, BiBox Delhi opines, “If we intend to prepare our young minds for the world outside we need to have an adaptable testing pattern for evaluating an individual’s performance against

their own benchmarks; than against their peers, thereby guiding them to the correct options suited to their aptitude instead of joining the rat race against time”.

Juliun says, “In my experience we tend to focus on how technology can analyse a student’s performance with the goal of tailoring the feedback that students receive after they have completed an assessment. I am more familiar with this approach than tailoring the questions that comprise the assessment itself whilst it is in progress.

I don’t know the specific detail of what AQA are planning to trial and I am not against the idea per se, but it does raise some questions in my mind.

“I do feel there would be two fairly crucial aspects in the potential success of any such approach. One would be the technology’s ability to provide detailed and accurate feedback to the student summarising what the interactive exam revealed about, for example, particular areas of strength or gaps in their knowledge (and ways they might address this). The other would be making meaningful data and analytics about the same aspects available to the teacher.”

T he N EA Fou nd at ion’s latest Challenge to Innovate (C2i), invites educators to develop new ways to use game-based learning and interactive technology to help students learn.

The NEA Foundation is offering up to ten individual cash awards of $1,000 for educators who propose the most dynamic approaches to integrate gaming into classroom instruction. Some of the following ideas of the top 10 innovators announced serve as an inspiration to the game industry teams, educators or even parents.

Journalism: A computer game is envisioned allowing students to travel to historic or imaginary crime scenes and act as reporters or investigators.

Science : In an in-flight journey as a young bird following migration routes and discovering ecosystems, habitats, food chains, and life cycles along the way, students must accomplish missions that involve identifying, befriending, and helping the different species of animals and birds in the area.

Jissa strongly affirms that apart from being rewarded, these ideas stand chance

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more than ever for implementation in global education curriculum The power to extract a positive out come f rom t he al l p e r va sive technology lies vested in the classroom boundary lines drawn by us - virtual or real!

Games are enhancing traditional educational tools such as lectures, discussions, lab reports, homework, f ieldt r ip s , t e st s , a nd t ex t b o ok s.

Games are being allowed to do what games do best, while other kinds of teaching support those lessons. Jissa says,“Change is the only constant in life. If we do not adapt to the fast paced changes in the educational scenario; we will gradually become obsolete and lose our relevance. The once revered gurukuls have now been transformed into learning centers in which students are encouraged to lose their inhibitions and embrace all forms of learning.”

Five Reasons to Teach Robotics in Schools

Technology is critical for innovation, yet schools struggle to get students interested in this area. Could teaching robotics change this?

T h e Q u e e n sl a n d gove r n m e nt has just announced plans to make teaching robotics compulsory in its new curriculum. Robotics matches the new digital technologies curriculum, strongly supported by the university sector and states, including Victoria.

But wh ile, worldw ide, t here a re increasing initiatives such as the Robotics Academy in the US to teach robotics in schools, Australia isn’t doing enough to get it taught in schools. There is considerable anecdotal evidence that students respond well in subjects involving programming of robots.

Plenty of resources are available on the internet for parents and teachers, for example, robot kits such as Lego Mindstorms and Vex Robotics, simple programmable robots such as Sphero balls, and lesson plans. Sophisticated, engaging robots such as the NAO robot are also available.

Robots lend themselves to do-ityourself activities. For example, a colleague builds robots using a 3D printer and uses his smart phone as an interactive device to communicate with the printed robot. Here are five reasons

to teach robotics in schools: 1. Children find it fun 2. Effective way of introducing programming to students 3. Provides skills useful in future employment 4. Suitable for children with a range of abilities 5. Demystifies a complex technology “Our real fundamental goal behind this is that we want to give everybody the ability to build and code their own robot, so that they are not relying on whatever machines are being built by other people to manage their life,” said Eric Parker, Augusta entrepreneur and co-founder of the Sumo Robot League.

“If we can empower all of our youth to have this skill-set, then all of our youth has a bright future in front of them.”

Jissa shares that the skilled labor class of a country gives a fair picture into the employability of the population of a country. If Skill India is being considered as the dream project of the present day Union Govt., it speaks volumes about the importance it plays in determining an individual’s market value for livelihood.

The Skillful Gaming

G a m i f ic a t io n i s d ef i n e d a s t h e application of typical elements of game playing (rules of play, point scoring, competition with others) to other areas of activity, specif ically to engage users in problem solving. In addition to promoting specific learning gains, games are a form of active learning. In some cases gamification includes the use of badges – think scouting merit badges in digital form – to promote learning and recognise competencies (e.g., Khan Academy has a badging system).

Within the games, there is a close link between action and instantaneous feedback. Learners are able to assess their own activities and see how they are doing i.e. they are able to evaluate their decisions and taken courses of actions. One of the game characteristics is challenge, keeping in mind that challenge should match the skill level of the student and permanently adapt through the different levels of the game. Introduction of unexpected of novel events learners is additionally motivating to play the game and acquire new skills and knowledge.

Jissa Cherian, Mentor, BiBox Delhi

“The power to extract a positive outcome from the all pervasive technology lies vested in the classroom boundary lines drawn by us - virtual or real!”

Successful learning opportunities by means of games can be created when following the constructivist learning theory, where ‘constructivist’ means an exploratory approach to learning. Major characteristics of the constructivist approach are, among others, interaction, coping with problems, understanding of the whole, etc. From the constructivist point of view lear ners are active participants in knowledge acquisition, and engaged in rest r uct ur ing, m a n ipu lat i ng, r e -i nve nt i ng, a nd experimenting with knowledge to make it meaningful, organised and permanent.

The Maths Games

Du Sautoy, holder of the Charles Simonyi Chair in the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford, said, “We’re trying to tap into that quite committed effort that kids put in to gaming, but to get through a level you have to understand mathematics. Kids very quickly sniff out when you’re just getting them to do a maths problem to get through to the next graphic. In these games, you actually have to build the geometry to get your character across the bridge in time to save you from something chasing you.”

Games developed by the company Du Sautoy co-founded, Mangahigh, include the recently launched Wrecks Factor, in which pupils have to correctly factorise quadratic expressions to answer ships’ distress calls and save December 2016 < CAREERCONNECT < 21

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their crews.

“We’re not trying to replace the teacher – we’re trying to facilitate them. The teacher can see when kids are engaging with the game, and can see the ones that are struggling, just doing it over and over again and not getting anywhere. They can channel their attention to the kids who need it.”

T he u se of ga me t e ch nolog y gives children a clearer sense of the application of their academic studies, Du Sautoy said.

“G a me s a re a ve r y p owe r f u l demonstration of the power of this mathematical language — how we depend on it ever y where. W hy is Google successful? It’s not Google elves that deliver the search results– it’s a clever bit of maths, which is not that complicated.”

Classroom Animations

The government is also helping to run a pilot of an initiative imported from the US, which uses computer visualisations to teach maths. The pilot programme was launched in eight state schools and one private school in England this academic year, funded by a philanthropic organisation, the Li Ka Shing Foundation.

Like Du Sautoy’s games, the maths project uses the visual and narrative potential of computer animation to extend teachers’ ability to explain concepts.

Phil Vahey, a senior research scientist at SR I inter national, the US research instit ute behind the maths project, said, “In traditional mathematics, there is a lot of focus on graphs and algebraic representation, which is of course incredibly important, but if you only focus on these it’s very hard for students to understand the deep ideas behind it.”

Joan Deslandes, Headteacher at K i ngsford Com mu n it y School i n Newham, East London, said her pupils were able to understand that graphs were ‘not just lines drawn in space, but used to generate a movement’. That’s quite a complicated idea for 11-year-olds.

“It’s great to see pupils having fun ... There’s been this feeling that maths is hard. What our pupils think is that maths is fun,” she added.

The significance of edutainment is 22 < CAREERCONNECT < December 2016

Enterprise Learning Companies That Gamified e-Learning

Deloitte

Exact Target

Educational Learning Companies That Gamified e-Learning

BRAINSCAPE likely to intensify, with efforts to stop high school dropout rates and a lack of engagement with education.

Juliun points out that many studies have show n that effective use of technology has a positive inf luence on attainment and engagement. It’s important to remember that students inhabit a technologically-mediated world. Increasingly, students who have grown up in this world, are extremely comfortable with, and adept at, using digital technology. They have expectations of higher education that are shaped by this experience. As such, whenever it is beneficial to the student’s learning, then it can be potentially beneficial to harness technology in its many forms for teaching.

“At Sheffield Hallam, we always encou rage colleag ues to star t by thinking about the learning outcomes for the student. Having identified these, we work with them to then consider if and how technology might help meet these outcomes and what particular tools might be used to do so. It’s important not to use ‘edutainment’ (or indeed any form of technology) for the sake of it. But where it can be implemented meaningfully and relatively in a easy way to stimulate learning and engagement and help students to understand a topic better, it clearly should be. Student engagement is a very complex area though; no single approach - such as increasing the use of ‘edutainment’ - is going to prove to be a ‘silver bullet’ to engagement-related issues,” adds Juliun.

CLASS DOJO

Grasping Cree Syllabics In Virtual Reality

Cree children in three James Bay communities are using the latest 3D gaming tech nology to lear n their ancestors’ language in school. The Cree School Board launched its Cree Syllabics Virtual Reality project on November, which it says is the first of its kind in Indigenous Canada.

Students put on headsets to enter a virtual camp setting where they meet a little girl named Niipiish and her dog Achimush. Using hand movements and buttons to move around within the camp, they go on a journey to prepare for Niipiish’s little brother’s walkingout ceremony, all the while identifying Cree words that describe the seasons, the environment and Cree traditions.

“It excites me. I think the project can grow by adding more stories to the virtual reality,” said Lucy Shem, coordinator of Cree programs at the Cree School Board.

“I know the children will enjoy and learn from it because children are already good with technology.”

The school board partnered with Minority Media, a video game company based in Montreal that was co-founded

by Cree filmmaker Ernest Webb.

The virtual reality learning tool was introduced this fall to the Cree communities of Oujé-Bougoumou, Chisasibi and Nemaska.

The Cree School Board hopes to expand the project to other Cree elementary schools in the future.

Calculus courses today have one of

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the highest failure rates of any course on any campus, yet Calculus remains a core element of the ever growing STEM curriculum. Easing complex Calculus concepts for st udents, Triseum is unveiling the first game in a new series of immersive educational experiences for Calculus students, Variant: Limits, at this week’s EDUCAUSE conference.

The Variant series gives students a new perspective on difficult Calculus topics, empowering them to learn through high quality, fun and results-driven experiences.

“Calculus is fundamental to STEM careers, yet research tells us that Calculus is explicitly tied to attrition in STEM degrees. The results we are seeing across Calculus courses are disheartening,” said André Thomas, Triseum’s CEO. “As an industry, we need to do more to motivate and engage students in this fundamental subject, as well as increase success rates – our Variant series does just that. Presenting students with innovative, self-directed activities means they play a more active role in the education experience and connect with content on a deeper level, thereby inspiring them to go further.

Variant brings Calculus to life for

students by transforming abstract ideas into creative and visually engaging challenges. It increases opportunities to collaborate and can measurably improve outcomes.”

Staying true to its academic roots and founded through Texas A&M Un iversit y’s LI V E Lab, Tr iseu m d e ve l o p s a c a d e m i c g a m e s t h a t incor porate standard lear ning and gaming design methods.

Working closely with Texas A&M to ensure the Variant series is well researched, executed and tested, e d u c a t o r s a n d g a m i ng ve t e r a n s have created an experience whereby st udents don’t just memorise and regurgitate information, but rather apply it for a more well rounded understanding.

The Everlasting Sense of Learning

Learning is perhaps more a form of art rather than a science. We all have different ways of learning and each individual has a different way of storing what they have learned into their brains.

This may well be a reason why there is no universally acknowledged definition of learning. However, to help form

the minds of elementary students, an effective method of presenting an idea to them may be through an active and engaging activity so that they can easily remember what they have learned by relating to their novel experiences.

Such a novel experience can be as simple as a robot used as a learning tool that teachers can utilise for students to understand an abstract topic with visual and conceptual ease. To promote the concept of learning through sensemaking and understanding, a lego robot was used as a tool in a fourth grade math classroom.

A paper presented an illustrative example of a hands-on activity that resulted in better comprehension of students’ conceptual understanding of the abstract concepts of units and u nit conversion. T he evaluations showed students increased conceptual understanding of the subject content and enthusiasm towards utilising robotics as a sense-making tool. Furthermore, the activity exposed students to real world applications of mathematics outside of classroom. Such examples are important for students’ development and connecting their minds to real-world applications of STEM at a young age.

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Creating a

Global Classroom

Globally, internationalisation of higher education is at the forefront of academic thinking. Providing local students with some kind of international consciousness and knowledge is considered important for employment as well as citizenship in a globalising economy. Over the years, India has welcomed several foreign universities and they have been keen to enter India to tap a higher educational market, that is worth INR 46,200 crore and expanding by 18 per cent every year.

Ritika Arora Bhola highlights some of the important facts and figures on presence of foreign universities in India and government initiatives to reach the global market 24 < CAREERCONNECT < December 2016

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F

oreign education has always lured Indian st udents primarily because of the h ig h qu al it y educat ion , world-class infrastructure, g u a r a nt e e d pla ce me nt s, multi-cultural environment, oppor t unities and high standards of living it offers. Over the years, Indian education system has tried hard and invested whopping amounts to improve the quality of education and infrastructure, but still it stands nowhere globally. Internationalisation of higher education has become a priority nowadays and India literally needs to join the race. But, it neither has world-class universities, nor an effective policy. Most developed countries like US, UK, Australia etc not only have world-class universities, but also an effective international higher education ‘foreign policy’, which some people call soft power. India has neither. They give supreme importance to education whereas illiteracy rate is highest in India as compared to other countries.

Though the establishment of Nalanda University and SAARC’s South Asian University are few initiatives taken by the government in the right direction, they are not sufficient enough.

Globally, internationalisation of higher education is at the forefront of academic thinking. Providing local students with some kind of international con sciou sness a nd k nowledge is considered important for employment as well as citizenship in a globalising economy. Educating students from abroad helps bring international students to local classrooms and assist future cooperation, economic ties, and so on.

Countries such as the U.K., the U.S., and Australia earn significant sums from educating international students.

However now, several foreig n universities have been keen to enter India to tap a higher educational market that is worth INR 46,200 crore and expanding by 18 per cent every year, and 40 million by 2020, a report from audit and consulting firm EY. T he mai n ai m of t he foreig n universities to establish their institutes in India is for revenue or profit making.

These institutes will be concentrated in the metro cities of India, due to demand and accessibility, thus not available

where these are most needed. Their presence in India will certainly create competition for enhanced quality and professionalism, which is good for the education industry and the students.

Since higher education in India is highly regulated, the main concern of the foreign universities will be, as to how they protect their brand ethos, reputation and quality of education. The drafted foreign educational institutions bill forbids foreign universities from repatriation of profits. It may be much better for India to explore the possibility of collaborating, cooperating and exchanging programs with institutions abroad, rather than having the foreign universities set up campus in India.

Although instit utions like the Indian Council for Cultural Relations offers scholarships to foreign students, its scope is very limited. In 201314, the ICCR sponsored only 3,465 scholarships for foreign students to pursue undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programmes. In 2012-13, around 21,000 international students were pursuing higher education in 121 institutions in the country. India hosts around 30,000 international students

compared to the 2,00,000 Indians studying abroad. Japan and China each have more than 1,00,000 international students, and the U.S. hosts more t h a n 8 ,0 0,0 0 0. Mo s t of I n d i a’s international students are from South Asia; regionalisation might be a better term than internationalisation. The large majority of non-Indian students study in private universities and are hardly represented in the public sector.

Manipal University, a private university, stands first with an enrolment of 2,742 international students in 2012-13.

T he nu mber of I ndian branch campuses f unctioning abroad has also increased. An offshore campus of Manipal University is in Malaysia and another private university, Amity, operates campuses in the U.S., U.K., China and Singapore. The presence of four Indian private institutions in the Dubai International Academic City also reflects this trend.

Many cou nt r ies and academic institutions have elaborate strategies for internationalisation. The Americans have the Fulbright programme, which brings thousands of st udents and academics to the U.S. each year — and

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sends Americans abroad to study and engage in teaching and research. The German Academic Exchange Service offers similar programmes. Both China and Japan have national programmes t o at t r a ct foreig n st ude nt s. T he Government of Saudi Arabia sponsors a massive scholarship programme to send its students abroad to study. India lacks at it too.

T he r e c e nt i n it iat ive s at t he University of Kerala to issue academic t r a n s c r i p t s s i m i l a r t o ove r s e a s universities could be a model for other universities. The initiatives undertaken

by Mumbai and Pune universities to attract foreign students are also worth considering. Apart from credit transfer regulations, the host universities would also have to ensure many facilities to the foreign students in the form of orientation programmes, excellent hostel facilities, remedial courses, healthcare facilities, visa facilitation, and other services.

Another trend is the opening up of off-campus centers of Indian universities in countries where a sizable number of Indians are working. However, recently there were some reports in the media that the University Grants Commission had advised the Mahatma Gandhi University in Kerala to shut down seven of its international offcampus centres because of violations of the UGC guidelines on the territorial 26 < CAREERCONNECT < December 2016

According to a report written for MHRD, nearly 3,00,000 Indian students study abroad, mostly in post-graduate and doctorate programs, spending about US$ nine billion per year. Nearly half of those 3,00,000 students go to the United States, with the United Kingdom and Australia accounting for most of the other destinations for studying abroad. jurisdiction of universities. So far, inter nationalisation has not been integrated into strategic planning at the majority of Indian universities and colleges. Institutions alone cannot be blamed for this situation because cu r rently I nd ia does not have a national policy governing the entry or operation of foreign higher educational institutions. Although the Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation

of Entry and Operations) Bill was introduced in the Indian Parliament in 2010 to regulate the entr y and operation of foreign higher educational institutions, it failed to achieve sufficient consensus in Parliament and eventually lapsed.

Government Initiatives

According to the reports, the Indian gover n ment ha s allowed foreig n universities to operate independently in India, set up campuses and offer degrees without having a local partner.

This initiative has finally opened the gates for foreign educational institutions seeking to establish their presence in the country.

This move provides an opportunity to tap a country with a population of 1.2 billion. For Indians, it is an opportunity to receive quality education without leaving India (and without paying in dollars). And for India, it could mean significant foreign direct investment.

The Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry, in its reports has mentioned that the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) have agreed to allow overseas universities to operate as so-called Section 25 or non-profit companies under the newly passed Companies Act. Companies registered under Section 25 of Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Companies Act cannot

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distribute profit or dividends among members, which means that the foreign universities cannot repatriate money.

With the powers vested in it through the University Grants Commission (UGC) Act, the ministry will allow foreign universities to set up campuses in India and award foreign degrees.

Currently, a foreign university needs to join hands with a local education provider to offer courses and the degrees are not considered foreign degrees.

Under the proposed rules, foreign universities can set up campuses in India once they have been notified as ‘foreign education provider’ by UGC. An educational institution wishing to operate in India needs to be on the top 400 in one of three global rankings, like the UK-based Times Higher Education R a n k i ng; Q u acqu a relli Sy mond s ranking published in UK again; and the China-based Shanghai Jiao Tong University rankings.

A n ot h e r r e p o r t by t h e H R D ministry mentioned that at least 20 foreign universities mostly from the US followed by Australia and Canada have expressed their desire to enter the Indian market.

Un iversit ies such as D u ke University, Califor nia Institute of Technology (Caltech) and Virginia Tech are some of the names that have shown

interest. The degrees awarded by foreign universities in India will be considered foreign degrees and students holding these degrees need to get an equivalence certificate from the Association of Indian Universities (AIU).

For now, many foreign universities have a presence in India either via partnerships with local universities or c omp a n ie s , or t h r ou g h lo c a l representative offices meant to promote their universities to Indian students.

Analysts welcome the effort to speed up the process of allowing universities to set up full-blown campuses here, but say that it won’t result in a stampede for India.

For one thing, many universities are wary of having to abide with the layers of bureaucracy and rules associated with doing business in India, which is both costly and bothersome.

The proposed new rules limit the group of universities which can set up shop in India. Only the top 400 universities in the world, according to three separate international rankings would be allowed to open universities in India, under the proposed rules.

The University of Chicago, for instance, is considering the possibility of setting up a center for research in India but has no plans for a degreeawarding campus.

The University College of London, which has some academic collaborations in India, said it would like to deepen these ties. The university has similar campuses in Australia and Qatar, which offer postgraduate programs where students are taught locally and study for U.C.L. degrees.

T h e U . K .’s U n i v e r s i t y o f Northampton already has an academic tie-up with the University of Madras in Chennai, according to a spokeswoman for the University of Northampton.

The Minist r y of Human Resou rces Development (MHR D) of the Government of India recently announced its intent to establish a new National Education Policy (NEP). The current policy has been unchanged since 1992.

According to a report written for MHRD, nearly 3,00,000 Indian students study abroad, mostly in post-graduate and doctorate programs, spending about US$ nine billion per year. Nearly half of those 3,00,000 students go to the United States, with the United Kingdom and Australia accounting for most of the other destinations for studying abroad. Annual spending by Indians for foreign studies is twice the amount allocated in the central government budget for higher education, and nearly 20 times what Indian higher education institutions spend on research collectively. In contrast, only 75,000 foreign students come to India, many only for short duration study programs; less than 20,000 international students are enrolled in degree programs, most of them undergraduate students from South Asia.

The Indian government has resisted to allow foreign universities to offer degrees to Indian students in India.

Yet, given that only a small percentage of Indian students have a chance to be admitted into the ultra-competitive top -tier Indian deg ree prog rams, it is understandable that so many Indian students see value in studying abroad. India’s educational system currently lacks the robust institutions at national, state, and district levels that are necessary to provide and manage quality colleges. The NEP’s proposals for foreign universities seek to close the gap in creating such institutions while reforming the existing ones.

December 2016 < CAREERCONNECT < 27

FEATURE

Smart Education....

Smart Learners....

Gone are the days when chalks and blackboards were the only mode available for teaching in schools. Nowadays, schools are adopting new age technology like LCD televisions, projectors, computers and audio-visual systems which are more preferable and easy to use. It is believed that smart classrooms have produced smart learners over the years that are tech-friendly and corporate-world ready. Ritika Arora Bhola explores this new trend 28 < CAREERCONNECT < December 2016

FEATURE

December 2016 < CAREERCONNECT < 29

FEATURE

30 < CAREERCONNECT < December 2016

methodologies but keenly participate in the learning process. Audio-visual rooms, e-boards and knowledge centres are adding a new dimension to the teaching style.

Smart classes have changed the process of learning. These days it is happening more through screens - be it television, laptop or films. Students are very quick in learning new technologies and if they are used to impart education, it enhances the understanding of the concepts. Also, students do not want to hear teacher all the time. There has to be a bit extra to keep them hook.

Use of technology is not restricted just to classrooms. Teachers are using social networking sites and emails to engage with their students and parents.

The assignments are now accepted

classes are almost “likeSmart watching movies as

through emails. Groups are made on Facebook and WhatsApp to keep the students updated about classes and school activities. Similarly, students are using it to upload interesting videos and articles about topics of their interest on the group page and share it with everyone.

Teachers allow students to submit their assignments through emails. It saves paper and students also find it easy. It also encourage them do more research and find various dimensions of the particular topics on internet. In the periods at smart classes, the attention of the students is very high. Digital learning gives the exact reproduction of the concept.

Viewing the change, the libraries in schools are also getting IT enabled.

With every textbook, a CD version is also available for students. Smart cards have made inroads which keep track of books issued online. Administration of books is done through software. This helps us in making a list of popular books and it keeps a tab on the reading trends among children. The e-books are all available online.

Educationists feel that teachers act more as facilitators, while ICT provides elementary and sometimes even detailed understanding of subjects. With a shift in learning process, it is not just students who are learning but teachers too often learn from their students. With students quick in adapting to modern technology, very soon they will lead the classroom discussion and tell teachers what is happening around.

sometimes, animated visuals are used to teach a point.

This kind of visual is both eye-catching and young students can easily relate with them. This is because the audio-visual senses of students are targeted and it helps the students store the information fast and more effectively.

“

P

utting an end to the blackboards and old way of tea ch i ng, schools are treating them to new-age smart classrooms with LCD televisions, projectors, computers and audio-visual systems that give a whole new meaning to studying.

Welcoming technology whole-heartedly, schools across t he cou nt r y have introduced smart classrooms concept from nursery till class twelfth. There is an interactive white board and LCD screens on which diagrams, pictures and lessons are presented through a projector. They also have a resource centre where all lessons and planning for the classes are customised to the need of children. It is much easier to complete the syllabus and students learn faster too.

City children are growing up to be smart learners now. Instead of a teacher’s monologue explaining the poems, stories, theoretical subjects, food-chain of animals, nowadays classrooms are abuzz with video clips streaming on YouTube. Students are more comfortable in giving powerpoint presentations and audio-visual techniques while teachers make most of the 3D images to explain the toughest of lessons. Digital classrooms in schools are slowly, but steadily replacing the traditional classrooms having chalks and blackboard.

About a decade ago, one dreamt and talked of ‘open-air classrooms’ for better learning. The closed room teaching with teachers scribbling on black boards was much criticised. However, that was then. The rooms might be the same but the environment within the rooms has changed completely. The conventional black-board has made way for digital equipment, making the learning process not just more colourful but also more interesting.

To make education more interactive and learning a fun experience, many schools are opting for Information and Communication Technology-enabled smart classes where digital black boards, audio-visual rooms and interactive sessions have replaced traditional blackboards and textbooks.

The tech-savvy students not only enjoy their st udies th rough these

FEATURE

1. It is understood that it is easy to remember something that is taught visually rather than something that requires reading pages after pages. It is beneficial for students to understand a chapter visually in class. The concept of smart class education is indeed a blessing to the students of the 21st century.

Technology is changing the way life functions and if it’s for the good, then why not go for it.

2. Smart classes use all interactive modules like videos and presentations. These visually attractive methods of teaching become appealing to students who are already struggling with the traditional method of teaching in a classroom. In fact, smart classes are almost like watching movies as sometimes, animated visuals are used to teach a point. This kind of visual is both eye-catching and young students can easily relate with them. This is because the audio-visual senses of students are targeted and it helps the students store the information fast and more effectively.

3. S m a r t b o a r d s h a v e a l l t h e information in memory and can be presented during the time of class

lectures and thus, the time saved can be used for more important things.

4. Some students and teachers have problems with chalk dust and they tend to suffer from allergic reactions. The smartboards save you from such distress and won’t let you develop any health issues later. Smartboards are a lot smarter when it comes to field trips which are impossible with textbooks. A field trip to the deserts of Sahara or the rainforests of the Amazon basin becomes easy with visuals in the smartboards of smart classroom.

These visuals are definitely more attractive than those descriptions in a few lines of a textbook.

5. One of the main reasons behind the constant increase in popularity of smart classes is the fact that this kind of education is perfect for all kinds of students. As a classroom has students with varied power of understanding and learning, studying from notes and other materials becomes difficult for some students. But the use of smart classes and modern technology eases the learning process for all students.

Moreover, this kind of education in class promotes more interaction between teacher and student with more participation from both sides.

As a classroom has stu“dents with varied power of

understanding and learning, studying from notes and other materials becomes difficult for some students.

But the use of smart classes and modern technology eases the learning process for all students.

“

Benefits of Smart Classrooms

There are just few disadvantages of smart classrooms as compared to the advantages it offers to students. Some technical fault that might arise during a class lecture is a common concern among those lobbying against smart technologies in classroom education.

Then, there is the costing factor as well that is preventing schools to adopt this technology. With smart education comes the problem of high cost of education.

The possibilities or advantages of smart classrooms are endless. Although adopting such a new concept might be a tough decision for many, but technology can create a new opening for the education sector.

December 2016 < CAREERCONNECT < 31

BOOK REVIEW

‘The 30-Something CEO’, is your way of encashing the invaluable, though provoking, hours long discussion with its author Vineet Bajpai , who established one of the India’s largest full-spectrum digital media agencies, ‘Magnon Group’ from the vibrant days of being only 22. Vineet sits down with you and takes you through the lessons in the big bad corporate world. He doesn’t let your spirit down for any moment, as he intersperses quotes of the right celebrities and philosophers at the right time, as if fixing a mindboggling puzzle for you.

Here, he doesn’t brag about himself or f inds a medium to pen down his a ut obiog r a phy.

Instead, he talks and questions your identity, keeping it fresh and realistic. The book feels gripping as one reads further ahead. Only after f lipping few pages, the readers would value its needful presence on ever y bookshelf.

A book t hat poke s t he dreamer in one, guides one’s clueless notions to a defined place, doesn’t discriminate by keeping it gender neutral and is the lightest and fastest read, working on a thunder bolt speed in

By Sana Husain

readers could feel a “bitThepushed with his sense of philosophy as he compares success with sacrifice and brilliantly turns in the 360 degree manifesto of success because it is never an accident!

“

The Dreamer’s Wake-Up Call

one’s head is definitely worth one’s time. One doesn’t need an appointment with him because he’s delivered it right there before one in those crisp pages.

If one’s career has taken up a slower track, he will take no time to pace it up. “Time to accelerate for being extraordinary,” is about his analogy for the lucky reader. One of his titles reads, ‘The rabbit that didn’t rest’, that’ll help you figure how the author holds his virtues in place. He pitches in with a powerful impression of success, with a quote by Rory Vaden, “The rent of success is due every day as it can’t be owned.”

With f igures like rabbit speed, tor toise’s perseverance, he makes Jataka tales sound a great deal as he writes further, highlighting various instances from the past and somewhere in the present. Pulling out a leaf from Mahabharat when Arjuna was in exile, who prepared with sincerity, to be the most feared warrior in circa 2500 BC, is where Vineet points out that he was a 30-something CEO. It shows that he’s well-versed with his ideas and paradigms.Vineet can be your friend next door and not carry the CEO’s ego on his shoulder, as he plays his best.

He allows you to make peace with your inner demons and bring out the best in

BOOK REVIEW

you, leaving your confidence soaring within a span of few pages.

“If you are ambitious, work towards yourself instead of only enjoying what you ear n,” he spells it out, in his straightforward speech. Like a parent, he shares that taking breaks every now and then isn’t the right regimen, until one feels convinced and wants some real rejuvenating kick.

Eve r y ch a pt e r t it le c ou ld b e framed in one’s bedroom to serve as a constant reminder of where one has to go. He never sugarcoats, when he says, “Success means no immediate gratification in sight. Studying in a fancy school can’t ensure a coveted

spot at the end,” just like how resuming a great football game doesn’t define the victory of any team, until the very last minute.

Call it the best Christmas present for the readers, as it has all the tools in a book’s disguise and not in the form of some exhaustive teacher’s classroom discourse for learning how to play cards in the corporate battleground.

“You can’t beat them until you believe you can,” tugs at your heart right till the end, of the way he takes you on the path of his insightful days.

This book necessitates being part of every education curriculum. It is sheer knowledge for practitioner’s use. The

author lets others be in the spotlight and seeks minutest attention, except for drawing yours to his intellect.

For any author to collectively package all exper iences and help a n o t h e r s e e l ig ht j u s t l i ke o n e discovered is a strenuous job altogether.

He masters this very part, as one finds inspiration blowing in your direction on every page and it could be too much to take, especially when he talks about military tactics, like guerilla warfare, and building a corporate militia.

Gradually, he drills this realisation into the readers’ minds that success is more about manipulation of other’s benef its to you r ow n advant ages and definitely can’t be achieved in isolation. What’s vital is maintaining balance on the ladder while climbing, as he demonstrates with his own battle with an industry mogul. Although, he states that these pointers can impact the entrepreneurs and sales specialists first, reading between the lines is entirely based on one’s discretion. To one’s surprise, his patient and understanding demeanor in every chapter, irrespective of where one is coming from and what one is doing at the moment is remarkable. All he wants one to do is analyse one’s position and take one from the slow street to the fast highway.

In Vineet’s words, if one learns his or her impact on the company’s P and L (Profit and Loss) game, then he or she can be rest assured.

The author makes every effort to diminish one’s apprehensions and anxiety, to tell one that please leave that job, company and industry aside.

One needs to win first for solely oneself.

The readers could feel a bit pushed with his sense of philosophy as he compares success with sacrifice and brilliantly turns in the 360 degree manifesto of success because “it is never an accident”! Like Jimi Hendrix sacr if iced his love for music, by burning his guitar, will the reader be ready to make the same move, is what the author leaves one with, hanging in the air. o plot the career graph, making a fair bet between choices and abilities is highly essential. “Very little in this world to not achieve with heart full of love that a pocket full of cash can’t achieve,” is how Vineet claims the reader’s mind in the final pages.

December 2016 < CAREERCONNECT < 33

INTERVIEW

“Be Humbly Bold”

The journey begins with profile building, mapping the aspirants’ life, strategising and building the various components of the application, while simultaneously preparing them for the interview. Over the years, she has coached hundreds of aspirants to get admitted to top ranked business schools worldwide. Mansie Dewan, author of the bestselling book “Destination MBA: Showing You How to Get There” shares with Sana Husain the quintessential ingredients for making it to the top.

With a track record that boasts of admits to Top 30 B-Schools globally, would you like to talk about a few features or requisite qualities of the classified winning applications of students, whom you have mentored for admissions to Ivy League and other eminent business schools?

The requisite qualities of the classified winning applications of students are: 1. Self-confidence and strong selfexpression.

2. Candidates who get selected at top schools know where they are in their careers and where they want to go from there. They are articulated about how they will leverage their MBA from their target schools to achieve their career vision.

3. Excellence in academics and professional career.

4. D e m o n s t r a t e d l e a d e r s h i p potential.

5. Holistic personalities; a balance between professional commitment and extracurricular involvements.

Hav i ng worke d w ith Manya Abroad - The Princeton Review and Jamboree, do you believe in formal test preparation or being a self-starter to nail the MBA application process to the top B-schools?

In my opinion, whenever a person makes a bold move in their lives, it is good to have a coach by their side who has their back and ensures that they put their best foot forward.

In your counsel i ng approach, you al low self-ref lect ion of the candidate as they learn to present themselves better.

What kind of techniques (the oret ic a l /pr ac t ic a l) have you designed in the module for making it a smoother transition for everyone?

I am like an empty vessel with every client. I probe to help trigger their thought

I am like an empty vessel with every client. I probe to help trigger their thought process in the right direction. By asking questions, that may sound silly to them at that time, we often open a Pandora’s Box really. process in the right direction. By asking questions, that may sound silly to them at that time, we often open a Pandora’s Box really. The insightf ul discussions that follow reveal compelling aspects of their personalities and profiles which are then reflected in various components of the application. This exercise also helps them immensely during the interview. They are ready for all kinds of questions and are cr ystal clear about what they offer as candidates. I help them shrink their environments to focus on the aspects that are critical to land them in those coveted admits!

And, also be humbly bold.

Tell the story to achieve success in an MBA course application. What’s the real implication of this?

Here are a few but very important pointers to help you navigate through your MBA journey: 1. Plan and manage your time well.

It is better to sweat it out during preparation rather than bleed in the battlefield (metaphorically speaking, of course!).

2. Answer this question in just 300 words “W hat do you seek to

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

MBA RUN

3.

achieve from an MBA? What is your strongest skill that drives your post MBA goal?”

Creat e a n excel sheet a nd maintain a record of all your research and infor mation you collect while looking at business schools.

Zero in on the few whose offerings align with your professional and personal aspirations (minimum being f ive). Look at the class size, curriculum, specialisations, i n d u s t r y w i s e b r e a k a g e of placements, scholarship options, brand value and ret u r n on investment.

Now, start establishing personal connections. Get your prof ile eva lu at e d by t he a d m i s sion committees. Connect with current students and alumni. Seek advice on your profile and how the school can help you acquire the required skills to achieve your post MBA goals. Connect with professors who t e a ch s u bje c t s of you r interest and are industry experts.

Before you start, make sure you have a list of legible questions to ask.

Start researching on companies that hire on campus and how you fit into their organisational chart, keeping your short term and longterm goals in mind.

Af ter selecti ng you r schools and making a list in order of preference, begin your GMAT pre pa r at ion. Hav i ng t he l ist beforeha nd w ill keep you motivated to stay on track and target a score higher than the mean range. Always have room to re-take the GMAT before you put in your applications. I always stress to take the GMAT before or around April so that there is room for improvisation u ntil July. Perseverance is the key here.

Identify recommenders and speak to them beforehand to avoid last minute glitches.

Create accou nts for you r prospective schools. This way you’ll get i nfor mat ion about roadshows, information sessions, webinars that are organised by the school.

Answer this question in just 300 words: “What do you seek to achieve from an MBA? What is your strongest skill that drives your post MBA goal?

10. Make a plan of action, chalk out milestones and stick to achieving them.

11. T he r e a r e a lot of r u mou r s floating around related to profiles and applications. What happens with one need not become a trend. Believe in your profile and information you get from schools.

With your two books having won worldwide acclaim, what retains your focus on ly on the I nd ian MBA aspirant? Do you plan to experiment across the cultures with other techniques in your uniquely accessible laboratory?

The reason is simple- I know the pulse of the Indian applicants! That’s my st re ng t h. Se cond ly, bei ng a m o t h e r, a w r i t e r a n d a n M BA Ad m issions Coach, I need to prioritise my time on a daily basis.

I c a n n o t g o b e yo n d m y t a r g e t of 4 0 c a n d id a t e s (r o u g h ly 2 0 0 applications) in Round one and about 25 (125 applications) in Round two.

The world can benefit from my existing two books and hopefully the others that will be published in the future.

December 2016 < CAREERCONNECT < 35

INTERVIEW

“The management education is ever expanding and evolving” JIMS has been working for the attainment of a mission: to develop highly skilled and professional human resource for industry and business. Manish Gupta, Chairman, Jagan Institute of Management Studies in a candid interview with Nikhil Mishra shares about the initiatives taken by them in the institute to groom students into competent and successful professionals

What sets you apart from you r cou nt er par t s i n t er ms of academics, infrastructure and other extracurricular activities?

JIMS, since its inception is sincerely com m it ted to prov ide qu alit y management education to cater to the needs of students, industry and society.

We have developed extensive modern teaching methodologies and encourage our students to develop ideas that are out of the box and triggers creativity.

We provide ample opportunities of lear ning to ou r st udents th rough industry visits, live projects, internship, etc. These exposures prepare them to face the industry challenges and meet corporate expectations. With a blend of brilliant faculty members from both corporate and academia, we have nurtured our students to be a successful and responsible citizen in the society.

Our huge alumni network within and outside the country is a testimony to that. Our classrooms are equipped with 36 < CAREERCONNECT < December 2016

How are you bringing in innovations in terms of teaching pedagogy at your institution? Please throw light on the management staff and faculty.

We at JIMS focus to impart knowledge through innovative pedagogy so as to develop the successful future business leaders. Considering that management is a professional course with extensive industr y interface, our effor ts are to provide practical and application oriented inputs to the students.

Apart from classroom teaching, extensive learning is provided through discussion of real cases, presentations on t he i ndu st r y releva nt t opics, short term field projects and home assignments.The faculty is highly qualif ied with vast experience of industry and academia. This helps students in understanding industry applications of theories lear nt, in a much better way. We emphasize on developing students’ capabilities in problem solving, teamwork, and ref lective thin king. Ou r teachers and students holds a shared vision and evaluate performance through systematic assessment. Apart from the academics we give our students opportunity to work independently and

continuously revise “ourWecourse structure and

curriculum to meet the latest skills and competency requirements of the industry. Apart from subject knowledge, extensive efforts are made on the grooming and presentation skills of the students, so as to make them industry ready.

“

most modern audio-visual facilities; library has huge collection of books and jour nals while computer labs have latest software and hardware resources. The students throughout the year are encouraged and involved in extra-curricular activities of various clubs related to Marketing, Finance, Entrepreneurship, etc. and enhance their communication, leadership and team skills.

encourage them to think about being entrepreneurs.

How do you plan to stay af loat in today’s cut-throat competition among the colleges?

The management education is ever expanding and evolving. With a lot of competition in the market we keep our focus on academic excellence and commit high standards of education.

With ou r sou nd alu m ni base and frequent interaction with the industry, we have enabled repeated arrival of companies for campus recruitments every year. By being in a regular touch with the industry though different forums such as conferences, seminars, workshops, etc., we keep on getting inputs on the latest industry trends and practices. We continuously revise our course structure and curriculum to

INTERVIEW

It is often heard that India does not have a conducive academ ic atmosphere for research output. How does your Institute back students to promote research and publications?

Our student body is surrounded by well-qualified faculty, postdoctoral fellows, a nd ot hers who have t remendous resou rces, exper tise, and professional networks at their disposal. This provides a vast array of opp or t u n it ie s for st ude nt s i n all disciplines and is increasingly encouraged by faculty. Our faculty gain deep satisfaction from serving as research mentors to enthusiastic students. We have course related to Business Research and students are encouraged to independently conduct field research and prepare a research paper under guidance of the faculty mentor. Many of these research papers have been published in journals and presented by students in conferences.

Do you have any policy expectations

from the government for institutes offering professional courses?

Since many of the institutes that are imparting management education are self-financed, it is expected from the government to grant financial aid or provide low interest loansespecially for low income group students. This will motivate the poor but meritorious students to pursue higher studies and raise their living standards by getting better income opportunities. Students from high-income families graduate from college at a rate three times that of their poorer peers.

Placement is a key factor driving admissions in professional institutes nowadays. How does the market scenario look like?

At J IMS we focus on a st udentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s academic and personal development.

We h ave a de d ic at e d C or p or at e Resource Management Centre, which acts as an interface to bridge the gap bet ween I ndust r y and Academia.

Our assessment centre measures the students career related competencies, and provide guidance preparing them for rigorous selection process of the corporates. We have a well-structured placement team with a huge corporate d a t a b a s e p r ov id i ng o p p o r t u n it y

We have a dedicated â&#x20AC;&#x153;Corporate Resource

Management Centre, which acts as an interface to bridge the gap between Industry and Academia. Our assessment centre measures the students career related competencies, and provide guidance preparing them for rigorous selection process of the corporate.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

meet the latest skills and competency requirements of the industry. Apart from subject knowledge, extensive efforts are made on the grooming and presentation skills of the students, so as to make them inwdustry ready.

for st udents to work in renowned companies. We have a specialised corporate mentorship program for our students where they get mentoring from our alumni working in corporates.

Students on regular basis are provided opportunities to visit corporate and explore placement opportunities. The market scenario is fine and industries look for t he ca nd id ates wh ich are ready to excel with minimum training inputs.

December 2016 < CAREERCONNECT < 37

INTERVIEW

MSU Promotes Communal Harmony and Multi-Cultural Environment With the aim to fully educate global citizens with a focus on ethical leadership, cultural competence, and community engagement, USA based Missouri State University (MSU) has been one of the widely chosen options for students studying abroad. Col (R) Stephen H Robinette, Associate Vice President for International Programs, MSU in an exclusive interview with Ritika Arora Bhola elaborates on the programs offered, placement cell, infrastructure, extracurricular activities and opportunities for international students

MSU offers state-ofthe-art facilities to its students which include on-campus residence halls, dining centres, world-class library, health and wellness centre, recreational centre, and dedicated academic facilities.

38 < CAREERCONNECT < December 2016

M issour i State Universit y of fer s var ious underg raduate , postgraduate and doctoral courses.

Elucidate in context of knowledge g a i ne d , job ex p e c t at i o n s a nd employment opportunities.

The university comprises of a School of Agriculture, a Graduate College and six academic colleges namely, College of Arts and Letters, College of Bu si ne ss, Col lege of He alt h and Human Ser vices, College of Humanities and Public Affair, College of Natural and Applied Sciences and College of Education offering more than 185 academic programs. MSU offers unlimited oppor tunities to its students both academically and otherwise. Students can get involved and become leaders in many ways.

MSU has an active career services program that assists students with placement after graduation. Within the restrictions of US Immigration Law, there are many opportunities for employment. Graduates of Masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Programs are allowed one year of sponsored employment in the United States after graduation.

MSU also prov ides, cut t i ngedge resea rch oppor t u n it ies for u nde rg r a du at e s , whe re one - onone attention from professors and advisors help students cross these academ ic hu rdles. T he st udents pursuing programmes at Missouri State University, USA, have a wide range of opportunities with them after successful completion of the courses. Some of the most sought after programmes that international students look for are Mechanical Engi neer i ng Tech nolog y, P ublic

Ad m i n ist r at ion , Ad m i n ist r at ive Studies, Project Management and the programs under our College of Business. For instance, the students looking for a career in engineerinag and related fields can opt for Missouri State MET degree, which prepares them for a high skill, high demand, high growth, and high pay career.

The students with a MET degree can find themselves working with a e r o s p a c e s y s t e m s , aut omot ive p e r fo r m a n c e , m e c h a n i s m s a n d devices, energy and sustainability, automation and control.

How does your institution impart education in various f ields in a manner that is different from other institutions which have already been providing the same for the past many years? What is your USP? M i s s ou r i St at eâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pu bl ic a f fa i r s mission enables students to articulate their value systems and act ethically w it h i n t hei r societ y wh ich help st ude nt s r e c og n ise a nd r e s p e ct multiple perspectives and cultures.

With over 23,000 students, MSU is a large community but one never feels small or lost with st udents representing all 50 US states and over 85 countries. MSU offers f lexible prog ram me to match a st udentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s i nt e re st w it h f u l l a cc re d it at ion at a competitive fee compared to other US universities. Over 90 per cent of our faculty have terminal degrees which are considered to be the highest academic degrees in their field. Classes are generally small, allowing maximum interface

INTERVIEW

between instr uctor and st udents.

The university makes efforts to help international students feel at home while offering them a safe place to live and work.

M S U ’s m u l t i - c u l t u r a l environ ment makes it easier for st ude nt s to gel w it h t he global work cu lt u re. T he cu lt u r al m i x offers enor mous lear ning outside the classroom. Especially, during internships, the international students interact and work with people coming from various corners of the world, which helps them in evolving as global citizens.

Pl e a s e e l ab or at e on t he k i nd of infrastructure and teaching technolog ies avai lable at your University premises.

I n ter ms of facilit ies, MSU of fer s st ate - of-t he -a r t facilit ies to its students which include oncampus residence halls and dining c e n t r e s , w o r l d - c l a s s l i b r a r y, health and well ness cent re, recreational centre, and dedicated a c a d e m ic fa ci l it ie s , t o n a me a fe w. S o m e o t h e r s e r v i c e s a n d facilities that are enjoyed by students at MSU are: • Taylor Health and Wellness Centre: The health centre has doctors, nurses and pharmacists who are dedicated to providing excellent medical facilities for students.

• Plaster Student Union: The Union comprises of a theater, television lounges, a food court, convenience store, bank, post off ice and a range of indoor games like bowling alley, table tennis.

• MSU Book store: T he MSU bookstore has everything from textbooks to computer software and cosmetics counter.

• JQH Arena: A basketball arena with the capacit y of a rou nd 11,000 people. Apart from the basketball games, the arena is also used for musical concerts from time to time.

• The BearLine Campus Shuttle: An on-campus shuttle that helps students go around the campus free of charge.

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Campus Recreational Centre: The Foster Recreational Centre which is used by students for enhancing their athletic abilities.

Some aids/facilities provided by MSU to international students – • English Language Institute ( ELI ): T he ELI helps i n improving reading, writing and verbal forms of communication in English.

• I n t e r n a t i o n a l C o m mu n i t y of MSU: This com munit y is a pla ce wh ich prov ides a ny kind of help required by any international students whether it may be housing, food, education.

All international students are picked up from the Springfield Airport on arrival and helped to settle in their accommodations.

The students are also assisted in secur ing par t-time job on campus.

What, according to you, makes a student employable?

Employability is not same as gaining a graduate job. Rather it is about the capacity to function successfully in a role and be able to move between occupations, thus remaining employable throughout their life.

With so many new graduates each ye a r, e m ploye r s a r e s p oi lt fo r choosing on whom to give a job. It would seem that job internships that college students and increasingly post-college students participate in would help prepare students for the working world.

Can you please tell us about your placement cell?

The MSU career cent re offers a variety of programs and services to provide students with tools they need to be successful after graduation.

St udents can avail ser vices li ke career assessment tests, employers’ research, finding internships and fulltime jobs, résumés and CVs creation, mock interviews, and more.

Apart from academics, tell us about various extracurricular activities your institute is focussing on?

More than 300 student organisations

At MSU, we are committed towards providing the best education facilities to international students. Students are offered scholarships and placement assistance in order to ease the tedious process of studying and settling abroad. lead the charge in the planning and production of concer ts, lect ures, special events, spirit rallies, cultural and social events and conferences, a t M S U. We o f f e r u n l i m i t e d opportunities to students both inside and outside the classroom. Students c a n g e t i n vo l v e d a n d b e c o m e leaders in many ways. Students can choose from more than 300 student organisations. T here are g roups based on culture, religion, politics, socialising, sports, academic interests and more. MSU is also home to more than 25 frater nities or sororities.

Campus recreation offers classes that range from ballroom dance to power yoga in our beautiful Foster Recreation Centre.

How do you plan to attract students from other states and countries?

At MSU, we are committed towards prov id i ng t he best educat ion facilities to international students.

Students are offered scholarships and placement assistance in order to ease the tedious process of studying and settling abroad. At MSU, we promote communal har mony and thus, we encourage students from different backgrounds to eat, socialise and st udy together regardless of which dorm they choose. We aim to attract students from different states and countries who want to gain the knowledge and skills whilst studying in USA where they will be able to learn global dexterities while getting exposed to a var iet y of cult u res while getting exposed to a variety of cultures.

December 2016 < CAREERCONNECT < 39

INTERVIEW

Increased seats in IITs will boost enthusiasm of students: Aakash Chaudhry IIT council’s recent decision of increasing the total student intake by five per cent has taken the enthusiasm of IIT aspirants to the next level. Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister of Human Resource Development, who chairs the council has also raised the intake of foreign students by ten per cent. This decision will infuse more eagerness among IIT aspirants to take admission in these ace tech institutions of the country. Aakash Chaudhry, Director, Aakash Educational Services Private Limited in an interview with Gaurav Dubey welcomes this move and is confident that it will facilitate in boosting the technological growth of the country in future Being the director of an ace coaching institute, how do you perceive the decision of increasing seats in IITs? Providing access to more seats for high quality technical education is a welcome move. In a country with over a billion population, there is a severe need for setting up high quality institutions to fuel the economic and technological growth of the country through talent nurturing.

Government has to be careful in fully utilizing the additional seats and should make sure they don’t go unfilled. Moreover, the required investment in attracting faculty talent and infrastructure should also remain a priority. Hence, increasing the number of seats increases the probability of students getting admission in their dream institute.

How will this decision boost the enthusiasm of IIT aspirants?

The more the number of seats, the more jovial the students will be. If implemented successfully, it will help 528 more students to step into the premium IIT colleges, which would be an added advantage for IIT aspirants.

To p I I Ts d o n’t h a ve s u f f i c i e n t infrastructure to cater to increased number of students. How will these institutes comply with the decision?

The decision has been taken by the HRD ministry to increase the number of seats across IIT colleges of the country. Though the older IITs have large number of years of experience, the key problem with the older IITs is the lack of supportive infrastructure and inability to serve the requirement of additional seats. Therefore, the increase in number of seats will be more with the newer IITs as compared to the older ones. Whatever, the possible increase that will come in the 40 < CAREERCONNECT < December 2016

number of seats in older IITs will be a welcome move for the students and with the involvement of IIT council and the HRD ministry, implementation of this decision should be done in such a manner that it does not hamper the quality of education which IITs provide to their students.

What should be the possible choices for the students who might have to opt for the new IITs? IITs are known for the quality education they impart, IITs have expanded recently to various cities, and not even a single complaint has been reported on poor quality from any of these newly established IIT colleges. The quality of an institution depends totally on the teaching skills of its faculties. Despite an increase in student intake, the new IITs have scored well on quality parameters. The decision by the government to increase the total intake to 1,00,000 must have been made after thorough research and study. IITs have an excellent reputation based on the quality parameter; hence, students can confidently choose any IIT institute of the country.

How do you think this decision will create an impact on the quality of education IITs provide as older institutes are crippling with several infrastructural problems?

The older IITs have been assigned the task of mentoring the new IITs. Older IITs don’t have to be much worried about the quality, as they have years of experience and they have proven track record of excellence. Today the key problem with the older IIT is the lack of supportive infrastructure and inability to serve the additional seats requirement.

Therefore the increase in number of seats is more with the newer IITs as compared to the older ones. Also being an IIT, the level of education can always be expected to be at par in every institute and continuous support from older institutes will increase the success rate of new IITs too.

Joint Admission Board has also decided to increase the seats of foreign students by ten percent. Will this step boost the interest of the foreign population in IITs? This decision will be welcomed as it will provide an opportunity for many students to achieve their dreams. It is great news for foreign students as well as Indian students who stay abroad without an Indian citizenship.

This step is going to swell up the number of IIT aspirants. So what has the Aakash group planned in this context?

At Aakash we have always been committed to give the best to the students. This step will help us to get more number of selections in IITs and further increase our qualified students’ count.

Furthermore, the students will be more dedicated and motivated with an increase in chance of getting selected in IITs.

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EVENTS

MSDE and MoPNG together boost skill initiatives in the Hydrocarbon sector

T

he Skill India Mission gained momentum with a strategic partnership and signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG), to scale up skill development initiatives in the hydrocarbon and allied sectors among other areas of cooperation.

MoPNG has now formally joined hands with MSDE to: • D evelo p c om p r ehe n sive s k i l l development plans for existing and potential workforce in alignment with National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) • Certify existing workforce in the hydrocarbon sector for Recognition of Prior Learning under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) • Promote and scale-up apprenticeship training under National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme • Facilitate the setting-up of Skill Development Institutes/Centres of Excellence for vocational training to meet sectoral needs The MoU signing ceremony took place in the presence of Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State(Independent Charge), Ministr y of Petroleum and Natural 42 < CAREERCONNECT < December 2016

PARFI launches Kalyan Gurukul

P Gas and Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

The MoU was signed by Rohit Nandan, Secretary, MSDE and K D Tripathi, Secretary, MoPNG. Welcoming this contribution from the hydrocarbon sector, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, said, “The hydrocarbon sector has tremendous potential for employment generation, and hence it is vital to develop a skilled workforce to meet both today’s and tomorrow’s needs. The setting up of the hydrocarbons SSC is the first step in that direction. With today’s partnership, both ministries commit to develop globally benchmarked workforce for the sector so that lakhs of youth can aspire for better economic opportunities through skill development programs.”

Under the MoU, MoPNG will continue to support the growth of the Hydrocarbon Sector Skill Council and align with the NSQF for skill development programs.

Additionally, MoPNG will encourage oil and gas companies and related contractors to hire skilled personnel, incentivize skill training and certification, promote apprenticeship programs, undertake Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) programs in the sector and setup institutes focused on various sub-sectors and allied trades.

anIIT Alumni Reach for India Foundation (PARFI), announced the launch of ‘Kalyan Gurukul’, a multitrade skill development center, in Hazaribagh to facilitate skilling and increase in opportunities for employment for the economically backward youth. This new skill training centre is part of PARFI’s ongoing initiative to skill youth in Jharkhand and make them industry ready, thus creating employment. The Gurukul will be run by ‘PReJHA Foundation’, a joint initiative by Department of Welfare, Government of Jharkhand and PanIIT Alumni Reach for India Foundation (PARFI), which has been setup with an objective to enable skill development and entrepreneurship to under privileged sections and will aim to set up one Inaugurating the centre Jayant Sinha, Honourable Minister of State for Civil Aviation said, “It is important to provide the youth with the requisite skills that will make them employable.

This new Gurukul in Hazaribagh will help create skilled manpower and ensure sustainable employment, thus improving the socio economic status of our people.” The Kalyan Gurukul has the infrastructure for skill enhancement of 300 youngsters and starting with first batch of 54 students. The students are mostly from underprivileged background, who have had to drop out of school or have completed matriculation.

EVENTS

MDI celebrates 20 years of Delphique

M

anagement Development Institute, Gurgaon, one of India’s leading B-schools, recently celebrated the 20th edition of Delphique, its annual National Management Convention. More than 800 participants, 24 companies and 65 industry stalwarts attend the three day event. This year’s Delphique was buzzing with intense discussions around interesting topics such as the growth of Patanjali, bond markets and alternative funding sources for infrastructure sector, benchmarking of Indian cigarettes industry vis-a- vis foreign markets and employer branding on social media. Delphique began on with Rajeev

Talwar, CEO and Director, DLF Ltd, Robert Menzies, HeadStrategy and Corporate Planning, Godrej Industries Ltd, being the inaugural speakers. Eminent personalities including Sofia Eriksson, Global Head-Communications, Ericsson India Global services, Rajesh Kurup, Managing Director, Millward Brown, Sanjay Bakshi, Managing Partner, ValueQuest Capital, Kiran Ramamurthy, Senior Vice President, Ogilvy and Mather and Pawan Singh, Director – PTC India Financial Services participated in the event. One of the major highlights of Delphique was the Cerebro-National Case Study competition, which was conducted in association with The Times Group.

MeltingPot2020: India’s first innovation summit

C

L Educate along with Kestone IMS Pvt Ltd, the country’s leading integrated marketing service provider,has organised I n d i a’s f i r s t i n n ov a t io n s u m m it , ‘MeltingPot2020’. The summit witnessed a confluence of innovative ideas from likeminded visionaries from the corporate and academia world who identified and discussed the challenges of key drivers such as ed-tech, auto tech, internet of things, data science and analytics, energy efficiency, to name a few and provided game-changing solutions. This symposium has paved the roadmap to create an innovation-fuelled global economy powered by breakthrough research at the institutional and corporate

level. It aims to be the much needed catalyst for India’s transformation that will catapult it among the top ten innovative countries globally. Dr Saraswat, Member, Niti Aayog and former Secretary Defence RD, in his summit address says, “India is leapfrogging its way to a more digital economy where traditional and conventional approaches to problems will not give us the desired solutions. Students today have a high appetite for technology and creativity. The urgent need of the hour is to realise the potential of the youth and help equip young minds to cope with the challenges of the real world through innovation. MeltingPot is an excellent platform to translate this into reality.”

December 2016 < CAREERCONNECT < 43

EVENTS

Centum Learning launches Nanhi Chhaan

Record blood donation at Uttaranchal University

A

C

entum Learning, an ISO 9001:2015 certified skilling multinational, partnered with Punjab Skills Development Mission (PSDM) inaugurated Nanhi Chhaan Rural Skill Development Centre in Ludhiana. Dr Nidhi Kalotara, PCS, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Samrala and Rupender Kaur, Block Development Officer and others graced the occasion by their presence.

In addition to this, one more centre was launched at Patiyala. Centum Learning will also be launching twenty seven centers across Punjab to skill rural women with vocational skills. These centres will offer skilling in nine job roles namely beauty wellness, in-store promoter - telecom, call center executive, service steward for hospitality, sewing machine operator, courier delivery executive , front office associate, handset repair engineer –telecom and electrician, which have high demand in market.

Mega Blood Donation Camp was organised at Faculty of Law, Law College Dehradun, Uttaranchal University. The Chief Guest on the occasion was the Principal of Nehru Institute of Mountaineering and winner of Shourya and Kirti Chakras, Col. Ajay Kothiyal while the Chairperson of Managing Committee of Indian Red Cross Society as well as Ex-MLA Shri Ranjeet Singh Verma was present as the Guest of Honour at the Mega event. The camp was unique in itself. Blood Donation began at sharp 9:00 a.m. Students thronged into long queues and waited for their turn after registration. However, many of them had to leave empty handed due to the indifference of government run blood banks. M.H.G. Hospital Blood Bank, Haridwar took only 68 units while Doon Hospital, Dehradun didn’t turn up at all. Notably, Mahant Indiresh Hospital and I.M.A. Blood Bank procured 421 and 433 units respectively.

Speaking at the Mega event, Principal of the college Dr. Rajesh Bahuguna stated that Legal Aid Society of Law College Dehradun has been organizing Mega Blood Donation Camps for the last nine years at every Law Day. He described that the aim of organizing such camps is to make the Law Day meaningful for Law students in particular and the society in general. He maintained that the students of the college donate blood at least once during their stint at the college.

IMS Noida hosts International Education Fair 2016

I

nstitute of Management Studies, Noida (IMS Noida) hosted an International Education Fair 2016 in their campus located at Sector 62, Noida. Top ranked Universities from Ireland, UK and Canada offered scholarships and courses to students. The University representatives discussed about global education system and counsel on the courses to the students who visited the fair.

During this occasion, Dr KJS Anand, Executive Director, IMS Noida said, “Internationalisation of education is necessary to meet the new challenges faced by students and teachers in present times. IMS Noida is committed towards improvement in education pedagogy and encouraging talented students to get an exposure of global platform under the Government’s new education policy.” According to Aisling Lennon, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland, “Indian students are rich in talent and the university will be looking forward to receive them in large numbers. Also, we would be supporting IMS Noida in this noble endeavor of Internationalisation of education in future as well.”

44 < CAREERCONNECT < December 2016

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GUEST COLUMN

days to JEE Main 2017

By Partha Halder

T

he country’s largest engineering entrance exam conducted by CBSE is just about 150 days away. It is the first engineering entrance exam of the upcoming season immediately after the CBSE’s Class XII board exam. It is scheduled on April 2, 2017. All serious engineering aspirants are mandatorily required to appear for this exam to be able to get closer to their dream college. It is in fact the first step for all IIT aspirants while it is the single most exam acting as the gateway for NIT, IIIT, CFTI’s and SFTI’s. Students eyeing a seat in their dream college have now entered the most critical phase of their preparatory phase. It is during this phase that a student fine tunes his or her skills, harnesses capabilities, monitors one’s own strengths and weaknesses, plugs loopholes, assesses one’s national level standing and engages in maximising output.

Around this time, students must have completed their syllabus of Class XII. It’s now time for them to change gear to move on to the next level. But, what is important is clinical planning and putting them into execution. Few important pointers listed below would be helpful: • First and foremost, prepare a study and concept-wise revision plan for the next 150 days.

46 < CAREERCONNECT < December 2016

•

• •

•

•

•

If a student has completed Class XII syllabus by now, then they must immediately start revision for Class XI syllabus. As 40-45 per cent of the questions asked in JEE Main are from Class XI syllabus, students will not get sufficient time later due to Class XII board exam (during January and February, 2017) for the revision.

During revision, remember it is the quality of time spent that is important and not just the quantity.

St u d e nt s p r e p a r i ng fo r J E E Advanced, often ignore few topics which are relevant for JEE Main, for example, Chemistry in everyday life or Semiconductor. Hence, focus on all the topics that are there in JEE Main syllabus.

There are many questions in JEE Main which are informative (which means either a student knows or doesn’t). IQ is not relevant. Hence, a student might be required to simply memorise those areas.

In JEE Main, questions are asked which are related to one’s practical knowledge. Hence, a student who has done practical exercises in school will be able to answer.

Thus, students must refer to their lab manuals or practical notebooks.

Highlighted (impor tant facts) section of NCERT books MUST be reviewed. A lot of times questions are asked from those sections.

• •

•

•

Focus on developing speed by solving JEE level problems.

Develop st rateg y for t i me m a n age me nt i n b et we e n t he sections i.e Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.

One must subscribe to a good All India Level Mock Test Series.

Such test series should be pattern proof so that a student is mentally prepared for any kind of surprises.

This will help a student to assess their skills with respect to other good and serious students at the national level. To begin with one must solve at least on one full syllabus test paper every week.

Subsequently, one must appear for the All India Level Mock test at least twice a month leading up to JEE Main, 2017. If possible, subscribe to a good quality online test ser ies. This will help in practising for those exams which are currently conducted online.

Also, the report card generated after every such online mock test is instantaneous. In that manner, a student gets to know one’s in-depth performance analysis. One can try out www.mypat.in for such online test series.

While writing the tests, students should look at building the right exam temperament, body clock adjustment, ability to focus on various test-taking environments, etc.

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

Attend test analysis sessions by experts to gain insights on the ideal approach required to do well.

Map it with your performance.

Calculate the GAP score. Prepare an action plan to reduce the gap and implement the newly formed strategy in the next All India Mock Test. Assess the improvement.

Subject wise weak areas need to be identified. One should revisit those concepts all over again to eradicate them.

Questions must be solved by applyi ng you r reason i ng and analytical ability. Refer to the archives, i.e, previous years JEE Main question paper bank. This will help to build confidence in order to solve specific types of problems.

Make sure that the questions are solved in a time bound manner.

In JEE Main, students get around two minutes to solve one question.

Hence, a student must learn to effectively solve questions. Also, one must devote minimum time for easy to moderate questions so that if the need arises, more time could be devoted to solve the difficult ones.

JEE Main is not difficult. Instead, it is pre d ict able a nd t r ick y.

Hence, clarity of concept and a lot of familiarity with the type of questions is essential to do well.

One must NOT refer to the solution without solving a question by oneself. Give sufficient time to think logically and analytically to develop a solution approach to a problem. Initially, deploy conventional methods of solving.

Gradually, develop smarter and efficient ways to solve to save time.

During practice and while solving test papers one must keep a tab on the accuracy. To score well, one has to be quick and accurate. High speed with low accuracy will prove to be detrimental for JEE Main.

Avoid using a calculator and log tables during this phase, as both are not allowed during the exam. Rely on mental calculation and harness your skills accordingly.

Question selection is extremely cr ucial. Ever y paper consists

•

•

•

of easy, moderate and difficult questions. JEE Main will be no different in this regard. In fact, a good quality test series will provide you a similar experience.

Hence, while solving the mock test, develop an eye for selecting the right questions. By quickly solving the easy and moderate questions, it will enable you to clear the cut-off easily. To go to the next level, by attempting difficult ones would be the key. Judicious attempt should be practised. The idea is to keep the negative marks at bay. This will automatically create a huge difference for the masses as they would be randomly picking up negative marks.

If you did not appear in KVPY and/or have not subscribed to an online test series, then refrain from writing JEE Main in online form.

Go for paper based exam.

Sticking to the basics, regular practice and assessing oneself at each stage will enable success in JEE Main, 2017.

During the same, i.e, from now till February, one must simultaneously solve Class XII board exam test paper. Though there will not be much of a difference between the syllabus still one must practise board exam paper of the previous

•

• • •

•

years. Attempting few mock tests is recommended as well.

Topic wise, prepare a list of points to remember for all concepts, and mark the ones that need more practice at your end.

A l lo cat e some t i me i n you r schedule to practise model answers for CBSE board.

Keep referring to high quality notes prepared over the last 18 months as per the board exam perspective.

However, one must be careful to read the instr uctions when attempting the actual exam to ensure there is no change in the pattern or marking scheme.

To pursue the above points, one must remain physically fit and mentally focused. Hence, practise me d it at ion t o develop i n ne r calm, self control and power of concentration. These matter a lot and will help you on the day of examination. Do not overstress or overstretch yourself. Six to seven hours of sleep, especially between 11 pm to 6 am, which helps in setting body clock is a must. Late night st udy must be avoided.

Include physical activity in your daily schedule to remain fit and to maintain the right energy level.

(The author of this article is Director, FIITJEE, Punjabi Bagh Centre.)

December 2016 < CAREERCONNECT < 47

GUEST COLUMN

Career in Textile designing

T

Ankur Gulati

ext ile desig n i ng is the most signif icant aspect of the fashion industr y. Any material or surface comprising fibers prepared by weaving, knitting, crocheting or pressing collectively fibers (felting) is called a textile. Textile designing comprises of both surface and structural designs. A good course in textile design mainly equips the person with an indulgent of all these areas so as to make a textile and also manipulate these techniques to make completely new textiles in total. The textile sector is the second largest sector in India after the agricultural sector, employing 35 million people directly.

Sector Overview

Working in textile design demands alertness of changing trends and styles and a capability to create designs that are new, present or even ahead of the fashion cur ve. Textile designs for fashion tend to have a faster turnaround than designs for furnishing, so designing for fashion may denote high complexity and tight deadlines, with designers often working across various collections.

Textile Designers work in the industry – researching and producing designs for textiles companies or fashion houses – but they may also work for a design agency or as a freelancer.

A rough copy of the finished design envisioned by the textile designer is made for both woven and printed textiles. The designer’s bottomless understanding of the technical aspects of 48 < CAREERCONNECT < December 2016

Skills

The work of textile designers is a bit difficult as they have to coordinate diverse facets of textile manufacturing with market demands as well as fashion trends of the date. Textile designers are the skilled professionals having sound technical knowledge of each and every characteristic of fabric manufacturing.

A textile designer must have deep knowledge of every basic material and of latest technological developments in the field. In fact, their learning is a continuous method as they have to keep themselves updated about any fresh techniques or developments in the ground of textile designing.

This profession calls for a set of skills that every designer should hold such as: • Creativeness and imagination • Technical knowledge • Commercial alertness of textile industry • Research and data management capacity • Critical analysis and understanding of materials • Working Conditions Every profession has good days and bad days. One may require working extra hours to meet up deadlines when it’s demanding. A lot of your time will be used up at a computer, designing fabrics and working on patterns. You may at times need to travel to visit trade fairs and to meet clients and manufacturers.

In the industry one must be all set to meet growing competition from three sources, viz., from imported supplies

designs for fash“ionTextile tend to have a faster turnaround than designs for furnishing, so designing for fashion may denote high complexity and tight deadlines, with designers often working across various collections

“

production and the properties of fibers, yarns, and textile dyes helps out the designer in visualising the final product.

Traditionally, drawings of woven textile patterns were prepared onto special graph paper called point papers. These sketches were used by the weavers for setting up their looms for producing the fabric. However, these days, most of the professional textile designers use some form of computer-aided design software for the use.

coming into the domestic market at lower and lower import duties; from goods produced in the country for the domestic market by foreign controlled enterprises using their trademarks and most recent technology; and lower prices because of an incapability to raise prices in the face of low world inflation.

Textile designers may carry out business in their own offices.

Job Outlook

Fashion designers as a whole could expect a highly competitive job market from 2014-2024, with more capable candidates than offered jobs. Overall, the fashion design industry is likely to experience a three percent growth in employment over this decade, with a rise of 700 jobs by 2022. Due to the competitive nature of the field, it’s essential that aspiring professionals should go into the workforce with as much experience and education as possible. It’s essential to have a good portfolio of work to show your potential employers. There are good paying jobs out there in textiles, and it’s a niche industry.

Career Option

T h e f i e l d of t e x t i l e d e s i g n i n g encompasses a diversity of career opportunities, as fabrics are used in designing goods of everyday use, such as clothing, bath towels, bed linens and other necessary products. The textile sector in India is being fond of that huge billboard at the signal one just can’t

ignore. It not only provides for one of the most basic physiological requirements of the people in the country, but is also in charge for enormous economic growth.

According to the Government of India’s website –India is one of the most capital and labor intensive industry that contributes four per cent to the country’s GDP and 13.5 per cent to the yearly export income graduates of a degree program in textile design can go on to make textiles in a variety of industries and at a range of career levels. Some of these include: • Fashion textile designer • Product developer for interior design • Home furnishings textile designer • Quality assurance inspector for textiles

Tips for getting hired

• •

the door of a fashion design or textile manufacturing company.

Weaver Freelance textiles artist A lot of textile design career options for graduates of a master’s degree program are alike to those options available to graduates of a bachelor’s degree program in this field. Often, master’s degrees help out individuals move more quickly out of entry-level position and into management level position in the industry.

• Textile supply chain manager • Textile marketing manager • Quality assurance manager of textiles • Research and development analyst • Textiles production manager

An entry-level position includes a lot of monotonous duties. The selection process evaluates approach, enthusiasm, and awareness together with academic qualif ications, general awareness, scientific, and technical ability Never stop creating art and updating your portfolio with hand-drawn designs as well as computer generated ones.

Also, get to know your software.

In the industry, everything is on a screen. The technical side to textile design can be frustrating, but knowing these programs inside and out will give you an edge and make your work easier. When, and if, possible travel to witness textile processing in different regions. Apply to firms to be a trainee, as this is a good way to get your foot in

Eligibility

Due to rapid development in the potential of textile market, there is an increasing need for a proper educational qualification in order to form a sound knowledge base about different methods of designing textiles and fibers. Textile designers often hold a bachelor’s degree, such as a Bachelor of Arts, a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Design or a Bachelor of Arts in Textile Design. In textile design a Bachelor’s design program is meant to offer students with an indepth understanding of the concept and functional utilisation of various

textiles. Students concerned in graduate programs in textile designs have a few different degree options to decide from, including Master of Arts in Textile and Apparel Management, Supply Chain Management and a Master of Arts in Textiles and Marketing.

These degree programs are planned to help students further explore the process and technologies that go into designing and producing textiles. For this reason, students enrolling in a graduate program in textile design must have a basic understanding of computer software, patterning, mathematics and design. Students enrolled in a master’s deg ree prog ram in textile desig n learn about body scanning, product development and textiles and computer aided design (CAD) techniques.

Remuneration

Textile design, is an essential part of fashion industr y, a skilled and remunerative career choice one can look out for. As per trade value if a person wish to join as a fresher, one could earn about 15-20 thousand per month.

Graduates of reputed and top institutes, monthly pay could go up toINR 30,000 per month and export houses offers between 25-40 thousand per month to experienced textile designers.

The author is Dean of Marketing and Branding, IMS-Design & Innovation Academy, one of the leading Design Institutes in the country. He can be reached at deandesign@diaindia.co.in

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GUEST COLUMN

Edtech Leadership: Comparing Indian Technology to that of America and China What educationists agree upon is that each student learns at a different pace.

Further, a student’s pace is not uniform but varies based on the subject or even the concept one is learning. But, a teacher in class cannot personalise for each student.

I

Ashish Sirohi

remember as a kid, having only k now n the u niverse of I ndian Ambassador cars. When I saw a foreign car with an open hood, I was shocked. Compared to the Ambassador, what was under this hood seemed like out of this world technology. But, those days of Indian technology are seemingly gone. Now, Indian internet companies are competing head to head with the Americans and Chinese in technology. Or are they? Let us look at Edtech, where I have some expertise, having been in the education field my whole life. Edtech companies are selling the concept of “Personalised Learning” or “Adaptive Learning.” What is personalised learning and what is the problem that Edtech companies are trying to solve by chasing this concept?

Let us go back three decades to the research of Benjamin Bloom. Bloom’s famous “2 Sigma Problem” is about how to recreate the effectiveness of one-onone tutoring. Bloom’s research showed that students taking one-on-one tutoring performed two standard deviations (2 sigma) better than students who did not receive tutoring. In other words, the average tutored student performed better than 98 per cent of the students in the traditional classroom. Why is there a jump in performance? One-on-one tutoring is the ultimate personalisation of learning. However, Bloom noted that oneon-one tutoring is “too costly for most societies to bear on a large scale” and the “problem” for Bloom was about how to replicate the 2 Sigma result without the high expense.

What education technology is being really implemented and how does Indian technology compare to other countries such as USA and China?

Knewton, a US-based company, has e me rge d a s t he cle a r t e ch nolog y leader for “Adaptive Learning”. Their technology uses Item Response Theory (IRT) as the foundation. IRT is genuine Adaptive Assessment technology that is used in world’s high stakes tests such as GMAT and GRE, and is expanding now to being used in USA K-12 Assessments.

K n e w t o n’s E d t e c h h a s e x p a n d e d IRT Adaptive from “Assessment” to “Learning”– which is a great feat. Many Edtech companies are now paying to use their technology, thus acknowledging their leadership.

TutorGroup of China seems to lead in Edtech for synchronous tutoring with a live tutor, and the concept of connecting anytime from anywhere using current and emerging devices. WebRTC (Web RealTime Communication), started by Google but now open-source, is becoming the favored technology to base such live connections upon. But, open-source can be a misleading term because proprietary products are being built using WebRTC. Technology and devices are evolving rapidly and such live person-to-person interaction will always be evolving and remains a tech challenge. TutorGroup is an Edtech company that has achieved unicorn status.

Another promise of Edtech has been gamification – interactive activities that make the child learn while having fun.

Can Edtech achieve this for students and anxious parents? Companies like Age of Learning from USA have delivered such products with wide adoption by parents, who open their wallets to buy their gamification products.There are other successes in Edtech, but here as well the

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technology innovation is coming from America, followed by China.

I n I n d i a , ‘A d a p t i ve Te s t i n g’, ‘Personalised Lear ning’ and ‘Gamification’ are on the home pages of Edtech companies selling products to students. What technology breakthroughs have Indian Edtech leaders made? Not much when compared to American and Chinese Edtech, and nor have they incorporated or replicated the genuine Edtech being made outside India. But, they have the same grand claims of technology. Why should they not? Did the Ambassador car acknowledge that it is not the upgraded world-class tech?

Most of tod ay’s I nd ia n Edtech companies may easily go the way of the Ambassador car once Made-in-China and Made-in-America Edtech comes to India, and Indian students and parents compare foreign technology to Indian technology by looking under the hood.

But, these American and Chinese Edtech winners will employ Indian educators, content-writers and curriculum experts.

So, talented educators will benefit with Edtech adoption and growth, and that change is good because talent is often not recognised and rewarded in the education field. So, they will show the Indian consumer some wonderful Edtech, which Indians have not seen the likes of.

However, the future has not happened yet and something could happen that makes the I ndians win in Edtech.

That something would firstly involve the realisation by the Indian Edtech companies that the “tech” in “Edtech” stands for real technology. Secondly, it would be the realisation that worldclass technology will certainly come to India, and the clock is ticking for Indian companies to produce it. Indian Edtech companies must be very cognizant of the serious threat posed by American and Chinese competitors and of the increased level of innovation that would be needed to successfully battle these global competitors in India.

(The writer is the CEO and Co-founder of Eduwizards)

ADMISSIONS 2017

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