Project loose socks

Product Collection.

Vaidehi Supatkar AD VII BEN13AD01

Preface Education is the most powerful tool in the world,it literally can make or brake a person,many a times we regard education to educational institutions but the very truth is that education begins right inside a womans womb thats where a child starts learning to kick.

Parents are child’s first teachers,kids develop and learn new things from the very time they enter this world, that’s why humans are called explorers always finding something new always curious and always finding answers.

What lies in the future of learning? Is the Current Education System relevant for the bright future filled with technological breakthroughs. Or are we still teaching our kids the way British patriarchy had left us.

These are certain questions came to our mind and we went on this search to understand the Indian State Education System which left us on a very brad furthermore narrowing down to Karnataka state Education for us To actually go in the field and do the quantitative Research and finally studying a school for the period of 4 months gave us qualitative insights to actually think of changing,aiding and reaching out to these students in need.

This project is a documented version of our work for making a change in learning for the period of a month.

Contents Objective Design BRIEF Research Secondary Research Primary Research Observations Gap analysis Scope of Problem Ideation Prototyping Initial Testing Final Concepts User Testing Learning

Objective The objective of the module was to choose an area of interest/gap and fulfill it by giving a solution as a design professional.

The Objective that we formed for our project was that engaging kids in school & learning in a fun way and forming a system around the school which would allow them to do so.

Design Brief “To design system around the school for making learning fun,creating a System to aid the learning�

Research

Secondary Research To start any system we started with asking the basic questions like : Why education Is education?

How it followed all around the world?

Different Education Systems around India?

Education System in Karnataka?

Education system In Bangalore?

Education system in Government School in Bangalore.

(The detailed account of which is given ahead).

Primary Research After teaching these kids for almost about a period of 4 months we already had a lot of observations and experiences of where the kids face problems.

A small case study was done in order to focus on a particular direction to understand the problem in depth.

Case study

Topic of study: The education system at Acts of Hope School Kasavanahalli and understand how can it be improved.

OBJECTIVE The objective of this case study is to understand the school’s functioning right from the students cultural bag-round,to the economic factors which reflects the student that come to the school their social beliefs and practices the same would Apply to the teachers who teach there, understand the teaching methods and Practices and highlight the keen areas where design intervention would help in the holistic development of the child. The study would be focusing on the children studying from V&VI at the school.

BACK-ROUND STUDY To understand what is education,I started with various Boards of Education System followed pertaining to India mainly India has about three major boards of studying at the primary level of schooling: Indian Certificate Secondary Education CISCE ICSE commonly used misnomer to this board commonly focuses on languages,science and encourages students to choose diverse topics.

Central Board Of Secondary Education CBSE Widely available across India with maximum schools following it,there is particular stress on maths and science at large.

State Board(which will differ through states you study in) SSC Topics of the curriculum is content of local relevance,usually cheaper schools.

International Board IB Their vision is on all round development of the student into an inquiring,caring and knowledgeable young individual. (schoolcountry.com/blog/post/2011.in) Apart from which all follow a different approach to education systems a part of the study prevails to Karnataka state board,the relevance is specified accordingly To understand the school and their methods,I went back to the Karnataka Education System which is Modulated by the Karnataka Education Board. The key policies and system they follow would be Education Policy : * Every child attends school. * Every child attains, effectively, the minimum levels of learning. * Every teacher is at school. * The community is actively involved in the betterment of the schools, thereby encouraging a mass Campaign for primary education.

Goals and Objectives in Primary Education: The main goals and objectives of the Government of Karnataka towards universalize of elementary education are: * To ensure that all 6-14 year old children are in classes 1-8. * To ensure that all required infrastructure and human resources for providing eight years of free, compulsory, relevant and quality education are in place. * To ensure that education becomes a means of genuine empowerment of the individual to achieve his/her full potential.

Grant in Aid - in Primary Education : They may be given for the following purpose.

(A) Maintenance of Educational Institutions; (b) Purchasing, erecting enlarging and improving school buildings; (c) Improvement of Play grounds and permanent fixtures, therefor; (d) Equipment for the school. (http://schooleducation.kar.nic.in/mms/budget.html) PRESENT STUDY Acts of Hope Higher secondary school kasavanhalli is under the guidance of UK based firm Acts Of Hope which gives financial assistance to the school,currently following the Katakana State Education Curriculum,under which Following are the organizational structure i.e. these are the people they have to report to:

At the school the hierarchy would be A) PRINCIPLE B)Assistant Principle C)Teacher department.

D)Lab Assistant E)Janitors SOCIAL & ECONOMIC DETERMINANTS Majority cases people either drop out,not come or are less interested in school could start at a very natal stage of the child’s social set up,various factors that would affect are given by a study by UNICEF In the year 2008 A) Income inequality B) Social Exclusion C) Sense of personal or collective Efficacy D) Social gradient-(extent of quality or the difference in wealth and opportunity between those with the most and those with the least)

E)Stress F)Early Life Experience I) Unemployment of parents J)Addiction K)Food L)Transport M)Social Factors-lack of connection between school environment and the students.

The curriculum not related to real life experiences,very minimal application of education in the real world.

N)Political Factors.

Sometimes due to the background of th kids affect t their personality so much they Become very shy, Scared and timid. Lack of confidence can lead to low self esteem later in life which again education should be able to do ideally,make them beaming with confidence so that whatever knowledge gain they have Done all their school life they apply it further.

PHYSICAL DETERMINANTS The classroom is a learning playground for mind, It shall intrigue a student making him curious about The whole learning process working towards shaping the child’s curiosity.

Due to poor allocation of funds,kids tend to get bored,as it is a very constructionist’s approach towards Education. Kids sit in the class and are taught by teachers,in break they all are dreading to go out and Play as the class itself does not have anything engaging who do not usually love to play will quietly sit In class and wait for the period to end.

This was one of the key opportunity that could be tapped on, by having interactive classrooms it will not Only tap the creative side of students but also give them exposure to the new kinds of materials they Could develop in the future it will open up new avenues for them.

OBSERVATIONS After teaching there for almost a course of three months there were certain inferences drawn out by Speaking to various volunteers at the school we meet every Saturday. Students are very fascinated by Technology Low confidence,a hitch towards their work even if they know everything.

Need continuous break for water and food,Love playing quiz games,boosts their enthusiasm,Teachers are very strict,Visual communication makes more Impact than textual lack of focus is due to prolonged long Hours of same subjects. It become difficult for Teachers to pay attention top so many kids after a certain period of time.they love working with various different experimental methods of teaching.

IDEAS AND USER TESTING After the feasibility testing there were certain constraints realized, one of the main factors observed was a lot of times the teachers were busy in taking care of the mid day meal programs and ensuring the quality Meals,they don’t get the time to do the actual task in hand which is teaching the child and formulating The framework for making the classrooms fun and engaging.

Lot of times due to unavailability of resources and funds the kids do not get the exposure,other students Their age get.

After talking to the teachers which are open to change say that if something is regulated to bring a change Or improve he current scenario of student studying in the acts of hope primary school then they would be glad to implement it.

The Ideation started with keeping all these factors in mind and user testing was carried out to see whether these ideas can be implemented in the given frame of time.

The scope of work being suggesting a model without changing the current model,making the current model more effective .i.e. supporting factor for the existing model.

INFERENCE Focus or enthusiasm is lost after 20 min,incorporation of play in between their daily subjects periods will not only make them playful,eager to learn but also refresh their mind from the monotony.

- BODY PLAY-clap their hands,shake their legs,turn around and feel.

Hence by incorporating simple techniques we could make the children learn well,remember and not loose focus easily.

Any Human remembers more by Doing rather than just reading or listening. That being said the current education scenario only focuses on structured learning ,Which does not make the child remember. Tested and proven by many instructional designers and educators group learning not only teaches the child cognitive learning but also teaches the child non-cognitive life skills like sharing,collaboration,co-creation,which is more relevant in today’s day age. Which was drawn out through the testing session the children enjoyed working in groups and were more excited to learn through technology and group based learning this will also help them remember for a long time.

Handing out tools and tangible activity sets make kids more enthusiastic about learning and engages them completely. This may be as Simple as placards Or as technology induced as a tablet.

Through engaging them in activities learning happens holistically as they want to know more rather than just mugging up the portion coming for the next exam.

Giving the kids the power to make Their own curriculum may seem far fetched and Cluttered with the density of primary school going children but this change is easy if it begins from the student side instead of the head of the department of ministry of education sitting somewhere in an A/C room. child centric education can begin by certain tweaks in the way teacher conducts the classes ,the environment they are sitting and learning. per-post period breaks,methods,tools used in learning and this will make a huge difference in the future of knowledge for the country whether the child knows or can apply his/her learning practically.

Gap

Current state: Classroom learning.

Mug up learning.

Low self confidence.

Low in Basics.

Scared to state their opinion.

No extra curriculum activity.

No exposure.

Individual based learning.

Future state: Classroom learning.

Application based.

Highly confident Collaborative Learning.

Highly technologically induced.

Global exposure, Activity based.

Gap Lack of exposure.

Time gap.

Low personality Development.

Low morale.

Less activities.

Herd learning.

Low tech know how.

Improve & Execute Collaborative learning.

Activities.

Exposure through technological aid.

Persona Persona mapping is done to understand the user better and to understand the scenario,activities he/ she does and th interactions he/she have.

Vijay 12 year old vijay loves learning new things and keeps asking me about various topics,he loves to experiment and is also a maker.

Although being a sensitive kid he often looses interest in studying once dealt harshly by the subject teacher.

He tends to loose focus in studying if the period goes on monotonously for long hours.

jayant Sir 30 years old.

Principal Sir 35 years old.

Jayant sir wants their kids to go ahead in life hence he keeps searching for new videos he could show the kids, But informs due to lack of any tools he cannot engage the kids as much as he aspires for.

Lot of times due to lack of time he doesn’t get time to formulate activities for them. Mandating him to take the class the regular way.

Principle sir takes all the effort in organizing functions in schools and maintains a discipline in the school,he is open to new methods of learning if it benefits their children.

Activity involved in teaching as well,he is proactive.

Problem Mapping out various problems in different areas helped us understand the broader focus while Later focusing and streamlining became easier.

Problem Definition

Key issues addressed here - “Lack of provision for the educators to make the class more engaging, Fun and informative.�

Underlying Factors:Lack of Exposure: due to lack of exposure many times they still believe that the conventional way of teaching is good enough and they are very less aware of the educational shift present globally Irregular Funds: Being a Charitable trust School the funds received is irregular so o th times of low funding they have to cost cut on certain things.

Time Management: Due to other academic duties which the teacher has to follow often they get left with very little time to spend on making activities and making th kids do.

Textbooks just have chapters with activities which are not done due to lack of time.

No system: no system is currently in lace that tells the importance of holistic development of child from the cognitive to the non-cognitive skills. The future needs them to play a major role and be the change however the system tells them to learn in a particular manner which often builds a different habit,hence when facing the future they feel unprepared.

Problem Pool

(Initial)

Ideation, Concepts, Testing.

By bringing out various ideas first then coming up with solutions to the defined problems.

Then rough testing was done to ensure there is no gap between what we derived and what actually happened.

Idea Pool

Initial Concepts Few ideas which where discussed and formulated where prototyped through user testing in the scenarios,in-depth process and activities can be seen in the videos but the basic ideas which where tested where: Activity: group discussion After the particular chapter is taught the teacher will divide the class into groups give each group a topic to talk about which students will discuss within the group and present the learning to the class Activity-2 ice breaker As the study tells that focus or enthusiasm is lost after 20 min,we thought how play could be incorporated in their daily life- BODY PLAY Clap their hands,shake their legs,turn around and feel Refreshed this we introduced a concept of play in classroom and a break from the monotony of the lecture.

Activity-5 placards After the chapter was read group of two students were given placards with a word from the chapter,which they had to use and formulate a sentence out of it.

This ensures that the students apply what they have learn Activity-5 Curiosity With the aid of Internet,kids were intrigued to know about the parallel topic related to chapter just taught so that they took the initiative to study and find out themselves about the issue rather than someone feeding them.

User Testing (initial) The initial user testing highlighted lot of flaws however the activities we thought would work did very well.

On the left you can see a series of images of kids being fully engrossed in the activity which is facilitated by the sir. Which was given by us.

(Final)

Concepts, Testing.

After getting insights from testing phase final Solutions were derived and final prototype was Made which was later tested.

Over view All the concepts generated are guided format of this system which we thought we could propose for a timely cycle of the activities.

Hence Mondays were made joyous so that the kids feel like running towards school after a long weekend.

Tuesdays would be story filled where there will loads of activities focusing on story building improving their grammar and making them creative.

With empathetic Wednesdays they will learn how to be sensitive towards your environment,towards people and all living beings they will gain non-cognitive skill set which is very important in today’s day age.

Thursdays there will be a lot of experiments happening hence hand on learning.

Inventing new things will be a Friday day with fun filled activities they wouldn’t want to go home!

(Concept 1)

We create Toolkit.

Children are proven to learn while collaborating than a child sitting in solitary,collaborative learning and self-initiated learning are the two keys to the future toolkit for kids to collaborate and come up with things,while facilitated by the teacher.

We create Toolkit The toolkit is consisting of total 6 objects: Instruction card.

Digital helper.

Colored bands.

Reward stickers.

Cue cards.

Presentation Sheets.

We create toolkit is a collaborative effort towards peer learning and team building.

Children form groups of three and are given a cue card and presentation charts per group,they are suppose to find out about the problem/topic given on the cue card and while working in groups discuss ideas that they could create,related to the topic.

I pad is provided for handy digital information or could be conducted in the computer lab with Internet access.

User testing

(Concept 2)

Activity Pool.

Children have wishes too,Guided play is proven to improve the neural Pathways building almost twice the rate, hence play is a very essential part of any student life.

Now this could be fulfilled only if they wish!

Activity Pool A magic box wherein children could put in their wishes,questions & Activities they would want to do throughout the week.

Everyday teacher would take out three form each topic respectively and conduct these in the coming day.

Sample ones to understand are already given.

User testing

(Concept 3)

I help Project.

Children have wishes too,Guided play is proven to improve the neural Pathways building almost twice the rate, hence play is a very essential part of any student life.

Now this could be fulfilled only if they wish!

I help Project Every month they will get a topic on which they have they will apply innovation thinking to solve the problem.

4 step guide for educators top practice this in class.

Feel Imagine Execute Share This project aims at creating a sense of ownership for the students to create something-Hands on and collaborate at the same time.

Generally the topics would start with social welfare to induce students with social responsibility and to treat them as adults and know that their ideas matter and they too can help.

User testing

This months theme was given as street animals welfare rescue,testing photographs represent the initial feel topic which these kids were on,wherein they empathized with these homeless puppies,discussed together of various different class groups about a solution and together rescued the puppies till their mother,however this was a quick testing,which did not follow all steps. This may change-from topic to topic and more testing will derive better results.

(Concept 4)

The selfie Story.

These children n love taking photographs and they also love telling stories,why not combine these two in a constructive approach ,which they can proudly showcase the world!

The selfie story.

Draw what you did over a week Like your taking a selfie and then write the story about what have you drawn this will be collectively showcased in the class and best stories will be rewarded.

You could also share your stories with your teacher who could upload it Online on our website.

ser testing

Learning.

Kids have taught me more than any adult could ever have!

The entire experience of these 4 months have been exhilarating,right from teaching these small kids to learning immensely from them their teachers and principle sir, The entire module has taught me how to be patient,having fun be a child at heart. handelling kids,plenty of them all together,but altogether it was a beautiful Experience I am planning to continue working on this project until it actually makes a difference,hence the testing will go on and on until we get it right and finally would want to test in other government schools as well. Try it out in private schools there is no end this is just the beginning.