Teachers from India qualified to participate in E2

Be it maths, music, psychology or literature, education tools are changing the lesson plans in class. “We are moving towards a paperless classroom,” says Pooja Sachdeva, a teacher in Pathways World School, Aravalli. These educators are teaching a tech generation who view life through their devices. Hence, it has become even more important for them to embed technology in their teaching to keep students `hooked’ to their lessons, adds Brian Aspinal, a teacher from Canada.

Many teachers across the globe are using tools to enhance learning and achieve better student outcomes. However, usually these innovations in the classroom occur in isolation and the achievements go unnoticed. Therefore, E2 - Educator Exchange provides a platform for teachers and experts to share good practices and find solutions to 21st century challenges.

This year, around 300 teachers from 75 countries participated in E2, which was held in Budapest earlier this month. Says Anthony Salcito, vice president, Worldwide Education, Microsoft, that has been hosting the event for several years: “We bring together the most innovative educators from around the world to share their experiences on how to transform education. It is very inspirational.”

Eleven teachers from India qualified to participate in E2 this year and four were in the winning teams. This year’s theme was `Hack the Classroom,’ meaning innovations in the classroom. The conference highlighted innovative approaches such as using skype to engage students in lessons on climate change by connecting with scientists working in the Arctic region. Also, OneNote, a modern replacement of the paper notebook that allows teachers to collaborate with students in real time, creating, editing and grading assignments. And game-based learning like Minecraft, especially to help children with special learning needs, among other innovations.

In the group challenge --- Class Hack Competition, each group was assigned a 'hacker’ persona and teachers had to work in teams to identify a common problem that they face in the classroom and find a solution with the help of technology. The different `hacker’ personas were strategise, personalise, gamify, minimise and delocalise.

The Grand Prize Winner was the team that focussed on `The Multicultural Classroom:’ Migration is a major global challenge. Students new to a country oftentimes face inequity because of the language barrier. Teachers can use OneNote’s built-in translation tool to overcome this barrier by allowing new students to tell their story in their native language.

The new features of OneNote were launched during the conference. According to Mike Tholfsen, principal programme manager of OneNote, they gathered feedback from teachers to make the tool even more useful, and the main consideration was to save time for teachers.

On the key takeaway from the conference, Chandhirakala Venugopal from the Titan School in Hosur, says, ”It’s very useful to be introduced to new tools and also to find out how other teachers are embedding technology in their teaching methods.” Teachers from Nigeria echoed similar views, saying that though smartphones and other devices are now common in the classroom, but with erratic power supply they have to improvise. “At E2 I realised teachers from other countries face similar challenges but nevertheless implement tech tools. This is the first time we have travelled outside our country, so it’s learning beyond borders,” says Oluwakemi Olurinola, educational technologist at the Olabisi Onabanjo University.

Several teachers admitted that it’s the students who guide them about tech tools or games that can be educational. So in this tech era, both teachers and students are learning together.

Knowledge-hungry Gujarat to join hands with 77 varsities

Close to 77 universities from 25 countries will visit Gujarat to forge strategic partnerships with universities in the state. The universities will meet at the International Conference for Academic Institutions 2013, as part of the Vibrant Gujarat Investors' Summit, to promote research activities, faculty and student exchange, knowledge exchange and capacity building of the universities.
Home to globally-renowned educational institutes like Indian Institute of Management, Indian Institute of Technology and National Institute of Design, Gujarat will draw global universities in January.

University of London, Harvard Kennedy School, University of South Australia, University of Toronto, University of British Columbia, Association of African Universities, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, University of Glasgow, University of Houston, University of South Carolina, George Washington University, University of Wollongong, University of Liverpool, Royal University of Bhutan, among others will visit the state for various initiatives.

Dr Vedant Pandya, director (research and innovation), Knowledge Consortium of Gujarat, said, "Besides exchange of knowledge, the conference will focus on making graduates in Gujarat job eligible and employable in the industry. The interaction with foreign universities will open up doors of skill development, internships, exchange of teaching and learning material and research among other possibilities."

The Gujarat government has put preparation for the upcoming business summit on a fast track. The conference will be held on January 9 and 10, 2013.

According to officials, the conference will focus more on sharing of ideas, promotion of innovation and research as compared to earlier summits, which focused on generating investments.

About 50 educational collaborations were announced during the Vibrant Gujarat summit held in 2011. The state government, along with Tata Motors, identified and trained around 1,000 youngsters for the company's Nano car plant in Sanand.

Universities like Stanford had signed collaborations with Ahmedabad University for faculty exchange.

Panel against replicating US model for proposed 200 community colleges

Committee of state education ministers has recommended that proposed 200 community colleges should be called by a different name. Though highly successful in the US, the committee has said, not all its features can be imported to India due to socio-economic and socio-cultural differences between the nations.

The committee — headed by Archana Chitnis, minister of school education, Madhya Pradesh — has said these colleges, with equal emphasis on enhancing vocational and educational ability of students be given a "suitable indigenous name, which meets the character of these colleges aptly and meets the contemporary needs of the society and nation".

The committee that also visited the US to study community colleges has said in India these colleges should offer courses that are a mix of knowledge and skill components. Three year honours degree course could be broken into modules/credits specifying the total number of credits required for acquiring a degree. The skill component of the curriculum should be separately drawn.

It has been recommended that these colleges should specify the credit requirements for awarding other qualifications like certificate, diploma, advanced diploma so that those who join after class XII and want to leave should have some qualification. These colleges have also been asked to offer short-term courses of various durations to the learners in areas where no formal qualification would be needed.

Committee has said a student of community college will have the option to exit after completing certain credit points of a course and rejoin the course at h/his convenience later with full protection of credit already earned. Since these colleges are meant to serve the need of the community, local students would be given suitable weightage in registration. Central and state governments have been asked to lend support. States would set up State Level Steering Committee under chief secretary and representation from all stakeholders and the Centre would form a National Level Monitoring Committee. Cost of establishing these colleges would be shared by the Centre and states.

Two Indians part of 2012 Yale World Fellows

Two Indians are a part of the Yale University's World Fellows for 2012. There are 16 World Fellows chosen for 2012. India alongwith Britain, with 11 fellows each, have had more fellows than any other country since the inception of the programme in 2002.

Ayush Chauhan, co-founder and managing director, Quicksand and Ruchi Yadav, senior programme officer, The Hunger Project, are the chosen Indian fellows.

The 2012 World Fellows will take part in a specially designed seminar taught by leading Yale faculty; audit any of the 3,000 courses offered at the university; participate in weekly dinners with distinguished guest speakers; receive individualised skill-building training; and meet with US and foreign leaders.

British university joins hands with Mumbai college

Britain-based University of Westminster Friday signed a memorandum of understanding with Mumbai's HR College of Commerce and Economics to expand its Indian scholarship programme, officials said.

"India has historically been an important partner for the University of Westminster, through students who have come to learn with us, academics who have shared their expertise, and as a partner for research," said University of Westminster Pro Vice-Chancellor, Myszka Guzkowska, announcing their new Indian presence.

The University also announced its new partnership with the prestigious Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi.

"It is our goal to strengthen these existing ties into long-term, sustainable and mutually beneficial relationships for the university and for India," Guzkowska said.

The university also announced a new series of scholarships specifically for Indian students worth 1,50,000 pounds. The distinctive feature of these scholarships is that they are offered on the condition that, on graduation, the students return to work in India.

The University of Westminster is also launching an Indian Alumni Association, which will have the primary objective of promoting strong relationships between its alumni, current students, faculty and the university as a whole.

Soon, Indian BTech degrees may be recognized abroad

Engineers with undergraduate degrees will find it easier to seek jobs and opportunities for higher studies abroad from 2013, if India's bid to join the elite Washington Accord for international accreditation is accepted.

If it comes through, undergraduate engineering degrees from India will be brought on a par with those of the US, UK, Australia, Canada, Singapore, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa and six other nations, easing mobility for Indian undergraduate engineers.

The National Board of Accreditation, under the aegis of All India Council for Technical Education, plans to bid to become a permanent member of the Washington Accord in June 2013.

Said G Prabhakar, an NBA member and president, Andhra Pradesh chapter of Institution of Engineers (India), "In 2013, NBA will be a full member of the Washington Accord. The accord recommends that the graduates of programs accredited by any of the signatory bodies be recognized by other members as having met academic requirements for entry to engineering." India was granted the status of a provisional member in 2007.

India is yet to invite the Washington Accord to audit its accreditation system, a crucial process for becoming a full member, despite the country being granted a provisional status in 2007.

Hu Hanrahan, the chair of the Washington Accord, who is in India for the first World Summit on Accreditation 2012, refused to commit to a timeline for India becoming a permanent member, saying the process was under way.

Even if India is granted membership of the accord, only about 20% of the 4,000-odd engineering institutes in the country are likely to make the cut.

India's mentor for the accreditation, past president of Singapore's Institution of Engineers Lock Kai Sang, said, "India's bid to receive permanent membership in 2013 will be very challenging. There is still a lot of implementation work that needs to be carried out based on outcome assessment and accreditation."

Around 140 institutes have applied for accreditation under the new framework.

National Board of Accreditation (NBA) officials said that India could be looking at a two-tier system of accreditation - creating international benchmarks for some institutes and settling for lower standards in other colleges.

The HRD ministry has already proposed a legislation to make every higher educational institution mandatorily accredited in the country. "I hope in this session of Parliament we will carry through (the bill)," HRD minister Kapil Sibal said.

The National Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Educational Institutions Bill has provisions under which assessment of such accreditation has to be made before the institution starts the process of admission to the programs, while the existing educational institutions will have to get their accreditation within three years.

The bill also seeks establishment of National Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Education, which shall register and monitor accreditation agencies.