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India’s largest experience-sharing and mentorship network for students, Exprto has raised INR 5 Crore in its seed round led by GSF and Angel List USA.

The round also saw participation from Agility Ventures, LetsVenture, and Supermorpheus.

Founded in 2021 by Rajan Chaudhary and Varun Richharia, Exprto offers mentorship services that vary in duration between 1 to 12 months. Currently, the platform provides 1-on-1 as well as cohort-based group mentorship sessions. The company’s vision is to make actionable guidance and mentorship accessible to every student in the world.

Exprto helps the young aspirants to connect with an IIT — JEE / NEET ranker directly on one-to-one call with whom they can relate in terms of background and challenges they are facing during their exam preparation. Many students face challenges in finding the right books and study material, maintaining the balance between board exams and competitive exam, knowing the right paper attempt strategy, choosing the right coaching institute, handling exam stress, etc. Such challenges are very common among the students, however it often makes the students feel demotivated and demoralized. It also helps students connect the dots between what they ought to do and the practical challenges which they face during the exam preparation journey to make sure that they perform to the best of their potential.

Exprto was born with a mission to democratize the information itself, making it free from all the biases and hidden marketing agendas. It also provides a unique opportunity to the young aspirants to interact one to one with the previous year toppers of their respective domain. This enables the aspirants to learn from others’ experience and work more effectively and efficiently towards their goal.

Exprto claims that it has seen a staggering increase in gross merchandise value (GMV) of more than 23X, as well as over 18X growth in sessions of over 1 million+ minutes of mentorship. It now plans to refine the overall product and accelerate its growth by building a stronger team and technology with the newly-acquired funds. Product offerings will also be launched for the new market segments.

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Amazon Web Services recently launched a free-to-attend webinar series titled “How to Scale and Optimize with AWS” to help EdTechs seeking to scale their applications using the AWS Cloud infrastructure.

Amazon Web Services recently launched a free-to-attend webinar series titled “How to Scale and Optimize with AWS” to help EdTechs seeking to scale their applications using the AWS Cloud infrastructure.

These virtual sessions will provide access to an in-depth understanding of AWS features designed specifically to help boost your application and how to unlock the next level of scale for your application while optimizing costs.

Session 1: How to Avoid a Single Point of Failure in Your Architecture

Date & Time: Tuesday, 14 June, 3:00PM — 4:00PM (IST)

The first session will focus on “How to Avoid Single Point of Failure in Your Architecture.” With realistic scenarios, the session will demonstrate:

How to identify potential problems within your architecture that can lead to data failures and losses.

How you can discover the different capabilities of various AWS services such as computing, storage, database, networking, etc.

How to optimize costs by using AWS Cloud features in your apps.

REGISTER FOR FREE

Session 2: How to Deploy Your Application with Ease Using AWS Elastic Beanstalk

Date & Time: Tuesday, 5 July 2022, 3:00PM — 4:00PM (IST)

The second session of the series will focus on “How to Deploy Your Application Easily Using AWS Elastic Beanstalk.” AWS Elastic Beanstalk is a free service that uses Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), automatic scaling groups, and an Application Load Balancer (ALB) to simplify the deployment of your application.

This session will highlight:

How to use AWS Elastic Beanstalk to scale your application with minimal knowledge.

How you can run your app on AWS Elastic Beanstalk in the most cost-effective way possible.

How to cut costs by incorporating AWS Cloud functions into your applications.

How to get the most from blue-green deployment and ready-to-use operational features that facilitate deployment.

REGISTER FOR FREE

Session 3: How to Deliver Secure Video on Demand Platform with a Serverless Stack

Date & Time: Tuesday, 26 July 2022, 3:00PM — 4:00PM (IST)

The third session of the series will look at “How to Deliver Secure Video on Demand Platform with a Serverless Stack.”

This virtual session will demonstrate:

How to build a platform that can reach million people in a day using AWS.

How to safeguard videos and other resources.

How to create complete on-demand or live streaming video streams using AWS services that need a simple setup.

REGISTER FOR FREE

Session 4: How to Optimize your Data Transfer Costs

Date & Time: Tuesday, 16 August 2022, 3:00PM — 4:00PM (IST)

The fourth session in the series will cover “How to Optimize Your Data Transfer Costs.”

The session will focus on:

What are the best data transfer cost optimization practices, followed by a Q&A session.

How to utilize AWS Cost Explorer to view, understand, and manage AWS costs and usage over time.

How to make the most of AWS Cost Explorer by identifying patterns and cost drivers and detecting anomalies.

REGISTER FOR FREE

This free webinar series is perfect for EdTechs looking to learn how best to utilize the AWS Cloud infrastructure to the fullest potential while keeping costs in check as they grow their apps.

This virtual series is best suited for all AWS and non-AWS EdTech Companies, CXOs, Tech Teams, etc., with apps and solutions running on the cloud.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW SESSION DETAILS AND REGISTER FOR FREE

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The COVID-19 pandemic inspired the creation of new learning formats that transformed the landscape of international education.

According to the DAAD research, 45.2% of prospective students would now be interested in distance learning as an alternative to traditional classroom education.

Furthermore, more than 63% of European universities provide equal access to online learning tools and offline opportunities for their students. From the implementation of hybrid educational opportunities to the rise of tier 2–3 universities, the future of education is becoming more student-centric, digital, and personalized with an emphasis on community.

I’ve compiled a list of 5 educational trends that you may see in the near future.

US education is losing its dominance

The United States has long been the leader in international education, with more than 1 million international students studying or conducting research there. Every year, the US universities earn plenty of money thanks to the thousands of students seizing an opportunity to study in their dream country. However, COVID-19 has greatly impacted the international education market.

According to the Washington Post, the United States could see a 25 percent drop in international enrollment in 2021. American universities were unable to adapt to the challenges of COVID-19 as rapidly as their European counterparts. In particular, they failed to reduce their tuition fees, and, as a result, lost a lot of students. The US universities didn’t take into account that in addition to world-class education at institutions such as Harvard, the students are also looking for networking opportunities and a vibrant campus atmosphere. As students lost the chance to immerse themselves in the foreign environment, expand their horizons, and gain valuable networking opportunities, the value of pursuing the dream of American education decreased.

Decreased interest in the US elite education — the rise of the European universities

During the pandemic, the students began losing interest in elite education. More than two-thirds of undergraduate students reported that they are eager to democratize their studying process and prefer the affordable options that would allow them to gain academic knowledge without financial stress. As they can’t live in Stanford dorms with living costs of 50 000–55 000 USD/year, they opt to receive a quality education at a good tier 2–3 university.

Hybrid opportunities

There is a significant growth of online learning opportunities. Research and Market forecasts that the Online Education Market will reach US$ 350 billion by 2025 thanks to the introduction of flexible learning technologies. Universities will need to emphasize hybrid programs (online + offline formats) that will combine useful content from other online platforms, the university brand that gives credibility, and the social experience that develops soft skills. The hybrid programs that were created out of necessity during the pandemic to counter the restrictions it engendered offer students new opportunities:

Flexibility in the form of opportunity to attend lectures, seminars and consultations online.

Student-centric approach with a more comfortable pace of work tailored to every student and opportunities to partake in a greater number of activities.

Simplicity of communications with instructors and ability to receive quick feedback.

The students will also gain knowledge from online platforms that other companies can provide, while social experience will be provided by the university community. Every student can create a road map of their own educational journey using different tools.

Thus, on-campus activities combined with online education can become a perfect mix that will help students grow as efficient learners and confident leaders.

The rapidly growing numbers of African students in the international student community

In 2019, the largest populations of international students by nation of origin were Chinese and Indian. However, in the coming years, there will also be an increase in the number of African students looking for study abroad opportunities.

UNESCO Institute for Statistics indicates that the number of African students abroad has grown 26-fold — from just under 2,000 in 2003 to almost 80,000 in 2019. The African higher education sector has been “overburdened” by strong population growth and a youth population explosion. This has had a negative impact on the opportunities available to many enthusiastic and ambitious African students who cherish the dream of acquiring a quality university education. Education abroad may become the key to receiving cutting-edge knowledge.

Student-centric approach

To become globally competitive in teaching, educational institutions should become more student-centric. This means that their approach should be based on the students’ needs. Thus, international universities will emphasize personalized, engaging curricula, shifting the focus from the professor to the learner. Such an approach will help students accumulate the skills and abilities essential for their future career steps, like networking and professional teamwork.

EdTech companies and educational institutions that keep pace with these trends will be able to anticipate the coming changes and move forward towards growth and success.

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Campus Management vs Learning Experience

How do you choose the right digital solution for your school or college? The answer really lies in what your requirements are. Generally, a lot of school/campus management solutions address the enrolment, fee collection, student data management, and report generation requirements. Fewer institutions use digital solutions to improve the learning experience and efficacy.

To make an informed decision, it is important to understand the difference between Campus Management and Learning Experience solutions. While the former focuses on administrative aspects of schools and colleges, the latter focuses on learning design, pedagogy, and learner experience. So, the fundamental premise of each of these solutions is different.

These categories are not mutually exclusive — campus management solutions may have some learning experience features and vice-versa. However, what matters is how well these features are designed and implemented. This may be difficult to gauge without having in-depth experience with the platform or solution. But it would be safe to say that if you are looking to improve administrative efficiency, you should evaluate campus management solutions. However, if you are looking to improving learning efficacy, look for learning experience solutions.

While choosing a digital platform or solution, it is also very important to evaluate if the solution can readily integrate with your existing infrastructure. Most schools and colleges will have some digital infrastructure already — for example, mail servers, finance/accounting systems, or student information systems. The new solution that you are looking to adopt should be able to integrate with the existing sources of information and data in your institution.

In summary, nail down your requirements, evaluate solutions that match your requirements, and make sure that the solution you choose fits seamlessly into your existing infrastructure.

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Founded by student Andrew Grauer in 2006, Course Hero is an online learning platform with more than 24 million teachers and students. Its mission is to support students in completing their studies with confidence and preparation.

This platforms’ unique collective action framework allows students to subscribe or contribute their resources and earn a Netflix-like subscription to 60 million-plus course materials, tutoring and support resources. Approximately 60,000 faculties across Canada, United States, and Australia have joined the Course Hero educator community to share their teaching resources, collaborate with faculty in other fields, and hone new strategies for instruction.

Course Hero has more than 20 million course-specific study resources provided by a community of students and educators. Students can easily find study guides, practice problems, class notes, videos and step-by-step explanations for each subject they’re studying or want to study — from economics to literature, biology to history, accounting to psychology, and everything in between. At Course Hero, it easy for them to get assistance for their most difficult assignments, acquire a deeper understanding of any concepts, and study for exams in their courses at their schools. In simple words, course Hero help students prepared to tackle any class with confidence.

In addition, Course Hero offers scholarships supporting students and educators beyond providing study materials and online courses, tutoring and access to a community of educators. The Hero Student Scholarship recognizes students who face barriers in their academic journey. The platform awards $5,000 per year to them until they graduate. It also provides grants for first-generation college students, community leaders, and veterans, among others.

How to become a Course Hero tutor?

To join in Course Hero as a teacher, you have to follow a few simple steps:

Create your Course Hero tutor account

Choose the subjects you’d like to be a tutor for

Upload your ID and academic credentials

Get approved in less than three days and start tutoring

The other best thing about Course Hero is that you don’t need to be a certified tutor or professor. All you need to do is share sufficient credentials to prove that you have expertise in the categories you would like to tutor and wait for approval by the team. However, you must have the following to become a Course Hero Tutor:

A Bachelor’s degree from either a U.S. or Canadian University (any major, it does NOT have to teach).

Belong to the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, or the United Kingdom.

How to sign up for the Course? (For students)

To access the documents on Course Hero, you need to create a free account, which can be created in a minute. You can use your Facebook account, Google account, or email as well.

Add your courses

In the next step, on the dashboard to search your Course, type the course name and add the classes you plan to take for the entire semester or quarter. Also, From student notes, study guides, videos, and more — everything will be easily accessible on the Course Hero dashboard.

Upload your notes and documents The best thing about Course Hero is its course-specific notes and documents uploaded and shared by students (and educators) who have already studied (or taught) the exact classes you’re currently studying. Also, when your notes and course documents are uploaded to Course Hero*, you earn free unlocks, which can be used to access other content on the site. You can earn by rating documents, too. If you do not want to upload your notes, you can subscribe to Course Hero monthly, quarterly, or yearly.

How much can a Course Hero Tutor earn?

At Course Hero, Tutors earn an average of $3 for each question they answer, which means you are giving correct and valuable information. Their earnings range between $12-$20 per hour; tutors earn an average of $300/week, and the highly experienced and top-rated tutors earn around $500 a week. The platform is very flexible because tutors can answer questions whenever they want at their convenience. The way they are paid to answer questions is that students pay for access to Course Hero learning resources and tutors. As they help students access the information they need, Course Hero pays them for their time and knowledge.

Finding flexible side push, like becoming a Course Hero tutor, can change the tutor’s life in some great ways, such as help:

Pay off your debt.

Save for large purchases, like a vacation.

Move out of a payday to a paycheque lifestyle.

You retire ahead of the planned schedule.

Realize that your work is not the only option out there, especially if you are currently feeling uptight.

Help you grow more diverse and make money in more ways.

Travel more or even full-time!

What is the schedule of Course Hero tutors?

The timetable is what you want it to be since you work from home and answer questions when you are available. There is no minimum number of hours per week to work, and you do not have to answer a certain number of questions each week. To earn the most, you will not only have to provide valuable information, but you will also need to answer as many questions as your schedule allows. Even so, it’s always a very flexible side and online employment that allows you to earn an extra amount from the comfort of your home.

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Social-emotional learning plays a crucial role in education.

We cannot deny that SEL is at the core of 21st-century skills, which is so important for kids to lead in the future. The 4 C’s of 21st-century skills, I.e., collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking is what most SEL is about; and, ensuring that kids develop the best skills to be future-ready, it is prime that we help them develop social-emotional skills right from their initial years of learning.

Also termed soft skills, SE skills have repeatedly linked to academic, career, and life success. These skills include identifying, understanding and expressing emotion, self-awareness, social competence, self-control and more such skills that are important for the development of kids.

Before you read the top digital games that can help you start with your kids social-emotional learning, watch out the video below where kids and students share their take on SEL.

1. ZooU | Centervention

The gameplay concept is that children have to play as zookeepers, and the tasks in the game build crucial SEL skills. Playing as a zookeeper, they encounter situations that they would normally experience in life. The game’s skills focus on emotion regulation, impulse control, communication, social initiation, empathy, and cooperation. Players have to create avatars to start the game, and as they play, their competence in each skill is assessed. For instance, for cooperation, the user has to capture the parrot flying around. To do so, the child must work with other players.

Teachers get a detailed analysis of kids’ strengths, which has been validated against other assessments. The Scoring for users’ performance is based on an algorithm that considers users’ answers as well as their unobtrusive measures; like time taken for any action, amount of time spent in a particular activity, problem-solving and the order of actions to do so, and the number of clues they used.

Teachers get a detailed report on kids’ strengths and performance. The formative assessment report helps providers identify particular difficult areas and work on them with specific in-person lessons and activities from Zoo U’s activity centre.

2. Positive Penguins

This game is ideal for making children understand various human emotions. Especially if a student is having a rough time, feeling low, or facing difficulty with channelizing emotions, this app could help. The interactive interface helps children understand what and why they’re experiencing any number of emotions. Through gamification and adorable penguin characters, the app provides an opportunity for the children to cope with and overcome what they’re struggling with.

3. Classcraft

It is one of the topmost SEL tools available for kids. The game-based approach of the tool helps increase SEL among kids via collaboration and group dynamics. The games on this app help students with building confidence, communication skills and understand cooperation. The tool is ideal for classroom integration. It focuses on student engagement and collaboration, and a key part of the game focuses on class culture and student behaviour. The game encourages various social and emotional skills by rewarding these behaviours among students through its gaming aspects. The tool is customizable and can be used for all subjects, grade levels, and students or teacher’s needs. It works on a freemium model where the user gets additional features on the premium version.

4. Sharing With Duckie Deck

Ideal for toddlers and preschoolers, this game is a collection of six activities that’ll help the little ones understand the basic skill of sharing. Kids must share their toys and cakes with the characters on the game to see everyone happy! The gameplay requires them to decorate a cake, cut it up, and dole out pancakes and cake slices evenly among the other kids. No one is happy until everyone gets a piece!

As the in-game characters cheer the kids, they can play a one-player memory game as well. Other games like trace and paint a picture are also available in the app, but they can’t save their artwork. Each time kids complete an activity, they get a reward, i.e., a sticker that can be arranged and rearranged. All in all, it’s a cute game that’ll help the little kids enjoy their screen time while learning some initial social and emotional skills.

5. Wisdom: The World of Emotions

This Quirky game will help kids in anger management. An innovative approach to address the crucial issue of anger management.

The gameplay requires students to help others manage their anger issues. The main character of the game, Wisdom, is on a journey to the kingdom of Anger, where it’ll help citizens manage their anger. To save citizens, the payer must earn superpowers. These superpowers are available through various challenges and mini-games available. These challenges and mini-games are designed to teach kids how to recognize anger and spot various moods like happy, sad, excited, etc. This practice can either be done by recognizing the character’s body language or understanding the vocal tone.

Each mini-game has five levels of difficulty that adapts to the payer based on their performance and understanding of the content. As the player earns these superpowers, they can rescue the citizens and move on to advanced levels.

As much as it sounds interesting, the user has to access the app after following certain instructions. To gain access to the app, potential subscribers must first submit a request for a free trial on the developer’s website. Players are then oriented to the game by a demo. The app is available in both English and French.

6. Avokiddo Emotions

This fun app helps kids explore and understand different emotions and facial expressions. The gameplay requires users to interact with three highly responsive animals. Each animal has a different and strong personality, and they express a wide range of emotions via varied scenarios. The app focuses on making sure that kids develop basic SEl through play and develop their understanding of emotions. At the same time, they see animals cry, laugh, droop when sad, giggle and express emotions differently. To make things interesting for kids, the app offers Unlimited combinations of various props like hats, clothing and wigs that kids can use to dress the animals. Also, the app helps kids in emotional understanding expressed with non-verbal body language. This is an added advantage for kids who cannot read or talk well.

7. MyPeekaville

This game comes from the makers of Peekapak, one of the best-integrated tools for SEL.

MyPeekaville takes students to a magical world where animals and humans live in harmony. Through interesting gameplay, players have to work on an interactive map and visit different parts of the town. Users have to solve the problems of people living in these towns in a series of quizzes and games.

All these activities use story-based learning and game-based learning to teach kids about SEL skills and improve reading and writing skills. Other features that set the game apart are their Feelings Check-In tool that allows students to check in daily and journal how they’re feeling. Also, teachers can access various analytical insights like a student sentiment heatmap, amount of in-game currency, progress with the quests, games & stories, and areas in which students are struggling in myPeekaville.

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Education is a boon to everyone, and educators across the globe have always dedicated themselves to providing the best education to their students.

But, ever since the COVID-19 broke out, they had to put in more and more effort. Even the traditional teachers, not so tech-savvy, are trying their best to make students learn the most of what they are exposing. They are turning to YouTube to make educational videos that can be used to help kids and peers learn via the Internet and social media.

YouTube, the most preferred social platform, has always been a great and easy source to both disseminate and grab information and at present, creating a YouTube account for your school is essential, as it will allow you to connect with the students far away. To do so, you need to open an account and publish a few video lectures. As mentioned above, your YouTube name must reflect your area of expertise. You should have a high-quality webcam/ good mobile camera, a good microphone and a good Internet connection.

But is it enough to make great teaching videos for YouTube? Teaching holds a big responsibility, and such responsibilities come with more carefulness; teachers have to check their planning and scramble for ways to make effective teaching videos that keep the students seated while learning.

In this post, we bring a few expert-recommended tips and strategies to guide you on how to make teaching videos for YouTube.

Break instruction into parts

Highly skilled teachers have a great deal of information to talk about. As a child, you may have experienced it in the classroom. However, video creation is different. As per research, a learner has been shown to begin to lose interest after passing the six-minute mark of a video — and it drops dramatically after nine minutes. Therefore, it is essential to divide the teaching video into different parts so that each video covers a single learning objective or task. It is preferable to make multiple short and sharp videos than a long video full of information.

Create compelling video-ready slides

The best teaching videos are the ones that are very focused, up to a point, use multiple visual cues to highlight important information, and has less text on the screen. It is advisable to build a clear, simple and visually compelling slide deck rather than a boring text-full slide.

Record videos

Whether new or a master at recording videos, many things need to be taken care of, right from using the right angle to shoot a video to using the right tool.

When recording, make sure you use a good camera for better video quality, and the camera angle is right. Also, remember that tutorials must have clarity; they should be easy to consume and learn. Keep a check on the pace and flow of information.

Furthermore, you may use a screencasting program like Explain Everything, which allow educators to pause and re-record specific segments of their video easily. It is perfect for shunning out the pressure of getting a perfect take. It is preferable to find a program that has a robust video editor and an embedded annotation tool.

The next important tool is the Microphone. It is essential to use a pair of headphones with external micas. It helps improve the sound quality and ensure that your videos do not contain background noise.

Improve engagement

Imagine yourself simply sitting and watching over videos for a long duration; you may lose focus, so can students. Therefore, it is essential to create a video that keeps the learners actively engaged.

Research reports that students, who take notes or answer guided questions by watching videos, retain material better than those who watch passively. So integrate questions into your videos. It can keep learners involved and enhance student interaction and provide you with invaluable formative assessment data. It would be best to encourage students to think that watching a video is something they must actively accomplish to learn.

Model the real you

When making a video, make sure to model your authentic personality as the most important element of a great video is authenticity.

It is always better to commit mistakes and behave the way you are than to copy any famous personality or accent. Learners may find it uninteresting and fake. So, make sure you speak in a natural, conversational, easy and enthusiastic tone. Allow your authentic personality to shine through the video. It will keep the learners most engaged and they, in actuality, appreciate knowing that it is their actual teacher behind the video.

Avoid these mistakesTrying to make it perfect

Many of us work on getting the perfect outcome out of our effort and fail to understand that perfect is an illusion. If you begin with perfection in mind, it will apparently paralyze your creative process, and you will have a hard time doing the work.

So, stick to the goal of making a video that has valuable information to disseminate, not giving the perfect shot. If you fulfil the sole purpose of the video, it is good to go, and you do not need to worry about other things.

Stressing upon equipment

Not everyone needs to have those perfect pieces of equipment. A perfect video can be made with the tools you already have. No doubt, having the latest and fancy tools would make the work fun, but it is not a necessity. It is advisable to begin with, what you have, learn the basics, and slowly upgrade your tools.

Making boring videos

There are possibilities of coming across a lesson, which may be boring and dry, but that does not mean the video to have to be the same. Avoid teaching the way it is; try to make the videos as interesting as possible to keep the students interested.

Taking longer to come to the point

As already mentioned above that students begin losing interest after crossing the six-minute mark of a video. Thus, it is very important to keep the video intact and get to the point at the shortest soon. Plan each piece of the tutorial video properly to avoid getting to the point after a long duration.

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We sometimes interchange the terms “behaviour management” and “classroom management.”

However, behaviour management and classroom management are very much related, but are completely different in their applications. With behaviour management, we are always talking about stopping a behaviour, managing it, or eliminating it. With classroom management, we are talking about creating systems that support positive behaviours across a classroom environment. Behaviour management is most often referred to as a component of the behaviourist approach. It is a way to develop a system, which will make managing the students, teacher and classroom easier.

“Behaviour management” in the classroom is something that lots of teachers might have struggled with. Even the best teachers would have gone through this. It can be a great source of stress and anxiety if it gets hard to control the students. Teachers scramble for various best practices, resources and tools to work upon the behaviour management of students.

Keeping that in mind, we have curated a list of top behaviour management tools that educators must explore for their classrooms and schools.

Socrative

Socrative is a quite popular app, and this may not seem like a behaviour management tool at first browse. Still, after using it for a couple of minutes, you will know how engaging this application is for students. It is a formative assessment tool that allows you to design questionnaires, polls, exit tickets and much more.

At Socrative, students can readily connect with the teacher and participate. The class can instantly discuss student responses and take part in technology-based learning. When pupils are excited and focused on learning, their behaviour can become more manageable. It is a game-based application that allows teachers to create engaging polls and questionnaires. The app allows users to create surveys, quizzes, exit tickets, checklists and more, in just a few clicks. Once you have created your survey or quiz, students receive an email with a link to the application. Respondents can answer questions independently, which removes some of the pressure to answer questions in a certain amount of time. You can also use it for quick checks in your class. For example, you can use it as an attendance tool to let students know whether or not they are present in class.

Too Noisy

As the name suggests, the Too Noisy app checks the noise in the classroom. It has a noise meter that tracks the sound level in your classroom. The smiley face changes along with the noise meter if it becomes too loud. The app charges $3.99 for its paid version and comes with upgrades, including different graphics for the holidays and fun new characters.

ClassDojo

With ClassDojo, you can encourage positive behaviours with gamification and reward elements. In addition, it uses private, digital student portfolios to showcase their work for their parents to see. Also, teachers can share photos, videos, announcements and message parents using its in-built instant messaging feature.

Not only this, students’ progress reports can be designed and monitored throughout the year, and if used effectively, it can also save educators time. In addition, students love designing the monster that they use to communicate with others within the tool.

The Great Behavior Game

Designed for K-5 students, the Great Behavior Game contains game pieces for each student with their name surrounded by stars, and students earn points when they click on their stars. Also, teaches can assign behaviour points (and take away points) while teaching the lessons.

The great behaviour game also monitors students’ progress over time and summarizes their scores each week. Later, send weekly reports to parents.

Teacher’s Assistant

From documenting student behaviour and communicating with parents, the Teacher’s Assistant helps you do all — track students’ behaviour, notice trends, communicate with parents, and manage your students. With this tool, you can easily create categories to monitor recurring behaviours like talking, teasing, bullying, etc. It also lets you log positive behaviour. You can try the free version (iOS) or upgrade to Pro on iPad, iPhone, and Android.

Teacher Kit

Designed for k-12 and beyond, Teacher Kit comes with a wide variety of features; it helps manage multiple classes and students. For example, using a teacher kit, you can keep track of students’ behaviour. From logging students’ attendance, recording grades, seating charts to making reports, you can do all at Teacher Kit. You can hold on to your smart device as you take around in the classroom, make behaviour notes in real-time with a few taps on the screen, and share and print reports with parents.

Classcraft

The Classcraft platform is an easy-to-use ed-tech system, serving over 5 million teachers and students across the globe. It encourages students to collaborate. It also gives them real-time feedback on soft skills, such as attendance, homework completion, and classroom behaviour. Students can also earn points and build their reputations to turn in homework on time or helping other students during class.

With Classcraft, teachers can also easily create a classroom community where students and parents are connected, allowing them to understand one another better. In addition, teachers can keep track of how students perform in class and make sure everyone is on the same page regarding school goals and expectations.

Kickboard

Kickboard is a cloud-based, online classroom management tool that helps teachers manage and engage students in classroom activities. It allows teachers to input and analyzes the behaviour and interaction of their students right at the moment.

It also monitors and provides a real-time assessment of the effectiveness of the techniques and systems.

The Kickboard offers an extensive choice of libraries and widgets, allows you to assess students’ performance, view data, share feedback and communicate with students in real-time. In addition, the platform offers various widgets that include student performance, lists, classwork, grades, assignments, attendance records, calendars, and many more.

The platform comes with a drag and drop interface that helps teachers build engaging lessons, collaborate in real-time with other teachers and easily conduct presentations.

Stick Pick

With Stick Pick, you can effortlessly differentiate instruction and manage student responses. Also, you can categorize students based on their proficiency level and pair each student to questions that most suits their ability level. Furthermore, Stick Pick also allows selecting students randomly and providing them with a perfect solution as per their needs.

Stop-Go!

The transition from classroom operations often leads to an outbreak of disruptive behaviour. With Stop Go! You can make class transitions happen more easily.

With its simple traffic light app, you can set a timer and signal to students that it is time to wrap up an activity and move on to the next one.

As the light changes, the bell chimes, signalling students that they may have missed the visual cue.

Class Chart

It is a website and app which allows teachers to create a customizable classroom seating chart. Class Craft can also track student behaviour, reading levels, or any other student data.

Using Class Chart, you can choose to project the chart on a screen in your classroom, displaying student behaviour “scores” and adding or removing points during class, and also, use it for creating and keeping track of student information and seats across one or multiple classes. Each student can be given a downloaded photo or a fun avatar. When the app gives or takes behaviour points, the site provides notification and adds a number to each student’s avatar reflecting their current behaviour “status.” The app also allows you to add notes whenever you give or take away points. Not only this, students and parents can use this app to monitor their progress.

[edtechetr]

English is one of the most spoken languages in the world.

We are in an era where we are exposed to English most of the time; as we watch television, read newspapers, and surf the Internet, we see English nearly everywhere. However, exposure to English is not sufficient to fully understand the language; more effort is needed.

Teaching English as a second language is a challenging task; you must engage students in learning and motivate them to get the best result. Educators around the world have come up with a variety of methods to facilitate and improve learning.

However, many of the old methods have disappeared over time. Most of them resulted boring and not motivating for students. Also, many students felt anxious and pressurized while learning the language.

So, how can the language learning process be easier?

To make English language learning easier, we bring you few popular, quick, easy and fun ESL activities and projects that you can integrate into your lessons; for learners of all ages — kids, teenagers and adults.

ESL Activities for KidsWhat is Missing?

What is missing is memory games, where the teacher writes few targets vocabulary words on the board or puts flashcards on the board or draws pictures and asks students to line up in front of the board and try to memorize all the vocabulary words they see. Then, turn around so they cannot see the board; meanwhile, the teacher removes one of the words. Later, ask students to turn back and check “what is missing.” The very first student to guess the correct word gets the point! If using flashcards, you can hand the student the card as an easy way to keep score.

H-A-N-G-M-A-N

Hangman is an excellent ESL kids game to have your students practice vocabulary and spelling skills. To play this game, the teacher picks one student and ask them to think of a word in their head, have him/her count the number of letters in a word, next, draw an underscore mark on the board for each letter in the word. Then, teachers call other students to guess letters from the alphabet that they think may be missing in the chosen word. If they guess correctly, the corresponding underscore is mentioned above, and other students get a chance to guess the word. If they guess a wrong letter, it is written on the board, and part of the stick figure hangman is drawn. The point of the game is to figure out the word before a full stick figure is pulled, “hanging” man.

Alphabet Relay

As its name suggests, it is linked to the alphabet. To play this English learning game, first, divide your pupils into two groups. Ask each group to write the alphabet letters on pieces of paper, which you give them to make vocabulary cards. Combine each group of pocket cards and place them in two stacks on one side of the room. Have each group stand in a line across the room. When said “Go”, the first student in each line must run across the room, find the letter A and take it back to their group. The next student comes up with the letter B, etc. The first group to arrive on Z wins!

Singing Songs

We already know, the song is a fantastic reminder device for new vocabulary. The best time to use a song is once the vocabulary has already been introduced. For instance, to make kids learn the days of the week, you can use the song “7 Days A Week”, or “If You are Happy” for learning emotions, “Put on Your Shoes” for learning clothing words, “Rainbow Song” for learning colours and more. The Internet has a wealth of different song ideas; you can try them as per your needs.

Simon Says

Simon Says is a great and popular game among youth learners. Whether you wake them up on a Monday morning or send them home on a Friday afternoon, the latter will no doubt excite them, and they want more.

This game is ideal for listening comprehension; Vocabulary, Warming up/winding down class.

While playing this game, teachers consider themselves as Simon and stand in front of the class, do an action and says Simon Says [action] and the students are expected to copy what they do. This is repeated by choosing different actions — to play this game, teachers can be as silly as they like, and the sillier they are, the more the children will love them for it. Later on, make an action, but this time say action and omit “Simon says”. The one who makes the action this time is outside and needs to sit down. The winner is the last candidate. In order to make things more difficult, teachers can speed things up. Reward children for their good behaviour by allowing them to act like Simon.

ESL Lesson Ideas & Activities for Teens and AdultsEnglish Only!

English only is a sort of competitive game where students are asked to speak only English during the whole period. Teachers keep a log on the whiteboard for each time a student speaks in his or her mother language. This helps keep the focus on English speaking, and peers even turn into an “English police.” In order to turn into a reward/consequences game that everyone can enjoy, allow your student with the most points to bring a treat for the whole class next time.

Never-Ending Story

This is an extremely interesting game where students form a circle; you can do this by dividing your class into smaller groups or have the whole class as a group. Then, write a sentence that could start a story, ideally incorporating vocabulary or grammar from the day’s lesson and pick a student to begin. He/she would continue the story by writing the second sentence and pass it to the next student to continue. In the end, pick any student to read the completed story. It is sure to get a laugh!

Though keeping students engaged and interested is a big challenge, such learning activities can help in planning effective lessons for students of all ages and levels!

Interview Pop

Designed for pre-intermediate to advanced students, Interview Pop is a great ESL activity for students to have fun and be creative. To begin, put students in pairs or smaller groups or pick an individual student.

Then, ask students to choose one person they want to interview. It can be anybody of their choice, a famous personality, and a friend or family member.

Then, please give them a list of ten to fifteen verbs. Like: Hate, Love, Offer, Prefer, Move, Win, Continue, Buy, Wait, Consider, Change etc. Allow each student to choose five verbs from their list, make a different question using one of their five verbs in each question and use them to interview the person they have picked. For instance, let us say a student chooses his father. They would ask their father what they hate eating? Each question will have a different verb.

And, while the students are making their questions, teachers through the class and help students fix grammatical errors.

It is an excellent activity if you practise question formation as a grammar topic with your students.

Podcasting

Introducing kids to the podcast is a great way to introduce lessons in an interesting way. You can find podcasts on the lesson to be taken up and ask your students to listen to them. Podcasts will be a great source of encouragement for students to be actively engaged because the information being shared must be processed and visualized by the students as it is being said. Once they are done listening, you may prepare questions to answer and then facilitate a discussion afterwards.

Debate

Introducing debate culture in your class is another classic that can be of great in English learning classes. To play, you can either divide students into pairs or make groups and assign a side of an argument to each group or pair. Then, give students few minutes to prepare points, develop their argument and conclude with a class-wide debate. To make it more interesting, you can encourage students to present authentic materials to support their claims.

Including different English learning activities, games and project ideas in your classroom is an excellent way to help students learn the language effortlessly. These ESL activities and games are great at engaging students because they are fun, interesting and encourage them to participate more than simply mugging up the lessons. Incorporating such learning techniques is more like “learning by doing”, which has been proven successful in learning things. Also, learning through games helps students retain more information.

These activities also create a dynamic environment where students are energetic and do not feel as much pressure as they could during other activities. With a focus on enjoyment, learners may feel more comfortable talking in English and making mistakes. It will also help build more connections with students and help nurture a genuine relationship with your students and motivate them to learn.

[edtechetr]

Online schools are a new type of schooling that enables you to learn without any geographical barrier from the cosy nook of your house at your convenience.

Often people are hesitant about taking online schooling or online courses because of the common myths that are associated with them. This post will help you bust the myths about online schools and will tell you how online schools and courses are equally educational as the traditional ones.

Easier than the traditional one

The main advantage of an online school is to enable students to get an education at their convenience. But often this advantage is associated with a myth that online school or course is easier than the traditional, offline method of learning. Students get enrolled in online schools thinking that it will not require compulsory attendance, and they can easily get A in the course without putting in much effort. This is not true; in fact, online schools are as demanding as traditional ones and the teachers expect the students to timely submit their assignments and complete their assigned tasks.  

No fixed time

Often people think that by enrolling in online schools, they can attend schools whenever they feel like it, i.e. they don’t have any fixed time. That is far from reality. Just like traditional schools, online schools also have fixed times during which students need to be available online in order to attend the classes.

Students also need to complete their courses within a stipulated time. Usually, the time of completion is specified at the beginning of the course, ensuring that students strictly comply with it.

Low quality of education

The other common misconception is that the quality of education provided in online schools is lower than that of traditional schools. This can be true for some online schools or courses which are not properly designed or which deliver content in a haphazard manner. But these online schools are just like some traditional schools which lack proper management and good teachers.

Usually, online schools diligently design their courses, ensuring that every topic is taught well by the best teachers. They also see to it that the content, i.e. lectures, exams etc., is delivered in the best way possible to comply with the best online teaching standards.

Lacks proper one-on-one interactions

Proper interactions between teachers and students are essential to have a free flow of knowledge and thoughts. People are often hesitant to get themselves enrolled in online schools believing that they lack one-on-one interaction. Just like traditional schools, online schools also ensure that there is proper communication and interaction between a teacher and a student. In fact, many online schools provide the facility of one-on-one sessions for those students who need special attention.

Also, teachers don’t have to wait for an open house meeting to get in touch with parents and tell them about their children’s progress. With the facility of online schooling, teachers can easily access every kid’s performance and inform his/her parents about the same. Apart from specified class time, teachers are readily available to help kids clear their doubts via email or messages.

No peer interaction

Many parents are of the view that online schooling inhibits peer interaction. This myth needs to be busted. Though in online schools, students cannot meet each other physically, they can always interact and communicate with each other virtually. There are many ways in which students can interact with each other while attending online schools. Activities like quizzes, discussion forums, and group projects and presenting those projects online, all require peer interaction.

Online schools ensure that there are regular peer interactions so that students can learn from each other.

Need to be tech-savvy

Attending an online school is no rocket science. All you need is a laptop with an internet connection, and you are good to go. Often people are scared to get themselves enrolled in online schools because they believe that it will take extended technological knowledge. Just basic technological knowledge will do.

In other words, basic technical skills will help you navigate a browser, download documents, and images from the browser, surf the browser to complete assignments and so on.

Lacks integrity

People often doubt the integrity of online examinations because monitoring students can be an issue.

To overcome this, various online schools have come up with a solution. Nowadays, online schools use new-age software that monitors students through their device cameras during the entire examination duration. This way, even students get a feeling that they are being supervised.

Conclusion

There are various myths about online schools and courses. Hopefully, this post would have helped clear some of your misconceptions. Though online schools lack the physical presence of teachers, students and other school staff, they make up for it through online monitoring and individual progress tracking. Also, they provide you with the facility to get enrolled in an online school of your choice, as geographical barriers are not a hindrance in online schooling.

Whether an online school is good for you or not is something which only you can decide. Before getting enrolled, see to it that the online school you have picked has an education programme that is designed well and meets your aspirations and requirements.

[edtechetr]

EdTechReview, in association with Searce and Google Cloud, organized a webinar on Fueling EdTech Revolution Through Cloud Technologies — Securely & Cost Efficiently.

The pandemic brought unprecedented challenges, and technology was the savior. Cloud technologies became necessary as education and work shifted to remote and online environments. For an EdTech founder, understanding the cloud’s complexity, scalability, security, and cost is vital when dealing with millions of users and learners.

This webinar addressed such technicalities and many other questions around the future of EdTech, industry growth, user acquisition and experience, artificial intelligence and machine learning in EdTech, and understanding of the role of Google Cloud & Searce in the EdTech space.

Watch the webinar recording:

Here are a few excerpts from the session:

Ankit Sinha started the session with his first question to Ankit Khanna on Suraasa’s 2022 focus. Ankit Khanna shared that “teacher education is the heart of every education section (K12 to Higher Education). We are moving with a mission to create a network of one million highly skilled teachers, and our focus for the next year is to create continuous learning journeys for teachers through paid and free resources and enable them to experience the power of Suraasa Technology in their Skill Development, Career Evolution, and Global Impact.”

The next panelist to join the discussion was Ayush Varshney. He shared his journey in tech and the inception of Testbook, the biggest online preparation platform for government exams in India. “Testbook is one of the largest exam preparation platforms in the country with almost 30M students and 2.5M paid users. Many student recommendations are happening using data. The focus now is to use data to improve students’ chances of success. We have also launched SkillAcademy, making vocational learning accessible to a large audience. Our Tech Focus is scaling the data recommendations and building new products for Skill Learning,” he says.

Shikhar Goel added to the discussion by sharing his take on the need for quality software developers and how quality online education is directly related to it.

The next question was about prioritizing the never-ending challenges our leaders face and how they go for the selected solution from many great ideas. “We have a 3 Step rule that helps them identify the right ideas,” Ankit Khanna answered. “It is to check if the idea is in sync with the current business model, teachers, and value proposition. The next step is to check if the idea adheres to the core values. Finally, the last step is to analyze and understand the impact of implementing the idea in terms of value and timeline.”

The next question was to Shounak Acharya about Google’s mission and how Google Cloud has been making itself useful in the EdTech space. He answered by explaining, “Google’s mission is to make information more accessible, especially in cloud play for the people generating this information.” He further explained the four pillars of the Google Cloud that make it instrumental in EdTech: collaborative cloud, developer-centric cloud, data cloud, and trusted cloud.

Live polls during the webinar took audience opinions and that of other EdTech founders & CTOs on what they feel about the upcoming EdTech trends and Google Cloud usage.

Twenty-six percent of people voted for AI-based Adaptive/Personalized Learning; 19 percent believe Gamification of Learning & Assessment is the next big thing; 17 percent of people opted for Tech-Enabled Immersive Learning, including Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and more; 15 percent people selected Mobile-first Learning for Accessible Education; 12 percent people opted for Cohort & Community based learning and the lowest at 11 percent for K-12 Home schooling.

The panel engaged the audience in a QnA covering many sub-topics. The webinar also discussed:

Challenges worth solving faced by Leaders, and ones that TECH could solve for them.

Individual journeys, initiatives that teams executed well, and business value.

Matters of trust, security, and privacy in online businesses and cloud data storage.

Things that their solutions can change in the EdTech space and more.

WATCH THE WEBINAR RECORDING

[edtechetr]

The knowledge economy has undergone massive changes since the outbreak of COVID-19, which has affected about 1.38 billion learners.

With education becoming digital, what’s next in EdTech? How will it evolve and change in 2022, and what EdTech trends should we consider?

Here’s a look at what’s coming.

eLearning

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, eLearning has potentially been the most important trend. As per the Research Institute of America, eLearning raises retention rates from 25 to 60 percent. It is also highly scalable, enabling educators to reach large numbers of students in real-time. It is available at a lower cost compared to traditional in-person courses. eLearning is also expected to exceed $1 trillion by 2027. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that many institutions worldwide that have recently embraced eLearning will continue offering online learning following the pandemic.

Future-Ready Skills and Development

With the world and the economy expanding exponentially, schools worldwide are challenged to equip students with timely skills and knowledge. The way forward will be a skills economy, not an information economy. Skills here mean the ability to handle, process, and use information. This is where the education system needs to train and whet the skills in children. Besides these, it is essential to develop a growth mindset. Children’s ability and will to learn for the rest of their lives, read, seek knowledge and teach themselves repeatedly is crucial for their success.

Micro and Nano Learning

Focusing on self-driven exercise, the education industry has developed micro and nano learning approaches. With the wealth of digital resources and content available from various sources & platforms, bite-sized lessons and courses have become an essential element for effective K-12 and higher education.

Seeing the demand, it is not wrong to say that microlearning and nano learning will become more critical for education and skills development.

Digital Assessment

Evaluating students is a critical area for assessing success. Traditionally, student evaluation has focused on theoretical exams. Biased evaluation has also been observed in some cases.

However, in the coming years, there will be more emphasis on the practical aspects of studies. The proportion of theoretical examinations will reduce while the amount of experimental, field and non-theoretical education will increase, and biased assessment will be eliminated.

Blockchain

Blockchain implementation is another EdTech trend. Blockchain provides a decentralized, secure and transparent learning ecosystem. Using blockchain, EdTech platforms can connect learners, practitioners, and teachers to relevant courses and resources.

Courses and lessons can be programmed and delivered automatically with blockchain when specific requirements are met and progress measured in real-time with innovative contractual capabilities. It assists institutions in securing various documents and records, including admission, attendance, payment, and grade records. Students can collect their diplomas and certificates safely, access them and have them verified when necessary. Since blockchain eliminates many manual tasks, it also decreases the cost of education.

Big data

Big data is just about everywhere. A 2019 report found that 90% of the world’s digital data had been created in the past two years alone. With each passing day, the quantity of available data increases exponentially, and more leverage is expected in 2022.

Higher education already uses data to track student progress and engagement, enabling instructors to provide personalized support to students and find out how to make learning more engaging. Successful e-course creators are twice as likely to track student engagement, proving that data analysis pays off and is here to stay.

Data on student learning behaviours helps draw inferences about each student’s knowledge, allowing them to take custom learning pathways at their pace. We’re already seeing this happen with self-paced online courses. Nearly 73% of higher education students prefer to take online courses post-pandemic and instructors will continue to offer online options.

Gamification

Edutainment is a term that has been making its way into the industry for some time now and plastering its presence. Learning while playing educational games brings an experiential approach to knowledge acquisition that keeps students hooked and encourages multisensory involvement.

As of now, teachers have been using gamification to teach concepts to children for years. It’s found to be great at keeping them engaged. There are many online learning game options and online courses with awards and certificates. BlueWeave Consulting’s study claims that the global education gamification market will grow by at least 29% by 2027 from its current $697.26 million worth in 2020. The gamification market is only bound to grow with new technologies on the horizon.

Flexibility

The COVID-19 pandemic forced learning institutions and course creators to get flexible in the knowledge delivery process. Thus, flexible online learning is here to stay and improve in 2022.

Many Higher education institutions have been experimenting with synchronous vs. asynchronous learning, i.e., letting students choose whether to attend online classes or watch recordings after class at their convenience. This gives students more access and autonomy to take courses while offering instructors the freedom to record lessons in their time. Asynchronous learning will undoubtedly continue, especially in higher education.

A mixture of VR, AR, and XR

Keeping learners engaged and focused has been a significant challenge in eLearning. However, more innovation is expected for 2022 to enhance interactive learning through the integration of new technologies like Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Extended Reality (XR). This will enable students to observe and experiment with concepts in an almost real-like environment. These technologies will also help build virtual labs for science and technology students, which will provide more practical approach to learning.

2022 is a crucial year for eLearning and the EdTech sector, as the year will see more innovations in the education industry.

Cloud computing

Cloud computing in the education market is expected to grow with a CAGR of 25.6%. Trends suggest that the cloud will be a key enabler for EdTech in K-12 learning. The main drivers of this trend are learning beyond the classroom boundaries, essential requirements to reduce management burden, and competition among educational institutions. Seamless, effortless connectivity, scalability, and cloud-based ERP systems are some of the noteworthy use cases in the Cloud Tech in the K-12 segment.

The latest developments in cloud computing and cloud services call for a review of security postures to protect against cyber-attacks and data thefts. Increased cloud services will also fuel cybersecurity trends as more educational institutions look for a secure ecosystem.

[edtechetr]

Interoperability — The ability of software programs to seamlessly connect to one another by seamlessly exchanging information and common language is something we’ve been steadily working towards in edtech.

Plenty of progress has been made, but in many ways, it feels like we’re only starting to scratch the surface of what’s possible and the work that needs to be done to get there.

At the same time the interoperability conversation continues, we’re also smack-dab in the middle of a new era of teaching and learning in K12 schools. More learning is happening outside of school buildings than ever before. Teacher happiness and retention continue to be a high priority, with a big part of that happiness focused on cutting down and streamlining tedious administrative tasks so teachers can maximize their time.

A strong student information system (SIS) can be a cornerstone of your district’s educational data, creating ways to communicate with parents, monitor progress, manage remote learning, and support staff all in one swoop. However, we also know that your SIS is just one piece of the edtech interoperability puzzle. So, let’s explore the current discussion and the increasing importance of the need for edtech interoperability in K12 schools:

Interoperability and Remote Learning: The Continued Push for Open Standards Remote learning — in some form — is here to stay and to prepare for the classroom of the future, many schools and districts invested heavily in edtech platforms to engage students and fill in learning gaps. However, more edtech often leads to an increase in siloed information — unless the platforms have made it their mission to adopt open standards for interoperability.

The call for edtech that prioritizes interoperability has been louder than ever before, with a national snapshot from the IMS Global Learning Consortium showing that schools and districts that prioritized interoperability open standards when choosing digital tools and resources were able to make a more seamless shift to remote learning. In March 2021, IMS took the facilitation of open standards to the next level with the launch of its Standards First program. Educational institutions and edtech suppliers alike are encouraged to sign the pledge, which demonstrates advocacy, transparency, and trust over the shared goal of open standards.

Interoperability and Reducing Administrative Burden: Hi, Ed-Fi!

Speaking of open standards, let’s talk about Ed-Fi. Ed-Fi is a set of data standards that allows the platforms K12 schools use the most — student information systems, learning management systems, assessment systems, and more — to integrate and talk to each other through a common language. These standards allow schools to use the best tools for different jobs while still being able to gather all the data for a single student within an SIS.

On the flip side, what does it look like when a student information system is designed with data standards for interoperability in mind? In short: fewer administrative tasks, and more actionable insight. It means your district can send in-progress grades to other systems you use and not have to wait until the end of the quarter or semester when grades are finalized. Student information that’s accessible and safeguarded, even as technology changes. Data that can be easily analyzed, leads to better instructional decisions.

New Interoperability Research: Project Unicorn’s “State of the Sector” Report

Despite the ability of data interoperability to create efficiencies and reduce complexity for teachers and administrators, there hasn’t been much data on the capabilities and infrastructure schools and districts have to make it a reality — until now.

In October 2021 Project Unicorn, an effort focused on improving the adoption of industry-adopted data interoperability standards in the K12 edtech space, released its “State of the Sector” report. This first-of-its-kind industry report is based on results from the School System Data Survey launched this spring and features data from over a hundred educational agencies.

The report looked at six domains — governance, procurement, leadership and vision, technology and infrastructure landscape, implementation fidelity, and impact on the educational environment — and found several key findings, including:

Many district leaders are unaware of interoperability standards or how they might be applied in their school system,

The governance domain had the least amount of support and resources,

School systems that have established procurement practices around edtech tools are further along when it comes to using interoperability standards and protecting student data privacy, and

Districts want more data-driven decision making, but lack support, especially when it comes to funding.

This report provides a great starting point for understanding edtech data interoperability trends and adoption over time — leading to support around the most pressing challenges and opportunities for schools and districts.

[edtechetr]

Bengaluru, Thursday, 26 May 2022: Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Intel hosted the second edition of EdTech CXO Mixer in Bengaluru.

The EdTech CXO Mixer (Bengaluru Edition) saw participation from ~50 edtech founders & CXOs who came in to meet and learn about each other’s business and best practices and was addressed by Sunil PP, Lead — Education, Space, and Nonprofits, Amazon Internet Services Private Limited, AWS India and South Asia.

Founders, CEOs, CTOs, and other CXOs from EdTech startups in Bengaluru across different stages attended, including leading innovative startups who use AWS to deliver their EdTech solutions in India and the world. The founders discussed their startup’s mission and dived deep into their key business problems.

The organizing team from AWS welcomed the EdTech founders by expressing gratitude for their amazing work adding to the growth of the edtech sector and the impact they are creating for different educational stakeholders.

PP Sunil Acharya said, “We strongly believe in getting the community together through different gatherings like these, hearing from all of you on the key issues you are facing, and joining forces to solve those problems. We are excited to see the great ideas that founders in the edtech community are working on. We always want to be there to empower the community through relevant information and such learning and networking opportunities.”

Talking about the journey with AWS, Hemant Sahal, Founder and CEO of CollPoll, a popular OS for higher education institutions, said, “We have been working with the AWS team since day one. It has been an amazing journey. They have not just helped in providing expertise on cloud services but also supported us to get deeper insights into the EdTech space. AWS has helped us go to the market, and we have done a lot of campaigns with them. AWS has been an excellent partner in our growth, and I look forward to continuing this journey of partnership with them.”

Chandrahas Panigrahi, Co-founder of Edukemy, one of the leading UPSC test prep platforms, said, “AWS has been an early partner for Edukemy. We see that their cloud infrastructure and services are impeccable as we have so far faced no challenges. We believe they are true partners as the assigned account managers work with us extremely closely and help us scale and optimize as we grow the business.”

Manoj Chawla, Chief Business Officer of Tribyte Technologies, a future-ready Learning Management System, said, “We have been on the AWS Cloud since almost the beginning. We have been operating for the last ten years and scaling up significantly. Many of our deployments are in India, but we have recently started deployments in the US and other international markets. We are extremely happy with AWS, especially for the continuous support we get from them.”

AWS aims to help EdTech entrepreneurs build secure, smart, scalable, and cost-effective solutions. AWS and Intel share more than 14 years of a relationship dedicated to developing, building, and supporting cloud services designed to manage the cost and complexity, accelerate business outcomes, and scale to meet current and future computing requirements.

AWS plans to bring more such meetups for edtech founders in different regions across India to support continuous innovation in the edtech ecosystem.

[edtechetr]

A decade ago, it would have seemed highly improbable to fathom an online school curriculum in all its innovation and the broad spectrum of specializations offered. Today, online school education is any parent’s dream come true.

The pandemic accelerated the drive for innovation in education technology and management. So much so that today’s youth does not have any dearth of courses and programs to choose from. This exists even as there are reduced course fees and materials costs. Even though there was an initial adjustment period, entrepreneurs pushed for an easy and accessible K12 homeschooling system online.

Bringing home the internet revolution

The future of education is here — or it is on its way. A new type of “school” will mark the education system in the next few years: homeschool.

The internet revolution has begun, and it is not going away anytime soon. Video-conferencing companies like Google Hangouts and Skype are becoming more popular with every passing year, and teachers are finding new ways to incorporate technology into their lesson plans.

Parents are also getting in on the action; they are taking advantage of online learning tools that allow them to monitor their child’s progress at home with ease. Everyone wants to be involved in this new wave of education, even if they are not necessarily in favor of it.

This may come as no surprise; after all, many parents are eager for their children to succeed academically and want nothing more than to be able to help them achieve their goals. However, what does this mean for schools? Many experts believe that homeschooling will redefine how our children learn by exposing them to new ideas and perspectives that are often missing from traditional schooling environments.

Homeschooling as a concept is not new. It has been around for years, but with the internet revolution, it has become easy to access in today’s world. From learning resources to coaching teachers to monitoring progress, there are multiple options available.

There are several reasons why parents choose to homeschool their children. Some of them have been listed below:

Individuality and personal attention

Customized education system

No homework or tests

Flexible schedule

Opportunity to travel and learn

Opportunity to pursue interests like art, sports, etc.

Novel tools for teaching

Technology can help teachers in the classroom and students at home. There are many novel tools for teaching, and we need to redefine what education can be as a whole. Here are three features of new technology that could change how and where children learn:

A digital curriculum allows for more flexibility within the classroom and at home.

Tech-based testing allows for easier grading and saves paper.

Virtual reality will allow students to participate in immersive field trips from the comfort of their own homes or classrooms.

A redefinition and an ed-tech revolution

As a parent, you want the best for your child’s education. But you also know that what counts as a “good education” is constantly evolving in a rapidly changing world, and what schools are offering today is not necessarily the best preparation for tomorrow.

Infrastructure and classrooms for all K12 educators

Partnering with K12 education software giants could bring about the remedial requirements for affordable online education. Infrastructure can be talked about in online terms, as can classrooms for children and teachers daily. Classrooms can be accessed from a system at home, and other amenities could be shared amongst those less privileged.

For example, books and study materials can be exchanged at an online school sponsored by a donor or senior children.

K12 education and homeschooling

Homeschooling needs interaction and engagement hours apart from family in order to be successful. K12 education is a large part of a child’s journey from adolescence to adulthood. The interactions among people, the debates, and the arguments about different issues will lead to the realization of these ed-tech pursuits.

Media associations and K12 ed-tech companies on the internet are well suited to take advantage of a primary focus on such relationships. Parents can engage online in school infrastructure and fees discussions. Children can share their learning with other children through media such as podcasts.

Homeschooling and transformation in K12 education

Homeschoolers have the same access to community resources as public-school students, but they also have the luxury of one-on-one instruction with a parent or tutor who knows them well. They can adapt their curriculum to individual strengths and weaknesses, and they are not limited by age.

Nevertheless, in redefining the future of education through education management and technology, we can envision brighter prospects for our children.

The pandemic has provided time and compressed space for exploring K12 education with value and a plethora of inexpensive resources for children. In a hybrid avatar, Homeschooling could definitely start a new decade of value education.

Take the first step in giving your child the pursuit of a happy life through a well-endorsed K12 education. Come, build a future generation of knowledge leaders and community members worldwide 

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Cyberbullying is bullying that happens through digital devices such as phones or computers.

It often happens over social media, text, email, instant messages, and gaming. Cyberbullying often takes the form of sending or sharing harmful or mean content about someone to embarrass them. Due to the closure of schools during the Covid-19 outbreak, students had to rely entirely on online instruction to guarantee that their formal education was not affected. Simultaneously, youngsters started spending more and more time online for socialization and amusement as a result of being at home for extended periods of time.

As a result, youngsters are increasingly vulnerable to online bullying and abuse.

A 14-year-old girl from a DPS school recently expressed her horror of having her school email hacked in a digital classroom in a workshop organized by the Centre for Social Research (CSR; an NGO in New Delhi). During their online classes, the hacker distributed confidential photographs to the entire school. Another 13-year-old girl was inspired by her example to share her story about strangers sending her personal messages on Instagram, asking for her contact information and other personal information.

These aren’t one-off incidents. According to media sources, the National Commission for Women (NCW) wrote to Karnataka’s Director General of Police in April 2020 after someone broke into a university’s online class and began acting improperly on the screen. Hackers and predators have used internet channels to spread insulting material and comments, according to various complaints from kids, teachers, and parents in India.

The issue isn’t confined to online classes. Scammers have attempted to manipulate youngsters through online gaming platforms since children also spend their leisure time in front of screens. While playing a multi-player online game, a 15-year-old boy from Hyderabad described his encounter with a scammer. On the platform, the scammer texted him and began sending him unsolicited personal and financial messages and links. The boy became so terrified that he stopped playing games completely. There have also been other reports of youngsters being bullied and conned, such as the story of a 13-year-old Madhya Pradesh kid who killed himself after losing Rs 40,000 in an online game.

Leaving digital devices in the hands of youngsters without sufficient monitoring and dialogue has become even more dangerous in the post-pandemic era. Several incidents of cyber threats have occurred in India, in which children have felt frightened because their safety and privacy have been violated. Harassment and non-consensual sharing of objectionable media content are more common among female students. Overall, documented incidences of cyberbullying have increased within this time period: cyberbullying cases against women and children in India increased by 42% in 2021 alone. In a survey of 630 teenagers conducted by Child Rights and You (CRY) in Delhi, 9.2 percent of those polled said they had been bullied online, with half of them not reporting it to their parents, teachers, or social media platforms. Psychological factors like as self-preservation and self-defense actions have also been suggested (by Verywell) as probable causes for the spike in cyberbullying and online toxicity that occurred during the epidemic.

In the current environment, children are confused and bewildered, resulting in mood swings, worry, and irritation in many of them. Adolescence is a time when people try to figure out who they are, but the pandemic has made it more difficult for them because they now have to make sense of themselves and the environment in a world where they have limited socio-physical relationships. These circumstances, taken together, have had a negative impact on their mental health as well as their physical health. Since the onset of the COVID-19 epidemic, ‘at least one in seven children — or 332 million globally — has lived under mandated or recommended nationwide stay-at-home rules for at least nine months, putting their mental health and well-being at risk,’ according to UNICEF.

Children suffer scholastic loss as a result of online bullying and trolling, according to Sarita Jadav, the head of UNESCO in India, who spoke at a webinar in March 2021, said ‘Internet has increased the possibility of cyber-bullying and online prejudice,’ she added. According to one survey, 62% of digital users don’t know where to go for support if they’re being cyberbullied.’ This makes it critical to speak with children about digital devices outside of the academic curriculum, particularly during this Covid-19 time. Educational institutions may not be able to handle such discussions about digital safety and cyber security habits on their own; as a result, it is critical for them to collaborate with research organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to share and impart best practices for this critical topic.

Recognizing children’s increased vulnerabilities in today’s world, NGOs and Education Institutions should organize seminars on themes such as good online participation, online threats and counter-speech, the importance of consent, children’s mental health, fake news, misinformation, and more. In the last year alone, NGOs have trained over 30,000 school kids aged 12 to 18. The initiative is developed with input from students, educators, and parents, taking into account the current issues of online learning and education.

However, ensuring a secure learning environment for children necessitates the involvement of all parties.

Teachers must learn to relearn traditional methodology and techniques in order to address this requirement. If this is the new normal, it must become a re-learning point for more innovative digital teaching approaches in order to assure students’ holistic development, digital safety, and well-being, and to help them become better digital citizens. The Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) paradigm can help teachers become allies for their students rather than just traditional instructors.

Mental health is a critical component of all of the issues and vulnerabilities that young people experience, and it’s past time that we gave it the attention it deserves. Rather than avoiding emotional talks, we should seek to provide safe spaces for children where they can openly express their feelings and discuss how the epidemic, as well as the move to online learning, has impacted their mental health.

Educational institutions should offer internet safety and threat-awareness training programs for students, teachers, and parents.

School curricula should be updated to reflect contemporary events, including standards for online safety and security.

Governments should set aside money for mental health specialists and the implementation of SEL tools in the education budget. They should also thoroughly review cyber-security laws and regulations, as well as establish helplines and portals to make reporting cyber-crime more convenient.

Because childhood experiences are the most important foundation of our personality, as well as our mental and emotional resilience, efforts must be made to mitigate the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on children’s security and happiness in the ‘new normal.’

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Differentiation in instruction means meeting individual students learning needs

Differentiation in teaching is essential to help students learn effectively and help them have a complete understanding of subject knowledge while keeping their interests and learning needs in mind. The process of differentiation requires the teacher to respond to variance among learners in the classroom. At The Core, differentiated instruction creates the best learning experience for the learner, in whatever way possible.

There are multiple strategies to differentiate instruction. However, four key classroom elements provide a way to make it happen. These are:

Content — resource students access to learn about the subject topic.

Process — the activities in which the student engages to learn and understand the content.

Products — projects that students make to showcase, apply, practise, and extend all they’ve learned in a unit or subject. For example, projects, assignments and assessments.

Learning environment — classroom working and the way it feels to students. The learning environment consists of multiple factors like student-teacher relationships, seating arrangements, guidelines, routines, rules, etc.

Differentiating instruction could be overwhelming as teachers need to work with students with varied needs and teach them the same material in multiple ways as per all students’ learning styles. This requires the teacher to use a variety of instructional strategies.

Here is a list of top strategies for differentiated instruction that’d help teachers kick start the process in the classroom.

Team Learning Is The Key

Grouping students in different teams based on different grounds could be helpful. This group formation should be intentional and could be based on a specific academic ability, learning styles, subject knowledge, similar collaboration skills, social-emotional purpose, passions or any other basis as long as it helps with effective differentiated instruction.

Having a flexible approach to group students help teachers in analysing students’ grasp of subject knowledge. Through these groups, students get a chance to take control over their learning and help their peers. The approach also helps educators get an insight into students’ understanding of the concepts. However, it is recommended that you keep shuffling students among various groups to help them develop soft skills and connect with all their peers.

You can apply flexible grouping as a differentiation strategy in your classroom by diving students into groups every time you start a new unit. Review the skills of all students individually and compare it with the skills that the students will require to complete the new unit you’re starting. Begin by forming groups with students having varied skills level, and where each group has students who can help each other with something to have a complete understanding of the subjects or unit you’re going to start. This grouping will allow your students to learn more from their peers and develop soft skills, all while learning at the pace that works the best for them.

Practice Goal Setting and Reflection Exercises

Just like journaling helps one have better clarity, reflecting and continuous goal setting can help teachers provide differentiated instruction to students. It is crucial that throughout the learning journey of any subject topic, students reflect on their work and set goals for further learning. They can keep track of the topics that they enjoyed the most or would like to learn more about. This target setting can aid personalised learning as teachers can look into their goal setting and work around the instruction as per students’ needs.

For instance, teachers can ask students to write about their favourite topics and most interesting concepts from their chemistry class and the information they’ve learned. Once the teacher has the students’ responses, teachers can target lessons to help students achieve their learning goals. Also, if most students want to learn and explore a certain aspect of the subject, teachers can design more activities.

Bring Varied Learning Content

Changing the type of content with what students want to learn from could make your differentiated instruction much better. The type of content you use in your lessons directly impacts students interest, engagement, and understanding of the concepts. You may have noticed that certain students do not participate in class discussions or take an interest in lessons. Switch content type and bring varied content like videos, podcasts, audio recording, computer programs, games or anything multimedia that goes with your subject. You can also make an interactive lesson by having students act out.

Addressing students’ preferred learning styles and delivering learning content to varied styles is a crucial part of differentiated instruction. This also implies that all students may not need the same support and help from the teacher. While some students may work in pairs, others might like to collaborate in groups or one-on-one interaction. Teachers can help students by offering support based on their individual needs and catering to their learning styles.

Tailor Assignments as per Students’ Learning Style and Goals

Teachers usually provide the assignment to understand students’ knowledge on the subject topic. Like their different learning styles, using a differentiated approach for the end product from students can help different learners. For instance, some students are visual learners, while others may enjoy learning from audio resources or are readers. Just like you offer students the flexibility to learn from varied content as per their learning style, it can help students if you allow them the same flexibility to work on the assignments. They can present their understanding of the subject topic in various ways. This will help students unleash creativity and enjoy their learning even better. For example, visual learners may want to create a poster or presentation, readers would enjoy writing a paper, and auditory learners may want to give an oral presentation.

Feedback

Feedback can change your teaching game upside down. Like in all pedagogies, to provide differentiated instruction, consider reaching out to students to learn more about their expectations and understand their preferred learning style. It is important to understand students’ strengths and weaknesses, and once you have that understanding, you can develop activities, lessons and other classroom resources keeping that in mind. Taking Feedback from students can help teachers help students as well as perfect their art of teaching.