Sparking An Interest In Maths With SEAMO India...

Maths could easily be conferred as 'The Most Interesting Yet Frightful Subject' for a majority of students across the globe. Most students detest the subject owing to a variety of reasons.

It is also a reality in India that most brain drain happens because there is a dearth of resources and right opportunities or the means to utilize those opportunities in our country.

SEAMO, short for South East Asian Mathematical Olympiad, after having discovered minds with a mathematical bent in across twelve nations of South East Asia, namely Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Jakarta, Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, and Timor-Leste has now stepped foot in the Indian academic arena, with the mission to dispel the fear factor associated with Mathematics as a subject whilst providing a platform to creative and brilliant minds by the means of a friendly competition.

SEAMO was conceptualized by Terry Chew, is managed by noted mathematicians and experts of Terry Chew Institute of Mathematical Olympiad (TCIMO), headquartered in Singapore. Established in 1991, TCIMO has been engaged in path-breaking research in designing mathematical questions to assess a child's inherent and problem-solving skills. It encourages all categories of students to think about the solution approach to a problem.

SEAMO India is going to debut in the country on 6 August 2017, registrations for which close on July 31, 2017 and is an objective test (with no negative marking) comprising 24 questions (eight each spanning three levels - Easy, Moderate, Difficult) spanning across a two-hour time frame, aiming to promote excellence among students of Class V-XII across fifty-five cities and in more than hundred test centres. The registration fee for students wishing to participate in SEAMO India is INR 1150 for Class V-VIII and INR 1350 for Class IX-XII. Sample question papers are available on SEAMO's Indian chapter's website.

Apart from encouraging analytical thinking, by presenting a platform which assesses the logical thinking and problem-solving approach of a student by compelling them to think deeply, SEAMO also enhances the "High Order Thinking" ability of a child and recommends a learning style by the means of a personalized report.

There are multiple advantages for a student who decides to appear for SEAMO in the following manner.

• Early exposure to an International Olympiad (especially for Class V – IX) helps to nurture the mental faculty and thinking ability of the students, which ultimately boosts their confidence.

• Relative evaluation, wherein students will be able to benchmark their performance with respect to other participants, by the means of National Rank (amongst students of fifty-five cities) and International Rank (amongst students of twelve countries). 

• Performance Analysis Report based on performance in SEAMO will be a unique take away such that each student identifies their own weaknesses; improves upon them, and has an urge to perform better in the successive conduction of the competitive exam. 

• SEAMO enables the charting out of a career path suitable for a child, taking into consideration, possible career options available, though not directly but by giving an insight into the skill base of a child. 

• SEAMO encourages all categories of students to experience, assess their skill base and benchmark their performance, whereas most of the other Olympiads follow a filtration process wherein only the best students progress to the subsequent stages and others are required to exit. 

As opposed to other countries where SEAMO is being conducted in November each year, for India, it is exceptionally being conducted in August, thus SEAMO India results will be declared on 25 August 2017 along with All India Rank and personalized report for each participant, while the International Rank will be declared sometime in December 2017, once SEAMO publishes the results of all other Asian countries.

While there are participation certificates for all students, the Rewards associated with SEAMO are detailed as follows.

• Gold Plated Medal & Certificate: Top 0.025% of students 
• Silver Plated Medal & Certificate: Next 1% of students 
• Bronze Plated Medal & Certificate: Next 2% of students

All in all, SEAMO comes across as an appreciable platform for young minds to nurture their mental faculty, sharpen their problem-solving, logical, and analytical skills and enhance a positive competitive spirit. 

Education 4.0 With Auronya College...

‘Education 4.0’ – a revolutionary focus in education that will be defined in the coming decades through the conduit of technology, as it infuses itself into every sphere of humanity; be it biological, social, environmental or economic is being pioneered in India by Auronya College at Pondicherry.

Mr.Abhaya Kumar Jain – Founding Executive Chairman, Auronya and Dr.Indira J Parikh – Founding Chairperson, Auronya; the renowned education experts in the country are the driving thought leaders behind Auronya College.

Auronya College aims to answer the unknown future by proving an all-encompassing curriculum of programs to impart Education 4.0.Addressing the burning question of ‘What it will be’ in the 21^st Century; as the world is at the dawn of the new industrial revolution, Auronya College has conceptualized and will be realizing Education 4.0, for the very first time in India.

The unique disruptive system of Education 4.0 not only focuses on ‘what is taught’ but it takes a more nuanced approach to ‘the way it is taught’; an education model which is aligned with future trends, so as to develop and enhance individualized education that would go on to  define the way that youngsters of tomorrow work and live.

Supported with a heady mix of high-end technology directed towards a ‘future-centric’ knowledge, the full-bodied curriculum aims to embed timeless values and culture and as it throws light on our connections to nature, thus paving a strong path to lead humanity.

Designed by architect Padmashri B V Doshi, the campus will be state of the art and have amenities like Virtual & Augmented Reality studios, 3D printing facility, think spaces, amphitheater, smart classroom, sports facilities, gymnasium, swimming pool etc; the sprawling campus of Auronya will have six departments   - School of Design & Sciences; School of Humanity & Art; School of Business & Economics; School of Social Science; School of Research & Intelligence and School of Media & Communication. The event also marked the launch of Antariksh - one-year post graduate diploma program in New Age Management & Leadership (PGDNAML), beginning in October 2017.
Antariksh is designed to prepare Future Leaders, who are ready to lead in the 4^th Industrial revolution; it will focus on complete transformation and not a singular improvement in the skills and abilities of an individual in interconnected ecosystems.

Eligibility for Antariksh was elucidated as follows:

• Candidates who have a minimum of 2-5 years of full-time work experience at any level in external or family business can apply for the program
• Candidates without any work experience can also apply and will have to go through a specially designed screening process for fresh graduates
• The introductory fee for the year-long program is Rs 15, 00,000,  inclusive of resort style accommodation & food, global immersion, national immersion, boot camp, personal growth lab and spiritual immersion
• The management will provide scholarships for students on a need cum merit basis

Speaking at the event, Mr.Abhaya Kumar – Founding Executive Chairman, Auronya said, “Auronya College aims to bring a paradigm shift in the education system to align ourselves with the fourth industrial revolution by redesigning the 20th century model of education to meet real-time needs of internationalized, technology driven fast changing the 21st century. Auronya is built with a foundation of creation and contribution embracing the spirit of liberal education, invention, intelligence, globalization and entrepreneurship.”

Speaking about Auronya, Dr.Indira Parikh - Founding Chairperson, Auronya said, “This millennium has created a major discontinuity in the existence of human beings. The generation born in this decade and those yet to be born will be confronting a revolution in technology and as a consequence in the life and living and relationships amongst people. Education and employment will undergo change not available in the history of mankind. In order to meet the unfolding of this New Age Change the country needs to prepare an education which will be the real agent for the times and meaningful to the generation of students... the country will also need to prepare leaders who will take the responsibility to shape this change in a most dignifies human manner.”

“AURONYA is one such academic institution which is starting a pioneering Post Graduate Program in New Age Management and Leadership. The courses offered at AURONYA are designed based on the technology just in the making, impact of technology in occupation, at work, in the family and the human existence. These are courses which are futuristic and envisaged how the world will be shaped by these technologies.  Education at AURONYA will prepare students to be ready with domain knowledge of BioSciences, Nanotechnology, Digitisation and similar other subjects. When these technologies emerge there will be students ready with knowledge and clarity of taking the leadership roles. They will all be ready to respond to the changes in the human phenomenon so that people can cope with and give shape to these changes.” added Dr. Indira.

Mr.Anuj Sharma, Founding Dean, Auronya said “Auronya’s learning environment is designed to infuse human connection with nature and harmony while immersing the experience with future technologies. At Auronya, knowledge, and technology represents the “What” while human insights represent the “Why.”Auronya College is committed to expanding its learning universe in the coming years for unique Undergraduate, Masters and Post Graduate programs.”

Auronya College is thus a pioneer in the conceptualization of Education 4.0, a paradigm shift to align Education with the fourth industrial revolution.  It is led by academician Prof. Indira Parikh, former dean of IIM-A and industrialist S. Abhaya Kumar Jain, former MD of Strides Shasun. It has upcoming state-of-the-art campuses in Pondicherry with new age facilities such as virtual reality studio, 3D printing, augmented reality lab etc apart from smart classrooms, amphitheater, tennis court and fully furnished residential facility with a gymnasium, swimming pool and more. Auronya’s first program Antariksh is one year Post Graduate Diploma in New Age Management & Leadership (PGDNAML) and will start in October 2017.

Learning Avenues With MarkSharks...

I recently came across MarkSharks, an App that is bringing about a complete transformation in learning and teaching. According to me, it brings a complete paradigm shift in the phenomenon, as Marksharks believes that learning will never be the same again. 

MarkSharks is creating a complete system that aims to teach secondary school students. To start with, it is focusing on Maths and Science. The innovative approach is to combine phenomenal pedagogy with the power of mobility. Students can learn on-the-go thus preventing waste of time. In addition, it creates a meaningful engagement and enables ‘learning by doing’. 

Although there have been many significant innovative advancements in Education Technology (EdTech), there is no remarkable change in the process of teaching worldwide. In fact, it is the same for decades. The main drawback of our existing education system is that it is mostly unidirectional. Whatever mode a teacher adopts, it is usually passive learning. 

The various modes are chalkboard, whiteboard, smart board, audio-visual broadcast on internet or offline. But it lacks interaction and seems to be ‘watch’ and ‘listen’. That is why I call it Passive Learning. It is like watching TV which is a purely one-sided affair. 

MarkSharks is a result of disruptive technology to end this unidirectional mode of teaching and learning. In fact, the younger generation belongs to the digital age. Thus they need to learn in a

different manner. 

Now there is a learning app evolving fast to help them. Students can use mobile devices to create there own knowledge mechanism. MarkSharks helps them in learning classroom concepts in a real immersive, multi-sensory, interactive, and meaningful way. And all this happens in a very interesting manner. So it is more learning with fun. They have games, simulations, interactive exercises, and virtual experiments. In fact, it is visually more enriching and is an interactive experience. And that too in a student's own style, as per their own convenience. That is what I call as Active Learning. 

If we look at the current learning and teaching mechanism, it is quite raw and mechanical in nature. Students easily get bored and dissatisfied. There is no fun. 

Students are of the general opinion - “I have to memorize everything that makes studying painful.” On the other hand the statement of a parent is, “How can I get my child to WANT to learn? I spend so much of my time and energy forcing her to study because I know that education is the only way to secure a bright future.” 

And, in general, an educator has an altogether different predicament to share - “Marks are important and my time in class is limited. So I just cannot devote the time and energy I need to individual students’ learning requirements. I KNOW there are students who are getting left behind”. 

MarkSharks, on the other hand, imparts a unique experience of learning that enhances a student's interest and speed. It provides a one-on-one experience thus introducing a personalized environment. This happens because a learner is using their own mobile device with a freedom of anywhere, anytime. It provides 100% hands-on and learner-driven self-paced learning experience that is quite enriching. There is CBSE Maths & Science curriculum for classes 6 to 12. The app is easy to install and modules are available for Class 8 and 9 on Google Play Store. I was able to download and install it quite easily. It was a hassle-free experience. 

There are features like voice-over and text in English which helps to grasp the concept intuitively. Since the content is modular, it enables easy adaption into various languages and curricula. Learn, Analyze, and Connect is the lifeline of MarkSharks. Learning is a fun because there are interactive games and interactive exercises. In addition, a learner can easily analyze performance in real-time. In fact, parents and teachers also have access to the same information. Connecting with friends in a constructive manner is another remarkable feature of this app. There is a feature - ‘Social Learning Network’ - where a learner can share notes with friends, request help from online tutors, and network with others on MarkSharks. 

You can download MarkSharks Class 8 & 9 Science CBSE content for Android devices on the Google Play store here. Also, you can watch videos of MarkSharks content being used here. 

I tried a few of their modules, those were available on Play Store. All the modules begin with this screen: 

Also, one can read the MarSharks story via the module by tapping on 'Our Story': 

Sliding Friction 

Phases of Moon 

Seismograph 

Lateral Inversion 

Air Pollution

All of them ran smoothly and an intermediate pace, neither too rushed, nor too slow. However, in the Lateral Inversion module, it got stuck at the following screen, for some reason. 

Other than that, it was a nice experience exploring MarkSharks, both as a learner and an educator. :)

Gaps Between Educational Reforms And Education System In India

Reforms are always the need of the society. Those who lack proper focus of the destination and the path to be followed are left in doldrums. It has become so true about the bureaucratic system and the corrupt people of today's India.

Another so called thoughtful but not at all practical reform introduced at the school level is CCE system. Comprehensive and continuous evaluation of the child sounds good but it was introduced in such a hurry that the results are far from the expectations. This system's goal is to lessen the burden of rote learning but ministers, bureaucrats and top officials who made the steps to follow are not in the practical day to day interaction with the students. Only the teacher concerned knows the fact that the burden has lessened in the form of rote learning but has transformed to the form of preparing endless assignments, projects, models, charts, scrap files, activity files etc.to the extent which is mechanical for the child as their number is too many at secondary level.

If the number of activities is reduced, then we can still expect the child to do them in the class itself and hence the actual purpose can be solved. Also the emphasis should be on the content and creativity and not on just decorating the file and pasting the data downloaded through the internet. Also it will reduce the mushrooming of shops which are providing readymade material to the students instead of them doing the work themselves. Another angle to this is that poor children suffer as they have to spend a lot on buying the stationery required which is increasingly becoming fancy (a flourishing business for stationery shops).