Future of the Learning Conclave

The Pearson Group conducted a workshop on the Future of the Learning Conclave. The workshop was conducted by Ujjwal Singh, IIM Bangalore, Vice President, Products K-12, Pearson Group. Principals and head teachers of schools around Delhi attended. The workshop was held at the Shangri- La Eros Hotel, on 19th November 2015.

Mr. Singh initiated the session with a discussion on how to explore comprehensive learning solutions that help bridge the gap between subjects and concepts, learning and assessment, school and home.

The discussion was followed by the launch of MyPedia (by the Pearson group), an advanced and unified tool that aims to transform education-delivery in school classrooms across India. He also highlighted the significance of DigiClass which is based on the Cognitive Learning Approach - a widely accepted theory of the learning process. According to him, there is a close relationship between what we know and what we need to learn. So by associating new material with something familiar, students can understand and retain new information better.

During the discussion, the benefits of DigiClass were outlined as follows: It comes pre-loaded with numerous learning elements, namely, animations, diagrams, simulations, videos, 3D interactivity, worksheets, etc. The attractive TIC ( Teacher in Class) mode of DigitALly allows teachers to access the pre-loaded content in the classroom. The user-friendly PFC ( Prepare for Class) mode of DigitALly allows teachers to customise lesson plans by adding/editing/deleting learning objects. They can use the comprehensive search option to find desired objects in the vast repository. Schools can track the effectiveness of the solution with a powerful reporting dashboard. The DigitALly application is constantly updated with new content. The easy-to-use features of the application are constantly upgraded, in response to teacher-feedback and their changing needs. DigiClass solution offers Teacher Training, Certification and Assessment Programmes to ensure an effective teaching learning process. DigiClass solution offers Teacher Training, Certification and Assessment programmes to ensure an effective teaching-learning process.

The next topic discussed was Features & Components of MyPedia. Some of the components identified were: App, Textbooks,Teaching Plans and Workbooks. The following features of MyPedia were put forward: MyPedia along with the regular text books offers multimedia objects to support teachers lesson plans. Further, children can scan images from textbooks using a Smart Phone and play/watch these videos, even at home, thereby ensuring that learning continues beyond school hours. MyPedia helps students integrate their learning across subjects ( like, mathematics and computational thinking), allowing them to learn in a more comprehensive manner, reason abstractly and quantitatively. It helps teachers to teach more effectively, as it connects to the students active text books and learning books. It is a unique integrated learning platform that combines the best in curriculum and content, digital and technology, assessment framework and training. MyPedias assessment architecture goes deep to cull out learning gaps, even at a sub-topic level, which in traditional methods may go unnoticed. The benefits were also touched upon in the last round of the discussion. Some of these were:

It uses themes which flow across all subjects to create a trans-disciplinary learning environment. It creates umpteen points for learning interactions. It taps into technology to involve parents and ensures that learning continues after school hours. It identifies and plugs gaps in learning through strong remedial strategies.

It was an exclusive event for K-12 curriculum users across India!

Ms. Nitu Kumari, Computer Science Department.