Learning Management System

In India, if we look around, we will realize the fact that teaching as a practise has evolved immensely through the ages. From the ‘Gurukul’ style of imparting education we have worked our way to high technology labs and class rooms equipped with top of the line equipments.

Many jobs of the future will be in fields of technology.  Kids today need to use a lot of machines like computers as a part of their training and education. Online education has become widely used within the last 10 years by children as young as pre-school age. It’s being implemented into basic curricula throughout the nation, from elementary schools to college campuses. Therefore they need to be taught as to how to use the internet as well as other technological tools.

Today teachers are finding ways to make their current curriculum more engaging, exciting and efficient by using more electronic educational tools and applications. Instructors have a better way of presenting a syllabus and course discussions by using online webinars, and even a centralized class forum and grading system.

A learning management system (LMS) is a software application for the administration, documentation, tracking, reporting and delivery of education courses or training programs. LMSs range from systems for managing training and educational records to software for distributing online or blended/hybrid college courses over the Internet with features for online collaboration. Colleges and universities use LMSs to deliver online courses and augment on-campus courses.

By using a learning management system (LMS) schools can teach their students better through an integrated web-based platform of online education courses. LMS greatly helps in record keeping and documentation of educational and administrative information. Also data regarding each individual student can also be managed by this system.

Several college campuses have actively adapted these systems in their functions and have seen great result in the form of better management of information, better student response, better course structure formation and more. Systems can be up and running with little installation and training. There are several benefits that come when such a system is up and running like students can take advantage of things like webinars, assessments, and discussion forums, with a simple self-registration process.

We must understand the rapidly changing scenario in the Indian education space. 4 out of 5 students own a computer or other electronic device that they use for education purposes. This statistic bears more teeth when it comes to the urban cities. Elementary up to college, students are embracing the technological age by using that technology to sharpen their communication, creativity, and problem-solving skills. More online courses will harness more and more students.

In fact, some say that online education succeeds with the shy kids even more as such kids are more likely to speak up with questions or comments in an online discussion because there is a more laid back learning environment and no judging from other students.

Honestly speaking, once seen as a second-rate choice, ‘online education’ has developed a niche for itself and has been flagged as a mainstream, respectable option full of endless subjects and breakout career prospects. http://unilrn.com/

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Planning for the Boards

Board exams can be a difficult time. But if only one plans ahead success can be formulated. There are some tips and suggestions that might help get better prepared for the challenge that awaits.

1. More time to more matter

Give more time to the subject that has more syllabus or is difficult to crack by you. While planning, each chapter and each topic needs to be accounted for.

One way to start preparing is starting off with the difficult subjects first and start about 1 week before the date for the first exam.

2. The key lies in the textbooks

There is very little chance of a question beyond your prescribed textbooks. You may even find word by word repetition of questions in the exam. Thus, be well versed with each concept and topic in your textbook. Also diagrams, tables and graphs play a vital role. They are interesting to learn and when produced with answer, can get you the extra brownie point in the exams.

3. Practice makes you perfect

Solve at least 10 past year's question papers to get an idea of the kind of questions asked. This will even give you the particular topics which are more asked about.

4. It’s a number game

To get the scores one wants, number crunching becomes really important. This means memorizing certain formulae, notes and dates are essential for almost all subjects.

You can write down these notes in bright colours on chart papers and stick them around your study place or pin them on to a board in your room. Every time you pass by, you will take a look at the notes which will also help you in memorizing them.

5. Tick, tock, moves the clock

You need to answer all questions in a set time limit for every individual question. Only then can you finish the paper on time. You must practice mock papers and time yourself.

6. The more, the merrier

It is always good to study in a group, say once a week. It will help you get your doubts cleared by your friends who might know how to solve a particular question you find it hard to solve.

Say, you have left out some portion of the syllabus purposefully; your study group can tell you if it's a good idea to do so. Spending time with your friends will also help you feel refreshed.

7. Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise

The idea is to sleep early and wake up early to stay fit and fresh. Studying in the early mornings is the best time as there is minimal distraction outside which helps you concentrate better.

8. Take a chill pill

Don’t worrying about lacking behind in preparation. Things will fall in place eventually. Just clear your mind.

Just Relax!

At the end, remember, don't give up on recreation and hobbies. About 8 hours of dedicated study is enough to get you good marks. Most importantly, feel happy to be happy.

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Virtual School- The Rural Tool

In your journey through small town tales of India you might have crossed two small mischievous boys who despised the very thought of getting up in the morning and heading to school. Remember Swamy- The Dennis of Malgudi? He along with his friends roamed about the village to bunk classes whenever possible. Another one was Chiku from the popular movie, Swades, who made excuses of stomach aches to skip school. But then again, haven’t we all?

Both Chiku and Swamy have mirrored one of the problems that education in India faces. Like them, many children in India do not want to go to school. Actually the biggest challenge lies in rural and backward India, where attending school is not just a matter of choice but is governed by several factors like lack of educational infrastructure, poverty, illiteracy and ignorant attitude of people towards education. Therefore we need to implement a solution that will combat all these issues at the same time. One tool that promises to help is Virtual School.

As the term reads, a virtual school is an online institution that imparts education through online methods. This is like bringing the school home rather than having to go to school physically every day. All you need is access to the internet and with the digital divide in India decreasing every day, this method seems to be the ‘real deal’. Even the government has introduced certain programs that promote virtual schools and online education model. This is because the government recognises the deficit in teaching talent and infrastructure. 

Virtual schools hold several advantages, including not being required to attend and travel to face-to-face classes and the integration of digital media. Virtual schools also give a student the opportunity to stay in school when traditional schools will no longer accept them.  In this way it really helps the purpose of providing education to all. This method of schooling can be adopted in case of extensive absences due to medical reasons. In rural India where sending the girl child to school is a phenomenon to be thought about twice, virtual school proposes to be a great help in bringing gender equality. Virtual schools can be considered a great equalizer, as these schools can make education accessible to non-traditional students. Additionally, students with physical disabilities or transportation issues may find that they are able to succeed in virtual school without the burden of getting to a physical location for schooling.

Another factor that leads to illiteracy in rural India is the priority of the farmer. Think about it, if you are a farmer who has to work day and night on his land to harvest the crop, will you have the time or energy to go to the distant village school. Would you even consider it a necessity? Students who have job and family obligations, which can limit the time spent in the classroom, are able to attend virtual schools at any time of day. For parents returning to school, this is an option which allows them to fit schooling into their busy schedule. Virtual schooling gives the unskilled ‘desi’ a real chance of building upon his twenty-first century skills which include global awareness, computer literacy, self-directed learning, online communications and so on.

Virtual schooling may sound amusing to us but the reality of rural literacy raises grim concern which can be addressed only by this technique, making it the most important agent in the progress of our nation.
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Let’s just hope that Swamy and Chiku make the most of it.

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Board Exam Fever

Board Exam Fever

February has arrived. For most of us it might be the indication of the onset of spring, but for many kids it’s the start of a nightmarish phase of their lives. The reason-- board exams are round the corner. All those who associate school days with joyous abandon would be shocked at the plight of students these days. With cut offs and educational standards reaching new levels of inhuman expectations, students are struggling to keep pace with all that is happening around them. Actually, several instances show that they do get good scores, but at a maddening cost to their mental and physical well-being. Others, who are not strong enough, take to horrific ways of escape ----even ceasing to exist in this world.

Starting with prelims and practicals, stretching up to the entrance tests for higher education courses that follow the actual examinations, the students are in a state of constant strain. Parents, too, share the anxiety that their children undergo, trying their best to handle the emotional outbursts that their children present. It’s the time of the year when school students feel like soldiers being sent to the battle front to face the enemy onslaught. Here they must realise that instead of taking exams as a do-or-die fight, they should believe in themselves. Students often start showing signs of stress related problems like eye trouble, headaches, sleep disorders and anxiety. Gruelling study schedules right before the exams render students prone to headaches, eye disorders and other conditions related to exam stress. Skewed dietary schedules also precipitate stomach and intestinal disorders.

Parents should do their bit too in boosting their wards' self-confidence. Praiseworthy words rather than scolding make exams a fruitful exercise. Students must be made to understand the true reason why exams are held as they often ask the question “Why?” They must be told that how exams are essential to judge one's performance and how they work as a stimulant to our brain which is really good for us. They must be told that faring well in exams is essential but the way to success comes through happiness and peace of mind. Only then can students fill their minds with positive thoughts and take on tests with a smile.

Students need to prepare sincerely for their exams but also relax their mind at regular intervals by playing with pets, reading a book and going out for a wall. Such activities carried out between periods of study help in reducing stress and optimising performance. Music therapy is increasingly becoming popular among schools and has proved to be highly effective with a music teacher hopping from class to class singing jingles. However funny it may sound, the fact of the matter is that it works.

Frankly, we can see the change happening now as more and more students believe in the notion of not being bookworms. Students have carved out a balance between recreation and studies to excel in examinations.
Unified Learning suggests student to widen their learning scope by gaining more knowledge with free minds.
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Student Centric Learning

Student Centric Learning

The term student-centric learning (SCL) is linked with flexible learning, experiential learning, self-directed learning and therefore the term ‘student-centred learning’ can mean different things to different people.
Over the years a major paradigm shift has occurred in the methods of imparting lessons; from teaching to an emphasis on learning has encouraged power to be moved from the teacher to the student. The teacher-focused/transmission of information formats, such as lecturing, have begun to be increasingly criticised and this has paved the way for a widespread growth of ‘student-centred learning’ as an alternative approach. Yet a very important problem that looms over this matter is that many institutions or educators claim to be putting student-centric learning into practice, but in reality they are not.
Student-centric courses are those that emphasise: learner activity rather than passivity; students’ experience on the course outside the institution and prior to the course; process and competence, rather than content. In this particular model/method of learning the student enjoys great power as here, the key decisions about learning are made by the student through negotiation with the teacher.
In relation to curriculum design, student-centeredness includes the idea that students have choice in what to study, how to study. However, to what extent can this be carried out practically is still a problem.
One student-centric approach to curriculum design, Problem-Based Learning (PBL), allows for some choice within a programme of areas that students may study. It allows students to set some of their own learning objectives/outcomes, dependent on prior knowledge. Problem-Based Learning, through the use of problems/issues/triggers, encourages the students to develop their own learning goals, thereby filling in the gaps in their knowledge or understanding. They are useful in addressing the active learning aspect of student-centric learning. Other approaches to curriculum design also support the idea of student choice and activity in learning.
The use of student-centric learning appears to be reflective of today’s society where choice and democracy are important concepts, however is it an effective approach to learning?  The main critique of student-centric learning is its focus on the individual learner. Student-centric learning, in the School system, can be in danger of focusing completely on the individual learner and taken to its extreme does not take into account the needs of the whole class. The point is that if each child is unique, and each requires a specific approach appropriate to him or her and to no other, the construction of an all embracing, and general principle of teaching becomes an impossibility.
The changing demographics of the student population and the more consumer/client-centric culture in today’s society is the reason why student-centric learning is thriving. Although we must recognize that it is not necessarily an easy task.
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Board Exams

“You may never know what results come out of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result”

~ Mahatma Gandhi

Everybody has been afraid of examinations. Even Lord Christ once uttered, "May God not put anybody to test". Teachers, students, examiners and examinees, all think that examination is a curse, a horror and a terror. Exams are one of the many ways to assess the acquired knowledge, level of understanding and the various ways in which the acquired knowledge can be applied in different situations. Exams are important as their results influence future professional careers, social status and self–esteem. Exams teach us lots of things and give training for various things like punctuality, writing skills, timing sense, expressing our thoughts and opinions and so on. Without exams it is very hard to find out the real knowledge of an individual student. Additionally, exams serve as motivation to study.

Board examinations, whether State, ICSE Board or CBSE Board exams, are one of the most crucial milestones in one’s life and scoring well in these is something which every student aspires to. Every student works hard to do well in the exams so that he can achieve good marks in the academic year. But as a matter of fact, students fall apart most of the time when it concerns their exams, especially in the board papers which is dreaded by the student community. Students are pressurized to perform beyond their calibre. The mounting stress only makes them exhausted of exams as it demands high-scale preparation. It is mandatory for students to follow certain effectual guidelines which make preparation easier and stress free…especially in case of the Board Exams.

To get good results in a board exam, a student needs to be systematic and follow a particular pattern. For example, in a Math exam paper, each step carries certain marks…so a student needs to be very careful about the pattern of the exams and should strictly consider them while solving the sums. Everybody is capable of passing the exam. The best way is to take action rather than stress. After all, stress wont help you pass. Rather it is the right action of asking the right person to help you to understand which will get you ahead.

Board exams are like any other exams. The best way to achieve success is to be calm, freshen up your mind, and plan a preparation schedule, revise and stop worrying. Board exams are the time when children look up to their parents for help and support. And therefore their duty is to help them through and not pressurize them.

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