E-classrooms will redefine education

HYDERABAD: A three-day conference on assessing and evaluating English language teacher education started here on Saturday. Organised by the British Council and the English and Foreign Languages University ( EFLU), more than 1,000 speakers have come down to the city to participate in the conference being held at HICC, Hitec City.

Issues ranging from the divide between classroom and the outside world, changing the assessment system, merging technology with teaching would be discussed during the conference. Officials of the British Council said that there would be a gradual change in the system of education and that the concept of e-classroom which is taking shape in India will make a difference to teaching and learning.

The conference brought together teachers from not just different states of India but across the world for discussing the diversity of a classroom and bridging the gap between privileged students and those who are deprived of good education.

Michael Carrier, Director, English language development with British Council said that teachers during their careers cover 10,000 students and that the conference aimed at impacting those 10,000 students. He hoped the conference would eventually help improve the quality of education which in return will translate into better employment options, growth and mobility.

Rob Lynes, director, British Council, said, "The British council aims to establish innovative partnerships between India and UK to create opportunities for people to achieve more for themselves, and their communities by raising the level of English for all."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/E-classrooms-will-redefine-education/articleshow/12128103.cms

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Ras Al Khaimah education set for a makeover

Dubai: The Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) Government is increasing its efforts to expand the economy from the industrial, real estate and tourism sectors to becoming a competitor in the higher education sphere.

Its most recent addition is Core Education, an Indian company, which has partnered with the RAK Government and Birla Institute of Technology to offer engineering, architecture and business administration.

The company will set up an academic learning centre — Core International Institute of Higher Education — and an executive MBA is also in the pipeline, said Core Education officials. Core Education operates in the United States, India, United Kingdom, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.

His Highness Shaikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, who announced the partnership, said: "Ras Al Khaimah is always exploring opportunities that can enhance the quality of education in the region and towards this endeavour…"

Oussama Al Merri, CEO of the RAK Free Trade Zone, said partnerships like the one with Core Education indicates the emirate's plans to extend its education activities. "I am also confident that this association will definitely help us to strengthen the emerging higher educational requirements in the emirate."

"With this major step, Core has reiterated its commitment to making a significant contribution to provide world-class education. Core International Institute of Higher Education is the first among many of our ventures to place UAE on the education map of the world," said Sanjeev Mansotra, Core Education head, at the launch.

Improving image

In recent years RAK has been criticised for accepting lower quality institutions that did not meet the grade at higher education hubs such as Dubai International Academic City and Dubai Knowledge Village.

However Al Merri said Shaikh Saud is dedicated to turning the emirate into an education hub much like its neighbours.

"Shaikh Saud is establishing an education council which will work much like the KHDA [Knowledge and Human Development Authority] does in other free zones," said Al Merri.

Al Merri said the planned education hub will be of benefit to industries in the emirate. "Investors want to be surrounded by universities and vocational colleges — there are 5,000 companies and they need these institutions."

He added that the RAK leadership was supporting education initiatives to enhance the quality of life and the quality of business and the economy.

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/education/ras-al-khaimah-education-set-for-a-makeover-1.989557

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Gov. Nikki Haley seeks to bolster economic, educational ties to India

India’s ambassador to the United States, Nirupama Rao, and Gov. Nikki Haley said Wednesday they’re looking for ways to strengthen economic and educational ties between India and South Carolina.

The ambassador’s visit represents “an opportunity to partner with a country that I know continues to be strong in developing new things,” Haley said. “We want to help them and we want them to help us.”

India is interested in “what we do in higher education, what we do in energy, what do in infrastructure as they’re looking to build and make things stronger,” the governor added.

Rao wrapped up her three-day tour of South Carolina Thursday with a trip to the Upstate and visit to the BMW plant. Rao said that so far her visit has been fruitful, and added that she wants to learn how South Carolina uses the colleges to meet the needs of business.

She toured the Port of Charleston on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Rao visited with University of South Carolina President Harris Pastides and today she’ll stop in at the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research.

Commonly referred to as CU-ICAR, the center is a campus where academia, industry and government collaborate on technology research.

“We’ve looked at the ways to cement better relationships between India and South Carolina,” Rao said. “There are immense opportunities in South Carolina.”

Future investments from Indian companies could be in the offing, Haley said. India is “looking to do business in South Carolina,” she added.

Haley noted that with a weak dollar, the time is right to invest in the United States. She also touted the state’s business-friendly environment, including its right-to-work status.

Rao agreed that the Palmetto State offered possibilities.

“South Carolina provides a very conducive environment for foreign investment,” she said.

Indian investment could come from businesses involved in food processing, logistics, energy and information technology. About a half-dozen Indian companies do business in South Carolina, Rao said, adding that Indian-based firms operate in 43 states and have more than $26 billion invested.

Rao added that India also is looking for S.C. investments, particularly in the fields of infrastructure and energy.

India ranks No. 7 as a destination for South Carolina exports. In 2010, India bought about $500 million worth of goods from South Carolina manufacturers.

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, S.C.-produced goods exported to India range from injection molding machines made by Econocaribe in Charleston to contact lenses produced by Bausch & Lomb in Greenville. In an interesting twist, India imported refrigerators made in Camden at a plant owned by China’s Haier Corp.

Rao’s visit also offered Haley an opportunity to tout her ties to India. Haley is the first Indian-American woman to be elected governor in the United States. Back in India, Rao said, Haley’s victory was widely publicized and is a source of pride among the natives.

http://www.charlestonbusiness.com/news/42930-gov-nikki-haley-seeks-to-bolster-economic-educational-ties-to-india?rss=0

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Ratan Tata gifts a classroom to Harvard

Harvard Business School’s (HBS) famous alumnus, Ratan Tata, has gifted a classroom to his alma mater, which has been looking to set up a permanent facility to provide executive education programmes in India. The classroom at the Taj Lands End hotel, Mumbai, will be an amphitheatre-style classroom, fashioned after the one at Harvard Business School in Boston. It will have a seating capacity of 82.

“Ratan Tata offered to build a classroom here and the Taj group has replicated the Boston classroom experience for participants in India,” said Das Narayandas, senior associate dean, director of Harvard Business Publishing.

“I can think of no greater investment we can make in our collective future than education,” said Ratan Tata.

Das said HBS has been conducting these programmes at five star hotels which did not provide a complete experience. HBS will, in the next few years, take its number of executive education programmes from the present three to around 10. “At present, we conduct programmes on and off. I expect them to be more systematised. Also, other schools at Harvard will naturally gravitate to using this facility,” added Das.

A team from India had gone to HBS and spent time with its facilities’ team at Boston to review all the schematics. The same is replicated here in Mumbai.

http://business-standard.com/india/news/ratan-tata-giftsclassroom-to-harvard-/466462/

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ATab low-cost Android education tablet launched in India, at Rs. 5,000

AcrossWorld Education, in collaboration with Go-Tech, has launched a 7-inch Android tablet in India, called ATab, priced at Rs. 5,000. The tablet will come with free access to online educational resources from AcrossWorld Education as well.

Specs of the ATab include a 7-inch touschreen, a 1.1 GHz processor, 512MB of RAM, 2GB of built-in storage expandable via microSD up to 16GB, as well as Wi-Fi and 3G (via USB dongle). Colour options for the ATab will also be available, which will help its “appeal to the younger generation.” We expect it will be running Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and the touchschreen to be resistive. When it arrives in the second week of March, the ATab will join other budget-tablets in India, like the BSNL Penta T PAD IS 701R  and the education-oriented Aakash.

The ATab comes with three-years of free access to EducationBridge, which will allow give institutions, teachers and students a platform with which share content and educational resources, and “connect, collaborate, and innovate."

AcrossWorld Education will provide professional services to institutions for the deployment of the EducationBridge platform. According to the company, many schools and colleges from various Indian cities have already shown interest in the tablet and platform. Some schools have already partnered with AcrossWorld Education.

Dr. Stephan Thieringer, President and CEO of AcrossWorld, spoke on the launch of the tablet:

    “Open Source is the future of education. With the availability of ATab, Indian schools will be able to discover and leverage world-class educational content at their fingertips at the K-12 level itself as well as at the college and University level. It is very timely and appropriate that India schools and colleges alike seriously explore advanced technology solutions that provide instant access to the world’s best educational resources , especially now within an affordable budget.”

http://www.thinkdigit.com/Tablets/ATab-low-cost-Android-education-tablet-launched-in_8886.html

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2 crore Indian children study in English-medium schools

NEW DELHI: The last eight years have seen a staggering rise in the number of children studying in English-medium schools across the country. Data on school enrolment for 2010-11 shows that, for the first time, the number of children enrolled in English-medium schools from Classes I to VIII has crossed the two crore mark - a 274% rise since 2003-04.

For the fourth year in a row, English is the second-largest medium of instruction in India, ahead of both Bengali and Marathi, according to a yet-to-be released report on countrywide school enrolment by the National University of Education, Planning and Administration (NUEPA) under its District Information System for Education.

"The collection of information under DISE has improved over the years, and now gives a true picture of enrolments by medium of instruction across the country," says Professor Arun C Mehta of NEUPA.

While Hindi, Marathi, Bengali and English have all seen a rise in enrolment in 2010-11 when compared with the previous year, the rate of increase is highest for English.

While there is an obvious demand for the English language in India, academicians and policy-makers believe state governments are handling this demand in an extremely unimaginative manner.

"There is a wealth of research which shows that the best medium of instruction for a child to have a conceptual understanding of a subject is his mother-tongue. Just because people want their children to study English does not mean that they need to enroll them at an English-medium school. If Indian-language schools did a good job teaching English, parents would not need to send their children to English-medium schools," said R Govinda, vice-chancellor of NUEPA. He himself studied in a Kannada-medium school where he picked up good English, he pointed out.

"There has been extensive research to show that the number of years for which children study a language does not necessarily translate into them being able to speak or read the language. It is seen that if you show mastery over your first language and can read and write it fluently, you can learn a second language, such as English, a lot faster," says Professor Anita Rampal, dean of the faculty of education at Delhi University. She points to countless instances where textbooks are in English but children can't make sense of them.

"Several states have seen a spike in the number of private schools, many of which call themselves English medium, though they don't teach much English," says Govinda. But Vinod Raina, an architect of India's Right to Education Bill, feels the recent NUEPA data should not be interpreted as a rise in enrolment in private English-medium schools alone, as several states, such as Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab, are themselves adopting English medium for government schools.

Raina, who has studied the education system in J&K and Punjab, says that teachers in these states are bitter about being forced to teach in English without being equipped to do so, with disastrous consequences. "This is not simply a question of one teacher having to teach the English language, but about all teachers suddenly having to transact in English," he says. "That government schools are turning Englishmedium does not, in any way, mean that either teachers or students at these schools can speak a word of English," says Raina.

Rampal points to an urgent need for a well-deliberated national language policy, in the absence of which individual states have taken arbitrary decisions regarding English.

Many, like Shyam Menon, director of Ambedkar University, believe that the rise in the number of children at Englishmedium schools reflects the aspirations of India's middle class, which believes that an English education translates into greater upward mobility, irrespective of the quality of education delivered at many schools.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/2-crore-Indian-children-study-in-English-medium-schools/articleshow/12105621.cms

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Intel India unveils plan to groom innovators

BANGALORE: Global chip maker Intel Corporation Wednesday unveiled an outreach programme to groom future scientists in India as the next generation of innovators.

"The Intel Future Scientist programme has been drawn in India to help science teachers prepare curricula for fostering a spirit of research and innovation in students," Intel India president Praveen Vishakantaiah said in a statement here.

The programme will promote inquiry-based learning as an integral part of science education and help teachers develop critical thinking skills in students.

"We plan to reach about 50,000 students across the country through social organisations for developing skills in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) through curricula, competitions and online educational resources," Vishakantaiah said.

The programme consists of seven modules to train students in inquiry-based learning and facilitate scientific inquiry from classroom to lab.

"We aim to raise the bar for Indian students with world-class education standards through the programme. With technology as a tool to advance education, we will have curricula to prepare students for a bright scientific career," Vishakantaiah noted.

According to Planning Commission member K. Kasturirangan, science education remains crucial for India's growth as a knowledge economy and kindling the spirit of enquiry in the younger generation can be effective means of sharpening thinking process.

"The Intel programme will help students become researchers or innovators with a scientific temperament to address problems of modern life. I hope the Intel programme will support schools across the country to strengthen inquiry-based learning, spark curiosity and encourage innovation in the classrooms," the noted space scientist said in the statement.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-company/corporate-trends/intel-india-unveils-plan-to-groom-innovators/articleshow/12083509.cms

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CMSA Transitions to Improved Learning Management Platform in March

New System Offers Case Managers Extensive, Web-Based and User-Friendly Resource for Continuing Education


Recognizing the ever-increasing need for quality case management education and resources, the Case Management Society of America (CMSA) will launch a completely new Learning Management System in March 2012. The new CMSA Educational Resource Library (ERL) will provide a dedicated learning platform for individual case managers and for employers looking to provide case management resources to their employees. The platform will feature a full complement of continuing education coursework, with increasingly advanced functionality to be added throughout the year.

“The new CMSA Educational Resource Library is a web-based platform easily accessible from any computer with Internet access. Designed with the case management community in mind, we believe this platform will support case managers across a variety of practice settings,” says CMSA Executive Director, Cheri A. Lattimer, RN, BSN. “What’s more exciting, however, is the advanced functionality that will allow instructors to engage and interact with their students using the collaborative technologies that students are embracing.”

Having pioneered the first online case management learning system in 2001, virtual education is not a new offering from the Case Management Society of America. Rather, the improvement will accommodate the modern association member, who prefers a deeper learning experience. Students will be provided a choice to purchase individual courses or course bundles at a significant savings in comparison to similar offerings by other industry providers.

According to CMSA President Mary Beth Newman, MSN, RN-BC, CMAC, CCP, CCM, “Basic content can be delivered in short, single-event webinars and webcasts; but higher-value professional development is now taking place in settings more similar to college courses and less like a lunchtime conference call. Busy people need help prioritizing the decision to learn. Scheduled study groups that require attendance and participation, along with peer-review and accountability to other professionals provide the ingredients to get those learners to show up! Where standalone webinars can be skipped or rescheduled, participation in multi-week courses requires full attention of learners.”

With this change, CMSA will retire the current Learning Management System. “It was the first resource of its kind for the case management industry, and has served the membership well,” says Lattimer. “Since its inception, however, there have been dramatic advances in learning technology. It would be a disservice to the case management community not to make the change.”

As the largest and oldest non-profit, multi-disciplinary care management professional association in the United States, CMSA has always remained committed to providing new and exciting opportunities and resources for its members. However, there are others within the case management community at-large who may also benefit from the case management coursework and collaboration included in the Resource Library. For that reason, the new platform will be open not only to CMSA members, but to nonmembers as well. Additionally, the Society serves a large number of employers of case managers who can use this new platform to deliver additional training and education specifically tailored to their needs.

CMSA remains dedicated to fostering the growth and development of the case management industry by continually advancing the delivery of education. Through such advancements, case managers have become recognized experts and vital participants in the care coordination team who empower people to understand and access quality, efficient health care.

About the Case Management Society of America (CMSA)

Established in 1990, the Case Management Society of America is the leading non-profit association dedicated to the support and development of the profession of case management. CMSA serves more than 11,000 members, 20,000 subscribers, and 75 chapters through educational forums, networking opportunities, legislative advocacy and establishing standards to advance the profession. For more information, visit http://www.cmsa.org or follow CMSA on Twitter @CMSANational.

http://www.chron.com/business/press-releases/article/CMSA-Transitions-to-Improved-Learning-Management-3370975.php

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Digital Learning — bringing technology into education

I want all students to be able to learn from digital textbooks," President Obama said in his 2011 State of the Union Address. Working towards that goal, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has partnered with the Department of Education to create the Digital Textbook Collaborative. The group's mission is to discover best practices for transitioning schools to digital learning.

On Feb. 1, 39 states, 15,000 teachers, and nearly 2 million students participated in the first Digital Learning Day. The national awareness campaign, organized by the Alliance for Excellent Education, is intended to show how technology can advance learning in the United States and prepare students for high school, college, and future careers. The Washington meeting featured Education Secretary Arne Duncan and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, who challenged schools and companies to put digital textbooks into K-12 students' hands by 2017.

Two weeks earlier, Apple announced that it would 'reinvent textbooks' by delivering digital versions on the iPad. Apple has sealed agreements with the major educational companies (McGraw Hill, Houghton Mifflin, and Pearson), who account for 90 percent of the K-12 textbook market.

As defined by the Alliance for Excellent Education, digital learning is "any instructional practice that is effectively using technology to strengthen the student learning experience."

"Digital textbooks are one of the cornerstones of digital learning," says Genachowski. "We're talking about students having interactive learning devices that can offer lessons personalized to their learning style and level, and enable real-time feedback to parents, teachers, or tutors."

How can digital learning help our children?

Digital learning means more than eliminating the heavy textbooks, notebooks and handouts that students carry around school. It also means potential textbook cost savings. More importantly, access to information would be available to students anywhere they have Internet connectivity.

One of the most essential benefits of digital learning is that it provides interactive learning for children. In addition, they'll have access to updated materials faster. As with anything printed, information becomes quickly outdated. Digital textbooks, such as Apple's iPad books, incorporate video, audio, interactive controls, as well as annotation tools.

"Although it depends on how people will use digital publishing tools (such as Apple's iBooks 2), the potential is great," says Chris Lehmann, the founding Principal of Science Leadership Academy (SLA), a partnership school of the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. SLA high school, considered to be a nationally and internationally technology pioneer, has won Apple's Distinguished School Award several times.

"The new technology puts the power in the hands of teachers and students, and can radically change the ways they interact," Lehmann says.

Why is digital learning being adopted so slowly?

There are many reasons why schools have been slow to adopt digital learning. A huge concern is the lack of broadband capacity and equipment. Also, schools aren't equipped with the textbook readers needed for digital learning. The federal cuts in K-12 funding makes matters worse.

Besides funding, there are also decisions to be made with regards to which textbook reader to use. Unless the schools provide or clearly specify which readers to use, students could end up using different products. This could certainly create more issues, says Janice C. Sipior, Ph.D., Professor of Information Systems, Villanova School of Business. Sipior, who teaches sophomores, says the majority of her students feel that "digital textbooks are for the next generation. They say they prefer physical textbooks because they can visually see how many pages remain to be read for the chapter, and easily highlight and annotate anywhere on the page as they read."

Migrating from a printed to digital learning environment is no simple task. There are many decisions to be made and policies to be created, ranging from licensing, equipment issues (maintenance, replacement, warranty, damage) to student ethics (cheating on tests) and how to handle distractions (games or Facebook).

Current school curriculums and teaching methods need evaluation and must adapt to evolving technology. For digital learning to be effective, both teachers and students must be willing to accept methods that differ significantly from the existing teaching methods they've always used.

What has been learned so far?

Currently, more than 600 U.S. public school districts have already adopted Apple's iPad program. Some pilot programs indicate that technology is making a real impact in education.

"Technology-based teaching can reduce the time it takes for a student to learn a lesson by 30-80 percent," says FCC Genachowski. Students are more engaged after using digital textbooks as opposed to printed textbooks. Increased student participation and engagement, including more meaningful discussions between students and teachers, have been cited as the results of digital learning environments.

According to Wired, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and middle school students in California participated in a pilot study during the 2010-2011 school year. Students were taught Algebra 1 using a digital textbook on the iPad. The study showed that students connected better with the content when compared to students who used traditional printed textbooks; 20 percent more students who used a digital textbook scored 'Proficient' or 'Advanced' in Algebra 1 comprehension compared to those who did not.

Hopefully, with the help of the Digital Textbook Collaborative, who'll be meeting with CEOs of digital textbooks this month, our children and schools will be better prepared to meet the challenges of digital learning.


http://www.montgomerynews.com/articles/2012/02/28/parents_express/doc4f4d36ba1cce7718744919.txt?viewmode=default

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E-learning courses to arrive in Howard County

Online learning courses are to be offered by the Howard County Public School System (HCPSS).

The Baltimore Sun reports the educational provider, based in the US state of Maryland, has earmarked $500,000 (£313,716) of its $697 million 2013 operating budget request for a new e-learning programme.

It is thought this will herald the beginning of a virtual online educational facility.

The HPCSS board has approved this and therefore given the distance learning platform the green light.

Chief academic officer for HPCSS Linda Wise told the news provider the programme is still in its initial stages, although online learning courses had been piloted during summer school sessions in 2011.

Furthermore, "small pieces" of digital learning have been implemented in the past, she added.

"We're in good shape to launch a very robust program," the specialist said.

Some of the money earmarked for the initiative will be spent on the development, purchase and testing of e-learning tools, as well as the training of educational providers.

Attempts will be made to blend e-learning into traditional classroom education and further details are expected to be implemented when a professional has been hired to oversee its implementation.

Eventually, it is hoped the virtual learning environment will be tailored to each individual student and will accommodate them throughout their state education.

Coordinator of instructional technology at Howard County Public Schools Julie Wray told the publication: "It's about expanding opportunities so these kids can have more chances to learn outside the school building and connect to folks outside of the school."

Education can no longer be restricted to traditional buildings at regular scheduled times but can be personalised for every participant, she said.

This summer, struggling students, as well as gifted and talented pupils, will be offered blended online courses that will be taught over the internet, as well as in the classroom.

Howard County has been rated as one of the US' top ten most efficient school districts by Forbes Magazine, providing education of a high standard at comparatively little public cost.

http://www.virtual-college.co.uk/news/Elearning-courses-to-arrive-in-Howard-County-newsitems-801306139.aspx

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