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Global School Alliance Meet At Gurgaon

Top educators from best rated schools around the world are coming together in Gurgaon for the first annual meeting of the Global Schools’ Alliance (GSA). The agenda for this year’s event is ‘Co-creating the world’s best schools’. The first and only school from India, Vega School, is the latest addition to the group. The head of GSA, Lene Jensby Lange of Denmark, chose India as the host country for the inaugural meeting. Between 13 to 16 October, the heads and founders of progressive schools in the US, UK, New Zealand, Cambodia, Indonesia and Denmark will travel to Delhi to attend the annual conference and exchange research and best practises about how children learn. The GSA will also set goals on how to collaborate with each other for the coming years and select projects on which children can work together internationally. Sandy Hooda, co-founder of Vega Schools, said, “Great educators from amazing schools like Allan Kjaer Andersen, Director of Orestad Gymnasium in Denmark and Sandra Jenkins from Freemans Bay School in New Zealand, are coming here to share their experiences. We hope there is a lot for Indian schools to learn from their counterparts and help put the child at the centre of learning.” GSA head Lange, said, “I see a lot of schools coming up in the region who intend to be progressive in nature. Schools in India still need to change a lot in order to become truly progressive 21st century schools”. Within GSA, partner schools and faculty are continuously learning from each other. Schools exchange research studies, best practises, and host other member school teachers for visits and teaching opportunities. Students attending member schools also benefit from the partnership, she added. Barbara Cavanagh from Albany Senior High School, New Zealand, said, “Through online facilities children are able to collaborate with students in other countries on projects. By doing this they learn about different cultures and how to work together with people from different backgrounds.”

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MDI Revamps Part-time Executive Programme To Focus On Skill Develpoment

Haider Ali KhanManagement Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon, one of the top B-schools in India has revamped their part time executive programme to cater skill development of the executives for the 2015 session. The changes have been introduced following the review meeting held in MDI.Top industry leaders and thought makers from the institute participated in the review meeting. MDI has launched its 27th batch of its executive part time programme.The millennium city Gurgaon is a hub for start-ups and MNCs. Commutation during the peak hours towards the campus was a concern for the participants and one of the suggested changes. Now, instead of evening classes, the institute will hold classes in the weekends.The Institute has made the course flexible as participants who cannot complete it in three years can be allowed up to five years to graduate in exceptional cases. At the same time, others can finish the programme in two years.“The key to sustainability is adaptation to the changing business eco-system. We invite feedback from the industry to make our curriculum flexible for the participant. Value addition in the participant’s career encouraged to revisit our programmes regularly and make them participant friendly. We are delighted to introduce these changes in our curriculum. The changes will be most helpful in flexible training and skill development of the executives,” said Professor A K Jain, chairperson, PGPM-Part Time programme.The programme is open to working executives with at least three years post qualification experience. It is aimed at including strategic thinking, decision-making and problem solving abilities, team spirit, entrepreneurial and leadership capabilities and mind set ready for innovation and change.

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British-Born Economist Angus Deaton Wins 2015 Nobel Prize For Economics

British-born economist Angus Deaton won the 2015 economics Nobel Prize for "his analysis of consumption, poverty and welfare", the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said on Monday (12 October). The academy said that Deaton's work had been a major influence on policy making, helping for example to determine which social groups are affected by an increase of value-added tax on food. "To design economic policy that promotes welfare and reduces poverty, we must first understand individual consumption choices," the award-giving body said on announcing the 8 million Swedish crown ($978,000) prize. "More than anyone else, Angus Deaton has enhanced this understanding," it said. Deaton also spearheaded the use of household survey data in developing countries, especially data on consumption, to measure living standards and poverty, the academy said. The economics prize, officially called the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, was established in 1968. It was not part of the original group of awards set out in dynamite tycoon Nobel's 1895 will. Deaton, who was born in Edinburgh and holds both British and U.S. citizenship, is professor of Economics and International Affairs at Princeton University in the United States.(Reuters)

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India Emerging As Key Region For Design Education: Parsons School of Design Chief

By C H UnnikrishnanIndia is emerging as a key region for design education as the concept of formal training in design is catching up fast in the country and the standard of curriculum and the faculty is similar to the one that is offered in any other part of the world, says David Van Zandt, president, The New School-Parsons School of Design, New York, one of the world’s top art and design schools.According to Zandt, the importance of design education is increasing as design has started engaging boardrooms now.“Design schools are not only a major source of new talents for the economy’s rapidly growing creative sector, but are critical catalysts for entrepreneurship,” he said in Mumbai while inaugurating  the Mumbai Academic Campus of Indian School of Designs and Innovation (ISDI) and Parsons School of Design, on Friday (9, October).The new art academic campus, where two unique design education institutions are coming together to provide a common platform for creative education and design thinking, is first of its kind in India. With this, Parsons School of Design will support ISDI by creating a unique design education delivery system in terms of faculty, ongoing training curriculum student and faculty exchange among others.“ISDI with Parsons in Mumbai is laser focused on building a new generation ecosystem of design and innovation driven by creative entrepreneurship in India,” said Radha Kapoor, ISDI founder and executive director, and an alumnus of Parson School of Design, New York.“By formalising the strong partnership with Parsons, we are building up the capacity of global faculty in the Mumbai campus of ISDI,” said Siddharth Shahani, executive director, ISDI.

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EduKart's Course Providers Launch Scholarship Programme

Course providers of EduKart, online education marketplace, are launching a special scholarship programme through a contest to provide a better education to deserving students.The company's investor and brand ambassador, cricketer Yuvraj Singh is supporting the programme and has himself set the criteria for awarding the scholarship.The company has organised a contest for the students basis which deserving candidates will be chosen by the course providers for the scholarship. Many course providers like Assam Down Town University and AskIITians are participating in this initiative.“This is a great initiative as it will help deserving candidates to pursue quality education. I firmly believe that nobody should be denied access to education because of financial constraints and this scholarship program is an amazing step in that direction,” said Yuvraj Singh, founder YouWeCan Ventures.The company announced its referral programme earlier this month which has seen a lot of traction from students. This is another campaign by the company to help deserving candidates make their education decision.(BW Online Bureau)

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Indian-American Couple Gifts $100 Mn To NYU's College

In one of the largest philanthropic gifts by a member of the Indian-American community, a couple has donated $100 million to New York University's engineering school, which will now be renamed after them in recognition of its gift.Chandrika and Ranjan Tandon's gift to the New York University's School of Engineering will principally support faculty hiring and academic programs and is intended to build on the engineering school's existing practice of cross-disciplinary innovation and entrepreneurship, NYU President John Sexton and the school's dean Katepalli R Sreenivasan said in a joint statement here.The school will be renamed the NYU Tandon School of Engineering in recognition of the Tandons "generosity and their belief in the school's mission and promise," the statement said.Chandrika is a member of the Board of Overseers of NYU's business school, a member of the NYU Board of Trustees and leads the NYU President's Global Council.Ranjan is an engineer by training and a graduate of the Harvard Business School. He is founder and chair of Libra Advisors, a hedge fund he founded in 1990 that is now a family office.The Tandons' donation is believed to be the largest philanthropic gift by a member of the Indian-American community, the university said."Getting to know the engineering school was truly electrifying. The imagination and inventiveness of the students and faculty as they worked together on real world problems, the cutting-edge work being done both within the school and collaboratively across schools in such diverse areas like the arts, medicine, education, incubators; the entrepreneurial spirit that pervades the place all this inspired us," she said.Sreenivasan said the Tandons' act of generosity is remarkable not only because of the size of the gift, but also because it recognises the importance of a school with which they had no prior affiliation.Funds from the gift will be used to further enhance programs, including wireless, cybersecurity, and digital education and gaming and enhance interdisciplinary programs such as financial engineering, technology management and innovation, and entrepreneurship in important areas such as clean energy.In 2010, Harvard Business School had received a gift of USD 50 million from Tata Companies, the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Tata Education and Development Trust, philanthropic entities of the Tata Group. The gift was the largest from an international donor in the School's 102-year history.(PTI)

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E-learning Becomes An Essential In India!

The digital wave in the country has transformed the entire education ecosystem, making it more tech-oriented and student-friendly. As technology seeped into every aspect of life, it was only a matter of time for it to penetrate one of the most important facets of one’s existence i.e. education. Online learning presents various benefits such as easy accessibility, on-the-go learning, flexibility and convenience to name a few. These are the main reasons behind the increasing inclination of people towards this mode. In fact, it has quickly become a default way of studying and has evolved from being an option to being a need. Digitisation of the education landscape is also letting the students residing in tier-2 and tier-3 cities reap the benefits of quality education tools. On the other hand, however, offline learning also has its own merits, which definitely cannot be overlooked. Therefore, a seamless blend of both offline and online pedagogical approaches is now the need of the hour.Online LearningOnline learning enables students with the option to study in the comfort of their homes, without having to travel miles to go to an institution for attending an important lecture. This makes it a cost-efficient mode of learning. Besides this, online learning is suitable for working people as well who do not have the time at their disposal to attend regular classes. They can get a certificate or a degree without having to physically go to a brick-and-mortar institution. Online video lectures help these students stay connected with what is being taught in traditional classrooms. This way they don’t have to miss out on anything and can fulfil their ambition of working and attaining further academic qualifications simultaneously. There has been a slow and steady pick in self-paced courses, and this trend is fairly visible for all.While these are the benefits of online learning, there are some limitations as well. Self-discipline and time management matters a lot in online learning. Limited interaction with fellow students and with the instructors can also result in lesser enthusiasm and confidence as compared with offline pedagogical approaches. Although lectures can be attended online, the interpersonal relationship between a student and instructor is harder to build virtually.Traditional LearningThe concept of traditional learning is slowly undergoing a transformation with the advent of the internet and technology-led education. However, the innumerable benefits of this mode of education cannot be denied. With its multi-sensory appeal, it enables students to grasp what’s being taught easily and quickly. Immediate interactions help them clear their doubts then and there. They can take part in live discussions and know the view-points of other students at the same time. Visual Learning classes have been appreciated by students and faculties alike. It helps students to understand the tough concepts easily and learning becomes fun for them.However, there is no denying that traditional learning eats up a lot of time. It’s expensive as compared to online learning and lacks flexibility. In many cases, the traditional format makes quality education and guidance inaccessible to those students in whose locality there aren’t any good institutions or coaching centres.   Advantages of digital education for students of tier-3 and tier-4 cities:Digital education has metamorphosed the education landscape of the country in such a way that students of not just tier-1 and tier-2 cities but also of tier-3 and tier-4 cities are now able to access superlative learning opportunities. Digital courses have tremendously helped in bridging the wide geographical gap that hitherto existed between students and the leading institutions of the country. Such online courses have been instrumental in enhancing the learning experience of students residing in extreme corners of the country.E-learning has made inroads in the entire nation, the result of which is this that students are now rapidly embracing this new concept. A blend of the online mode of learning and traditional pedagogy is being adopted by institutions these days so as to provide a compelling learning experience to students. Live lectures combined with the facility to interact with faculty in real time and give students a feel of traditional classrooms is what many institutions are now focussing on. This combination of the physical classroom and the e-learning experience is enriching the way students understand and absorb information and apply this knowledge.New age education methods like app-based learning also give superlative convenience to students and bolster the result of other learning techniques. The spike in smartphone and mobile data usage has given to rise to new, innovative, creative and highly engaging ways of understanding concepts, memorising difficult topics, taking tests and assessing oneself. Quality content remains the main requirement of students and is pivotal in making the online learning experience rich and beneficial. Education providers have to ensure that they deliver meaningful content to students in the online space and amalgamate this content with the best of traditional learning methods so that more and more students embrace this new way of absorbing information. The offline versus online debate is now not as relevant as the debate about how the merits of both these formats need to be synchronised to create new benchmarks in the Indian education space.    The author, Ritesh Raushan, is the director at The Gate Academy

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Digital Learning Fosters Gen-Y Of Rural India

Technology-driven learning is bringing a qualitative difference to education in rural and semi-urban areas of India. Although rural India has woken up to the online learning trend quite late because of the lack of a stronger mindset in smaller towns and infrastructural challenges, this issue has been gradually resolved. From mobile classrooms to online tutors, today there are hundreds of such startups passionate about transforming the education system in our country.The introduction of digital education in rural India came with its own set of infrastructural issues. The erratic electricity supply and lack of access to educational facilities made the penetration of technology-based education tough. The incursion of cable television eventually changed the prevalent indolent way of thinking. The rural population is now welcoming the idea of using mobile devices and is equally comfortable in handling technology devices. Online learning or Live Virtual Classrooms (LVC) has paved the way for modern education in rural India. Moreover, the integration of technologies such as Cloud, Data Centers & Virtualization into the education industry is making information available to the students from far-flung areas in just one click.At present, the country has over 200 million people connected to the internet and the numbers are expected to reach 550 million by 2018. In such a scenario, the number of competitive exam aspirants is going to increase every year. These learners will not only increase the demand for good content but also easily accessible content, be it through smartphones or tablets. The advent of low-cost smartphones coupled with low mobile tariffs is empowering students from the small cities to go beyond making just phone calls and instead reap the benefits of data connectivity. The further expansion of the data service network in the country, alongside push on 3G & introduction of 4G technologies, is adding to the data usage in rural areas that demand speedier connections.International startups like Khan Academy, Udacity, Coursera, and StraighterLine have already tasted success in this category owing to their role in reforming the educational process with the use of video and advanced web platforms to make learning more affordable and effective. Taking a cue from their international counterparts, Indian online education platforms are following a similar path. They are providing unique advantages of digital learning like Video Content delivery, student-to-student interactions via video conferencing and virtual updating of textbooks to provide personalized attention to the new-age learner residing in the rural and semi-urban areas.  Of late, there is a lot of focus on gamification. Interactive online and offline tools are being developed to modernize the segment. Offline tools allow the students to access content without any internet connection or connectivity as low as 100 kbps. Not every student from the smaller cities or remote areas has the luxury of using the internet to take coaching with a tailor-made solution for his/her needs.  For such students, the offline study material is available at a certain price wherein students can avail individual modules in respective subjects.Students from rural India value good education and are eagerly waiting to excel in the field. Technology intervention allows them access to the best possible learning resources from across the world, at a very affordable price. The developing wave of adaptive learning facilitates the students with various levels of intellectual capabilities to garner vital skills at their own pace. Numerous coaching centers have also started developing quality study material that can be disseminated on an online platform. This is increasing the success ratio of people learning on online platforms exponentially. Moreover, for a country that depends on the development of its educational sector for its economic and social growth, a surge in switching to technology-driven education will amply propel rural India towards empowerment.The author, Aakash Chaudhry, is the director, Aakash Educational Services

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