Tag: Science

Class Saathi, Enabling The Critical Stakeholder: The Teacher

Posted on by clusterone 
“Yeh bachon ke padhayi ke level ko samajhne mein bohot zabardast hai aur woh bhi fataak se” (This device is too good at helping us understand student learning levels, and that too at lightning speed)

Mrs Meena, a Grade 5 math teacher in a Government School, Bhopal tells us even before presented with a question.

And this is precisely why we built Class Saathi. To enable existing teachers, who do not lack pedagogical knowledge, instead the hours lost in doing the administrative work.

Class Saathi gives these teachers that one smart tool, with no need for electricity or internet, that enables them to take well-informed data-backed decisions to increase student learning levels, engagement and attendance.

Happy students using Class Saathi clickers in Raj Bhavan School, Bhopal
Classroom engagement increased after using Class Saathi clickers

With more than 7 million students dropping out of the Indian education system and the context of public schools in India, it’s impossible for conventional smart school systems to reduce the learning gaps.

There is a dire need for a paradigm shift for teachers: from being Sage on the Stage, burdened by administrative tasks, to a side free from administrative tasks that allow strategic focus on learning outcomes.

Teachers and students benefiting from using Class Saathi clickers
Students and teachers benefit from Class Saathi

Class Saathi instantly connects all stakeholders and enables multiple feedback loops assisted by features using the power of AI. Enabled with a Learning Outcome Management System and Student Reports, students in a classroom learn effectively and increase teachers’ productivity.

In one of the early pilot tests with over 1000 students in the experimental group and over 500 students in the control group, we found that attendance and learning outcomes increased with Class Saathi in action by 10% and 8%, respectively, in just 30 days.

School girl using Class Saathi for quick assessment
School girl using Class Saathi for formative assessment

Motivated by the early success, Pankaj Agarwal (HBS Class of 2021) and his team at TagHive (a Samsung funded spin-off) have been doing multiple iterations while adding more features to empower teachers in transforming their role from “a sage on the stage” to that of “a guide on the side”.

Class Saathi Helps Students Feel Heard And Enables Teachers to Understand Them Better

Posted on by clusterone

Currently, in India, there is a gap of more than 20% between the literacy rates of folks from the tribal region, and the rest of the country. And with the context of public schools, it’s impossible for conventional smart school systems to reduce these learning gaps.

Class Saathi was created to do just this, to provide personalized education to students, irrespective of their demographics. It is a combination of a clicker for each student and a mobile app for teachers, parents and administrators.

Students in morning assembly in Haite Memorial Friendship School in Mualdam, Assam
Morning assembly at Haite Memorial Friendship School in Mualdam, Assam

Case in point, one of the tribal schools (Haite Memorial Friendship School) in Mualdam, Assam, serves 198 students from nearby ten villages, including a village of a rare and small tribe called Biate tribe.

Run by The Sunbird Trust, an organization that empowers schools in conflict regions in the Northeastern region of India; this is a school that we wanted to explore working with since it is situated in one of the most remote regions in the country.

TagHive demonstrated the ability of Class Saathi to take attendance and quizzes in the classroom that had no internet or electricity, with teachers of Maths and Science from the school.

Class Saathi orientation at Sunbird Trust school in Assam
Class Saathi orientation in a remote school

As teachers and students solved questions together, we saw teachers find the existing learning gaps and think about how they can plan their upcoming classes and strategies. While this happened, we noticed something beautiful happen parallelly. Students who were earlier shy to respond in a regular classroom were responding to questions by pressing the clicker.

In a way, Class Saathi created a safe space for them to feel heard and understood. It will build more confidence in the students to express their opinions, and just like that, the engagement within the classroom would increase.

Pankaj Agarwal (HBS Class of 2012) and his team at TagHive (a Samsung funded spin-off) are now excited about upcoming collaborations with Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha state governments.

These collaborations will allow them to build this confidence in over 5 million students while enabling over 100,000 teachers and administrators to analyse and execute student-centric education.

TagHive is also keen to continue exploring collaboration with even more schools in need with Sunbird Trust, and we’re very excited to hear from teachers in that school:

Hudson Ngamlai, Science teacher at Haite Memorial Friendship School in Mualdam, Assam

Hudson Ngamlai (Science teacher) –

Class Saathi has helped me prepare homework and check prior knowledge of the class.

The AI-powered quizzes and concept notes allow us to understand a particular subject better.

Class Saathi works without internet or electricity, which will, in turn, help our students a lot.

Ruby Sam, Lead Teacher at Haite Memorial Friendship School in Mualdam, Assam

Ruby Sam (Lead Teacher) –

I’m excited to use Class Saathi in our school. It enables us to find each student’s learning gaps & progress in no time.

It brings an inclusive learning environment for all students and provides an equal opportunity for students to respond.

Our school is located in a highly remote location, but since Class Saathi works seamlessly in such sites, I’m excited to use it.

Prevent Encouragement From Being Pressured With These Tips!

Posted on by clusterone

Sometimes in the excitement to encourage your child, you may put pressure on them. It can be tricky to toe the line between encouragement and pressure and to help you avoid a troubling situation later, we have put together a list of tips you can use to ensure your child feels only enough pressure to learn and nothing more!

Work overload
Workload photo created by wayhomestudio
  1. Do not force your interests on them – It is only natural that you as a parent may want to pass on your passion to your children. However, you must remember that children have their own dynamic interests that you may have no awareness of. See this as an opportunity for you to learn a new skill, hobby, or interest and in doing so, you’re building something in tandem with your child!
  2. Give them space to explore – If you cater to your child’s interests, be prepared not to see instant results or performance. Honing skills and interests is a time-intensive process. If you monitor your child for results, then they feel pressured to perform without having had enough time or space to explore these interests and they may feel like they are not good enough to pursue them at all!
  3. Feedback time – One way to really encourage instead of pressure your child is to schedule a regular feedback session with them. Do this exercise once a week so they can tell you where they are struggling, if they need more support from you or if they feel burnt out by their workload. This is also a good time to teach your child that you are open to receiving feedback as well!
  4. Make outdoor activities compulsory – Any type of activity that gives them a break from chasing their academic pursuits should be a mandatory part of their day. Encourage them to fulfil their social needs and play outdoors. Essentially anything that takes them away from the grind at least for some bit of the day!
  5. Give space for failure – Teaching children to accept failure as part of their learning curve may seem tough, but it’s important. They feel more encouraged and motivated if there is space to fail along with room to grow. This is all evolutionary and equally important for children to experience.

Giving children space and time is never a threat to their growth. In fact, the only way you can ensure your child learns and learns with passion is if you give them enough space.

There will always be times when you will have to step in and take the reins. But remember, pressure makes a diamond only if exerted in controlled measures and that is the kind of encouragement children also need.

How to Teach your Children Foundational Numeracy from a Young Age?

Posted on by clusterone

Foundational numeracy is the ability of a person to understand number systems in ways that are used in everyday life. What it also means is that a person who can make safe financial decisions and make sense of numbers that drives their everyday lives from being able to pay for things, to counting items that they purchase or making solid financial decisions about saving/ spending and the likes. Foundational numeracy relies heavily on a person’s mental Math skills and there are so many fun ways to learn it!

How soon can you teach a child how to do all these things? The answer is at the earliest! Here are some tips that you can use which will help your child not just learn foundational numeracy but also ace at it.

Follow these tips to help your child learn numeracy at a young age:

  1. Leverage the use of money – Currency is a good way to teach numeracy to kids. Children understand spending money to acquire an item of interest. Mix it up with savings and teach them how to manage their finances and boom, you have a successful mission. Help them set up a home savings account. You can also make it creative by helping them maintain a passbook that shows them exactly how much money they have on them. 
  2. Board games – Board games are not just fun; they are also informative. Aside from teaching children the virtue of patience and applied knowledge, what it also does is help students gather more refined skills such as foundational literacy. Invest in games like Monopoly to leverage their interest and then build on it!
  3. Give them minor accounting tasks – If you are at a grocery store and the cashier generates a bill, give it to your child and ask them to help you with calculations. When you’re doing any financial transactions, enlist their help in calculating the amount you need to pay or the amount you need to return. These are great ways in which you can sharpen their mental math skills as well!
  4. Use a mental math chart – There are plenty of resources available on the internet that allow children to pick up skills that are outside their school curriculum. There are websites from where you can download worksheets to teach and learn. If you attach a reward to this method, it makes it easier for a child to engage with the process also.
  5. Abacus – Sending your child to abacus lessons can be critical in helping them understand key mathematical concepts later on. Abacus classes help students learn systems that can simplify mathematical computations and it is essential that they are allowed to explore these diverse opportunities as well.

There are a lot of creative ways in which you can teach children concepts like functional numeracy. It is only a matter of engaging them in ways they want to learn.

If you are a parent or teacher who enjoys creative ways of teaching and learning, then do write to us with suggestions! For the others, we are here to help you with tips and tricks that can make learning look easy!

AI is the Future of Education

Posted on by pankaj.harvard
Brain circuit
Brain technology photo created by rawpixel.com

The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the shift to tech-enabled learning, even though it may not have been the most desirable driving force. However, the pandemic pushed tech integration into the field of education.

Companies across the world are happy about this since they can now show the world what technology can do if used in its most essential forms. Before we get into how AI technology plays a role in education, we will understand what AI means!

AI System definition, history, and the likes:

Manual effort in certain areas can drive very little change, especially on a larger scale. Automating some human tasks can maximize impact and reach a larger scale.

For all those tasks, we make use of Artificial Intelligence. While AI systems may perform tasks that we generally associate with humans, it is humans who build the framework that allows for AI principles to function!

AI is a determining tool that uses data to make recommendations, and decisions and also arrive at evidence-based research findings all in seconds. It can save time and a lot of valuable human resources that can be used in other domains of functioning. It can also help people make decisions based on risks and rewards. So, these are just a few of the vast capabilities that AI can power. 

With the right frameworks, AI can do things efficiently, very effectively, and on a massive scale.

Robotic hand
Robot hand photo created by rawpixel.com

AI in Education:

Keeping all the aforementioned points in mind there are a few things that we can be sure that AI does- 

  1. It helps teachers understand not just the needs of their students but also more personal things about their students. For instance, teachers can learn through AI where a student’s learning interests are.
  2. AI gives evidence-based reports to teachers rather quickly so teachers can foster collaboration with their students.
  3. AI is what is revamping and revolutionizing assessments right now. What AI does is use assessments as a diagnostic tool that reflects on a child’s learning needs instead of using it as an indicator of their capabilities.
  4. AI as a feedback tool is more reliable, free from bias and cancels out any human error in the estimation process. When feedback is based solely on a student’s performance, they tend to rely on it more than any other form of feedback.
  5. AI helps eliminate boundaries. AI does not see geographical boundaries. It can be used anytime anywhere, truly inspiring the idea that AI is a global experience.

There is a lot about AI that is still under research and development but what we have in the markets and in access these days makes use of some very optimal tools to give students an experience they will enjoy.

Innovation drives artificial intelligence, and with proper coaching, students learn to enjoy the methodology behind it. What AI also does is inspire and it is important now more than ever that students appreciate their opportunities to learn and act on them with performance, drive, and passion!

Help Your Child Manage Their Learning With These Tips!

Posted on by pankaj.harvard
Students in classroom
Photo by javier trueba on Unsplash

Children require a lot of attention when they are pursuing academic interests and it is not the kind of attention that you think they need. Having parents spend every learning moment with them can cause children to lose focus, feel suffocated and also dislike the process.

For the sake of this article, we researched and put together a list of 5 things that work in helping your child manage their schoolwork and here’s also why these are important.

1. Time management

Children need to be taught time management from early on as it brings discipline to the growing and learning process. Help them build a timetable and hold them accountable for it. Avoid being the one who fills in the timetable for them, that is for them to figure out.

However, you can oversee to ensure there is school-play balance and also time for some extracurricular activities. It would also help if you had a time management chart so that you can lead by example!

2. Create space for open communication

When your child feels burnt out or pressured, they should be able to articulate it to you. Children who cannot do that grow up to entertain more stress and anxiety.

Managing a timetable also means looking at the tasks at hand and being able to say “it is too much for today, I will work on it when I have more mental energy”. This also teaches them the importance of rest.

3. Befriend the school and teachers

Do not be one of those parents who calls their child’s teachers every day. Be friendly enough with the teachers to know how your child is doing in school, if they’ve noticed any behavioural changes or if they have some tips for your child to follow.

It is important you do so primarily because you can intervene wherever necessary without badgering your child too much. It is also good if you communicate regularly with the school so that you are aware of all the developments and opportunities that are available to your child at school.

4. Help them think long-term

Management essentially means building a process today so that the outcomes are fruitful tomorrow. When your child is building their routine or expressing their interests, ask them to think about it long term as well.

For example, if your child wants to learn a new language, first ask them if they can continue pursuing these interests through multiple other engagements and how they seek to benefit from it in the long term. You can also help them by finding the answers to some of these questions for them!

5. Do not overschedule

Your child may be good at multiple things but it is important for them to find time for it. Also, as parents, you may want your child to fulfil each one of their interests but in the worst-case scenario, you may end up turning an interest into a chore. Helping your child manage their time also means teaching them to prioritise their immediate needs and make space for other pursuits in the future.

Parents, learning goes beyond teaching charts and sitting with them while they learn. It is also about giving space, learning when to hold your child accountable and also giving in to their interests if they show interest along with commitment. We hope these tips will help you and your child!

Teach Your Children to Love Maths With These Tips!

Posted on by pankaj.harvard
Math textbook page
Photo by Deepak Gautam from Pexels

Mathematics or Maths for short, has been an item of absolute terror for students across generations. There is no easy way to say this, but Math, you are more feared than loved.

Before you read the above sentences and agree with us, remember that this is the fear that you can prevent your children from embodying and you could break the bad spell surrounding Maths. Want to know how? We have a list of five tips you can use!

1. Lead the change you want to see –

If you have had a bad experience with Maths and you constantly narrate it to your children, then they start internalizing a fear for the subject. This is something that you may want to prevent.

Granted that Maths may not have been easy for you but the goal is to make sure your child does not approach the subject with any preconceived fears. Maths anxiety is real and very catchy.

2. Know what they need to know and by when –

We assign a specific set of math skills that a child needs to know for each grade or level. For instance, kindergarten Maths will require number recognition and your child will need to know how to conceptualize numbers through examples; they should be able to count out five apples in a basket of ten. Knowing what they need to know is useful when you want to complement their school learning with activities at home.

3. Allow them to learn through conceptual experiences –

Learn Math as a life skill, not just a textbook concept. If your child is old enough to own a bank account, help them set up one. Additionally, you could ask them to keep track of their savings with the passbook and also teach them to calculate various things such as interest rates. This fun way allows you to see Math being used live in action! It also dispels fear if you reward it through their savings account.

4. Board Games are fun when it comes to Maths –

There are plenty of fun board games that require the use of applied Mathematics for victory. Games like Monopoly are not just great family games but will also teach your kids to appreciate the finesse with which Maths is being used everywhere, especially for fun!

5. Avoid Tuitions for performance –

Tuitions the way we have experienced are the most detrimental experiences for students who want to learn Maths. We send students for tuitions in the country only in the event that they are doing very poorly at it. A child forced into tuition will believe that they are incompetent at that subject.

Introduce tuitions as a concept to help them hone their skills instead of a method to discipline learning. It may be difficult to find a teacher who can help your student this way but till you do, avoid standardised tuition practices.

Math is only as scary as we make it, and we must treat it with confidence and respect. There’s no point fretting about a subject like Math that is highly misunderstood.

So much of Maths is a learner’s paradise and it is time we demystify the subject for now and forever! If you need help with that, start using our app, Class Saathi: MCQ Revision App. It’s for students in Class 3-10, free with 30K+ practice questions!

How to Keep Strong Student Engagement in Class?

Posted on by pankaj.harvard

While teachers do their best on most occasions, it can be difficult to keep a classroom fully engaged in a 45-minute teaching session. What works to a disadvantage these days is also the fact that increased digital time has resulted in reduced attention span in children.

As educators, it can be frustrating to have one child distracted in class who inevitably distracts other students too. Want to know how to be engaging in class and retain attention? Read on to find out!

1. Ice Breakers

Illustration showing ice breaking with hammer for jigsaw puzzle pieces

Ice breakers are a good way to refresh young minds from learning fatigue. Children sit in classrooms all day learning subjects and concepts throughout. It can be tedious for them to switch gears and maintain the same level of focus for each class. So, having ice breakers will give them something to focus on and give them a mental break from the stress of constantly having to be present!

2. Switch up teaching styles

Students learning outdoor
Outdoor Learning

Do not rely only on one method of teaching to help your students. Students respond to variety and if you enlist the use of audiovisual content, outdoor teaching activities and the like, you are at a great advantage of being able to retain their energy.

3. Peer learning is key when all else fails

Exchanging ideas
Exchange of Ideas

What can truly work in moments of absolute desperation is peer learning. You can split them up into groups and have students learn concepts in that group. What you can also do is announce a group quiz contest after the teaching session to drive some enthusiasm in class.

4. Announce a formative assessment

On days when the classroom energy is low, you can use formative assessments as a bolt of energy to reawaken your class. When there is a test around the corner, students will find themselves being more alert and responsive.

5. Education Apps (Class Saathi by TagHive)

QR code to download Class Saathi app
Scan to download Class Saathi

We live in a world with apps and only apps and one thing we can rely on when all else fails is the use of educational apps. This is not just a fun way to engage students but it can also help them learn concepts more easily.

There are a dozen ways to manage, motivate and measure students and the best way to do it is in ways that they are happiest responding to. The idea is not to create an environment of fear where children are forced to learn.

Instead, having an ecosystem that takes into account what the students are feeling and helping them by enlisting resources that work best for them will make learning in the classroom a far more enjoyable process!

AI Helps Make Students Learn Simpler

Posted on by pankaj.harvard
Class Saathi AI helps students learn simpler
Learn with Saathi AI

Artificial Intelligence is all about what makes life easy. To use it is a privilege and the world over technocrats are rallying to make AI an everyday part of our lives. This holds true, especially in the field of education and nowhere is AI more useful than here. Here are the top five ways in which AI builds frameworks that help students learn simpler.

1. Everything is data driven –
AI does not know how to operate on bias. This is the first major advantage as it prevents students from feeling bias that can otherwise originate in a classroom.

AI tracks, scores, and records every single activity on any learning platform almost instantly, heavily basing learning recommendations on evidence. This makes for a transparent and transformational learning experience.

2. AI can break things down to their simplest form –
If AI can quickly identify learning gaps in each student, it can also present information in a digestible manner based on their grasping power.

AI has evolved to such a degree that it can also cater to students who struggle with learning disabilities and give them information in ways that they can consume it the best! What an absolutely remarkable achievement!

3. AI can record pace and help students widen their knowledge base –
AI can also record the pace at which a student learns. It can do this for each individual student even if a learning platform caters to over 10 million students.

It can identify the pace at which a student learns and formulate an intelligent framework that can help students increase their pace so that they can retain more information as time goes on!

Overall results in Maths contest
Skills results in Maths contest

4. A diagnostic tool –
We have built AI to support effective learning for all students. There is not a more diverse or inclusive learning environment you will find anywhere in the world.

We use and leverage AI as a diagnostic tool for student learning in various ways, such as checking for learning disabilities.

5. Global access to resources –
The world has become a smaller place with technology and this means that students can access resources from anywhere in the world. With AI, students can access learning resources from anywhere in the world at any time.

It is okay to be suspicious of technology but allow that fear and suspicion to stem from an educated space. Earlier, technology was considered a distraction from tasks and goals. Now, however, it is recommended as a system that allows students to learn most optimally. Now check out our app Class Saathi which enables students to learn most optimally!

5 Ways AI is Used in Modern Education

Posted on by pankaj.harvard
Source: Pixelplex

In today’s world, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are what drive innovation in various sectors. Earlier, AI and ML were seen as independent of the field of education. However, since the pandemic, most educators are of the opinion that technology is what should drive education.

In the field of education, innovators face a more conservative playing field as disrupting a standardized field can be challenging. 

But, innovation in education technology has boomed across the world and what schools and academia are relying on these days are all tools and instruments that have artificial intelligence at its core. Now that we have established that premise, let us see the 5 ways in which AI is used in education these days.

1. Personalised Learning –

This word has been flying around in the ed-tech space for quite some time now. What is it about personalised learning that drives the core of innovation in companies across the field?

To begin, there is a competition to harness the full potential of artificial intelligence in creating a unique learning experience for each student through digital platforms.

Companies have built frameworks not just to record the learning levels of students but it is also possible now to predict scores and the time taken by each student to answer a question!

2. The Power of Now – 

Everything driven by technology is powered to save time. That is the principle that most AI-based tools use to drive learning across the field. Students no longer have to wait for days to receive answers to their questions.

There are apps that can use AI to record a student’s aptitude based on which it gives them revision content and practices questions to take them to the next level. Students do not have to wait till an examination to see their learning gaps. They have a system that publishes information about it in a matter of seconds and students can use this to tutor themselves!

3. Diagnostic Tool –

Students need not wait months to understand and rectify their learning gaps. Today, they can download AI-powered learning apps like Class Saathi and take quizzes. Once a student starts responding to questions, the app makes notes to track their progress and identify their learning gaps. Once the test is over, the app will make recommendations on where the student needs to improve and what concepts they need to especially focus on to close the knowledge gap!

4. Key Automation Technology –

The recent shift to technology-based education has shown educators across the globe that it is important to move to this method to save time. What teachers lacked during the global pandemic was a reserve of time and they relied on digital resources to guide them through.

Complicated and time-consuming things like report generation for each individual student can be compiled in seconds. What’s even better is that there are different ways in which teachers can automate their daily redundant tasks like attendance for that matter or even conducting pop quizzes with only a minute taken to create it.

5. 24×7 and 365 days – 

Technology-based learning offers global accessibility, allowing leverage anytime and anywhere. The world of education is a smaller place because of technology and we must all be more thankful for it.

Gone are the days when students had to spend long hours in libraries for research or attend tuition classes for revision. Everything that is to do with education is instant these days and AI has made that possible!

Are you as excited about Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning? Download the Class Saathi app and let us know what you think about the different AI frameworks that govern the app!