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Posted on August 8, 2016 by Edsys

Creative classroom can help students to attain higher levels of learning. Teachers should also be highly talented to make their students smart enough.

At creative classrooms, students are more likely to bring out their varied ideas and innovative solutions and thus learn much faster. However, there is a misconception that creativity is something related to arts. A teacher can do a lot in generating creativity among students. But the fact is that creativity is innovation and thinking outside the box.

Recommended Read: How SMART Learning is Changing Classrooms

Here are certain Ideas to develop a Creative Classroom –

1. Start a Story

Start telling or writing an interesting story. The story should include characters that the students are familiar with, just like a Chota Bheem or Mickey Mouse. Stop the story at half. Let your students complete the story using their imagination. Make sure to appreciate their imaginative power. You can also make them draw images of the characters involved in the story.

2. Arrange Conferences

Arrange mini conferences, if possible at least every quarter. This will provide an opportunity for teacher to praise each student and assist them finding the areas they are weak in. For instance, if a student participates in very less activities point out the number of activities he participated in the last quarter and offer him gifts if the count increases by next quarter. Make sure to talk individually to each student.

3. Conference Reminder

This activity is the continuation of the previous one. In the next day or few days after the conference, choose a time when kids are free. Provide them a sheet of paper and ask to write about the things that were discussed in the conference. Kids will try to remember the incident.

4. Make a List of Bonus Reward Privileges

Make a list of reward privileges just as few extra minutes in the playground or a chance to become a class leader. These privileges should be written in cards and place them in a treasure box. Students who earn any sort of rewards can choose a card from this list. This will encourage all students to earn certain rewards so that they can get a bonus reward.

Read Also: 19 Smart Classroom Management Strategies for Teachers

5. Provide Certificates Too

Other than regular report cards, you can provide few standard certificates. While report cards look only for higher marks in the exam, these certificates can help to reward students who reached their reading goals, who did their class job regularly or even who keeps their desk most clean.

6. Vacation Activities with the Letter

Send a list of interesting activities along with the letter for the students before the start of the new school year. However mention that the activities are optional and it is not mandatory for them to get that done. However those students who attempted to do those activities should be appreciated on the first day of school. An appreciation letter or even a small surprise gift will make the kid happy and will be encouraged to do such activities further.

7. Arrange a Field Trip

Arrange a trip somewhere nearby so that the students can be free from the classrooms, heavy text books and endless lessons for a while. Make sure each one enjoys the place you visit and participate in the game activities you arrange. Later, you can ask them to write a review of the trip. They can also include their opinion about the games played and suggestion on how to improve them in the next trip.

A creative classroom ideas can stimulate the student’s minds and make them better learners as well as thinkers. More visual materials and activities can make your students more active. More creative classroom ideas can improve child’s interest in learning new things and they will respond positively to the environment.

Posted on August 2, 2016 by Edsys

Digital classrooms are a modern-day pedagogy method that brings the concept of “Show me and I understand” closer to home. This innovative and meaningful use of technology is transforming the way teachers teach and students learn in schools.Smart classroom Tools are a success because visually attractive methods of teaching engage the audio-visual senses and are proven to be more appealing to the students. This method of teaching helps students to break out of their shells and become good communicators. Listed below are a few classroom tools/websites that are essential for a transformational learning experience

Free Classroom Activity Apps (Check it Now)

Let’s start with the basic tools:

1. Desktop or Laptop

The use of familiar technology like desktop or laptop makes students feel more comfortable and confident. In a digital classroom a desktop or laptop acts as the central system that stores information and also essential for managing lessons. With the help of a projector the pre-loaded lessons can be maximized onto a big screen and can be taught with ease.

2. Document Camera/Visualisers

A visualizer or document camera is a simple to use and flexible digital learning tool that allows teachers to project documents on large screens. This much sought after tool helps to display a wide variety of information ranging from a page in a book, a scientific diagram, a flower in all its glorious color or any other specimen and gives a clearer view to help students understand complex features.

3. Interactive Whiteboard

Whiteboards have replaced the traditional black boards and a digital classroom without an interactive white board is incomplete. A teacher can project any subject on the touch-sensitive whiteboard surface with the help of a projector and a computer; they can conduct lessons using their finger or with a pen or stylus. Made to match with the growing exposure of children to smart phone and other technology, the whiteboard comes with an exciting range of features that add a sense of excitement to each classroom session.

Must Read: 19 Smart Classroom Management Strategies for Teachers

4. Interactive Projector

The interactive projector is a portable solution that helps convert any surface (existing projector screens, whiteboards, or wall surface) into an interactive surface. An interactive pen will come in handy to draw, point or click just by touching the screen directly.

5. Simple Projector

You can turn any plain flat surface into an interactive one with a simple projector. A projector connected to a computer or laptop can display the content on a computer’s screen on to a whiteboard or a screen.

6. Digital Camera

Teachers can use digital cameras to enhance education inside and outside of the classroom. Digital cameras make learning a fun and cognitive experience as the lessons require students to plan what pictures to take during various events such as field trips, visits to historical or geographical areas of importance and more, thus improving their learning experience.

7. Graphic Tablets

Tablets and e-readers are very popular with students. These devices not only encourage reading, but also gives students the option to refresh their lessons at any given time. Amazon Kindle and other devices offer a built in dictionary, links to additional resources and more.

8. Big Interactive LED/LCD Panels

Children love interactive screens. It does not matter if it is a television, video console or computer screen. Digital learning involves 2D and 3D animations, graphics, audio and video presentations for every subject and a smart classroom that is digitally equipped with big interactive LED or LCD panels can better project these graphic representations.

9. Multimedia Pens/Stylus

A multimedia pen or stylus is a great tool to support a child’s creative genius. These handy tools can be used to create art work or to add more precise text or drawings to an image or diagram. These innovative tools keep children engaged for hours and enables learning at the same time.

10. Wireless Microphone for Convenience

A wireless microphone eliminates the shackles of dealing with long coils of electric wires, which often lead to children tripping and falling. Wireless microphones let you be more mobile and allows you to be hands-free.

11. Speakers

No more “Last bench, can you hear me?” questions. Speakers ensure that you are audible to the whole class and no one misses out on important points.

12. Student Response System

Save time and cut down on paper cost with a Student response system. Great for a classroom with large number of students, these systems help evaluate student aptitudes accurately within few seconds.

13. Feedback Assessment Tools

AnswerGarden, Ask3 and Animoto are popular Feedback assessment tools which are ideal for online brainstorming or polling. Teachers can use these Apps to analyze a student’s thoughts or review answers to specific questions.

14. Educational Software

There are many educational software that support major academic curriculum. These software also enable educators to streamline the student admission process, automate attendance, set exam schedules and many such activities.

15. Digital Podium

A digital podium is a modern day lecture stand that comes equipped with various media components/devices that enable an uninterrupted learning session. Some of the components are a public addressing system fitted with amplifier, speaker and mic. The podium also comes with integrated UPS for uninterrupted power supply, a lecture recording system, and ample storage space for visualizer, keyboard drawer and more.

16. Printer

A printer is an important part of creating colorful assignments, reports or crafts and students are more enthusiastic about seeing their work in all its colorful glory. Even if classrooms have advanced to the stage of going completely digital, we still can do without printer.

17. OMR (Optical Mark Reader) Scanner

OMR scanners are used for scanning OMR sheets or forms, especially useful while conducting examinations for a large group of students. These OMR scanners can also save scanned images on computer which are then processed by the OMR software.

18. Cloud-Based Communication Systems

The use of cloud-based communication systems in digital classrooms through video conferencing and unified communications platforms can transform students to virtual field trips they wouldn’t be able to take otherwise.

You May also Like: How SMART Learning is Changing Classrooms

Here are some cool Websites that optimize learning and teaching:

19. Skype

Skype has revolutionized the world of video conferencing and it’s “In the Classroom” program enables teachers to expand their curricula beyond classrooms. Skype also acts as a platform that allows students to interact with international speakers and educators. The fun “Mystery Skype,” educational game involves two classrooms that must guess the location of their Skype partner by asking each other questions.

20. iThoughts

iThoughts is Apple’s mind-mapping App that allows educators to visually see and understand how students think while discussing ideas or coming up with solutions.

21. Kahoot

Teachers can combine fun and learning by designing questionnaires, surveys, quizzes and other interactive games with Kahoot. Students can participate or answer questions using a range of devices. Kahoot is also popular among teachers across the globe as it help in speeding up the learning process especially that of foreign languages.

22. Google Knowledge Graph

Google Knowledge Graph provides live online tutorials, lesson plans, interactive class materials and many resources for educators. New developments in Google Knowledge Graph, such as Voice Search and Carousel, have made this product even more user-friendly. The “A Google A Day,” daily trivia challenge is a great way for educators to incorporate research-skills practice into a fun daily activity.

23. Empressr

Empressr is a free online application that allows students/teachers to create visually rich presentations. This is an easy to use presentation generator that allows users to easily incorporate flash and other media into their presentations.

24. Socrative

Socrative supports educators with a range of useful tools like student performance tracker, speedy and automatic grading tools, real time information reports, personal learning community, and more. Download app here http://www.socrative.com/apps.php

25. Present.me Edu

Present.me offers a fun way to encourage students to get involved in their own learning by creating visually rich presentations.

26. Wikispaces

Wikispaces is a social writing platform that makes it easy for students and teachers to work side by side on various writing projects. Wikispaces works great on modern browsers, tablets etc., and can be used to measure student contribution and engagement in real-time.

27. HaikuLearning

Haiku is a free cloud-based education site for teachers that provides content sharing, assignments, feedback, grading, and other rich tools for the classroom.

28. Cacoo (cacoo.com)

Cacoo is very useful in a wide variety of academic disciplines. You can collaboratively create and edit flowcharts and diagrams online real time with this very useful tool.

29. Yammer

Work in groups, share files, co-edit content and more with Yammer.com’s free Basic plan.

Posted on July 28, 2016 by Edsys

Grabbing students’ attention in a classroom is not easy for a teacher. Ideal classroom management strategies can help.

Getting students to stay interested and engaged in a classroom is not that easy. Classroom management issues are a great concern, especially for beginning teachers. Reliable smart classroom management strategies are crucial to create a successful learning environment, where students are free from disruptions, distractions and threats to safety and well -being.

Free Classroom Activity Apps (Check it Now)

Motivation plays a crucial part in managing students. While intrinsic motivation is a response to needs that exist within the student, extrinsic motivation refers to external rewards on the completion of a task.

Must Read: Top 12 Classroom Management Tips

Relevance of Classroom Management is Important to –

• Create a positive learning environment that students feel safe

• Manage class time most effectively

• Engage students in lectures thus boosting confidence

• Organized learning opportunities

• Manage classroom resources in an effective manner

Optimize Student Learning and Achievement with These 19 Strategies

These strategies also impact the student’s life outside of the classroom.

1. Maintain Positive Attitude

Be positive minded. Teach each lesson with a positive mind frame. A negative approach towards your students can provide negative results. Be strict, but be positive. However, too much control can spoil everything.

2. Use Some Signals to Get Attention

Teachers can use any word, signal or sound to grab student’s attention during class. Popular signals include hand signal, where teacher raises his/her hand and waits for complete silence in the classroom, bells, whistles, turn off the lights, or even claps. Make sure not to continue with your lessons until all the students listen to you.

3. Make Changes in Seating Arrangement

Changes in the seating chart can bring in the discipline in your class. It is the cheapest form of managing our class. Make sure to seat the children where their attention is directed towards you. They should be able to clearly see board and screens as well.

4. Update your Lesson Plan

You should also learn the skills you need to successfully plan and teach motivating lessons. Updated lessons and course structure is essential to the process of teaching and learning. A new teacher must be ready to spend the necessary time developing interesting lessons.

5. Give and Take Respect

To be respected by your students you should also respect them. A warm, personal greeting for each student at the beginning of the day and a farewell at the end would be good. Also, have the general talk with them. Know what the student does at home. Do he read, plays games or even watch TV.

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6. Get them Involved in Extracurricular Activities

You can arrange some extracurricular activities outside the classroom at regular intervals. Evaluate the games your students enjoy the most. Ask every student to participate in those activities in one or the other way. This will also help the students to realize that you are there to encourage them.

7. Compliment positive Behaviors

Instead of correcting a student’s negative attention, ignore his behavior and praise the students. While praising the hardworking student, the other students will most likely copy the model student’s activities so that the teacher will also praise him.

8. Silence is the Right Tool

Shouting at the unruly students will be of no use. It is ideal to use a calm and quiet voice, which reflects your emotions and tone. By remaining silent, students will realize that their teacher values their conversation and respect them to let them finish.

9. Create a Guideline for Disciplinary Measures

Your students should have enough freedom in their class. But at the same time, they should be aware of the after effects of certain actions. When they know what repercussions come with certain behaviors, they are less likely to act out.

10. Balance Friendliness and Position

Maintain the right mix of authority and friendship in your class. Be friendly to your students and advise them in difficult situations. But remember you are the authoritative figure in the room.

11. Stick to the Decided Rules

If you are not ready to follow the rules you set, how your students would follow. Never compromise in the decided measures. Stay steady with your student discipline approach. This will help in stopping students from repeating offenses.

12. Punish the Right Candidate

It would never be fair to punish an entire class, even if it seems that all of them are misbehaving. Choose the right kids who are providing directions. Punishing the class as a group only provokes further conflict.

13. Bring Hard Situations to Light

Handling problematic situations would be difficult for a beginner. In certain cases, talking to the students’ parents will be the right action to take. You can also take help from experienced colleagues.

14. Change the Possible, Leave the Rest

Your class may not be perfect when compared to others. That doesn’t mean that they are not learning. Certain things may be out of your control. Don’t be scared to experiment. Try to turn the negative to positive. Don’t worry about the rest.

15. Try Creative Activities

Make students do creative activities. Provide them ideas. Guide them how to do. For instance, you can make them hang seasonal symbols in the classroom for each season. Celebrate each time they get a compliment from staff member or a visitor.

16. Teach them Social Skills

Teach them social skills such as raising hands, taking turns and sharing them as a part of the learning course. Provide reminders so that they will remember the taught skills.

17. Identify each Student’s Strength

Create opportunities to reveal each kid’s hidden talents and interests. Make sure the student is prepared to exhibit his expertise in the subject.

18. Use Simple Language

The classroom is not the place for teachers to exhibit their language fluency and expertise. Talk to students in a very simple language so that they will clearly understand your instructions. This improves their confidence as well.

19. Provide more Visual Content

Rather than theory, it is far better to use visual aids like charts, images and graphs. Visuals will stay in their mind for a long time than just text materials.

Remember that the major principle behind classroom management is to deal with students’ disruptive behavior and teaching them how to manage their own behavior.

Posted on July 25, 2016 by Edsys

Black board and white chalks that ruled classrooms have opted for retirement in this increasingly complex, information-rich world. Modern day schools have scaled up the use of digitised pedagogical tools to meet the rising demands of Gen Z. New age gadgets like iPhones, tablets and laptops have become everyday teaching tools that aid in explaining complex theories to simple poems. Technology-aided demonstrations of subjects, earlier covered only through text and images, have increased students’ curiosity and learning capacity.

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10 Smart Apps for Preschoolers with Special Needs

Dawn of Technology-Based Learning Environments

Smart Learning or adaptive learning is changing classrooms by taking a different route from blind memorization and by creating more dynamic learning environments. Classrooms powered by adaptive learning technology encourage students to get up from their benches and explore the world and the wealth of knowledge it has to offer through interactive learning.

These technology-backed intelligent learning environments empower instructors to facilitate real-time dynamic mapping of an individual learners’ needs and also facilitate sequencing of personalized instruction to suit each learner’s abilities and characteristics. This also further aids in successfully providing remedial instructions.

Thousands of online smart learning websites offer innovative methods of imparting knowledge to students irrespective of their age by addressing the root cause of disinterest– Boredom.

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Is Smart Education the Future?

Boredom – Root Cause of Disinterest?

It has been proven time and again that learning is more effective when the instruction is personalised. Studies show that children get bored of classes as the subjects being taught are often found to be repetitive or uninteresting. Minimal interaction or one-sided communication often make the subjects being taught to be less interesting. The adaptation of smart learning connects instructors and students/peers in a whole new way as the sessions are interactive/participatory in nature. Smart learning makes it easy to identify individual talents and needs of each students making it much easier to help them realise their full potential.

The adaptive learning technology encompasses educational aspects derived from various fields of study including computer science, education, psychology, and brain science. These smart classroom tools help revive the interest of students by using multimedia tools like videos, interactive quizzes, games and more. These tools are non-linear in nature and are often designed in a visually attractive and fun way to capture the attention of students of all age groups and to deliver better learning outcomes.

Posted on July 21, 2016 by Edsys

Selecting a learning website is a crucial step for any learner to start their online education. The article provides a list of websites to choose from.

Technology has advanced in such a way that educational resources are now available anytime at anywhere. Several learning websites provide useful resources such as informative video tutorials, lectures, DIY guides, presentations, explanations in animated form which help students gain important skills, updated information and educational programs. Many sites offer free lessons to learn. However, choosing the right educational website is crucial.

Must Read: Is Smart Education the Future?

Here is a list of learning websites you can use –

1. TED Ed video library

This video library on YouTube includes a wide variety of educational videos designed specifically for learning community. Explanatory tutorials and animations created by educators and teachers cover a given topic. It also includes quiz and discussion questions.

2. Explania

This web platform provides animated explanations in videos and interactive infographics. A great resource for teachers and students, the videos cover topics including geography, biology and more. Users can also share these videos.

3. HowStuffWorks

It offers interesting and useful details on a wide variety of topics ranging from finance to electronics. For instance, even you can check how the car engine works in this site. It is commonly referred to as an edutainment website.

4. Coursera

One of the top online do-it-yourself learning websites, Coursera offers free learning courses from leading U.S. universities and is open to anyone. Upon completion, learners can get a completion certificate.

5. PhraseMix

The site helps students to learn English phrases in a new way. This helps students to improve their English reading and writing skills.

6.Poetry.RapGenius.com

Very useful for English literature students, the site includes poetry and literature from scholars. By clicking on a line in any given song, users can also see a user generated interpretation of the text.

7. Wikipedia.org

Although tutors do not recommend Wikipedia as a reference source in assignments, this popular online encyclopedia is a very useful tool for research in classroom assignments or project.

8. Time4Learning

A reliable website for homeschoolers, the website helps students from pre-classes through high school with teaching resources in diverse subjects including mathematics, language arts, social studies, and science.

9. Standard Deviants Accelerate

The site offers e-learning programs for middle and high school students. With resources such as video tutorials, it follows teach and re-teach system to help students learn, progress, and master a subject.

10. ShillerMath – Montessori Math at Home

Unlike other math programs, the site follows a Montessori approach. It offers three kits for Pre-K to Pre-Algebra and the lesson books are used as texts for teaching more than as workbooks.

11. FortunaPixs

The site‘s 3D digital education content including Life to Learning (L2L) videos and learning objects are helpful for global middle and high school sciences.

12. Science4Us.com

With over 350 online animated lessons, the website is ideal for K-2nd Grade. Well-organized and easy to navigate content with separate tabs for four areas of science, makes the website easy to use.

13. Learni.st

Accessible all the time, users can save resources into a media-rich board and even re-visit them without spending time for searching. This reliable platform is also included in TIME magazine’s best websites in 2012.

14. HowToLearn.com

This top learning site comes with clear information on how to learn and solve learning as well as reading problems. Users can also benefit from the FREE Learning Styles Quiz, tips, and resources for faster learning in all subjects.

15. Reading Eggs

Developed by experienced teachers, writers, animators and developers, the program is intended for kids aging 4 to 8. It teaches them how to read.

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16. TutorZ.com

This is an online tutoring referral service can help students and parents to find a private tutor. The site helps to easily find quality tutors at an affordable and better price.

17. Fascinating Education

This site can easily teach science including Biology, Chemistry and Physics using an audio-visual technique. The teaching approach uses brain’s ability to capture images than reading text.

18. The Happy Scientist

The site offers informative videos covering diverse topics including earth, space, physical science and more.

19. Read Naturally, Inc.

The website’s reading intervention strategy combines methods such as teacher-modeling, repeated reading and progress monitoring. Users can also choose sample lessons and other better reading resources.

20. Time4Writing

Time4Writing offers free online writing courses and resources for 2 to12th Grade. Students can improve their writing skills at all levels.

21. VocabularySpellingCity

Through engaging activities, the site allows learners to build their skills in vocabulary and spelling. Spelling games make it easy for the students to learn words better.

22. Openeducationsource.weebly.com

For home schooling, this free site offers educational resources for subjects including math, science, social studies, English and more.

23. ABCya!

Developed by expert teachers, this website provides free educational games for K-5 grades. With level lessons focused on math and language arts, it also helps to improve basic computer skills.

24. Freedom Project Education

Following a classical curriculum, this online school offers a complete education for students in Kindergarten to High School.

25. Open Culture

Ranging from science and art to math and economics, this site offers about 400 free online courses from leading universities such as Stanford, Columbia and Oxford University.

26. Drawspace

With interactive lessons, it provides techniques to improve drawing skills. PDF tutorials with step by step instructions are also useful.

27. Better Explained

Highly beneficial for high school and college students, the site offers visual explanations for math topics. Topics include calculus, natural logarithm, statistics and algebra.

28. Stanford Online

Stanford Online provides free online courses for lifelong learners around the world. Courses are for a wide array of topics such as human rights, language, economics, physics, engineering, software, and more.

29. University of the People

One among the top online learning websites, it provides university level education. Courses are tuition-free and small fee is required for certified degree exams.

30. Khan Academy

The academy provides opportunity for students to learn about any subject of their desire. The site can be easily handled, even for a school child.

31. W3 Schools

Designed for web design courses, this free e-Learning website teaches several programming languages including HTML, PHP, SQL and Jquery. A final test will help students to check their mastery in the learned course.

32. Codecademy

Enhanced accessibility to coding, is what the site aims at. This online interactive platform offers free coding classes for different languages such as Java, PHP and CSS.

33. ABCMouse

Suitable for home preschool concept, this online educational website for preschool and Kindergarten provides a complete curriculum for kids to improve their learning.

34. Sesame Street

The site includes video clips and play games for younger children that help them easily learn letters, rhymes, sounds, colors and more and more.

35. Make Me Genius

Aiming to make the student a genius, this online platform comes with kid-friendly videos that cover a wide variety of subjects, including photosynthesis, the nervous system, solar system and electricity.

Posted on July 11, 2016 by Edsys

With smart education in place, experts feel that repetition learning is likely to diminish in the coming years.

Technology has brought about a huge revolution in the education sector. Laptops, e-readers, and even e-learning apps are now part of everyday education. Thanks to the advanced learning solutions that generates smart students. Transformation from a class room with dusty duster and black board, chalk dust and a large cane to a smart class with LED, Dell computer, UPS and software teaching aid did not happen in a day. This smart education initiative has been supported by diverse technology brands by introducing various digital learning solutions.

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Impact of Technology in Education

School as well as college classrooms are now slowly inching towards advanced education, which rules out the most conventional method. Devices including document cameras and projectors make it possible for schools and colleges to implement instructions in smart classrooms.

Smartboards – This is an interactive white board which allows the teacher to project an image from a laptop to the front of the room and the teacher can digitally draw on that image.
Digital Podium – This advanced lecture stand is all-in-one smart classroom equipment features a Touch Monitor, Document Camera, Visualiser, Public Addressing (PA) System and Uninterrupted Power Supply.
Smart Class ICT – The solution includes K-12 Digital content, assessment suite introduced on a most advanced offline or online LMS. The content can be strictly mapped as per school course and can be further localized as per requirement.
Visualizers – Also known as document camera, this visual presenter is a real-time image capture devices that helps to display an object to a huge audience. The device can magnify and project the images of actual, three-dimensional (3D) objects as well as transparencies.

These educational products are highly beneficial for Teachers, Educators, Presenters, Trainers and Corporate Professionals.

Smart Classroom Market to Grow

The recent market research report from Technavio predicts the smart classroom market in India to grow at a CAGR of more than 20% during the forecast period of 2016 to 2020.

As per the report, initiatives taken by the Indian government play a key role in popularizing smart ways of learning.

As per the report –

With the exponential increase in use of everyday mobile devices in India, schools, colleges and other educational institutes might also implement Bring your own device (BYOD) policies in the near future.
To support their digital initiatives, teachers also require software to create e-learning content, which is likely to fuel the demand for learning products during the forecast period.
The top players in the market include Microsoft, Oracle, Samsung, Dell, Educomp, HCL Technologies, IBM, Lenovo, and more.

Adobe Supports Educator-Technology Partnership

A new report by software major Adobe indicates that India’s educational institutions should strengthen their partnerships with technical companies to create a reliable platform that can build a new generation of highly achieving students. The study is based on survey results participated by above 1,300 educators from the Asia Pacific. The survey reports that about 85% of educational institutions believed that it is important to provide a fostering environment that has the right mix of technology and education.

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Mobile Learning Apps – They are the Future

Instead of exams, studies and the tension behind all these, learning via portable devices such as smartphones and tablets is what students are getting comfortable with now and in the coming years. The m-learning concept is expected to be a boon for India’s education sector.

Some of the mobile learning apps are-

Microsoft OneNote – Though it looks just like a traditional notebook, it rocks interactive whiteboards. The notes teacher write on the board go directly into the notebook that they share with the students. The frontrunner for school note taking, this app also allows teachers to edit simultaneously. With diverse new features rolled out in the last few years, students can write notes, grab screenshots, and make to-do lists as well.
Evernote – Evernote is a tool that can be effectively used on iPad in classrooms. With its capacity to type, insert images, explain, and record sound, students can incorporate their iPad with Evernote in a number of ways.

Smart education is the future, where dusty, traditional classrooms are on its vanishing stage. Technology-supported learning environment can generate smart students.

Posted on May 25, 2016 by Edsys

Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another. John C. Maxwell

While some kids are good leaders by nature, other students need to be encouraged, role modeled, and nurtured to develop leadership skills. By being a leader, a child will develop qualities such as honesty, belief in one, dedication towards the task, being a good listener and positive attitude. Teachers, caregivers, parents and other family members can encourage the development of these qualities in early life.

Building Leadership in Kids – Teacher’s Role

Let us consider a school environment. Teachers can give children opportunities to serve in leadership roles. They can teach the skills necessary for children to take on leadership roles now and in the future

1. Leadership activities can help kids to-
2. Check the positive as well as negative aspects of their behavior
3. Identify areas where they lack courage and improve
4. Boost self-confidence
5. Express themselves to others correctly
6. Develop organizational skills

Certain ways to develop leadership skills in children include helping them learn to see different viewpoints in a situation which will help to manage multiple opinions in a group setting, teaching them to set goals and try to do their best at everything, helping them maintain a positive attitude even when others make things difficult or tell them they can’t achieve something and teaching them that mistakes will always happen and are a natural part of life and not to let the mistakes beat them down.

Activities That Teachers Can Adopt

Get FREE Teacher Apps (Check it Now)

1. “Create a New You” – The game requires materials such as a crayons, poster board/construction paper, magazines, scissors, and newspapers. Ask children to sketch themselves on the board or paper. Tell them to make identifications to clearly show that the picture is theirs.

They can use magazine or newspaper cut outs which include their favorite activities and food, pets, whatever makes them special and where they live. Once completed, children can present the poster to other children. This artistic activity will improve the kid’s confidence to lead.

2. “Same or Different” – This simple game doesn’t require any material. Ask the children to sit in a circle. Select one child to go first. The kid should be asked to point at someone in the circle who looks similar to him in appearance, hair style or even dress color. When the kid chooses one, ask him to point out what differences and similarities they have with one another. The game will help the teacher to explain that everyone has differences and everyone also has things that are the same.

3. “Move the Egg” – Divide the students into groups of four or five members. Students have to choose a leader for their team. Provide spoons and eggs for each participant. The leader should find an effective way to transfer the eggs from one point to another. While one child creates a line to pass the egg, other child might ditch the spoons and simply instruct the team members to run for it. The team that gets their eggs across the finish in a creative manner will win. The game helps to teach children how to lead their peers.

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4. “Lead the Blindfolded” – The game reveals the importance of communication skills in a leader. Choose a large indoor or outdoor area for this activity. Divide kids into two groups and provide them enough blind folds. Place the teams at opposite sides of the space and instruct everyone except one member of each team to put on a blindfold. The one member, who is not sporting a blindfold should lead his team across the field by providing clear commands. Make sure that each member in the team is getting a chance to lead the team in regular intervals. The team which successfully leads their members across their finish line wins.

5. “Charity Support” – Teacher can support charity activities by assisting the kids with planning a fundraiser. Assign each child with different tasks. While one student finds a worthy charity to support, the other one should find a space to have the fundraiser. And other should get donations. Along with teaching the importance of being a leader, the activity also help to learn about supporting worthy charities.

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6.“ Planning Strategies” – Planning strategies, taking time to discuss and create strategies are very vital leadership skills. Teach the student to split a large task into small groups. Assign them a large task just like conducting a class function. Show them a plan as to how to do it step by step. Many children can be involved so that they can share their task. Evaluate each kids job and provide suggestions for better improvement.

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7. ” Volunteer Roles” – Volunteering is a key on leadership roles. Talk to children about how they would like to help any one in need. Interested kids can be directed to organizations in your own community that may need assistance. For instance, if a poor family needs home, you might suggest students to collect fund that would help the poor family in any way. Teachers should make sure to choose volunteer opportunities that give children a chance to lead and work with other children.

8. “Untangle Human Knot” – Ask students to have a group and have them put one hand out and grab someone else’s hand. Once this is done, ask everyone to put their other hand out and grab someone else’s hand. The goal is to figure out how to untangle and create a big circle, without releasing their grips. Also assign few kids to help everyone get untangled.

9. “Just Listen” – This is a listening test. Agree on that you and your student (s) will not talk about yourselves for an entire day. Ask them only to listen to others, and in case if they talk, it should be about the other person with whom you are talking to. The game will force them to become completely others-minded. Also the listening skills will emerge. The activity will help to learn the power of focusing on others instead of themselves, which is the foundation of relational leadership

10. “A Quick Quiz” – This is an activity to build good habits. Prepare students to interact with others while on the trip. Just ask them to be ready to evaluate their experience when its over. Ask them questions like Do you remember the name of the dog we saw? What was it? Did you touch that dog? What is that owners name? and more.

Other artistic activities for exploring leadership include writing a poem about leadership, drawing cartoons, and creating a recipe for how to cook up leadership.

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Posted on May 17, 2016 by Edsys

“The discipline you learn and character you build from setting and achieving a goal can be more valuable than the achievement of the goal itself.”

Discipline plays a vital role in maintaining a civilized life. Proper discipline can significantly decrease unnecessary chaos existing in daily life. For the effective operation of an institution like a school, discipline is very much essential.

School discipline is a system of a certain code of conduct, behavior and punishments for regulating students and making school well organized. For making teaching learning process effective, the classroom environment must be favorable and opportune.

Must Read: Top 12 Classroom Management Tips

Here are the ten awesome tips to manage discipline issues:

1. Be Organized

If there is no proper organization in the classroom, kids feel bored and starts to misbehave. It will be better if the lessons are properly planned, make supplies ready and thus be organized in everything as possible. Always think about items that can be displaced and figure out a system that help to keep track of those items.

2. Deal with Problems Right from the Start

It is advisable to deal with problems before they become too large to handle. You can address each and every small issue happening in the classroom. A tiny mistake in discipline issue can be a nightmare in the future.

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3. Have Good Control Procedures

Certain good control procedures are developed to prevent problems. For instance, a cover sheet can help prevent children from cheating during written exams. Such procedure should be easy as possible for the students to choose the right thing and be difficult as possible for them to misbehave or take imperfect decisions.

4. Teach the Procedures Well

Making good and appropriate procedures is not enough. They should be taught to the students properly as well. Four steps involved in teaching them are:

a. Clearly explain the procedure

b. Practice it with children

c. Correct the parts that were done incorrectly

d. Repeat it constantly until they do it in the right manner

If you don’t take time to teach procedures properly, students may not follow them which leads to utter frustration.

5. Keep your Students Engaged

The more students are engaged in activities, the less they cause problems. Make sure you give interactive classes and teach the students passionately. It is better to make students involved than just giving lectures. Hence it would be advisable to make the students write while teaching.

Read Also: 5 Smart Tips for Parents to Buy School Apps for Kids

6. Move Around the Classroom

Most of the teachers stand at the front of the room without even moving their position. It would be a good idea to walk around as you teach. It is not only a different approach of teaching, but also helps to keep an eye on what the students are doing.

7. Develop a Rapport with the Students

If we want students to follow us, they not only need to respect us, but also create an impression that we care about them. Always be genuine, kind, approachable and ready to admit mistakes. Also, students must be given compliments, and show that you love them. With the above qualities, you will be able to create a good rapport with students.

8. Be Professional

Rather than becoming a too friendly teacher, try to become a good mentor. Interactions must be made friendly but not familiar.

9. Require Students to Clear their Desks

Students should be asked to keep only the required items on the desk. When desks are cleared, teachers will be able to know exactly about the activities done by their students. Teachers will have better control of students.

10. Establish Structure First

Train students to work and do their activity in a structured environment. Once they understand the structure, they should be able to work in an unstructured environment without losing control.

All these tips help to manage disciplinary issues in school. No institution can be operated successfully without proper maintenance of discipline. Hence, discipline should be given top priority.

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Posted on May 10, 2016 by Edsys

Learning has become more interesting and easier with the evolution of smart apps. there are smart apps especially created for preschoolers with special needs. These Smart apps for preschoolers make it easier for teachers to manage preschoolers with special needs.

Must Read: 5 Smart Tips for Parents to Buy School Apps for Kids

Here are some examples of smart apps for preschoolers with special needs:

1.Autism Core Skills

Autism Core Skills are a loaded app full of things such as smooth graphics, custom settings, easy to access content and data collection. This app grants a free trial opportunity to know whether it fits the needs of parents, teachers, therapists, and above all the needs of students.

2.Chill Outz

Chill Outz is a collection of five animated stories that provide regulation and relaxation techniques for children. Kids are able to learn strategies like body regulation and focused breathing by watching animals getting through the different tensed situation. This app helps to calm down and make children focused without much difficulty.

3.Birdhouse for Special Needs

Birdhouse app is used for tracking a childs diet, health and behavioral data along with scheduling as well as therapy information. Apart from this, the app allows to interact with Birdhouse via e-mail, offer feedback and create an icon from within an app.

4.Table It!

Table It app contains 34 editable sample tables and with that users are able to make unlimited number of tables for organizing any type of information desired. In addition to this, user can make a table schedule, make a data set in math, organize information from history class and create a table for entering personal information or their special interests. This particular app helps to inculcate creative ability in users.

5.MagnusCards

One must create a user account for getting started with this MagnusCards app. Here the child may require help from adults. After that, child can help Magnus collect Magnus Points which look like gold coins. More points will be gained whenever they complete more daily tasks.

6.Autism Discovery Tool

Autism Discovery Tool ,this particular app helps to explore the senses and hence able to experience the ways by which people on all aspects of the autism might see the world. One can use this app as a tool for teaching acceptance, tolerance and understanding. It can also be a useful app for making discussions with kids regarding how differently they perceive the world.

7.ZyroMath City Count

ZyroMath City Count, this app makes counting easier for children aged between six to eight irrespective of their physical or cognitive inabilities. It is very much useful to parents and teachers as the app can switch custom settings for game play to accessory compatibility and can track progress for multiple users.

8. iDo Hygiene

iDo Hygiene app provides real-life images and videos of self care and hygiene routines aimed for pre-teen students with special needs. One of the specialties of this app is high customization and clear presentation of tasks.

9.Smart Steps Mobile

Smart Steps Mobile app helps teens as well as adults develop executive function skills and independent living in stressful situations. This app is especially made for child suffering from autism, developmental disabilities, intellectual disabilities, or Down syndrome.

10. Visual Supports

This app includes pictures, printed words, a combination of pictures and printed words, concrete items, etc. It helps children to develop abilities like proper understanding of spoken language, maintain attention and organize and sequence their environment.

Smart apps for preschoolers with special needs is a great aid to teachers as well as parents. It is a relatively difficult task to teach children with special needs. Here smart apps can become handy and it helps to develop a variety of skills in children.

Posted on April 12, 2016 by Edsys

iTunes and Play Store along with other major app stores categorise thousands of apps under the section, learning apps for kids . As a parent, you could be mesmerized by the wide choice of school apps that are available i n these digital stores. But, have you ever had a second thought about whether you are going to spend money on something that could be valuable for your kids educational needs?

This article will give you a fine idea on what has to be your considerations as a responsible parent, while selecting the same.

1. Minimal Distractions

Parents readily find it satisfactory and relaxing to choose an app that offers too much gameplay or noisy stuff, thinking that these kind of apps could keep their children interested for long.

Although school apps for kids should have a sufficient amount of entertainment value, it will be unwise to include too much distractions in them. Unwanted elements could keep your kids very far from reaching the goal. The best tactics will be to provide entertainment in an amount as much as would be necessary to keep them on track.

Must Read: How much does it Cost to Build an Educational App for Kids?

2. Avoid Inappropriate Content

Not many parents will give enough attention into checking whether the app content is appropriate for the age, individual ability, and cognitive development of the child. It is unfortunate that there is no regulatory systems that are in effect, which monitors the quality of the educational apps at present. As a result, anybody could make claims and is not required to answer to an authority. So, the responsibility to choose beneficial educational apps for kids lies in the hands of the parents and teachers alone.

It is advised that the apps should be checked properly to ensure it being fit for use by children. As children often imitate what they see and hear, it is very important that the apps should be devoid of violence or other kinds of information that may spoil your child.

3. Choose Educational Apps for Kids that Encourage Social Involvement

Guidance is always part of the learning process. Choose school apps that promote a good amount of parental interaction and team play. Your child will learn more when there is competition and support from peer groups.

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4. Say No to Apps that Try to Market to Your Child

We are all happy with free for use stuffs. But, never take that approach with your childs learning. What comes for free, has got its disadvantages.

Almost all of the free and lite apps that are available in the market do make efforts to market to your child. Offering in-app purchases, advertising for attractive paid apps, and restricting part of the content only for premium users are common marketing strategies used in free school apps for kids .

5. Look for Ratings and Reviews

Taking advice from teachers, parents, child psychologists, and interaction specialists is a crucial step during the educational app development process. This is because a lot of factors like content appropriateness, psychological influence of the content, average learning pace at the age etc. are to be considered before deciding the information that should go into an app.

So the parents should not blindly fall for the promises and claims given in the apps description. Instead, they should check if the app has succeeded in building trust among the public. Each purchase should be based on the popularity of the app. Look for brands that are already established in the field.

Though learning is something that is not detachable from ones childhood, too much emphasis on the matter is also not good for a childs overall progress and development. At times, children should be allowed to enjoy non-educational content too.