Category: For Schools

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Social equality is the state of affairs in which all people within a specific society or established group have the same status in certain respects. But, inequality is evident in most aspects of lives which includes racial, ethnic, socio-cultural and economic differences. Along with society, the egos of man create inequality.

Inequalities in schools

Children are not much bothered about such inequalities. But unknowingly, they also become a part of it. They won’t purposefully create this but it arises sometimes when not given proper attention.

Types of inequalities in schools:

1. Gender inequality

Not only in schools, but it is also a major problem everywhere. Sometimes, restrictions are imposed on students of a particular gender in schools or they may be discriminated on that basis.

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2. Racial inequality

Racial inequalities can occur mainly based on the particular caste, religion or the area a student belongs to. The majority will show a tendency to rule them or to avoid them from mainstream activities. Sometimes, even skin complexion can be the basis of such discrimination. This may very badly affect the confidence and calibre of students.

3. Economic inequality

This is also a worst form of inequality that appears among school children. In a school, students belonging to different financial backgrounds study in the same class. This gap is evident in the cloths the students wear, different accessories and stationeries they use in the class and the cash they bring to the class for their needs. Discrimination based on the financial status can hurt the students and make them feel inferior.

4. Academic inequality

All students don’t have the same calibre to learn or to grasp lessons. Their grades also vary. If the teachers show an extra affection towards those who score well, it will badly influence the weak children. The comparison made between the students by teachers and parents can be harmful.

How to solve these inequalities?

  • To solve gender inequalities, the teachers and parents involved should work together. The habit of giving priorities for a particular gender should be avoided. Let all students participate in all the activities irrespective of their gender. Discard the activities which don’t support mutual participation.
  • Racial discrimination should be avoided in schools. All students are equal, no matter what their religion, caste, complexion or locality is. The teacher must not be biased and also, they should take necessary disciplinary actions towards those who pass biased comments and remarks.
  • Teach the students the importance of secularism and unity. Make them aware of the feelings of those who are marginalized in the society. Tell them stories and incidents to develop a humanitarian concern in them.
  • To solve the economic inequalities, the first thing is to implement uniform for schools and make it compulsory to wear it on all days. The schools should supply the uniform, books, stationeries etc. for them. If possible, the schools should provide lunch too.
  • Inform the parents not to give any cash to the students unless the teacher demands.
  • Smartcards can be implemented so that the students can make their necessary purchases with that. The students will not have to bring money to the school and spend it unnecessarily because their parents will be aware of every item they purchase with that from school store or canteen.
  • To solve the academic inequalities, the teachers must take the upper hand. Always divide the class into groups which includes all levels of students for class activities. Give special attention to those who are weak and bring them up to the level of others.
  • Utilize Parent portal for better communication between the teachers and parents. Through Parent Portal, every parent can contact the teachers and get information regarding their child confidentially. They don’t have to feel bad about disclosing anything regarding their child to the teacher, so that the teacher can take care of the issue without letting others know about it.

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Schools not only impart knowledge, but also play a major role in shaping the personality of an individual. What a student learns in school is not just confined to the four walls of a classroom but the whole school environment is a source of knowledge. Apart from knowledge, a student learns lessons of discipline, honesty and cleanliness from school and therefore, it is important for a school to maintain a hygienic atmosphere.

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Hygiene challenges faced by students

There are a lot of issues related to hygiene that school goers have to face every day. Most of those can even harm them for life:

Food poisoning

In August 2014, 88 students in India fell ill and were admitted to hospitals after eating lunch provided by a school. This is not a rare case, the same has been repeating for years. In 2013, poisoned school lunch in another school in India left 23 children dead while 47 children fell seriously ill. Most of the government-run schools and some private schools in India provide lunch to the students. Is the food worth eating? Nobody checks!

Unclean drinking water

In India, 1 out of 10 schools lack drinking water facilities. And among those who provide the facility, no one checks if the water is safe to drink. It was just a few months ago that at least 20 students fell ill after drinking water supplied at school. For students who spend most of their time at school, drinking water is a necessity and it’s important to see if the water is safe enough or they end up being ill.

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Unhygienic toilets

Students learn lessons of personal hygiene from schools. But, what if the school fails to provide a hygienic environment? 40% of schools in India do not have toilets. Amongst those schools which have toilets, majority of the toilets are not in usable condition. The result? Health issues in students.

The solution!

There’s a lot that can be done by the school authorities and government to ensure a healthy environment for students. The authorities, especially those of the school must take initiatives to spread awareness about hygiene.

How to do that?

You can achieve a hygienic school environment in 5 simple steps:

Clean toilets

Ensure the cleanliness and availability of water in the toilets on a daily basis. Also, provide facilities for students and staff to wash hands after using toilets.

Also Read:- 12 Cyber security Tips for Students at Home & in School

Appoint supervisors

Appoint staff to take care of hygiene issues in school.  The staff should ensure that the school surroundings are kept clean and the water and food provided to students are safe.

Launch health programs

Integrate the local health department with the school in conducting talks and seminars to make the students and staff aware of various health issues that can arise from unhygienic conditions and about various health practices to be implemented.

Introduce garbage pits

Create a garbage pit in school where all the waste from class rooms and the school premises can be disposed and burnt once in a week.

A lesson in personal hygiene

A person is always judged by his looks even before his actions are taken into consideration. Therefore, teach your students about the importance of personal hygiene and how remaining clean can keep them away from deadly diseases.

Involve parents

Mostly in rural areas, personal hygiene is not given much importance. Therefore, it is important for the school authorities to involve parents while conducting talks on hygiene.

Celebrate cleanliness week

Encourage staff and students to celebrate cleanliness week at least twice a year by cleaning the classrooms and school premises, thus making them aware of the importance of hygiene.

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A classroom is where students spend most of their daytime. Therefore it is important that classrooms should be active in order to generate energy among children.

Classroom environment makes or breaks learning experiences. Interesting classrooms always maintain space for activities which engage the students and teachers resulting in effective learning. It is with the same aim that EYFS was introduced for pre-scholars.

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While there are a variety of ways such as RFID School Management System and GPS Vehicle Tracking System for monitoring the activities of students away from classroom, what happens inside the classroom is vital for child development. Classroom experiences should shift students from passive to active, maintaining their interest and promoting active participation.Teacher app ad banner

Here are 10 classroom activities for better learning experiences.

1 Ice Breakers

Ice Breakers is an introduction game that helps students become familiar with each other. This game is much useful at the beginning of a semester.

An ice-breaker activity is an activity that is used to help students meet and get to know each other. These activities could be anything that involves talking to other people or teamwork like sports and games or perhaps just having people sit in a circle and talk.

  • The interaction during the game session helps students to socialize.
  • The results of the game are often fascinating, interesting and humorous.
  • Instantly boost up the environment.

2 Debate

“Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress“-Mahatma Gandhi

Debate instills lasting effect on the participants. A topic is given and participants are divided into two groups, one group is made to talk in favor of the topic while the other is made to talk against the topic. Debates could be conducted in school buses as well. School bus tracking software has made things easy for parents and debates can make school bus fun for students.

  • Enhances critical thinking, independent research and skilful communication.
  • Learn to think in a different perspective.
  • Helps to develop knowledge
  • Provides an active environment

3 Quiz

Students could be divided in two or more groups and questions are asked t them. Each question consists of options from which they should choose the right answer. Points are awarded for right answer while negative points for wrong answer.

  • Students acquires more knowledge through quiz
  • Team work helps to maintain healthy relationship
  • Helps to stimulate memory.

4 Role play

Role play is a fun-filled activity. Students are made into separate teams. Each group will introduce a dramatic event or conversation based on a book that they have to consider or language they have to learn.

  • Activity allows interaction between the team members which results in better bonding between the students.
  • Introvert students get a golden opportunity to express themselves.
  • Students with the flair of acting can showcase their talent.
  • Both the spectators and the actors enjoys the lesson

5 Student presentations

Students unpack ideas on a given topic after making considerable research. Others take notes and at the end of the presentation, ask questions. This activity requires time and energy.

  • Students attain public speaking skills
  • Deep evaluation of the given topic
  • Modern presentation skill can be used to enhance the relationship with technology.

6 The Fish Bowl

It is an interesting activity which can instantly energize the class. The teacher gives an index and asks the students to write down a question regarding some aspect of the study material that has not been understood. At the end of the class, students deposit their question to the fish bowl. The next day instructor evaluates the questions and asks the class to answer.

  • Students can ask questions regarding the study material without fear
  • Different possible questions could be derived
  • Class becomes active
  • Students tend to concentrate more on the class.

7 Students as Teachers

This is a type of learning activity in which students prepare an actual lesson allotted to them and teaches their classmates. In short, students assume the role of teachers. They can ask questions to other students to make the class more attentive. The lesson must be presented actively with gestures by hand and confidence.

  • Instills basic teaching skills in students
  • The creativity of the student in teaching is bought out
  • Confidence is boosted
  • Class becomes more interesting with the presence of a young teacher.

8 Case study

Case studies are exciting activities. Real-life stories are described to integrate with classroom knowledge. Life outside the class room is evaluated.

  • Students are made aware about the real world outside
  • A comparison of what has studied with real life experience is of great worth
  • It is the world outside that is waiting for your students

9 Problem – Based Learning

A problem is presented to a group in the class based on an authentic situation that the participants could actually encounter. The presented problem should be evaluated and
should analyze the cause of the problem and the most effective solution.

  • Students learns to face the problems in life confidently
  • Different perspective of solving a problem makes them wise

10 Class Discussions

Class discussions encourage critical thinking and evaluation. Allowing ample time for students to respond makes them active and confident with their points. To make the discussion more effective as well as active, evidence could be asked. It is an easy as well as effective learning activity. The teacher is passive here while the students are wholly active.

  • Different perspective of a single issue could be derived
  • Active participation of students makes class interesting
  • Students learn to present their points effectively.

The advantages of having interesting activities inside the classroom include:

  • Boost up the learning experience and help shape up children’s behavior
  • Each activity provided to students offer them opportunity to deepen their understanding of the concepts they have learned in the classroom.
  • The instructor can derive feedback about student’s potential and learning capabilities.
  • Interesting learning activities can revitalize both the mind and body of students.

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Random Facts

  • In a typical class, students are attentive just 40% of the time
  • Students retain about 70% of what they hear in the first 10 minutes of class and just 20% during the last 10 minutes
  • 33% of secondary school students and 23% of elementary school students complain of back aches.
  • Teens who were active in school were 20% likely to earn an “A” in English and Mathematics.
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How do you usually recognize school-goers? Of course by their heavy back packs! Though school uniforms are not mandatory in many schools around the world, every school expects their students to carry huge piles of books with them.

Over the years, it has been found out that carrying heavy backpacks can cause major health issues in children. It is a fact that about 14,000 students are treated for injuries related to heavy back packs every year. Most of their complaints include pain in the neck, back and shoulder.

Disadvantages of backpacks

The use of heavy backs packs can affect the students in the following ways:

Major health issues

It has been found out that the use of backpacks over an extended period of time can affect the spine. Students are expected to carry the backpacks to school and on their way back to home. This, in most cases have led to children suffering from pain or numbness on the neck, shoulders and backs and it may sometimes affect the muscles, causing muscle imbalances.

Side effects

While carrying heavy backpacks, the body adapts in such a way that the weight is evenly distributed. This sometimes causes changes in the posture and coordination of a student’s body. Their overall posture or the curve of the body gets distorted due to continuous leaning and it may also lead to muscle imbalance resulting in strain, headaches, neck pain, arm pain and shoulder pain.

Tiredness

An entire school day is enough to make a student tired and having a heavy backpack adds to it. This can lead to health issues in students. To reduce such risks, it is often suggested that the students use backpacks that weigh less than 15% to 20% of their weight.

Though using a backpack with a waist strap or wheels are said to be a solution to the problem, they are not 100% useful.  The best solution one can go for is to embrace technology for educational needs. Replacing the books with tablets or laptops and lessons with school mobile apps not only relieves students off the physical issues but also makes learning more interesting for them.

Advantages of Introducing Technology in Learning

Apart from serving as a solution to health issues caused in students due to heavy backpacks, introducing technology in learning has advantages of its own.

Preparing students for the future

In this era, where everything is digitalized, it is necessary for the students to be exposed to the new developments in technology. A candidate is expected to have computer knowledge while applying for a job and hence, it becomes necessary for the students of today to be digitally literate to face the world tomorrow.

Sharing at your fingertips

How do teachers usually share notes with students? They write it down on the blackboard for the students to copy or dictate them for the students to write it down. But with technology in your hands, you can save the efforts by just sharing the notes via e-mail or through a website. The same method can be used by the students to share notes with each other. You no longer will have to worry about your friend not returning your notes in time.

Real-time performance evaluation

With lots of school mobile apps available, you can analyze the performance of your students real-time. You need not wait for the half-yearly or annual examinations to understand the potential of your students. This can help you in identifying the areas each of your students need support in and help them improve.

No more parent-teacher meeting chaos

Report cards and parent-teacher meeting can give you jitters, if you are a teacher. It takes months of efforts to evaluate mark sheets and to enter them in the report cards. The worst part is you have to meet every parent and give details of their child’s performance in school. It’s easier with technology though. There are various school mobile apps available with which you can assess your student’s performances. You can also send the reports to the parents instantly.

Learning becomes interesting

Learning goes the fun way with laptops and tablets replacing books and school mobile apps replacing lessons.  Most of the school mobile apps are in the form of games and students tend to enjoy while getting to learn new things for them. Also, you can award them virtually for their performances. This can motivate the students to have a healthy competition and to perform better.

Save money and time

Do you know that an average of $5 billion dollars is spent by students all over the world combined every year just for purchasing textbooks? Imagine how much money you can save just by opting for technology. You need not spend money on books, stationary items or lab equipments. By embracing technology, you are also benefitting the nature. Yes! You can save up to 2400 trees per day by going paperless.

Update syllabi annually

None of the education boards bother to update their syllabi every year and the reason? Doing it manually may take another year or more. This can affect the students as they miss the opportunity to know about the latest developments made in every field. But with technology, it is possible to update the syllabus on a daily basis and you no longer have to worry about having to buy new textbooks every year.

Go Global

Education through technology helps the students to learn beyond what is mentioned in the textbooks. They get an opportunity to connect to external educators, as well, thus helping them to expand their knowledge.

All these points prove how technology can benefit a student physically, mentally and socially. Also, opting for technology can make learning interesting for the students. Most of the schools around the globe have already adopted technology in learning. If you haven’t, it’s time you give a better learning experience to your students.

Apart from school mobile apps that aid teaching, there are numerous other applications and software available in the market that can help in the overall management of a school. GPS Vehicle Tracking System, RFID Student Tracking System, RFID School Management System, Time table Management Software, Parent Portal, School work force management system, Smart card solution for schools & colleges by Edsys, a company that offers educational solutions are some examples.

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Technology has been undergoing immense transitions recently and the new advancements have already been making their presence felt in every sector. The impact is being felt in the education field as well, where traditional teaching methods have already started stepping aside to embrace technology. But, what do we gain out of this? What transformations can use of technology in education bring? Let’s have a look:

Turn digital

In this era where everything is digitalized, how can a person face the world with just a pen and paper? That is exactly why students should be exposed to technology.  Computer knowledge is a compulsory criterion for any job these days. Therefore, only a digitally literate  can survive in this world of extreme competition in each and every field.

Sharing is easy!

Remember how you used to share notes when you were a student? With exams round the corner, you might have given your notes to a friend who doesn’t return it for few days due to some reason. You won’t be able to revise your lessons until your friend brings your book back and the result? Lots of tension and panic! With technology, sharing lessons is a lot easier, that too without giving away the notes you already have with you.

Analyse instantly

In traditional teaching methods, you have to conduct exams on a half-yearly or annual basis to understand the potential of your students. With technology in your hands, analyzing your students is a simple task. You can conduct simple tests to understand the areas each of your students has to improve in. This saves a lot of time which you can utilize to help the students improve in their areas of weakness.

Share the results

Parent-teacher meeting! The word itself can startle you, if you are a teacher.  It is not at all easy to sit and prepare reports on each student’s performance and then meet each of their parents with feedback. It is indeed a laborious task and at the end of the day, you may have no energy left. Especially if conducted on holidays, you lose valuable time that could be spent with your family. With technology entering classrooms, you won’t have to put even half the labour. You can share the reports on each student’s performance instantly. You can save energy and time that way.

Turn social

Most of you play games on social media platforms where you are rewarded or ranked virtually based on your performance. You can use technology in a similar way to virtually award your students who have done well, thus instilling a healthy competition among students. This motivates the children to give their best performances while making the concept of learning more interesting.

Save money and time

This can be said as the one of the most important advantages of bringing technology to the classrooms. With technology, you are saved from having to buy desks, books, lab equipments etc. all of which are very expensive. You don’t have to write everything on the black board. Instead you can share all the lessons or resources online. This saves your effort and time while benefiting disadvantaged students to have access to education.

Updates made easy!

Updating the syllabus is not a tough task when you have technology to your support. It can be done in a very short span of time. Also, you won’t have to buy thousands of updated books every year, adding to your savings.

Go Global

With technology, learning won’t be confined to the walls of the classrooms. Students get a chance to connect globally and hence, expand their knowledge.

It’s convenient

The heavy backpacks and hundreds of books have been causing physical issues to students for long. Introducing technology to classroom can therefore, tend to be such a relief to them physically.

It is a fact that use of technology beyond a limit can have negative effects. But there is a positive side that weighs heavier. And it is not tough to help children out of the bad effects due to over usage of technology. Introducing technology to class rooms can help in breaking the monotonous learning methods, thus motivating the students to do well. It also helps in reducing the issues related to stress, for both teachers and students as things get a lot easier.

It is to note that technology has not only intervened in teaching but also in the overall school management these days. There are lots of software and gadgets available in the market to provide suitable solutions to education related issues. Edsys is one such company that provides efficient educational solutions. The RFID Student Tracking System and GPS Vehicle Tracking System by Edsys addresses safety concerns regarding students and help in managing school bus fleet while the school work force management system and timetable management software aid in overall school management. Other products of Edsys such as Parent Portal and Smart Card Solutions for schools & colleges are also quite effective.

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“A child without education, is like a bird without wings”-Tibetan proverb

Education, apart from being a human right, is a necessity for survival these days. An uneducated person finds it tough to survive, be it financially or socially. The list of these schools given below is proof that people around the globe understand the value of education and are ready to go to any extend to spread knowledge. They are much different from the typical schools we are used to.

These schools do not even come close to those large class rooms with a black board, chairs and table, plenty of students and teaches. But they all serve the same purpose-to educate. Here’s a journey through the world’s unique schools:

Boat school, Bangladesh

1

Most of the rural areas of Bangladesh do not even have access to education. If at all there is a facility, it is mostly boys who attend school. Girls can attend only if the school is near their homes. But, when it is monsoon, it becomes tough. Due to the long-lasting floods during monsoon, children are unable to attend school. This is the reason architect Mohammed Rezwan came up with a unique idea-the boat school! “I thought that if the children cannot come to the school, then the school should come to them,” he says.

Nomadic School, Siberia

4

This school was formed in 2006 by Alexandra Lavrillier, an ethnologist, with the intention of providing modern education to children belonging to the Evenk, a nomadic group of south-east Siberia, while preserving their culture. Before this school came into existence, the Evenk children followed a modern education system, by staying in boarding schools for months at a time. This caused them to lose contact with their tradition. The school, which has been given the status of “official experimental school,” has inspired more schools of that sort to come up in other parts of Siberia.

Train Platform Schools, India

5

These schools were formed as a result of Inderjit Khurana, coming in contact with lots of children begging in trains, instead of attending schools. Being a school teacher, Inderjit understood that education is the only way to help those children escape from poverty. But to enrol these children in school was an impossible task. The concept of train platform schools enables children who dwell in streets of India to have their share of basic education.

School in the Cloud, China

gulu

Journey to attend this school in Gulu village of Sichuan Province in China is no child’s play. Located in the middle of lots of cliffs and canyons, it takes about 5 hours to walk across the narrow mountain path leading to the school, consisting of dangerous twists and turns. Unlike the present situation, the school had dirty classrooms with leaky roofs and no toilet about 26 years ago. It was the teacher Shen Qijun who toiled hard single-handedly to bring the school to the present form. Now, the school has a toilet and children have been given uniforms by volunteers. The school continues to thrive despite the difficult conditions.

Door Step School, India

2

Established in 1989 by a group of social workers, the concept of Door Step School is similar to that of Boat School in Bangladesh. Aimed to provide education to the underprivileged children, the school goes to where the children are and starts the class there. “School on Wheels” is an initiative of the people behind DoorStepSchool to educate the children on the streets. For that, a school bus has been designed as a class room, with just one aim-100% literacy.

The existence of these schools proves that, beyond the facilities, all that matters is just education.

But all of these schools do not just follow a traditional education system. Technology is making education more affordable, simpler and safer. Edsys is an example of a company that provides educational solutions that help to enhance educational system, right from school management to school bus management. Some of its products include RFID Student Tracking System, GPS Vehicle Tracking System, Parent portal and smart cards for schools, that prove to be very useful in terms of overall school management.

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Be it providing education or receiving it, the task isn’t easy at it seems. It requires a lot of effort and energy. There may be various elements to tackle in between to earn real benefits out of education. Bullying, racism, inequality etc. are some social issues that the providers and the students have to face in common.

There are some other issues that are solely confined to teachers or students. Hence, it is very difficult to understand for people outside the circle. But many movies have brilliantly portrayed most of the issues related to education so that others out of the education system can understand them better.

Here are 11 movies that narrate some of the challenges faced by teachers and students in the education system. These convey the importance of education:

1. To Sir, With Love (1967)

Released in 1967, this movie highlighted racial and social issues. ‘To Sir, with Love’ narrates the story of Mark Thackarey, a former engineer, who begins his career in teaching at an area with low standard of living in London. Soon, Mr. Thackarey realizes that rather than arithmetic or any other subjects, how to survive is what he has to teach his students and how Mr. Thackarey achieves that forms the rest of the story. Actor Sidney Poitier portrayed the role of Mark Thackarey in this feel good movie.

2. Educating Rita (1983)


‘Educating Rita’ is all about self-discovery and the power to choose, that comes through education. The movie narrates how the life of a young wife Rita (played by actress Julie Walters) transforms when she comes in contact with Frank Bryant, her assigned Open University professor after deciding to complete her education. Mr. Bryant happens to inspires her and teaches her to value her own thoughts.

3. The Breakfast Club (1985)


A bit different from the usual teacher-student movie, ‘The Breakfast Club’ tells the story of five students, each belonging to a different high school group, who happen to come together during a Saturday detention and connect to each other. The movie successfully portrays the interaction between students in an education system.

4. Stand and Deliver (1988)

This 1988 movie revolves around a high school maths teacher, Jaime Escalante, who leaves his highly-paid job to take up teaching. ‘Stand and Deliver’ narrates how Mr. Escalante motivates his undisciplined and rebellious bunch of students to excel in academics while overcoming various hurdles. The movie is based on a true story and the character Jaime Escalante is for real. In the movie, actor Edward James Olmos played the role of the teacher, Jaime Escalante.

5. Dead Poets Society (1989)


This classic film tells the story of a teacher who motivates his students the break out of their normal lives to seize the day and to be extra ordinary. Late actor Robin Williams played the role of John Keating, the free-spirited, understanding and inspiring teacher, every student wishes to have. The movie ‘Dead Poets Society’ and the character John Keating has been inspiring students for many years.

6. Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995)

Director Stephen Herek brilliantly portrays the harsh realities related to teaching in his movie, ‘Mr. Holland’s Opus’. The movie is about Glenn Holland, a music composer who is forced to take up the job of a high school music teacher to pay his bills, who later discovers the impact he made on his students. Actor Richard Dreyfuss portrayed the role of Mr. Holland in the movie packed with touching scenes that can leave you with a lump in your throat.

7. Chalk (2006)

The fictional documentary, ‘Chalk,’ narrates the challenges and problems that four teachers endure over the course of an academic year. Some moments of the documentary make you laugh, while others make you think as it honestly depicts the real hardships one has to face in one of the most respected professions-teaching.

8. Half Nelson (2006)

More than a student-teacher story, ‘Half Nelson’ explores race and class issues and friendship. In the movie, Ryan Gosling plays Dan Dunne, a high school teacher, with a unique teaching style, who is otherwise, a drug-addict. Mr. Dunne is forced to be friends with one of his students, when she finds out his secret.

9. Freedom Writers (2007)


This movie proves that education isn’t something that is merely confined to the four walls of a classroom, but beyond that. In the movie, actress Hillary Swank plays Erin Gruwell, a teacher who motivates her rebellious and underprivileged students to improve in terms of academics and behaviour by asking them to maintain journals about their lives.

10. Tare Zameen Par(Like stars on Earth) (2009)

This Indian movie, which comes with a tagline, “Every child is special” gives a new definition to education. Tare Zameen Par narrates the story of Ishaan Awasti, who is good at art but fares poorly when it comes to academics. Ishaan’s art teacher Ram Shankar Nikumbh, suspects that Ishaan is suffering from dyslexia and helps Ishaan overcome his disability. Actor Amir Khan plays Mr. Nikumbh while Darsheel Safary plays Ishaan Awasti in the movie. .

11. Precious (2009)

This movie about an illiterate and obese girl explains the importance of education. Actress Gabourey Sidibe plays the role of 16-year-old Claireece Precious Jones, who is physically and mentally abused by her mother and is sexually abused by her father. Precious Jones later enrolls in an alternative school and certain incidents inspire her to have a new outlook of life.

All these amazing movies help you to understand a lot about education. They might help you to provide better education to students. And for that to happen in an easier way, you can embrace technolgy. There are solutions such as RFID Student Tracking System, GPS Vehicle Tracking System, Parent portal and smart cards for schools that can be quite effective.

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We know that GPS technology is finding more and more applications to improve our day to day activities. For example, there are various GPS enabled apps which can be of great help to us such as school bus tracking, parent portal and school mobile app which puts emphasis on the safety of students and allow parents to track their children’s whereabouts. The application of GPS technology is therefore not just limited to specific objectives like finding the right path when we are stuck in a place or searching the nearest restaurant. It can be used for more distinct things that we could ever dream of. Now we will see how GPS influence today’s social networking activities.

1. Helping hands for veterans

How do we make sure that veterans understand they have a peer network they can trust on in a time of need? Today, apps have been created using GPS technology, exclusively for veterans to prevent them from feeling alone and without deep pockets. There are a number of social media apps which can be used by veterans when they move to a new place and are looking for friends, to locate people nearby and to find a health care while traveling. The support network these apps create will help fend off the worst outcomes of loneliness and mental sickness and support veterans in a great way.

2. Follow your friends

Most of us want to follow our friends and dear ones, once they step out of their homes for a cup of coffee, a stroll up the street etc. We see their photos and wonder when they would be returning. For those of us who are connected with the new generation of social networking sites that uses satellite positioning technology, it is now easier as never before to see and monitor our best ones. We can view the location of our friends using GPS tracking apps and get in touch with them through the system.

Also Read: 27 Best GPS Tracking Apps for Android and iOS

3. Let customers find you

If you have a website for your local business, wouldn’t it be immense if prospective customers can easily find your location? This can be made feasible with Geo tagging. You can use this technology to let your customers know precisely where you are. There are plenty of unique ways that Geo tagging can benefit your online presence. If you are a little local business, then you can really benefit by labeling your business in all of your content. You will be able to reach people that are close by, so when they go over your content or website, they can effortlessly find your location!

4. Fun games

Have you ever wondered how you could facilitate kids in learning navigation skills using a compass and following coordinates? If you haven’t, it’s high time you should have known more about fun activities which are specifically designed for assisting children of all ages to play and learn with fun. The GPS enabled fun games allow kids to search or hide items and share their adventures online. It is an exciting way to help children learn about the world around them.

5. Tracking teens’ whereabouts

Teens love to publicize their whereabouts using location services. Many of us think that it is potentially risky for teens to put themselves on the map. But we can help our teens balance the social aspects they want with the safety protections they need with a number of downloadable location apps. Nowadays GPS tracking apps integrate features that cover a wide spectrum of capabilities from simple street directions for social networking safety. These programs help us to track our teens’ whereabouts and give alerts immediately when they arrive at or leave a place.

6. Monitoring people for enhancing security

Did you know? GPS enabled software is aiding governments and security professionals to track individuals via social media posts. Yes, the use of GPS tracking technology supports law enforcers to ensure security and monitor individuals to locations they frequent. Mobile phone calls and social media posts are monitored and linked to CCTV systems to deal with the homeland security thereby bringing security tracking to a new level!

7. Know your customers

GPS tracking technology is now used to track the behavior of customers to improve digital marketing campaigns. You can now collect location based data and a wealth of information regarding your customer’s shopping activity, behavior and preferences of buyers, length of time the customers spend for visiting your website etc. This helps you to improve your insights about the local market & the consuming behavior of your target customers.

8. Share your adventures live!

Share your adventures with others live (or afterwards) as you are doing them! Share it on a map with embedded photos, audio, videos, tweets and other media. You can create a map of your route live and share it with your friends. Each map you create can either be publicly visible to the world or only visible to you – even though you can set a default privacy setting, this can be altered for each map. Using these excellent outdoor GPS apps you can find people and interact with them, meet friends who live on the route, track friends using the map on your phone etc. It is an excellent way of improving your hiking experience!

9. Tracing trivial things

We often have an urge to let others know what we eat, drink and shop. Today a lot of social mapping apps allow us to trace the trivial things of daily life in even more minute detail. These apps are really appealing as it sends real-time recommendations on what to drink, eat and buy once we check into a location. The features of these social mapping apps include:

  • Simple privacy controls
  • Temporary sharing option
  • Parental restrictions
  • Locating family and friends easily

10. Sharing real-time road info

Ever wondered if you could join drivers in your area to share real-time traffic info? Well, now you can know! It would help you to outsmart traffic and improve daily commuting for everyone. Millions of drivers out on the roads jointly work towards a common goal to get everyone the best route to work and back, everyday. A number of social GPS apps help drivers to share real-time road info, including traffic, speed cams, police, accidents and many more with each other.

Advantages

  • Can navigate to the cheapest station on your route, report prices at the pump and save some gas money.
  • Can see other friends who are driving to your destination, when you connect to Facebook.
  • Can coordinate your friends’ arrival times when you pick up or meet up with them.
  • Can get alerts before you approach accidents, police, road hazards, traffic jams, etc. shared by other drivers in real-time.
Posted on by Edsys

If you are a fan of Hollywood sci-fi movies, you might have come across various means of individual identification. Remember the retina scan in Minority Report, finger prick in Gattaca and many more. But these futuristic technologies would take quite a long time to become practical everyday solutions. For the immediate future – say the next couple of decades, we have smart cards, which everyone including you and me would find easy to use.

Smart cards or Integrated Circuit Cards (ICC) are very much similar to a credit card and it is usually made with plastic. Smart cards contain integrated circuits embedded inside them. They are capable of providing many functions such as identification, data storage, authentication and application processing. The advantages of smart cards over conventional magnetic stripe cards are high security, convenience, reduction in fraud activities etc. So smart cards have a bright future. Using a smart card, you can access various applications and networks. Smart cards offer services to both public and private sectors. The future aspects of smart cards in these sectors are discussed below:

Services in Public Sector:

Smart card provides services in various fields under public sector. Those are mentioned below:

1. Healthcare: Smart health cards are capable of storing various information regarding patients like medical, administrative, pharmaceuticals and biological records. It also helps to reduce frauds in healthcare, improve the privacy and security of patient data and also provides a secure platform to implement new applications in demand with the health care organization. Smart health card helps to simplify the administration process and allow doctors to access complete and comprehensive patient information.

2. Schools: Students are provided with multifunctional smart cards at schools and colleges. Take for instance, the Edsys student smart card solutions. Their uses include:

  • Student tracking: Edsys’ smart card solutions enable parents to get real time information about their kids and their vehicle. They can track their kid’s vehicle location. Automated SMS alerts are sent to the parents if their kids are in any sort of danger. Edsys’ smart card solutions also generate various Management Information System (MIS) reports. Data of students, drivers and parents can also be stored in this smart card.
  • As an electronic purse in canteen/cafeteria: Edsys smart card allows students to purchase items at canteens. Students can check the balance available on their smart card at the time of the purchase. At the time of the purchase, the appropriate amount will be deducted from the available balance and the attendant would issue the ordered item. Parents would be able to check the purchase statements against the money credited on to Edsys smart card.
  • Payment of fees: Using Edsys’ smart card, parents can pay their kid’s school fees. In comparison with the conventional method of providing name and other details to pull up details, encoded information in the smart card helps to identify the student and their fee details. At the Fee collection counter, parents can top up the credit on the card by paying the amount to the cashier.
  • Library: Using Edsys smart card, students can mark their attendance in the library when they are using library for reading. Similarly, librarians are able to pull up records of students to issue/return library books.
  • Book store management: Students can purchase books, magazines etc. from the book store using Edsys’ smart card. Parents would get a statement of items purchased from the store.

3. Transportation: Transportation smart cards are rechargeable and also they are contact-less cards. If you have this smart card, you don’t need to take tickets or pay money while you travel. It will also simply the process of passenger boarding. Using this smart card, you can even pay for your parking.

4. Welfare:
Smart cards can be used to identify finger prints of the card holder. Using this facility, card holder can access government databases and he/she can receive the welfare payment. The security provided by the card will help to eliminate the frauds.

5. Telecommunication: The Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) which is used in mobile phone is a smart card of reduced size. Calls can be made from the public phones using smart card and they can be recharged with cash points. By using the card, you don’t have to use coins in the public phones and this will reduce the vandalism. Usage of smart cards will reduce the operating charge and will increase the revenue. Studies have shown that people who use smart card to communicate tends to talk more on the phone.

Services in Private sector:

Usage of smart cards can reduce the handling and transaction costs. Smart cards combine the functions of various cards into one. They gives users the ability to make peer-to-peer and online/offline transactions. Smart cards have made rapid and potential advancements in various fields such as Banking, Internet and Electronic commerce.

6. Banking: Smart cards can avoid the major problems in banking field such as fraud, bad debt and the limitation of magnetic stripes. Smart cards are capable of storing 80 times more data than the conventional cards. Based on each individual’s profile, smart card helps the financial institutes to offer more services and personalized products for the card holders.

7. Internet: Instead of a remote device, smart card can store all personal data such as e-mails, user ID’s, phone numbers etc. It allows to get connected to the Internet anywhere around the globe if you have either a phone or an information kiosk.

8. Electronic Commerce: Smart cards can store electronic cash in it and card holders use that to make payments over the Internet. Customer data and payment details are transported securely over the Internet using Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) protocol.

Smart cards are widely accepted in Asia, Europe and in less developed countries mainly because of their convenience and safety. At present, smart cards are used for Internet access, wireless telephony, banking, payphones and healthcare. It would continue to revolutionise various sectors and pave way to a future that looks like a sci-fi movie.

Amazing smartcard applications

Posted on by Edsys

A couple of weeks ago, I met a friend of mine in the evening. She is a teacher at one of the major schools (sorry, can’t disclose the name) in Kolkata. Quite the colourful character, she chose the profession because it was her passion. However, that particular day, she was unusually quiet. From the moment she came in, something was clearly bothering her. There was an air of tension around her.

Surprise, surprise!

After a few sullen moments, I asked her what the issue was. She replied “School’s so exhausting! On top of my regular work, I am now in charge of recruiting new employees.” I asked her –“Nita, why the hell? What is the HR department doing then?” She looked at me as if I am an alien. Her response shocked me. “What HR, dude? This is a school.” She added “there was one accounts guy who was taking care of all this. But he left last week, and ever since, I’ve been burdened by additional work.”

This was news to me. Most schools probably have a work force that would be proportional to the number of students and courses they offer, due to an existing mandate of one teacher for every 30 students. Going by this logic, an average school with 1000 students would have 50 plus teaching and an equally sizable number or more of non-teaching staff. To me, having an HR department for such an organization appeared to be the most logical thing to do. This is one of the best practices that the corporate world is very particular about.

The bigger picture

If you think deeper, it is a huge problem. Just think of the scenario after the recruitment has happened. In the absence of a qualified HR, who would calculate the employees’ salaries, leaves and other benefits? And we haven’t started to think of activities such as internal communication and organizing events.

Currently, what most schools do is to assign this job to someone who is not specialised, like the accounts person or dump the job to some poor teacher like Nita. The whole recruitment thing is similar to a circus show. They will somehow be able to manage one or two cases. But if it happens on a large scale, it would mean chaos.

Why does this problem exist?

The cost of maintaining an HR team is the most obvious reason. And traditional thinking dictates that part-timers can cover-up for specialists in areas such as recruitment. Convenience can be the other major factor. But modern day technology should be able to provide a more convenient and cost effective method.

How does it impact?

Not having an HR in an organization as big as a school not only affects the productivity of the available resources, but also has an impact on the school’s reputation. A school may not be able to attract talented candidates due to the absence of a proper system. That means the quality of teachers cannot be guaranteed. This directly affects the education students receive. Now, no one would want that.

But the Human Resource Department is not just for recruiting!

Recruitment isn’t the only responsibility of an HR. What about payroll, daily attendance, performance overview, etc? An HR takes care of each and every aspect of workforce management. This is an existing problem in a majority of schools that needs to be addressed because schools are where the foundation of the nation’s future is laid.