Bengaluru, 5 September 2020: On Teacher’s Day, Edu-Warriors undertaking Digital Transformation & Holistic Learning program to make school teachers future-ready were celebrated at the first-of-its-kind Knowledge L’avenir Conclave webinars by Mr. Ali Sait of Tech Avant-Garde (TAG), in association with Microsoft, Knowledge Key Foundation, Lycee Corp, Efeeonline and Roshini Social Schooling. Over the next 12 weeks (till November 2020), 3,000 teachers will exhibit their Digital Teaching Skills and over 150,000 teachers from over 72,000 schools across India with a student-teacher population of 76 million (7.6 crore) will get inspired to make the Digital Transformation. This grand education showcase is part of Mr. Sait’s vision to transform 18 lakh schools in India from four walls of the classroom to Connected Learning Community after the announcement of the National Education Policy (NEP).
The keynote speakers (edu–warriors) for I TOUCH THE FUTURE… i teach L’avenir Knowledge Conclave (LAC) Curtain Raiser moderated by Mr. Ali Sait (CEO, TAG), were: Mr. Kulbhushan Sharma (President, NISA), Mr. Vincent KV (Secretary, ASISC), Dr. Vinnie Jauhari (Director-Education and Industry Expert, Microsoft), Dr. Dakshayini Kanna (Director, Principal, Harvest International School), Ms. Vandana Baik (R&D and Innovation, Dir. Of Higher Education, Goa), Ms. Sonia Garcha (CSpathshala), Ms. Roshini Kumar (Chief Patron, Roshni, Social Schooling) and Ms. Praveen Rai (COO, NPCI) along with several school principals and teachers from all parts of the country.
In her opening remarks, Dr. Vinnie Jauhari (Director-Education and Industry Expert, Microsoft) quoted world-famous personalities such as Nobel laureate and education activist Malala Yousafzai who said, “They cannot stop me. I will get my education, if it is in the home, school or any place” and Microsoft’s global CEO Satya Nadella who said, “As COVID-19 impacts every aspect of our work and life, we have seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months Microsoft Education transformation framework Leadership & Policy, Teaching & Learning, Intelligent Empowerment, and Student and School Success.”
Ali Sait, CEO, Tech Avant-Garde, said, “The Government’s National Education Policy has given a boost to making India a world leader in digitally imparted school education by 2020 – the 75th platinum jubilee year of Indian independence. NEP will also help ed-tech companies to raise funds required for transforming 18 lakh schools across India. In fact, academicians and ed-tech players are very happy that NEP follows the UNESCO model of 21st century-ready classrooms and digital devices as textbooks. The ideas of Open Schools, Cluster Public-Private Schools to take digital learning to underprivileged and remote students; and spending on digitization instead of brick and mortar classrooms are revolutionary. If implemented in the right spirit, then India will become a global leader in education.” The Indian education industry has crossed the USD 100 billion mark (Rs. 7.5 lakh crore) while the ed-tech industry is expected to cross USD 3.5 bn by 2020.
“The transformation and adoption of digital teaching and learning have been the fastest in 2020 – 3 to 4 times faster than those witnessed in the last few years. We believe that Microsoft has the mother of all content and if every teacher is empowered as a content creator, then the whole school is transformed. Teachers well versed in digital teaching can transform Government schools and this will help students/teachers in remote areas. Eventually, the students will drive the change and can be part of the class of digitally trained teachers even if they are not in a class,” says Ali Sait. But it’s a long journey as they have touched only the tip of the iceberg – 72,000 schools out of 4 lakh private sector schools and 14 lakh Govt. schools.
Ali Sait also says that each class needs Rs. 10 lakh to be digitally transformed. “The Government has announced bold steps in NEP with emerging tech-driven ideas such as Skype in Classroom and Virtual field trips instead of the traditional ‘chalk and talk’. As home schools become the new normal, Cognitive learning, Mixed Reality, Immersive Learning, IoT and AR-VR will eventually reach students at home. Public-private partnership is the way forward where the private sector helps by investing a million to transform each class. Poor bandwidth related problems can be tackled the way it is done in Africa – internet through SIM cards,” says Ali Sait.
Under the above program, teachers have been trained in Gen Extra Muros – Knowledge Beyond Walls pedagogy. The teachers who are trained under this program are “Future Ready”. They are eligible to take part in Knowledge L’avenir Conclave to display their digital teaching skills. Each Knowledge L’avenir Conclave webinar will be a one-day event; in which teachers from one school will present topics of their choice, using technology-based teaching tools. In every webinar, an average of 20 teachers from 1,000 schools will get an invitation to attend and witness this digital teaching extravaganza. The attendees will get insight on digital teaching and would get inspired to enhance their teaching skills. Knowledge L’avenir Conclave participation is only by invitation – each invited school is allowed to enroll teachers to make a presentation in the webinar to exhibit their digital teaching skills.
Ali Sait’s dream of a Connected Learning Community is a simple yet powerful idea with even more relevance today than when he first introduced the concept in the year 2002. His vision is that the world is an enriched learning environment in which technology used well enhances and expands opportunities for learning while providing the practical technology experience needed in today’s society and workplaces. In the Connected Learning Community: Students, educators, and parents have any time, anyplace access to learning; Learning is relevant, individualized and personalized; Schools have information systems that support accountability and efficient management; Schools, campuses, homes, libraries, businesses, and global resources are connected in a dynamic, collaborative learning environment. Yet for 21st-century learning, technology alone is not sufficient. Schools, students, and teachers must have the vision and opportunity to experiment, innovate, and create with technology as a learning tool. Ali wants to facilitate a New Era of Education in a growing number of schools and communities around the world. Technology has helped launch a new era of education that simultaneously fosters academic excellence and the practical experience needed to succeed in life and work in the growing knowledge economy. Nevertheless, communities have only begun to tap the potential of technology for learning.
Most of these students and teachers would require items such as Laptops, Tablets, Handheld devices, electronic writing pads, learning software, internet, desks, chairs, etc. Tech Avant-Garde is planning to showcase these products in Knowledge L’avenir Conclave webinars along with the names of the fulfillment agencies.
