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I did not realise the AR apps I have grown so fond of over the past couple of months and which found their way into my classroom transaction as well  comprise the tip of the iceberg that is disruptive ideas in the classroom. I was rather surprised and fascinated at the same time. The following document illustrate some more of these ideas.

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1. Virtual Reality (VR)

So far VR is about gaming and entertainment. But it combines the best of in-person and online education in an immersive experience.

This is a very realistic and cheap way to visit unthinkable scenarios. Think the inside of a star, the mechanisms of a complex machine or the streets of a lost city.

For example Microsoft's Hololens is already being used by medicine schools . It allows students to visualize the functioning human body in 3D.

Apps like VRChat are also being used to teach virtual classes .

For now the penetration of these tools in Higher Education is still low. Even in the US, the birth ground of these technologies, few classrooms have VR tools.

But this will soon change. Some forward-thinking universities are already experimenting with this technology. Click here to read an interview with Georgia State University academics on the potential of VR for Higher Education .

Pictures: A GSU teacher guides students on a virtual tour of Rome.

2. Collaboration Platforms

Videos, presentations and forums integrate education materials from different sources in different formats. This makes learning easier and social.

As a result these platforms are fueling collaboration among Higher Education centers.

Education and innovation consortium NMC's 2015 Higher Education report points to this trend. A growing number of institutions collaborating in technology, research and shared values.

They do this by forming local and international strategic alliances and consortia. But these partnerships have to be relevant and beneficial for all participants.

The report mentions Open Cloud Consortium (OCC) as a successful example of this. This entity enables professors and researchers to share vast amounts of data.

An NMC report shows a growing number of universities forging collaborative strategic alliances

The departments at the university are in constant consultation, and the head of the faculty monitors changes in workload and evaluates its impact, while the staff discusses concerning workloads and reports any difficulties and variations.

This faces deans and academic directors with important challenges. On one hand collaboration is key for benefitting students trough innovation. And at the same time they need to collaborate to nurture local academic ecosystems.

The internet is the great facilitator of collaboration in Higher Education. The reason? It eliminates geographic boundaries hindering local and international collaboration between students and teachers.

They aren't mainstream yet, but several platforms are making student collaboration easier:

That is why the workload of teachers is constantly revised and recorded to ensure that the staff is neither over nor underworked. It is important for universities to run curriculum and syllabi consultation processes with permanent and non-permanent faculty members, to assess both the student and the teacher's workload.

The Higher Education Funding Council for England funded a study on improving managing academic workloads. They concluded that consensual agreed initiatives improve the process both for the academic staff and the heads of school in several ways:

Google Docs enables remote document creation, commenting and revision

ePals creates a global classroom for learning

Emaze is a collaborative platform for creating presentations

Wikispaces , Genius , ChalkUp and Google Hangouts are other examples

3. Augmented Reality (AR)

AR also has enormous potential to inject value in the educational process. It uses mobile devices to add a layer of information to physical reality.

The Google Glass are the perfect example of how AR works.

Let's suppose you walk into a store. These glasses will show you product info "layered on" the item you're seeing. Like it's "floating" above it.

This gadget didn't have commercial success due to privacy and development issues . But Pokemon Go made the potential of AR crystal clear.

In the classroom AR lets you scan an equation and find possible solutions or tutorials. Museums and historical exhibitions use it to enhance their exhibition experience.

The great part is you don't need to spend big on equipment. All you need is a mobile device like a smartphone or tablet.

This is why many researchers are betting on AR to drive learning.

4. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

¿ Do you know Jill Watson ? She's an assistant professor at Georgia Tech, answering student's questions and emailing reminders.

Few of them know Jill is an artificial intelligence.

Some say IBM is behind it but it's not clear. In any case NMC says AI will revolutionize Higher Education .

In fact it's already making headway in the learning industry.

Some computer systems are already doing personalized tutoring. They can also moderate discussions and alter context to stimulate learning.

AI uses algorithms to personalize the student experience . In fact, it learns your way of learning . At the same time it generates data to analyze the needs of individual students and the classroom as a whole.

As AI gets smarter and more intuitive it will start complementing human educators. One day it will be able to teach and interact with students.

This opens fascinating possibilities about how we learn and teach.

A 2016 study by British education company Pearson identifies two AI applications that will have massive impact on education .

Pearson predicts AI will give students instant feedback on their learning process. But there's more. It will also assess their level of knowledge and even their mood. This will end the need to interrupt learning to take standardized tests.

Very soon including AI in academic curricula will be key to attract and keep students.

But the most fascinating prediction is the rise of "lifelong learning companions".

This virtual tutor will make questions, offer suggestions and curate educational resources. It will also counsel and encourage students when they run into difficulties.

In time this companion will "learn" what you know, what interests you and how you learn. All your data - your data- will be in the cloud and follow your process from kinder to postgraduate ed and beyond.

For now nothing can replace human interaction in the learning experience. But soon including AI in academic curricula will affect student attraction and student retention in higher education.

Research and Markets says AI will grow 48% in the next four years . The WEF predicts automation will kill five million jobs worldwide by 2020 .

This means universities already need to update their curricula around AI competences.

Conclusion

Latin America has a long way to go when it comes to innovating with technology for education.

The good news is that many of these disruptive technology will be within anyone's reach in the short- to mid- term.

Soon it will no longer necessary to be an elite university or academy to get ahead of the curve. But the time to innovate and create relevant educational offers now .
How does your university face the challenges posed by disruptive education technologies?

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4 disruptive education technologies poised to change higher learning

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1. Virtual Reality (VR) So far VR is about gaming and entertainment. But it combines the best of in-person and online education in an immersive experience. This is a very realistic and cheap way to visit unthinkable scenarios. Think the inside of a star, the mechanisms of a complex machine or the streets of a lost city.

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hi friends,
This is not an article to read. its a short video where the 21st century competencies are being addressed through the Tinker tub project at Regina Catholic School, Canada. Children can be seen problem solving, making decision, collaborating in true sense and communicating effectively. After going through many texts and videos, I realised that the entire world is talking about developing competencies but only a few of us are able to deliver and take it further in reality.
Would be glad to hear from you all!

PS: you all can go through the Follett Challenge to view some more schools with great ideas

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Dear all , WAHROONGA Preparatory school of Australia has a beautiful philosophy which is worth  sharing. This school was founded in 1926. It is a small, co-educational Uniting Church school for children from Pre-Kindergarten to Year 6. Knox and Wahroonga Prep have strong historical links as Uniting Church schools, with many shared programs and opportunities for our girls and boys.Julie Wiseman is the Head of Wahroonga Preparatory School

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Dear all , WAHROONGA Preparatory school of Australia has a beautiful philosophy which is worth  sharing. This school was founded in 1926. It is a small, co-educational Uniting Church school for children from Pre-Kindergarten to Year 6. Knox and Wahroonga Prep have strong historical links as Uniting Church schools, with many shared programs and opportunities for our girls and boys.Julie Wiseman is the Head of Wahroonga Preparatory School

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The world these days talks about various apps and other technologies which have been  introduced in the classrooms in India and abroad. The student community which can afford expensive gadgets take an advantage over the underprivileged ones.
Then there are people who in their own little ways do their bit . This article talks about encouraging education among under privileged children through innovative ideas.
https://www.news18.com/news/india/teaching-with-a-difference-this-school-in-delhi-slum-educates-with-stories-not-with-chalk-and-board-1868085.html

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People who want to do something just need the passion to do so. Ideas flow aplenty when the willpower is strong. Platform school...an innovative initiative by the Government Railway Police to bring cheers to the lives of homeless destitute and poor children. Read on!

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Green School has beautifully crafted living and learning ambitions . https://www.gettingsmart.com/2016/04/the-greenest-school-in-the-world/

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Meaning of disruption can be negative where the disruptive factor halts the progress and creates complications and in order to get the things moving someone must intervene.
Disruption is now used in the positive sense where it is changing the way the students learn by using techniques which are simple, convenient,  accessible and affordable like online education.
https://www.christenseninstitute.org/blog/why-disruptive-innovation-matters-to-education/

https://www.teachthought.com/technology/30-examples-of-disruptions-in-the-classroom/

Watch the two videos below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loFL5gT_m8I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwGmFSmIn8U

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Prioritise fun and the learning will come!

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Prioritise fun and the learning will come!

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Educating 21st century learners in a conventional classroom setup impedes learning to a great extent. Mindful adding fun(AHA moments) to it  changes the scenario completely and make the learning process interesting and worth learning. Sharing few strategies which make a difference .
https://www.channelone.com/interact_post/unusual-teaching-methods-that-work/

https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/refuse-to-be-a-boring-teacher/

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"We have 21st century learners taught by 20th century teachers in 19th Century classrooms"

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A disruption is a sudden break or interruption. Disruptive education is, therefore, that which intends to break with the established model to improve the existing one. And many experts think the change is both necessary and urgent because the current system is anachronistic, in other words it is still anchored in the last century and is failing to address the needs of the digital age.

This is what, Ken Robinson, among others, believes. This Briton, one of the best known figures in the world of education, has repeatedly pointed out that while economic, cultural and personal areas have undergone an enormous transformation over the last 50 years, our education systems have not modified their syllabuses and their objectives a jot.

Curtis Johnson, co-author of the bestseller Disruptive Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns, explains that the current form of teaching "is unable to provide today's pupils with the skills they need to master in order to interact with and within the digital society". He then goes on to highlight the need for a disruptive education that approaches learning in another way.

THE CHALLENGES FACING EDUCATION IN THE 21st CENTURY

No universal agreement exists regarding the challenges facing education in the 21st century, but they are being partially addressed by reports such as 2018 Higher Education Edition compiled by the US Group NMC Horizon. This document describes a number of global objectives such as, for example: customising education to adapt it to the needs and strengths of each pupil, training professionals who are, at the same time, members of the public and, of course, equip the students with the social and technical skills and tools demanded by the job market.

How can this be achieved? The answer lies in innovation. Innovative approaches, innovative methods and innovative formats. What we are talking about here, for example, is Artificial Intelligence (IA), gamification - which is being so well received in the classroom as an effective way of getting pupils to study using game - design elements in non-game contexts -, teachertubers, MOOCs - massive open online courses -, lifelong learning, business e-learning and all the other possibilities that technology offers.

Key factors for a disruptive education model.
SEE INFOGRAPHIC: Key factors for a disruptive education model [PDF]
THE UNIVERSITY'S ROLE IN DISRUPTIVE EDUCATION

The world is currently moving at lightning speed that requires curious, flexible and proactive people. This, in the case of education, cannot only apply to teachers and pupils, but also to institutions such as the university. Historically, universities have moved slowly and had problems adapting themselves to changes, but they are currently going through a disruptive period marked by the following milestones:

Practice over theory
Universities are increasingly concentrating their efforts on the acquisition of skills and abilities adapted to the new reality rather than to concepts.

Multidisciplinary learning
The frontiers between disciplines no longer exist. Therefore, training must be adapted and content-rich so as to create professionals with a far reaching vision.

Digital innovation
Around 800 universities now have their own virtual areas for training, partnership and shared knowledge purposes.

Closer links with the job market
The trend is for universities to become platforms for connecting companies and students and promoting the entrepreneurial spirit.

Making competitiveness a priority
Universities must be ever more competitive in order to transform themselves into research leaders and new knowledge areas.

DISRUPTIVE INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION

Although little mention is made of Artificial Intelligence in the world of education, the truth is that projects in this area have been implemented over the last few years. One example of this is Capaball, a start-up company that has developed the first ever Artificial Intelligence system that creates training programs tailor made to match the student's profile. The idea came about as a result of the acknowledgement of two realities: that current education is not meeting the challenge laid down by the digital revolution and that the majority of graduates enter the job market unprepared.

But this is not only being done by companies. From the purely educational side, universities such as Denmark's Kaospilot, the USA's Minerva or Sweden's Hyper Island have been putting disruptive educational approaches into practice for years. For example: daily content renewal, real projects with companies, no more predefined syllabuses, trial and error learning instead of exams and master classes, learning based on pupil and teacher experience, methodologies designed to make the most of leadership and entrepreneurship, etc.

Another disruptive concept is the hyper-classroom, a type of learning area that could replace the traditional model. This is an innovative space characterised by three ideas unified by the prefix 'hyper': hyperspace, generously sized, open and flexible spaces that can be rearranged to cater for team or individual work; hypermedia, classrooms in which technology constitutes an environment in its own right and does not merely play a supporting role; and, finally, hyperreality, the use of augmented, virtual, 3D or immersive reality with high teaching potential.

Online or face-to-face training, which to choose? Nanodegrees, online courses that will change your life Women and STEM disciplines: a question of gender

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Disruptive education for meeting the challenges of the future

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Innovation is one of the watchwords of the 21st century and training must form part of this (r)evolution in order to bring it into line with the demands of an increasingly hyperactive and hyperconnected world. In order to meet these challenges, technology is an essential ally when promoting a disruptive form of education that puts learning in a new light.

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“One person’s craziness is another person’s reality”      Tim Burton (noted American director, producer, writer, animator) 

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“One person’s craziness is another person’s reality”      Tim Burton (noted American director, producer, writer, animator) 

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My idea of ‘disruptive ideas’ was centered around the word ‘disruptive’ which primarily means causing ‘unrest’. Essentially, innovations of any kind, rattle old and acquired beliefs systems, assumptions, resulting in an entire shift in our paradigms. Disruptive innovations do more than that. They level the playing field providing simple, accessible, affordable, convenient and equitable assess to the service on offer to all. In the field of education, technology has been a game changer. Though there are a multitude of approaches adopted by educationists to keep pace with the demands of the times, keeping in mind ‘climate change’ and our ‘future prospects’, I couldn’t help but zero in on a ‘paperless’, ‘textbook-less’ school…also find attached a link which mentions the most 'weirdest' of schools…(yes, that's the nomenclature on the link-wierdest!!) Each one is a disruptive idea in action.
https://technical.ly/philly/2012/11/12/high-school-of-the-future-microsoft-philadelphia-school-district/
https://content.wisestep.com/unusual-weirdest-schools-world/

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Bringing back excitement and energy in classrooms through game-based learning 

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Bringing back excitement and energy in classrooms through game-based learning 

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The joy of playing together, learning from mistakes , thinking creatively and critically to solve puzzles and clear levels infuse high energy levels in students. With increased availability of multifarious online and offline gaming platforms, game-based learning, when planned meticulously, can be a disruptive idea in classrooms of today. As there have been serious concerns over increasing screen time of students , games designed using an appropriate mix of indoor and outdoor,  online and offline platforms, incorporating subject concepts and skills can facilitate effective learning. This article highlights research backed advantages of game- based learning. As a technology teacher, I have also been teaching programming skills to students by introducing them to a simulated gaming environment (at www.code.org) since last three years. I realised that it works wonder and draws students' attention towards the concepts, though it requires deliberate and extensive efforts on the part of teacher to plan gaming experiences in such a manner they augment learning, rather than merely assisting it.

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As anyone who's ever spent hours hunched over Candy Crush can attest, there's something special about games. Sure they're fun, but they can also be absorbing, frustrating, challenging and complex.

Research has shown our brains are " wired for pleasure," and that games are an effective way to learn because they simulate adventure and keep our brains engaged and happy. But what exactly do we learn from them? In an era consumed with teaching 21st-century soft skills, are games any good at building critical thinking or collaboration skills? The answer is likely yes, but, much like games themselves, it's complicated.

"What you'll find from the research is that it's very much dependent on, 'under certain types of conditions, certain types of skills seem to be developed,'" explains game designer and theorist Katie Salen, a former executive director at the nonprofit Institute of Play. "I never want to make claims that games writ-large for any kid-under any circumstances-teach these sort of skills."

On a Quest

A decade ago, Salen helped design and open a Manhattan middle school with a unique proposition. Instead of learning from a combination of books, lectures and software, as students do at most schools, the primary mode of instruction for kids attending Quest to Learn is games.

Digital games were included from the start, of course, but the school also decided to include elements of game design in nearly everything kids did during the day. Thus, learning objectives were reframed as quests-a staple of many role playing games-challenging kids to design a safe transport into the earth's crust during science class or simulate court cases during civics. Socratic Seminars, a group discussion technique popular in English classes, were turned into Socratic Smackdowns, where students earned points based on how well they structured arguments.

A project of the Institute of Play, Quest, as the school is known, is an Innovation Zone (or iZone) school, itself a project of the city's public school system. It eventually expanded into high school, scaling up its challenges like levels in a video game and borrowing elements from game design-such as its approach to final exams, which are interactive and structured like "final boss" levels.

Yet even though the school is zoned for a wealthy area of Manhattan, where achievement is highly prized, standardized test scores were nothing special. As part of a long-term study on the school, a team of researchers at NYU, led by Richard Arum, decided to look at other metrics, including a performance-based test called the College and Work Readiness Assessment, which is designed to measure various problem solving and reasoning skills.

The NYU team found that in just one year, the average Quest student in grades eight to ten showed as much growth on the exam as college students did on a similar performance-based test across four years. The takeaway? Quest students learned skills like problem solving at a much faster rate than students in college.

Additionally, Arum has said that the school is adept at building soft skills, such as design thinking, along with collaboration and critical thinking. Part of that success may be attributable to the way games are designed-e.g., minimizing failure and providing immediate feedback for students. Though it might also have to do with the conditions for learning espoused by Salen (who has since stepped away from Quest, but still sits on the Institute's board).

If it does have to do with conditions, then how games are used for learning-and the context teachers place them in-might be just as important as the games themselves. But make no mistake: game design is very important for learning.

The Balanced Game

Research hasn't shown much evidence that games-in general-lead to increased learning outcomes. Even getting good at a game is no guarantee those skills will transfer to other tasks in our lives. Instead, learning through play appears to be context specific.

A highly-competitive game, for example, can build persistence and even collaboration as anxious players work through solutions in order to win. Likewise, a multiplayer role-playing game poses challenges that require players to work together, setting the stage for collaborative problem solving. And kids who, say, design their own cities using simulation games may show stronger problem-solving abilities than peers learning about cities in more traditional ways.

When games succeed at teaching broader skills that go beyond content-level knowledge, they often do so because they marry the best parts of entertainment gameplay-or the feedback loops and successive challenges that keep us glued to Candy Crush-with established learning theories, such as constructivism (learning by doing and reflection) or flow (learning by being perfectly immersed and focused on an activity).

In fact, all games use learning theory to some extent. Think about it: You don't turn on Tetris or Tomb Raider for the first time knowing how to play. You have to learn while the game teaches you-and it all has to be engaging and immersive enough for you to want to keep playing.

There's another reason why games can be so good at teaching certain soft skills, such as resilience, problem solving and collaboration: They put us in a state of play. That, in turn, makes taking risks and failing-acts we typically try to avoid-part of the process, and even the excitement.

"We expect games to be spaces where we fail," Salen says. "It's actually fun to get better at something in a game when it's structured in the right way."

Essentially, Salen contends that games are just systems that put a stack of difficult problems in front of players, and then challenge them to figure out how to solve them. In really good games, the challenges are hard, but there are enough opportunities sprinkled in-such as collecting resources or trading with others-that let you progressively develop these skills and succeed.

How games are designed can also play a big role in whether we learn, or even keep playing. Well-designed games feature certain design elements that motivate us to either try harder or try a different approach. These games are adaptive-that is, they get harder as we progress-and they engage our curiosity. They make us want to discover new things, they provide immediate feedback and they spell out goals in a clear way. Often, they feed on our competitive side and when we do well, they provide some sort of reward-even if it's just a smiley face at the end of a level.

On the flip side, "a poorly designed game is one that we would say is maybe not balanced correctly," Salen says. It may be too hard at some times, too easy at others. It doesn't differentiate based on our skill level and, as a result, can feel too frustrating or repetitive.

"Games have to be designed in a way so they have what we call a level playing field," Salen explains. "At all moments, all players need to feel like they have a chance to win. When we talk about skill development, it takes time. If you want to keep your players in your game so that they can develop skills, you have to continually engage them."

Play, Explore, Study, Build

In 2016, two researchers at Clemson University in South Carolina set out to see what the existing research really had to say about gaming's impact on 21st-century skills. In their published meta-analysis, they found a "dearth of high-quality" research on the subject, indicating the field is either unpopular with researchers or tough to measure. In the end, they managed to identify 29 separate studies-which mostly looked at problem solving and critical thinking skills-and examined their outcomes.

Many of the studies that showed the most significant results focused specifically on critical thinking skills. According to the Clemson analysis, these studies "rarely targeted other 21st-century skills such as creativity and collaboration as learning outcomes."

But the crux of their findings goes back to those game design elements so crucial to a game's success-and our enjoyment of it. Interestingly, the researchers found that not all design elements are created equal when it comes to imparting soft skills. The studies that showed the most success (i.e., larger effect sizes) incorporated specific game design elements, including collaboration, competition, role playing, and exploration and discovery.

Yet elements such as clear goals, the use of strategy and even low-stakes failure were less frequently associated with successful outcomes. Those things are undoubtedly nice to have-but design elements that correlate directly to specific skills appear to be more useful for students. Naturally, the authors concluded that educators looking to boost 21st-century skills should select games that emphasize those elements that made the most impact.

Perhaps the most successful games in the analysis were ones where students had to actually create something themselves. The researchers called them design-based games, and noted they could take a number of forms. Some asked students to create their own games using block-based coding tools, while others asked them to produce an interactive story about their learning by the end of the lesson.

After analyzing a variety of studies that looked at different game genres, including educational and entertainment games, the researchers concluded that design-based games performed the best. In other words, students either learned more or showed better improvement in skills like critical thinking when they created something during or after gameplay.

When the journalist Greg Toppo visited Quest to Learn for his book, " The Game Believes in You," he found a similar phenomena happening there. Kids weren't spending all day glued to screens as they tried to level up in content-specific games. Instead, he observed, they spent much more time engaged in making or doing things, such as designing clothes for a future game, writing reflections, arguing over rules or creating their own games. And the students using digital devices were typically playing open sandbox games, which encourage creation and exploration and can be adapted for a variety of subjects and tasks.

The Quest approach maps to other research and best practices, which hold that a sizable amount of learning comes from the collaboration and creativity that takes place around gameplay. For example, pairing kids up to play a game can get them working and solving problems together, but it also forces them to explain the subject at hand.

"In the moment they're talking about it, you get a lot of learning for free because they might have to think about technical terminology," says Kurt Squire, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, who has studied how games impact learning. "That's a general finding in research in other fields, but it works in kind of a cool way in games."

Squire is a champion of a game-based learning model he calls "Play, Explore, Study, Build," which leans heavily on learning theories like constructivism. In this model, students only play games for around 10 percent of the time, typically in the beginning. The rest of the time they're doing related activities that don't involve gaming at all. Thus, a fifth-grader might start out by playing a life science game to draw him into the topic, but then spend the rest of the unit exploring and researching the topic, getting out into nature and finally building something tangible, such as a model ecosystem, either physically or digitally.

In short, games can kickstart learning, but students need to learn how to apply those skills to the analog world as well. Strategies like these may hold the key to building more resilient and adaptive players, both in class and in life.

"The goal is to think about games in the context of a broader pedagogical model," Squire says. "It's never games or traditional activity-it's always about the interplay between them."

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Playing Games Can Build 21st-Century Skills. Research Explains How. - EdSurge News

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As anyone who's ever spent hours hunched over Candy Crush can attest, there's something special about games. Sure they're fun, but they can also be absorbing, frustrating, challenging and complex. Research has shown our brains are " wired for pleasure," and that games are an effective way to learn because they simulate adventure and keep our brains engaged and happy.

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Disruptive  ideas that have really changed the shape  of education  and scenarios in educational institutions....

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Green School in Bali
https://youtu.be/WQr36syiWTA
While the world changes at an unprecedented pace, education systems in most countries remain decades old, with today’s schools closely resembling those attended by our parents and grandparents. The changing job landscape, automation, and technology mean that students need to be prepared for jobs that might not yet exist, but most schools are struggling to stay up-to-date.
innovative doesn’t always have to mean high-tech. Imagine a school without walls, nestled between rain forests and rice paddies, built solely from bamboo and powered by the sun. The Green School in Bali has made it its mission to educate students on sustainability, using a holistic approach.

After watching “An Inconvenient Truth,” John and Cynthia Hardy, an American expat couple living on the Indonesian island of Bali, decided to sell their jewelry business and build a completely green school to teach the next generation how to live sustain ably. Since opening in 2008, the Green School has grown to teach 400 students from kindergarten to high school, even offering a boarding option.

Traditional topics, like math and languages, are combined with experiential classes, including cooking, gardening, and even traditional Balinese mud wrestling.

The teachers are as diverse as the students, coming from all around the world to teach at Green School and learn about its mission and values.

Green School is becoming much more than just a school; it is turning into a community. More and more parents are building houses within walking distance of the campus in a green, sustainable way, using the principles their children learn at school.
The concept is based on three simple principles: be local, let the environment lead, and think of your grandchildren’s future.

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This article discusses an unorthodox and innovative education technique in today’s world that Denmark Kindergarten schools have adopted in which pre-schoolers are taught in an actual forest where they climb trees and learn how to use tools including knives.

It explores the potential benefits of such an outdoor learning experience and claims that it boosts development, children are much better socially, more creative, more innovative and happier.

I believe experiential learning is a great way to complement classroom learning, which is just as important. So, such an experience will surely help students understand the real life context before they step into a school

The relevance of such an education in a tech driven world is a concern that the article touches often. I feel no matter where technology or development is headed, this outdoor learning experience will teach students more about life skills such as fending for themselves, getting more out of less resources and dealing with unpredictable circumstances which are always relevant.

I would like you to read this article to understand how education doesn’t necessarily need to happen in a classroom or through technology, but sometimes going back to our roots and learning the way our ancestors learnt is a better way to grow.

https://apolitical.co/solution_article/happens-put-toddlers-forest-climb-trees-use-knives/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkiij9dJfcw

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Learning is experiencing   :   Education is a segment that needs disruptive innovation. In the education segment we do need to get better at understanding where we have been and where we are going, what constitutes innovation and/or disruption. Disruptive technologies provide the possibility to get a modern education to those people who can't learn in traditional educational institutions. While browsing I came to know about 5 schools  which  are continuously raising the bar when it comes to innovation. From a gender-free school in Sweden, to a cubicle school in Ohio, some of the most innovative schools in the world are breaking all the rules of traditional education and are achieving incredible results. 

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Learning is experiencing   :   Education is a segment that needs disruptive innovation. In the education segment we do need to get better at understanding where we have been and where we are going, what constitutes innovation and/or disruption. Disruptive technologies provide the possibility to get a modern education to those people who can't learn in traditional educational institutions. While browsing I came to know about 5 schools  which  are continuously raising the bar when it comes to innovation. From a gender-free school in Sweden, to a cubicle school in Ohio, some of the most innovative schools in the world are breaking all the rules of traditional education and are achieving incredible results. 

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https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/can-learn-5-innovative-schools-world/

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“If I don’t understand the way you teach, teach me the way I understand.” – A statement more often heard than used. Children these days no longer respond well to the ageold teaching techniques wherein the teacher was the information giver and the student had to assimilate learning. The task of the modern teacher is more to facilitate learning  though I also feel that we can’t do away completely with the old model of teaching. In my opinion we need to incorporate technology in our classrooms as our children are completely tuned in to it. Also I liked the idea that eyeing twitter and facebook as distractions is no good. They can be used to enhance learning in our classrooms. Watch this video in support of my view.

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An eyeopener . Organizations like Katha can really work towards the fulfillment of the dream goal of imparting education among the poor. I am amazed to see how the movement started and is now doing well in Delhi.

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An eyeopener . Organizations like Katha can really work towards the fulfillment of the dream goal of imparting education among the poor. I am amazed to see how the movement started and is now doing well in Delhi.

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I found the idea of praise pods really good. I believe that positive motivation really works and this can be implemented in our schools too.

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I found the idea of praise pods really good. I believe that positive motivation really works and this can be implemented in our schools too.

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The idea of experiential learning is totally convincing as children learn better by doing. We aim to expose children to such learning experiences in the classrooms but i'm sure if we can design one outdoor trip for each chapter that would enhance learning and lifeskills by leaps and bounds.

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The idea of experiential learning is totally convincing as children learn better by doing. We aim to expose children to such learning experiences in the classrooms but i'm sure if we can design one outdoor trip for each chapter that would enhance learning and lifeskills by leaps and bounds.

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We have always been taught to use our right hand for our daily activities. Lefties (people who are in a habit of using their left hand), despite making up about 10 percent of the population, have not been much appreciated for this disposition in the past. With changing times, we accepted the fact that people can write with either left or the right hand.

You might think, what is new in it….

The interesting thing is that there are geniuses around the world who can write using both hands together.

You again might think what is new in it, we have heard of this as well… and the first picture comes to your mind is of Veeru Sahastra Buddhe, the 'antagonist' in 3 Idiots, played by Boman Irani who uses this skill to write the letter to the parents of two other lead characters, Raju and Farhan.……

Have you ever thought that we can even MAKE our students ambidextrous???

Yes friends, while enjoying the video that follows the link mentioned, let your neurons work on the idea as to what happens to the cranial capacity/brain when such a skill is adopted and practiced with utmost expertise……..

Students of Veena Vadini School, Singarauli, Madhya Pradesh developed this ambidextrous skill of using both hands with equal power for writing in their school notebook. This is India's one and only 'ambidextrous' school, which has more than 150 students who write using both hands together at the same time. These students have a high speed of writing with both hands and another fascinating thing about this story is they can write in six different languages Hindi, English, Urdu, Sanskrit, Arabic, and Roman. These students can finish the three-hour long exam in one or one and half hour.

Mr Birangat Sharma, the founder and principal of the school, is an ex-army man who got inspired by the same skill of Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, and thought of adopting this as a unique feature for his school.

Whenever a new child comes in, she/he holds the pen with one hand, and they are taught to use their other hand after a month. After that, the students are taught to use both the hands together. In 45 minutes of class, every student does the practice of writing for 15 minutes with both hands.

According to an article published in Reader's Digest, only 1 per cent of the total population is ambidextrous. Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Leonardo da Vinci, Ben Franklin, and Albert Einstein are some of history's most famous personalities who shared the same skill as that of these students in India.

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Where children had a poor fist on reaching the school, Mrs. Inderjit Khurana made things possible.... 

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Where children had a poor fist on reaching the school, Mrs. Inderjit Khurana made things possible.... 

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Education is a treasure. It is a weapon to improve one’s life. It is as strong as a hammer to break the chains of ignorance. Poverty and education are inextricably linked, because people living in poverty may stop going to school so that they can work, which leaves them without literacy and numeracy skills they need to further their careers. Their children, in turn, are in a similar situation years later, with little income and few options but to leave school and work. Mrs Inderjit Khurana is working to improve the condition of the poor families living near the Indian railway stations by providing a free service of educating their children.

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PBS New Heros Ep4 01 Inderjit Khurana Train Platform Schools India

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Over the last decade, digital technology has changed many aspects of our personal and professional lives and now, as this article correctly presumes, education is the next frontier to feel the effects of these changes. While schools have already progressed from simple blackboards to smart boards, technologies like Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, AI & Collaboration Platforms have the potential to completely change the way students and teachers interact on a daily basis. The best thing about these internet-based technologies is that they can be quickly and easily experimented with and thus each school can modify the usage to cater the specific needs of their students. Hence, I believe it is important that schools start using these technologies as soon as possible, in small trial batches at first, so that by the time these tools become universally accepted, each school would have figured out their own specific way of utilizing them in their curriculum.

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In this article, the author explores game play or gaming as a form of pedagogy for school learning. In my opinion, game based learning is a brilliant way to garner a student’s attention and incorporate learning through a fun element. While the idea is simple, it’s implications are revolutionary. A well designed game can incentivise a student to learn faster, better and have potentially higher retention. I also agree with author’s views on the freedom a game based learning provides to be able to fail and consequently learn. In today’s high pressure environments, it is important to teach this value to students. The author also touches on the importance of not restricting game to a screen based play or an indoor environment, it is equally possible and important to apply this methodology outside of the classroom for all round development.

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THE SHOOL IN THE CLOUD

‘Disruptive Innovation’ was coined by Harvard Business School Professor Clayton Christensen in early 1990s and in his words, it is not breakthrough technology that makes good products better. How the million-dollar main frame computer was replaced by mini frame then by desktops to laptops and smart phones eventually is an example used by him to simplify the disruptive innovation. Smart phones democratized technology, everybody has access to it today.

The ‘Hole in the Wall’ experiment by Sugata Mitra had caught my attention many years back. As I thought about disruptive innovation in education, I was tempted to explore the work of Sugata Mitra and his ‘SOLEs’ attracted me to explore about them. Listening to TED talks, reading blogs, interviews and comments on his work I experienced immersion in finding something suitable to post in this edition of KOSH. SOLEs – Self Organized Learning Environments in the ‘School in the Cloud’, where children can explore and learn from each other is a concept that will democratize education and make it accessible even in the most remote areas is how I see it.

To know more about the SOLEs across the world and connect to the ‘School in the Cloud’ log on to their site -

https://www.theschoolinthecloud.org/

An Interview and a TED Talk will give you some insight into ‘School in the Cloud’

https://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_build_a_school_in_the_cloud#t-1153800

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/aug/02/sugata-mitra-school-in-the-cloud