Saturday, September 14, 2013

Experience and Insights from a National Conference and Exhibition on Education



On the 11th,12th and 13th of September, 2013, I got to attend the World Didac 2013 Education Exhibition and the Asian Summit on Education and Skills in Mumbai. I write this blog post to share my experience with you and some of the things I learned over the three days.


It was indeed an enriching experience and the event was attended by teachers, trainers, education material suppliers, educational technology providers and members of the Didactic Organization. Had some very insightful conversations at the event and here are some of the things I learned.


Day 1 - 11th September 2013
 Asian Summit on Education and Skills

  •  "In education what matters is not what is thought, but what is learned." - TN Hung
  • The human resource ministry will invest 2-3 crores under the national skill development program . institute and trainer will partner and  sign an mou. Then the trainer will help provide the skill development program.
  •   22 million people in gross enrollment ratio in our country's schools and colleges. We have 600 million young people in our country. Much work to do.
  • We have the investment coming.   Shashi Tharoor said we are going to spend 9500 billion. do we have the mechanism to utilize this large investment. We must courageously adopt technology and new things and have systems to regulate the process along the way.
  •   In India, 55% under 25 years of age. US labour group and  Boston consulting group did a study where they found out that the whole world will be deficient in skilled manpower. There will be a deficiency of 65 million. But 47 million people will be available in India.
  •   Teaching and Learning must improve. We need teachers who have done lots of thinking on the subject. The Future of India built in the classrooms.
  •  Prepare children for change in the world. Prepare them for a globalized and more open world. If society changes educational systems must change as well. Redefinition of aims necessary.
  •   How to use technology in education system - teach the child from an early age how to use and cope with technology. Find ways to combine technology with curriculum and find ways to integrate them daily. Also train the educators to use the technology. 


Day 2 - 12th September 2013
Asian Summit on Education and Skills

 

  • Most important aspect of education is for man to become a better human being.
  •   Good schools put children through real life experiences. 
  •   Trends in education - future problem solving, global citizenry, values and education, geo literacy, stem literacy, digital literacy, story telling, enquiry learning and more.
  •   India should look at best practices from around the world and apply them here. 
  •   Global curriculum needs a flexible framework, great support on resources and student centric approach.' - Mrs Vandana Lulla
  •   21st century skills are - creativity, critical thinking, initiative, self direction, respect cultures, productivity and accountability, leadership, business plan making 
  • Solutions to the Education debate are - Develop student philosophy , good strong leadership, freedom, collaboration between teachers, systematic evaluation.
  •   Education must consider the student a spiritual and material being.
  •   Move from a teacher centric to student centric model.
  •  Must focus on the following: e content creation, professional development, policy framework, content and curriculum assessment.
  •  You can use technology to customize learning for each student. 
  •  'Do we use 1250 crores to distribute food or to create independent human beings that can feed themselves.
    We must not become a nation that only talks.' - Mr Kamlesh Misra
  •  'Nine important steps to improve education - 1) include stakeholders 2) reduce corruption 3) change the curriculum 4) encourage leadership 5) revise curriculum 6) regulate primary schools 7) make info relevant 8) have assessment and data analytics 9) innovate in education.' - Syed Sultan Ahmed (School Cinema)



 Day 3 - September 14th, 2013
World Didac 2013 International Exhibition on Education, Training Trends and Products


 

Some of the stalls that had some very innovative solutions to the development and progress of education in India were



I also met James and Mary Pierce who were members of the Global Classroom team that has created a curriculum by combining the best practices from 38 countries around the world. The company was founded by Mrs. Sunita Gandhi. It was  interesting speaking to James, as he and his wife Mary had homeschooled 9 of their children and were now in India to support the Global Classroom Program. We spoke about Education and how the system can help bring out the true potential of the student.



 (With James and Mary Pierce from Global Classroom)

Overall it was a great experience. Would love to come back again next year. But was glad to be part of such an interesting gathering of some of the world's most passionate educators. 

After attending the ASES Event and the WorldDidac Exhibition, for some reason I am really excited about where Education is heading in the years to come.

Satchinanda
Let us Learn Together
Tweet@AbhishekShetty_



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