January-February 2012
Making Learning
A Meaningful Process
Focussed on our mission of spreading the
empowering light of Education nationwide and
in the deepest corners of the country, we at
IL&FS Education present the second edition of
our bi-monthly K-Class newsletter. A pioneer in
the education space with over a decade of
experience in offering comprehensive learning
solutions for teachers and students, we at
IL&FS Education exist to enhance the learning
and teaching experience in schools while
honing educational practitioner s to become
smart and practical thinkers. This newsletter
has been founded on the same philosophy
pillars, to aid us in realising our larger dream of
enhancing student learning outcomes.
This newsletter edition is centred on
implementing The Constructivist Appr oach in
your classrooms as laid down by the NCF 2005,
enabling you to inculcate and improve learning
amongst your students. Also our zest to
implement Continuous and Comprehensiv e
Evaluation system in schools reflects in this
edition too. IL&FS Education has par tnered with
CBSE to conduct CCE Teacher Training
programmes in CBSE Schools and here w e
present glimpses of the same. That's not all this
edition carries. Read through the pages to
discover many learning resources for teachers
that you can actually use in your classrooms. Do
remember to write to us at
[email protected] to help us make
the newsletter more focussed on YOU.
Co-editors
Ninad Vengurlekar
National K-Class Head
Neena Paul
National Academic Head
HIGHLIGHTS
Lead Story
Reinventing the Paradigm of Teaching with Constructivism
School Speak
Nand Kumar, State General Secretary, TN Nursery, Primary and
Matriculation Schools Association, on the Benefits of K-Class
IETS Milestones
CBSE Partners with IL&FS Education to Conduct
the CCE Program in CBSE Schools
IL&FS Education Implements English Language Enhancement
Programme for Students in Andhra Pradesh Gurukulams
IL&FS Education Partners With Social Welfare Department,
Odisha and UNICEF to Implement Life Skills Programme for Students
IL&FS Education at the AINACS Meeting at Kochi
K-Class Moments On Reel
An Innovative Learning Idea You Can Use
Top 3 Websites To Boost Classroom Learning
www.ilfsets.com | www.facebook.com/ilfseducation | www.twitter.com/ilfseducation
January-February 2012
Lead Story
Reinventing The Paradigm Of
Teaching With Constructivism
As a child, I was often labelled by my
teachers as unfocused, too fidgety
and uninterested in studies. They
complained to my parents that I
talked too much with other kids,
asked too many questions not
necessarily connected to the subject
being taught, and dismissed textbook
learning as unimportant. But don't
most children fall broadly in the
same situation bracket- curious, keen
on learning and applying gathered
knowledge but not interested in
cramming textbook information (not
necessarily knowledge) being
disseminated by the teachers? Also,
aren't they always intent on social
interaction with their peers?
Also, aren't they always intent on
social interaction with their peers?
Curriculum overload on children,
however, isn't the only problem.
Noted scientist and educationist,
Professor Yash Pal, who played a
significant role in leading education
reforms in India and was a core
member of the team that formulated
The National Curriculum Framework
(NCF) 2005, produced by NCERT,
highlights the issues well in the NCF
document. He says, “We have
bartered away understanding for
memory-based, short-term
information accumulation. This must
be reversed, particularly now that the
mass of what could be memorized
has begun to explode. We need to
give our children some taste of
understanding, following which they
would be able to learn and create
their own versions of knowledge as
they go out to meet the world of bits,
images and transactions of life.”
To address this deep structural issue,
the National Curriculum Framework
2005 was put in place that
elaborates on the insights of
1
'Learning without Burden'.
A Framework For Knowledge
Construction
The NCF -2005 is based on the
concept of constructivism, which
emphasises that learners do not
acquire knowledge passively but
construct it actively, connecting new
ideas to existing ones on the basis of
experience. It states that the
curriculum must enable students to
find their voices, nurture their
curiosity to do things, to ask
questions and to pursue
investigations, integrating their
experiences with school knowledge
rather than their ability to produce
textual knowledge.
The NCF Aims
l Connecting knowledge to life
outside and providing wide range
experiences for overall
development of a child, mentoring
them to become engaged citizens
in constantly changing local,
regional, and global realities.
l
Shifting from rote learning to
constructing knowledge, aiding
children sustain their chances in
the world of work.
l
Bringing flexibility in the
examination system to truly
measure their learning and
understanding capabilities.
Assumably, if the students are active,
they are constructing knowledge.
What, however, remains ambiguous
is how knowledge construction can
be applied to the course content and
what tools and tricks could teachers
use to help students construct
knowledge.
Here are 5 ways to help you use
constructivist approaches in your
classrooms to inculcate and
improve learning amongst your
students
1. Allow Students To Play Their Way
To Learning
Educationists of international repute
like John Dewey, Maria Montessori,
and Friedrich Froebel have advocated
play way method, especially at the
Primary Level. Most of the subjects
like language, mathematics, and
science can be taught through this
method. According to Lev Vygotsky, a
social constructivist, “Play mediates
the learning of children, and, through
play, children develop abstract
thought. Mediate means that, in play,
children reach beyond their real
selves as they take on the roles of
the characters they choose to be,
and take action appropriate to the
behavioural rules that govern
those roles.”
For example, a child pretending to be
a doctor will play with a stethoscope,
pretend to check a make-believe
patient, and follow the conduct
expected from a doctor. Enacting in
make believe, children internalise
social norms and expectations and
strive to follow them. You can use this
opportunity to explain to the child the
responsibilities of a doctor and teach
him basics of health care such as
providing elementary first aid.
teaches another. In cross-age peer
tutoring, one of the students is older.
Cross-age peer tutoring usually works
better than same age peer-tutoring.
Research has proven that peer
tutoring often benefits both the tutor
and the tutee. A study conducted by
education psychologists D. Fuchs,
L.S. Fuchs, Mathes & Simmons
(1997) evaluated the effectiveness of
a peer tutoring programme across 12
American schools for 3 learner types:
low-achieving students with
disabilities, low-achieving students
without disabilities and averageachieving students. The training of
peer tutors revolved around helping
students read aloud, review
information read, state main ideas,
predict and check story outcomes,
and similar tasks. Irrespective of the
type of learners, students in the peer
tutoring classrooms showed greater
progress than their counterparts who
did not receive peer tutoring.
strengths could provide astounding
results.
3. Promote The Use Of Computers
And Internet To Support Learning
NCF acknowledges that Educational
Technology and ICT are significant
tools to achieve constructivist
learning in the new generation Indian
classrooms and encourages you to
share discoveries and initiate
discussions that will require students
to do their own internet research. You
could continually use the internet to
introduce students to new language
games and puzzles, to make your
classroom interact with a classroom
in another country or state, to
encourage students collaborate on
doing project work, play learning
games with international students
online and the like.
4. Enrich The Learning Environment
With Hardware, Software And
Digital Tools
Do not limit the use of 'technology' in
the classrooms to just internet and
computers, but utilize a whole range
of hardware, software and digital
tools (that may or may not require
computers to work) to promote
learning. 'Concept Mapping' is one
such digital tool that helps to not only
Therefore, whenever some other
activity of the school demands your
time, instead of asking students to
finish their homework in class, use
the time to practice peer-tutoring.
Mixing two classes or students from
the same age-group but with different
2. Encourage Peer Tutoring
According to constructivist approach
to learning, teachers and students
together contribute to the process of
knowledge construction through their
interaction in the classroom, hence
jointly contributing to students
learning. In peer tutoring one student
2
January - February 2012 Issue
January-February 2012
organize learners' knowledge into a
conceptual framework, but also
makes this thinking and knowledge
construction process visible to the
teacher. Such concept maps created
by the students serve as a powerful
tool to assess a student's
understanding of a topic, and are
much more authentic than multiple
choice tests as it presents both valid
and invalid ideas held by students.
Unlike the ones made on the
blackboard or in the notebooks that
lack flexibility and longevity, concept
maps created using software tools
could also be very valuable for
curriculum planning and mapping by
teachers, where all the resources
that you plan to use for a session
could be stored in one composite
digital artefact. Such a concept map
presents in a highly concise manner
the key concepts to be taught and
can be reused time and again.
There are several free software tools
that you can use in your classrooms
for concept-mapping or mind
mapping. CmapTools is a free tool
designed by the Institute for Human
and Machine Cognition that brings
together the strengths of conceptmapping with the power of Internet.
CmapTools provides a variety of
features that makes it possible for
teachers to use concept maps for a
variety of tasks that students perform
in a constructivist setting. It also
allows for review comments to be
made by peers and teachers on
concept maps or during map
construction in the form of 'Post-its'.
'Mindmapping' software such as
Freemind, Mindomo, Bubbl.us, and
Mindmeister are also freely
downloadable from the Internet and
several of them allow 'collaborative
mind mapping.' Most of all, they are
all very easy-to-use tools and can be
easily mastered by the children.
5. Don't Judge The Students For The
Wrong Answers
Jean Piaget, a Swiss Psychologist and
propounder of Cognitive
Constructivism, opines that in the
developmental process of a child
there is a stage of wrong notions, and
these incorrect notions of the child
indicate that now the child is able to
understand and learn the right
concept. Instead of expecting your
students to be correct all the time,
accept the wrong answers, and help
them understand why it is not the
best notion and what could serve to
be a better answer, thus eliminating
the gaps in knowledge. For this to
happen, opportunities to make
mistakes and correct oneself are
essential.
For example, if a child is not allowed
to speak incorrect English in the
classroom, the fear is likely to keep
her quiet. Allow her to speak as much
as she can, gently point out her
mistakes and help her arrive at the
best way to express an idea. Follow
up with ideas on how to apply the
same vocabulary to express other
ideas, and what more specific
vocabulary words they can use. This
challenges students to extend their
thinking.
However, amongst all these tools, the
most important factor in the
constructivist classroom remains YOU
the “facilitator” of the learning
process. Serving as a resource rather
than an expert, you must construct a
learning atmosphere where students
formulate their own constructs by
thinking critically, instead of vomiting
textbook information as is. When
students are able to achieve this,
3
your role as a teacher, in its true
sense is fulfilled.
REFERENCES
1. Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L. S., Mathes, P.
G. & Simmons, D. C. (1997) Peerassisted learning strategies:
making classrooms more
responsive to diversity. American
Educational Research Journal 34,
176-206.
2. Miller, J. K. Constructivism: A New
Paradigm.
www.nwlink.com/~
donclark/hrd/history/history.html
3. NCERT (2005) National
Curriculum Framework for School
Education 2005. New Delhi:
NCERT.
4. Novak, J. D. & A. J. Cañas (2006),
The Theory Underlying Concept
Maps and How to Construct
Them, Technical Report IHMC
CmapTools 2006-01, Florida
Institute for Human and Machine
Cognition". Retrieved October 23,
2007 from
www.cmap.ihmc.us/Publications/
ResearchPapers/TheoryUnderlyin
gConceptMaps.pdf.
*The writer is the online editor
for the country's leading
women's website.
School Speak
Nand Kumar, State General
Secretary, TN Nursery,
Primary and Matriculation
Schools Association, on the
benefits of K-Class
“K-Class Has Brought Into Our
Classrooms More And Varied
Content, Ensuring
Remarkable 360 Degree
Learning.”
“K-Class stands for
Knowledge Class and it truly
delivers what it stands for.”
“We have been using this interactive
learning solution in our school for a
while now and it has helped us teach,
learn, understand and perform better
through an ingenious combination of
technology and curriculum mapped
content. K-Class provides an efficient
teaching-learning platform that
responds to the needs of students
and teachers in the most costeffective ways. It focuses on the
traditional methodologies of learning
delivered through futuristic
technologies but with a clear focus
on learning outcomes. Because of
this approach, the K-Class program
has worked as an extension of the
teachers in our classrooms.”
classrooms. Also, the vast bank of
interactive worksheets and practice
sheets in each learning unit assists
the teachers and students assess
their knowledge at the end of each
class.”
“The good thing about this program
is that it saves costs due to the
portability feature and can be used
across the entire school.”
“It has allowed us to address the
challenges of technology
obsolescence and undue hardware
interest payments. In a nutshell, KClass has brought into our
classrooms more and varied content,
ensuring 360 degree learning.
Additionally, the support of the KClass Call Centre that is available to
us during the school hours has
helped our teachers and resource
persons tide over problems faced in
the K-Class Program. The support
along with this efficient and costeffective technology tool has brought
a learning revolution into our
classrooms.”
“The K-Class Content Bank is a
wonderful mix of digital content
that allows teachers to teach using
different techniques and helps
children learn in many ways.”
“This content bank has around 1800
original multimedia lessons,
animation, audio, video and graphics
that address core concepts in various
subjects. This feature rich content
especially makes Science and Maths
far more approachable and easy to
learn for students. Around 1500
science videos of 2-3 minutes each
that are mapped to global science
curriculum are particularly helpful as
they explain deep concepts of
science in a simple manner. More
than 400 exploriments, simulationbased interactive learning units for
enhancing conceptual understanding
in Science and Maths, encourage the
learners to actively participate in the
learning process, instead of being
passive recipients. Hence, it aids the
teachers in following the
constructivist approach in the
As Spoken To M Vidhya Laksmi
4
January - February 2012 Issue
January-February 2012
The objective of the CCE Training
programme is to facilitate the
migration of CBSE schools to school
based assessment that covers all
IETS Milestones
aspects of student's development.
CCE emphasizes two fold objectives:
continuity in evaluation and
We concentrate our energies
on eradicating darkness of
ignorance and illiteracy by
taking education and
empowerment to the remotest
corers of the country. The
accomplishments that fall in
our kitty on our way only
encourage us to move forward
more passionately. Here are
the achievements we are
currently celebrating.
assessment of broad based learning.
CBSE Partners With IL&FS
The programme empowers schools
Education To Conduct CCE Program
and teachers to conduct school
In CBSE Schools
based assessments and to integrate
The Central Board of Secondary
Education (CBSE) has mandated
IL&FS Education to conduct
Continuous and Comprehensive
Evaluation (CCE) training for school
teachers teaching in schools
affiliated to the CBSE board across
all regions in India. Teacher
educators of IL&FS Education have
been trained by CBSE to impart the
CCE module to over 2000 teachers in
the pilot phase period October 2011February 2012.
5
formative assessment in classrooms.
The training gives an insight to
teachers to use a variety of tools
(oral, projects, and presentations)
and helps them understand the
nuances of a comprehensive
evaluation based on a blend of
formative and summative
assessments. It also provides for
peer and self-assessment and covers
both scholastic and co-scholastic
aspects.
IL&FS Education Implements
IL&FS Education Partners With
26th Oct 2011, the meeting was
English Language Enhancement
Social Welfare Department, Odisha
presided by Fr. Antony K J, National
Programme For Students In Andhra
And UNICEF To Implement Life
General Secretary, AINACS. Prof. K V
Pradesh Gurukulams
Skills Programme For Students
Thomas (MP, Minister of Agriculture
The state of Andhra Pradesh has 41
Government of Odisha and UNICEF
mini Gurukulam schools spread
have partnered with IL&FS Education
across 23 districts. These are
to launch a Life Skills Program in the
residential schools for tribal children
districts of Koraput and Malkangiri,
from classes 1-5.
function.
The principals of various schools
Odisha, which will impact 7200
across the country participated in the
students across 90 Ashramshala
meet. The event was marked by a
schools. 270 head-masters and
total of 350 participants representing
teachers were trained in the delivery
various schools. We at IL&FS
of IL&FS Education life skills
Education had put up a stall during
programme 'Anchor'. Anchor
this meet displaying all the
enhances life skills of students in
educational products and services
their formative stages. These skills
offered to the schools. We also
strengthen their ability to confront
organised a lucky draw for
various problems, develop
participants who visited our stall and
confidence, and counter stresses
distributed prizes for the winners.
IL&FS Education is implementing the
English KITS Programme in all of
these 41 mini Gurukulam schools.
The programme focusses on
developing English speaking,
listening, reading and writing skills of
the students. Teachers use flash
cards, posters, audio tapes,
activities, reading materials and
workbooks to enhance the English
skills of the students. The six month
and Consumer Affairs, Food and
Public Distribution in the Central
Ministry) was the Chief Guest for the
that they are likely to face, hence
project began with a pre-test that was
preparing them for the challenges
conducted for all the students. A
and opportunities of adult life.
post-test will be done at the end of
IL&FS Education at the AINACS
the program to measure the impact
meeting at Kochi
of the programme.
All India Association of Catholic
Schools (AINACS), a nongovernmental association
representing catholic schools in India
founded in the year 1953, had
organized an all India meet for the
year 2011 at the Renewal Centre
Kochi. Held from 23rd Oct 2011 to
6
January - February 2012 Issue
January-February 2012
K-Class moments on reel
Glimpses Of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation System (CCE)
Teacher Training Sessions Conducted Across India By IL&FS Education
CCE training camp in Delhi
Teachers at the CCE workshop at
Bal Bharati School, Ratnagiri, Maharashtra
7
CCE teacher training session at Trichy,
Tamil Nadu
CCE training session at Bellary, Karnataka
A presentation by teachers
during the CCE session at
Ashram Public School,
Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh
CCE expert interacting with
participants in Panchkula
during the CCE training
Teachers participating in an
activity at the CCE teacher training
Session at Trichy, Tamil Nadu
A group working on creating an
activity using one of the tools at
a CCE session at Swaminarayan
Vidyapith and St. Anns, Gujarat
CCE trainner engrosses
participants in a group activity
during the CCE training
Teachers working on the blue
print at the CCE training
session in Purulia, West Bengal
8
January - February 2012 Issue
January-February 2012
An Innovative
Learning Idea
You Can Use
Top 3 Websites To Boost
Classroom Learning
Looking for teacher learning
resources that could help you
improve classroom participation,
learning among your students and
subsequent results? Websites
created to help teachers support
academic learning, some of which
even show video clips chosen to
match the primary and secondary
National Curriculum, can work as
your best bet. Here's our pick of 3
websites that should find a way
into your classrooms now…
1. Wonderville
www.wonderville.ca
Experiment, Interact, Play With
Science
A virtual science lab where your
students can explore science in a
fun, interactive environment,
Wonderville offers easy to use
and rather interesting science
games, interactive and printable
activities, science works videos,
and even colourfully designed
9
science comics that explain
science concepts to your students
in a fun way. Aimed at 3rd through
8th graders, the site covers topics
such as combustion, fossils, nano
sciences, forces, basic physics,
robots, water treatment, and
much more!
Take It To Your Classroom
Set up two computers in your
classroom and connect to
Wonderville to create an in-class
experiment station. Or in a
computer lab, get all students to
complete a particular experiment
together in groups of threes or
fours. Use the free printable
activities to enhance your current
science curriculum. Children
always like application more than
cramming theory so experiment
based learning is something they
will lap up instantly. Worth the
experiment!
2. Kids Know It
www.kidsknowit.com
Free Children's Learning
Network
This site is a great collection of
high quality educational
interactive activities, movies,
music, games, articles, text
books, learning programs, and
worksheets that allows kids,
especially in the primary classes,
to explore a number of subjects,
from human biology to vocabulary
to history.
Take It To Your Classroom
A must-use for primary classes.
What makes it an absolute gem of
a discovery for the teachers is its
database of free and
downloadable educational music.
These are songs in MP3 format
that can help kids reinforce what
they learn in a super fun way. Play
them in the class to explain
concepts. You must also use the
site's animal database as a great
letting kids enjoy online
interaction and collaboration in a
safe, controlled environment.
Take It To Your Classroom
Use Imbee to establish class
blogs. You can use the space to
publish a few student blogs daily,
pushing them gently to think,
ideate and write. A sense of
audience will motivate them to
perform at their best and
comments from fellow students
will encourage them to improve.
Don't limit the space to online
interaction alone. Get students to
help edit each-other's work,
encouraging them to collaborate
on projects online. You can also
work closely with parents to
introduce your students to the
concept of social responsibility
online while elevating classroom
learning. Visit imbee.com/teacher
for lesson plans and a teacher
tour.
virtual trip to the zoo, to
familiarize kids with animals.
3. Imbee
www.imbee.com
The Social Network For Kids
Are your students already on
social networks? Introduce them
instead to school networking in
the form of Imbee! Imbee allows
teachers to take their classroom
onto a virtual platform, while
10
January - February 2012 Issue
IL&FS Education Presents K-Class
K-Class stands for Knowledge
Class. An ingenious combination
of technology and curriculum
mapped content, the K-Class
program has been designed as
an interactive learning solution
for schools. The key components
of the K-Class Program include
§ The K-Class state-of-the-art
technology, and
§ The K-Class Content Bank, a
repository of digital content
and learning tools
The K-Class state-of-the-art
technology is cost-effective for
schools and very versatile. On the
other hand, the K-Class Content
Bank has been developed on the
premise that children learn in
many ways and teachers teach
using different techniques,
ensuring that it serves as an
extension to the teacher in a
classroom.
IL&FS Financial Centre, C-Quadrant,
3rd Floor, Bandra Kurla Complex Bandra
East, Mumbai - 400 051.
Tel : (022) 6694-7575
Fax : (022) 6694-7700