The future of studying: Learning everything the digital way
Thanks to schools around the country leveraging the power of technology in transforming education, children today are more informed, connected, and empowered.
Remember the time you ended up rummaging through your entire study table because you couldn’t locate a notebook? Or, worse still, couldn’t recall which portion of a chapter was demarcated as important for an upcoming exam? Well, seems like children today have it easier. With schools around the world adopting technology in their classrooms, the learning process is not what it used to be.
So, for example, if a student likes to keep her notes organised, she no longer needs to worry about misplacing them. OneNote, a digital notebook offered by Microsoft, allows her to take down notes on the go, and easily segregate the information according to the class attended or even the topic taught. The notes are automatically saved on the device that they are being accessed from, and can be viewed both offline and online. Using OneNote, a student can also share her notes with her classmates.
There are many such tools offered by Microsoft which have made education fun, informative, and interactive. Let’s take a look at how schools in India are using these to empower children digitally.
1. At Delhi Public School, Ghaziabad, both students and teachers extensively use Office Mix, a free extension to PowerPoint that makes sharing of lessons and presentations simple. It also allows you to organise quizzes, polls, and labs. The school also uses OneNote and Sway, a storytelling app that enables creation of interactive web-based lessons, assignments, projects, and more.
2. When it comes to OneNote, even educators are utilising the tool to bring value to their teaching. For example, at DPS International, Gurgaon, OneNote has simplified the way French is taught to the students.
3. The goal of education should be such that children are happy doing what they are asked to do. Using Microsoft’s social networking service called Yammer, students of Suncity School, Gurgaon, share their assignments and projects with their parents, and even keep in touch with each other.
4. At the Aga Khan Academy in Hyderabad, students are using technology to promote awareness about issues such as girl child education, child labour, and child marriage. Microsoft’s Alice, a project that directs artificial intelligence towards economic decision-making, is what is enabling them to do that.
5. The Titan School, Hosur, aims to go beyond textbooks. For this, the teachers rely on OneNote to schedule meetings, gather parents’ feedback, and even share lesson plans.
6. “My job is not just to teach, but to prepare children for the future,” says Paramjeet Kaur Dhillon, Principal, Kamla Nehru Public School, Punjab. Office 365, Sway, Yammer, and OneNote are some of the tools that have enabled the school to build a strong foundation of learning.
7. In October 2016, Welham Boys’ School, Dehradun, was witness to one of the most celebrated events of its kind—the Microsoft ICT Conclave. Students from around the country attended the conference to showcase their talent to innovate. The children as well as teachers shared insights into how the education tools offered by Microsoft have proved instrumental in their lives.
Technology, when used effectively in classrooms, gives students the power to imagine and collaborate. It also keeps them more informed, engaged, and enables them to learn at their own pace. With the world moving at a breakneck speed towards technology, it is imperative that students are armed with the skills that will enable them to adapt to the change. In the words of popular American singer Whitney Houston, “I believe that children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way.”
Join a global community of over 100,000 educators who are using technology in the classroom today to prepare their students for the world of tomorrow. with Microsoft in Education today.