Through this blog, our purpose is to cater to all the superhero teachers out there and assist them with a smooth transition during these times. Through in-depth research and a look at the best alternatives on the internet, we have collated a list of online tools that are not just free, but also extremely easy to use. Even if you are the kind of teacher who is not yet familiar with technology, using these tools will be a cakewalk. 

ClassDojo

This tool helps teachers monitor the behavior of their students and make sure that each student is appreciated individually when they showcase a good disposition. Whenever there is any feedback for the child, the teacher can instantly contact the student through real-time notifications. This helps the children work on their improvement areas and feel good about their strengths. Moreover, the app makes sure there is a record maintained for each student so that parents can understand their progress in detail during PTMS. 

Edmodo

Social Networking has become an important part of learning in today’s era. Edmodo is a platform where students, teachers, and even parents can stay connected and up to date with whatever is going on in each subject. Providing class materials, creating collaborative groups, instantly communicating with parents, are some features of this tool. In fact, students can also interact with one another and indulge in hands-on group activities! 

Kahoot!

With a change in the mode of learning, teachers need to modify their method of assessing students too. Kahoot! helps monitor the performance of each child through a gaming mode where teachers can create questionnaires, surveys, and quizzes. This creates a fun learning environment and children love playing as well as learning at the same time. In fact, a healthy competition also takes place in the classroom!

Thinglink 

Gone are the days where students suffice and stay engaged with just books and theory! Creating content for your subject is now made easier with this too. You can easily create texts, sounds, pictures, and videos to increase student participation in your sessions. These will not only catch the eye of your students but also push them to ask questions and seek answers. This created media can also be shared on your preferred platform of communication as a form of homework. 

Socrative 

This tool serves a similar purpose to Kahoot! too. The only difference here is that students get the liberty of performing quizzes and assessments through any device that they feel comfortable with. Socrative also stores and makes a record of all the results so that teachers can look back later and modify their curriculum accordingly.

Storybird 

This tool is mainly used to help teachers create activities that will instill reading and writing skills in children of all age groups. Through the art of storytelling, teachers here can find as well as create artistic books, blogs, short writeup, storyboards, and much more. Students can interact with one another through effective communication and get constant feedback on their skills from the teacher.

Apart from all these tools, we hope you have adjusted with the basics of online teaching – choosing a platform where you would like to teach your class. Zoom, Google Hangouts, MS Teams are some of the best ones that you would like to try. 

Connecting with your students comes even prior to beginning with the learning process. It is only when you are yourself sorted and confident about the curriculum, is when you can help students out with their many questions and concerns. Remember, it is only natural for you as a teacher to take short breaks when needed and raise questions if you are not sure about this new phenomenon of online teaching all of us are only just adapting to it. 

Finally, we hope that these tools not only help make work easier for you but also make your classes more hands-on and interesting. Tried and tested, all these applications are the best way to ease your transition into the online mode of teaching! 

At ExperiHub, we teach Science and Mathematics by bringing concepts from the real world into the classroom. We conduct science experiments and have myriad science projects for better learning and understanding of concepts. If you want to learn more about Experiential Learning and cool home experiments, browse through our Online Sessions and Youtube Channel! 

While there have been numerous discussions on the online mode of teaching becoming the new normal, it has come to notice that we often forget to discuss the aspect of teachers having to adjust and adapt to the new ways of teaching. 

With the complete shutdown of educational institutions and the computer screens becoming the only mode of learning today, there are ought to be some challenges that the teachers are facing in this digital era. It is no surprise that all teachers and administrators are constantly searching for online tools and applications that will make the digital learning process easier. Before moving on to a set of solutions that can be put to use, it seems like a good idea to discuss the challenges faced by teachers today. 

Lack of Motivation 

Since this is a huge change for students too, they are still in the process of figuring everything out. Sitting at home, with no distinction between private and professional life, it is easier for students to get distracted and indulge in other activities while the online classes are going on. With no school to look forward to and no events/clubs to attend, most students feel they have no option but to sit in front of the computer screen and learn. This results in a lack of motivation, making it harder for teachers to evaluate and encourage class participation.

Engagement and Interaction

These qualities in a classroom are the most essential to ensure experiential learning. Interaction can only happen when students have their mics and cameras on during online classes. Teachers have to waste precious class time to ensure everyone is ready to engage. Sometimes, the teachers feel like they are only talking to themselves and have to constantly assume whether the students are listening, understanding, and comprehending. 

Internet Issues 

Not all students and teachers are indeed privileged enough to have access to the net for long school hours. Sometimes, slow net issues and difficulties in keeping the camera on can hamper learning. Experiential learning comes to a halt when sometimes, the net does not allow for the teachers to display videos or other presentations they may have prepared for hands-on learning. Many students have made the issue of the slow net an excuse to get away with participating and instead, get a chance to indulge in other work apart from learning. 

Lack of Resources 

Due to each student sitting at their respective homes with no access to the stationary, or other shops – teachers have had to revamp their curriculum and completely change their styles of teaching. Most activities planned at the beginning of the year have had to be replaced with something more theoretical and with equipment that can easily be found at home. Even after careful consideration by teachers, there are a lot of times that most students are still not able to acquire the needed equipment, hence wasting time and hampering the learning process.

We feel that this topic is of extreme value since, at the end of the day, it is the teachers imparting knowledge and shaping the current generations to be valuable assets for the future. It is only once we are well aware of the challenges and hardships faced by them, is when we can move on to the solutions and the process of making it better for the teachers too. 

It is important to understand that this is a huge change for all teachers. From completely having to change their curriculum, to constantly adjusting to the various issues that the students face; the challenges are numerous. It will be a good idea to make sure that wherever we, as parents and students can contribute to lessening their workload and stress, we should help out. 

At ExperiHub, we teach Science and Mathematics by bringing concepts from the real world into the classroom. We conduct science experiments and have myriad science projects for better learning and understanding of concepts. If you want to learn more about Experiential Learning and cool home experiments, browse through our Online Sessions and Youtube Channel! 

65% of our children will be working in jobs that don’t even exist yet! (World Economic Forum, 2016) Embedding STEM subjects in academic curriculums at an early age will allow the next generation to have the right tools needed for the future. To do so, we as parents must work towards building a necessary foundation for STEM skills at home. But where do we start? 

Parental Engagement 

Last year, STEM Next Opportunity Fund published a report “Changing the Game in STEM with Family Engagement.” The report revealed that we, as parents have an immense effect on our child’s learning and career outcomes (Stem Next Opportunity Fund, 2019). 

STEM is all around our living spaces. Daily activities and science projects for you and your child can help build critical thinking and problem-solving skills (DeAngelis, 2019). These activities could be as simple as repairing an old bicycle, baking in the kitchen, gardening, or understanding how the fish tank works. Even reading with our children is proven beneficial in expanding their minds to the unknown.   

Encourage Creativity 

Our children are born eager to learn and curious by nature. Creative thinking engages the mind and makes learning more efficient. When creating a STEM environment at home, parents should dismiss the “usual” way of doing things and celebrate their child’s uniqueness.

Challenge your child with out-of-the-box science experiments and refrain from showing the solution to them at first. Old habits of thinking do not give the opportunity of understanding the cause and effect of a concept. Additionally, promote healthy discussions at home and allow them to be explicit with their theory and thinking. These conversations will shape their perspectives and help them to formulate their step-by-step rationale. 

Innovator’s Work Station  

STEM education is specifically designed with experiential learning and hands-on applications as the fulcrum. Therefore, you must designate space for your little innovator. Have visual supports, such as posters and charts, to help remember key concepts. Additionally, desks and other furniture must be arranged to allow full flexibility for STEM activities, science projects, and lectures for your child.

Integrate Technology and STEM-based Platforms 

A full-functioning STEM environment utilizes technology and electronic gadgets. Using technology for academics and setting a healthy relationship between your child and gadgets can boost your child’s interest in learning. Students using digital models and simulations can go on to mastering STEM concepts. As STEM education encourages students to visualize and experience academic topics, technological tools support their collaborative reasoning.

As STEM-based education is slowly rising, myriad applications are available to better teach these concepts. At ExperiHub, we believe students learn more effectively with the use of real-world examples and hands-on science experiments. Our platform is specifically designed for making learning fun through ‘experiencing’ science and mathematics. To learn more about us, please feel free to browse through our online sessions and workshops.

References: 

DeAngelis, S. (2019, September 06). STEM Education Helps Students Think Critically. Retrieved from https://www.enterrasolutions.com/blog/stem-education-helps-students-think-critically/#:~:text=STEM helps young people to,readily take on the future.”

Jacobs, P. (2014, July 09). Science And Math Majors Earn The Most Money After Graduation. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.in/education/Science-And-Math-Majors-Earn-The-Most-Money-After-Graduation/articleshow/38090854.cms

Stem Next Opportunity Fund. (2019). Changing The Game in STEM With Family Engagement (pp. 1-56, Rep.) San Diego.

Study in India. (2019, January 11). India and STEM Education. Retrieved September 17, 2020, from https://www.studyinindia.gov.in/blog/Page/india-and-stem-education#:~:text=As per the National Science,learned to the real world.

World Economic Forum. (2016). Global Challenge Insight Report (pp. 1-167, Rep.). Geneva: World Economic Forum.

Out of several career options like Medicine, Fashion Industry, Armed Forces, Teaching, Business etc., privileges for women have been more reinforced in STEM field than any other professional path. But still the improvement has not been much over the past fifty years. One reason could possibly be that women have failed to fruitfully respect these opportunities because of personal or societal reasons and approach to studies. In the context of India, we will analyse these reasons.

In 2018, 15% supernumerary seats were created for girls in the most prestigious engineering colleges, the IIT’s. So the gender ratio saw a sharp rise from around 7% to 17% from 2017 to 2018. But it came at several costs. I have felt the major drawbacks from the first day I stepped in IIT Delhi in 2018. Because of these exclusive seats, aspiring girls now think that their competition is only among girls. That breaks the very spirit which is required by any young girl to confidently step in themale-dominated field of technology. 

The main focus of the education system should be to train school and college girls to successfully carry forward their technological abilities to the world, and for that, an open competition with boys is much needed. Merely creating opportunities has no use if they do not serve the fundamental purpose, that is making women competent enough with men.

Another reason for the skewed gender ratio is attributed to fundamentals of socio-economic classes. Several media reporters and institutes have independently studied the background of Indian women who are successful presently in the STEM careers. According to them, more than 90% of them come from middle class economic families. Where does the influential high class society hide when it comes to educating their girls to pursue science and technology careers? The poor cannot afford education, even some middle class parents have to take loans to pay the college fees, but the rich have no excuse. 

The truth is that many people can afford their daughters to become rich spoilt brats, but they cannot take the pain of motivating and supporting them to do something challenging (I admit some parents are exceptions here, like mine). STEM careers are not the only challenging ones in terms of expertise and gender representation, but the tough competition does make this career path a very challenging profession for girls. How can they simply make it through without their parents’ support? This support and encouragement has been missing from almost every section of the society for ages.

But kudos to the wonderful women out there in industry and research in STEM, who have made an impact in the world. They all have unique struggles and deeply motivate the young girls to chase their dreams, overcoming all hurdles.

The society is progressing everyday and more opportunities are coming up for children to realise their passion at a young age. There is one unique thing called experiential learning which has recently come up. So I call out to all school girls, look up STEM activities and workshops on platforms like Experihub, experiment, observe and you will feel how amazing science and tech is. This is the first step, next is to follow your interests with full dedication and fight all hurdles. Women must earn their equal share in the STEM world, it is achievable!

By : Manupriya Gupta, IIT Delhi

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