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Ekya / March 30, 2018 Posted by : administrator

In most schools, Computer Science is addressed as a subject where students learn about Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint. Here, the focus is more on using generic application software and less about encouraging students to research, analyze, and problem-solve using tech tools.

While traditional programming languages such as Turtle programming and QBasic are introduced at elementary and middle school level without teaching fundamental computational thinking concepts, very few schools venture into physical computing aspects of computer science.

In addition to this, most schools use printed material that is outdated and not relevant to the changing tech landscape. Practical activities and assessments are far and few in between and do not give the students enough opportunities to explore a particular application.

We sit with Ms. Ahlada Sudersan, who builds the Computer Science curriculum at Ekya Learning Centre and understand how we do it differently at Ekya Schools.

Starting Early

The CBSE curriculum does not lay emphasis on coding in Primary and Middle school. Today, technology has become unavoidable, being integrated into everyday life. We need to prepare our students to be comfortable and contribute actively in a technology-rich society. They need to be able to design solutions to real-life problems using programming skills.

In order to create an interest in programming, we introduce Computational Thinking from Grade 1. In this strand, students learn to look for patterns, group similar data, use a sequence of instructions to make something happen and solve puzzles that require logical reasoning. They learn that a problem can have multiple solutions and the efficiency of the solutions depends on the problem itself. This builds a problem-solving mindset from a young age. Students are also able to phrase clear and understandable instructions.

Students of Grade 1 work together to design and build a machine

Students of Grade 2 practise touch typing.

Students of Grade 1 drag and rearrange shapes to create the given image.

We have also introduced visual programming languages: Logo in Grade 3 and Scratch in Grades 4 and 5 where students familiarize themselves with concepts like decision making, repetition, variables, functions, parallelism and random values. These languages act as a precursor to text-based languages that are taught from Grade 5.

How Computer Science unfolds at Ekya

The current focus of our unique Computer Science curriculum is on four main aspects of Computer Science:

  1. Information and Communication Technology
  2. Computing
  3. Digital Society
  4. Computer Engineering.

The Computer Science learning area equips learners to:

• Be responsible, future-ready digital citizens.
• Design, prototype and implement solutions to real-world problems using technology.

Programming is a substrand of Computing. The following programming languages are taught at Ekya schools:

In Primary school, in addition to the programming languages, students learn basic application software such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Paint and Google Apps. They discuss the impact of technology on society and what internet safety means.

By Middle School, students are researching on ethical issues and distribution of technological resources around the world, learning how to use these resources responsibly. They learn animation using Vectorian Giotto, image editing using Paint.net, electronics and physical computing using Arduino, GUI development using Visual Basic, Web development, database management and so on.

Grade 5 students locating the ROM on a chip.

Secondary and senior secondary students learn Java, C++ and Python. They also address real-world problems as part of their project work and create end-to-end solutions for these problems.

Under Digital Citizenship, students explore the positive impact of technology. They work in teams to research and validate information on the given topic and present it.

The curriculum is designed to facilitate learning beyond the classroom through school clubs where students get the opportunity to work on a specific niche like game development, app development, and web application

Hour of Code

As part of Computer Science Education Week observed every December, Ekya students host the Hour of Code. It is a global awareness program, celebrated at Ekya ITPL in 2016 and Ekya JP Nagar in 2017.

The programming event, organized and managed entirely by students, aims to educate people on the basics of computer programming in a fun, simple way. Through “Together We Code”, parents of students are also invited to participate in the programming challenges – Crack the Code, Techno Quiz, Discover-Design-Display to name a few. The recently held Hour of Code had students present interesting projects using software such as Scratch, Visual Basic, Java, Python and Arduino.

Students from middle school conducted a pair programming event for younger children as part of the Hour of Code celebrations at Ekya JP Nagar. Parents also participated in a tech-quiz during the event.

Over the years, students from Ekya and sister institution CMR National Public School have built and tested interesting projects that address real-world needs. Some of these are:

• Home Automation System using Arduino
• Heart Rate monitor and distance tracker for a bicycle using Raspberry Pi
• Self-watering plant using Arduino
• Electronic Voting Machine using Arduino
• Autorola, a monitoring device for autistic children using Arduino
• Crowdsource funding platform for differently abled people using Weebly
• A multipurpose app for differently abled people called Yippy using App Inventor
• Demonstration of Augmented Reality using Javascript and HTML
• Health help app using Java swing

Students built an Electronic Voting Machine for Open Day at Ekya ITPL.

Students at CMRNPS designed and built a pill dispenser for visually challenged people using Arduino.

Cross-disciplinary

Computer Science teaches students the importance of validating information obtained from the internet. They learn about plagiarism, copyright licenses and responsible usage of internet, all of which hones a student’s ability to research and gather information.

Students learn to present all kinds of information (text, numbers, images) in a meaningful manner, which is a required skill for other subjects and learning programs. Math concepts such as geometry, algebra, and problem-solving are inherent to Computer Science and Physics concepts such as Ohm’s law, circuits, electrical safety are all addressed as a prerequisite topic for Arduino. Students are taught to pay attention to the design aspect of a solution to problem. They analyze the needs and purposes while creating a product or a service and how the final product addresses these needs.

Read more on our Understanding the Ekya Curriculum feature:

Understanding Design Thinking at Ekya Schools
Understanding the Social Science Program at Ekya Schools
Understanding Singapore Math at Ekya Schools

Explore more

Ekya / May 07, 2024

5 Things You Need To Know About The IGCSE

Introduсtion The International General Certifiсate of Seсondary Eduсation (IGCSE) is a globally recognized curriculum and qualifiсation for seсondary school students. First offered in 1988 by Cambridge Assessment International Eduсation, the IGCSE board allows 14-16 year old students across the world to develop skills for further aсademiс рrogression or рrofessional life. Over 5,000 schools in 160 countries offer IGCSE subjeсts sрanning languages, humanities, sсienсes, mathematiсs, and voсational skills. Read on as we exрlore 5 key asрeсts of this globally foсused curriculum framework.

Globally Reсognized Qualifiсation

First and foremost, the IGCSE board is an international qualifiсation that is recognized by universities and сolleges around the world. Unlike state board сurriсulums that focus on sрeсifiс geograрhies, the IGCSE emphasises global relevanсe suited for today’s increasingly borderless world. With aссeрtanсe across Ivy League institutions, Russell Grouр universities, and aсademiс рowerhouses both in North America and Europe, the IGCSE signals readiness for tertiary education abroad. So, for students who are targeting internationally oriented сareers or рlanning their higher education outside their country, IGCSE serves as an ideal foundation. Its globally foсused рedagogy also рreрares students well for multicultural workрlaсes.

Curriсulum  

Central to the IGCSE’s global recognition is its well-rounded curriculum сovering сore subjeсts like maths, science, first and second languages as well as a рlethora of eleсtives sрanning humanities, social sсienсes, teсhniсal voсations and сreative arts. This exрoses students to diverse subjeсts aiding aрtitude identifiсation while keeрing further education and сareer oрtions oрen. Allowing sсhools flexibility to offer any mix of 70 subjeсts encourages individualised subjeсt сombinations tailored to evolving student interests. This is augmented by loсalized teaсhing сontent adaрtation рermitted to ensure relevanсy. Suсh сustomization opportunities make the IGCSE framework agile to institutions’ aсademiс рriorities.

Age Grouр

As an internationally benсhmarked qualifiсation aimed at seсondary education learners, IGCSEs are most suited for students in the 14 to 16 age group sрanning grades 8, 9, and 10 or equivalent national grades. However, enrollment flexibility exists for those falling slightly outside standard age рarameters based on individual capabilities and сirсumstanсes.

Certifiсation

Uрon сomрletion of the IGCSE examinations, students receive individual сertifiсations for each subject they have taken. The number of subjeсts required may vary from sсhool to sсhool, but students have the option to pursue a minimum of five subjeсts and a maximum of 14 subjeсts.

Examination

The IGCSE assessment is сonduсted by Cambridge International Examination (CIE) and involves a сombination of сoursework, oral exams, written exams, and рraсtiсal exams. This сomрrehensive assessment allows students to demonstrate their learning effectively, especially for those whose first language is not English.

IGCSE Core vs IGCSE Extended Oрtions

Many subjeсts рrovide twin oрtions – IGCSE Core and IGCSE Extended сatering to different skill levels within student сohorts. The Extended alternative integrates suррlemental content for advanced learners seeking greater rigour and higher attainment рossibilities. It leads seamlessly into tertiary рathways loсally and abroad. Conversely, the Core oрtion сovers foundation syllabus сontent for students still strengthening their grasр over subjeсts. It рreрares them for further skill-building required to ultimately transit to higher education through graduation сredentials. This built-in flexibility allows сustomization for сomрetenсy varianсes across learners by deрloying an aррroрriately сhallenging сurriсulum version benefitting them. Careful subject selection tailored to individual strengths and interests thus remains key.

Assessments

A robust globally standardised assessment methodology forms the baсkbone of the IGCSE curriculum. Rigorous written examinations test сontent mastery and aррliсation сomрetenсies while рraсtiсal assessments gauge exрerimental skills and deeрer understanding.   Certain subjeсts incorporate oral tests and сoursework рrojeсts demanding research, analysis, and synthesis abilities. Suсh multidimensional assessments aligned to international standards signal to universities that сertifiсate holders рossess well-rounded сomрetenсe. Exams are administered by the Cambridge Assessment International Eduсation (CAIE) division in June and November worldwide, with results deсlared next January and August, respectively. Over 10,000 institutions across 160 countries сonneсt students to these globally benсhmarked IGCSE assessments annually.

Different From Cambridge O-Level

While both the IGCSE and Cambridge O-Level are qualifiсations offered by Cambridge International Examination (CIE), they differ in their curriculum structure and assessment aррroaсh. The IGCSE curriculum offers a broader and more flexible curriculum, сatering to a wider range of students' interests and abilities.

Grading

The grading system for IGCSE exams follows a scale of A* to G, with sрeсifiс сriteria for each grade to indiсate the quality of aсhievement. Students are encouraged to read questions carefully, underline сruсial details, and use сharts and diagrams to enhance their answers for better сomрrehension.

Subjeсts

IGCSE offers approximately 70 subjeсts, inсluding 30 languages, сategorized into five groups: Languages, Humanities, Sсienсes, Mathematiсs, and Creative and Voсational. Students are encouraged to carefully seleсt their subjeсts based on their interests, talents, and strengths. Conсlusion As the IGCSE student community swells across geograрhies, standout рerformers continue enjoying рriority aссess to рremier universities in the US, Canada, and beyond. This signals the relevanсe of integrating this globally foсused curriculum as early рreрaration for tertiary studies internationally, even if initial higher education рlans remain loсal. So, for students and рarents seeking globally validated сredentials beyond home boundaries while keeрing international education рossibilities oрen, Ekya Sсhools, one of the best IGCSE sсhools, рrovides quality education and holistiс develoрment for students, ensuring they thrive aсademiсally and рersonally. Whether you're seeking a сomрrehensive curriculum, robust assessment structure, or the best IGCSE sсhools in Marathahalli, Ekya Schools delivers exсellenсe in education.    

Ekya / May 07, 2024

What Is IGCSE And Is It the Right Choice for My Child?

Every parent wants their child to have the best education, you are no different. However, when finding the right school for your child, you are often presented with a plethora of options. One such option that has grown in popularity in recent years is the IGCSE Schools in Bangalore. It is a globally recognized board and its curriculum is designed to foster holistic growth among students.  As one of the top IGCSE schools in Bangalore, we will explain what IGCSE is and help you decide if IGCSE schools are suitable for your child.

What is IGCSE?

The International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) is an internationally recognized board created by the University of Cambridge in England. It caters to 14–16 year olds (usually grades 9-10) and prepares them for further university studies worldwide. IGCSE courses offer a rich curriculum that tailors to individual strengths and nurtures the skills and competencies of students. Here are some of the benefits of IGCSE schools for your child.

Student-Centric Approach

The IGCSE curriculum is student-centric and fosters creativity. Teachers and students contribute equally to the class, making it an enriching experience. Learning is practical, allowing students to understand concepts better through real-life applications. IGCSE schools encourage students to ask questions, share ideas, and learn collaboratively with their peers. This approach nurtures logical and creative thinking skills in students. 

Preparing for the Universities

One of the major advantages of joining IGCSE schools is that the students here are well-prepared for further studies. This is made possible by the extensive knowledge and benefits that come from a globally standardized education. The students are encouraged to become independent thinkers and learners which is crucial for university studies. IGCSE schools focus on understanding and grasping the concepts rather than just memorizing. These are the traits most universities look for in a student. 

A Community Worldwide

The IGCSE program brings together students from all over the world in a global community. Children learn how to be inclusive and empathetic towards different people and cultures. This helps them develop a broad perspective. The program also allows each child to become a part of a diverse and comprehensive global community.

Inquiry-Based Learning

IGCSE courses foster curiosity in students by emphasizing real-life experiences, exploration, and expression. This encourages children to ask questions and research answers, helping them gain a better understanding of their communities and the world around them.

Rigorous Assessments

Top IGCSE schools in Bangalore such as Ekya Schools offer a rich experience for students with thought-provoking assessments. These include a variety of modes such as oral, written, coursework, and practical assessments. These assessments offer questions of different difficulty levels, enabling students to challenge themselves and discover their strengths and weaknesses. By instilling confidence and boosting morale, the IGCSE curriculum empowers students to plan their future educational journeys. 

Choice of Subjects that Cater to Different Abilities

The IGCSE subjects are designed to meet the needs of different students. With over 70 subjects to choose from, including 30 languages, schools can offer a combination that suits each student. Students must select at least 5 subjects, which include: 
  • Mathematics
  • Science
  • Humanities and Social Science
  • Languages
  • Creative, Technical, and Vocational Subjects Students also have a wide range of 30 languages to choose from, including their mother tongue.

Recognized by Universities Across the World

The IGCSE is the most recognized examination qualification across the world. Students with these qualifications are accepted into several countries like the US, UK, Germany, Canada, Australia, and Singapore. Many universities acknowledge and accept the IGCSE curriculum as part of their entrance criteria. The IGCSE opens up opportunities for further vocational education and serves as a strong foundation for employment. Students with IGCSE backgrounds have the necessary abilities that employers value in potential employees.

Conclusion

In conclusion, choosing the best school for your child can be a daunting task considering the number of options today. However, if you think a strong syllabus and robust curriculum are best for your child, IGCSE schools are the way to go. To find the best IGCSE schools near Bannerghatta Road, look no further than Ekya Schools in JP Nagar. Our goal is to give students a well-rounded education that nurtures critical thinking, and creativity along with academic excellence.Join us and allow your child to delve into the stimulating realm of IGCSE subjects, nurturing their personal growth and development along the way.. We're here to shape future leaders with an inclusive and inspiring learning environment.      

Ekya / May 06, 2024

Common Mistakes When Making A Class Presentation

A successful school presentation demands a lot more than just good content. Presentations are more about expressing and explaining things in a creative manner which involves two important parts- the content in an understandable form and its way of presenting it. The second involves speaking skills, presentation skills, voice modulation, and more. Many aspects of class presentation should be taken into consideration. However, there are a few common mistakes that are often committed during its preparation: 

Not Doing Your Research

Whatever topic you choose to present, you need to have a good knowledge about it. Well, that will only come with good research skills. You can do that by getting help from your teacher, the school library, or the Internet. Research not only helps you with better presentation but will also prepare you to answer the questions asked during the question hour.  

Not Making a Proper Introduction

 Whether the presentation is in front of a small group or you are representing your school, a small introduction about yourself along with the topic’s introduction is a must. This not only gives you a great start but also gives the audience an idea of what the presentation is about. To make your introduction a bit more interesting, you can start the presentation with a quote or some statistics to grab attention. 

Lack of preparation for the presentation

Not preparing well before the presentation day may put you in a difficult spot. It is possible that you will present well but you are internally not satisfied with your performance. Well, one of the best ways to prepare is to at least go through the content twice. Practice in front of the mirror or ask your parents to be the audience during the preparations. This way, you will get to know your weak areas and work more on them. You will be fully prepared to capture the attention of the audience with your confidence and speaking skills. 

Confident Body Language

Confidence is the key to a good presentation. It is not something that will develop overnight, we need to work on it. As per a study, poor body language affects your confidence. You need to understand that your language speaks a lot about your personality. With good content and strong body language, confidence reflects automatically. For class presentations, you can practise hand movements and voice modulation. Another important point that should not be ignored is maintaining eye contact with the audience. Before the final presentation day, it is advisable to practice in front of a mirror.

Not Being Engaging

 If you want your audience to understand the presentation well, then keep it engaging. A presentation full of text will make it boring so, to keep a balance between the infographics and text to make it more interesting and engaging. If possible, minutes of video related to your topic. This will keep your audience entertained. Remember whenever on stage  it is your responsibility to keep your audience engaged sensibly without going off-track. 

Inconsistent Slides

 Presenting slides in a good way demands a perfect framework that involves a lot of things and often focusing on one aspect might lead to ignoring others. Here are a few common slide mistakes made during the presentation. 
  1. Overcrowding the slides: It is one of the most common presentation mistakes often committed by students. You need to understand that for presentation “less is more” fits perfectly. Instead of too much text, visuals should be used. Instead of paragraphs, pointers should be used. Using different colours also makes the presentation interesting.
  2. Reading directly from the slides: Reading directly from the slides only projects you as underconfident and unprepared. Although it might seem a little tempting and an easier option, the best is to make small pointers of important topics on which you want to talk.
  3. Complicated data: Data should be presented in a way that the written content becomes more understandable. For this Pie charts or bar graphs in different colours can be used. 
  4. Not maintaining the hierarchy: Arranging the slides haphazardly
  5.  only confuses the students. It will distract them as there will be less clarity regarding the points. 

Going Off-Topic

Many times you might go off-topic to make your point more clear during the presentation. But as a presenter, you need to understand that class presentations and question sessions should be done within a time limit. For this students need to maintain the flow as per the hierarchy and should have an idea about which points need more explanation than the others. This will only come with a few practice sessions before your final day. 

Not being prepared for feedback and questions

 Once you finish your presentation, allow your audience to put their doubts in front of you. This way not only will your audience get a chance to clarify their doubts but you will also learn to tackle difficult questions. Sometimes, if you have no answer or are in doubt about the question, it is ok to accept and consider returning with better research next time.  As a presenter, you need to keep the flow of your presentation in a positive direction and end it on a positive note. It leaves a good impression on the audience. Keeping a way forward slide at the end is a good way to end. You can also present an idea about a drive you want to start in your school related to some global concern. But make sure everything is related to your topic of presentation. Nothing should go off-track.

Conclusion

If you are searching the internet with terms like- the best schools in Bengaluru or ICSE schools in Bangalore, CBSE syllabus schools consider Ekya Schools. We are among the leading schools in Bangalore, offering the best quality education. Our Understanding by Design (UbD) framework curriculum is designed in a way that caters not just to the academic requirements of a student but simultaneously builds the overall personality of the student.  We encourage students to actively participate in co-curricular and other group activities like presentations. This helps in building confidence and developing skills like speaking skills, presentation skills, tackling questions, and more. We have expert faculty that prepares our students for holistic development. At Ekya, different school clubs also help students develop different skills such as music, dance, coding, debating, and more.  Hopefully, the above information will be helpful.      
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Bangalore’s Garbage Crisis – Grade 4 Design Thinking at Ekya

One of the biggest challenges faced by cities across the globe is the management of the waste they generate every day. Students from Grade 4 C of Ekya JP Nagar took up this challenge, visiting the garbage crisis faced by the city of Bangalore. This, they did through the lens of Design Thinking - part of the Science curriculum at Ekya Schools.
Through the process of Design Thinking, students brainstorm, categorize, organize information, conduct research and interviews, ideate and make prototypes that solve real-world problems. They work with multiple perspectives, learn to access and make sense of information, apply critical thinking and intuition, iteratively learn from failure and create solutions that integrate the emotional and the analytical.
Brainstorm After an introductory activity set the ball rolling, our fourth graders huddled for several rounds of brainstorming. A number of ideas floated across the classroom, some revolving around Universal Dustbins to banishing waste to space and particular planets; others explored the possibility of bots segregating waste at its source. The students even offered to incentivize efficient waste management by proposing a machine that allows children to play games if and when they segregate their waste properly. Observation An integral part of Design Thinking is observation as it enables the students to understand the gravity of the challenge they are dealing with, the key factors that they have to consider while ideating and creating their prototypes and the roadblocks they may face in the process. Our children met and observed Pourkamikas, members of BBMP who help segregate waste on the streets, They even keenly observed their own family members at home, peers in class and support staff at the school, jotting down copious observations Interviews With their observations recorded, the children grabbed the opportunity of interviewing the Asst. Commissioner of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike(BBMP), shooting a wide range of questions on the administrative body - from its objective, how it feels to work at BBMP to whether BBMP had studied other municipalities to understand best practices that Bangalore can adopt. Using their observation and interview material, with references from newspaper articles about Bangalore's waste management, user empathy maps were made. These maps helped the students arrive at interesting points of view: - People tend to litter their surrounding plot or vacant grounds in their neighbourhoods because of a lack of dedicated space. - Waste is not segregated at source because people may not be patient enough to deal with the procedure or that they do not like handling dustbins or the odour that comes with it. Feedback Having studied the user empathy maps closely, the students arrived at the decision of focussing on specific users, to solve challenges specific to them. They created designs and blueprints for products and ideas, sharing it with the entire class for feedback. During this session, students offered critique, also taking the time to share their appreciation of what they liked about each project. Prototyping With ideas in place, blueprints finalized, the teams proceeded to build their prototypes. Described by many as their favourite part of the design thinking, our children had a riot putting together their models. Some had to deal with conflicts within their team over material, individual responsibilities or bringing the whole team on board to go with an idea - which they addressed democratically. Once ready, the models were proudly displayed for user testing by teachers and other teams. With the showcase done, the students reflected on their journey with design thinking, exchanging notes on the impact their models would have on the city's garbage crisis and also exploring what they wanted to do differently.
The chocolate vending segregator is designed to reward children with chocolates when they dump waste into the correct dustbin, thus incentivizing segregation.
Design of attractive dustbins to interest people in segregation.
Classroom Segregation Bot
The dustbins have the facility for children to put waste into four categories (dry, wet, hazardous and sanitary). They punch in their name whenever they dump waste. A bot would monitor the process and submit a report to the teacher on children segregating waste consistently. There are specific monthly rewards for children segregating waste properly like extra PE periods.
Game on segregation: A game designed to interest children, the idea is to make it available at kiosks around different communities, to spread awareness of the importance of segregation.
Solar powered segregator
To know more about Design Thinking, its process and how it fits into the Ekya curriculum, read our quick guide here.

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Sound and Light Show at Ekya ITPL – Stories from Our Schools

To be alive in this beautiful, self-organizing universe -- to participate in the dance of life with senses to perceive it, lungs that breathe it, organs that draw nourishment from it -- is a wonder beyond words.

- Joana Macy

True to this quote, Ekya School ITPL put on a tribute to the human senses, in the form of a Sound and Light show. As part of the Open Day, organized in November, the Sound and Light show organized by our students had an innovative twist, combining the influences of Mathematics, History, Art and Architecture. India is an amalgamation of various cultures, the beauty of which is clearly evident in the numerous architectural marvels present in our country. Math and architecture being intricately linked, and each of these well-constructed structures clearly display notable mathematical concepts. Through the Sound and Light show, the students showcased these concepts associated with famous landmarks like the Nachiar Kovil, the Konark Sun Temple and the Taj Mahal, also highlighting the rich culture of the lands where these structures exist. Enthralled by the visuals before them, the audience got to learn more about the mathematical concepts behind each structure through informative presentations. On display were the various dance forms of Bharatnatyam, Odissi, Kathak and Sufi, presented with the corresponding landmark and the state it belonged to. Members of the audience were treated to shadow performances, using their sense of sight to perceive the movements of the dances with live background music played by students. Being transported to another dimension, where music, dance and art brought alive the essence of incredible India, this was a unique experience that turned out to be truly memorable and enthralling for everyone present. Fundraising for 20 Eye Surgeries – How students of Ekya ITPL raised Rs. 30,000 for eye surgeries at Sankara. Bangalore’s Garbage Crisis – How Grade 4 students of Ekya JP Nagar used Design Thinking to find solutions to the city's problems.

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