Source: 9 year old app developer
An app to tickle an accountant’s brain, “Quiz Me”, was developed by a nine-year-old boy Druva Suresh. This class 3 student from CMR National Public School, Bengaluru, developed this app using the code.org platform, with the primary objective to test the user’s knowledge of accounting. Developed by writing 428 block codes using the user interface controls, variables and control selections, Quiz Me has 20 accounting questions, including – The process of entering all transactions from the journal to the ledger is called – and the options are 1) posting, 2) entry, 3) accounting, and 4) none of the above. (Can you answer that?)
The app provides basic accounting quizzes, providing knowledge on various accounting concepts. It tests the accountant’s knowledge and helps assess their understanding of interesting accounting terminology. This app will promote knowledge growth for students willing to learn more about accounting and for accounting professionals to retest their accounting know-how.
Quiz Me is now approved after a Googlr review and made available for free download in the Google Play store across 176 countries/regions for Android users. The app can be downloaded from this link.
The COVID-19 pandemic has its bright sides as well, especially for young students who want to learn something to overcome boredom. Druva did just that to reduce the screen time and to keep himself engaged. “I got enrolled in classes like drawing and coding. Just like the way I loved to draw or paint, I started liking coding, mainly because of my teacher. I started to love the subject more and developed an intense passion for coding.”
Druva was driven by his curiosity alone, which made him explore and attempt multiple projects. “When I had completed the computer science course at code.org, my interest in creating more apps increased. Coding is a subject that needs a lot of practice and testing, and to keep that touch, I started to code and worked on approximately 170+ coding projects as part of the course and out of my interest. While I was doing one such project, I wanted to develop an app. So my parents and I came up with a list of ideas and finally concluded with Quiz Me”, he added.
Answering the question if today’s young students should engage in technology, Druva said, “Children should engage themselves in exploring more on the topic and do a lot of self-learning with the easily available online learning resources to keep them updated. Coding is a very good beginning.”
Swati Soni, Head of School, CMR National Public School, said, “We always encourage our students to be a part of coding competitions, hackathon challenges to help them understand the needs of the changing world and to be able to adapt to them. Our students are also trained in developing websites, and the most exemplary example of this is our Internal Student Website which the students completely design for all internal updates of the school. Be it working with Google workspace, creating their websites, mobile applications, or designing posters and trailers, our students have always broken the shackles of society and tried their best to innovate and give their best to us as a community”.
Further, demonstrating hands-on experience with technology, Soni said, “We also encourage our students to embrace and have hands-on experience with technology by offering them a plethora of clubs like website designing club, game development club, technovation club, etc. We educate and give our teachers the tools they need to ensure that enough technology exists in each classroom to meet our learning goals. We have an ongoing dialogue with our students and parents about digital citizenship and digital footprints, safety and etiquette, and potential consequences of misguided usage of technology”.
India is seeing a growing number of achievements in the education sector, with more and more young students participating in tech-based challenges and projects. The seeds for innovation in technologies like AI, ML, robotics, etc., are now being planted right from schools. The first step towards an increased skill force in tech is right in the phase of primary education. This is bound to bring efficient and better results.
Source: Animal Adoption
With an aim to create awareness among students to feel the need to support the welfare of animals in the wildlife habitat, Ekya School, BTM Layout, encouraged students to start the PAL (Passionate Animal Lovers) initiative as a part of their Service Learning Program through which they have passively adopted a few species in the Bannerghatta Biological Park.
Passive adoption gives each one a chance to be the guardian of a few specific species chosen by the school from the list provided by the conservationists at Bannerghatta National Park. "Our adoption covers feed, maintenance and veterinary health care expenses," according to Ekya officials.
With the motto, 'Be Kind to Every Kind', the students have adopted two endangered wildlife species - The Indian Grey Wolf and African Grey Parrot, for one year. This initiative by the school is a part of the 'Service Learning Program' (SLP) introduced by Ekya Schools where students can be involved in activities beyond their academics.
The Service Learning Program was introduced at Ekya Schools as it helps students identify themselves as part of the community and pick up on civic engagement skills. It encourages students to understand more deeply about their local communities, gain practical skills, develop their career and personal interests.
The Founder and Managing Director, Ekya Schools, and Provost, CMR University, Dr Tristha Ramamurthy said, "We have introduced SLP to bring students and teacher communities together, build their bond stronger and work for a noble cause. We are thrilled to see students coming forward and donating money for the adoption. Adopting is a lifestyle. It creates a sense of participation and attachment to the wild animals thereby creating bonding and a sense of involvement. Besides, this also provides a source of revenue for better zoo management and for better up-keep of animals. Also, it helps children understand the habitat and the lifestyle of the animals at a closer level."
Under this initiative, a total of Rs 33,000 was raised through various crowdfunding and contributions by the students. The same was handed over to Dr Sunil Panwar, Conservator of Forests and Executive Director of Bannerghatta Biological Park, Bangalore.
Source: Offline Assessment
With only a month left for Board Term-II board exams, educators are happy to hold offline exams, which are the best to identify the knowledge gaps and enable students to close those gaps through improvement/compartment exams.
Sanyam Bhardwaj, controller of examinations, CBSE, says, “In the US, Missouri Board was asked if the schools could extend online classes, it discouraged online classes and asked schools to conduct in-person exams. Students planning to study abroad or looking for quality education, yearn for a competitive environment."
“Offline exams allow us to test the child’s critical thinking ability, vocabulary, writing skills, and ability to express. The government has announced that offline classes can resume with full strength, so there is no problem in conducting offline examinations,” says Bhardwaj.
On February 22, 2022, the Supreme Court had refused to entertain a plea seeking cancellation of offline board exams for classes X and XII to be conducted offline by CBSE and other boards including ICSE and National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS). The apex court had said that its past order on postponing of examination cannot become a norm to pass same order for this academic year as well.
“Students think the real reason for exams is to grade them but the actual objective of assessment has three different perspectives. Exams are meant to assess how successful have the educators been in implementing the curriculum, the level of knowledge and skills that students have been able to grasp, and for the parents to understand the capability of the child. When the students have learnt something then the mode of assessment should not matter. When students know that they have to be assessed and they are prepared for it then how does it matter whether they are being assessed online or offline?” says Deepa Rani, head of school, Ekya School, BTM Layout, Bengaluru.
After the evaluation, teachers will be able to gauge the learning loss in the two pandemic years. “This will help to see if any kind of course correction or bridging of gaps is required. Even among those students from classes I-IX and XI, who have the option of appearing for online exams, most students are opting to appear in the offline exams," says Poonam Thakur, principal, Podar International School, Mira Road, Mumbai
The teaching and learning process may have moved online, but offline assessment remains the most authentic form of assessment yet. “The integrity of online assessments has been questionable across the globe. Given these two factors, if the focus of assessment continues to be learning, in-person assessment is the appropriate way to gauge learning,” says Sangeeta Krishnan Nag, principal, Senior School, Pathways School Gurgaon.
Mona Lisa Bal, Chairperson, KiiT International School, proffers that offline exams will be beneficial for students. “The exams will act as a leveller for self-assessment. Students who have diligently prepared and worked will be encouraged from offline exams and others will get a chance to better themselves. All necessary Covid protocols must be maintained for the offline exams.”