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Ekya / April 05, 2022 Posted by : administrator

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.

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Ekya / May 24, 2023

Fun in Sun: Ekya School Summer camps designed for children to Explore, Learn & Play

Source: Brain Feed
Summer camps are a great way for children to spend their holidays in a meaningful and productive manner. These camps not only provide a fun and enjoyable experience but also offer opportunities for children to learn and develop new skills. They allow children to learn new skills, make new friends and have fun while staying active and engaged. With this in mind, Ekya Schools and CMR NPS organized series of camps with an array of activities planned that cater to a range of interests and ages. The camps are being led by experienced and qualified instructors ensuring safety, enjoyable experience and engaging environment for children across ages. The camp began with a meaningful excursion to Munnar as a part of the Outbound Learning Pogram organized for children of Ekya Schools and CMR NPS exclusively, where children got to trek, go kayaking, watching and learning tea picking, and learning the process of tea making, enjoying the natural surroundings of tea estates, activities like raft building, watching martial arts of Kerala, etc. At Ekya Schools and CMR NPS, keeping in mind the benefits of organizing summer camps for its students, they have started offering a variety of courses and skill-based activities. Customized activities like LEGO Robotics / Coding and Robotics, Public speaking and creative writing skills, Art Courses like Drama & Speech, Theatre, Sculpturing and Art on bottle, Warli Art, Paper Mache Pots, etc. Performing arts like Hip-hop dance, Indian Modern dance, Sports activities like Swimming, Basketball, Skating, Karate, and many such personality development programmes have been a part of Summer Camps for students of Ekya, CMR NPS and others who wish to participate. Camps are held on several Ekya School campuses. The best part is that kids from any school may come to our campus, participate in camps and have a good learning and fun time by enrolling into the Summer Camps. Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Anamika Radhakrishnan, Head – Student Development, Ekya Schools said, “The summer camps at Ekya School and CMR NPS are designed to provide a nurturing and stimulating environment for children to learn and grow. Our educational programs are specifically tailored to develop cognitive and social skills and focus on physical fitness and overall wellbeing. Through various activities, we aim to encourage children to be active and engage in physical exercise, which is crucial for their holistic development. With a team of experienced and qualified educators, we are dedicated to providing a high-quality education that equips children with the necessary skills to succeed in the 21st century. At Ekya Schools, we are committed to creating a learning environment that fosters children’s holistic development.”

Ekya / May 24, 2023

Bee-lieve it! Students of EKYA School introduced to the new Bee Hotel Initiative to promote sustainability

Source: Education World
While options for summer camps are aplenty, Ekya school in Bengaluru is offering its students an innovative summer assignment- to raise bees. To encourage sustainability initiatives and promote the importance of environmental conservation, Ekya Schools has collaborated with the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) in their one-of-a-kind ‘Bee Hotels’ initiative. Interested students from all five branches of Ekya have opted for the Bee Hotel and will be participating in the activity. These bee hotels will be looked after by the students during the summer vacation. This initiative targets studying solitary bees in Bengaluru. Experts believe that unlike honeybees, solitary bees do not build hives or display any aggressive behaviour, making it safe for children. Ekya School Byrathi hosted an interactive talk about conserving biodiversity in cities where students interacted with researchers from ATREE. Dr Tristha Ramamurthy, Founder of Ekya Schools and Provost, CMR University, said, “We have introduced the Bee Hotels as we firmly believe in the importance of transcending the limits of the classroom and raising our students’ awareness of the world they inhabit. Moreover, the Bee Hotel initiative engages the entire family by facilitating collective learning about sustainability and conservation”. “We believe that our students must understand the impact of their actions on the environment,” said Smriti Agarwal, Head of School, Ekya School Byrathi. “By implementing this initiative, we are not only creating a secure environment for bees but also educating our students about the significance of sustainability and conservation.” Students will be recording their observations on the Bee Hotel App. These observations will help further the research program at ATREE to integrate these important pollinators into urban life.

Ekya / May 24, 2023

Gautam Aravindan: A Compassionate Youth Paving the Way for Robotics With A Purpose

Source: Edugraph

The soft hum of electronics filled the air as Gautam Aravindan tinkered with his latest creation in his room. It was a 3-degree of freedom (DOF) camera positioning system for machine vision, and it was his most ambitious project yet. As just a second-year PU student at CMR National Pre-University College, ITPL, Gautam had already made significant strides in the field of robotics and electronics, driven by a passion that had sparked in him at a young age.

Recently, he presented his projects in electronics, robotics, and single-board computers at CMR National PU College. The session covered basic sensors and actuators, delved into the world of robotics using a robotic arm controlled using a Raspberry Pi and a remote control, and discussed the exciting potential of single-board computers. Gautam conducted the session to spread awareness to his peers regarding the amazing potential of the world of robots and computing and that there are no age constraints to building robots. He hoped to have inspired his peers to explore it further.

It all started when Gautam saw a robot on TV and was fascinated by its functionalities. From that moment, his interest in electronics and computing only grew, leading him to explore distinct ventures of robotics and ultimately becoming a field he wished to pursue when he grew older. With the COVID-19 pandemic keeping him indoors, Gautam utilized his time to learn the fundamentals required to build projects related to electronics, robotics, and single-board computers.

Amidst the pandemic, Gautam upskilled himself and expanded his knowledge, creating several impressive projects. From a Laser Security system for safety purposes to a reverse parking system using a Raspberry Pi single-board computer, he had done it all. He had even created several 3-D printed and designed home-based products, such as laptops and mobile stands.

During his journey, Gautam encountered various challenges that strengthened his persistence and determination to achieve his goals. For example - Amid the pandemic, when he couldn't access the required components for his projects, he dismantled his old toys and repurposed them for his work. And with every challenge after that, Gautam's unwavering dedication towards his projects sharpened his problem-solving abilities.

Amongst his numerous projects, Gautam had a particular social concern he wished to address using robotics and electronics - the growing necessity for elderly care. Gautam believes these fields have a wide range of applications and could be used to solve several real-world problems and assist in research ventures. He hopes to address this issue by building a robotic companion for the elderly based on their respective needs.

For people interested in learning more about robotics, technology, and computers, here’s what Gautam suggests - “Explore these ventures in-depth using the Internet. Take advantage of e-learning platforms that offer paid and free courses with certification. Get hands-on exposure by building projects - using beginner electronics kits which are easily accessible on e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart, etc”.

Gautam Aravindan's dedication to electronics, robotics, and single-board computers is impressive, and his work is an inspiration to many. His passion for these fields has led him to undertake several impressive projects and has given him a broader perspective on the role of these technologies in society. His work on building a robotic companion for the elderly is a testament to his commitment to solving real-world problems through technology. Gautam's journey in this field is one to watch out for, and we look forward to seeing what he accomplishes next.

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Education Reimagined: The Future of Learning

Source: Business News This Week

From helping students to grant access to education through different learning styles simultaneously to solving problems associated with student absenteeism, hybrid teaching has emerged as one of the best teaching methods in today’s era of education. Hybrid learning has made a passage into the scholarly field a long time ago and has forwarded through numerous changes, presently procuring a spot as an augmentation of formal learning. Hybrid learning combines online with synchronous or on-site learning where parts of the curriculum are taught online while other activities are taught in a classroom setting.

Considering the current COVID-19 scenario, the hybrid model of learning has become one of the effective and popular methods of education. It offers the best of both worlds; getting access and flexibility of an online course with the additional support and classroom interaction with faculty and classmates. Apart from this, it also provides huge benefits for both students and teachers such as:

Opportunity and Flexibility to learn

Students are regularly arranged into visual, sound, and sensation classes, and most understudies learn best utilizing a mix of these for retaining various types of ideas or data. The virtual medium makes it workable for instructors to offer this sort of gaining experience even from distant areas. Availability of a huge amount of study materials online in the forms of text, video, quizzing and interactives gives students more agency over their learning and enables them to engage with course material in the ways they learn best. As institutions expand their learning options, hybrid learning can provide more learning opportunities for students. For instance, students who can’t travel to campus can learn online while the rest of the class participates in person.

Time Management 

Time management is a necessity in education. Good time management skills boost productivity thereby helping students to complete more tasks by prioritizing time. Time management skills help a learner reduce stress and manage their own time to meet deadlines, collaborate more, and be able to focus on their passion. In hybrid, one can also control lectures and learn more efficiently. Also, it provides students to be more flexible with their time and can improve their overall performance. 

More opportunities for teachers

Educational technology expands the reach of teachers beyond classroom sessions and office hours. E-learning offers the chance for an instructor to record meetings – rather than going through a module more than once for various clumps of understudies, the educator can rather invest that energy being useful, either by investing additional time upgrading their information or by offering more opportunities for customized regard for every understudy and assisting them with conquering novel learning difficulties. With the available technologies, teachers now have access to more pedagogical tools to engage and challenge more students.

- By Ms Ayesha Sirajuddin, Head of South Campuses, Ekya Schools, Bangalore

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How This Nine-Year-Old Developed an App to Check Your Knowledge of Accountancy

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.  

Passion for coding 

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.”

Schools becoming the first step of the ladder 

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.

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