The Hyderabad-based next education India pvt. ltd, one of the premier e-learning companies in India, was awarded the prestigious Corporate Innovation in Teaching Pedagogy award at the World Education Summit 2013 convened in Delhi, for its MathsLab.

Based on LAB (learn, analyse, build) ideology, MathsLab offers children an innovative platform for various activities, projects and simulations to discover mathematical ideas and validate formulae. The design objective of MathsLab is to merge three aspects of maths education — teacher sessions, student practice and hands-on activities.

“MathsLab is a unique and pathbreaking offering from us and in a quick period of time has become a great hit among schools countrywide. Our team will continue to develop such world-class innovations which make teaching easier, interactive and gives a next generation learning experience to students,” said Beas Dev Ralhan, chief executive of Next Education speaking on the occasion.

GlobalNxt University gets going

The Kuala Lumpur-based globalnxt university (formerly Global e-University) has been relaunched as Asia’s newest online varsity and invites student registrations through its portal www.globalnxt.edu.my.

“In tandem with practices of an increasingly borderless world, GlobalNxt is a global enterprise which combines all the traditional benefits of professor-led classroom learning with a contemporary flexible, anytime, anywhere learning online model,’’ said Dr. Noraini Ismail, vice chancellor and chief executive of GlobalNxt University. “Our objective is to offer learners the academic rigour of best traditional bricks-and-mortar institutions, on our online university. Students will benefit significantly from our strong emphasis on interactive pedagogy, advanced learning technology and high calibre Ph D-qualified global faculty.’’

Currently the university offers MBA, postgraduate diploma in business administration and Master of science in information technology management programmes.

According to varsity sources, GlobalNxt University derives “an important academic heritage’’ from U21Global, one of the first global online graduate schools (estb. 2001). In a new academia-industry collaboration model, GlobalNxt has partnered with over 100 multinational corporations to develop innovative, technology-enabled corporate learning and training solutions. “The emergence of GlobalNxt University is a testament to the quality and rigour of the online programmes that originated with U21Global,’’ says Ian Marshman, senior vice principal at the University of Melbourne, one of U21Global’s founding universities.

CEGR’s knowledge seminar

The Delhi-based centre for education growth and Research (CEGR) organised a ‘Professional and Technical Education: Meeting the Demands of the Industrial and Knowledge Economy’ seminar at the India International Centre, Delhi on April 18. The programme was attended by the country’s top academics, leaders of industry and a cross-section from education-related businesses.

The seminar was addressed by Dr. Kavita Sharma, director IIC; Lokesh Mehra, director education advocacy, Microsoft; Prof. M. L. Gupta, advisor JSS Technical Academy; S. P. Singh, former director, NTPC; Anil Chawla, TCS; Dr. M.P. Jain, Sharda University; Dr. A.K. Puri, director-general, ITS Institute of Management; Dr. Ravi Dhar, director, JIMS, and Dr. Atul Jain, president, CEGR.

The consensus of opinion at the seminar was that India can reap its democratic dividend only if quality education is made available to the country’s youth. To enable this, institutions of higher education need to establish synergies with academia and policy formulators in the Central and state governments.

Eight students qualify for ISEF 2013

Eight students from across the country, winners of the India Initiative for Research & Innovation in Science (IRIS), will represent India at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2013 in Phoenix, Arizona, from May 12-17. ISEF is a global science competition which provides an annual forum to class VIII-XII students worldwide to showcase independent research.

An estimated 1,500 students from more than 70 countries will convene for ISEF 2013 in the US to share ideas, showcase cutting-edge projects, and compete for more than US $3 million (Rs.16.2 crore) in awards and scholarships. Winners are selected based on their creative ability and scientific thinking, and on the thoroughness, skill, and clarity shown in their projects. All eight students will get an ASUS Fonepad, the world’s first Intel Atom Processor-based seven-inch tablet.

This year, a total of 2,036 IRIS project entries were received from across the country under ten categories including physical and life sciences, mathematics, engineering and social sciences. Of these, 111 projects were showcased at IRIS 2012 held at Bal Bhawan, New Delhi, and six projects of eight students were shortlisted to represent India at ISEF 2013.  

“Both IRIS and ISEF bring to light the wealth of creativity and innovation that exists in India. These projects nurture hidden talent and encourage youth to create realistic solutions through research practices, to take on scientific challenges vital for progress,” said Ashutosh Chadha, director of corporate affairs, Intel South Asia, speaking on the occasion.

Early childhood learning seminar

The Bangalore-based sutradhar (estb. 1995), a non-profit educational resource centre, staged a ‘Early Learning Pedagogies — an Open forum’ seminar for Montessori, Reggio-Emilia and the Steiner-Waldorf early childhood learning experts and practitioners. The objective of the seminar was to discuss, debate, and understand differing pedagogies in preschool education.

Among the early childhood education experts who addressed the seminar were Nandini Prakash, senior faculty of the Indian Institute of Montessori Studies; Nina Kanjirath, founder of the Reggio-inspired Gaia preschool and teacher Mona Dhawan; Smitha Mallya, trustee of the Bangalore Steiner School, and Latha Madhusudan, the founder of Prakriya, a Waldorf-inspired preschool.