It’s very normal for kids to stay glued to laptops and mobile devices for hours, as outdoor play has now been taken over by gamified experiences online. Though entertainment is the main purpose of these digital activities, some of them have multifold benefits like; imparting knowledge, alongside being fun & game!

Well, if your child grows up to be a future programmer, then the seeds of his interest could be attributed to the ardent interest he developed during his childhood days while playing coding games.

Here are some examples of the best coding activities for beginners;

Code Combat

This gaming website is famous amongst those who enjoy playing it rough on the battlefield! With over 20 million learners across 190 countries, including Dubai in the Middle East, Code Combat has made its way to enthusiastic coders who appreciate learning programming through hands-on games. Their vision is to teach real-world skills to kids through the power of play. The level of difficulty keeps advancing, as the student gains more experience until he becomes a pro!

Codemoji

This is a super-fun, yet productively enriching platform for students. Codemoji encourages learners to create their own personalized websites using Codemoji’s HTML and CSS site builder. One can even try their hands-on curating different animations with Codemoji’s unique and user-friendly animation builder. Its computer science curriculum specially caters to students of 1st – 8th standard teaching them basics of web development and coding, including HTML, CSS, and Javascript, in a fun and easy way.

Robocode

Are you ready to ace the battlefield? Robocode is a programming game that allows learners to develop a robot battle tank and battle against other tanks in Java or .NET. The battle takes place in a real-time fashion and you can partake as a contender. The participant has to instruct the tank on what step it needs to undertake, under what event or scenario, by writing rules in AI (Artificial Intelligence). Many schools and universities have incorporated Robocode in their teaching curriculum, to make lessons light-hearted and easy to comprehend.

Tynker

Students from 5 to 18 are promised an immersive game-like experience and presented with interactive tutorials so that they can get started with coding! Through guided voice instructions, children learn to solve problems using logic, create simple apps, and delve deeper into STEM subjects. Some of their interesting games featured for the 5-7 age group include; Barbie™ Pet Vet!, Candy Quest, Wild Rumble, and many others. Now that sounds super exciting!

Robotify

Robotify guides students to master complex skills related to math, coding, and critical thinking, which are important 21-st century skills. Learners get 24/7 access to their personal fleet of virtual robots, with over 900 gamified coding challenges to undertake. Going virtual removes the hassle and expense of hardware, thereby making coding and robotics more affordable and accessible to all. One can experience real-life challenges in incredible 3D virtual environments and even collaborate on coding projects with other students. Robotify’s popularity in the UAE and other GCC regions is very much in sync with the Middle East nation’s vision of excelling in technology and always remaining amongst the most digitally advanced economies in the world.

Robotify: https://knowledge-hub.com/robotify/

Scratch

Scratch is the simplest way to get children started with coding! It has garnered appreciation for its simple ‘drag and drop’ block coding method and has become the world’s largest coding community for children. It allows kids as young as elementary school to develop digital stories, play relevant games, and design animations via its platform. Scratch is popular in more than 200 different countries and territories and is available in over 70 languages. Scratch features recent projects that are created by budding coders so that everyone can learn from each other’s projects and broaden their ideas. Are you joining the scratch community?

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It’s fascinating for kids to learn about germination and how a tinny little seed grows into a big plant. In four lines of the below poetry, you get a glimpse of how a seed grows;

“I’m a little seed in the dark,

dark ground Out comes the sun,

yellow and round Down comes the cool rain,

soft and slow Up! the seed begins to grow!”

Once children have danced and sung to the tunes and have been verbally introduced to the topic; it’s time to get hands-on and show them the process of germination.

Germination Experiment

Materials Required:

• Plastic Ziplock Bag
• Spray bottle with water
• Tissue paper
• Tape
• Unsprouted Bean Seeds (Example: Kidney bean, chickpea, Lima beans)

Method:

• Dampen the tissue paper by spraying water all over it. Now fold the tissue paper into half and place it in the Ziplock bag.
• Pick any one side, and drop 3-4 the beans on that side of the bag. Zip the bag and seal it with a tape for extra caution.
• Place the bag in sunlight at your window sill, such that the child can observe every little change through the sprouting process.
• Wait for 24 hours and let for your kids discover the shoot growing by splitting the seed cover. The seed pops open and the bean begins to sprout.
• After 4 days to a week’s time, the shoot is fully grown, that is, the bean is sprouted fully.
• Wait for some more time and notice that leaves start forming at the tip of the cotyledon.
• Its time to move the experiment outdoors in the garden or sow them in a flower pot, to continue tracking the growth stages

Planting the sprout:

• Take sufficient amount of soil and ‘till the soil’, which means, turning the soil, stirring and digging it, until the soil is property aerated.
• Dig a little hole in the middle of a heap of soil using your finger and gently place one sported bean in the dug hole. Keep some distance between the planted bean sprouts in your gardens.
• Fill the hole carefully using your hands by sliding some soil over the hole.
• Water the planting regularly with a watering can. Remember just the right amount of water is required to moisten the soil. Over watering will simply do more harm, than any good to the plant.
• After a few days, you should be able to see the shoot appear, as it protrudes from the soil and grows upwards.
• A few leaves grow into many others and after a period of 2-3 weeks, we can even see the bean pod hanging from the stem. Wait for it to fully grow, before you pluck the pods and collect the beans.
• And there you have it, another plant which bears daintily little beans!

Reiterate the following points once the experiment has concluded;

• A bean seed grows into a bean plant. The pods will have 3-4 bean seeds which can be replanted.
• There are different varieties of beans and each have their own characteristics. Some beans are black, some are red, while others are even yellow.
• The seed first grows a root which goes downwards into the soil, and then the shoot emerges and grows above the soil.
• The roots hold the plant into the soil firmly as they begin to branch from the central root which grew first. Roots mainly absorb water and nutrients from the soil and keep the plant healthy.
• The shoot grows upwards in the direction of sunlight.

Carolina specially designs & supplies kits for students, that offers lessons across different grades covering important science concepts. Schools that follow the k-12 curriculum and IB culture benefit manifold from the kit and most institutes in GCC Countries in the Middle East avail the lab kits for students to practice hands-on lessons. For the purpose of germination experiment make use of the Carolina® Seed Starter Mix and Seed Starter Kit, to delve deeper on this topic. The unit includes the following – a teacher’s guide, access to online digital resources, supplies, and materials sufficient for the entire class.

To learn more about other such interesting kits by Carolina for those in the UAE, including Dubai, head to our website https://knowledge-hub.com/carolina-biological/

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Radio is a multifaceted platform that is not only cost-effective but also has tremendous reach. There are far more radio listeners than TV spectators or even readers who rely on the newspaper for their information. Radio caters to mass target audiences, and people tune in to their favorite radio channel for various reasons. Some enjoy getting their daily dose of entertainment through radio, while others source their global news through radio platforms.

The current decade that we live in, is driven by content. Every brand’s marketing strategy revolves around curating meaningful content and creatively presenting it to the audience. Radio is an excellent platform to covey the brand’s message via jingles, radio Ads, and sponsorship of FM shows. Therefore, the need of the hour is preparing ‘youth’ to face the radio and teaching them ways to generate unique content, by expressing creativity.

What is School Radio?

A School Radio platform gives students an opportunity to voice their opinions, share their creativity, and build confidence by actively being involved in the production, coordination, and execution phase. Right in elementary school, children get a chance to interact with people, research the net, learn how to broadcast information, and host a radio show. School Radio is a part of the Broadcast Radio group, which boasts 18 years’ experience in supplying the radio industry with software, hardware, and technical support. They have made a mark in 430+ schools by installing handy broadcasting devices, for the benefit of students, which makes them UK’s largest provider of radio technology to the education sector. Their affordable range of fixed radio studios are suitable for all sizes and budgets. Some international schools that have their set-up in Dubai and other regions of the Middle East, readily adopt the School Radio tool to encourage children to launch their own radio station.

Pre-Production Stages for a Radio Show

While deciding on starting a radio show, there are some preparations and planning to be done;

Deciding the theme of the Show

When you are on-air for a school radio show, there are going to be thousands of fellow students hearing you. Therefore, it is wise to choose a topic that is dear to you, so that you can passionately talk about it. However, the topic mustn’t be vague, such that there are no listeners interested in hearing you out. Some of the trending themes you could consider are; the latest movie premier launches, talks on current affairs, discussing festive celebrations, and even talking about health & lifestyle. Whatever it is, make it worthy of listening.

Preparing Content

Content is the King indeed! If you are going to be on-air for 1 hour, what is it that you are going to talk about? Do thorough research in advance and prepare notes, so that you wouldn’t fumble during the ‘live’ radio session. Practice your speech in front of a mirror, and if you are going to be having a guest speaker, prepare a proper introduction to introduce the personality & their achievements in brief. Another tip is to start the show with a ‘bang’ so that in the first 5 minutes your listeners are glued and look forward to hearing more from you, instead of changing the station. Take care of the sentiments of the listeners, and avoid talking about harsh topics that might create controversies later. Example: Don’t bring up anti-Islam news on your show, while broadcasting your show to students in UAE.

Plan Your Music

Basis your target audience’s taste in music, decide what genre would you be playing on your show. Is it going to be retro, hip-hop, rock, or jazz? You also need to know the names of the singers and the album, to introduce the song, before it is played. Also, don’t forget to time the songs. What is the duration of each song – as all songs need to be played within the allocated time frame, without exceeding the time limit of your show.

Test the Equipment

Pre-production is incomplete without proper radio equipment and testing if it works fine. Do a quick run-through of the program a few days prior and make sure the microphones are loud and clear, the headphones are in place, and the mixer console is placed at an arm’s distance to reach it in time & tune-in some music without wasting any. Once your pre-production agenda is sorted; that is; once you have taken care of time, location, equipment, and people or guests, then just let loose and enjoy your moment of stardom. Feel free to use storytelling to amplify the message. Let your creativity flow and most importantly, be confident.

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Integrating an ERP system into your educational institute has manifold advantages. It not only helps efficiently manage the school’s administrative tasks but also plays an important role in improving the quality of education imparted, by assisting teachers in various ways. Wondering how that works? Read through the Blog to find out more.

Makes Lesson Planning Simpler

Every educator has to abide by a ‘plan’ or a teaching schedule that needs to be prepared in advance so as to smoothly manage the flow of lessons to be taught in class. A Lesson Plan makes it easier to refer to the ‘topic’ that needs to be covered in that day’s session. Imagine how tedious it could get for the teacher to physically write down the lesson plan for each day in a book. An ERP system eliminates this process. The teacher simply has to feed in the data only once, and the rest of the process is automated. This eliminates chances of error or losing important notes written on paper. Many IB schools across Dubai and other GCC regions including UAE, readily adopt the school ERP technology to provide an enhanced experience to students and parents.

Efficient Exam Management

Imagine how tense things get when it’s exam time! Not only are students stressed about completing their portion, but even teachers have to gear up to face the fury! There are test papers to prepare and student-wise schedules to be kept ready. However, with the new ERP Examination Management System, bid your worries goodbye. The software manages every task end-to-end; from sending notifications about exam dates to parents, to communicating the chapters covered under each subject; and even sending practice papers or model papers for the benefit of students. Advanced ERPs even provide a bank of important questions and the examiner simply has to choose a set of subjective or objective questions that need to be included in the Question Paper and the job is done!

Maintaining Academic Records

The ERP platform can also be customized to auto-correct test papers and compute marks on behalf of the examiner. Checking every child’s examination paper does get a little cumbersome, and it’s best to leave the task to the expert ERP system. One can even track the student’s past performance, at a click of the button. One may download the stats of all students in chart form and get a bird’s eye view of their performances. This vital information gives the subject teacher an idea of where students are lacking and which ‘concept’ needs to be re-visited.

Preparing Digital Report Cards

Instead of writing comments and printing physical report cards, the ERP saves a lot of cost and time. Preparing a digital report card is as simple as, choosing an appropriate format, correctly allocating marks per subject from the databank, choosing the pre-fed comments based on the performance, and sending the report card to parents in e-format on their emails. It’s even easier to preserve the e-report cards and there’s no chance of misplacement or damage.

Seamless Communication

Gone are those days when the school diary was used as a medium of communication between schools and parents. With the ERP software, teachers can interact with parents via Google classroom, send emailers, or even forward notifications via the school app. Timely details regarding upcoming field trips, celebrations in school, and updates about the child’s progress can be achieved effortlessly via this online medium. Live tracking of the school bus and access to CCTV surveillance footages on request are additional perks availed by integrating with a school ERP platform. When parents feel connected and involved with the school, they remain happy and are positive about their child’s future prospects.

Next Learning Platform is a brand that helps teachers in making learning lessons easier and more engaging. It is pretty well-known in the Middle East region. They also have a Live lecture feature that can be attended by 150 students. This platform brings great opportunities to enhance learning in schools and remotely.

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