Technology is playing a key role in every aspect of our lives today. The same applies to the educative space. In recent times, schools are levelling-up to match the competencies of the ‘corporate world’ by introducing new & improved ‘digital solutions’ for data management and learning.

There is no doubt about the fact that ‘digital software’ is creating better learning environments for students by complimenting the teaching efforts of the educators. An e-classroom is well-equipped to answer every question that the inquisitive learners wish to know about.

Many schools are looking for solutions that are not only limited to the learning aspect, but also cover the entire gamut of responsibilities that schools have at hand. To address this growing need, The Knowledge Hub has introduced the NextLearingPlatform with an aim to positively transform the dimensions of the K-12 ecosystem.

What exactly is the NextLearingPlatform?

NextLearingPlatform is a powerful combination of school management system, course management system, adaptive learning technology and award-winning content system, that takes care of all academic and administrative needs of the school. In simple words, it is everything and beyond, that a school requires to function seamlessly.

A brief on each of the ‘four’ core areas of focus:

ERP: The routine administrative work like attendance, staff payroll, managing timetables, and scheduling fees can be automated with the use of this ERP platform. Important student records and admission documents can be retrieved from the system at the click of a button, thus going paperless and reducing the burden of having to carefully store physical files. This enables administrators to focus on the smooth functioning of the school while demonstrating efficiency, cost-saving, and ingenuity.

Learning Management System: The entire annual course plan for various subjects and extra-curricular activities is easily incorporated via this tool. Predefining the teaching plan well in advance helps the educators focus on innovative classroom delivery, rather than spending time on planning what lesson to teach next, a day before its delivery. Even students have an easy access to the learning aids taught in class on their phones or tabs, while they are at home. Being an interactive platform, students can get their queries addressed anytime and from anywhere.

Next Review: To test the student’s critical thinking abilities, the tool has an in-built customizable ‘assessment’ process in place. Educators can upload a bank of open-ended and multiple-choice questions to evaluate the child’s knowledge about the topic taught in school. To further automate the process, the ERP system allows teachers to feed in a one-time grading system, on basis of which an auto-computed score is shared with the child at the end of the assignment. The grading helps the students to be aware of their strengths & weaknesses, and focus on continuous improvement.

Next Education Courseware: To support the teacher in generating learning aids and innovative teaching concepts, the tool makes available a bank of ‘content’ that is created by professional ‘academic curriculum planners’. The fact that it is already being used by over 12,000+ schools, is a testament to the credibility of the Award-Winning content strategy provided by this platform.

What value does the NextlearningPlatform provide to different stakeholders?

All the major stakeholders of the K-12 school directly or indirectly benefit and are linked seamlessly by this AI multi-dimensional platform.

Teachers:

Allows educators to schedule and conduct ‘Live lectures’ remotely. Especially in the current scenario, where the world has to maintain ‘physical distance’, the Next Learning Platform provides an excellent solution to create a classroom-like ‘learning experience’ at home. Also, the automated lesson-planning comes handy and reduces the burden of teachers to prepare lengthy ‘teaching materials’ for children. By clicking on the appropriate class, teachers get an overview of the cumulative performance record and individualized score of each child in a real-time.

Principal:

The head Principal of the school gets a bird’s eye view of progress of students and the effectiveness of curriculum delivery by teachers, simply by logging into the portal from their handheld devices.

Students:

The pace of learning for every child could be different. Through the Next Learning Platform, it is easier for students to learn at their own speed, as they have full access to digital content and recorded classroom sessions undertaken by the subject-specific teacher. Students can even get their queries clarified and upload their projects & assignments digitally.

Parents:   

To ease the tension of a worrisome parent, the ERP solution integrates a real-time instant notification service, where parents get an email or SMS as soon as the child has been assigned with any homework. Parents can even access the progress report of the child and communicate freely with teachers & admin staff without having to take leave from work to attend a meeting in school.

Schools that have welcomed innovation by integrating the Next Learning Platform already have an edge over the other institutions and are witnessing immense benefits by eliminating human error and improving efficiencies.

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If you’ve noticed your child often make an excuse when you try to get him to read a book, then it’s time to make some amendments in the reading experience provided to the child. We understand how tiresome it could be for parents to approach their tiny-ones with a book without having to play a game of catch-and-cook with them around the house. Well as you sigh, we have some good news to share.

‘Highlights’ is everyone’s favorite ‘reading platform’ and has been endorsed by parents and teachers, from across the globe. Being a new-age reading platform, Highlights aim is to motivate every child to not only be a voracious reader, but also be a champ at developing good writing skills and learn to communicate effectively.

Highlights delightfully launched its Readers+ kit which entails 500 choicest stories that include fiction and non-fiction reading material across 10 differentiated content areas & reading levels, through its app. This makes it easier for parents and teachers to choose a ‘topic’ for their child’s next reading schedule. Having a consolidated platform saves time on having to do research and going from one bookstore to the other, to hunt for story books. The portal is also thoughtfully designed to enable the child to himself browse through the books and various activities and follow the self-explanatory instructions that guide him to navigate seamlessly on the portal.

Wondering how easy it is to access the Readers+ Kit?

Children simply need to open the App and click the ‘green icon’ on the Readers+ kit homepage to access their favorite book title. After the book has been read, children even get to follow-up their reading by participating in ‘fun activities’ and earn rewards for completing various tasks. This helps the child to recollect the story and tests his retention power. It also boosts the child’s morale and motivates him to read with clarity, rather than browsing through the pages.

Learning to Speak English with correct pronunciation can be rewarding too!

Children mimic songs, conversations & stories uttered by adults and hence teachers & parents need to make it a mindful practice to always choose the right words & use correct pronunciation around their children. It is however not feasible for the child to be around an elder all through the day, and that’s where the Readers+ kit comes handy.

The ‘speaking activity’ is specifically designed to assist our little champs to improve their verbal fluency by practicing speaking English sentences correctly. Five featured sentences from every story are pre-recorded and the child needs to listen to each one of them attentively. It is then the child’s turn to repeat the sentence with the same finesse as he just heard in the recording. The app immediately checks the correctness of the speech and rates the speaking fluency of the child. This motivates the child to continue improving his score gradually by repeating every word in the sentence correctly. In this manner, the elementary school goer develops immense confidence and demonstrates proactiveness the next time he is asked to participate in a group discussion at school.

Effective listening is the key to proper communication & writing

After having read and repeated the sentence verbally, the Readers+ app takes the activity level a notch higher. The child is asked to concentrate on the sentence from the story that is read aloud to him and then he has to proceed towards arranging the words of the phrase that are presented to him in a jumbled manner. This exercise requires the child to first listen attentively, then understand what each word in the sentence stands for, and then arrange the words correctly to form a sentence. At the end of the session, triumphant efforts of the child are rewarded with a star badge added to their profiles.

Inculcating critical thinking at an early age

To complete the learning experience and unlock the true potential of the children, a set of questions are asked at the end of the story to test the child’s comprehensive capabilities. The child is given the opportunity to pen down his understanding in 50 to 100 characters. This concluding exercise is an excellent medium to test the child’s grammar, sentence formation skills, and usage of spellings.

If you haven’t already subscribed to the Highlights app, it’s time to get started. With so many power-packed features, we are sure your geniuses will gain even more confidence through their journey of becoming voracious readers, writers, and effective communicators.

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Think of Amazon and their Kindle books. Their platform and ease of buying and reading books have taken the reading industry by storm. Kutubee, which is an interactive reading platform for kids, functions pretty much the same way. But in this particular software, books are pre-loaded onto a digital reading platform that is easily accessible and packs a lot of features in order to keep the process simple for both teachers and children.

About Kutubee and Its Features

Kutubee provides a very unique reading experience for our children to read and engage with over 1500+ illustrated stories in English, Arabic and French that are carefully hand-picked by experts.

Some key features:

• Increase knowledge – a variety of stories at different reading levels for all kinds of interests
• Stimulate creative thinking where the students can analyze the content of the story by utilizing tools such as highlighting to see the bigger picture
• Customize avatars of each student to personalize their learning space and journey
• Able to listen to stories and you can follow along as the words being read are highlighted
• Books are classified according to:

1. IB Primary Years Program (PYP)
2. Level Reading (example Level 1 and 2)
3. Subject
4. Age

• A variety of sound effects are present in the reading of the book
• Users are able to record and save their voice so that students can present their readings to teachers, and teachers can also model how a certain story is read
• Offline reading is available for maximum exposure when students are on the go
• A few questions are asked at the end of each story to keep the students engaged and test their comprehension in the process
• Teachers have a comprehensive portal that allows them to track student and class progress
• Teachers can also generate detailed Excel reports that highlight class statistics and metrics
• Teachers can curate and build their own collections of frequently used books and set reading assignments for their students
• A significant number of teacher resources have been compiled by Kutubee to aid teachers with the initial adoption of this application

Feature Highlight: Read to Me

It enables the child to listen to the recorded stories anywhere and without an internet connection on all smart devices. In addition, it includes a lot of sound effects. Children can easily browse through the categorized books and enjoy reading at school and on their own time. In addition, children, parents, and teachers can enrich the content of the stories within Kutubee by recording their own readings or creating and adding a new dialog. It will facilitate the interaction between educators and parents by means of keeping you updated on and engaged in the reading development of the children.

Conclusion

In its essence, Kutubee is a very versatile tool that packages key features, both for educators and children, in order to deliver quality reading material and comprehension of stories.

It allows for an entire class or grade level to simultaneously start on a curated list of books set by the teacher, but it also gives individual students space to explore and progress on their reading at a pace that is comfortable for them to bear.

Teachers also have the ability to view class-wide and grade-wide statistics on how many books are being read and how many hours are being spent reading. They can also assign reading assignments and monitor individual students by requesting the student to record a reading session.

This combined feature set allows for gentle guidance and independence of learners, boosting their confidence in reading.

Check out Kutubee now!

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The 3Rs of education start with reading, writing, and then move on to arithmetic. Reading is the first ‘R’ taught to the child in school and for that matter, it is the most basic fundamental skill that the child needs to learn in order to succeed in life. A good habit like ‘reading’ when cultivated at an early age can spark an interest in the child and stays with the child even when he is grown into a teenager and an adult. The idea is to make the child comfortable with reading a book, whether it is a story or a workbook from school.

Make books your child’s best friend! Though reading is a simple activity, there are numerous benefits attributed to it. Besides being a fun thing to do, reading sharpens the mind, improves concentration, and even enhances interpersonal skills. Through reading, an elementary school goer is exposed to different kinds of information, stories, and ideas that influence their thoughts and feelings. A young reader develops favorable qualities like empathy, confidence, and a strong belief system based on high morals & values. The benefits of reading are limitless and through this blog, we aim to highlight a few of them:

Increased Attention Span

In today’s world of increasing social media usage and digital entertainment, the attention span of the child is getting shorter. It is really a mammoth task for parents to get their 6-year-old children to sit in one place and focus on a task. Slowly introducing your energetic bundle of joy to the world of reading allows him to ‘stay put’ for a longer duration. Hence, a simple practice of dedicating 20-minutes of ‘reading time’ daily goes a long way.

Improved Imagination

Reading to your children, and later encouraging them to read on their own, helps to stimulate the imagination in a powerful way. It is the innate nature of the child to be curious, however, a good book further enhances ‘curiosity’ and encourages the child to ask relevant questions to adults. While asking questions, the child engages in verbal interaction, which helps him use vocabulary to communicate what he is thinking and feeling while trying to discover a new concept.

Fostering Creativity

Vivid characters and attractive imagery in the book broadens the scope for creative thinking amongst children. They jump right onboard the fantasy wagon which transports their imagination into an exciting sojourn where even the sky is not a limit. Children who are creatively inclined do not hesitate to try out new ideas, and are more likely to be better at problem-solving

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Many teachers, students, and parents are proving to be remarkably resilient during this time when it comes to the effects of the pandemic on school, education, and student learning.

Virtual teaching is not replicating what you do in classroom with what they are doing online. It’s important to shift that way of thinking and continue to adapt

It is not easy to teach in a physical classroom one day and turn it into a virtual classroom the next. Most college and university teacher prep programs do not have a course focusing on virtual teaching and learning. This adaptation is not easy, but we have to start looking at the parts of virtual teaching that are not working and let them go, and begin looking at the places where we can go a little bit deeper.

The piece that is a bit different between teaching in the physical classroom and the virtual classroom is the amount of “control” the teacher has over student engagement.

Teachers can use:

• Their physical proximity to engage students
• The promise of a good or bad grade
• The threat of a loss of some privilege
• The promise of an incentive, or one of their other positive social-emotional tricks of the trade.

To address above issue we would require to do apart from online teaching

• Engagement of students with interactive, engaging, adaptive, game based content which is self spaced and students are able to do at any time and any place.
• Students need to measure their understanding and performance more deeper so, working with assessment software which has available resources based on standards, proctoring tool and customizable to address different learners.
• Ensue that technology is stable and reliable. Teachers are well trained and provided with all technical support.
• Making students accountable for their learning.
• Use of technology platform which gives teachers best access teaching and learning with seamless integration with all ends.
• As school leaders, supporting teachers and students socially-emotionally and academically by engaging in their live classroom chats with students

STEM is a well-known abbreviation that stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. These are some of the most prominent criteria in education to which many students are subjected to from the start of their studies up to the last point, to which they would then be required to apply them in real life. STEM can be defined as an interdisciplinary approach where the basic academic concepts learned at school are combined with real-world lessons or experiences. It requires students to apply the four terminologies, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, in conditions or circumstances that connect the classroom and the world that surrounds them.

This curriculum. STEM is based on the idea of educating students in the four disciplines mentioned above as a whole rather than separate and teach them as discrete subjects in class. Its main aim is to improve how students comprehend and apply science not only in class and science fairs but also outside of schools and in real-life situations. STEM is focussed on project-based learning in classrooms and includes technology to emphasize the application of science.

A STEM lab is, therefore, a unique replacement or solution to the traditional method of teaching science in the classroom like literature, whereby tutors use chalk and board or digital content worksheets. They are a supplemental educational resource created by VEX Robotics that aim to support educators with STEM lesson plans that are in line with the best scholarly standards. Each lab contains hands-on lessons that encourage the practical application and learning of all the four combined disciplines within STEM by supporting teamwork and collaboration among students. This helps students learn better as they directly involve themselves in the various practical and in-learning processes enabling them to retain more than what they usually do in classrooms.

Steps Involved

1. Inspire the students

The students are taught the properties of each material they deal with in the lab which helps them relate to those within their environment. With the guidance of the instructor, the student construct models using the available materials assisting in the development of the hand-mind skill whereby the student can put into practice what they have learned and easily replicate it using other materials.

2. Engage the students

The students build various models to give them a practical understanding of the concept being taught and develop their analytical thinking capacities. They also develop imaginative and creative prowess by exploring the ‘what if’ scenarios of every project.

3. Prepare for the real-world

The students develop the necessary skills needed for practical application by understanding how the concept is used in real life and revises these concepts using the ‘Activity Plan Manual.’

Stem labs have been incorporated in many K-12 schools within the different Arabic States such as the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and Saudi Arabia. These labs are set up in line with the countries’ vision of providing top-class education for the success of all the students, within an organization, in science.

The benefits of STEM education in K-12 educational systems

They foster Ingenuity and creativity among students

Through the hands-on application of various projects by students, ingenuity, and creativity pairs with STEM and results in new and inspiring ideas as well as innovations among them. Without these two skills, the recent unique developments in digital learning would not have been possible as the people responsible also had an excellent K-12 STEM education experience. Students also gain the ability to come up with new ideas that would help them apply whatever they may have learned, from the many various projects, in real-life.

It encourages experimentation

Development is all about risk-taking as the famous and well-renowned inventors or scientists wouldn’t have come up with such technological advancements used today if they did not experiment. Learning or education takes a similar route when it comes to tutoring students and exposing them to the knowledge and skills; they need to make it in life. This theory is also applied in STEM Labs, where students get to test and experiment with various projects. This allows them to take the necessary risks during learning activities and therefore, find out the right methods of doing things in real-life scenarios.

It builds resilience among students

When students are involved in STEM learning activities, they learn in a safe environment that allows them to fail without fear of being judged by their peers or presented in front of their tutors. This enables students to experiment on various projects and when they fail, they are allowed to try again and again, unlike in classrooms during exams. With this, students are capable of building confidence and resilience enabling them never to give up even when things get tough. They learn that failure without giving up ultimately leads to success.

It promotes teamwork and collaboration

STEM education is applied to students with different levels of abilities and understanding. During projects, these different students work together with the system encouraging the maximum contribution of every person and focusing on individual learning needs whereby certain students can gain assistance on weak areas so that they can be at par with everyone else. This motivates the students to learn more and gain the skills they would require for use in real-life. Co-operation, teamwork, and collaboration are promoted as students work together on experiments and help each other succeed in the world of science and technology.

Facilitates the use of tech

In STEM Labs, students learn all about the power of technology in the modern world and are exposed to many advanced and intriguing inventions that would blow their minds. Apart from raising interest in the children, it also allows them t embrace technology whenever they encounter new devices enabling them to fit in into the ever-growing tech-world.

Promotes the application of knowledge and skills

By using STEM education, students are taught various skills that they can apply in the real world and thus are motivated to learn more. The ability to apply their knowledge allows them to impact their communities and their loved ones positively.

Conclusion

The application of innovation STEM Labs in K-12 educational systems within schools has significantly helped improve the success and development of students. It has allowed many students to be aware of their surroundings and gain the necessary skills to not only help them in their classroom tests but also apply them in real-life situations.

School Radio

School Radio is a creative, engaging, and exciting medium that would allow your students to:

• Express their views, engage in lively debates and explore their creativity.
• Develop their speaking and listening skills, build confidence and raise literacy standards.
• Your students will also gain real world skills using the same tools as professional radio broadcasters!

Benefits of School Radio

• Inclusion – A School Radio station run by the students and for the students will help build an inclusive atmosphere in the school. Radio is all about communication and running a radio show takes commitment and teamwork in order for it to be a success. Our systems are easy enough to use that all students, regardless of age or ability can get involved.
• Building Confidence – Most people find talking to a ‘mic’ in a closed room far less intimidating than appearing on camera or on stage. This allows students to express their views and build their confidence whether it is discussing important issues or sharing ideas, radio gives your students a confident voice within your school.
• Develop Speaking & Listening Skills – Radio is about speaking and listening. Whether you are presenting or just listening to a show, these vital skills are not only fundamental in radio but are essential for ‘real world’ skills.
• Improving Literacy – Seems strange to be talking about writing skills in radio but the first time a student looks at the ‘mic’ and then asks what they should say, they realize they need to write scripts and prepare between links. Extend this preparation for talk shows, radio drama or telephone interviews and it is clear that writing plays a big role in radio and extends to meeting the National Curriculum in many ways.
• National Curriculum – School Radio helps schools and academies to supplement learning and meet the National Curriculum in ways that you may not even realize. It’s also a great way to keep staff, student and parents/guardians alike updated with school life.
• Giving Students A Voice and Empowerment – School Radio offers a platform for your students to discuss the issues that matter to them in a non-confrontational format. Whether it is discussing important issues or sharing the music they love, radio gives your students a voice within your school.
• Teamwork – Planning and presenting radio shows requires a great deal of teamwork. Many schools run their School Radio station like a ‘real’ station assigning roles and responsibilities for presenters, engineers, and station management.

LEGO® Education

We are LEGO® Education. For more than 37 years we have been working with teachers and educational specialists like you to deliver playful learning experiences that bring subjects to life in the classroom and make learning fun and impactful. We have a wide range of physical and digital educational resources that encourage students to think creatively, reason systematically and release their potential to shape their own future.

Our solutions for teaching and hands-on learning inspire interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM), targeted at preschool, elementary and middle school. These are based on the LEGO® system for playful learning combined with curriculum-relevant material and digital resources. With educational sets, lesson plans and curriculum material, assessment tools and teacher training and support, we can help you meet your curriculum objectives and provide you with the tools you need to make learning inspiring, engaging and effective.

We believe that expanding knowledge and building academic and 21st-century skills will create active, collaborative, lifelong learners. Together with educators, we aim to enable every student to succeed in education and be prepared for future life challenges.

Early Learning from LEGO® Education

LEGO® Education introduces the early learning of early math, science, and language. It encourages a passion for invention and researches to support the students develop interpersonal skills that will keep them up for a successful learning entire life. The solutions from LEGO®Education for young children help them learn the critical early Science, Math, and Language skills. The social and emotional skills that they need to succeed in their school and life can be acquired through these creative intuitive solutions.

LEGO® Education Early learning Solutions

The LEGO® Educations Solutions help them to:

1. Build Confidence – Children are born curious and eager to learn. Our Early Learning solutions stimulate children’s natural curiosity while encouraging young children to learn through play.

2. Build Early Skills – Focus on building your students’ skills with solutions designed to stimulate their curiosity.

3. Boost their passion – Add to the fun with special booster sets which give endless opportunities to explore, play, and learn.

4. Fun and Engaging Lessons – Our solutions integrated with Lego Education easily integrate into classroom lessons to make learning fun and engaging.

LEGO® Education STEAM Park

Builds on every child’s natural curiosity and desire to create, explore, and investigate the world of early science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) through creative play. Children grow their understanding of gears, motion, measurement, and solving problems together in a fun and engaging way.

LEGO® Education Coding Express

Inspire early learners to explore early coding concepts such as sequencing, looping and conditional coding, while developing problem solving skills, critical thinking, collaboration and social and emotional skills.

LEGO® Education Solutions for Primary School

LEGO® offers engaging and hands-on experiences students need to explore and learn the core STEAM concepts and relate them to the real world. With students, ideas evolve as they solve problems and find out how science, technology, engineering, arts, and math impact their daily lives.

LEGO® Education WeDo 2.0

Brings to life 280 building elements that motivate students to collaborate, build, problem-solve, and explore, all while deepening their STEAM learning and developing 21st-century skills. The combination of physical LEGO® bricks, standards-aligned activities, and intuitive block-based coding environment means that interactive, creative learning is easier than ever to achieve – students can see their builds in action and test and refine their problem-solving skills!

LEGO® Education Solutions for Secondary School

The solutions for secondary school grow with students as they engage at every level, providing hands-on experiences that stimulate communication, creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking skills. When students learn with LEGO® bricks, coding tools, and supporting lesson plans for teachers, they ignite their natural curiosity and sharpen their scientific inquiry, engineering design, and data analysis skills — so they can succeed in their STEM classes today and realize their full potential as digital citizens and leaders tomorrow.

The LEGO® Education SPIKE Prime

The LEGO® Education SPIKE Prime Set is the go-to STEAM learning tool for grade 6-8 students. Combining colorfulLEGO®building elements, easy-to-use hardware, and an intuitive drag-and-drop coding language based on Scratch, SPIKE Prime continuously engages students through playful learning activities to think critically and solve complex problems, regardless of their learning level. From easy-entry projects to limitless creative design possibilities, SPIKE Prime helps students learn the essential STEAM and 21st century skills needed to become the innovative minds of tomorrow… while having fun!

LEGO® MINDSTORMS® Education EV3

LEGO® MINDSTORMS® Education EV3 is a hands-on, cross-curricular solution that engages and challenges students to practice STEM and robotics skills in a “near real world” environment, preparing them for college and career in the technology infused world.

LEGO® Education Simple & Powered Machines

It uses LEGO® bricks and creative activities to make interactive, exploration-based learning easier than ever to achieve.Powered mechanical and hands-on solutions that link textbook instruction to real-world experiences are the focus of this curriculum activity pack and set for grades 6–8. Students cover a broad range of concepts, such as force, motion, and energy, using 396 LEGO Technic bricks and a motor to model physical behaviours.