New portal to engage students in music

For the benefit of Corporation school teachers and students, an online portal which acts as a teacher’s training resource for music was launched on Friday.

Anil Srinivasan of Rhapsody Music Foundation said their Learning Management System (LMS) has about 440 lesson plans for students from classes I to class X.

“Every lesson has been crafted in such a way that teachers may be able to use it easily, whether or not they have been directly trained by us. It is a free resource to use in classrooms and for teachers to deliver lessons to students,” he said.

The portal comprises of videos which has lessons with instructions and also videos donated by various cultural missions from the Chennai Music Library.

Corporation Commissioner Vikram Kapoor said they will be rolling out equipment to launch in schools that is similar to the learning management system. “I shall discuss with the team and see how these music lessons can be integrated into the system. Like science, I think we need to take music to all classrooms,” he said.

S. Thamarai Selvi of Chennai High School, West Mambalam, said she was eager to begin lessons with this new portal. School children also gave a performance.

Source | The Hindu | 31 August 2015

Smartphones cause digital amnesia, finds study on Indians

Living threat | Digital amnesia is a phenomenon in which human knowledge gets lost because of our dependency on technology. And, smartphones are getting us there at a breakneck speed

In today’s age, there should be no reason for you not to know about anything under the sun.

Google has changed the way we gather information and it has vastly reduced the need for physical books and libraries. The same can be said about physical communication whose face changed dramatically with the advent of Facebook. While everyone thought online shopping would simply be an alternative to physical shopping, it is now on the verge of being deemed the only way to shop.

The list goes on, and the digital versions of our once entirely physical lives is stored in a remarkable device called the ‘smart phone’. The only problem is, we’ve transferred most of our brain’s memory responsibilities over to our phones and that’s worth worrying about.

Mr. Altaf Halde, Managing Director - South Asia, Kaspersky Lab said, “Digital amnesia should not be taken lightly. Yes, a smart phone has become almost necessity for anyone who lives in today’s society and it’s an essential professional and personal tool for communication.

However, it is very important to limit ones dependency on it primarily because of its addictive properties. The mind is a muscle and it if it’s not used for the reasons it was made, it will become lazy.”

Kaspersky Lab conducted a research between 23/06/2015 and 02/07/2015 with a total of 1007 adults in India, that illustrates some truly shocking facts about the reliance on smart-phones amongst the Indian population. Now, although 7 out of 10 people could recall their partner’s/spouse’s phone numbers without any help from their phones, only 2 out of 10 could recall their child’s school’s contact number.

The trend of smart phone dependency seems to decrease as the age of the test group increased. That’s because smart phones have not been around for long enough to influence a 55 year old man/woman the same way it’s influencing a teenager. It also highlights the future for Indians, because reliance on smart phones is only going to get more and more severe.

Furthermore, 50% of the survey group treats the internet as an extension of their brain, and since 73% of them use their smart phones to connect to the internet, you can see how misplacing a phone can be a cause for serious concern amongst most Indians. Memory is first to get effected and since digital communication has become incredibly high with websites like Linkedin and Twitter, our minds can’t possibly store so much of information without some help.

It seems very clear that this is not just a topic of reliance but rather something more severe, an addiction. It’s an addiction to the digital world that has managed to engulf us so strongly, that our own minds are beginning to work more like Google and less like a human being. Almost 50% of Indians aren’t interested in remembering facts as much as they are interested in remembering the source for the facts (i.e. Google). The same can be said about the camera on a smart phone, that is slowly beginning to do more work than our own eyes, when it comes to storing human experiences.

It has reached a point where your own smart phone has applications that can help the user take some time off from the digital world. It is said that a week away from the Internet and smart phones is all your body needs to tune back into the frequencies of nature, sort of like a ‘digital detox’. Back in the 90s, there was no need for this kind of rehabilitation and unfortunately, as we go further into the future, a week of detox will not be sufficient.

Source | Daily News Analysis | 31 August 2015

Mind your language, your third language, please! | Hindi likley to be made mandatory till class VI or VII across country

Speaking up | Expert panel, too, against going for a foreign language | Hindi likley to be made mandatory till class VI or VII across country

New Delhi: An expert committee on language policy is singing the same tune as that of the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry. The committee has rejected the idea of teaching a foreign language as third language. A final decision on scrapping or continuing with the three-language formula in school curriculum is yet to be taken. The committee is also mulling over developing a four-language formula.

The language policy committee was constituted by the HRD ministry in December last year, after the ministry revoked the decision to teach German as a third language in schools.

The UPA government had replaced German with Sanskrit as third language. Smriti Irani, after taking over as HRD minister, felt the need to have a comprehensive language policy in order to create a clear-cut road map for all regional and classical Indian languages. The committee is also drawing plans to promote, preserve and develop Indian languages.

“It is the first time that languages have not been discussed as English versus Hindi. This time, it is English versus the rest of the Indian languages,” said a committee member. The members comprise representatives from across India. All regional representatives have suggested mandatory learning of regional languages at the school level.

“The problem is that not many text books are available in Indian languages, making us fall back on English. States have highlighted that new text books need to be written in regional languages. There will be a need to train teachers and resource persons in these regional languages,” said another member.

The committee will also be highlighting the lack of study material for professional courses in regional languages. “For an engineering or a management student, there is not enough study material in Hindi, forcing students to fall back on English. Text books for all professional courses should be made available in Hindi and other regional languages,” suggested a member.

The committee has also reached a consensus on developing and promoting Hindi as a link language and making it mandatory till class 6 or 7 at schools.

“It has been observed that in schools in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and other south Indian states, Hindi is not a part of the curriculum. To develop Hindi as a link language, learning Hindi will have to become mandatory,” said another member. Currently, English is the only link language for India. The BJP government, which wants to develop Hindi as a second link language, plans to train the future generation.

The members were quick to add in a word of caution and wanted the books to be of scientific temper. “Languages should be taught scientifically and rationally. It should be promoted to command respect among readers,” said another member. Besides teaching, setting up radio stations, television channels, internet portals and newspapers in Indian languages were also discussed.

The committee is meeting next month to start the drafting process. “We have received suggestions from states. The drafting process will soon begin. We will try to submit the report by the end of this year,” said Professor Kapil Kumar, committee’s chairman.

The suggestions of the committee will be weaved into the new education policy, the draft report of which is likely to come up in December this year.

Source | Daily News Analysis | 31 August 2015

Google digitises more Indian heritage sites

Google’s cultural arm on Thursday said that it was digitising more heritage sites to put them up in what could be termed as an online museum.

The Google Cultural Institute, which was opened in 2012 in India with the National Museum and the National Gallery of Modern Art in Delhi as initial partners, has added material from 10 new partner organizations.

These organizations include the Salar Jung museum in Hyderabad, Victoria Memorial Hall in Kolkata, Dastkari Haat Samiti, Devi Art Foundation, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Academy of Fine Arts and Literature, Kalakriti Archives, Heritage Transport Museum, Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres & Ashrams and the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute. The new additions have taken up the count of online content to over 2,000 new images and 70 virtual exhibits, the company said.

“Google is committed to preserving and breathing new life into cultural treasures around the world. India is brimming with a wealth of art, heritage and history. It has been our privilege to help iconic Indian institutions bring their rich collections online using the power of technology,” said Google South East Asia and India vice president and managing director, Rajan Anandan.The collection also includes 26 new virtual tours of famous sites such as the Ekattarso Mahadeva Temple and the royal saloon that once was part of the Palace on Wheels, which were captured using Google’s Street View technology. Also, in an effort to make the content even more accessible, Dastkaari Haat Samiti, Devi Art Foundation, Heritage Transport Museum and Kalakriti Archives are launching mobile apps built by the Cultural Institute to showcase their exhibits.“The mission of the Cultural Institute is to make the world’s heritage accessible for global audiences and to preserve it digitally for generations to come. By bringing India’s rich heritage online, we hope to introduce people across the globe to the fascinating world of Indian culture, history, and art,” said Google Cultural Institute director Amit Sood.

Source | The Hindu | 29 August 2015

Five reasons why e-mail will not die

Shiva Ayyadurai, who has his roots in Rajapalayam, was born in Mumbai and left for the U.S. when he was just seven. The family moved cities four times because it wanted better education for him. At 14, he is said to have invented the first email system and was awarded the first U.S. copyright for ‘email’ on August 30, way back in 1982.

This American scientist of Indian origin, who was recently in the city, tells us why this form of communication will not die despite the popularity of texting and other forms of online chats.

1. E-mail is a business application and a powerful medium of communication. Everybody might follow/know the Twitter handle of a celebrity like, say, Amitabh Bachchan, but how many might know his e-mail ID?

2.Texting is the equivalent of sticky notes and used for short exchanges. Facebook and other social media are the equivalent of bulleting boards, which are meant for passing information to a group of people or community. But e-mail is the form of communication used for official purposes. As long as business exists, e-mail will.

3. Studies reveal that CEOs spend 35 per cent of their time sending e-mails. This form of communication will improve with the advent of artificial intelligence; soon, everyone might be dictating their e-mail.

4. The postal service should start an e-mail service that can be charged, unlike free services offered by major companies. That way, the information sent through this service can be protected by democratic laws.

5. There are 4.2 billion e-mail accounts and that number is growing by the day.

E-mail is the form of communication used for official purposes. As long as business exists, e-mail will.

Source | The Hindu | 29 August 2015

School Education and Sports Department | GR | Finalising revised norms in respect of opening of New Schools, Addition, Division, Changes in School and New Staffing Pattern | 28 August 2015

GR Link |

https://www.maharashtra.gov.in/Site/Upload/Government%20Resolutions/English/201508281536174421.pdf

PR Coverage

Appoint teachers depending on number of students: GR

The state school education department has recently come out with revised norms for opening new schools, adding divisions and staffing pattern for Classes 1 to 10 in government and government aided schools. The new norms have restricted the number of teachers that can be appointed by schools, adding to the woes of school principals and teachers.

As per the government resolution (GR) issued on August 28, schools will now have to appoint teachers depending on the number of students. Currently, appointments were made on the basis of the number of divisions.

In Classes 9 and 10, existing schools will be able to hire three teachers if the number of students in both the classes combined is more than 40. The three teachers would include a language teacher, maths and science and one for social studies. Whereas, two teachers will be appointed for 40 students in Class 9 in new schools, read the GR.

Classes 1 to 5-will get two teachers for 60 students, with an additional teacher for an increase of every 30 students, stated the GR. The initial two teachers will teachmaths and science and languages. Similarly, three teachers will be given in Classes 6 to 8 if their combined strength is more than 36.

The norms have been designed to check schools from hiring too many teachers. “Schools had wrongly interpreted the previous norms to hire more teachers,” said Nand Kumar, principal secretary of the department. “They were keeping just 25 students per division and hiring teachers for every division. This was a waste of government resources.”

But teachers complained that these norms will make it difficult for small schools to teach languages. “The norms provide hiring of only one language teacher, who will have to teach English, Hindi and Marathi for a certain number of students,” said Anil Bornare, teacher from Swami Muktananda School, Chembur. The revised norms have also stated that head mistress/master can only be appointed if number of students in existing schools crosses 135. In schools having less than the prescribed number, senior teachers will have to take on the additional charge of the headmistress.

Source | Hindustan Times | 31 August 2015

Teachers to get trained through YouTube as govt plans new exam pattern

The MSBSHSE has decided to change the pattern of exam question paper for Class IX this year and Class X from next year.

N A FIRST, teachers across Maharashtra are set to receive training using YouTube on a new pattern of examination being planned for Class IX and Class X. The move was initiated by the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) after one virtual classroom training session for the purpose was left incomplete due to technical glitches.

The MSBSHSE has decided to change the pattern of exam question paper for Class IX this year and Class X from next year. As per the new pattern, question papers would be more activity-based and just going through textbooks won’t suffice, said a board official. In order to ensure that the teachers check the papers thoroughly and encourage new-age, witty answers, the board has been training teachers.

Earlier, these training sessions were held offline where state-level experts used to guide district teachers who, in turn, trained the ones at the taluka level. But from this year, the MSBSHSE has decided to carry out virtual training, thereby taking a step towards digitisation of the overall infrastructure. According to the officials, the board had set up 250 centres across the state for the purpose. But following the glitches at one such class, teachers complained that the sessions were incomplete and demanded that a video of this session be provided on YouTube or on board website.

“The education department had decided to change the paper pattern of Class IX and Class X from the academic year 2015-16. The virtual training session was being organised in this regard from last week . But the session was interrupted due to technical glitches at some of the centres. We are now looking at providing these sessions to teachers on YouTube or will provide them CDs of the same,” said Krishna Patil, Secretary, MSBSHSE.

Meanwhile, Anil Bornare, a teacher and leader of the Maharashtra Rajya Shikshak Parishad, said providing training sessions on YouTube would not only save time but also let teachers go through it whenever they wanted to.

Source | Indian Express | 31 August 2015

5 SCARY AILMENTS OF THE DIGITAL AGE

Text Neck

An adult human head weighs 5 kg, but as the neck bends forward and down, the weight on the cervical spine increases. At a 15-degree angle, this is about 12 kg; at 60 degrees, it's 27 kg. As we hunch over our smartphones, texting and checking social media, we are putting an incredible amount of stress on our spines.

Hearing Loss

Many of us are likely to have diminished hearing at younger ages. The widespread use of portable music devices is making early hearing loss quite an epidemic. A 2006 US study found that among users of such devices, 35% of adults and up to 59% of teenagers reported listening at loud volumes. Most people don't know that hearing damage is cumulative and irreversible.

Brain Scramble

Always-on people spend their days at a computer and their nights checking phones.According to a recent study, this robs us of the ability to recharge in off hours. Productiv ity and mental health are both diminished.

Constant multitasking reduces the ability to concentrate for sustained periods of time.

Computer Vision Syndrome

Sitting in front of a computer screen or peering into a smartphone day after day can cause pain and discomfort to the eyes, blurred vision and headaches. The good news is doctors seem to agree that Computer Vision Syndrome doesn't cause permanent eye damage.

Computer Face

Cosmetic surgeons are reporting that users are developing “computer face,“ a combination of permanent frown lines, wrinkles around the eyes from squinting, jowls and double chins from looking down for long periods of time.

Source | Times of India | 30 August 2015

Ask.fm releases YouGov study on Teen and Parent Perceptions on Social Media

Digital Families 2015: Evolving Attitudes Around Social Media and App Use

Today, we released Digital Families 2015: Evolving Attitudes Around Social Media and App Use, a new study about social network and mobile app use and perceptions among teens and their parents across the US, UK and Ireland.

Conducted by YouGov, the results show how much digital and offline lives have merged and the need to continue educating teens and parents on how to have a fun and positive experience on social networks, while understanding the risks associated with them.

Here’s a preview of the findings:

• Parent Perception: While more than half (52%) of American parents say their biggest concern is how much time their teens spend on social apps and whether it’s distracting them from other activities, 43% are not tracking their teen’s social media usage.

• LOL Fears: Irish and British teens are most fearful of being laughed at for talking about a crush/boyfriend/girlfriend, problems at home, family, and friends online (54% and 49%, respectively); however, American teens are less concerned about it (32%).

• Anonymity: Despite the perception by some that anonymity online can lead to or enable bullying, interestingly, 41% of teenagers across all three countries who have been bullied online say they are more likely to talk about difficult topics online if they were anonymous.

• Teens Take a Stand: More than 7 in 10 teens in the US (74%), UK and Ireland 78%) say they’d step in if they saw someone being bullied.

Check out a few charts that illustrate some of the key findings here (.pdf).

http://az719951.vo.msecnd.net//wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Ask-fm-Digital-Families-2015-US-UK-Ireland.pdf

To learn more about the Digital Families 2015: Evolving Attitudes Around Social Media and App Use study, click here.

As Digital and Offline Lives Merge, 8 Out of 10 US Teens Post to Social Media Without a Second Thought

				As Digital and Offline Lives Merge, 8 Out of 10 US Teens... DUBLIN, Aug. 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Ask.fm, the world's largest social Q&A network, today announced...
				View on www.prnewswire.com	Preview by Yahoo

Source | http://about.ask.fm/ask-fm-releases-yougov-study/

Social Media Yet to Replace Emails Among Teenagers, Says Survey

Despite the emergence of new social media tools and various online ways to connect with people, members of the young generation are still hooked to emails and keep checking it round-the-clock no matter where they are or what they are doing, a new survey has revealed.

According to the campaign team at global software company Adobe, millennials (those born after 1980) are more frequent users of email than any other age group.

"Millennials are more likely to check work email outside of normal work hours. One-third are comfortable using emojis to communicate with a direct manager or senior executive," wrote Kristin Naragon, director of email solutions at Adobe in a blog post on Wednesday.

The Adobe team surveyed more than 400 US-based workers, 18 and older, about their use of email.

The findings challenge conventional views of email as a tired, over-saturated medium for engaging consumers.

The team found that people are practically addicted to email. "In fact, more than half of millennials check email from the bathroom," the survey revealed.

On average, survey respondents report using email six hours a day, or over 30 hours a week.

Nine of 10 respondents say they check personal email at work and work email from home.

More than one-third report having multiple personal accounts.

"Thirty-five percent say they prefer communicating with colleagues via email, putting it on par with face-to-face collaboration," Naragon noted.

Outside of work, Americans most commonly check their email while watching TV (70 percent), from bed (52 percent), on vacation (50 percent), while on the phone (43 percent), from the bathroom (42 percent) and even - most dangerously - while driving (18 percent).

Although people are using email more than ever, many also experience email fatigue.

Twenty-four percent of respondents believe they check email "way too much".

Thirty-four percent report having had to create a new email address due to an overwhelming amount of spam.

"Most tellingly, four out of 10 report going on self-imposed 'email detox' programmes, avoiding their inboxes for an average of five days," the findings showed.

The results suggest that marketers should re-invest in email as part of a coordinated cross-channel strategy.

"With the right planning, the right tools and the right understanding of their customers, marketers can overcome the love-hate relationship and make email the most powerful part of their campaign," the blog suggested.

Source | http://www.ndtv.com/offbeat/social-media-yet-to-replace-e-mails-among-teenagers-survey-1211592

Get a ‘QP’ tag for better job prospects, Nasscom tells students

Creates virtual platform for talent acquisition professionals

Do you want to improve your chances of getting a job? You’d better pick a good Qualification Package (QP) and have a certificate that’s valued by IT firms, Nasscom tells engineering students.

A QP is developed by the IT industry association around a specific IT tool or expertise. It readied a basket of 74 job roles with standardised courseware for entry level openings in the IT industry. It identified 313 QPs for mid-level and 130 for senior level openings in the industry.

With a well-defined courseware that can be spread over a few hundred hours of learning, these QPs could be handpicked by the students depending on their interests and job prospects. Along with the degree, they will get a certificate, endorsing their expertise in a subject.

The Nasscom had asked its members to hire people with certified QPs. “They have just started adopting QPs. Our target is to get to 10 per cent of recruitment through QPs this year,” Nasscom Chairman BVR Mohan Reddy told BusinessLine. The industry is expected to add about 2.5 lakh jobs a year.

The Nasscom is in talks with the State governments for the rollout. “Anna University has embraced this and several thousand students are being enrolled for QPs. We are in talks with Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments,” Sandhya Chintala, Executive Director of IT-BPO Sector Skills Council at Nasscom, said.

She spoke to reporters on the sidelines of a meet that discussed ‘Standards-based Recruitment – the new paradigm’ here on Thursday.

Platform for recruiters

To encourage students and colleges to take to QPs and develop skills of recruiting professionals, Nasscom is building a virtual platform with the help of talent training firm TalentSprint for talent acquisition profes- sionals.

The platform would also have a database of QP-certified jobseekers.

“The virtual community would help recruiters acquire new skills and network,” Santanu Paul, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of TalentSprint, said.

There are about 30,000 recruiting professionals in the country with no common platform to upgrade themselves.

Source | Business Line | 28 August 2015

My books, my e-reader and I

The thoughtful crafting of a superior customer experience eased the writer’s transition from books to a Kindle

My father initiated me into reading books, very early in my life.

That habit continued right through my career and continues still. One reason was that I worked in a company like Ogilvy & Mather where reading and writing were celebrated. So over the years, I graduated to reading about two to three books a month.

Year 2007. Enter Kindle from Amazon. I was excited with the idea of an e-book reader. I was toying with the idea of getting one, but soon found out that Amazon offered a Kindle App for Windows and Mac machines. And that was free! So I downloaded the app and started buying a few e-books.

Today it has completely changed the way I read books. If I can help it I do not buy a hard copy of a book now. Soon after the launch I got a Kindle as a gift. I used that as well as the app in my laptop. Then followed the Kindle app on an iPad and then an iPhone.

Kindle disrupted the book business. It changed the way books were sold and read. But Amazon has gone beyond that. What I like is that it did not stop with an e-book reader called Kindle. The first stroke of genius was the Kindle app for Windows and Mac computers. This ensured that people got into the e-book reading habit, even if they did not have the Kindle device.

I like the way the app recognised how people read books. Underlining text, making margin notes, and such. Kindle made it possible to do that. In addition, when you look at a book later you could read all your highlighted portions first.

It replicated the browsing that we do in a bookshop. You can not only look at the contents, but also get to read a free sample chapter. If you like it you can order the book.

Somebody there in Amazon is really worried about the customer – a frequent buyer and reader of books. They replicated the reading experience as closely as possible. They broke all the barriers to adopting a new way to read a book.

There have been times when I was working on a project, I would browse through my collection, read up some stuff for inspiration and get on with my work. I might have referred to a couple of books – sometimes even five or six books. All on my Kindle.

A recent experience made me realise the power of this new way of reading books. I was conducting a two-day workshop for a client. On day one there were some discussions about how to use questions in conversations. There was a suggestion that if I could put something together for the next day, it would be useful. I worked through the night and created something relevant. What helped me enormously was my access to my e-book library. When people talk about innovation in marketing, the discussion is often limited to the product and its features. Sometimes they talk about differentiation through service.

The big opportunity however, is in innovating to deliver a far better customer experience.

R. Sridhar is an innovation facilitator, consultant and coach

Source | Business Line | 28 August 2015