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10 Quotes to Celebrate Earth Day!

April 22, 2016

In 1970, Senator Gaylord Nelson founded Earth Day. Now celebrated worldwide, it’s a day we all pause to think about our environment and the planet. But why just stick to one day, here are 10 quotes to inspire the environmentalist in you throughout the year!

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”
– Albert Einstein

“Man is still the greatest miracle and the greatest problem on this earth.”

– David Sarnoff

“I’m saying with very few exceptions nothing lasts forever, and among those exceptions, no work or thought of man is numbered.”

– Iain M Banks

“When the well’s dry, we know the worth of water.”

– Benjamin Franklin

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”

– J.R.R. Tolkien

“Where flowers bloom, so does hope.”

– Lady Bird Johnson

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.”

– Mahatma Gandhi

“Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.”

– C.S. Lewis

“They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it’s not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance”

– Terry Pratchett

“The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot forever fence it out.”

– J.R.R. Tolkien

Exploring the Unique Advantages of Online Classrooms

February 18, 2016

In a layman’s term, a classroom must entail some building with desks and a chalkboard where students and their teacher meet to engage on matters of academic interest. Thinking of a classroom in such terms is right but not complete. Over the years, technology has shifted the nature of learning through innovative approaches that include the online classroom. The good part about online classrooms is that they have nearly every advantage that one would expect from a normal classroom plus the extra advantage of convenience. In fact, online classrooms are more engaging, versatile and exciting than the conventional classroom because they bring together learners from multiple backgrounds and experiences.

Interesting Learning Techniques

Usually, online classroom teachers have various options of capturing and retaining the interest of their students. Comparative surveys between online classrooms and the walled classes have established that the online option gives the students more quality think-time because of the unique qualities of the teaching techniques. Naturally, technologically savvy learners are more inclined towards online classroom discussions than face-to-face discussions. Use of videos with impressive graphics helps to spur the interest of the learners in the subject. Besides, the videos aid enhance the understanding of the lesson. The level of concentration is higher than in a conventional setting and the discussions are less likely to veer off the course of the subject like they usually do in a traditional classroom. Overall, this advantage eventually translates into faster learning and long term interest in the subject matter.

The Advantage of Reduced Costs

You do not expect to incur the same cost of learning in an online classroom like you would spend in a conventional learning environment. Online classrooms require lesser logistics and most learning materials are availed for free on the internet. Many people prefer the online option because they spend less money and benefit from a variety of courses. Enrollment, registration and commencement of the courses is easier, faster, cheaper and highly convenient for people who distaste the logistical challenges that are associated with the traditional classrooms. In general, the online classroom offers high quality and convenient learning at very affordable costs. This option encourages people to pursue their career courses without ruining their financial stability.

The Flexibility of Learning from Anywhere

Nothing pleases the modern learner more than the advantage of learning from the comfort of their homes or offices. With online classrooms, you can even learn while holidaying on the beachfront resorts of the Bahamas. Naturally, learning is a continuous process that should never be hindered by the routine of the learner. Online classrooms allow you to explore the delights of technology as you broaden your knowledge on your preferred courses. Corporate executives who wish to study a special course, but have no time to attend a classroom have the option of the online classrooms to help them realize their dreams. Recent technological innovations allow for increased interaction of students and instructors, which helps to enhance the social intelligence of the learners. In every sense, this model of learning is the best solution for the fast-paced modern societies.

Fedena 3.5 – Our biggest release yet

February 15, 2016February 15, 2016

What a week! A few days ago we released Uzity 2.0, our biggest update to Uzity—a learning management system for educational institutions and businesses—since the launch of Uzity itself. And here we are today announcing Fedena 3.5. It’s has been almost seven months since our last release. That’s because we’ve been working hard getting all the details right, and to bring you some big changes.

Fedena 3.5 is our biggest release yet and is jam packed with new and enhanced features to help you get the most out of Fedena. As always, we’ve listened to your feedback and made many of the improvements you asked for.

Automating and Simplifying Employee Leave & Payroll
By far the biggest change in this release is the completely revamped Human Resources module. We’ve taken the foundation of the module and built out more exciting capabilities:

Employees can apply for additional leave even after exhausting their leave credits.
For each Leave type, HR Administrators can define the leave carry forward settings and LOP calculation formula for additional leaves.
Managers get notified of additional leaves. They can then mark additional leaves as ‘Loss of Pay’ and the necessary deduction can be made when generating payroll.
Use Payroll Groups to organize employees based on their payroll. In addition to monthly payslips, payroll can also be processed Daily, Weekly, Bi-weekly, or Semi-Monthly.
Payroll Category amounts can contain not just plain numeric values but also be calculated based on formulas or conditional formulas.
Ability to generate and manage payslips of all employees from a single view.

Printer Support
Fedena now supports the use of Laser, Inkjet, Dot matrix, and Thermal printers, along with the ability to set the page size – A4, A5 Portrait, or A5 Landscape.

Fee payment through Fedena Mobile

Parents and Students can now conveniently check their fee details, pay fees, and download the fee receipts—all from their mobile phones.

More CCE compliant

To make life easier for institutions following the CCE grading system, we have made Fedena more CCE compliant, especially for classes IX and X.

Support for 6th subject and Assessment of Speaking and Listening (ASL) subject.
Simplified formulas and formative assessment (FA) calculation modes to suit your requirement.
Ability to upscale student grades in scholastic areas.
Ability to generate the student’s ‘Performance Profile’ report according to the CBSE norms.
Other reports as required to be uploaded to the CBSE portal.

Timetable management made more efficient

The way timetables are created and managed has been updated to ease timetable management. We’ve added a new feature called ‘Timetable Summary’ that will give you the subject-allocation status of each batch assigned to a timetable as well as the work hour utilization of employees assigned to a timetable. We’ve also redesigned the ‘Employee Work Allotment’ feature to help you easily manage employee-subject associations.

Exam management made easy

With a small UI redesign, the process of creating and managing exams for batches is now much simpler.

Finance Reports—more usable, more functional

When generating Finance Reports, you’ll notice the beautiful new UI. But it’s much more than just a cosmetic change. You can drill down to student/employee-level and transaction-level details. The report data is now more user-friendly and well organized.

These are just some of the major changes we’ve made to Fedena.

We hope you enjoy this release, and as always, we’d love to hear from you. Write to us at info@fedena.com and let us know your thoughts, questions, and feedback.

The Importance of Privacy of Classroom

January 25, 2016January 25, 2016

With technology storming the learning sector like never before, concerns over the privacy of classroom are on the rise. The educational software and applications industry has been growing at a staggering rate and is today valued at around 8 billion dollars. Educational institutes are constantly experimenting with new technological tools that are supposedly designed to improve the learning experience for children and more importantly, make the job of the educator easier. Unfortunately, there is no structured regulation regarding the use of these software applications in schools and a lot of questions are being raised about the security issues that these programs pose in ensuring the privacy of the classroom. In most case scenarios, parents or students are not required to provide their consent for creating, storing, or distributing the huge volume of records that are currently being generated in schools. This could dramatically affect preserving the privacy of classroom.

Sea of Content

When it comes to privacy of classroom, another significant aspect worth noting is the volume of content in the form of apps being used by parents and children. If a recent research is to be taken into consideration, more than 10% of all app downloads in the Apple App Store is comprised of learning applications. This would point towards a surge in interest to explore and try out the latest learning applications within a growing demographic that is becoming tech savvy. What is deeply concerning here is the lack of regulation of data sharing guidelines for these various software platforms. Most people just skip the “Permissions Screen” and just download the app without asking any questions. Very few people actually ask why, how, and when student information is being shared. The tremendous amount of data being collected from students and the end to which this data is being used is definitely something we need to be cautious about. Parents and students alike need to understand why privacy of classroom is a crucial issue.

Potential Downsides of Software

Today, there are a multitude of classroom management software that is supposedly aimed to provide an effective monitoring system for the behavior and implementation of discipline among students. Many of these applications do not address need to ensure privacy of classroom. Although on the surface, this would definitely be a positive tool for educators reaching out to a high number of students, there are negative impacts that such a system can have on students and their learning experience. Any software works on the basis of observed trends and algorithms. It’s basically about recording information, identifying a trend, and working it through an algorithm to arrive at certain conclusions. This could result in the pigeonholing of students and risk them being “typecast” in a certain “category.” They could be put on a certain pattern of learning, which is specifically designed for a “category” and will stay on that track long after he or she has undergone a significant change in his/her behavioral and disciplinary patterns. This is another reason why preserving privacy of classroom is important.

Outside the Classroom

Apart from obvious concerns of the privacy of classroom, there are privacy issues that spill out of the classroom. A lot of school buses have video cameras installed in them that monitor students from the time they get on until they get down at their designated stop. Are children comfortable being monitored? Who handles the video clips and how securely are they being stored?

It is the collective responsibility of educators, software providers, and parents to ensure that the privacy of classroom is maintained and that any data that needs to be collected go through a transparent and secure system that does not affect the overall quality of learning.

Future of Educational Technology: Edtech Trends 2016

January 21, 2016January 21, 2016

Now that we’ve popped the cork on 2016, we’ve also had some time to reflect on this past year. After all, 2015 did see a plenty of new technologies and solutions bloom while others faded from the limelight.

The Internet of Things, for instance, crawled into schools as wearables and connected devices became less expensive. Beacon technology allows teachers to push educational materials to students’ tablets at set times. Wearables track students’ heart rates and steps as they exercise in gym class. IP video surveillance systems are being hired to improve security. The rise of 3D printing was even more meteoric. Gamification, on the other hand, lost its place, in general the future of educational technology looks abuzz with a number of innovations and breakthroughs.

Let’s discuss a few pointers which would help us understand what we have in store for the future of educational technology in 2016:

Schools should purposefully abandon things that have proved ineffective, and reinvest efficiency gains back into the classroom while planning strategic expansions.
Teachers need to receive both training and professional development, only then will they understand only how to operate technology and how to use technology to provide new, engaging learning opportunities.
To salvage ineffective professional development programs, schools need to redefine what it means to help teachers improve, re-evaluate existing programs and reinvent the way they support effective teaching at scale.
Technology alone cannot improve education; change is a possibility only when school’s’ thought leaders bring together student-centered instructional design with differentiated training and professional development and work towards the future of educational technology as well.
Educators need to teach students how to be responsible digital citizens, not only to safeguard their health and wellness but also to ensure their personal security and ethical digital behaviour.
Schools should equally invest in culture & people development and in purchasing new tech.

A few technologies driving the future of educational technology would be:

3D Printing
Cloud Computing
Big Data
IoT (Internet of Things)
Augmented Reality

As we proceed in 2016, the Fedena team is already hard at work lining up our thoughts on a number of key themes, including technology leadership, training and professional development, and mobility. So check back periodically for insights into the future of educational technology.

Tips for Striking a Perfect Balance between Technology and Teachers

January 13, 2016

Integrating technology in whatever you do is no doubt an overwhelming task. As such, teachers find themselves pulled in different directions everyday due to the ever evolving technological advancements. So, how do educators find the ideal balance between technology and teachers? As a result, this article explores a few ideas that teachers can embrace to harmoniously integrate technology in the classroom. Read on to know how those in the education sector can strike a perfect balance between technology and teachers.

As you try to harmonize technology and teachers, it is imperative to note that technology is the literacy that is required in higher education and in the economy. It is the universal language that the entire world speaks. The coming generations are going to have a very tough job market whose competition will be determined by how technologically savvy one is. This does not however mean that job will not be available. It means that career opportunities will continue to dwindle as outsourcing and automation expand. And this is perhaps the biggest reason why technology and teachers have to be coordinated.

As such, technology and teachers have to strike a perfect balance in order to equip learners with both the required technical knowledge and the technological know-how needed to survive in the competitive world of hi-tech gadgetry. If technology and teachers are not synchronized, then we will have educated people who cannot fit in the current career world despite their educational accomplishments. And if technology does not get enough of classroom tutoring, then we will have a tech-savvy generation that does not have any professional clout to effectively discharge their career responsibilities. Therefore, both technology and teachers need to be synchronized to ensure that learning institutions churn out graduates who have mastered professional concepts and have the technological prowess to perform their tasks in the immensely automated 21st century working environment.

Technology and teachers will never be on a balance unless educators stop seeing education as a threat to quality teaching. Instead of technology and teachers viewing each other as enemies, they should they should complement each other. Both technology and teachers need each other. For instance, a teacher should tap into the many benefits of technology to ease the strenuous teaching process and technology ought to understand that it is teachers who gave birth to it. Technology and teachers cannot exist without each other. Each needs the other for survival- and both are very essential. Students who are exposed to technology should integrate it in their class work with the help of teachers and the tutor and the learner should see technological advancements as the fruit of the knowledge acquired in the classroom.

Finally, technology and teachers can be harmonized by those in the education sector to make learning through technology the bedrock of the curricula. This will make learning fun for the students and a lot easier for the tutors. It will help students stop viewing teaching as a boring impediment to their technology-filled lives. In the same vein, it will help teachers realize that technology complements technology and that the two do not clash in any way.

However, it is important to note that the balance between technology and teachers is not very healthy presently. Therefore, whatever measures that are taken to synchronize technology and teachers ought to be systematically gradual in order to be fully effective.

Salvaging Rural India with Virtual Classroom : An Introduction

January 12, 2016

Rural India is still struggling with widespread poverty, limited opportunity, and low teacher attendance rates in school. What role can the virtual classroom play in improving the quality of education and life?

In June last year, the Madhya Pradesh government took a leap forward by introducing an attendance tracking application on smartphones to tackle teacher absenteeism. The situation had hit at an all time low when a study found that some teachers were absent for 23 of their 24 years of service. A study done by the University of California pegged the fiscal cost of such absenteeism at $1.5 billion a year. Districts like Dhar and Burhanpur are beautiful, river-side, and have great historical meaning in our heartland. They can also be a bleak place to live.

The virtual classroom presents us with a great opportunity to tackle this problem. Willing teachers from around the world and the country can be tapped without their physical presence with the help of the virtual classroom. This would enable the rural children to get the quality of education they should be getting and their parents expect from schools.

When teachers, pundits, and theorists analyze our Educational system, they usually focus on urban and suburban schools and colleges, but rural schools make up for more than 50% of our country. Unlike many of the urban peers, students here fight with generational poverty, low quality of education, a lack of awareness and limited job opportunities. Virtual classrooms could easily help these children get a better quality of education and ensure a bright future ahead. Interactions with their urban peers, guest lectures by leading industry specialists, virtual tours of various places all over the world, would open their minds to the possibilities that exist through education all through the medium of virtual classrooms.

A report released by the World Bank last year in October suggested that India might be overestimating the number of it’s poor, but it still doesn’t change the fact that nearly 7% of the rural population of our country is still facing extreme poverty. The government taking an initiative towards virtual classrooms shows that they are trying to take a step ahead towards building awareness through higher quality of education.

With the Modi government allocating close to 100 Cr towards virtual classrooms, let us analyze what could possibly be the benefits of such a system and how we could salvage rural India through them. We will be taking an in-depth look at the classrooms and schools in rural India and tackling all the problems they face with the help of virtual classrooms.

In the coming months, we will study the number of states with the highest rural population facing poverty, the quality of education and life in such areas and how virtual classrooms could be effective in providing students with the quality of education they require to uplift their lives and break out of poverty.

What Kept us Busy in 2015?

December 31, 2015December 31, 2015

How Software For Student Helps In Advanced Learning

December 30, 2015

Ever since the first arrival of the computers, technology has always been seen as a den for scammers, cheaters and hackers. Within the education sector, technology is always treated suspiciously at the world of fake degrees, leaked exam papers and uncertified courses.

But education and technology don’t have to be separated-combining interactive software for student with other educational materials has proved to enhance the learning process and promote more effective and innovative ways of retention than textbooks can ever do. This article discusses how student software have transformed the learning process.

Students can record lectures

The software allow students to record their lecturers for future referencing. With these student software, students attending lectures will not have to spend their entire time scribbling tirelessly on notepads in order not to miss an important piece of information. With lecture recording software for student, students can record and listen back to all their classes without having to spend money on some expensive recording equipment. Most of these student software act as both notepads and audio recorders. Students can therefore, store a complete lecture in both audio and visual forms.

Assists students in revision

The revision software for student is now in big business and it appears like technology has finally achieved what we never thought possible-making revision enjoyable.This kind of student software uses revision notes to quiz users on what they have learnt from their revision. Other software uses some tools to hide and give clues for answers to revision topics, thereby making it possible for students to quiz themselves. Some of these software offer resources to create mind maps, revision charts, flash cards, quizzes and notes in colourful and fun programs.

Prepares students for exams

There are software for student available which prepare students for some exams such as GRE and LSAT tests used by graduate schools in their admission process. The software utilize a social networking style functionality that allows students to connect with fellow test takers. Students are able to peruse through unlimited revision material with notes, quizzes and more. Students are able to effectively keep track of their learning process which makes revision easier.Some student software feven keep track of the days and hours until each exam.

Allow students to plan

Organisation is a part and parcel of a healthy learning process, and this is the main reason why planner software for student is becoming more popular. The software not only saves on paper but also send alerts and remainders straight to your device.This type of student software features sharp and clean interfaces that allow students to map their timetables easily.

Wake up software

If you happen to be a sleepy student who always wakes up 30 minutes late for your lectures, then wake up software is for you. Some of this software will even give you weather updates such that you can know whether to carry an umbrella before leaving home. Other student software aims at correcting students’ sleeping patterns such that it wakes you up during your lightest sleep phase. This software does this by monitoring both your movement and the time you went to sleep. This will ensure you will wake up feeling fresh and sharp.

Software for student has enhanced learning by making the whole process both simple and enjoyable. Any student looking to elevate his/her grades should consider going for such student software.

Education Softwares: Learning Anytime, Anywhere

December 24, 2015December 24, 2015

If you, a friend, or a loved one wants to learn something but isn’t inclined to take a formal class, or even if they are in a class and want to add to their classroom efforts, help can be just a mouse click away. In fact, not only is world class help available in the form of many different types of education softwares but in many cases, the educational software that’s available is free of charge.

What Would You Like to Learn Today?

Whether a student just wants to pick up a new skill or supplement a subject that they are already learning, education softwares are there to do the job, and very well too. From anatomy to zoology, educational software can be purchased or downloaded from a practically endless number of sources. And not only are these programs excellent, having been created by some of the most distinguished experts in any field but thanks to modern computer graphics, in many cases, they’re fun to use, not only for kids but adults as well.

Making a Game of It

Everybody knows that when you want to learn a normally staid subject, try making it into a game. That’s exactly the premise of many education softwares packages that make a normally dry subject such as anatomy into a computer game that is fun. A good example of this is Bodyworks Voyager–Mission into Anatomy, which takes students on a tour of the human body via a fighter ship that is shrunken and inserted into the human body. The object of the game is for the user to destroy certain types of microbes and save the life of the patient. Things get a lot of complicated when users discover that there are two types of microbes, one that tries to kill the patient, and the other that tries to kill the fighter ship. Need more ammo? Periodic questions about what the user has experienced must be answered in order to restore their weapons.

Fun and Learning for Everyone

As ubiquitous as computers have become in recent years, it should come as little surprise that education softwares are available that are not only excellent teaching tools but are also fun to use for virtually any age user. Children as young as four can use educational software tool such as The Clue Finders to learn such subjects as math and geography using the tools of fantasy and science fiction. Children can even learn such concepts as business by using Lemonade Stand, which teaches simple math via the real world of a child’s lemonade stand.

Even more mature students will enjoy and benefit from education softwares that teach such diverse subjects as math, languages, and even music in a fun and interactive ways. Role playing takes on a new meaning when students can become part of solving real world problems via the topics they learn in dealing with issues such as pollution, literacy, and much more. In fact, several educational software packages are available that will teach a student programming, which might lead to creating their own education softwares. When it comes to education softwares, the sky is the limit.

EdTech Questions Parents Should Ask Schools before Admissions

December 14, 2015December 14, 2015

Schools are the most important learning grounds to prepare your children for the future. The future is more clearly getting digitized and it’s high time that we ensure our children learn technology from an early age. In order to do this, you need to ensure your children go to the right schools. Teachers should be in a position to incorporate technology to improve the learning experience in classroom. A right school should be able to answer questions of how, where, when and what technology it plans to teach children.Good educational technology should prepare its students to become better entrepreneurs, innovators, self-starters, independent thinkers and be able to solve problems. As parents you have a major role to ensure you give your children the best education. Here is how to begin the edtec discussion:

Is technology a top priority in the school and what specific goals does the school have?
The school should be able to explain how technology is of top priority and what measures are in place to ensure that the school is in the front line as far as technology in learning is concerned. Parents should look out for specific ongoing or start up projects, for example measures should be in place to ensure that all teachers are well trained on technology.

How is information communicated?
It’s of importance to find out how the school conveys information to the parents and community so as to be in the look out. Some modes of communication could be through email, the school website or through social media.

What type of devices will the child be exposed to and what is the access type?
As parents, you will be required to know the type of devices your child uses in school so as to make efforts to provide the same at home. Every student should have easy access to technology devices.

Are there policies against cyber-crimes and are parents educated on how to raise digital children
With the rising rates of cyber-crimes, it’s important to ensure that strict rules are put in place to curb cyber-crimes. Parents should also be educated to ensure there are no loop holes at home as well.

Are children allowed to bring personal devices and if so, what policies are in place?
Parents should get information on whether to allow their children to come to school with personal devices and what rules to enforce, and should discuss the same with their children.

Does the school support a child with particular interests on coding?
The school should have forums to expose students to things like coding. This will ensure that they improve on skills like innovation and problem solving.

How does technology ensure a better future for my child?
The technology used in the school should be relevant and fit into the learning system.

How can I help at home?
The school should have a platform for parents to continue teaching their children at home.

In this digital age, technology is important and so is the teacher. Technology has not come to replace the teacher but to act as an enhancement to learning. Technology is here to stay; so let us all embrace it and especially for the young generation.

Qualities of an Effective Scheduling Software for School

December 10, 2015

The world is in the middle of a technological boom, with steadily increasing emphasis on developing new technologies in all sectors of the economy in order to increase overall productivity. Education is one such sector, and a growing number of schools are now relying on school scheduling software to better organize their information. A lot of time is wasted in schools by manual administration such as attendance records, inventory management and lesson planning.

School scheduling software automates all of these processes and ensures students spend more time learning. This provides knock-on benefits to the school and to the economy as a whole as students and staff spend their time in class efficiently ensuring each student gets the maximum out of his/her education. It is difficult though to know exactly what qualities you should seek out when selecting the appropriate scheduling software and there are a plethora of options currently available on the market. Therefore, here are three qualities you and your school should look out for in any effective scheduling software solution:

Security: This is a top priority because school principals and stakeholders need to keep their information discreet and secure. Any effective scheduling software will provide multi-tiered password protection ensuring that sensitive information is seen by only authorized personnel. Keeping track of inventory expenses and school admission fees is of paramount importance and it is vital that the software you choose is highly secure. It is also highly likely that any scheduling software will integrate staff salaries and provide automatic payment so the emphasis on a secure platform needs to be strong. Providing multi-tiered levels of security means that any school administrators can set the security level for each individual user.

Simplicity: The whole point of using school scheduling software is that all elements of the administration process are streamlined into one solution ensuring that less time is wasted and more focus is put on learning. The key driver of an effective software platform is that it should be simple to use. Teachers will most likely be responsible for entering information such as attendance and grade records and students will be able to view their own grades so it is crucial that any software utilized is uncomplicated. Schools should be looking out for solutions with a simple user interface and clarity of options. Like any automated software, it needs to be more simple and concise than doing the work manually.

Customizable: An excellent scheduling software is often defined by the level of customization available. It is important that schools can design and customize timetable to their own specific needs and preferences. Schools should look out for features such as custom fonts and logos in order to give their timetables and official reports a specific professional look. Additionally, the ability to automatically reschedule planned meetings and conferences is important. If a student needs to retake a test or a staff meeting needs to be postponed, this can throw the whole school schedule out of kilter for days on end. With effective software, all meetings should automatically be rearranged around each staff or student’s availability at that particular time.