Seminar on Raising 'Teaching-Learning Standards to Global Norms'

I had the pleasure of being a part of this seminar held yesterday in Bangalore - I was invited to speak on issues of introducing and integrating technology in teaching & learning. The event, which was organized by Education World magazine as part of the Chinnara Habba children's festival, had a panel of 6 speakers -

* Shukla Bose, Founder of Parikrma Humanity Foundation, spoke on "Quality Education for All"
* Dr. Augustine F. Pinto, Founder Chairman of Ryan International Schools, Mumbai, spoke on "Scaling Up Education Enterprises"
* Prof. V.S. Prasad, Director, National Assessment and Accreditation Council, Bangalore, spoke on "Institutional Self Assessment and Measurement of Outcomes"
* Shuchi Grover, Educational Technologist, spoke on "First Steps in Technology Integration"
* Dr. S.N. Uma, Sr. Vice President, NIIT, Chennai, spoke on "Integrating Technology in School Education"
* Dr. Shekhar Seshadri, Pro. of Child Psychiatry at NIMHANS, Bangalore, spoke on "Creating Stimulating Learning Environments"

The speakers spoke on varied topics, in fact other than some fundamental commonalities in Dr. Uma's and my talks on technology issues - we complemented each other fairly well on how technology should be leveraged for meaningful teaching and learning.

All in all, I think the participants got some great ideas and inputs; their questions at the end of the session were thoughtful and related to practical realities of implementing these ideas in the classroom. If only there was more time. Thanks to Education World for organizing an event to bring together educators to network and exchange ideas on improving school education in India.

[Here's another perspective from an attendee of the Seminar.]