Bangalore College Adopts Cell phone For Evaluating Students In Exam

You have heard of the virtual classroom and exams being conducted online, and now you can answer an exam with your cellphone. Technology in the classroom is being adopted by several schools and colleges. Some give their teachers a free hand in the innovative use to keep their students engaged in the chosen subject. And some educational institution managements take the step forward themselves and pave the way for technological innovation in the classroom. The Seshadripuram First Grade College in Yelahanka, Bangalore, has adopted cell phones in a big way.
Starting this academic year on an innovative note, mobile handsets were distributed among students and teachers, with instructions for use. Games and messaging options were disabled and a totally new concept was put into practice from Day 1. These handsets are to be handed in after tasks are completed. And each student is solely responsible for her/his work and attendance.
The handsets are enabled with "Interactive Platform On Mobile (IPOMO)", and hooked to a server. Multiple choice questions are given via the mobiles and students can pick one out of four options. At the end of the test /exam, the student has the option to revise and then hit SUBMIT. Once the answers are recorded on the college server, marks will be consolidated.  A three hour test will have 120 questions with 4 options each. Students have the choice of using the mobile calculator to answer the Math questions.
In addition to this the students are allowed to mark their attendance via the cell phone.Attendance is usually taken within the first 15 minutes of the start of any class. Each teacher is given a password. Once he/she enters the password,the category -courses-section-subject appears with the list of students enrolled for the class.the teacher quickly takes attendance and all data is automatically stored in the server. A student that consecutively absents himself / herself for three days or more is highlighted on the server rolls, and an SMS alert is sent to the parents.
The students and teachers of this college have welcomed this move for use of cell phones in the classroom. Teachers find it useful and less time-consuming than the age-old methods of marking answer papers as well as marking attendance. They have more time to teach, and the students love text messaging, so this is an extension of that and they are comfortable with it. One plus point is that there is no scope for malpractice, since questions are jumbled up and not all students get the same Q1.For example, Q1 of Student A will be Q28 of Student B and so on, making it laborious for students to find similar Q s for copying.

FREE INTERACTIVES FOR E-LEARNING

Teacher resources are aplenty on the web,but my favourite free resource is learner.org. Online interactives,video on demand subject wise and grade wise content are all at your mouse tip.Resources found are for K-12,college and adult.So,take your pick,keep on learning and keep your brain active,for learning is a lifelong process and keeps your grey cells from aging.It is part of The Annenberg Foundation.

SCIENCE AND MATH INTERACTIVES

Interactives play an important role in enhancing the teacher's teaching.The use of these interactives helps in faster learning and the students are engaged thoroughly and do not fall asleep in class.Students relate better to the topic and retain the subject matter in their memory.Activity and worksheets form the assignment part at the end of the interactive.
Math Interactives
Science Interactives
Hot Science Interactives
Astronomy Interactives

Videos and interactives used to support learning at home and school are increasingly catching up. Students and parents are becoming increasingly aware of the possibilities of using their home computer and internet connection to the full. Children are often found playing games on the computer and chatting with friends and little else. A science project or a presentation for class is the only other time they willingly use the computer. A friend who emails answers for today's homework is most sought. Computer classes in schools follow outdated material for a syllabus. Even pre-schoolers have a great variety these days with regarding audio books,animated stories,animated rhymes,interactives,learning shapes,colours and of course, alphabets. These are being made in English,Hindi and Kannada languages and are available in various bookstores as DVD's and CD's. Some are of high quality and some are mediocre. But, all are finding takers. Some of these have found their way onto youtube. Most are copyrighted. One very interesting and truly engaging website that I found was www.jaasti.com/ which requires a FREE signup for you to view Free versions of all on their site itself.

INTERACTIVE UNIVERSE

Visual learning engages students to learn via audio and visual,and if it is interactive multimedia, grades shoot up as they understand easily and retain in their memory. I myself have endeavoured to collect videos for all topics in different subjects for school students at www.k12learningvideos.blogspot.com. Learning about the facts of Our Universe can be a lot easier when you view the Interactive Universe. As you begin the journey on screen, you will be lost in time and space as you learn about red-hot planets,dying stars, spectacular galaxies,and asteroids. You will also experience spectacular scenery while you learn the facts.A must for every student and adult, age no bar.

Recommended viewing:Planets of the solar system
How a telescope works
Eclipse explained

WHEN DOES THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION FLY OVER YOUR HOME?

Students learn about the solar system and space. Many have questions about the satellites and the international space station(ISS). Learning is definitely easy and a lot more interesting information is gained looking up the bbc website.Tracking ISS over the world becomes easy and you can know when it passes overhead and can view it. NASA has made this possible. Real time data is given. Use the interactives to click on -An ISS Interactive Reference Guide shows how the crew lives, how ISS works, and a ISS 360 tour.
Teachers and educators can find excellent resources at NASA for educators. Students can find exhaustive resources at NASA for students. One can also learn about the night sky here. Google Sky is also a good tool to see the night sky over your home.
Learning through multimedia increases one's knowledge effortlessly.Choose topics on earth,solar system,space shuttles,universe and several related topics on NASA .

INTERACTIVE HUMAN BODY SYSTEMS

Learning about the human body systems,such as nervous,skeletal,digestive,muscular are made easy with powerpoint presentations and videos shown. But,once finished, every student needs to perfect himself by taking a short quiz or better still, if an interactive is used. Even teachers can certainly be much more effective if they use such interactives. It is a cakewalk to hold students attention in class.
Such useful and complete interactives for human body systems can be found at
bbc website. Other topics dealing with human body and mind can also be found here.

Students love playing games that are fun, engaging, and entertaining. Especially if they are digital. So, using interactive games to drive home the subject matter of a topic helps immensely. Some more interactive games for the human body systems can be found at Virtual Body Map.

Recommended reading : Human Body Systems
Animated Videos Of Human Body Systems