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First things first. Educomp smartclass is a flagship brand of Educomp Solutions, India’s largest Education company.
Born in 2003 and just 10 years young, Educomp smartclass has created shall we say, yet another divide of Have and Have Nots: schools that have Educomp smartclass and schools that don’t. Fortunately, with some 14,500 schools already embracing the system, and the number growing at rapid pace everyday, this divide is getting narrower by the day.
smartclass did what no one had ever thought of before, bring technology into the classroom. It brought an exhaustive repository of world class digital modules or lessons, (consisting of 2D and 3D animations, graphics, audio and video) on every subject in the K12 spectrum, which the teacher could easily access and project in the classroom that illuminated and explained abstract and difficult concepts with liquid clarity. The result was amazing. Knowledge flourished freed from the centuries old bonds of books and chalk and blackboard. A new light of understanding dawned on young awakened minds. And the classroom became a fascinating place to be in as a new generation of learners saw (instead of just being told and explained) for the first time how things happened. And the teacher smiled as she now saw not just one, two or three but a sea of hands go up every time she asked a question
Even as it popularity grew with school after school adopting it, as pioneers we realised that we needed to keep pushing the frontiers of technology, make it adapt to changing times, make it more user friendly, more versatile and more resourceful. Over the years, such upgrades and improvements kept happening on a continuous basis.
But the time was fast approaching for metamorphic and transformational change. For nearly 2 years starting end 2009, the think tank at smartclass has been at work devoting millions of man days to execute the most comprehensive re-engineering of its kind to make smartclass a truly 21st century teaching-learning. And the result is amazing new avatar of Educomp smartclass-re-christened befittingly as smartclass CTS(Class Transformation System)
Now, imagine a Science teacher explaining how a DNA replicates, a History teacher teaching a class about the Harappan Civilisation, or a Geography teacher teaching how Block mountains are formed. The best of teachers take pains to explain the concepts largely depending on their own abilities. The students listen to the teachers, try to decipher the figures drawn on the blackboard and read from their text books, take notes and try hard to visualize how it happens and remember. At the end of the class, the teacher asks a few random questions to assess how the class fared. Invariably a few hands (mostly of the same set of brightest students in class), go up, the answers are given and the class ends.
Educomp smartclass brings about a complete transformation in classrooms. The Science teacher while explaining how a DNA replicates is able to show the class a 3D animation of the DNA replication process on a large screen. She can explain the fine points of the process, zoom in to show the relevant visuals, freeze and annotate when and where she needs to emphasise. Similarly the History teacher shows the class a virtual walk through of the Harappan Civilisation. Uncovering the relevant parts step by step as a part of her lesson plan , while the Geography teacher shows a virtual Block mountain being formed…all with engaging animations, colors, music, sounds and voice. The teachers gain complete attention and interest of every child in the class. Every child gets a visual input on how it happens and the concepts are well understood and internalised.
Towards the end of the class, every teacher displays a set of questions on a large screen, every child in class gets ready to answer the questions with their personal answering device – SAS. Students click the answers, instantly, teachers are able to get a score sheet for every child in class. She ends the class re –teaching the parts of the lesson that were not understood well by class.
The result: faster and accurate understanding of the concepts in class and consequently improvement in the overall academic performance of students. Now all of this was possible with Educomp smartclass as it existed before CTS.
With CTS a lot more is possible. The science teachers can use a Diagram Drawer which plays a step by step line drawing animation of say how to draw stages of DNA replication or block mountain formation. She can get a brilliant Teaching Idea by clicking on the Teaching Idea icon before she commences teaching. Or use the Topic Synopsis or Mind Map to recapitulate the salient points of a lesson or concept taught. She can also click on Simulation to show virtual experiments without having rely on limited Lab availability. There are Worksheets, Weblinks and then in the days to come access to smartclass Teacher Fraternity Resources an ideas and best practices portal which will give any teacher to share and access pedagogical expertise.
Educomp smartclass
Improves teacher effectiveness and productivity in class.
It brings abstract and difficult curriculum concepts to life inside classrooms.
Makes learning an enjoyable experience for students.
Improves academic performance of students.
Enables instant formative assessment of learning outcomes in class.
It also enables teachers to instantly assess and evaluate the learning achieved by their students in class.
How is Educomp smartclass implemented in Schools?
Provision of digital content mapped to schools syllabus
All hardware, equipment and accessories – installation and maintenance
Training of teachers
Support and monitoring of usage
Above all, schools do not have to worry about the funds required to set up the infrastructure to run Educomp smartclass. Any school can adopt the program by entering into a contract with Educomp and pay a nominal subscription fees on a per student per month basis.
India’s Largest Content Library
At the core of Educomp smartclass, is a vast repository of digital instruction materials exactly mapped to meet with the specific objectives laid out by different learning standards and curricula by schools across the country. This repository is aggregated and continuously populated through ongoing development at Educomp’s Digital state of the art Products and Solutions (DIPS) group, located in NEPZ and Bangalore.
The content repository consists of thousands of highly animated, lesson specific, 3D and 2D multimedia modules built with an Instructor-led design that allows the teacher to effectively explain the lesson in a typical classroom of diverse set of learners.
Educomp smartclass also provide a large repository of 3D animated modules and videos mapped to school curriculum through its exclusive partnership with some of best content creators.
The modules are embedded in a template that allows the teachers to teach a chosen lesson in class. Frame by frame, with engaging and instructionally sound animated set of visuals while retaining complete control on the pace of delivery. The curriculum reach unfolds from kindergarten to grade twelve covering subjects like Mathematics, Science, English, EVS, Social Studies, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, History, Geography, Economics and Business Studies. Our repository consists of multimedia 2D and 3D modules.
Every chapter has a set of ‘Multiple Choice Questions‘ designed to assess learning achieved at different cognitive levels in that specific lesson in class. These are launched through the engine, displayed on screen for students to answer. The smartclass uses an innovative assessment methodology of using wireless handheld devices.
Teachers can also create their own smart tests and use them in the class for assessment. For this purpose, a Test Authoring Tool has been added to the smartclass assessment application.
At home, Students can access the content through Educomp Online, a portal dedicated to provide the smartclass schools with a 360 degree learning experience. The smartclass system includes a virtual school, where parents, teachers and students can communicate with each other. Teachers can upload assignments for students to download, and make available important information for parents to view.
Support and Training
A team of over 800 professionals at Educomp is fully dedicated to continuously upgrade its content repository, support schools and teachers on a day to day basis. Armed with highly evolved methodologies, tools and processes to absorb the benefits of Educomp smartclass.
