Inventure Academy, Bangalore staged its third annual Multiple Intelligences Xplored (MIX) inter-school competitive event on January 22. Participating schools included Indus International School, Greenwood High, Canadian International School, India International School, Gopalan International School, Head Start, Bishop Cotton Boys, Deen’s Academy and 350 students.
According to Nooraine Fazal, co-founder and chief executive of Inventure Academy (estb. 2005), MIX is an interactive event exclusively designed to showcase inherent intelligences apart from mathematical or linguistic intelligences, of children, to enhance their self esteem. “It’s a unique, friendly competition event which challenges students’ abilities across eight intelligences. The purpose is to make parents and students aware that every single child is gifted in some unique way,” says Fazal.
101 Great Universities of the World
Prof. N.S. Ramaswamy, chairman of Indian Heritage Academy and founder-director of NITIE, Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai and IIM-Bangalore, formally released 101 Great Universities of the World — an invaluable ready-reckoner for Indian students contemplating study abroad — in Bangalore on February 10. A first-of-its-type publication written from the Indian perspective by Summiya Yasmeen, co-promoter and assistant editor of EducationWorld, this unique volume (Rs.495) is a one-stop guidebook of top-rung colleges and universities in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, France, Singapore among other countries.
“Over the past two decades there’s been a consistent increase in the number of Indian students opting for higher education abroad. 101 Great Universities of the World offers the growing number of Indian students wanting to study abroad, accurate and well-researched information on selected, well-reputed foreign universities,” said Prof. N.S. Ramaswamy speaking on the occasion.
“Uniquely, 101 Great Universities of the World presents detailed, user-friendly information about the selected universities including their study programmes, campus infrastructures, residential accommodation, admissions procedures, tuition and residential fees,” added the author Summiya Yasmeen.
101 Great Universities of the World is published by EducationWorld Books, which has earlier published several successful titles including Quality Circle Time by Jenny Mosley and 101 Great Careers for the 21st Century by Indra Gidwani.
Balaguruswamy’s e-content warning
Inaugurating a two-day workshop on ‘etv/e-content production’ on the campus of Anna University, Chennai on January 29, Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) member and former Anna University vice chancellor E. Balaguruswamy warned against poor quality video-learning materials and “thoughtless creation of e-content” on compact discs and other media which could de-motivate learners.
A prolific author of computer language texts, Balaguruswamy advised teachers who develop educational CDs to ensure that the content is interesting for students. “If you simply transfer the contents of a normal book on to a CD in electronic form, you will fail in your mission. The e-content should make students think and become interactive,” he said, advising teachers and authors to refer to the cognitive learning techniques advocated by renowned American educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom, and Robert Gagne’s nine events of learning.
MDI-NIIT Imperia concordat
Management development institute (mdi), gurgaon and NIIT Imperia signed a memorandum of understanding on February 11 to offer executive management programmes to working professionals. The signatories of the MoU were Prof. B.S. Sahay, director, MDI Gurgaon and G. Raghavan, president, Global Individual Learning Solutions division, NIIT.
Under the terms of the MoU, a “unique basket of study programmes designed to deliver high quality management education to mid and senior level working professionals” will be launched in NIIT Imperia centres across 19 cities in April. The range and mix of programmes, particularly in the areas of general management and strategy, leverage MDI’s academic competencies and NIIT Imperia’s Sychronous Learning Technology delivery platform to provide education in the interactive virtual classroom format.
“We are pleased to associate with NIIT Imperia to offer our high-end management development programmes to working professionals. The programme has been designed to transform business executives into outstanding leaders who can address complex challenges and seize emerging opportunities in the new world order,” said Prof. Sahay speaking on the occasion.
Career Launcher invests in 361 DM
The Delhi-based Career Launcher Ltd, an education services company which provides test-prep education to over 90,000 school and college students across 230 locations in India, Middle East and the US, has purchased a $1 million (Rs.4.5 crore) equity stake in the Chennai-based 361 Degree Minds Consulting Pvt. Ltd (361 DM). The latter is a research and technology driven company promoted in 2006 to provide innovative solutions for corporates, governments, academic service providers, and universities and colleges.
Announcing the investment in Chennai on February 16, Satya Narayanan, founder chairman of Career Launcher, said: “361 DM shares our vision to deliver high quality education. We believe that education needs to be significantly altered and has to be scaled and made affordable to the masses. We will be working together to develop innovative education methodologies, which will be different from the way education and training is currently delivered in the country.”