Page 38 - 10x GOOD Magazine
P. 38

and Learning Center (SILC) - the first   Corner facilitates teachers to   14-year-old Pratibha, despite being
                                                                                                                                 of its kind in the country, focusing   conduct techno-pedagogy-enabled   in school, deep-rooted patriarchy,
                                                                                                                                 on the four core disciplines of    classes for their students, as    cultural norms, and gender biases
                                                                                                                                 Science, Technology, Engineering,   well as, receive training on the   keep her from accessing technology
                                                                                                                                 and Mathematics and 21st-century   Digital Equalizer Way of Teaching   and confidently pursuing STEM
                                                                                                                                 skills to prepare educators and    (DEWoT). The center also contains   education.  This evident gender
                                                                                                                                 global citizens. The Center provides   a Studio Setup to assist teachers in   disparity reflects in India’s tech
                                                                                                                                 teachers and students with a       creating high-quality DE Edu Reels,   workforce with women occupying
                                                                                                                                 comprehensive solution and hands-  increasing their reach in the state.  only 29% of tech roles. Rooted
                                                                                                                                 on tools for experiential learning                                   in achieving gender equality with
                                                                                                                                 and discovery-based education to   Digital Equalizer works with children   lifelong learning opportunities,
                                                                                                                                 improve learning outcomes, which is   from grade 6th onwards, propelling   DE makes dedicated efforts to
                                                                                                                                 one of the focus areas of NEP 2020   them to the world of coding,    design STEM interventions for
                                                                                                                                 and SDG4.                          innovations, and rocketry, and    girls. Last year alone, DE reached
                                                                                                                                                                    familiarizing them with Information   over 100,000 girls giving them
                                                                                                                                 SILC, with its Innovation Corner   Technology skills, with the goal of   the agency they need, to choose a
                                                                                                                                 for students, introduces them      encouraging students to embrace   career in STEM and build pathways
                                                                                                                                                                    technology from an early age.     to become future-ready.
                                                                                                                                                                    Working with state governments,
                                                                                                                                                                    AIF is creating opportunities for   At AIF this is just the beginning.
                                                                                                                                                                    young innovators, especially girls, to   Its well-entrenched and flexible
                                                                                                                                                                    learn more about satellites, drones,   frameworks ensure innovative
                                                                                                                                                                    AI, and space technology to build a   solutions and impact at scale. In
                                                                                                                                                                    futuristic workforce.             the years that lie ahead, AIF aims to
                                                                                                                                                                                                      strengthen the education ecosystem
                                                                                                                                                                    While the STEM field is one of    for 10 million children and continue
                                                                                                                                                                    the most rapidly growing and in-  to foster a culture of equity,
                                                                                                                                                                    demand industries globally, one of   inclusion, and positive discrimination
                                                                                                                                                                    the fundamental issues that plague   while transforming the lives of
                                                                                                                                                                    this multidisciplinary ecosystem   underprivileged communities at
                                                                                                                                                                    is the prevailing gender gap. For   large.

          Technology-enabled classrooms.



          territories of the country.       population added every year, can   learning by integrating technology                to a transdisciplinary learning
                                            deliver the workforce the world    such as interactive whiteboards,                  approach through Robotics, AI,
          Over the last few years, the      needs.                             projectors, audio-visual capabilities,            Space technology, and the STEM
          pandemic reinforced the dire need                                    ICT, and STEM labs, etc, and                      Incubation workstation. It aims to
          to integrate technology into the   AIF’s Digital Equalizer (DE) program   empowering 7.2 million children              nurture their curiosity in advanced
          education system and brought      is addressing this emerging need,   through digital technology and                   STEM courses, while also assisting
          forth India’s deep digital divide.   by ensuring the quality and     STEM experiences. Strengthening                   them in developing their innovative
          More importantly, the growth of   relevance of learning transacted. It   the ecosystem, DE has also trained            ideas into prototypes and providing
          digitalization, automation, AI, and   has been instrumental in changing   over 2,00,000 teachers, to integrate         a platform to take part in State/
          other emerging technologies, now   the landscape of education in     STEM and technology-based                         National/ International level
          warrants a new cadre of trained   over 32,000 under-resourced        pedagogy in the teaching-learning                 competitions.
          workforce to step up. India, at the   government schools, by equipping   methods.
          forefront of designing a technology-  them with technology-enabled                                                     The Center also consists of a
          driven knowledge-based economy    classrooms that offer a wealth of   Leapfrogging ahead of its peers, DE              Technology Corner for Teachers.
          and with around 280 lakh youth    new opportunities for teaching and   has designed the STEM Innovation                Fitted with a smart lab, the Tech                                         Meeting the educational needs of children.


          38                                                                                                                                                                                                                       39
   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43