Diary of Teacher

Moving with the changing times, we must realise that education too needs to be reformed. We cannot ignore the role technology plays in the current education scenario,” said Jairaj Kataria, the resource person at a seminar on the role of technology in education on Friday. Talking about the dominance of technology in the field of education, Kataria said that if progress is to be made, schools should adopt IT and multimedia ways of learning. “Virtual schools are the future of education. With more and more schools adopting the smart way of teaching, the face of classroom teaching is changing. Apart from making academics interesting for students, smart classes have various advantages to it,” he stated. He, however, maintained that smart classes were not a replacement for teachers; but just a tool to assist in teaching. “Nothing can replace the utility of teachers. IT aids empower them with lots of resources within the classroom. Following the footsteps of digital learning will also impr...

Sabeer Bhatia, serial entrepreneur believes he's on to the next big idea after Hotmail. Critics say none of his ideas have been hot after Hotmail, which he sold to Bill Gates Microsoft for $ 400 million dollars back in 1998. The new idea, Jaxtr SMS is an advertisement supported multi-platform mobile application that he claims will make SMS as we know it redundant as it lets users with data connection send messages to any other mobile phone - domestic and international - free. Bhatia who spends most of his time in silicon valley, deflects all questions pertaining to his other ventures, such as Live Documents and Arzoo, which are yet to taste success. Jaxtr is growing "virally" claims Bhatia, an effusive marketer offering free android based Micromax phones to journalists to "enable" them check out the Jaxtr app. He also shares a few ideas about how he would have run Hotmail differently, in an interview with ET . Excerpts:

I had the pleasure of meeting Travis Allen at this year’s International Society of Technology Educator’s conference. Travis explained that as a high school student he felt rather bound and trapped by the prison of school that enforced outdated restrictions that did not allow him the freedom to learn. It began with his parents getting him an iPhone for Christmas. He immediately found he enjoyed the endless list of applications on it and shortly after, began looking into educational apps to help in school. It wasn’t long before he realized the amazing capabilities this device would have in education. He was so inspired by the unlocked potential of these devices that he made the following video, called the iSchool Initiative.