Next Learning Centre

Q1: Do the students who are already attending digitally enabled schools stand to gain from NLC?

At Mi Class, we may indeed have the same TeachNext content as in school; the difference lies in the type of personalised attention the child receives at Mi Class. Mi Class also offers a host of other products, including hands-on labs, which may not be used in schools.

Q2: Why don’t you have regional languages as a subject?

We are working on incorporating regional languages into the Mi Class offering. We are planning to launch this offering in 2012 based on the demand perceived for it. Learning languages can be a lot of fun when new age technologies, tools and labs are used. However, to begin with, we will be using traditional methodologies to deliver instruction on regional languages.

Q3: What does a student do at an NLC?

At an NLC, a learner can:

Access curriculum-based content
Access facts and concepts within subjects
Acquire a thorough understanding of interrelated concepts
Clarify misconceptions within and across subjects
Develop the ability to solve complex and real-world problems
Prepare for tests and exams
Complete homework assignments and activities in a qualitative and effective manner
Conduct project-based activities and labs
Publish learning summaries and research projects
Learn other ICT related skills
Create and share content [individually or within learning groups

Q4: What are the 21st century skills we keep hearing about?

In the 21st century, pure academic excellence is not enough to enable students to reach the pinnacle of success. Students need to enhance their personality by developing various other skills, which are the life blood of a productive workforce in today’s global, knowledge-based economy.

For example, one of the prerequisites for success today is good communication skills. Skills that helps a candidate to create a favourable impression in an interview. A student of engineering, for example, will need presentation skills to fare well in the college placement interviews.

Can a student learn such skills through academic subjects? Probably not. Where will the student get an opportunity to suddenly develop these skills in the fourth year of engineering? These are skills that a student can best learn at a finishing school.

At NLC, we focus on all aspects of a student’s development. Therefore, we have integrated the Finishing School as a weekly offering of the NLC programme. The Finishing School focuses on developing the personality of the student, especially traits such as:

Creativity
Critical reasoning
Problem solving

High order thinking
Communication

Collaboration
Next Tools and technologies

Communication and collaboration skills are developed through hands-on learning strategies.

The students may be given an activity or a project to work on in groups. For example, a research project:

‘Research on why Pluto is not regarded as a planet anymore. Do you agree with this judgment?’

Through the quest for an answer, such projects enable students to develop their research, critical reasoning as well as high-order thinking skills. Working in groups, they get opportunities for debates and discussions, enhancing their communication skills and ability to collaborate.

The child’s creativity is encouraged in many ways. You may see a student creating a document to support the content in the book; a research report shared on a blog; or even innovative tips and tricks for using a software package, shared on a forum. The Finishing School is held on Saturdays, and the audience is mixed across classes III to X (8 to 15 years). The aim is to take the children out of their comfort zone and provide them opportunities to mix with others of different age groups.

This will enable them to express their thoughts and ideas, and share them across various levels. Along with communication skills, this arrangement enhances their understanding of body language, etiquette, etc.

Q5: How will parents track the progress of their wards?

For parents, we provide regular updates on a student’s progress.

Both push and pull technologies are used to keep parents in the loop. For example, every student logs on with a login ID and password, and the system tracks the progress of the student. Parents can use their own Web login to access student reports on the NLC Intranet. They can find what the student covered and whether the entire syllabus has been covered or not.

Click here to view a sample report.

They are also kept up-to-date of the results of tests and assessments through weekly reports via SMS. In addition, they have access to the teachers at all times.

Parents can reach the teacher at teacher@nextlearningcentre.in. They will receive a response from the respective teacher concerned within 24 hours. The Next ERP application will be used at every NLC to maintain data about students and their parents. With the help of this application, we will ensure that parents are always kept in the loop about their wards’ progress through SMS and email. This application will be used to report attendance, assessment scores and even any subjective feedback.

In addition, a Parent -Teacher meet will be conducted every month, on the last Saturday of the month. If required by the parent, face-to-face meetings with the faculty can be arranged on Saturdays on an as-needed basis.

Q6: What kind of infrastructure does an NLC have?

The infrastructure at NLC typically includes the following:

One computer system for every learning individuals
10 Mbps broadband Internet for research
Video conference facilities to connect with other NLCs and guest teachers
Two learning rooms with a capacity of 24 students each maximum per LR
Two classrooms with a capacity of 24 students each maximum per CR
CCTV networked room for senior faculty at HQ to monitor teaching-learning aspects in learning rooms and classrooms
UPS backed up electrical power

Click here to see how a typical NLC is designed.

NLC will run both the Mi Class and iTeach programmes.