There is a major change sweeping across the educational landscape in India. It has been on the horizon for a long time, with the lockdown and subsequent school closures giving it an impetus. We are, of course, speaking of the proliferation of technology and digital tools in education, for both educators and learners. This departure from the norm has laid bare the structure of our current educational system, and has forced us all to reevaluate it from the foundational levels itself. And educational technology is making this mission a reality.  

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 underscores this point. This ambitious document reiterates that the key to a strong future lies in equitable education, and one of the best means to reach this goal is by leveraging technology.

Under the Digital India campaign, the Government of India is encouraging several ICT initiatives like National Digital Library, e-Yantra, Virtual Lab, and so on, to impact both students, teachers, and other educators. Supporting these initiatives are the numerous edtech organisations that are growing at a fast pace in India, particularly since the pandemic began.

*Square Panda too has been at the forefront of the digital education revolution since our inception, and is one of the education companies innovatively impacting learning for teachers and students alike. Learn more about us at ecce.squarepanda.in.

Technology is blurring the lines between the privileged and under-priviledged, and making education accessible to all.

How Technology Shapes Education

Technology has profoundly changed the way education works in India. This change ripples over every person in the educational system, bringing a marked difference in how every aspect works.

Learning becomes more effective

India’s multilingual population creates complexities in the educational offerings. Contextual changes also influence the way education is imparted. With educational technology, the entire ecosystem — educators, Anganwadi workers, administrators, parents, and the children — is exposed to global best practices, which can be adapted to the Indian curriculum and learning styles. Technology-enabled learning can bring about a transformational change for children, and even enhance or supplement classroom pedagogy. Teachers, educators, and caregivers gain the opportunity to become more collaborative and extend learning beyond the classroom. They could even create learning communities with various stakeholders across India.

Innovation is bringing new solutions to age-old problems

Blended learning or hybrid learning models. Online assessments. Digital tools and apps. 
The above solutions have been around for a long time, and the debate on whether they can be used in classrooms has been raging for just as long. New techniques and ideas have augmented these solutions, creating more viable alternatives acceptable for learners both young and old. Advancing Artificial Intelligence (AI) research will bring more such innovations to address existing challenges in the educational system.

Tasks are being streamlined

Courses are using more tech-based aids. Lengthy curriculum is being broken down into bite-sized modules. Rote learning is making way for experiential learning methods. And best of all, teachers find that their efforts need not be put towards administrative duties quite as much as before. World-class tech platforms ensure a seamless transition to online systems that streamline most administrative functions.

As we blossom into a digitally empowered society, the symbiotic relationship between technology and education will play a critical role in this transformation. A new culture of learning is emerging as we reevaluate  traditional systems, and our pedagogy continues to evolve. The advantages technology brings to education are unparalleled. Technological advancements have already changed the game for India’s educational landscape, and it remains to be seen how such innovations can raise our vast ecosystem to new heights.

Picture this. ⬇

Multilingual early learning classrooms boast a diverse group of learners. At least half of them are introduced to English as a subject. Most such children have a completely different home language than English. And most of their everyday environments are devoid of any English literature whatsoever. In some cases, even in environments not devoid of the language, these children are too young to have gained much exposure to English. Most have only learnt their native language correctly, and English then becomes a ‘second language.’

In this scenario—which holds true for most young learners across India’s early learning landscape—learning a new language, be it English or a regional language, is most fun through stories. While the languages themselves may be vastly different, with cultural, linguistic, and other distinctions, stories themselves are universal. These stories become a relatable bridge that help kids understand this new language in a familiar light. Additionally, stories for younger children tap into the main emotions all children will be able to identify — surprise, hunger, joy, anger, and even sorrow.

HOW STORIES BENEFIT ENGLISH LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

*and any other second-language acquisition

• When children listen to stories, they build their oral language skills. When they begin reading, they build their emergent literacy skills. They gain exposure and are able to practice sounding out letters and words—and later, sentences—in English. This is one of the most important steps in learning a new language — simply observing the language and allowing the brain to pick up patterns in the background. Once this initial process has been accomplished, the brain adds observations to specific types of patterns, like what some groups of words look like or sound like (i.e., word families), how sounds come together to form words, and how words can be split up into individual sounds. Every observation affects children’s perception and processing power of the language.
  *What are word families? ‘Word family’ can refer to any grouping of words based on a particular pattern. Square Panda’s educational games refer to word families that have the same ending sound and spelling, like SAP-NAP-TAP and MAT-SAT-PAT.
  *Why teach word families? It helps a young brain process information faster when there is a certain pattern to the knowledge they are exposed to. Word families are one type of pattern that helps children process words in their head more easily.

• A fun tale that is accompanied by clear illustrations and pictures—as found in most books for young readers—are crucial to develop comprehension skills. For children who have been exposed to vocabulary and words in their native language, these images give them meaning and context. For instance, vocabulary instruction for English language acquisition would include explaining the fact that ‘tree’ means ‘पेड़’ and ‘home’ means ‘घर’. However, their memory would struggle under the weight of too many new words being taught at the same time, especially if there is little repetition of certain vocabulary. Instead of stand-alone words, when children are exposed to a new language via stories and pictures, the context and narrative helps them remember new words more clearly.

• The above narrative also taps into another basic characteristic of stories—a good story is always emotionally engaging. When we are emotionally engaged with a story, it automatically hammers a place for itself in our memory. This is why the plotline of the Aamir Khan movie “Lagaan” is at the tip of your tongue, but you might struggle to remember the year the Constitution of India was adopted. This also means that children learning English find it much easier to remember a brand new language when presented in the form of an emotionally engaging story.

NOTE: ‘Emotionally engaging’ differs as per the age. A 34-year-old might like to read about the future of education in the age of AI, but for a 4-year-old, a little animal trying to find somewhere to nap is the most engaging story of all.

• Stories have also been shown to help children develop social cognition a.k.a. emotional intelligence. This refers to having an understanding of others in society and behaving in an accordingly cooperative way. For instance, stories can help children develop empathy, i.e., understanding that others are also people with feelings and emotions, thoughts and experiences. They merit being treated in a caring and respectful way. This concept of emotional intelligence—while basic and natural on the surface—is a complex idea that children have to develop and is not something they are automatically born into. Stories with a ‘moral’ at the end, characters that exhibit characteristics like kindness, thoughtfulness, and caring, all help children develop this understanding.

BUILDING A READING HABIT AS OPPOSED TO A SIMPLE READING LESSON

A reader can aptly describe the joys of sitting down with a book. How the words can take people to unexplored lands, how the thoughts expressed can encourage innovative thought, and how each new book inspires and uplifts people. This is not all that reading offers. A regular reading habit can enhance vocabulary, strengthen memory, decrease stress, and strengthen the connections in your brain in multiple ways. Bringing stories into the equation early on in a child’s life helps adults nurture the reading habit, turning these pre-readers into lifelong readers.

WHY SHORT STORIES ARE BETTER FOR EARLY LEARNERS

For children, most of whom have short attention spans at that age, short stories can optimise the learning process by hitting the balance between fun and tiring. Remember, most of them are just beginning to learn through the simple act of reading or listening to a story. As they start to explore various concepts like comprehension, social cognition, and patterns, short stories help them stay challenged and yet, not overwhelmed with too much information.

HOW SQUARE PANDA TEACHES CHILDREN FOUNDATIONAL LITERACY

An interpretive story forms the base for all of our educational games and apps. Two main characters, Panda and Cameo, are joined by a host of other animals accompanied by mini-storylines, for the purpose of driving learning through gamification. Each part of our curriculum is well-suited to engage a young brain, and adapts as per their individual learning levels. We carefully designed each part of our offerings with the understanding that children learn best when they are engaged, and there is nothing more engaging than a story.

To know more about our programs under the Aarambh initiative, visit our website ecce.squarepanda.in.

Reading is a gradual process, and not every learner acquires this skill the same way, or even at the same pace. Reading itself is not an innate skill and needs constant practice to develop. This does not take into account the natural affinity children develop, which could attract or repel them towards reading. As a guest speaker in Square Panda’s expert-hosted webinar mentioned:

To that effect, we offer several suggestions that inform the teaching of early childhood educators, to turn their students into fluent, confident readers for life.

1- Make Reading An Everyday Activity: Incorporate reading into the daily routine, as much as your curriculum allows. Set aside a specific time for reading, and encourage active participation from each child. The practice of reading to them and having them read to you is important to develop a happy and healthy relationship with this skill. For younger readers, start in increments for only around 10-15 minutes a day. As an added incentive, you can set up a small reading corner for kids, filling up this space with colorful chairs, tables, pillows, and of course, books. 

2- Find The Right Literature: A well-developed reading habit reaps rewards for a lifetime, but only when children adopt it willingly. If children are obliged to read books they don’t like, their reading habit will be over before it even begins. Give your little learners every reason to like reading; invest time in finding each child’s preferred book, series, or genre. To start with, you can introduce children to a wide variety of stories and books, allowing children to develop an affinity for various styles, themes, and genres.

3- Reading From Your Surroundings: Reading does not only always have to be out of books and literature; it can be wherever you find inspiration from. Words and letters are all around us, and all we have to do is point them out to children. Create a mini-restaurant and help students read off the menu, play a cartoon clip or song that features letters and words and ask children to repeat it, or help them read out posters and kid-friendly advertisements. Let your imagination run wild, and let it do the work of developing your students’ reading habits.

4- Adding Fun To The Reading Process: Mix elements of gamification and fun into the traditional reading process, for added engagement.

• Enact scenes and read dialogues in special voices. Children can be assigned voices for characters too, once they develop basic reading skills.
• Humanise characters in stories. Add backgrounds to them, help children understand the morals and learning at the end of each read, and ask children their thoughts about the story. Not only will they reflect on the book they have read, but they also simultaneously boost their ability to speak with confidence.
• Experiment in some engaging and fun reading games. There are numerous interactive edtech apps and physical books specially designed to entice young learners. Anticipating a new experience with each book could further encourage children to be present for reading time.

5- Engage In Reading-Adjacent Activities:  To encourage children to develop a true love for books, educators can guide children towards various reading-parallel activities. They can create DIY books (LINK to DIY Book Activity-not yet uploaded on YT), author their own comics, and even design bookshelves. The act of creatively exploring books and not necessarily reading them reduces the pressure children feel to love books, and allows them to choose reading activities at their own pace.

6- Going Beyond Reading: Enliven the reading experience further by incorporating additional activities (both digital and physical), competitions, and even rewards (new colourful additions to the reading corner, book-shaped keychains) that celebrate books and reading.For instance, reading games for kids like finding the rhyming words from a particular sentence, identifying the right sound for an action, or matching an image to a word, are simple to come up with, don’t require a lot of props, and are easy to play.

*Download this PDF for fun games and activities to boost reading readiness skills in the classroom.

Not every child will develop a love for reading, but that does not mean children will not become readers. Nor does it negate the essential nature of the reading skill itself. The learned activity has the potential to make or break a child’s future and influence their success in many ways. Let us do our part to ensure no child is left behind because they cannot read.
One of Square Panda India’s core functions is to develop early literacy in children across our nation. See our efforts towards this cause: ecce.squarepanda.in.

India’s diverse heritage has done more than culturally enrich us; it has also gifted us with a bilingual, and often multilingual population. Across the hinterland, many children hear multiple languages and dialects since birth, and are better equipped to develop literacy skills in those languages. 

Despite these favourable factors, fluency and literacy in second language acquisition is not at peak levels considering our exposure. This article delves into the factors that affect second language acquisition.

Factors Influencing Acquisition Of A Second Language

Student Characteristics

Age: An early learner’s brain is most equipped to deal with language literacy, as this study by Dr. Paul Thompson shows. This UCLA neurology professor and his team studied the brain scans of children between the ages of three and fifteen to map the growth and brain development, and found that the systems of the brain that control language acquisition grow rapidly from the age of six till puberty. Additionally, a younger brain processes much less data and information than an adult brain. Quite simply, they use fewer and simpler words and do not struggle to put abstract thought into words. These young learners are picking up the language gradually, and not simply ‘learning’ it; this makes a prodigious difference in language learning.

Motivation: The bigger the goal—speak to friends and relatives, get accepted into a certain school—the higher the motivation students have to study a language. Moreover, their enjoyment of the learning process influences their level of literacy in that language. For young children, positive feedback, constant encouragement, and fun educational tools work as motivation, and can make the difference between becoming simply ‘good’ versus becoming fluent.

Attitude: How have the children been introduced to the language and the culture behind it? What do you know about this language? A child’s attitude towards a language—greatly influenced by parents, caregivers, and teachers—plays a pivotal role in language acquisition. The more positive an attitude adults display towards a language, the more inclined children would be to learn said language.

Gender Differences: Male and female children differ in their verbal abilities, with multiple studies confirming superior language performance in females. These differences have been confirmed not only for the native languages, but also for the acquisition of a second language. While these differences decrease with age, during the first years of life, girls acquire language faster than boys and exhibit a larger vocabulary. Studies prove this pattern is repeated in comprehension, production, and even lexical and grammatical development. For instance, boys develop and produce word combinations (like ‘drink + water’) three months later than girls. Mixed classes sometimes make little allowance for this fact, and result in the girls overshadowing the boys’ accomplishments. Language experiences need to reflect these differences, as we encourage both genders to master new communication and language skills.

External Factors

Learning Environments: Young learners find it more difficult to pick up a language when they are not supported by a language-rich environment, both at home and in school (or in the Anganwadi). The sessions need to be engaging and full of playful elements. Activities for language learning need to be based on everyday experiences, to help children associate them correctly. Allowances must be made for mistakes, without any negative feedback. Adult support can be linked to simple dialogues and commentaries with children with open-ended questions to encourage conversation.

Native Language Proficiency: Children start learning their home or native language almost as soon as they are born. In fact, they apply the same strategies used for grasping contextual clues in their home language, while learning the second language. Depending on the frequency of exposure to new words and concepts in the native language, they develop stronger and better grasping strategies that are then transferred to the new language as well. Viewing each child’s native language as an asset and encouraging children to maintain and further develop their native language proficiency helps them become more fluent in the second language.

Instruction: Educators, teachers, and caregivers who are trained to teach a language holistically see better results with their students’ language acquisition skills. Such empowered teachers provide needed language support and explicit language instruction that takes into account students’ proficiency in other languages. Their own expertise enables them to plan language instruction to ensure student learning in incremental stages, for better outcomes.

Research clearly suggests language acquisition should be treated as a barometer of success. A weak language foundation has a domino effect on other areas of the child’s life as well, including cognitive and academic domains. Our task as educators and early learning experts includes providing children with appropriate holistic resources for language acquisition, right from the early ages.

See how Square Panda India lives up to the task via our Aarambh initiative: ecce.squarepanda.in.