India: A Case Study- What ails its education ?

“Incredible India” swears by rich traditions and a historic legacy in education. Its myriad temples and forts are reflective of the great engineering education and reflective skills practised in the past. (Thanjavur Temple, Taj Mahal, Red Fort are all architectural marvels). Under monarchs and the imperialists,

Indians performed feats which made the world watch in some degree of awe (the Wonder that was India, as A L Bhasham would name it). Chinese travelers came to study in East India's Universities. However, over centuries, India seems to have lost the advantage. It has become a willing follower in education ceding positions to the new world. 

It reportedly is ranked 92 among 145 countries in education (http://www.prosperity.com/#!/) 

India’s rankings were rather low:

Prosperity                          99

Economy                           61

Entrepreneurship               94

Governance                       53

Health                               107

Safety                                114

Personal Freedom               79

Social Capital                   129

India is a young nation with more than 62% of its population in the working age group (15-59 years), and more than 54% of its total population below 25 years of age. The average age of the population in India by 2020 is estimated at 29 years as against 40 years in USA, 46 years in Europe and 47 years in Japan. 

However, of the workforce, only 4.69% has undergone formal skill training as compared to 68% in UK, 75% in Germany, 52% in USA, 80% in Japan and 96% in South Korea. 

The Rich are needed ...to lead global growth...

Source : World Bank

Letting go of emerging market economy assets

1. The days of forays into high risk high reward may be over. As the US economy seems to be on a reassuring path, it makes sense for investors to return to advanced economies.

2. Japan’s public pension reserve fund, Pension Investment Fund reportedly  lost 7.89 trillion yen ($64.22 billion) in the three months to September, or 5.59%, bringing the value of its total assets to ¥135.1 trillion.  This is a consequence of global sell offs. Against this background, investors should b happy to scramble away from a China triggered ebb in asset values , away from the emerging market assets to  the developed markets in a flight to quality.

3. Janet Yellen's two back to back speeches will be heard or read for the 'little said, the vast unsaid.' No central banker will speak before the policy meet and lead markets to a decision. However, the Fed has been fairly transparent in its hints.  Data seems to suggest a hike is due sooner than later. Global situation may have stabilized a bit for the Fed to keep moving on its call.

4. In the initial round, economies like Japan would be affected if emerging economies are affected. Advanced economies have factored all this probable tumult in the wake of a rate hike. Bank of Japan already has plans afoot to absorb such an impact. Australia's Reserve Bank says that new opportunities for growth will have emerged, resulting from things like the growth in the middle class of Asia, and the growth of India is a potential opportunity for Australia. European Central Bank's QE seems to be yielding positive results.

In the long run, investors may prefer advanced economic environments. All happy families resemble one another; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Leo Tolstoy   

5. Looks like USD is set for for more highs. The Canadian and Australian Dollars might give good company. Emerging economy currencies seem destined to fall. 

This blog recommends no investment. All views expressed are without any risk or responsibility. 

A tale of 2 Central banker speeches

Is it that the advanced economy's central bankers are deliberately sending contrarian signals in a  subtle tactic with the following objectives:
 (a) keep emerging markets in an unstable equilibrium from  a competitor point of view; (a hit and run technique to weaken the potential opponent)
(b) have the hot money flows back to home turf so as to keep wealth values on the move up in home countries; 
(c) a modern day drain of wealth theory where foreign investors sell in hordes at market peaks and exit for home in anticipation of such rate hikes;
(d) avoid an excessive rise of home currency...

At Brighton, Kristin Forbes. of the Bank of England said quite a few things that seemed to suggest that she may join in for an interest rate hike:

• the widespread pessimism (in the global markets) is overstated.'
• China  is responsible for over one-third of global GDP growth since 2011, and is still expected to drive about 35% of global growth this year. India is on track as per IMF.
• Ukraine, Russia, Brazil, Belarus, and Ecuador are the only emerging markets that are in recession (defined as two quarters of negative quarterly GDP growth). 
•  Emerging economies will continue to face  challenges related to its debt overhang, financial system, and demographics...
• .. much of the current gloomy discussion appears to be overblown.  

Source Bank of England

At Amherst- Janet Yellen 

"The labor market has achieved considerable progress over the past several years. Even so, further improvement in labor market conditions would be welcome because we are probably not yet all the way back to full employment. Although the unemployment rate may now be close to its longer-run normal level--which most FOMC participants now estimate is around 4.9 percent--this traditional metric of resource utilization almost certainly understates the actual amount of slack that currently exists: ..."

"judgments imply that the real interest rate consistent with achieving and then maintaining full employment in the medium run should rise gradually over time. This expectation, coupled with inherent lags in the response of real activity and inflation to changes in monetary policy, are the key reasons that most of my colleagues and I anticipate that it will likely be appropriate to raise the target range for the federal funds rate sometime later this year "

Source FRB

The views expressed here arewithout any risk or responsibility. 

IMF World Econonomic Outlook (July 9, 2015) on China Growth Rates

"After a major rally over the past year, with the Shanghai composite index up by over 150 percent when it peaked in mid-June, the Chinese stock market has declined by about 30 percent in recent days, with the authorities taking several steps to contain the decline and the rise in market volatility."

"Growth in emerging market and developing economies is projected to slow from 4.6 percent in 2014 to 4.2 percent in 2015, broadly as expected. The slowdown reflects the dampening impact of lower commodity prices and tighter external financial conditions—particularly in Latin America and oil exporters, the rebalancing in China, and structural bottlenecks, as well as economic distress related to geopolitical factors—particularly in the Commonwealth of Independent States and some countries in the Middle East and North Africa."

(Years 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016- the latter 2 are projections) 
China  7.7    7.4  6.8   6.3   

(India   6.9   7.3   7.5   7.5)

IMF World Economic Outlook ( July 9, 2015) sees emerging economies slow down...

"Global growth is projected at 3.3 percent in 2015, marginally lower than in 2014, with a gradual pick up in advanced economies and a slowdown in emerging market and developing economies. In 2016, growth is expected to strengthen to 3.8 percent.

 A setback to activity in the first quarter of 2015, mostly in North America, has resulted in a small downward revision to global growth for 2015 relative to the April 2015 World Economic Outlook (WEO). Nevertheless, the underlying drivers for a gradual acceleration in economic activity in advanced economies—easy financial conditions, more neutral fiscal policy in the euro area, lower fuel prices, and improving confidence and labor market conditions—remain intact.

 In emerging market economies, the continued growth slowdown reflects several factors, including lower commodity prices and tighter external financial conditions, structural bottlenecks, rebalancing in China, and economic distress related to geopolitical factors. A rebound in activity in a number of distressed economies is expected to result in a pickup in growth in 2016. 

 The distribution of risks to global economic activity is still tilted to the downside. Near-term risks include increased financial market volatility and disruptive asset price shifts, while lower potential output growth remains an important medium-term risk in both advanced and emerging market economies. Lower commodity prices also pose risks to the outlook in low-income developing economies after many years of strong growth" 


Without risk or responsibility 

Quality Assurance in Higher Educational Institutions : Simplifying it

Simplifying European Standards For Quality Among Higher Education Institutions In Emerging Economies[1]

Standard:  Policy

1.       Have a policy for quality assurance

2.       Release it in to the public domain

3.       Make that  policy  a part of the strategic management.

4.       involve external stakeholders.

Standard: Processes

1.       Have processes for the design and approval of programmes.

2.       Meet the objectives set for the programmes, including the targeted learning outcomes.

3.       Refer to the correct level of the national qualifications framework for higher education  

4.       To monitor and periodically review programmes to ensure that they achieve the objectives set and  respond to the needs of students and society.

5.       Continuous improvement of the programme.

Standard: Student Centric

1.       Deliver in a way that encourages students to be active

2.       Let students be an integral part in creating the learning process

3.       Let the assessment of students reflects this approach.

Standard: Regulations

1.       Consistently apply pre-defined and published regulations covering all phases of the student “life cycle”

Standard: Faculty

1.       Assure themselves of the competence of their teachers.

2.       Fair and transparent processes for the recruitment and development of the staff.

Standard:  Research

1.       appropriate funding for learning , research and teaching activities and ensure that adequate and readily accessible learning resources and support are provided.

Standard: Information Technology

1.       Institutions should ensure that they collect, analyze and use relevant information for the effective management of their programmes and other activities.

2.       Institutions should publish information about their activities, including programmes, which is clear, accurate, objective, up-to date and readily accessible.

Standard:  Quality Assurance

1.       Institutions should undergo external quality assurance  

2.       External quality assurance (EQA) should address the effectiveness of the internal quality assurance processes.

3.       EQA should be defined and designed  

4.       EQA processes should be reliable, useful, pre-defined, implemented consistently and published

5.       EQA cannot substitute a self-assessment or equivalent;

6.       EQA must include a site visit;

7.       EQA  must submit a report

8.       EQA Report must be consistently  followed-up.

9.       EQA should be carried out by groups of external experts  

10.    Complaints and appeals processes should be clearly defined  

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[1] Reference :Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area  Approved by the Ministerial Conference in May 2015  by   European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education

Fed believes that emerging economies can cope with the rate rise ...

From: Panel remarks by Mr William C Dudley, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, at the Sixth High Level Conference on the International Monetary System: Monetary Policy Challenges in a Changing World, Zurich, Switzerland, 12 May 2015.

Federal  Reserve believes that that many Emerging Market Economies (EMEs) generally seem better equipped to respond to the Fed's prospective exit from its exceptional policy accommodation than they were during past tightening cycles.  

" Among the positives are:

• The absence of pegged exchange rate regimes that often came undone violently during periods of acute stress;
• Improved debt service ratios and generally moderate external debt levels;
• Larger foreign exchange reserve cushions;
• Clearer and more coherent monetary policy frameworks, supporting what are now generally low to moderate inflation rates;
• Generally improved fiscal discipline; and
• Better capitalized banking systems, supported by strengthened regulatory and supervisory frameworks."

The Fed is obviously building grounds for a rate hike. as and when that happens. 

Views expressed without risk or responsibility

Why should Emerging Economies encourage Internet of Education?(IoEd)

Why should Emerging Economies encourage Internet of Education?(IoEd)

·         Accessibility to education is an issue among emerging economies. Remote area students do not obtain the same level of delivery proficiency as the students in the urbanized areas do get. Urban students have an elitist advantage by virtue of knowledge and technical accessibility. For a level playing field, developing an IoEd Platform at a macro level (perhaps in association with technology providers of an international stature ) will bring about economies of scale and economies of access. Emerging economies might have to plan for a centralized IoEd Platform to avoid the operational  risk enhancement and lack of compatibility s involved in divergent platforms.  Device management would vary and regulators might have inadequate access to functionality.

·         Quality of teaching is abysmally low in emerging economies. Teachers are reluctant to be innovative or do not seize technical advantages of the internet so as to help delivery better. Given that teaching is not a first choice for the graduate, emerging economies have to avoid slipping to a cycle of mediocrity where low level academic inputs bring about low level skill outputs. Quality assimilation among teachers leaves considerable scope for improvement. Given the vastness of numbers, teacher training is a difficult option as outreach is difficult. Given that time to delivery is short, there is a need for a mass level teacher training programme. That can only be facilitated by technology. One has to reckon with the reluctance of managements to take on the responsibility of training as they view it as a cost rather than an investment matter.

·         The Governmental / supranational intervention in collaborative effort with international technology and device providers (Intel, Cisco, IBM, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Samsung, Dell, HP) in creating an IoEd Platform should ensure an ongoing teacher training. This should be 'training anytime- training anywhere' and intensely personalized.  The costs of digital training are lower and comes down with every successive inductee. In the long run it is not just an economic investment but a social capital building. The IoEd should  bring teachers on to a network for peers where there will be collaborative learning and also anonymous querying.

·         For the student and the teacher, the usage of internet learning reduces the costs of learning.  While the initial investment is high (fixed costs) the average costs tend to come down with the induction of incremental numbers. As education acquires mass dimensions, the marginal costs turn negligible.

·         As resources are digitalized, and in a cloud driven environment inventorying knowledge is less expensive.

·         As international agencies (like UNESCO) and well reputed Universities like Harvard and Notre Dame are involved , this will lift the quality of teacher inputs to high levels.

·         Special needs' students can be approached with a tailored programme.

·         In the emerging economies, the social media has been intensely popular. This popularity can be leveraged on effectively and social media can blend with learning-  social networking services, (SNS), Wikipedia, web dictionaries, blogs, user created content (UCC) can be creatively put to use.

References:

UNESCO: Technologies in Higher Education: Mapping the Terrain

ISACA: Internet Of Things: Risk And Value Considerations

Note: This is a part of the author's research on the Internet of Education. Copyrights vest with the author. He can be contacted by email at jaynayar@gmail.com

Digitalizing Educational Throughput in Emerging Economies in the Days of The Internet of Things

The convergence of the digital and the physical realms induced by the Internet of Education (IoEd) in the educational  world is the new big trend in education.

Under the scheme of IoEd, a connected series of devices assist learning and teaching. A smart phone with a student, when interconnected on the internet, performs beyond its original, primary  function of receipt and transmission of calls. This connectivity although a secondary function, assumes import in the Age of IoT. The smart phone is equipped with technology that helps the students to source from several channels of information and knowledge which have networked knowledge sharing function such as  (access to video- films (You Tube, Khan Academy, Ted Talks), social networks, (forum of Edunext, MOOCS)  e-library (EBSCO); teaching/ learning education delivery platforms (Blackboard, Moodle) and general news  (from Reuters to Bloomberg alerts). 

This forward and backward linkages machine 2 machine (M2M) and Machines to Men (M2m) are transforming the education field in gargantuan proportions. Online learning is acquiring space and reducing the distance to education. In emerging economies, IoEd is more equitable and avoids elitism. The Internet of Education induced advanced digital learning transforms student lives by linking machines and systems to teaching and learning processes. As these machines and systems are interconnected, there are huge resultant learning economies and economies of scale at a macro-level for huge sized emerging countries like China and India. Inaccessibility ceases to be an issue, given the pervasiveness of digital  devices like smart phones. The technological transformation in the education landscape will  result in a 'big skill push' to the economy (compare the Make in India campaign of India Government) with emphasis on 'across the board' skill development.

The thinning of lines between online learning - click and mouse- and teaching services in brick and mortar schools will open up hitherto untapped dimensions in studies. Digital and physical learning would work in tandem. The inter-connectivity will help reduce the time to learning for the students. The less performing student will have a technical aid round the clock. Doubts are cleared in real time and the learning cycle is shortened. Human interventions (which are rather boring in actuality) are minimized thus augmenting productivity and value creation in education. Teacher talk time is reduced. In MacAulay's language 'the agony is abated' for the student!

Machine induced responsiveness leads to higher student satisfaction. The need for emerging economies is to blend educational expertise with technological expertise. A plethora of  digital-educational  companies must spring up (Let a thousand flowers bloom as Mao said) so that so that emerging economies run the race to be ahead of the learning and experience curve.

  

Innovation, design and learning need to be closely intertwined to learn from each other and adapt to each other,   Software development must be guided by the futuristic needs of education. They must juxtapose with the objectives and horizons of the educational hardware. Emerging economies may have to invest  in software centres exclusively for education. Software ought to be compatible with hardware availability as also be adaptable to a diverse and huge country (say as in China or India).  Connectivity is the contemporaneous confluence of communication (machine 2 machine; machine to human), collaboration (between hardware and software; between various education providers) and compatibility (of systems and with jurisdictions).

Platforms are essential to enable new learning.  A powerful platform would have the following features:

·         receipt of data

·         analytical abilities;

·         predictive abilities;

·         culling out insights from information;

·         interpreting data patterns on an ongoing basis;

·         simulative capabilities

·         optimal solution suggestions

·         it must be cyber - secure.  

How will the platform help the teacher?

·         It will equip him/ her with analytics, simulation, and optimization solutions.

·         It will help by sending across real time feedback;

·         It will assist in optimizing and real timing decisions.

·         It will help him strategize his approach;

·         It will help exception management such as top performer expectations and least performing student anxieties.

What should be the deliverables the education  sector should be looking for?

·         Prediction revealing education solutions

·         collecting real time education data

·         providing education intelligence

·         providing actionable insights  to teachers, administrators  and regulators

·         Smart software tools

·         analytics' abilities

·         algorithms to help achieve higher levels of efficiency  

·         A secure and reliable cloud-based platform  

·         monitoring and control management systems with real-time visibility  

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References for this Article:-

Annunziata, Marco ' The Value of Interconnectedness: Toward a new kind of industrial company '  General Electric

G´omeza Jorge, Hueteb Juan F., Hoyosa Oscar, Perezc Luis, Grigorid , Daniela 'Interaction System Based on Internet of Things as Support for Education' Procedia Computer Science 21 ( 2013 ) 132 – 139

Hannon, Valerie , Patton, Alec and Temperley, Julie : 'Developing an Innovation Ecosystem for Education' Cisco

Selinger , Michelle, Sepulveda, Ana and Buchan, Jim 'Education and the Internet of Everything How Ubiquitous Connectedness Can Help Transform Pedagogy' Cisco

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Note : These strands of thought are a part of the research work being undertaken by the author on the Internet of Education. Copyright of this material vests with the author, Jayaram Nayar. He can be contacted at jaynayar@gmail.com

Another warning from IMF Chief

Christine Lagarde[1] cautions   “low-low, high-high” scenario: the risk of low growth-low inflation, and high debt-high unemployment persists for a number of advanced economies.

(Excerpts Only)
Quote

Forecasts for most emerging and developing economies are slightly worse than last year, with lower commodity prices one of the main drivers. While they still represent more than two-thirds of global growth this year, there is tremendous diversity within this group. For example:

• India is a growth bright spot;
• China is slowing but growing more sustainably;
• Sub-Saharan Africa continues to perform strongly;
• Russia, on the other hand, is experiencing economic difficulties;
• Brazil is also stagnating;
• And many parts of the Middle East are beset by political and economic turmoil.

So we should not think of emerging economies as just one single group. Each country faces very specific circumstances, some of them easier, some of them more difficult.

*

Clearly, all policy space and levers must be utilized. It begins with demand support.

Continued monetary accommodation is needed, especially in the Euro Area and Japan.

*

Fiscal policy also needs to be calibrated to the strength of the recovery, without losing sight of debt sustainability over the medium term.

• Effective insolvency frameworks are crucial to tackle the private debt overhang and deal with the total stock of €900 billion in non-performing loans that is blocking credit channels.
• In Japan, the authorities need to sustain the momentum of the second and third “arrows”—fiscal consolidation and structural reforms—if the first arrow of monetary easing is to have the intended effect of lifting inflation and growth.
• By leveraging lower oil prices to reduce energy subsidies, emerging and developing oil-importers could save, on average, a full one percent of GDP in 2015—resources that could be reallocated to growth-enhancing investments such as infrastructure, education, or health.

These are some of the macroeconomic dimensions. What about the financial stability dimensions?

The bottom line is that risks to global financial stability are rising. The “new mediocre” growth environment is not a comfortable place with respect to financial stability.

Financial risks may have declined in some areas, but they have also been migrating to others—for example, from banks to non-banks, and from advanced economies toward emerging markets.

 Unquote 

Note: Without any risk or responsibility

[1] Managing Director, International Monetary Fund at Atlantic Council, April 9, 2015

The Internet of Education as a Curator

The Office of the Office of Educational Technology (United States Department of Education)  has come out with a remarkable work: 'Ed Tech Developer’s Guide'[1] The Report identifies 10 opportunities  and suggests in pragmatic wisdom as to  what can be done: Meaningful excerpts  which have universal  applicability including to emerging economies are attempted below:  

No	Opportunity	What can be done  by technology
1	Improving Mastery of Academic Skills	Apps to teach- To practice in realistic settings - interactive simulations- Think beyond delivering content—Tools that enable students to build and create-Projects that encourage deeper exploration of a particular topic - Merging teaching and assessing to pinpoint knowledge gaps - Probes of understanding - identifying competencies through formative assessments. - Educational games -Immersive learning experiences - Creating apps that put research-based methods into practice.
2	Developing Skills to Promote Lifelong Learning	Identify non-cognitive skills and behaviors - Believe that intelligence is malleable rather than fixed -Frame mistakes as opportunities to learn - Reward students who persist through solving difficult problems.   (Non-cognitive skills such as perseverance, self-regulation, and effective strategies -Enhance student motivation and engagement )
3	Increasing Family Engagement	Engage families through technology- Provide information to caregivers about student progress and homework in near real time and in languages spoken at home- Tool on a smart phone or in an offline mode for homes without an Internet connection- Help parents stay involved in their children’s school activities while balancing work or other responsibilities- Cultural orientation for new comers
4	Planning for Future Education Opportunities	Financial aid navigators- Course planners, Remote college counseling- College-to-career maps -Students plan for future - Future education plans- Helping school counselors increase both the reach and amount of support counselors- (Imagine  a “jobs available at graduation” tool that uses labor statistics about job growth-  Tools that interface with college course catalogs- Interactively plan various paths to college completion. Communicate with alumni so they can gain perspective and advice.
5	Designing Effective Assessments	Tools to help  teachers create and share formative assessments-Automate grading- streamline feedback -Expanding assessment item types (beyond multiple choice questions, etc.) - Detailed understanding of what students know and can do- Simulations- Heat maps- Ranking - Digital assessments--Measuring  non-cognitive skills (such as persistence, creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking).
6	Improving Educator Professional Development	Connect educators with each other and to educational experts-Help teachers reflect on their own practice- Provide educators support to master new strategies, techniques and tools - Available on-demand-  Differentiate for a range of levels of readiness and expertise - Curate content so teachers can find appropriate support and ideas -Showcase content-Specific best practices- Aligning tools and resources to relevant professional standards-Designed according to principles of adult learning and foster a growth mindset
7	Improving Educator Productivity	Streamline workflow- personalize instruction- Needs of diverse students- Create and share Lessons-Effectively adjust instruction, teachers need to track student progress and identify areas of struggle- Student performance data   in real time-identify important trends- Design tools that organize data visually for easier interpretation. -Share learning resources aligned with curricular standards.
8	Making Learning Accessible to All Students	The human-machine interface- Multiple ways for users to interact with and respond-  Interoperate with a screen reader- Advantage of accessibility settings in device operating systems-   Solving fundamental access problems in communication, organization, and social interaction is better- Delivery of learning must not clutter or confuse the delivery itself-  settings or controls within a separate functional area of the tool.
9	Closing Opportunity Gaps	Training for open education resources (OER),  - Curate content verified for quality and standards alignment -Curricular content to improved teaching practices -Leverage the usefulness of Internet connectivity- Equity of technical accessibility in  designing products- Slower systems should be able to access and experience application or service with the same ease as those using more cutting-edge technology.
10	Closing Achievement Gaps	Make a difference- Helping teachers- Involving Parents- Strengthening non-cognitive skills- Targeting academic subjects-Improving accessibility - Promote equal education opportunities for all.

  

This reading is a part of the literature survey  on the 'Internet of Education in Emerging Economies' Research by the author, Jayaram Nayar. He can be contacted at jaynayar@gmail.com

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[1] U.S. Department of Education (2015) 'Ed Tech Developer’s Guide' http://tech.ed.gov

An outlook from IMF that triggers worrying thoughts : Excerpts only

WHERE ARE WE HEADED? PERSPECTIVES ON POTENTIAL OUTPUT[1]

"

• Potential output growth across major advanced and emerging market economies has declined in recent years. In advanced economies, this decline started as far back as the early 2000s.
• Unlike previous crises, the global financial crisis has been associated not only with a reduction in the level of potential output in advanced and emerging market economies, but also with a persistent reduction in its growth rate.
• Potential growth in advanced economies is likely to increase slightly from current rates but remain below pre-crisis rates in the medium term. The main reasons are aging populations and the slow increase in capital growth from current rates as output and investment recover gradually from the crisis.
• In emerging market economies, potential output growth is expected to decline further in the medium term, because of ageing populations, weaker investment, and lower productivity growth as technological gaps between these economies and advanced economies get narrower.
• Reduced prospects for potential growth will raise new policy challenges such as achieving fiscal sustainability. Increasing potential output will need to be a priority in major advanced and emerging market economies."

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[1] World Economic Outlook, April 2015 Prepared by Patrick Blagrave, Mai Dao, Davide Furceri (team leader), Roberto Garcia-Saltos, Sinem Kilic Celik, Annika Schnücker, Juan Yepez, and Fan Zhang; http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2015/01/pdf/3sum.pdf

The School of Things in Emerging Economies

 Schools are repositories of stakeholder trust as to the future of students and must retain this status. Schools of the future will  transform to a system of student relationship management and use these their relationships to ensure macro objectives of a highly connected learning ecosystem.  The future  schools will have to work towards, personalized service that meets the student’s educational  and non-educational  needs. The traditional delivery mode would have to be supplemented by a host of dis-intermediating channels.

What will the School of Things aim to  do in emerging economies?

• ·         To deliver the learning  experience students of the future seek
• ·         To optimize the opportunities the School of things era will provide,
• ·         To capitalize on  the enormous amount of student data that schools already possess
• ·         To integrate data with an ongoing feedback from social media for new academic insights.
• ·         To use data analytics  as enablers
• ·         To customize and tailor to meet individual needs to  making it a level playing field.
• ·         To absorb that student backgrounds and intellectual abilities vary.
• ·         To  innovate and transform to better anticipate and different student constituent needs.

 The Transformation to the School of Things

Schools will become a key part of their students’ ecosystem and social community. They will achieve this by developing special alliances and partnerships that enable them to ensure  mutual connectivity with all stakeholders.

The School of things will anticipate less performing students’ needs and respond to their circumstances, offering timely, relevant supportive solutions that help to achieve their learning goals. Schools then remain repositories of  trust, facilitators of learning and value aggregators to the community.

The School of things are data purveyors. The data captured by relevant smart devices will enable the School of things to provide students with an integrated approach to learning and give them a real time feedback on performance and solutions.   Schools of the future will use the data to gain insights and to anticipate student needs and be proactive. They would offer e- tutorial advice and e- solutions to assist students chart their passage. The successful Schools of the future will be those that help their students achieve superior results. The School of things will use connected devices to monitor students’ actual behavior and adjusting  their methods of teaching accordingly.

The School of Things will create a borderless, internet driven experience across both on site and off site  channels to deliver a superior student experience. The School of things would need to collaborate with ecosystem partners to extend this all pervasive reach and to unify learning with factors that impinge into areas of their students’ lives. These partners could include other educational services institutions, standard setting institutions which are regulatory or self regulated, mobile innovators,  telecom companies, retailers or technology firms.

The Internet of  Schools will be characterized by continually changing technology and infrastructure. Schools of the future will need to invest in developing their capabilities and capacity for change.  Schools of the future will continuously re-train themselves to be technologically shifting. Innovation is the key as schools cannot any more be responsive but must be perceived proactive - ahead in thinking and of times.  The transformation from School to School of things will be an ongoing process, one that will demand continual innovation to anticipate and the agility to react to the ever changing student needs of tomorrow’s students and perennial partnerships to help the transition and transformation.  

These strands of thought are a part of the research work being undertaken by the author on the Internet of Education in Emerging Economies.

Copyright of this article and its contents vests with the author of this blog: Jayaram Nayar. He can be contacted at email: jaynayar@gmail.com