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Reinventing HR with Technological advancement in the post-pandemic scenario.

What Is HR Tech? An HR professional plays an important role in organizing and executing functions in an organization to help it achieve scalability in an overall sense. Right from recruiting, onboarding and managing talent, all HR operations, tasks and services are being automated. The process of automating all HR tasks using state-of-the-art software and tools to accomplish ordinary and everyday tasks is known as HR tech. According to statistics by Randstad, in 2016 alone, global investments in HR Tech were estimated to be around $1.96 billion. This statistic shows that the future of businesses, talent acquisition and management is through HR tech. What Is The Current State Of The HR Tech Market? The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the use of HR tech right from small to large scale businesses as the entire workforce went online. The lingo in the market is calling us ‘Digital Citizens.’ Many organizations have given the liberty of permanent work-from-home to their employees as they have the necessary HR software in place to monitor and track the digital footprints left by them. One thing to ponder is what is the future like for HR tech in India? Based on statistics by Globenewswire, The global HR technology market is projected to grow from USD 24.04 billion in 2021 to USD 35.68 billion in 2028 at a CAGR of 5.8%. Therefore it is safe to say that the current state of the market looks ripe for HR tech start-ups, businesses and investors. The rising wave of next-gen HR tech is heavily implementing data analytics, machine learning, AI and advanced automation along with other disruptive technologies. Existing HR tech tools are also being redefined to create innovative solutions to manage talent. Leveraging HR tech will provide companies with a significant edge over their competitors. HR tech in India is taking a leap in the right direction. Maximum companies already have or are trying to acquire HR tech software and tools to optimize operations and minimize human errors. Many companies are seamlessly integrating their policies with technology to help employees in all stages of work. All forward-thinking enterprises are undergoing digital transformation to take advantage of the cloud. Hence, implementing the latest HR tech tools and software is the logical next step. Latest HR Tech Trends In 2021 The technological shift in HR tech and entire business processes is prominently visible to the entire world. The digital transformation has made a significant impact on everyday HR functions. When tasks are automated, easy and quick access to data is the biggest perk. Everything from recruitment, attendance to payroll is coordinated and maintained by HR tech tools. If you are wondering whether HR tech is efficient for important processes and services then the answer is a big YES. In the modern-day virtual and hybrid workspace tasks like remote talent management, employee wellbeing, feedback and engagement are being tracked and maintained by HR software. Let’s look at some of the latest trends in HR tech: Augmented Analytics – AI-powered tools allow easier access to data and hence, visualization becomes clearer. Using AI processes to systemize tedious tasks allows HR professionals to save time. AI for Talent Acquisition – Some special AI-powered tools and platforms fish out the ideal candidate based on employer preferences. AI for Employee Engagement – There are built-in sections in HR platforms that are powered by AI. They are specially designed to help employees communicate. They help in increasing productivity by enabling direct communication and mind mapping. Cloud-based HR – Leveraging cloud-based HR technology gives more power to the employees and allows them to measure efficiency and interaction on their own. Right from data security to learning and development, there is a multitude of benefits of using cloud computing. Virtual Reality – Many organizations are leveraging virtual reality to demonstrate and train employees in real-time from any part of the world. Even processes like onboarding, interviews and previews are happening with the support of technologies like virtual reality. [Source: peoplematters] ArdorComm Media’s HR Webinar on “Reinventing HR with Technological advancement in the post-pandemic scenario” on 29th Oct from 4 pm onwards. ArdorComm Media is a path-breaking and growing media organization that is a host to different sectors including healthcare, education, HR, government and media and entertainment. We organize events in various industries to invite thought leaders and subject-matter experts to address the latest trends, challenges and solutions to accelerate knowledge exchange and innovations. Our upcoming webinar on HR will talk about how HR-Tech is flawlessly upgrading business processes. If you want a chance to network with experts and peers to indulge in collaborations for the growth of your business, you should definitely be a part of the event. The event will be jam-packed with attendees from all over the country and speakers from notable enterprises. The key topics of discussions are: How can HR-tech help in managing workflow & informational shifts Easy data management & minimization in human errors due to modern-day HR-tech Increase in ROI by Human Capital Management solutions Increase in data visibility and superior connectivity with cloud computing If you are employers, HR leaders, managers and recruiters, you should join the event to witness the revolution in HR tech and discover the latest trends in the HR tech market. Looking forward to seeing you in the webinar!

Digital Health: A Vision of Modern India 2021

  1. What is Digital Health Technology? The World Health Organization (WHO) defines digital health as the “application of organized knowledge and skills in the form of devices, medicines, vaccines, procedures, and systems developed to solve a health problem and improve quality of lives.” To explain the term more efficiently, the use of computing platforms, software and sensors for healthcare and wellness of the entire population is known as digital health technology. It is a broad multidisciplinary concept that blends health and technology together to support the equitable and universal distribution of healthcare services across the globe. Soon, the medical fraternity and healthcare technology experts will share their acquired digital health intelligence with the world and impoverished nations to eradicate diseases and anomalies. We are looking towards a future that will leverage practices like telehealth and telemedicine to treat patients. 2. Digital Health Innovations The healthcare system of India has always been burdened with the overwhelming population of the country rushing to hospitals for treatment. On top of it, the pandemic posed myriad complexities for the country’s healthcare system. India still doesn’t enjoy overall and equitable distribution and access to technology which has caused digital health inequalities in various parts of the country. However, many technology startups are emerging in the digital health market with brilliant solutions that could help a huge chunk of the population remotely. Digital health innovations in the country include: Mobile health Health and wellness applications Big Data Telehealth Electronic medical records with interoperability of data Personal genomics Diagnostics Medical imaging Wearable technologies (fitness trackers, medical devices, etc.) Technologies to support integrated care [Source: RGNUL, Research Paper] During the pandemic, the government came up with a GPS-tracking system to track the movement of the patients who were quarantined at their homes. This means that with increasing necessity, there will be more innovations to suit online medical assistance. 3. Digital Health Trends As digital tools begin to have fundamental impacts on medical assistance and patient care, new innovations and tools will act as facilitators of digital health in India. However, one has to understand that adoption of new digital health methods and tools will take time as providing concrete evidence for regulation and adoption is a critical manoeuvre. We can certainly say that India will witness the applications of digital therapeutics soon in 2021 and so forth. Let’s take a look at the digital health trends during the COVID-19 pandemic. Digital Therapeutics Mobile Apps – Gave information about COVID-19, self-assessment options and monitoring Disease Management Apps – Remote patient monitoring Bulk emailing and text messaging – helped patients communicate with medical experts for assistance and wellbeing Web-based Interactive Programs – programs for healthcare delivery, insomnia, physical therapy and other therapeutic interventions Digital Health Records Telemedicine – virtual patient visits by healthcare experts In-home Connected Virtual Assistants – to guide people to healthcare information, data, records or to push reminders Clinical Trial Tools – to collect patient information and initiate virtual trials Connected biometric sensors – to track vitals and help patients monitor themselves Consumer Wearable – monitor patient activity [Source: IQVIA Institute] 4. ArdorComm Media’s Webinar On ‘Digital Health: A Vision of Modern India’ ArdorComm Media is a growing media organization with its branches spread in various industries including Healthcare, Education, HR, Governance & Media and Entertainment. The upcoming event on ‘Digital Health: A Vision of Modern India’ will take place on 28th October 2021. The event aims to initiate discussions on digital healthcare practices and tools in India to revolutionize the existing healthcare ecosystem of the country. The webinar will be power-packed with leading healthcare and technology experts, startups, subject-matter experts, healthcare sales and pharmaceutical reps and much more. The theme of the event is ‘Rapid Digitization of Healthcare in Post-Pandemic India’ and the key takeaways are: Blend of technology in modern and traditional medicine Role of technology in preventive healthcare AI in healthcare facilitating long-term care management Latest innovations in remote healthcare monitoring in India Join the event to interact with like-minded experts to expand your network for personal and professional growth. Your presence will help India to move one step closer towards our vision of digital health for India.

India’s 1st and Biggest ‘New Normal – Educational Leadership Summit & Awards’, held on 30th Sep & 1st Oct at Gurugram

ArdorComm Media, a growing media organisation hosted India’s First & Biggest ‘New NormalEducation Leadership Summit & Awards 2021’ (#ELSA2021) on 30th Sep & 1st Oct 2021 at Hotel Radisson, Gurugram.‘Jabra’ was the presenting partner. AICTE (Under Ministry of Education, Govt. of India), Department of Collegiate & Technical Education, Government of Telangana associated as’Government supporting partners’ and National Book Trust (Under Ministry of Education, Govt. of India) associated as ‘Knowledge Partner’. India’s 1st & Biggest ‘New Normal-Education Leadership Summit & Awards 2021’ built the congregation of Indian Education Community from pan India as a re-union after a long gap of almost 2 years. The event witnessed the convergence of education leaders and innovators from various institutions, schools, organizations, universities, EdTech &startups. Shri Chandan Anand, Founder, CEO & Editor, ArdorComm Media Group said,’New Normal Education Leadership Summit & Awards 2021’, #ELSA2021 is a forum to propeldiscussions on ‘Empowering the Education Community for Socio-Digital Transformation’ in this VUCA world”. ‘New Normal’ event unfolded the latest trends in the education and technology sector. Higher-ups in the education sectors like Chancellors, Trustees, Vice Chancellors, CEOs, MDs, Directors, Principals and government dignitaries came together to express their views to empower students to make judicious use of technology in education. Eminent speakers & special guests at this event were: Major Harsh Kumar, Secretary, NCERT, Under Ministry of Education, Govt of India Shri Yuvraj Malik, Director, National Book Trust, Under Ministry of Education, Govt. of India Dr. (Mrs) Pankaj Mittal, Secretary-General, Association of Indian Universities Shri Kuwar Shekhar Vijendra, Co-founder and Chancellor, Shobhit University, Meerut Prof. Prabhat Ranjan,Vice-Chancellor, D Y Patil International University, Pune Mr Peter Jayaseelan- Managing Director (South Asia), Jabra Dr. S. K. Rathor, Founder, Chairman & MD, Sanfort Group of Schools Dr. Niyati Chitkara, Director, Chitkara International School, Chandigarh Under the umbrella of innovators, educators and growth stakeholders, the event attendees had a wonderful panel and roundtable discussions on the propagation of education with technology and innovation as the central pillars. For the betterment of the Indian education system, the New Normal- Education Leadership Summit & Awards 2021 held the discussions on various topics that embarked people on a journey to create futuristic education that enables students of all ages to learn according to their pace and interests. Thought provoking sessions were on the trending topics like: Digital Citizenship: Empowering Students to Focus on Opportunities of the Digital World. Reinventing the learning experience for the “new normal” The Immersive Classroom: Customize Learning Experiences with AR/VR & New Age Technology. The Rise of Socio-emotional Learning and Cultural Competence Unleashing The Potential of Education 4.0; The future of Teaching & Learning. Reinventing the learning experience for the “new normal” Technology: A Facilitator for Independent Learning & Computational Thinking The Physical, Emotional, and Mental Wellbeing of Students in the Virtual Era Examination Assessments – Tools & Technology Is Technology the Practical Solution to Project-Based Learning? The award ceremony celebrated the success stories and exemplary contribution of the trend setters, innovators, education leaders, academicians, who have been tirelessly and fiercely working for the betterment of the education community during this unprecedented time. The felicitation ceremony was hosted to felicitate Higher Education Institutes, Schools, Universities, Corporate & Start-ups for their excellent contribution to the education sector. New Normal- Education Leadership Summit & Awards 2021 was an important knowledge sharing platform of education community that cared deeply about imparting education and making teaching- learning process smoother and accessible to all. It highlighted a glimpse of the education fraternity comprising of India’s top educators, innovators and dignitaries who came together to share their best practices and views. Let’s vow to be the game-changers in the education community in 2021. Thank you for participating & witnessing India’s 1st & Biggest New Normal Event, ArdorComm– Education Leadership Summit & Awards 2021.

Is the trending technology making a better impact on education?

Big Data, the Internet of things, and Machine Learning are the latest trends in education. However, during Covid-19 these trends became the major path to connect learning and the learner. Students in this new pandemic era have to get used to distance learning. In this situation, online teaching was the only best substitute available.  On the other hand, even if schools go back to normal and reopen, the online education trends will still be a trend to stay. These latest Edtech trends are being revolutionized with a strong focus on connectivity, versatility, and student-centric learning. Edtech technologies can only be successful when it can endure its technology to do overall improvement of learning in all aspects. As the Association for educational communications and technology (AECT) has defined EdTech as facilitating, learning, and improving performance by creating using, and managing appropriate technology. On the other hand, educators have an easier way of interpreting EdTech. They say it is the way of converting book learning into eLearning. According to them the main essence of learning is either through EdTech or Traditional education, only lies in the way the knowledge is being delivered to the learner. Hence, in the end, educators do appreciate these new EdTech trends for making learning effective. That too in the pandemic situations where it was the lender of last resort. Why it is so necessary? No doubt EdTech has improved the learning process. It has replaced the traditional ways of learning with certain new trends. There are so many changes that have revived the way of educating and education. We must look into the fact that how this has improved the way of learning. Innovative teaching methods: Any technology that we look around is an innovation by humans. While technologies get adapted to the teaching environment. It has made the teaching innovative and effective. The new EdTech trends are allowing the teachers to use various new aspects of technologies and be creative in the way of their teaching. Another special perk that EdTech has given teachers is to allow them to design online courses for students. Which can be learned and accessed by students in their own time and space. By this, barriers to learning are being eradicated with simplifying education. Teaching and learning process simplified: EdTech is not just making learning ways easy be it online or offline. It is also creating possibilities for making learning more fun as a process. EdTech makes the student feel more engaged in learning through virtual reality, gamification, and live interaction.  Improve Collaborative teaching: Initially, it was becoming a challenge that how technology will be able to bring back or make up for the classroom essence that is missing. Now EdTech tools have created a system where teachers and students can connect, discuss and share their opinions and act accordingly to find a relatable solution. Within E-learning it is easy for students to communicate and discuss topics among peers. Here teachers can act as a mentor and simplify the process as more of a productive discussion and not just one-sided listening.

Government Smart City Mission: Great Opportunity to Invest and Make in India

The smart way to make the troublesome lives of many people better. For ages, the whole country and its inhabitants have felt the need for a smart, modern and agile India. Many governments have made concrete promises of developing and fixing the numerous loopholes in terms of infrastructure, development, connectivity and urbanizing cities. However, only recently, we can see the gears turning up and India heading towards progress.  Why are smart cities crucial for India’s development? India is the second-most populous country in the world. Therefore, we definitely are dealing with an overpopulation crisis here. Serving and catering to the needs of the population is becoming an increasingly difficult task. No matter how much effort you put in, some people are always left out from the benefits. This problem can only be solved when our cities and facilities are democratized, revolutionized and urbanized keeping in mind carbon-neutral and sustainable development goals.  The main areas where cities face problems in India are waste management, water pollution, air pollution, sustainability, traffic jams, and other pressing issues like crime. These issues cannot be resolved just by putting hands, brains and feet together. It needs smarter solutions. Therefore, the government has come up with a smart city mission to make this country a better place for our future generations.  The main objective of the smart city mission will be to develop and provide modern infrastructure and give a decent life to the residents all around the clock. Issues like scarcity of electricity and clean drinking water, better public transportation, use of modern technology for navigation, internet and temperature determination will be catered to in these plans.  Important concerns regarding the environment will also be looked after in smart city missions. Climate change is a world concern and India has to contribute its fair share in solving this crisis. Therefore, cleaner, sustainable and environment-friendly practices will have to be included in the smart city mission.  India’s Ministry of Urban Development is responsible for implementing this project countrywide. These programs will be a joint collaboration of the central and the respective state governments. According to the current plan, these plans are set to start and end in the time period of 2020 to 2023. Apart from West Bengal, all states and union territories are taking part in the mission by nominating at least one of their cities for the initiative.  In FY 2021, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman allotted a budget of INR 6,450 to the smart city mission highlighting various issues to be eliminated for the progress of the country. The flow of funds is said to increase for the Ministry of Urban Development shortly. The pandemic has slowed down the process of implementation, allotment, planning and construction of many smart city initiatives. But, once the COVID-19 scenario improves, these projects are going to be in full swing.  The scheme will also help in economic development and will create numerous employment opportunities in the near future.  According to Business Standard, the Centre and state governments had proposed to spend Rs 48,000 crore each over five years. By June 23, 2021, Rs 40,622 crore (42%) of the Rs 96,000 crore was released. Rs 27,862 crore (69%) was utilised, according to utilisation certificates submitted by the cities.  Though these projects are slow to progress and completion, we have hope that after the pandemic and some economic stability, these plans will be fast-tracked and resumed for work.

Healthcare startups bridging the gap between healthcare facilities and patients in India

Corona Virus threatened people not just from getting sick but also from going to hospitals. A fear surged in the minds of people that hospitals have become a riskier place to visit, while you are unhealthy, as the infectious patients and environment can increase the risk even more. This fear motivated a lot many people to look up to the existing healthcare startups which were able to help a lot of people in terms of medical facilities. It allowed people to get consultations, medicines, and lab tests done through online services without visiting the hospital. Some of the most known healthcare startups in India are as follows PharmEasy: PharmEasy is a healthcare startup that focuses on providing medical deliveries and diagnostics through its online platform. The startup provides you with a mobile app to allow ordering medicines from the local store and applying for a sample collection from home for diagnosis.  The startup was founded in 2015 and its head office is located in Mumbai. Practo: Another revolutionary online healthcare startup, Practo offers its users to book online appointments with doctors. Get a doctor consultation through a phone call or a video call.  It is a platform that has brought the doctor and the patient online and bridged the gap between the patient and the treatment. Along with that practo also allows the services of ordering medicines online. And to get the diagnostic test samples collected from home and deliver the test result online. The perks of getting a chat-based telemedicine solution are also available with practo. The company was founded in 2008, having its head office in Bangalore. Innovacer: Innovacer is an innovative platform that delivers cloud-based and Artificial Intelligence-based data analytics. This product is used by the health care centers to get easy management of its patients’ data and related data. Innovacer has developed a data activation cloud-based system that collects, analyzes, and delivers a total analysis report of any patient’s health. The various products this company offers are; INote, InConnect, InGraphand, in care. The company was founded in 2014, with its head office in San Francisco (United States) and Noida (India) Indegene: Indegene is a payer solution company for its patients. The portfolio of the company includes various services like; Transformation, member acquisition, and engagement, care management, Medicare analyzing and provider, as well as ACO solutions. The company was founded in 1998 and has its head office in Princeton (United States) and Ahmedabad (India). Axtria: Axtria is a data analytics software company serving the healthcare sector. It serves clients who are engaged in; sales, customer, marketing, revenue, risk, and supply chain management. Axtria helps its clients with data which can help its clients with several services that start from planning, forecasting optimization to achieve scoring, reporting, and visualization. The risk solution segments include various services like regulatory compliance, portfolio risk management, operational risk, and risk strategy development. Currently, the company serves more than 30 clients including 5 fortunes and 50 companies. It was founded in 2010, with its head office Berkeley Heights (United States), Haryana (India) These health tech startups are changing the whole concept of the healthcare system and healthcare management.   Easing the healthcare services and making them more friendly, flexible, and reachable. Source: Tracxn

Digitalization in healthcare making the sector touch the sky

Introduction The pandemic hit the whole world very hard leaving the healthcare system to be the topmost priority of any country and society. With this, the outreach of healthcare has also become very important. Be it primary healthcare or secondary healthcare. Its reach can be accomplished very fast with digitalization.  Various digital platforms have arrived in the market like; Arogya setu app, telemedicine portal,mapping of patients, online medical appointments booking app. Online medical consultation app, Teleconsultation, smart devices, intelligent AI-based diagnosis. All this has been proved to be a revolution in the healthcare segment. As published in eHealthnetwork, it is being said that keeping in mind the need of healthcare facilities in every nuke and corner during the pandemic. The government of India has launched a National Digital Health Mission, to digitize healthcare records across the country. This data centralization will help the hospitals work efficiently.  Digitalization in the health sector and data centralization will make the whole functioning of health care fast. It will allow fast inpatient treatments, the assistance of machine learning or artificial intelligence invarious treatments. It will also save time in the administrative work and make the functioning more flexible and faster.  A lot of digitalized facilities are changing the phase of healthcare. Since these new digitalized methods have been applied to healthcare, the stigma of making healthcare a struggle has been leaving people’s minds. Especially in tier two, tier three cities, and rural areas. Where people had to first reach the health care services putting a lot at stake and no emergency facilitation was available. Digitalization is helping to bridge the gap so far so well. Clinical support through video calling: Trouble in finding a doctor for your specific health issue-related needs is quite a task. Especially when the city infrastructure doesn’t have a strong healthcare base or a wide network of healthcare base. Applications like Practo, apollocircle, and many more have made this non-thinkable thing possible. All you need is a smartphone and an internet connection. With that one has the feasibility to consult the doctor related to specific needs through video calling. This has enabled people to find immediate health solutions with expert assistance anytime anywhere. As per beckershospitalreview.com ‘live video telemedicine’ usage increased to 43 percent among consumers in 2020. Apps like Arogya setu are letting collect data of health on digital platforms. This data collection has allowed a fast network information system related to healthcare and provided appropriate information to users about the availability of vaccines, vaccination centers and the number of active covid cases, and much more suggestions.  As per bekerhospitalreview.com, digital health tracking tools saw the biggest growth in 2020, rising from 42 percent adoption rates in 2019 to 52 percent in 2020.   Ever since the pandemic hit the world and made people realized what an important role a healthy body and good immunity can play. People became more aware of their health tracking status on a day-to-day basis and also started focusing more on staying fit. In this situation, fitness bands became the most bought devices by a huge population. As per the data in bekershospitalreview.com, wearable health-tracking tech device ownership increased from 33 percent in 2019 to 43 percent in 2020. All these online medicine delivery apps and health insurance apps have also become more popular. All these new interventions through digitalization in healthcare. Has brought the whole healthcare system online.  Conclusion  All these new interventions through digitalization in healthcare, has brought the whole healthcare system online. A person today has the power to track his or her health status, check nearby hospitals, and availability of doctors with charges. Consult a doctor online anytime anywhere. Get the status of the health care situation of his or her area. Get the medical outreach and delivery anywhere. With this, the entry of Artificial intelligence and machine learning is almost eradication the high demand of the healthcare workforce so far.

Employees mental and physical stress is now a priority for HR

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Introduction The human resource department plays a key role in maintaining a quality workforce. There are a lot of issues that have approached the working organization in various ways. The physical and mental stress of employees is one of the major problems. That HR has to face during the pandemic. The effect of the covid-19 pandemic Shaked the base of the working class. According to the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMEI). The average employment went down from 404 million in March 2019 to 283 million in April 2020. This signifies that almost 122 people lost their jobs out of which 27 million were youth. As per data estimation, there were 78 million entrepreneurs and businesses in 2019-20, which got reduced to around 60 million in April 2020.  All these factors have affected the market, economy, and people adversely. In this meantime, health became the major concern for the Human Resource Department of any organization. The physical health of employees got hampered to a great extent during a pandemic. The restricted physical movement and lack of interaction from the outer world made employees weak. In the sense of wrong eating habits, lack of exercise and not being able to move. This impacted their work quality as well. Health concerns also became a priority and no one knew till how long covid-19 infected employees shall be on leave. Extended leave. Lack of proper workforce and providing extra support to employees during covid-19. Did create a hole in the company’s pockets. With that, it became difficult to manage the human resource fluently.  An imbalance by HR was noticed in the work-life of its employees. As the home and work got mixed making it a forced work from home situation. Along with that HR had to deal with the uncertainties of letting work restart from the office again and ensuring safety for a longer run became another major concern. A lot of employees went through various stress issues that led to certain health problems like Blood Pressure, hypertension, and many more. Thus, the lack of productivity was a major concern for the Human Resource department of any organization.  Fear of losing jobs is another reason for increased depression among employees.  Now to deal with cutting down on unwanted workforce. Along with not letting other employees be affected mentally, became a major challenge for the Human Resources department. Conclusion A lot of concerns got generated by the Human Resource department of any organization. For ensuring the productivity of its employees. Hence encouraging employees to take continuous health checkups. Organizing online webinars on stress management became a priority for the Human Resource department. With that managing the health-related data of employees and keeping a track of tending out to the most important task of Human Resource department during the pandemic.

Edtech trends that can make the older education system face the music

Introduction Education forms the base of any society, nation, and region. Any development and improvement of people and community depend on education. But more than that ensuring quality education is a major task for the whole education system. Covid-19 pandemic has dragged the whole world online and education too. Today the teaching, assignments, learning, and evaluation all are happening online. A new intuitional network is formed in the education system. This new era has brought several new trends in education with updating technology on a day-to-day basis.  According to Association for education communication and Technology (AECT), edtech is something that facilitates learning and improves performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources.  As published in Analytics Insight, Google suggests that the Edtech market is expected to cater to around 9.6 million users and has a market share of US $1.96 billion by 2021. Several edtech trends have emerged and are expected to stay in the market for a long.  Virtual augmented reality: Virtual reality is giving the student a whole new experience of learning. Gone are days when students have to depend on teachers drawing with chalks on boards or using appropriate charts or else a traditional presentation. Now through virtual augmented reality, students are getting an insight into every topic. It is giving students a feel of every detail related to any subject and visualizes learning making it much easier.  Blockchain technology: The Disrupted Ledger Technology from Blockchain brings a great deal of storing data effortlessly. Gone are days for keeping piles of books, notebooks, and notes. With fluent blockchain technology transfer of data has also become transparent and fast. The whole education material can be saved and surfed online. This will save a lot of time for students as well as teachers. Along with that, it will make the work effective and easily accessible for students as well as teachers.  Smartphone technology: Gone are the days when the non-affordability of the laptop was a hurdle to get all the technical assistance. The millennial generation has the opportunity to explore the ocean of possibilities with a variety of smartphones and applications. Students can save all their education-related material in one single folder on their phones. Controlling everything they need to study in one small smartphone. It allows a great deal of flexibility and lets students get rid of heavy bags. Artificial Intelligence: Artificial intelligence is known as the base of edtech. Artificial intelligence is gaining a lot of importance and can be seen as a prevalent player in a lot of sectors, including education. AI has made it a lot easy to take attendance through its face recognition technology. It is also allowing to invigilate online exams. So that scope of any cheating is minimized and the monitoring of exams can be done without human assistance. This has ensured the quality of online exams and helped in maintaining a decorum examination even online. Robotics: In many cases where students need extra attention. For example, for a visually impaired student having voice assistance can be very helpful. Robotics can help a normal student too, for learning various topics without teachers’ assistance all the time. Robots learn from humans and humans learn from robots. Thus, in the field of education, the more a robot will learn the more it can help students in learning. Through various artificial intelligence technologies. Big Data: Today data is said to be the new oil. The one who has it can change the game. In the case of education as well. The right kind of data at the right time can create wonders for making the education process fluent and easy. Not just for students but also teachers.  Conclusion A lot of education technology have made their way to comfort zone of the education system. Today’s generation doesn’t miss the essence of the old education system. Because the new edtech trends are letting them explore endless possibilities. There are still a lot of new trends yet to approach the edtech community. With that, we are yet to see how fluent and easily accessible education is going to become in coming future.

Reopening of schools: A concern as well as the need of the hour

The covid-19 pandemic gave the world several shocks. Nonetheless, this didn’t leave the education system behind. In the whole world, the total scenario of education changed. Be it, classes, lectures, assignments, and tests came online. Although while education did become available online. Schools drifted apart from students. It’s been more than a year and students still have no near hopes of enjoying school days any day soon. As per the United Nations agency, 1.5 million schools remained closed during the 2020 lockdown, which saw the damage of study opportunities for 247 million children to be enrolled in elementary and secondary school. In addition to over six million girls and boys who were already out of school prior covid-19 the crisis began.  Many states have decided to reopen schools, like Bihar, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh. Many private colleges have reopened in metro cities but with no compulsion over attendance. In 2018 many schools were shut in Maharashtra and other states of the country. Saying there was a need to shut these schools as it was near to no use. That also made the village students travel more and did hamper their education.  A year ago teaching went fully online but that couldn’t maintain the education wavelength. A school and college not only provide knowledge and information. It’s a place where the overall development of a person happens. A great matter of concern especially for the young kids missing primary education and basic developments. On the other hand, it has involved and taken a lot of involvement of parents to indulge their kids into studies. As a matter of concern, virtual education may ensure teaching but doesn’t ensure learning.  UNESCO said more than 888 million children worldwide, continue to face disruption to their education due to full or partial school closure. Globally schools for more than 168 million children have been completely closed for almost a full year, as per the reports. With this, around 214 million children all over the world have missed out on three-quarters of their in-person learning.  According to a study, only 8 Indian states and union territories have reopened schools from class I to XII. Whereas another 11 states have reopened schools for classes VI to XII and 15 states opened schools only for classes IX-XII. In addition, three states have reopened Anganwadi centers, with these younger children are losing a lot on their foundational learning phases.  Even if schools do reopen it will not be the same again any sooner. Putting on a mask and with the fear of third-wave effecting children the most. It is again a dilemma whether children shall go to school or stay at home. When this wasn’t enough, many schools and colleges attempted to hike fees during a pandemic. This act has to face a huge backlash from parents. While a lot of people are facing financial crunches, it is considered very insensitive by an educational institution to hike fees. On the other hand, a lot of parents demanded compensation from schools. Stating the online education does not fulfill the criteria to charge the whole fee.  Another concern raises in judging the intellects of students who cleared exams and degrees during the pandemic. The students are going to suffer for no reason. With no doubt, we can say it has discouraged students from studying hard. In the coming days, the matter of concern is not just the reopening of school. But also reopening of a normal education environment with safety. No one knows if that time is coming any sooner.