Tag: Ali Sait

Business World

Tech Avant-Garde becomes the first company to partner with NPCI-BBPS for online payment of fees for schools, educational institutions during COVID-19

Oct 20, 2020 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #(CBSE, #Ali Sait, #NPCI-BBPS, #Tech Avant-Garde

Tech Avant-Garde (TAG), the technology-powered Ed-Tech company, has become the first company in Indian education sector to partner with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) for the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) conceptualized system, for online payment of fees in schools and other educational institutions.

Due to the pandemic educational institutions are experiencing two issues – one is to transform their teaching-learning process the other is the fee collection process. TAG fostered Efeeonline is collaborating with Bharat Bill Pay System (BBPS) to enable digital fee payments. Efeeonline is a bespoke management system, which helps educational institutions to transform their legacy manual fee collection system to a digital system. The fees can now be paid from anywhere, any place or on any device.

Today about 18,000 schools are uploaded on this platform for fees collections. TAG has an MOU with NISA (National Independent School Alliances), which has 55,000 school as its Members; and TRESMA (Telangana Private School Association), which has 9,000 Members Schools. The above associations have mandated TAG to transform their member schools into a Connected Learning Community (CLC) vision of UNESCO. TAG and ICICI Bank, Axis Bank are collaborating to give unique solutions to schools.

To mark this momentous occasion, TAG, a Global Training Partner of Microsoft in Education, announced FREE Digital Classroom training for school teachers anywhere in India. They want to go on this website and register on https://knowledgekey.foundation/knowledge-lavenir-conclave-registration/ or call 09483114422 or E-mail ping@knowledgekeyfoundation.com. All schools whose teachers who undergo Digital Transformation will get CARTE BLANCHE graduation certificate.

TAG is helping the Government of India in its efforts to promote digital classrooms, digital payment mode throughout the country through the BBPS mechanism for enabling contactless and digital payments through NPCI’s integrated, accessible and interoperable recurring payments services to consumers and parents via digital bank channels as well as through a network of agents and bank branches. One single step of onboarding on BBPS makes any school discoverable and accessible on all BBPS enable channels, including BHIM, UMANG, Banks website, all major UPI enabled Apps and Wallets. This enables parents to pay education fee easily from their preferred Banks/Mobile Apps/Wallets.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) vide Circular no. CBSE/SECY/SPS/2016 has issued directions to the affiliated schools regarding the collection of fees from students only online or through non-cash mode. Hence, all schools affiliated with the Board are advised to on-board on BBPS for to enable, safe easy and contactless digital payment of school fees.

Ali Sait, CEO, Tech Avant-Garde, says, “As a thought-leader, pioneer and leader, we have taken the lead in partnering with NPCI and leading banks such as ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and RBL Banks to give unique solutions to schools and parents. TAG fostered LYCEE as a Connected Learning Community (CLC) solution to empower different stakeholders of education such as schools, teachers, parents, students and community.

We also fostered Efeeonline to give relief to the parent and the educational institution by delivering a multimode fee payment service. The educational institutions can subscribe to this service and extend the facility to the parents. These initiatives are part of our Digital Transformation & Holistic Learning program to make Indian schools and teachers future-ready and 21st Century compliant.”

World record-breaking feat: On 5th September, TAG started the record-breaking Knowledge L’avenir Conclave (KLC) webinars in association with Microsoft, Knowledge Key Foundation, LYCEE Corp, Efeeonline and Roshini Social Schooling. Th¬e largest congregation of teachers (5,000) took the first-of-its-kind test and 3,750 of them became Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) certified in a single day (27th September)!

Till 30th November, they will train 150,000 teachers from 72,000 schools with a student-teacher-parent population of 7.6 crores. Ali Sait-advocated ‘Carte Blanche’ schools are the new gold standard in the delivery of virtual education and early adopters of the Digital Transformation and Holistic Learning Program. Th¬e 4Cs of the diamond equivalent of digital classroom teaching-learning in the future are the Change, Connected Learning Community, Conclave (Knowledge L’avenir Conclave) and Carte Blanche Graduation; and Certification for School teachers.

TAG unveiled NEP-compliant Learning Management System (LMS) software called AZVASA, which helps teachers with STUDY, REVISE & ASSESSMENT modules. AZVASA Connect is a complete School Management Solution having Teacher – Student – Parent Connect in one platform. Schools undergoing Digital Training & Holistic Learning program to make the school & teachers future-ready will be graduated in a ceremony is called Carte Blanche 2020 to a ‘Connected Learning Community’, which is a utopian concept and Shangri-La of education.

TAG fostered Lycee Corp to meet the needs of every educational institution to transform from the four walls of the classroom to a Connected Learning Community (CLC). In CLC, students, educators and parents have anytime, anyplace access to learning; Learning is relevant, individualized and personalized; Schools have information systems that support accountability and efficient management; Schools, campuses, homes, libraries, businesses and global resources are connected in a dynamic, collaborative learning environment.

It’s 2020 Vision of UNESCO. The product Lycee- Cyber Academe was developed under the fostering program of Tech Avant-Garde. From the stable of Lycee Corp, Roshini launched Efeeonline-Bespoke Fee management system for educational institutions.

Now, Efeeonline has a co-sell program with Microsoft called MASP Pro. Efeeonline has the following facilities: The ERP Platform: Using this facility the fees formats, receipts, dues and reports could be generated. Parents Dashboard: parents can pay the fees, get the fee receipts and can track the dues using this facility. Which is available online and as a mobile app on IOS and Android. E-Governance: Using this facility, the school administration can do realtime tracking of the online fee collection and settlements. Efeeonline is also available on Microsoft Aspire School Program offering as MASP PRO. This is a value-based offering, which has dual advantage – it enables digital teaching-learning process and is also enables digital fee collections.

Business World

Tech Avant-Garde is Global Training Partner of Microsoft in Education

Oct 7, 2020 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #Ali Sait, #Ed-Tech company, #Microsoft Global Training Partner (GTP) program, #TAG-Microsoft, #Tech Avant-Garde (TAG)

Tech Avant-Garde (TAG), the technology-powered Ed-Tech company, is now a Global Training Partner of Microsoft in Education. TAG is undertaking a Digital Transformation & Holistic Learning program to make Indian school principals and teachers future-ready. Every year, the Microsoft Global Training Partner (GTP) program connects Training Partners to thousands of education leaders, educators, and faculty throughout the world – helping them to best leverage technology for teaching and learning, no matter where they are. Tech Avant-Garde features on the Microsoft website on this specific url https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/education/partners/showpartnersdetails.aspx id=2076473&i=false&t=1&p=1&ps=24

Tech Avant-Garde has been recognised as ET Industry Leaders 2020 Award Winner for Software Innovation in Ed-Tech. Ali Sait (CEO) of Tech Avant-Garde and Roshini Kumar (Director, Lycee Corp.) were felicitated for Software Innovation in Ed-Tech.

To ensure all professional development (PD) sessions are consistent, all Global Training Partners have undergone an official Microsoft training program enabling them to deliver in-depth learning experiences aligned to the Education Transformation Framework on behalf of Microsoft. This engagement is highly advisable for every school by upskilling teachers thereby ensuring that students and educators have everything they need to excel. The network of Global Training Partners offers professional development experiences several of the 5 following areas: Education Transformation Framework; Modern Classroom Teacher Academies; Future-Ready Skills and Industry Certifications; Minecraft: Education Edition; and Hacking STEM.

Ali Sait, CEO, Tech Avant-Garde, says, “Research shows that innovation and technology in education are key factors that lead students to be future-ready. In April ‘20, UNICEF and Microsoft Corp. announced the expansion of a global learning platform to empower teachers/ educators to help children and youth affected by COVID-19 continue their education at home. The Government’s National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has also given a boost to making India a world leader in digitally imparted school education by 2022. As Microsoft’s Global Education partner, we shall strive make Indian schools 21st century-ready with Connected Learning Community classrooms and digital devices as textbooks using Microsoft’s world-class digital training & teaching tools!”

TAG has already started the record-breaking Knowledge L’avenir Conclave (KLC) webinars in association with Microsoft, Knowledge Key Foundation, Lycee Corp, Efeeonline and Roshini Social Schooling. Over the next 12 weeks (till 30 November 2020), 3,100 professionally trained MIE (Microsoft Innovator Educator) certified school teachers are exhibiting their Digital Teaching Skills and train over 150,000 teachers from over 72,000 schools across India with a student-teacher population of 7.6 crore. This grand education showcase is part of Mr. Sait’s vision to transform 18 lakh schools and 2.6 crore teachers in India from four walls of the classroom to Connected Learning Community after the announcement of the National Education Policy (NEP). On the momentous occasion of the first-ever Black Friday event, TAG unveiled NEP-compliant Learning Management System (LMS) software called AZVASA, which helps teachers with STUDY, REVISE & ASSESSMENT modules. AZVASA Connect is a complete School Management Solution having Teacher – Student – Parent Connect in one platform.

TAG-Microsoft will deploy emerging tech-driven ideas such as Skype in Classroom and Virtual field trips instead of the traditional ‘chalk and talk’. As home schools become the new normal, Cognitive learning, Mixed Reality, Immersive Learning, IOT and AR-VR will eventually reach students at home. School teachers trained in Gen Extra Muros – Knowledge Beyond Walls pedagogy – will understand essential tools such as Microsoft Teams, One Note, Flipgrid, Padlet, Powerpoint and others that improve the quality of their teaching and lead to a holistic learning experience for students.

Education

3,100+ teachers certified as Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) digital teachers by Tech Avant-Garde, Global Training Partner of Microsoft in Education

Oct 1, 2020 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #Ali Sait, #Knowledge L’avenir Conclave (KLC), #Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE), #Tech Avant-Garde (TAG)

The largest congregation of teachers taking the test to become MIE certificated in a single day anywhere in the world! 3,173 school teachers from different parts of the country got recognised as Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) digital classroom teachers after qualifying and passing the test conducted by Tech Avant-Garde (TAG), technology-powered Ed-Tech company and a Global Training Partner of Microsoft in Education. As part of the Knowledge L’avenir Conclave (KLC) webinar series, which started on Teacher’s Day 2020, and will continue till November 2020, 300 teachers trained nearly 5,000 teachers (in the last 18 days) from across the country. The first assessment test was held on Sunday, 28th September 2020. As it is important for teachers to get a degree/ diploma in teaching to become a qualified teacher, similarly it is important to be recognized as a digital teacher MIE certificate.

The Schools who attended these Conclaves were as follows: Knowledge L’avenir Conclave registered schools whose requirement was 100% attendance in the KLC and 100% MIE certified teachers. Digital Transformation and Holistic Learning Program registered teachers attended the conclave to witness the high quality of teaching in these webinars. The third category of teachers who attended were from schools across the country who got 2 free passes to attend these webinars.

The highest percentage of marks was 100%, followed by 97% in second place and 94% in third place. In the first 3 positions, there were 63 teachers. In the first place, it was Anamika L. with 100% from Mathakondapalli Model School – Hosur; while Akansha Singh from TCIS Bengaluru and Vineeth Chandrasekar from Litera Valley Zee School Hosur was in 2nd place with 97%. These 63 teachers will be felicitated on 2nd October 2020 at the Connected Learning Community (CLC) Carte Blanche Graduation 2020 event, which is held to celebrate the Digital Transformation of schools from Bricks and Mortar setups to Connected Learning Community vision of UNESCO.

Ali Sait CEO of Tech Avant-Garde, said, “Teacher is a most important stakeholder of education by empowering the teachers we can empower the entire society. If teachers are not digitally skilled, our formal education will collapse and it will have a serious impact on our human capital.” He went on to say, “In today’s world where knowledge is the greatest asset, the benefits of the information-rich, technology-enhanced, Connected Learning environment must be extended to empower students, teachers, parents, schools and entire communities to learn without limits. Training and certification 5,000 teachers is just the tip of the iceberg, Tech Avant-Garde is finding ways to digitally skill 26 million teachers in India and many more across the world.”

Ali Sait of Tech Avant-Garde (https://www.microsoft.com/enus/education/partners/showpartnersdetails.aspxid=2076473&i=false&t=1&p=1&ps=24https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/education/partners/showpartnersdetails.aspx?id=2076473&i=false&t=1&p=1&ps=24) has been recognised in ET Industry Leaders 2020 Awards List for Software Innovation in Ed-Tech.

TAG is undertaking a Digital Transformation & Holistic Learning program to make Indian school principals and teachers future-ready. Every year, the Microsoft Global Training Partner (GTP) program connects Training Partners to thousands of education leaders, educators, and faculty throughout the world – helping them to best leverage technology for teaching and learning, no matter where they are. Microsoft announced ‘Teams for Education’ features to engage and prepare students and teachers for new remote and hybrid learning formats in the upcoming school year.

To ensure all professional development (PD) sessions are consistent, all Global Training Partners have undergone an official Microsoft training program enabling them to deliver in-depth learning experiences aligned to the Education Transformation Framework on behalf of Microsoft. This engagement is highly advisable for every school by upskilling teachers thereby ensuring that students and educators have everything they need to excel. The network of Global Training Partners offers professional development experiences several of the 5 following areas: Education Transformation Framework; Modern Classroom Teacher Academies; Future-Ready Skills and Industry Certifications; Minecraft: Education Edition; and Hacking STEM.

TAG has already started the record-breaking Knowledge L’avenir Conclave (KLC) webinars in association with Microsoft, Knowledge Key Foundation, Lycee Corp, Efeeonline and Roshini Social Schooling. Over the next 12 weeks (till November 2020), 3,000 professionally trained teachers will exhibit their Digital Teaching Skills and train over 150,000 teachers from over 72,000 schools across India with a student-teacher population of 7.6 crores. This grand education showcase is part of Mr. Sait’s vision to transform 18 lakh schools in India from four walls of the classroom to Connected Learning Community after the announcement of the National Education Policy (NEP). On the momentous occasion of the first-ever Black Friday event, TAG unveiled NEP-compliant Learning Management System (LMS) software called AZVASA, which helps teachers with STUDY, REVISE & ASSESSMENT modules. AZVASA Connect is a complete School Management Solution having Teacher – Student – Parent Connect in one platform.

TAG-Microsoft will deploy emerging tech-driven ideas such as Skype in Classroom and Virtual field trips instead of the traditional ‘chalk and talk’. As home schools become the new normal, Cognitive learning, Mixed Reality, Immersive Learning, IOT and AR-VR will eventually reach students at home. School teachers trained in Gen Extra Muros – Knowledge Beyond Walls pedagogy – will understand essential tools such as Microsoft Teams, One Note, Flipgrid, Padlet, Powerpoint and others that improve the quality of their teaching and lead to a holistic learning experience for students.

Ali Sait’s dream of a Connected Learning Community is a simple yet powerful idea with even more relevance today than when he first introduced the concept in the year 2002. His vision is that the world is an enriched learning environment in which technology used well enhances and expands opportunities for learning while providing the practical technology experience needed in today’s society and workplaces. In the Connected Learning Community: Students, educators and parents have any time, anyplace access to learning; Learning is relevant, individualized and personalized; Schools have information systems that support accountability and efficient management; Schools, campuses, homes, libraries, businesses and global resources are connected in a dynamic, collaborative learning environment.

Partnering TAG are transformists, visionaries and thought leaders such as Vincent K V (Principal Huddard School Kanpur), Dr. Kulbhushan Sharma (President, NISA), T. Balakrishna (Chairman Venkat International Public School), Asif Ahmed (Vice Chairman, New Cosmo Edu. Society) Shanti Krishnmurthy (Director, CCMT Education Cell), R. Chandrasekhar (Chairman, Litera Valley Zee School), Krishank Malik (Trustee, Arya Gurkul Kalyan), Roopa Arun (Principal, TCIS Sarjapur), Saman Sherwani (Principal, The Blossoms School, Aligarh), M. Meru (Secretary, MMS-RICE ), Kush Khaitan (Director, Sunshine Worldwide School), Priya Anand (Principal, TCIS Whitefield), Radhamani Iyer (Principal Arya Gurukul School Kalyan), Judith Singh (Principal Cambridge Public School HSR), Dr. Wg. CDR. R. Mandal (Principal BGS world School), Sharmila Nandi (Director Dr. Virendra Swarup Education Centre), Rajendra Singh (Chairman Priyadarshani) and Prathana (Director Oxford Grammar School Hyderabad), Shri Aurobindo School Hyderabad amongst others. The change-makers are organizations, which are the ones that develop innovative products to bridge the technological gaps in Education. They present a passion to make a difference and a willingness to weather the uncertainties of Change. ICICI Bank, Microsoft India, NPCI and AZWASA amongst others.

Education

Tech Avant-Garde, Knowledge Key Foundation, Microsoft to conduct first-ever Knowledge L’avenir Conclave to facilitate Digital Transformation & Holistic Learning and make schools-teachers future-ready

Sep 2, 2020 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #Ali Sait, #Digital Transformation & Holistic Learning, #Knowledge Key Foundation, #L’avenir Conclave, #Microsoft, #Tech Avant-Garde

2 September 2020: Tech Avant-Garde, in association with Microsoft, Knowledge Key Foundation, Lycee Corp, Efeeonline and Roshini Social Schooling will be conducting first-of-its-kind Knowledge L’avenir Conclave webinars starting 5 September 2020. L’avenir Conclave webinars are part of Tech Avant-Garde’s “Digital Transformation and Holistic learning” program, which has transformed schools from four walls of the classroom to Connected Learning Community. This grand education showcase will last for 12 weeks and over 3,000 teachers will exhibit their Digital Teaching Skills and over 150,000 teachers will attend. Over 72,000 schools across India with a student-teacher population of 76 million (7.6 crore) will get inspired to make the Digital Transformation.

Some of the participating early-adopter schools include Aligarh – Blossoms School; Bengaluru – TCIS-Sarjapur, TCIS-Whitefield, BGS World School, Green Field School, Venkat International School; Hosur – Litera Valley Zee School, MMS-RICE; Hyderabad – Oxford Grammer, Sri Aurobindo International; Kanpur – Huddard School, Dr. Virender Swaroop Education Centre; Pune- Orbis Mundwa; and Thane – Arya Gurukul amongst others. Mr. Nanik Rupani, Chairman, Emeritus, Priyadarshini Academy will be a Guest of Honour at the Conclave.

Ali Sait, the CEO, Tech Avant-Garde, said, “In today’s world where knowledge is the greatest asset, the benefits of the information-rich, technology-enhanced, the Connected Learning environment must be extended to empower students, teachers, parents, schools and entire communities to learn without limits. ‘Digital Transformation and Holistic Learning’ program has helped schools build the Connected Learning Community through our training of school management, teachers, parents and the students.” He added, “Knowledge L’avenir Conclave webinar will give teachers an opportunity to exhibit their digital teaching skills in presence of the teaching fraternity, and the community at large. This will make them confident and will encourage them to improve themselves. These webinars will redefine education and give purpose to teachers to reinvent because there is no greater payback than recognition. The take away would be an insight into the future of education, 21st Century Pedagogy and Digital Transformation.”

Under the above program, teachers have been trained in Gen Extra Muros – Knowledge Beyond Walls pedagogy. The teachers who are trained under this program are “Future Ready”. They are eligible to take part in Knowledge L’avenir Conclave to display their digital teaching skills. Each Knowledge L’avenir Conclave webinar will be a one-day event; in which teachers from one school will present topics of their choice, using technology-based teaching tools. In every webinar, an average of 20 teachers from 1,000 schools will get an invitation to attend and witness this digital teaching extravaganza. The attendees will get insight on digital teaching and would get inspired to enhance their teaching skills. Knowledge L’avenir Conclave participation is only by invitation – each invited school is allowed to enrol teachers to make a presentation in the webinar to exhibit their digital teaching skills.

Ali Sait’s dream of a Connected Learning Community is a simple yet powerful idea with even more relevance today than when he first introduced the concept in the year 2002. His vision is that the world is an enriched learning environment in which technology used well enhances and expands opportunities for learning while providing the practical technology experience needed in today’s society and workplaces. In the Connected Learning Community: Students, educators and parents have any time, anyplace access to learning; Learning is relevant, individualized and personalized; Schools have information systems that support accountability and efficient management; Schools, campuses, homes, libraries, businesses and global resources are connected in a dynamic, collaborative learning environment. Yet for 21st-century learning, technology alone is not sufficient. Schools, students, and teachers must have the vision and opportunity to experiment, innovate and create with technology as a learning tool. Ali wants to facilitate a New Era of Education in a growing number of schools and communities around the world. Technology has helped launch a new era of education that simultaneously fosters academic excellence and the practical experience needed to succeed in life and work in the growing knowledge economy. Nevertheless, communities have only begun to tap the potential of technology for learning.

Most of these students and teachers would require items such as Laptops, Tablets, Handheld devices, electronic writing pads, learning software, internet, desks, chairs, etc. Tech Avant-Garde is planning to showcase these products in Knowledge L’avenir Conclave webinars along with the names of the fulfilment agencies.