• Award Category: Best Initiative (Edutainment – Making Learning Fun)
  • Introduction: Gurneha Sandhu teaches Class 6, 7, and 8 students at the Indraprastha Global School, Noida
  • Achievement: Used Virtual Tools and Techniques to Entertain and Educate Effectively

While health systems, economy, and the general plight of the people made news headlines and were regular topics of prime-time debates for over a year, the educational loss incurred by students and challenges that were faced by educators during this period remains unprecedented.

Rising to the occasion, educators pledged to give a befitting reply to this challenge. Among them was Gurneha Sandhu – a teacher at Indraprastha Global School, Noida, who built synergy among traditional teaching techniques and modern-day digital tools to make learning fun and engaging for her students.

Making Learning Fun Through Virtual Tools

Gurneha Sandhu, an educator, made learning exciting for her students by using technology in the classroom. She launched many programs and initiatives to help her students learn effectively.

Click Here for JAMBOARD on INNOVATIVE TEACHING GLIMPSES

Word wall Quiz and Quizziz

This tool has many options- maze chase, quizshow which kids enjoy, and recapitulation are done in an effective manner. Further, Quizziz induces healthy competition, kids become too excited when the live quiz is started.

Near Pod Games and Kahoot

Nearpod is a platform through which various systems of the body (e.g. digestive system lesson) can be explained in 3D view and various games related to the lesson make the lesson interesting and strengthen the concepts learned. Kahoot is another quiz platform that students love to play.

Flip Teaching

  1. EDWARD DE BONO’S 6 THINKING HATS ACTIVITY (Students are divided into groups and given different coloured hats - Red, Green, White, the Black and Blue hat is worn by the teacher- The topics like Soil, Pollution, Plastics can be covered in an interesting manner).
  2. PowerPoint Presentations
  3. Case study- Students are given a case study on the topics like Pollination, Shadow Puppetry by sending them in breakout rooms and dividing them into groups. Students researched these topics independently and presented their findings before others.
  4. Breakout rooms for collaborative learning

JAMBOARD on Harmful Effects of Burning Fossil Fuels

Padlet Board on Uses of Metals and Non-Metals

Padlet Board on Microbes

Hands-on learning/Experiential learning

Completing lab activities, understanding the effects of force by playing with a football in the field, building pinhole camera, kaleidoscope, building circuits, robots (using cold drink cans), making fan using coconut shell, making lamp using pipes, ice- cream box. etc.

Ted Talks and Story Telling

Showing students TED talk videos- listening to the experts and their real-life experiences and live experiments on the stage enhanced the students’ interest in her subject. She has also used many applications like Popplet, MindMeisterand Storyweaver to narrate stories of the Discovery of the cell and the invention of vaccination.

Other Virtual Apps

Homework is one application that Gurneha used to give students home tasks. Her children called it the HOME FUN app. Some other virtual apps that Gurneha used were Jam Board (for BRAINDUMP activity/ revision, in short students record anything they can remember on a particular topic or concept), 360XR lab, Subject Integration, Pear Deck, Comic Strips (Using Pixton), Thinglink (Turning Image into a graphic), FLIPBOOK, Mentimeter, Phet simulations, Augmented & Virtual Reality, TutAR, she is a certified tutAR educator.

Gurneha Sandhu is a finalist for Best Use of Edutainment - Making Learning Fun Because…she used the online medium during the pandemic to keep the students engaged and motivated. The usage of digital tools is helping her engage students at all levels and activate multiple learning styles.

To Reach the Information Dossier Shared by Gurneha Sandhu Click Here.