By taking a digital approach to learning, Ankita Patil, who is launching Anisha Global — Alpha Future School this June, is making sure education is more engaging, interactive and fun, says Tania Roy

When you are absent from school, your biggest worry is how to catch up on teachers’ notes and lessons. But what if you have access to an online blackboard, which can update you on the lessons that you missed while you were away or see slide shows that explain the chapters well or have live chats with teachers to help you better understand concepts? Will it make life easier for you? But of course.

Keeping this in mind and several other ways to make learning more fun, interactive and engaging, Ankita Patil is coming up with Anisha Global — Alpha Future School, which will start operating this June. Spanning 7 acres and offering a diverse range of sports, the new-age school is coming up at Life Republic Township (a Kolte-Patil project), a few minutes away from Hinjewadi IT Park.

Digital curriculum

Right now, the school will be enrolling students from kindergarten to Std VI. “However, next year, we are planning to take students till Std XII. We will be following the CBSE syllabus and will be adding to the conventional methods of teaching by introducing a digital curriculum. I was very impressed with the Future School Initiatives in Singapore, so I thought of adopting the holistic approach towards teaching and learning in our school as well,” says Ankita, the managing trustee of Anisha Education Society and Anisha Global — Alpha Future School. To look into the curriculum, teacher training and day-to-day affairs of the school, Ankita has collaborated with Marshall Cavendish Online, HeuLab and CEOlution Alliance, Singapore.

“Teacher training for the digital curriculum is underway. Also, they will have to plan out the lessons well. They will have to follow a lesson structure and introduce the kids to the subject and then link it to youtube or other online videos, conduct games, discussions, surveys and so on to make learning more fun. Educators from Singapore will also be sharing their knowledge and expertise through live online classes for our students here,” says Ankita, who has done her Bachelors in Business Administration from Symbiosis and Masters in International Business in the UK.
Interactive screens

“The whole idea is not to restrict learning to textbooks and blackboards, but to have interactive screens that can take attendance, track the progress of students, put up their assignments and scores, etc. We are planning to have three separate portals for kids, parents and teachers, which they can access through usernames and passwords,” says Ankita.

Most students today are comfortable doing Net search and taking the help of technology to better inform and educate themselves. Which is why Anisha Global will be giving their students laptops / tablets thereby encouraging one-to-one computing, co-browsing in the class and facilitating real-time collaboration.

The system also promotes anytime, anywhere learning and addresses individual needs of students with different IQ levels. “Having live online chats with teachers can help strengthen the bond and make the student-teacher relationship less intimidating,” says she. That said, the kids will also be writing their exams with pen and paper.

Social Entrepreneurship

About 70 to 80 children of construction labourers, who are working at Life Republic Township, are attending the school for underprivileged ‘Bhavishyam’, which is also Ankita’s initiative.

“It was hard to get the kids on board, but we have managed to enrol about 70 to 80 children of construction labourers. We want the kids to be IT-savvy, which is why we have incorporated the digital curriculum for them too. However, their training starts at a different level. They are following the SSC syllabus and we are training them to appear for the Xth Boards. We also provide breakfast, lunch and snacks to the kids,” says Ankita. For details about the Future School and Bhavishyam log into www.anishaglobal.com.