Contemporary Advantage of Nations in
contemporary times shall be,
to revive entrepreneurial spirit
& innovation (new to the world ideas)
for social & industry benefits
through curriculum & environment
suited to 21st century educational needs
In the last few decades what ‘Community Science Centers’ did for Science and Scientific temperament; changing world order and the resulting expectations from education, has brought forth pressing demand for 21st century traits - time has come for “New Age Education” - holistic development of a child (both design & scientific temperament)
The thought for ‘i297 Learning Lab & Workshop’ is an organic progression of insights and experiences gained since its inception in 2009 through,
3. Inspire and nurture excellence: i297 shall provide an environment that enriches and nurtures creativity, design, innovation, pursuit of excellence through range of structured activities. Self learning as well as focused mentorship are the two pillars of the culture at i297 – treating the young as a functional part of the society and not just a biological part of the society. The below poem epitomizes our thoughts,
I297 thrives on culture of nurturing and inspiring excellence, thorough mentoring
It focus on various parameters, when children come to i297 they are present to the purpose of why they have come and why are they doing what they choose to do. They are a community of purpose. This means design has a purpose. Whatever they are given, they have to create something (e.g. coming up with a prototype as an end result).When we talk of fluid networking, we mean children from across the world would think of who are the people who they would be in communication and who all are important for them in their work.
i297 presents a soup where ideas permeate and clash.
We engage that when children come to the Lab they share their ideas. A note must be taken that everybody’s ideas are considered. They can write down their ideas, such that whenever they look back can read and refer those ideas.
Children have freedom to the 3Es; Explore, Experiment and Express.
Explore is the 1st stage where children develop an understanding towards self, others and environment conducting, research work, understanding, documenting.
Experiment is the stage where children are involved in ideating, analyzing, synthesizing, filtering, choosing, prototyping.
Express stage allows them to present their work through thematic exhibitions and making installations. Learning is fun, i.e. learning is fun that makes the learning playful; with each year having a rise in the level of difficulty that makes it challenging.
They share and empower each other through crosspollination and observation with a sense of purpose at the core cultivating a habit for problem solving and originality.
Range of workshops are available at i297 zone at Ahmedabad, as well as, remote locations i.e. schools, colleges, corporate. These workshops range from ½ day to twelve ½ days / 6 full days workshops. These workshops are generally held over weekends / 3 consecutive days.
Some of the popular workshops are,
10+ workshops conducted for Faculty members and students from across the state of Gujarat, INDIA. The workshops aimed at sensitizing faculty members towards design and innovation. The workshop for students were aimed at helping them develop a framework for Engineering Academic Projects for Gujarat Technological University
The above framework was finalized by the team after an exhaustive session of debates, discussion and presentations of various groups of faculty.
Reflections on framework
We need to develop our unique model suited to discipline, student aptitude & passion, resources available, expected outcome,
The focus was on how to make students PROACTIVE from being REACTIVE
The First stage of Sourcing of Problems/Ideas/Research was explained and discussed.
Faculty members could relate to their specific needs and based on the proposed stage, could come up with 3 examples each upon of the methods: Self – Others – Environment.
This exercise lead to on the spot generation of ideas for projects related to different disciplines.
How can memory be used as a tool for idea generation.
Various tools, techniques and methods of using imagination for idea generation. Few exercises were carried out, such as, SCAMPER, for the faculty members to generate Project Ideas.
Brief discussion took place upon how to select a problem.
The workshops could achieve,
Some of the faculty members pledged to conduct the following activities in their respective disciplines,
4 Do It Yourself kits are available and can be ordered through an email (diy@e297.com). Cost varies between INR 10000 TO 20000 PER KIT DEPENDING UPON THE TYPE of kit ordered and also on the online support integration with that kit.
TYPES OF KITS AVAILABLE ARE:
