Indian Institute Of Education Management (IIEM) Awarded Teach-A-Thon, Virtual Teaching Hackathon Winners

Hyderabad: Teach-a-thon 2021, the second edition of Teachathon, is a virtual teaching hackathon and conference for teachers and by teachers. Conducted by the Indian Institute of Education Management (IIEM), this annual event is supported by Bangalore Sahodaya Schools Complex Association (BSSCA) and Hyderabad Sahodaya Schools Complex Association (HSSCA) and Tutoroot.

Today, the winners of the Foundational, Preparatory, and subject-wise for Middle/High categories were given awards. In addition, separate awards were given to recognise schools that have the maximum participation from each of the 2 Sahodayas. Certificates for outstanding data analysis and feedforward, apart from special mentions by the jury for each of the categories, were also awarded. All the contestants received a participation certificate while the contestants who reached the finals received a commendation too. Teachers who attended webinars were given a participation certificate.

Teach-a-thon 2021 was for all educators to showcase their innovations in teaching, centred on the theme of NEP: From concept to implementation. Experts in teaching from across the country came together on a common platform to educate, engage, encourage and empower the teaching community to take on the challenges that lie ahead. Teachathon is envisaged to be a unique platform for both practising and aspiring educators to get their innovative and futuristic lesson ideas to reach out to the larger teaching community. Teach-a-thon 2021 was held on September 17, 18 and 19, 2021.

Teachathon was born out of a need to provide teachers with pedagogical inputs for the benefit of students, to improve teaching skills, and to align themselves with the goals of NEP. Towards this, the grades were aligned and categories for the contest were aligned as per NEP nomenclature. Grades KG–2 were classified as Foundational, Grades 3–5 as Preparatory, and Grades 6–10 as Middle/High School, with the subjects English, Maths, Science, Social Studies, and IT classified separately. The ideation process commenced with the conceptualising of the ideal components of instructional and assessment design, 21c skills [creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication], the structure of classroom delivery, and providing data for analysis for each subject. Feedforward was a unique concept that the contestants introduced in this edition of Teachathon. Rubrics were then framed and finalised with the juries’ consent.

The participants of the contest went through a preliminary round of answering 50 questions on pedagogy, assessment and NEP concepts. The top 60 percentile of teachers from Track 2 were asked to submit lesson plans on a topic and stream of their own choice. The jury had a tough time selecting the finalists in each stream as many lesson plans were so innovative in their approach.

Once the finalists were chosen, they were briefed on the framework as a part of the induction session. They were also briefed about the concept of data analysis and feedforward, which were new to several teachers. And the finalists in each stream were given one challenge 24 hours before their final event, with the second challenge given on the morning of the final event.

Teachers created two instructional designs, assessment design, 21c skills design and data analysis docs which exhibited creativity, considerable thought and were very structured. The finalists put in a lot of effort to bring out their best, and the competitive spirit was visible throughout. In the end, the teachers and the jury brought out the best talents hidden in them.

Every participant in this Teach-a-thon 2021 has mentioned that they had significant takeaways in terms of learning and exposure to novel methods of teaching and were inspired.

Teach-A-Thon 2021 Had The Following Format:

Hackathon for teachers' theme: NEP from Concept to Implementation: to pitch their lesson plan ideas, teaching expertise, and experience to the best teaching minds across the country. Prelims for this were scheduled for September 4 through September 12, 2021, and the finals were on September 17, 18 and 19, 2021. The jury consists of former and current principals and teachers and is an expert in their chosen field.

Webinars on various topics in education: Experts across the country shared their thoughts, ideas, and experience on pedagogy, classroom management, instructional design, and assessment techniques aligned with NEP.

The motto ‘Let’s celebrate teaching’ was achieved!