{"id":784,"date":"2018-10-06T13:57:20","date_gmt":"2018-10-06T13:57:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ideasutra.in\/web\/?p=784"},"modified":"2021-01-25T17:23:07","modified_gmt":"2021-01-25T17:23:07","slug":"playjam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ideasutra.in\/web\/2018\/10\/06\/playjam\/","title":{"rendered":"Playjam"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Playjam reimagines early childhood education with an emphasis on parental bonding and social learning through play. The jams are real world community events supported by a digital backbone that handles student record keeping, lesson planning and learning path management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Table of Contents<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
  1. ECE – The Current State<\/a><\/li>
  2. Creating a Learning Bridge<\/a><\/li>
  3. Questions and a framework<\/a><\/li>
  4. Creating Support Infrastructure<\/a><\/li>
  5. Building a Digital Backbone<\/a><\/li>
  6. Creating Community Access<\/a><\/li>
  7. Next Steps<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
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    The current state of Early Childhood Education<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Preschools in India are among the fastest-growing sectors in recent years. A lack of stringent regulation of the type applied to higher secondary education has led to an explosion of preschool chains, each offering their own unique methodologies. The number of chains in themselves pales before the neighbourhood garage preschools that dot Indian cities and towns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The pros of this explosion in early childhood education is clearly good for a society that has traditionally suffered from low uptake in education. However the wild-west mentality also means that children are subject to unfounded and unreliable educational frameworks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Another key concern is the decline in constructivist methods of learning over rote learning in ages as early as two years. Children being pushed to learning the alphabet over learning meta-cognitive skills such as problem-solving or social interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Another frustrating issue stems from the total outsourcing of early education by overworked parents. Parental bonding in early learning has consistently been demonstrated as a key factor in long term learning potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Creating a learning bridge<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    What if we looked at early childhood learning in another way. Instead of seeing learning as divided between school and home, what if we saw learning as a constant. The child learns regardless of the context set by well-meaning adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Play Jams are play sessions. Communities of practice in which children learn from each other. Parents and educators also have the opportunity to enhance their own teaching knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Playjams are conducted in a variety of locations, typically community spaces such as parks and libraries. Here, children learn to be naturalists, by studying and drawing material that they foraged in a park.<\/sub><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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    A Needs Framework<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    We asked ourselves some questions to develop a needs framework for Playjam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n