Four Indian Innovations recognized in the HundrED 2019 collection

As an Indian working as the Head of Community for the education innovation spotter, HundrED.org, it brings me great joy to recognize and celebrate four projects from India that have been recognized in the HundrED 2019 collection as one of the world's most inspiring education innovations.

HundrED aims to share best practice ideas and K12 innovations across borders to help improve the future of education globally. To achieve this, a team of researchers investigated innovations from around the world to determine 100 projects that are already changing the face of education. Over 1,000 innovations were identified through research, events, and recommendations and then 160 were evaluated by HundrED’s academy made up of educational experts, educators and students (ages 11-19 years old) from 28 countries on their innovativeness, impact, and scalability.

The selected 100 K12 innovations cover various fields of education from learning environments and holistic well-being to collaborative learning and game-based education, as well as a range of themes including small teacher-led practices, ambitious not-for-profit initiatives, viral edtech products, and unique whole school models. However what is unique is that the selected four innovations from India came from two cities, Ahmedabad and Bangalore.

These projects were chosen for the HundrED 2019 collection, announced on 7th November 2018, due to their unique pioneering status and ability to create a scalable impact, while reaching the lives of thousands of children. The four projects are:

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1. Design for Change (Ahmedabad): Design for Change empowers students to be socially aware and proactive change agents in their community. Through undertaking self-directed community projects, children shift their mindset from "can I?" to "I can!"

2. Dream a Dream Life Skills Assessment Scale (Bangalore): The scale assesses 5 core life skills – a) Ability to take initiative b) Ability to interact with one another c) Ability to solve problems d) Ability to manage conflict e) Ability to understand and follow instructions.

3. Project DEFY (Bangalore): A system of learning that believes anyone can teach themselves anything by using the internet and the community around them to find solutions.

4. SMILES in Education (Ahmedabad): S.M.I.L.E.S. is Stress-free, Motivating, Inquisitive Learning Eco System integrating Mindfulness and Yoga (M.A.Y.) with Pedagogy.

Saku Tuominen, CEO of HundrED, said: “Spreading innovations across borders can be a gamechanger for education, worldwide. We will continue to encourage as many stakeholders as possible including schools, educators, administrators, students, and organizations to get involved so that we can work towards a positive future.”

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To share the K12 innovations, HundrED has created an online platform so that educators around the world can trial and review the selected innovations for 2019, for free. To explore the global innovations, please visit: www.hundred.org/HundrED2019