ICT Academy partners with Salesforce to conduct the innovative ‘Learnathon’
Isn’t it a common perception that the attention span of this mobile generation is way too fleeting? Well, eleven thousand students from 120 colleges across the country got together and busted the myth.
ICT Academy, a confluence of industry, academia and government that works to bridge the skill gap, launched a unique ‘New India Student Championship’ across the nation. The initiative was intended to help prepare students for the fourth generation industrial revolution by inculcating in them the fine learning habits in a competitive environment. For twenty hours from the noon of 2nd February, students from colleges across the nation were challenged to engage in learning online modules on Trailhead, the learning portal of Salesforce, a leader in CRM platforms.
Here are four interesting facets of the trail blazing ‘Learnathon’
Why self learning
As mundane jobs go out of picture, superspecialists,multi-specialists and self-taught all-rounders will rule the industry-to-be. Deepknowledge on more than one area of expertise backed by sound cognitive skills will be entailed by the job market.
The pace of change in technology will be exceedingly swift requiring an aptitude for self learning. Hence, MOOCS (Massive Open Online Courses), which are free, accessible and available in abundance, must be utilized to the optimal best.
Why twenty four hours
To ride the impending, disruptive technological wave, experts call on the aspiring workforce to foster the habit of continuous learning. It is forecasted that in four years, more than half of the skills that are in demand today will become irrelevant. Also, how fast an individual can learn will begin to matter. The multi-tab, ‘alt-tab’ generation must develop the ability to concentrate for long periods of time. As organizations go more geographically networked and customer centric, a flexible and mobile workforce would take shape. It is with this information from the industry, that ICT Academy designed the 24 hour challenge.
Why CRMAs connectivity caresses Internet of Things Customer Relationship Management has become omnipresent. Each digital footprint of every individual, be it search history, contact information, social media activities, or online shopping, is tracked so they yield marketing leads which could be converted into sales opportunities. Also, prevailing market perceptions on customer service is an important consideration for sales decisions. Providing good customer experiences and sound customer relationships have become inevitable. CRM now, garners the interest of not only marketing and sales personnel, but also technical experts as platforms to develop effective CRM applications and websites that automate and ease customer relationships.
Why a championshipIndustries look for people who take on challenges head on with a ‘can-do’ attitude and creatively outsmart testing and competitive situations. The day is not far when human beings will have to outplay machines as well. To learn on the job will become inevitable; to assume risks, fall, fail, repeat and ultimately succeed will become a cherished trait. Competitive environment instills in students, the motivation to succeed and winners are always remembered.
ICT’s first Learnathon was indeed a success: 581, 592 modules were learned and badges were earned. The inclination, curiosity and competition among students were laudable. Over 1200 students earned over 50,000 points on a single day!
What pioneers said“India has a very young workforce and the biggest challenge before the Government is to productively employ them. I think initiatives like this will help in creating not only awareness but also the needed thrust to carry the program to the next level,” said V Balakrishnan Former CFO of Infosys and present Chairman of Micrograam.
“There are so many Digital Assets for learning technology skills on the internet, and this is a great time to be a student,” said Lakshminarayanan, the Chairman of ICT Academy and former Chairman of Cognizant.
“We need several thousand students to learn new technologies rapidly and this is the best way to achieve simultaneous learning,” said BVR Mohan Reddy, Chairman and Board of Governors of IIT Hyderabad.
“ICT Academy is happy to partner with world leaders like Salesforce that brings knowledge of global relevance to the youth in India,” said M Sivakumar, the CEO, ICT Academy.
“Learnathon has been an exemplar of how students across the country can leverage digital platforms to self-skill,” said Debjani Ghosh, the President of NASSCOM.