A Change Making Initiative

ATL Best Practices Portal

INTRODUCTION

A best practice is a method or technique that has generally been accepted as superior to other known alternatives because it often produces results that are superior to those achieved by other means or because it has become a standard way of doing things.

Here are 26 best practices that have been adopted by ATLs that are leading from the front. The best practices cover the following areas: how to put in place necessary processes, tools & resources to make tinkering & innovating easier, convenient & flexible to students; how to up-skill students in creativity, tinkering, innovating, product design, IPR, entrepreneurship; how to broaden the vision, encourage & motivate more students to tinker & innovate; how to encourage students to work on multi-disciplinary projects; how to integrate academic learning with tinkering at the ATL; how to develop entrepreneurial spirit & skills among students; how to augment the ATL space / lab to deliver greater value to students; how to customize ATL learning to the diverse needs of different student-types; how to leverage in-house expertise of students to benefit the larger student community, etc.

These best practices can be adopted by any ATL in the country to: build key capabilities, improve their effectiveness of operations, deliver greater value to their stakeholders, and make a bigger impact on the student community.

ATL BEST PRACTICES

Skilling Programs in Making & Tinkering

skilling in making & tinkering

Budding tinkerers need to acquire foundational skills in making & tinkering so that they can begin their tinkering journey at the ATL. Conduct skilling programs for ATL students in basic making & tinkering resources, tools & techniques.

2. atl inventory tracker

As students begin tinkering at the ATL, the tinkering resources need to be tracked and managed well to ensure that the right resources are available to students as and when they need them. Track every resource that is lent to tinkerers and returned by them. This simple, but essential practice will ensure accountability and prevents loss or misplacement of resources.

Tracking Tinkering & Prototyping Resources

Calendarizing ATL Activities

3. ATL CALENDAR

As tinkerers start tinkering in the ATL, we need to conduct mentoring sessions, workshops, training programs and events on a regular basis to build the momentum and encourage greater participation by students. Calendarize all ATL activities during the year so that students and other stakeholders (teachers & parents) know what to expect in the ATL. This will enable students to make best use of the opportunities available at the ATL.

4. interactive flash cards for digital skilling

Budding tinkerers need continued support beyond the traditional short-duration skilling programs on digital tools & technologies. Deploy interactive Flash Cards with QR codes in the ATL that not only provide tidbits of information, learning resources, tips & suggestions on digital tools & technologies, but also allow students to view online tutorials & videos, or download samples & templates as and when they need them.

Acquiring Skills in Digital Technologies & Tools at one's own pace

Recognizing Student Tinkerers & Innovators

5. ATL WAll of fame

Recognizing tinkerers goes a long way in encouraging them to do more, while motivating many more students to take to tinkering at the ATL. Create a Wall of Fame to recognize the top tinkerers of the month at your ATL.

6. idea competition & idea box

Encourage greater student participation in the ATL by conducting an Idea Competition on a regular basis. Put in place a physical Idea Box or an online Idea Submission Form at your ATL to harness innovative ideas submitted by students. Provide mentoring support and tinkering resources to students so that they can make use of the ATL facility to bring their ideas to life.

Harnessing Student Ideas to encourage Tinkering

Involving & Engaging Remote Mentoring Sessions

7. online mentoring with remote desktop-sharing

Getting mentoring support for technical tasks is a challenge for many ATL students. Publish mentoring expertise needed for the month, attract online mentors to assist your ATL students on demand, and put in place remote desktop-access & control tools to enhance the involvement, interaction and engagement between the online mentor and ATL students.

8. atl faq chatbot

Answering frequently asked questions from ATL students is a tedious task for both ATL in-charge as well as Mentors. Student tinkerers also need to wait for the availability of ATL in-charge or mentor to get answers to their questions. Automate the process of handling frequently asked questions from ATL students using interactive Chatbot builder tools. This will act as a self-service facility that students can use any time and from anywhere to get their questions answered or doubts cleared.

Automating responses to Frequently Asked Questions

Automating identification of Tinkering Resources

9. tinkering resource identifier

Although tinkering resources in the ATL are expected to be placed in neatly labelled boxes, this is not always the case. They lie all around and are often mixed up. This makes it challenging for budding tinkerers to tell one tinkering resource from another, especially the electronic devices. Make use of smart technologies to develop an automated Tinkering Resource Identifier so that ATL students can identify various tinkering resources on their own without have to rely on the ATL in-charge or Mentors to guide them.

10. tinkering resource simulators

Tinkering time at the ATL is limited for students. But, learning to tinker takes time. At the same time, some students have techno-phobia. They are afraid to play with tinkering resources that they are not familiar with. Make life easier for your budding tinkerers by providing smart simulation tools that mimic the working of physical tinkering resources. These tools can be used at the ATL or at home, and tinkerers can get familiar with simulation tools before playing with physical tinkering resources.

Simulating Physical Tinkering Resources

Developing self-learning tutorials & resources

11. e-learning resources

We can't expect Mentors and ATL in-charges to assist tinkerers all the time. Develop tinkering tutorials & learning resources and make them available to tinkerers in your ATL in the form of online or offline content. Tinkerers can use these self-learning tutorials as reference while tinkering. This reduces their dependence on Mentors and ATL in-charges and makes tinkering easier and less challenging.

12. hackathon

As tinkerers gain experience in tinkering, it's time to hone their problem-solving skills so that they can apply their tinkering skills to solve real-world problems. Conduct Hackathon competition to encourage tinkerers to take to problem-solving, assess their abilities and use the assessment results to offer them greater opportunities at the ATL.

Encouraging Problem-solving Skills

Acquiring Skills in Problem-solving Methods & Tools at one's own pace

13. interactive flash cards on problem-solving & innovating tools

Budding innovators need continued support beyond the traditional short-duration skilling programs on problem-solving & innovating. Deploy interactive Flash Cards with QR codes in the ATL that not only provide tidbits of information, learning resources, tips & suggestions, but also allow students to view online tutorials & videos, or download samples & templates to learn the art & rigor of problem-solving & innovating at their own pace.

14. atl web portal

ATL students need a central repository where they can find all the resources and tools they need for tinkering or innovating activities. Set up an ATL Web Portal which can serve as a one-stop Shop for ATL students to submit their ideas, make use of learning resources, find tinkering tools, ask questions & find answers, share their creations, collaborate with each other and do more.

Setting up a One-stop Shop for Tinkerers & Innovators

Showcasing Tinkering & Innovation Projects

15. innovations gallery

As students complete their tinkering & innovation projects at the ATL, it's time to showcase their creations to the entire student community in the school. Set up an Innovations Gallery to showcase student creations. This will not only encourage tinkerers & innovators to do more, but also motivate many more students to take to ATL activities.

16. multi-disciplinary projects integrating academic subjects

Academic learning in the school and ATL activities don't always go hand in hand. As a result, many students shy away from participating in ATL activities - focusing merely on theoretical knowledge of subjects and ignoring their practical application. Drive multi-disciplinary projects that integrate academic learning with STEM education at the ATL to offer greater value to students.

Integrating Academic learning with STEM education at the ATL

Engaging Students as Mentors to guide their Peers

17. peer mentorship

Students cannot always wait for the availability of ATL in-charge or Mentors for guidance. At the same time, knowledge gained by student tinkerers & innovators remain in pockets and are rarely leveraged by ATLs. Put in place a Peer-mentoring program in your ATL so that experienced student tinkerers & innovators can guide, support and mentor their peers. This will also reduce dependence on the ATL in-charge and Mentors.

18. shifts & trends shaping the world

For ATL students to truly innovate, they need to have a bird's eye view of the powerful shifts underway and broad trends shaping the world of tomorrow. Without the big picture, students often tend to re-invent the wheel. If we can paint the big picture for ATL students. we might be able to see many valuable and game-changing innovations come out of young minds at the ATL.

Understanding powerful shifts underway and trends shaping the future to innovate better

Leveraging knowledge of Intellectual Property Rights at one's own pace

19. interactive flash cards for protecting intellectual property

Regular training programs on intellectual property rights (IPR) don't always make an impact on ATL students. They are too theoretical and with no practical orientation. Budding innovators at the ATL need ready-to-use information & pointers on IPR. Put in place interactive flash cards on Intellectual Property Rights so that ATL students can use them to get quick tips & suggestions on IPR with examples, download IP templates & samples, search for registered IPR, file for IPR, etc. - as and when they need them.

20. interactive flash cards on product design techniques

Budding student entrepreneurs need continued support beyond the traditional short-duration skilling programs on product design or entrepreneurship. Deploy interactive Flash Cards with QR codes in the ATL that not only provide tidbits of information, learning resources, tips & suggestions, but also allow students to view online tutorials & videos, or download samples & templates to learn the art & rigor of designing physical or digital products at their own pace.

Acquiring Skills in Product Design Techniques at one's own pace

Learning the ropes of Entrepreneurship at one's own pace

21. interactive flash cards to learn the ropes of entrepreneurship

Budding student entrepreneurs need continued support beyond the traditional short-duration skilling programs on entrepreneurship. Deploy interactive Flash Cards with QR codes in the ATL that not only provide tidbits of information, learning resources, tips & suggestions, but also allow students to view online tutorials & videos, or download samples & templates to learn the ropes of entrepreneurship at their own pace.

22. atl store

Smart innovators don't re-invent the wheel. For bigger, better and smarter innovations to come out of ATLs, it is most essential for student innovators to collaborate with each other, share their creations with each other and assist each other. Set up an Online Store for innovators to trade their creations with each other. Encourage everyone to leverage and re-use student-creations from the Online Store rather than re-invent the wheel.

Encouraging Re-use & Leverage among Tinkerers & Innovators

Augmenting ATL Space to cater to the needs of beginners, tinkerers, innovators, & budding entrepreneurs

23. augmented atl space

ATL space primarily caters to the needs of tinkerers, with little or no focus on the needs of beginners, innovators, or budding entrepreneurs. New students are often intimidated by the tinkering tools, resources, devices and resources available in the ATL. Augment the ATL space with dedicated workstations where different users can find and make use of tools & resources that they find value adding.

24. focused strategies for different student-types

Different students at the ATL have different needs, expectations, abilities, traits and interests. A uniform way of engaging all students in the ATL doesn't always succeed. One size doesn't fit all. We need to tailor the ATL engagement for different student types. Identify the different types of students in your ATL and drive focused, but diverse strategies to engage each type of student better.

Coming up with Strategies to engage different types of Students

Providing a roadmap for Tinkerers & Innovators

25. atl Journey map

ATL students don't always have clarity on how to proceed with ATL activities. Define an ATL Journey Map that identifies various touchpoints through which student tinkerers & innovators at the ATL have to go through in order to take their ideas forward, build prototypes, come up with innovations, file patents, develop products or services, start entrepreneurial ventures, spread their knowledge with others, etc.

26. student-led maker faire

While ATL students are fortunate to have the opportunity to tinker, innovate and learn the ropes of entrepreneurship at the ATL, there are many more students across the country who don't have similar exposure or opportunities since their schools don't have an ATL. At the same time, the knowledge and skills acquired by ATL students remain largely confined to their schools. Conduct a Maker Faire to showcase tinkering & innovation projects, business or social ventures, and initiatives of ATL students to the larger student community in your school or outside your school.

Conducting Student-driven Maker Faire

Engaging Students to drive change-making initiatives

27. Change Making CLUBS

ATL students need the support and guidance of Mentors or experts to assist them in completing their tinkering or innovation projects. Start a Change Making Club in your ATL to spread a culture of tinkering, innovation & entrepreneurship among the larger student community through various student-led initiatives within their school and across schools.

This online self-learning resource has been curated by Mr. Kiran Kumar H. S., Regional Mentor of Change – Karnataka, to support ATL Students, Teachers, and Mentors of Change across the country associated with the Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, Government of India.

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