All posts by Edsys Super Admin

7 Things to Consider When Choosing a GPS Vehicle Tracking Device

GPS tracking systems have become immensely popular over the last decade. This technology has found numerous applications across industries. You can find it in major social medias such as Facebook, Google plus, etc. There are also tracking devices for ensuring safety such as the GPS school bus tracking system.

The basic function of a GPS vehicle tracking system is to gather the Real-time location of a vehicle. However, the difference between a good quality GPS system and the other low quality products depends upon way the data is transmitted to the server, the type of data transmitted and how the transmitted data reaches the user.

There are different factors to consider while choosing a vehicle tracking device. The seven most important things to consider when choosing a GPS vehicle tracking device are mentioned below:

1. Passive tracking system vs. Real-time tracking system: In Passive tracking systems, the receiver unit will store all GPS data. This stored data would be downloaded onto a local server only after the vehicle returns to the headquarters for the day. A Wi-Fi hotspot is needed to download the transmitted data onto a local server. The selection of Passive tracking system mainly depends upon the frequency of information gathering and the memory space available for the storage of the transmitted data. The Passive system gathers information in every 30 seconds and it requires considerable amount of memory to store the data.

The storage capacity of Passive solution is variable. Some solutions can store data only for 7 days while some can store data up to 60 days. There is a risk of data loss if the vehicle stays out of the coverage for long period and the data exceeds the memory capacity. Due to shortage of memory, the new data will overwrite the old data and the old data is lost forever.

Real-time tracking or Active tracking make use of the cellular/satellite modem within the GPS system. Based on a predetermined frequency, it will continuously update the data into the server. Depending upon the provider, the frequency of data updates can vary from 15 seconds to once in a day. As the data is updated continuously, there is no risk of data loss.

2. Cost: The cost of Real-time solutions is comparable with Passive solutions. There is a common myth that Passive solutions is affordable compared to a Real-time solution. Majority of the people have a feeling that Real-time solutions are costlier due to the monthly wireless fees. However, it is not correct. Real-time solutions are

increasingly affordable as wireless rates have come down over the last few years. On the other hand, a Passive system can be costlier due to Wi-Fi infrastructure as it needs regular maintenance.

3. Dispatching: Effective dispatching is possible with Real-time solutions. It is possible to know the status of each vehicle and the location of the drivers on a map. This feature allows you to take actions on emergency or other situations and to effectively manage the day-to-day operations.

4. Alerts and Notification feature: In a GPS system, Real-time alerts and notifications are very important and can be achieved only by using Real-time solutions. With the Passive system, the fleet managers will be able to monitor the vehicle only once the vehicle returns to the headquarters. Real-time system allows the fleet managers to track the vehicles 24/7 even when they are not in office.

Managers don’t have to stick to their desks all day because they will receive alerts via email or to their mobile device. Alerts can be initiated for excessive speeding and idling events, entering or exiting specific geographic areas, driving behaviour etc. It also allows preventing unsafe and costly activities in real time. The scheduling of these alerts can be done by Real-time engine diagnostics or the miles driven.

5. Quality Mapping: The mapping features of a

vehicle tracking device allows you to zoom to street levels. It also provides different views like street maps, satellite and birds eye. The GPS system should be partnered with a good mapping provider. One of the famous mapping providers, Bing mapping provides accurate and up-to-date mapping. This facility allows them to accurately track vehicle location.

6. Accidents: With Passive tracking system, if a vehicle meets with an accident and the unit is damaged, the chance of losing the data is high as the data is not continuously updated. In Real-time solutions, the last information right before the accident is transmitted. If the unit is not damaged, it would continue updating the real data.

7. Theft prevention: Theft prevention is another feature of GPS system. Most of the companies also prefer to implement GPS system into their vehicles due to this facility. As the Real-time tracking system continuously updates the position of the vehicle, it is easy to find out the lost vehicle. In comparison to Passive systems, Real-time systems are faster due to their live data updates.

There are numerous applications for GPS tracking. Probably the most important to any parent would be the School Bus Tracking system. It helps parents ensure the safety and security of their children. For schools, GPS systems are of great help as it helps them to give more attention to individual students.

8 Things you need to know about School App Today!

There is no uncertainty that mobile apps are taking the world by storm, as people depend on them for entertainment, productivity and what not! They are making their presence felt in the education field too. These school apps provide a variety of solutions to schools, students and parents in a convenient and easy to use method. The school app plays a supporting role to School workforce management system along with the parent portal. Let’s have a look on the numerous benefits that can be derived from school apps.

1. Creating Pleasant School to Parent Communication

The lucid and timely sharing of information between schools and their families is essential for resourceful and consistent education. School apps today improve school to parent communication by providing a multitude of advantages for schools, students and parents. They

  • Remove the monetary and environmental cost of paper newsletters.
  • Notes are communicated progressively by school staff to parents.
  • Saves the time of school staff by reducing phone calls with recurring and often

needless questions.

  • Helps sustain and maintain a harmonious relationship with parents.
  • Remind parents of approaching events or changes.
  • Inform students about their home works, clubs and different school news through

individual calendar.

2. Make sure parents receive the message

Just a couple of years ago, schools and teachers had to rely on the child giving the report card, letter or document to their parents. Pointless to say, many letters were left in the school bag. With school apps, the information can now be directly transferred to parents without any delay.

Benefits to Parents

  • Provides parents with a simple way to know what is going on.
  • Ensures parents always obtain notes.
  • Reduces ‘bad parent days’ by reminding busy parents about forthcoming school

events.

  • Informs parents when events are rained out, avoiding dissatisfaction

3. School Apps Facilitate Access to Content

As more and more schools now have blogs and websites, it gives both parents and students the facility to remain up to date with events and information that the school puts out. The accessibility of a school app lets the school increase its availability and openness to parents, which is imperative to student’s development.

A school app allows content and information to be sent to people at any point of time. Previously, documents that were stored on the home computer could only be viewed from one location (which could be inconvenient). Now with the advent of school apps, the same information can be accessed on a bus, as parents walk their kids to school or from any other location.

4. No Typing Required

Previously the user would have to type in the website address from a desktop and kill time until the relevant page is loaded. With a school app, the information can be accessed immediately by just loading the school app from mobile home screens. This provides a much enhanced user experience with an increased possibility of the content being read.

5. School Apps are Cool

One of the most important benefits of school mobile apps is that they are distinctive and offer a sense of fun. Both parents and children enjoy using the school mobile app, as the use of technology is appealing and exciting. This is a great way for schools to persuade interaction and get the wider community involved.

6. Reporting Bullying

Name-calling, gossiping, taunts, segregation, physical abuse – Bullying! We see and hear about it quite frequently and know for a fact that it’s a crucial problem for schools. But students often hesitate to report their problems due to several reasons. Indeed, it’s so severely built into our culture. So, how can a student be expected to turn it around? Well, no more fears. School apps today allow students to report cases of bullying that they have either witnessed or been victims of. The key is it’s a facility for students to easily report bullying safely and confidentially by submitting photos, messages or videos to school administrators, who are alerted in real time. One of the advantages of this facility is that it sort of takes the pressure off of having to go up in front of an authority and kind of being the sneak. Each message contains a GPS tag that could, at least supposedly, help adults interfere.

7.School Newsletters

School apps allow parents to read the school newsletters where they can check details and understand what’s happening in the school each week. Parents will always have the school newsletter stored within their smart phones, where they can check details and know what’s happening each week.

8. Interactive Forms

The use of parent portal in tracking real-time information about students facilitates parents to involve with their child’s learning and creates a greater opportunity to have learning conversations with their children. With the advancement in the school app, parents get the opportunity to liaise with the teachers directly. For the first time parents can submit excursion permission slips and details regarding student absences directly without any chasing! It’s as easy as that.

How do Smart Cards Improve Student Life?

Today, people are ready to accept anything that would make their tasks easier. They are always in search of all-in-one packages. Smartphones are a good example of this. And, that tendency to embrace all-in-one packages is exactly why smart card solutions by Edsys would be relevant in student life.

Many tasks related to school can be accomplished effectively with the help of these smart cards, which are embedded with RFID chips. So, if implemented, how do these smart cards solutions improve student life? Let’s take a look.

1. Influence on student tracking systems

Student and school bus tracking devices have gained immense popularity at present as they tend to be a great relief in terms of the concerns parents have about their children’s safety on their ride to school and back. Smart cards by Edsys also serve the same purpose. With the help of smart cards,

It is possible to track students and school buses easily

  • Whereabouts of the students can be notified real-time via automated SMS alerts
  • Management Information System (MIS) reports can be generated
  • Data regarding students, parents, vehicles, and drivers can be stored, which can come handy for future needs

2. Marking attendance in class

Taking attendance logging process a step ahead with smart cards will simplify the life of both students and teachers. Student id cards if tagged with active RFID can be used to mark attendance. Just a swipe over the card reader placed at the entry point of the classroom will register the presence of the student. Active RFID cards are much advanced and do not demand proximity with the reader.

 

3. Changing interaction at Canteen/Cafeteria

Sometimes, students, after reaching the canteen, realize that the money they brought is not sufficient to buy food. Such situations can be avoided using a smart card.

  • Smart cards can be used by students to make purchases
  • Amount for which items were purchased, would be deducted from the card
  • Students have the facility to check the balance left in their smart cards
  • Parents get notified on the purchases made
4. Makes it easier to Collect Fees

Every parent knows what a tedious task it is to pay their child’s school fees. Every time, they have to provide their child’s roll number and other details, which barely stay in their memory, to pay the fees. school Smart cards prove to be useful there. Parents can easily access payment information with the help of smart cards. Also, it is possible to top up the smart cards at the fee collection counter of schools.

Also Read :  What is a Smart School? What are its Benefits?
5. Simplifies the way you use Library

In most schools, students are expected to carry a library card and show it to the librarian each time lend/return a book or when they are reading the book in the library itself. In case they lose that card, they may have to pay a fine to get another card. Smart cards mean less chaos for students in that case. They can use smart cards to lend/return books. Students can also use their smart cards to mark library attendance.

6. Safer, easier transactions at Book stores
  • Students can easily purchase the books
    they need from the school book store using smart cards
  • List of items bought by the students would be recorded
  • Parents get notification of items purchased by students
  1. 7. BMI records

Smart cards help students check their height and weight using smartcards on BMI scales. When the child swipes his smart id card on the sensor and his information along with his details get stored into the school database. Schools can identify students suffering from height and weight issues and help them improve their diet and lifestyle.

 

  1. 8. School Dismissal

Schools are in a terrible need of organizing their dismissal processes. This activity can be made way simpler by adding smart cards to the picture. Parents can be provided with active RFID cards. These cards are to be carried by parents when they come to pick up the child. The RFID card reader placed at the gate identifies the parent and notifies the child about the parent’s arrival. The child is only allowed to leave the class when the parent has reached inside the campus.

  1. 9. Library on wheels

A futuristic concept where libraries will no longer be a closed arena but a mobile vehicle! The vehicle shall visit the school once in a week and allow students to borrow books with the aid of their smart identity cards. The main aim of this is to eliminate the phobia of deserted library rooms and promote reading more often. Smart cards definitely will help in achieving this goal.

Advantages of Smart Cards

Smart carts are of great advantage, in terms of school-related purposes. The advantages of smart cards include:

Access made easy

ID Cards that use magnetic strips require students to swipe through an ID card reader manually. Students will have to wait in long queues to swipe. The cards tend to be damaged easily, as well. Smart cards do not require swiping and hence no long queues, making it more convenient for students.

Lasts longer

It is a common scene in schools that students replace their damaged ID cards at least once in an academic year. This can cause loss to the parents as well as the school, in terms of money. With school smart cards, which are made of durable materials such as PVS and polyester, students would not encounter such a problem. This can help them in saving money in terms of ID card replacement annually.

Save money, time and effort

The use of a single card to serve various purposes will be equally useful for students, parents, and schools. It helps in easy and cost-effective management.

Track student activities

With a large number of students present in a classroom, it is not possible to find out whether any of the students have bunked classes. However, it is possible with smart cards and if the student is present, it is possible to find out the amount of time a student spends in the class.

Library management made easy

Students can use smart cards to mark attendance in the library. They can also use it for lending/returning books and in case, there is an overdue, students can pay it through smart cards.

Electronic payment

Students can use smart cards to pay at the canteen for the food items/ beverages they buy. They can also use the cards in the school book store to buy the necessary items they need, of which the notification would be sent to parents.

Track students

Concerns of parents and school authorities regarding the safety of students on their journey to school and way back home can be addressed using smart cards. Whereabouts of students can be tracked in real-time using smart cards. School bus tracking is also possible with smart cards.

User-friendly interface

Though some software is said to be effective and useful to users, they lack a simple interface that they are able to understand and use comfortably. Therefore, the smart card software is developed in such a way that its interface is user-friendly and easy to understand.

Smart card solutions from Edsys have numerous advantages. Their ability to serve various purposes is useful to students, parents and school management in everyday school life.

The Recruitment Circus in Indian Schools

A couple of weeks ago, I met a friend of mine in the evening. She is a teacher at one of the major schools (sorry, can’t disclose the name) in Kolkata. Quite the colourful character, she chose the profession because it was her passion. However, that particular day, she was unusually quiet. From the moment she came in, something was clearly bothering her. There was an air of tension around her.

Surprise, surprise!

After a few sullen moments, I asked her what the issue was. She replied “School’s so exhausting! On top of my regular work, I am now in charge of recruiting new employees.” I asked her –“Nita, why the hell? What is the HR department doing then?” She looked at me as if I am an alien. Her response shocked me. “What HR, dude? This is a school.” She added “there was one accounts guy who was taking care of all this. But he left last week, and ever since, I’ve been burdened by additional work.”

This was news to me. Most schools probably have a work force that would be proportional to the number of students and courses they offer, due to an existing mandate of one teacher for every 30 students. Going by this logic, an average school with 1000 students would have 50 plus teaching and an equally sizable number or more of non-teaching staff. To me, having an HR department for such an organization appeared to be the most logical thing to do. This is one of the best practices that the corporate world is very particular about.

The bigger picture

If you think deeper, it is a huge problem. Just think of the scenario after the recruitment has happened. In the absence of a qualified HR, who would calculate the employees’ salaries, leaves and other benefits? And we haven’t started to think of activities such as internal communication and organizing events.

Currently, what most schools do is to assign this job to someone who is not specialised, like the accounts person or dump the job to some poor teacher like Nita. The whole recruitment thing is similar to a circus show. They will somehow be able to manage one or two cases. But if it happens on a large scale, it would mean chaos.

Why does this problem exist?

The cost of maintaining an HR team is the most obvious reason. And traditional thinking dictates that part-timers can cover-up for specialists in areas such as recruitment. Convenience can be the other major factor. But modern day technology should be able to provide a more convenient and cost effective method.

How does it impact?

Not having an HR in an organization as big as a school not only affects the productivity of the available resources, but also has an impact on the school’s reputation. A school may not be able to attract talented candidates due to the absence of a proper system. That means the quality of teachers cannot be guaranteed. This directly affects the education students receive. Now, no one would want that.

But the Human Resource Department is not just for recruiting!

Recruitment isn’t the only responsibility of an HR. What about payroll, daily attendance, performance overview, etc? An HR takes care of each and every aspect of workforce management. This is an existing problem in a majority of schools that needs to be addressed because schools are where the foundation of the nation’s future is laid.

10 EYFS Activities To Improve Children’s Numerical Ability

Early Years Foundation Stage or EYFS, as it is called, is a framework aimed at physical, social and emotional development of a child in his/ her early years. For that, EYFS has set some guidelines for Early Years providers to follow. They are expected to maintain a profile for each child to record the children’s stage by stage development. Maintaining such a record can help in analysing the skills and areas of improvement of children by the time they turn five years old.

Early years of a child tend to influence what he/she grows to be. Whatever a child learns during the time acts as a base to what he/she gets to learn at later stages of life. This learning happens by means of a series of playful activities, which are known as EYFS activities. Thus, EYFS helps children learn through activities, which would stay in his/ her mind authoritatively for a longer period than what they learn through books.

Maths plays an important role in every person’s daily routine and activities right from the early years. Therefore, maths related EYFS activities are a great way of developing a child’s numerical abilities. This also helps children in their preparation to start school. Here is a list of maths activities that you can introduce as part of EYFS activities at your day care centre/nursery:

Number book

Children love to explore and collect things. As a part of this activity, you can ask children to maintain a number book where children can count and arrange related objects that they have collected.

What children learn

  • Counting- To Count each object they place in the book
  • Group-Learn various shapes as they group related objects

Story time

This activity is suitable for children of three to four years of age. Children love stories and challenges. Therefore, this activity means fun for children. You can narrate a story to children, which ends with a problem to solve. This helps in the development of children’s reasoning, numerical, interaction and language ability.

What children learn

  • Counting for a purpose-to see whether others have also received the same answer
  • Addition-learning how many will be there if more objects are added
  • Subtraction-How many will be there if some objects are taken away

Building blocks

Playing with blocks is one activity that children would really enjoy. You can help children in building towers of various shapes using building blocks. This improves thinking ability of children and they get an idea of various shapes

What children learn

  • Counting-Children learn to analyse how many blocks can make a tower or castle
  • Shapes-Children learn to select blocks of appropriate shapes that would fit in.
  • Position-Children learn positional language, such as to the left of, to the right of, on top of etc. and understanding symmetry in placement of blocks to build towers, castles etc. according to children’s choice.

Number songs

Children, even before they learn to speak, react to music. Therefore, any activity involving songs would help them learn faster. You can involve the children in counting and singing by introducing them to songs which involve numbers.

What children learn

  • Numbers and counting-Number songs activity introduces children to numbers and counting, which includes counting using fingers
  • Position-Children learn the use of positional language such as next, previous etc.

What is in the bag?

In this activity, you can encourage children to put their hands in a bag and guess what is inside by feeling the shape.

What children learn

  • Basic shapes-children learn to identify basic shapes such as square, oval, rectangle etc.
  • Counting- Children can learn to count the number of objects or the sides and corners of the objects they have taken out.

Outdoor maths

Nature is the greatest teacher with the variety of resources it possesses. Therefore, let the children out of the day care centres/nurseries once in a while to interact with nature. Encourage them to collect similarly shaped objects or a certain number of objects. You can also help them in weighing the objects they have collected, thus introducing them to basic lessons of weight and mass.

What children learn

  • Grouping and Comparison-Children learn to compare objects in terms of size, shape and weight and arrange items according to that
  • Understanding difference-Children learn to differentiate between sizes and shapes

Shape hunt

This activity can help you to analyse what children understood in terms of shapes. You can keep objects of various shapes in a bucket or a bag and ask the children to pick the shape you suggest.

What children learn

  • Shapes-Children learn the properties of shapes and what each shape is called

Treasure hunt

This is an outdoor activity, which children will surely enjoy. Hide objects at various locations and give clues to children to find the objects.

What children learn

  • Directions-Children will get an idea on directions

 

Step on it

This fun activity helps children to understand numbers easily. You can sing a number song and in the song, you can ask children to step on the number tiles corresponding to the number you mention

What children learn

  • Numbers-Children learn to identify numbers

Match the numbers

Use number cards and balls or stones or blocks for this fun activity. Ask children to place the exact number of objects on each number card corresponding to the number given in the card.

What children learn

  • Identify numbers- children learn to identify numbers given in the number cards
  • Counting-children learn to count the number of objects according to the number given in the number card

eyfs

12 Awesome Applications Of RFID Technology

Radio Frequency Identification or RFID as it is called, works by allowing data to be transferred from an RFID tag to a reader. RFID, with its ability to locate anything, has been used in a vast number of fields that you may have never even thought of. Here’s a list of RFID applications:

1. Set your style Have you ever heard of a smart fitting room? If your answer is no, it’s time you know more about it. When you are buying a dress, most of your time is wasted in finding out if you’ll look good in it. Smart fitting rooms can help you solve the problem. The RFID powered kiosks in the room will identify the dress and give you the product data as well as suggestions. You can also go through the alternatives. Apart from that, they also give suggestions on the accessories that go with the dress, be it handbags or ties. These smart fitting rooms would help you to define your style as well as save your time.

2. Find golf balls Every golf player deals with the chaos of finding their golf balls, once hitting it. Well, no more headaches!! RFID golf balls can help you there. RFID golf balls contain tiny RFID chips inserted in them, making it easy for players to locate the ball, using a handheld RFID scanner. With the help of the scanner, it is possible to find lost balls from a distance of 30 to 100 feet from where they were hit. This can surely help you in saving your time and money.

3. Improve your Supply Chain Being an owner of a store or a shopping market is not at all easy, especially, when it comes to dealing with manufacturing, shipping and distribution. Sometimes a delay can happen or a product can lose quality. This would in turn affect the reputation of your store. RFID can help you here. With the help of RFID, you can get data real time on the status of individual commodities being imported and take instant actions in case of errors. This can help you to increase efficiency with less errors and improved quality.

4. Track vehicles RFID joins hands with GPS here to track vehicles. This application would come in handy especially in the case of school buses. The RFID school bus tracker by Edsys is one example. Parents and teachers can ensure safety of students using RFID tags. These tags can be attached to the students’ ID cards and students can swipe those tags once they enter the bus. Parents/school authorities in turn get notified via their phones about the whereabouts of students and the vehicle, thus putting an end to safety concerns.

5. No more cheating There are lots of gamblers, who even after being honest in their game, had lost tragically. Cheating is a common activity in casinos and sometimes, it’s difficult to find out. Well, it is easier now with RFID-enabled betting chips. With the help of RFID betting chips, it is easy to monitor each individual, in terms of betting patterns and other improper gaming methods.

6. No more shopping chaos Finding items you need is a huge task when it comes to shopping malls. You have to take the effort to search each and every department or may be ask the staff there, every time you need something. “Smart shopping carts” are on their way to help you out. These carts download your shopping list digitally and RFID guides you to the locations where the items are. This can also help you to easily check out, not having to stay in the long queue, missing almost half the things you really need. With these smart shopping carts, you can save your time, energy and money.

7. Healthcare made efficient News of patients being wrongly operated or equipment being left inside the patients are very common these days. Doctors are in a rush with increase in number of patients and sometimes do not even know any details of a patient once in the operation theatre. An RFID chip on the patient’s hospital bracelet can help in such situations. Also embedding RFID chips in hospital equipments can prevent cases of accidentally leaving equipments inside operated patients. Including RFID in the health department can also help in an efficient healthcare management system, managing traffic in hospitals and monitoring equipment.

8. Interactive marketing RFID in marketing is not very much familiar to people. But it has its own benefits in many ways. RFID in marketing can add to a certain level of interaction with consumers. Than the usual way of giving a message to the consumers, RFID in marketing encourage customers to engage in the brand. This helps customers to know the products better and even give feedback.

9. Track IT assets IT assets like server blades, laptops and tablets are very important for a company. They may even contain the confidential data of a company. To prevent them from going to wrong hands, IT asset tags can be used, which work using RFID. This also helps the IT team of a company in efficient record keeping and to ensure that nothing is misplaced.

10. No more swiping Tired of waiting in the queue to swipe your ticket passes in an amusement park or a stadium? RFID-enabled tickets prove be a solution. These tickets help in keeping track of the movements of each individual. The RFID-enabled tickets tend to be advantageous in parks in terms of putting an end to swiping for each ride, saving wait times and reducing employee costs. There have been several incidents of bomb explosions in stadiums. The RFID-enabled tickets can be useful there as well as it helps to keep track of people.

11. Track your pets We come across at least one column of missing pets in newspapers everyday. RFID is an effective solution to find lost pets. An embedded RFID chip or a collar with an RFID tag can help you to easily track your pets.

12. RFID and sports In marathons and other races which involve a large group of athletes, there are often chances to have disputes regarding race timings. Real Time tracking devices such as RFID shoe tags are attached to the athletes, thus helping the authorities to record the timings of each athlete as they pass the antennas. This has been proven to be an efficient technology in accurate recording of race timings thus helping athletes to analyse their performance.

Well, the list does not end here. With the invention of new RFID applications, it is a fact that the RFID technology is here to stay.

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12 Interesting GPS Facts You Never Knew About

Trackschoolbus Apps

Here are some interesting gps facts – DID YOU KNOW?

1. There are a total of 31 satellites, including 2 reserve satellites, out of which at least 24 GPS satellites orbiting the earth. This means that each GPS satellite orbits the earth in every 12 hours. 

12 Interesting GPS Facts You Never Knew About
2. The basic idea of Geo Positioning System or GPS was based on LORAN and Decca Navigation System, which were used during World War II to help in the navigation of ships and planes at a long range.

12 Interesting GPS Facts You Never Knew About
3. When Soviet Union launched Sputnik in 1957, two American physicists started monitoring the satellite’s transmissions. They soon realised that they could identify the satellite in its orbit using Doppler Effect . This would later become the key principle used in GPS system. The change in frequency of signals from the GPS satellites helps in identifying locations.

12 Interesting GPS Facts You Never Knew About
4. GPS was first used by US for military purposes. Their need of a global navigation system during the cold war triggered the introduction of GPS.

12 Interesting GPS Facts You Never Knew About
5. Before GPS came into existence, navigation system of Navy was being used. Their need of a faster navigation system for high speed air force operations forced them to think whether navigation using satellites is possible.

12 Interesting GPS Facts You Never Knew About
6. In the beginning, GPS was called Navstar. The first Navstar satellite was launched in 1978. Out of the ten satellites launched, only nine made it to the orbit. The first fully developed GPS satellite was launched in 1989.

12 Interesting GPS Facts You Never Knew About
7. GPS was open to the public following a disaster.  In 1983, Korean Airlines Flight 007 was shot down by Soviet Union killing 269 passengers on board as the flight entered the prohibited Soviet airspace. This incident prompted President Ronald Reagan to provide public access to the United States military satellite navigation system DNSS, which is known as GPS at present.

12 Interesting GPS Facts You Never Knew About
8. Though availability of GPS was made public, high quality GPS signals were confined to military use until recently. However, on May 1, 2000, this practice was taken off. At present, the GPS for civilian purposes is more accurate.

12 Interesting GPS Facts You Never Knew About
9. GPS was first introduced in automobiles in 1996.

12 Interesting GPS Facts You Never Knew About
10. With 31 active satellites in the orbit, GPS has become a part of every gadget we use, ranging from mobiles phones to cars.

12 Interesting GPS Facts You Never Knew About
11. If you thought GPS was all about navigation, you were wrong. It can also be used to determine the accurate time. Each GPS satellites consist of atomic clocks and time signals that the GPS receiving device can use to obtain the correct time. These signals are used to set the time in our mobile phones.

12 Interesting GPS Facts You Never Knew About
12. GPS has become very popular that GPS shoes are available in the market now, mainly aimed at locating people with Alzheimer’s disease, in case they get lost.

12 Interesting GPS Facts You Never Knew About
13. Do you know who invented the GPS navigation system? Bradford Parkinson of the Applied Physics Laboratory,  Ivan A. Getting of The Aerospace Corporation, and Roger L. Easton of the Naval Research Laboratory

12 Interesting GPS Facts You Never Knew About

12 EYFS Activities For Children

Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is a framework aimed at the welfare and development of children from birth to the age of five years. Teachers of daycare centers or nurseries, the children are admitted to, will maintain a profile for each child, recording their activities until they are five years old. This will help in assessing the development of the child, his/her positives and weak points and prepare them to enter school.

The best way for a child to start learning is not through books, but through activities they involve in. These activities help children to develop skills, think and to make decisions.

Here are few EYFS activities for children, which can contribute to their development:

1. Painting

Kids love colours. Therefore, painting is one of the best activities suitable for them. Painting gives children ideas about colour and shapes. Also, painting enhances creativity in a child. By painting, children learn to think with an open mind. It also helps them to decide on what works and what does not. Also, the appreciation children get for the work they do, boosts their self-confidence. This is one activity that really helps in the development of kids.

2. Maths Activities

Since mathematics is one of the main subjects in school, this activity would help children have a strong base with numbers. With maths activities, children get introduced to numbers. They’ll have a basic understanding of numbers, what they are and how they are used. Through these activities,teachers can help children learn to count, identify patterns and compare objects. This activity can also increase the confidence of children as they prepare to start school.

3. Letters and sounds

Introduce children into the world of alphabets with these activities. Children, in their early years, tend to be faster learners than adults. They have the ability to mimic pronunciations without any difficulty. You can use letter blocks or alphabet charts to help the children understand and recognize the alphabets better. Recognition of alphabets by a child can be advantageous once he/she starts school.

4. Language development activities

Speech and language abilities of children help them to communicate their needs, build relationships and to express their feelings. The early years tend to be the best time for a child to start learning a language. Language development activities can also include learning words, building sentences etc.

5. Story telling activity

Which child does not like stories? They love listening to stories, which we narrate to them. It is a fact that kids are more imaginative than adults. So, they will definitely love this activity. Unlike the usual routine of adults narrating stories to children, encourage the kids to develop their own stories through these activities. This would help in developing language and creative skills of children.They would also learn to frame sentences.

6. Drama/role play activities

You can use some famous stories or the stories children themselves narrate for drama/role play activities. Assign children to play characters of the story (you can even help them to dress up according to the characters) and help them with the dialogue delivery. Apart from having fun, these activities help children to improve their communicative skills and interaction with other children.

7. Music and dance activities

It is a known fact that children, even before they learn to speak, react to music. Almost all children start moving as they hear music. Therefore, children would surely enjoy this activity. It would also help in improving their skills in terms of extra curricular activities. Children can also get exposed to different types of music through these activities.

8. Outdoor activities

Let the children get out of their nurseries or day care centres and mingle with nature. Nature offers far more things to learn than books or indoors do. Outdoor activities influence a child’s physical, social and emotional development. Outdoor activities give space and freedom to children. They will be able to explore and experiment without limitations. Also, physical activities of children increase once they are outdoors. They would run, play, shout, which help in their physical development.

9. Science activities

Children are always curious about things, especially those in their early years, who question about each and everything they see. Therefore, they will surely find science activities interesting. You can help the child collect things that interest them and sort them or later discuss about it, thus improving their ability to think and their communication skills.

10. Physical activities

A child’s physical development is as important as his/ her mental and emotional development. Physical activities help a child boost his/her concentration, motivation and well-being. This can be done through warm up exercises, games or through action songs.

11. Craft activities

Children love being creative. Therefore, craft activities would be perfect for them. With these activities, children get a basic idea of shapes, size and measurement, thus improving their maths skills as well. Also, they’ll learn to analyse things and make decisions. These activities can also add to the social and emotional development of children as they learn to socialise and share things.

12. Gardening activities

Children love being outdoors and getting dirty. Therefore, they’ll surely enjoy this activity. Gardening instills a sense of responsibility and love towards nature in children. They’ll learn to tender and grow their own plants. Gardening involves teamwork. Therefore, children learn to socialize and have fun.

EYFS activities help children grow and develop themselves, physically, emotionally and socially. Each and everything they encounter in the process would influence their behavior and personality at later stages of life. Also, these activities enable them to recognize and use their skills to the fullest, making them confident and good human beings.

Several Parents Not Checking KHDA Results Online

What could be worse than not utilizing an opportunity when you actually have it in your hands? That’s what is happening in Dubai right now. The Knowledge and Human Authority (KHDA), governed by the Government of Dubai, has taken the initiatives for improving the performance of private schools in Dubai. As a result of that, KHDA inspects schools and the reports are published on their website on a regular basis. But it’s very disappointing to see that parents don’t even care to go through them.

“Despite more than 200,000 pupils attending private schools in Dubai, only 26,557 people viewed inspection results and reports by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) last year — and many of them weren’t even pupils or parents,” the Gulf News quotes. It shows that parents do not bother to enquire about the quality of schools before admitting their child and those parents, whose children are already in school, do not tend to evaluate the performance of the schools.

The KHDA has been publishing reports since 2009, to help parents in finding the right school for their children and to make the parents, whose children are already in school, aware of the school’s performance. Some parents just read the summarized reports that come in newspapers but do not go online and check the reports in detail. Some parents are just aware of the inspections happening in their kids’ schools, but they are not even aware that the reports are available online.

Hind Al Mulla, who is the Chief of Engagement, KHDA, says that parents should make use of the inspection reports to the fullest for providing better education to their children. “Reports enable parents to make informed decisions about their child’s education and future. Parents are able to contrast and compare the results of different schools, focusing on everything from academia to extra-curricular activities and student life,” Mr. Mulla says.

According to the reports, 154,901 people visited the KHDA website in the year 2012; however, only 6,103 went through the publication section containing KHDA inspection reports and other schools reports. But there was a slight increase in the figures last year. Out of the 337,628 people who visited KHDA website last year, 26,557 went through the online publication section. This shows a steady growth in the number of visitors viewing KHDA publications online.

“We are expecting the number this year to be the highest. We will continue to engage parents through various channels of communication. In addition to online reports, we offer smart services,” Mr. Mulla says. The figures show that in the first two quarters of 2014, the number of people who accessed the KHDA website were 204,139. Out of that, 18,776 people viewed the KHDA inspection reports and the other reports online.

KHDA is a regulatory authority aimed at providing quality education to students of private schools in Dubai and has hence set some guidelines for the schools to follow. They inspect schools on a regular basis and publish their reports online as an effort to improve performances of schools.

Google’s Self Driving Car – A Cool GPS Vehicle Tracking App

Driverless cars have been a sci-fi lover’s dream for a long time. There is something inherently cool with the idea of travelling in a driverless car. When Google finally made self driving cars a reality, their design was completely different from the kind we see in Hollywood sci-fi movies. Maybe due to this, these cars did not evoke a positive response from the public. However, the Internet giant used the cars for collecting data for its street view maps.

Slowly, more and more people became impressed with Google’s effort. As of April 2014, the team of Google’s self driving cars has covered close to 700,000 autonomous miles (1.1 million km) in open road. Most of this has been in California where Google has created a virtual road map for its cars. Despite that it is an impressive feat.

The Secret of Google’s Self Driving Cars

So, what is the technology that made Google’s autonomous cars possible? The answer is around us. Most of the technology is already in cars that are on the road such as automatic breaking and parallel parking seen in some of the latest model cars. Some cars even have advanced cruise control that helps to keep the car inside the lane mark. The technology behind Google’s self driving cars when viewed individually is more evolutionary than revolutionary.

An assortment of sensors is used to generate a map of the surrounding area and compare it with the map in Google’s database. By doing this, the car is able to understand the original path and identify the new objects (people, other vehicles and more) for easier navigation. The major or most interesting among the eight different sensors used in these self driving cars is named Lidar. It is a rotating sensor placed at the roof top which helps build 3D maps at a distance of 200m continuously by the use of 32/64 lasers. The car also has a set up that monitors other motorists and pedestrians using a standard camera.

GPS in Google Self Driving Car2s

Role of GPS Technology

You might be familiar with GPS technology which helps in geo-location in your smartphone. A more sophisticated version of the same used in Google’s autonomous cars. GPS technology is quite popular as it is used in several applications such as vehicle tracking systems and school bus tracking systems apart from smart devices. In Google’s cars, a GPS aerial is mounted at the rear for location information. But these cars also feature gyroscopes, altimeters and a tachometer in them to avoid even a minute miscalculation of cars’ positions.

Mishaps

Despite the technology involved, there has been couple of accidents that involved the search giant’s driverless cars. The first one occurred back in 2011 near the company’s headquarters in California. Another time, a self driving car from the Google stable was rear ended at a traffic light. But Google clarified that both the cars were being driven manually when the incidents occurred.

Commercialization and recent developments

Google doesn’t have plans to commercialize driverless cars immediately. But there have been some recent developments such as Nevada becoming the first US district to make autonomous cars legal and UK allowing driverless cars in its roads from 2015. These might prompt Google to bring the autonomous cars on the roads faster than expected.

Recently it was confirmed that Google’s self driving cars are designed to exceed the speed limit by almost 10 Kms/hr in order to keep up with other cars if they exceed the speed limit. Thus it’s pretty clear that these cars are very close to being commercialized. Also, Google recently announced plans for 100 self-driving car prototypes

Hurdles faced by Driverless cars

But there are some hurdles that Google and other promoters of the technology need to tackle before full commercialization. One is the legal implications and the other is the general public’s attitude towards cars without drivers.

It might even take a generation before people become comfortable with the idea of travelling in cars that have no drivers. While the time frame is uncertain, most developed nations are sure about one thing – that autonomous vehicles are the future.

Facts about Google’s Self Driving Car Prototypes

  • They run 100% on electricity. Talk about a greener future!
  • When fully charged, these cars will be able to run for 100 miles
  • You can use your smart phone to summon these cars
  • It is not confirmed at the moment, but these cars may not have pedals and steering wheels
  • Google’s Self Driving prototypes use a complex mechanism which uses radars, lasers and sensors other than GPS systems for navigation
  • These cars won’t be manufactured commercially. Google would probably partner with a car manufacturer to bring this technology to the market
  • car crashes are due to driver errors According to experts, driverless cars can reduce the number of accidents that happen on road. Reason? Most reports point out that more than 85% of. So, autonomous cars while unable to completely eliminate crashes; will reduce the rate of accidents drastically.
  • If commercialized, driverless cars will lead to a massive rewriting of traffic rules