11 December 2025 | Dehradun
A landmark two-hour national-level webinar was jointly organized today by SCERT Uttarakhand and the Kotak Education Foundation (KEF) for D.El.Ed. trainee teachers, elementary teachers, and high school faculty. The collaborative program was coordinated by SCERT Uttarakhand, DIET Dehradun, and the Vidya Samiksha Kendra, Uttarakhand, bringing together more than 200+ live attendees, 800+ participants via conference links, 100+ viewers on YouTube, and over 50 teachers physically present at DIET Dehradun.
The webinar focused on AI-integrated lesson planning, ICT tools for classroom innovation, future-ready pedagogy, and practical demonstrations of emerging educational technologies.
Opening Ceremony & Distinguished Dignitaries
The session opened with an address by Padmendra Saklani, Additional Director, SCERT Uttarakhand, who welcomed all participants and set the tone for an impactful session on the role of AI and ICT in 21st-century education.
He extended a warm welcome to the dignitaries from the Kotak Education Foundation:
- Jayashree Ramesh, Chief Operating Officer (COO), KEF
- Kavita Sanghvi, Director – Programs, KEF
- Resource Person Team: Reena, Deepak, and Zuzhat, who led the technical demonstrations and teacher training segments.
The session was moderated by R. P. Badoni, IT Faculty, SCERT, ensuring a smooth flow of presentations and interactions.
A formal vote of thanks was presented by R. Pandey DIET Faculty, acknowledging the joint initiative and contributions of all partners.
Leadership Insight & Institutional Collaboration
COO Jayashree Ramesh delivered an inspiring address, sharing the mission and vision of Kotak Education Foundation—highlighting KEF’s commitment to empowering teachers with AI literacy, digital pedagogy, and 21st-century skills.
She outlined KEF’s philosophy of enabling educators to adopt responsible, meaningful, and practical AI tools in daily teaching. Jayashree also invited teachers to explore the AI Saathi for Educators initiative, which supports teacher capacity-building across India.
Following her remarks, she requested Director Kavita Sanghvi to present all initiatives of KEF related to AI, ICT, teacher enablement, and digital learning support.
Address by Director (Academic Research & Training)
During the technical session, Bandana Garbyal, Director, Academic Research & Training, Uttarakhand, joined the webinar and congratulated both SCERT and KEF for this collaborative capacity-building effort.
She expressed gratitude to COO Jayashree Ramesh for bringing KEF’s national-level expertise to Uttarakhand. Garbyal highlighted:
- The importance of strengthening AI & ICT competencies among teachers
- The need for future-ready classroom innovations
- SCERT’s vision for continuing this collaboration in upcoming teacher development programs
Jayashree gladly accepted the proposal for future association, marking the beginning of a long-term academic partnership.
Session Highlights – What Teachers Learned
Resource persons Reena, Deepak, and Zuzhat conducted an engaging, hands-on presentation based entirely on the detailed session content provided in the PDF. Key components included:
1. Understanding AI in Education
Teachers explored:
- Why AI is important for classroom learning
- How AI builds teacher confidence
- Responsible use of AI for pedagogy
- How AI supports content creation, quizzes, assessments, and personalization
2. ICT Tools for Classroom Innovation
Teachers were introduced to multiple platforms for simulations, activities, and interactive learning, including:
- PhET simulations (Solar System, Earth-Moon System)
- Geogebra, Desmos, Toy Theater, Math Playground
- Google Earth activities
- Padlet for collaborative assignments
3. Live Demonstration: Meta AI (WhatsApp)
Participants practiced:
- Generating definitions
- Creating questions
- Producing short notes
- Using meta-based prompts for student self-learning
Live examples included prompts like:
“Create 5 lines on sunlight” and “Define photosynthesis.”
4. AI-Based Lesson Plan Development
A focused demonstration of Generative AI and lesson planning included:
- 40-minute Grade 4 EVS Solar System lesson plan demo
- Development of instructional activities and assessments
- Crafting prompts for image creation and worksheets
- Integration of constructive alignment (LOs → Activities → Assessments)
Teachers explored tools such as:
- ChatGPT
- MagicSchool.ai (5E model lesson plans, assessments, rubrics)
- Wayground/Quizziz assessments
- DALL-E 2, Scribe, Copilot, Gemini, Claude, etc.
(With clear disclaimers that tools were demonstrated only for educational examples.)
5. AI for Assessments & Rubrics
Teachers generated:
- MCQs
- Worksheet templates
- Rubrics for performance tasks
- Descriptive assessments
- Feedback reports using AI tools
6. Collaborative Activity via Padlet
Teachers contributed responses on the Role of ICT and AI in Education, shared on the webinar Padlet wall.
Participation & Impact
- 200+ teachers joined live on webinar platform
- 800+ participants connected through conference links and personal devices
- 100+ viewers attended the YouTube livestream
- 50+ teachers participated physically from the DIET Dehradun common room
The webinar received resounding appreciation for being:
- Informative
- Hands-on and practical
- Highly engaging
- Relevant to classroom needs
- A major step forward in AI-enabled education in Uttarakhand
The SCERT–KEF joint webinar stands as a milestone in Uttarakhand’s teacher professional development, empowering educators with essential AI and ICT skills to make classrooms more interactive, efficient, and future-ready.
During the ongoing training session, Hemlata Gaur, Principal, DIET Dehradun, visited the webinar hall and warmly addressed the participants and KEF team. In her words:
“I extend my heartfelt thanks to the Kotak Education Foundation team for supporting our teachers in strengthening their AI and ICT competencies. Such practical, hands-on training is exactly what our educators need to prepare for the future of teaching and learning. DIET Dehradun deeply values this partnership, and we look forward to more collaborative initiatives that will help our faculty and trainee teachers adopt innovative digital practices in the classroom. Thank you for empowering our teachers and contributing to the transformation of school education in Uttarakhand.”
With leadership support from both institutions and enthusiastic teacher participation, this collaboration marks the beginning of a transformative journey in digital education, bringing national expertise to state-level classrooms.
