After successful launch of its Kinderuniversity in English and German, the Goethe-Institut, the cultural institute of Germany on Feb 9 launched the Digital Kinderuniversity in Hindi. This innovative project shall help students aged eight to 12 satiate their curiosity about science-related questions through exciting educational content and accompany them in learning the German language during the process.
The Digital Kinderuniversity, a free online learning platform, shall contribute significantly towards making education more accessible to the public and ensuring development in children from an early age. Currently, Kinderuniversity is offered in Hindi, English, and German. While no prior knowledge of German is required to enroll at Kinderuniversity, students can familiarise themselves with the language, combined with an independent and playful pursuit of science.
At Kinderuniversity, children attend lectures and complete exercises based on STEM + Arts i.e. STE(A)M subjects. They learn from ‘Humans’, ‘Nature’ and ‘Technology’ and are exposed to elements of gamification throughout the course. Students can collect badges that help them advance through levels ranging from Bachelor, Master, Doctorate to Professor. To further incentivise students, certificates can be downloaded anytime and from anywhere.
Commenting on the launch, Thomas Gödel, Director Language Programmes South Asia & Deputy Executive Director, says, “The Digital Kinderuniversity is an outstanding global language project of the Goethe Institut that leverages children’s curiosity to impart knowledge and make them learn German in a playful way. By translating it into the major regional languages of India, we aim to increase the project’s outreach and ensure that it benefits a large number of children.”
Dr. Berthold Franke, Director Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan New Delhi and Regional Director South Asia, further elaborates on the initiative, says, “The Covid-19 pandemic has shown us that digital spaces can be anything – from classrooms to playgrounds. Our project Kinderuniversity is an initiative in the direction of making learning fun, accessible, convenient and holistic, especially in this day and age where going to school means logging in using a device. With a focus on science and arts subjects, we take ‘learning from everything around us’ rather seriously and believe that our platform will provide answers to the very many questions that make young children wonder.”
Website: https://kinderuni.goethe.de/
