Learn + Innovate @ Jumpstart 2017

The 9th edition of JUMPSTART , a forum that brings together thinkers, creators and practitioners from the world of children’s content creation, was held at India International Centre, New Delhi on 4 and 5 August 2017. Here’s more on this interesting and informative event, organized by German Book Office, New Delhi. JUMPSTART, which had started as a series of masterclasses, has grown to become an exemplary platform for ideation, training, development and collaboration. Widely attended by professionals from the field of education, publishing, arts, and education technology, it is an ideal connecting ground and a learning opportunity for everyone involved in creating content for children.

“Jumpstart is a one of its kind platform for us at Collins Learning, India’s fastest growing education division of HarperCollins, to engage with and share ideas on how education content, learning and teaching are changing the future of Indian kids,” says Ananth Padmanabhan, CEO, Harper Collins India.

Prashasti Rastogi, director of German Book Office, New Delhi, said, “The culture of innovation needs to be planted right at the school level. The biggest challenge in education is to master the concept and simultaneously make the learning enjoyable. Low attention spans, hyper dexterity in classrooms make it difficult to keep the students focused in the 2D world of traditional textbook learning.

JUMPSTART is a step towards fostering an innovative culture in a community of authors, publishers and consumers to grapple with these issues. In that way JUMPSTART is a unique confluence of multiplicity of ideas, domains, beliefs, professions and practices it represents. From dance to game to storytelling, the participants took back many inspirations to their workplaces.”

The 2017 event…

Schools are a starting point for countless creative journeys. Learning, however, has moved beyond the four walls of the classroom—it’s embracing movement and innovation. Keeping this as its basis, JUMPSTART 2017 looked at learning from new, innovative perspectives to find ways to make it more integrated with life experiences. It evaluated the impact of learning on authoring blended experiences, discussed the emerging landscape of learning, and reviewed the use of technology for better learning among children.

The first day of the event witnessed participation from renowned names like authormythologist Devdutt Pattanaik; dancer-choreographer Geeta Chandran; illustrator-cartoonist Moritz Stetter; author and screenwriter Venita Coelho; and, storyteller Rituparna Ghosh. The second day of the event was followed by intensive masterclasses on illustration, storytelling, creative writing and multimedia.

Neeraj Jain, MD of Scholastic India, emphasised on the need of such festivals in India. “It is the ninth year and JUMPSTART is still going strong. The confluence of teachers, authors, publishers and lovers of children’s literature with such aplomb is a strong indicator of just how important such events are to children’s publishing,” he said. Scholastic India also chose JUMPSTART 2017 as the platform to unveil their upcoming book Boy No. 32, written by Venita Coelho who was also a speaker and masterclass expert at JUMPSTART 2017. The renowned author-screenwriter introduced her upcoming book as a rip-roaring adventure, promising that the book will have its readers on tenterhooks throughout!

Festival Advisor Manisha Chaudhry reviewed this year’s edition as it unfolded over the two days: “JUMPSTART 2017 has been a revelation in more ways than one! Within the ambit of Learning +Innovation, we heard from seasoned experts as well as a young student. We demystified gamification and we immersed ourselves in the mystique of stories. We saw the body through the medium of dance and saw an outline of what an unboxed education could be… I think JUMPSTART is fulfilling its promise as a platform for creative ideas.”

While, festival advisor Rohit Kumar said, “JUMPSTART 2017 truly made an impact on how the conference is truly a melting point of ideas and perspectives. It continues to be the platform where the future of how content creators and authors can create content that will impact learning in a positive way in the future! Looking forward to the next year for an even more exciting mix of ideas!”