The world around us is rapidly changing. Children have access to quickly evolving technology, and they learn pretty fast.  They often engage in a multitude of activities that take them beyond textbooks. It is a shared responsibility between parents and schools to provide opportunities that help students develop various skills that they can use in any career to prepare them to keep up with the changes, discover themselves, and be prepared for their future.  

Capturing the experiences gained through the various academic as well as extracurricular activities and showcasing the accomplishments of student life is important for laying the foundation for higher studies and a career launch. MySphere enables students to capture their learning journeys and reflect upon them in a Student Profile, and this gives them visibility into their own growth as a learner over time. 

What is a Student Profile?

A Student Profile is a snapshot of a student’s learning journey. Student profiles encompass students’ basic details, descriptions of themselves, education, career goal, courses undertaken and work experience. It also has a place to list hobbies, skills, badges earned, accomplishments and memberships. 

A portfolio is an important part of the student profile, as it highlights the noteworthy projects done by students. Student profiles bring to life the depth and breadth of a student’s academic life. Student profiles display a timeline of students’ learning journey and progress made through their school/college life.

Why is a Student Profile needed?

Development and inherent knowledge of one’s own aptitude and liking and interests are missing in most students, caught up in an otherwise academic/test-focussed world. Other than traditional school subjects – exposure to the application relevance of learning different things and their interdependence in the real world is largely missing. 

Accomplishments, academic records, and artefacts of extracurricular activities are scattered in unstructured repositories. And as a result, students and their parents are unable to analyze, find patterns and derive insights from the progression of their learning journey. They are unable to easily and comprehensively showcase a student’s accomplishments and learning journey when the need arises. 

Student Profiles captures key information about students’ life – academics, skills developed, interests, accomplishments and aspirations and ready-to-showcase when needed for higher studies and career opportunities.

How to make a Student Profile?

MySphere is conceptualized and designed for students to help in their career prep and give them a safe space to build their impressive profile and digital portfolio. Students can visit MySphere and start creating their Student Profile and Portfolio.

Student Profile includes multiple sections as described below:

• Students can write about things that excite them, their career aspirations, and interests in the about section.
• Apart from writing about their education, students can mention their work experience. It could include summer internships, volunteering or freelancing work.
• Additionally, courses taken for upskilling and enhancing knowledge can also be listed here.
• A portfolio is the highlight of a student profile. It showcases the best projects of a student.
• Activities other than academics form an important part of students’ holistic development. Accomplishments such as getting published in the school magazine, receiving an award, getting a scholarship, earning a certificate and winning sports medals add weight to the profile.
• Badges, add a lot of character to a profile. One could get a badge for being a house captain, debate master, cultural head or hundred percent attendance. Students can demonstrate many qualities like leadership, timeliness or dedication through badges.
• Students can list their multiple hobbies and interests.
• Mentioning memberships like Nature club, Photography club, Philately society, or Drama group in the profile indicate areas of interest. Finally, the skills section emphasizes the natural talent and areas of expertise of a student.

All the details listed in the Profile are linked to the Grades and Dates when they happened, and thus help plot a timeline of a student’s growth.

In this way, a profile brings the depth and breadth of student life to the fore.

Why is Student Profile important?

An impressive Student Profile imbibes confidence, enthusiasm and growth in students. Profile-building also helps the students maximise their chances of securing an education in elite global and Indian institutions.

• Academic scores, standardized exam results, research potential, and work experience (part-time/community service, and leadership) are all factors that the admission committee considers while making its choice.
• Students and their parents can form a data-driven, informed view about a student’s interests, abilities, strengths and weaknesses. The same stands true for career counsellors and consultants.
• Students can write about their learning experiences and insights gained in their portfolios. Revisiting these reflective notes helps them analyze and improve their ideas and get a better perspective. While journaling, students capture their learning logs, reflect on them, and develop critical thinking and writing skills. Based on their learning journey so far, they are better able to make sense of their interests and, based on that, what are the suitable career opportunities for them to choose from. 

In a nutshell, Student Profiles display a timeline of students’ learning progress made through their school or college life.