Robot’s role

This robot is a teaching assistant not a substitute teacher. It can teach content, leaving the teacher time to personalize their learning pathways. The robot teaches what Google can teach while the teacher teaches what Google cannot,” states 36-year-old Banoo Ragaby who has been closely associated with the Artificial Intelligence (AI) robot called Eagle 2 at the Indus International School in Bangalore.
Ragaby (née Billimoria) tells us, "My role in the project is to ensure that curriculum aspects are all in place in terms of getting lessons from teachers, working with the graphic designers to ensure the best possible visuals, programing the lessons (I don’t write the algorithms, I use the algorithms to program) and finally collating and analyzing the feedback that we receive after every lesson. There is a lot of reading and researching involved and thousands of hours spent in the boardroom as a team, ideating and presenting updates. There have been failed attempts, late nights and arguments galore in the pursuit of the perfect rendition. Currently our team has a structural side, programing side and a content team including me, other teachers and graphic designers. We have been mentored every step of the way and guided by the CEO (chief executive officer) Lt Gen Arjun Ray (retd) and our principal, Sarojini Rao. They have pushed us individually and as a team to do what no one else has set out to do — build robots in such a way that they assist teachers.
"The media has been very receptive as have the students, parents and teachers. It is extremely promising when people meet me and immediately ask me how she (Eagle 2) is doing or when children stop me to share an idea they have about how to improve the robot! It is fascinating to watch students interact with the robot during the question-answer session at regular intervals. They often comment on how Eagle 2 can answer all their questions! This project has miles to go and I hope to see it through till as far as I possibly can.”

Ragaby narrates what led to the creation of Eagle 2. In 2017 her husband Zarathusht and she received job offers from Indus. Zarathusht is currently the head of boarding at Indus. "When we came here, within six months I applied for and got selected for the Teacherpreneurship which is an intensive program of self and professional development for select teachers within the School. One of the things we had to work on was the robot project, the brain child of Ray. It stems from the idea that when AI and Human Intelligence combine, the results are far superior to either one functioning on its own. At that point the robot project was still in its infancy and we didn’t have much in place. By December 2018 we were in a position to try out a couple of classes. After every class the feedback we got was brutal, yet that is exactly what fuelled our intent and gave direction to the upgrades that we wanted to research and develop. From January through May 2019 there were a number of prototype classes. We experimented with age ranges, subject ranges and teachers before taking a decision to begin with Grades 7, 8, 9, focusing on the Sciences and Humanities.”
Banoo’s foray into international education curricula began when Zarathusht and she got jobs at The International School in Bangalore in 2009. He joined as the CAS, IAYP (Certificate of Advanced Study, International Award for Young People) and Trips coordinator along with house mastership in the boys’ hostel and Banoo as a primary section teacher. Mentored by experienced teachers from all over the world, Banoo developed her own philosophy of education: "I believe in the natural ability of a child to develop skills and not in enforced perfection at an early age. I believe ideas are far more important than knowledge. The more insane the ideas children have, the more they should be pushed to explore them. Creativity blossoms as a result and they develop their own unique sense of the world around them.”
Five years later the Ragabys joined GEMS Cambridge International School in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). "That is where I blossomed into the teacher I am today,” she acknowledges. She taught all subjects including ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and art to 10-year-olds based on the British National Curriculum syllabi, constantly challenged to try new ways in which to teach the same matter. Here she got her first taste of school administrative duties and was appointed as the professional development (PD) coordinator requiring her to mentor teachers and develop professional goals for them. Conferred the GEMS Core Value Award as best PD coordinator among all GEMS Schools across the UAE, she started conducting workshops for teachers and parents. "I even conducted a workshop PD as a school strategy for school leaders in Jamshedpur through the Tata Excellence in Education Programme (TEEP),” she noted.
Two years into that adventure Banoo and Zarathusht returned to Dahanu where they lived since 2005. Armed with experience and a plethora of pedagogic strategies, she joined Laxmi Global School, first as a volunteer helping with college counseling, subsequently as academic coordinator and eventually as principal of the School. Realizing she "was still too raw to take on such a mammoth task,” she chose to pursue a masters in educational leadership online, from the University of Roehampton, London, receiving the degree in January 2019.
Before joining Indus, the couple decided on an extended travel break which ended in a two-and-half-month stay in Australia. Instead of touring Australia they signed up as a volunteer family on a website called HelpX. "We spent most of our time helping out families there in exchange for a place to stay and food. Our son Zorion enjoyed himself rounding up sheep and mending fences,” she reminisced. Banoo was mainly helping out in the kitchen, giving them a taste of Indian and Parsi cuisine.

Jamshedpur origins
Raised in Jamshedpur as the first born child of Homi Billimoria who worked with Tata Iron and Steel Company for over 40 years and Amy, a school teacher who headed Tarapore School for over 15 years, Banoo was asthmatic from a young age. Outdoor activities being restricted when she was a student at the Sacred Heart Convent School and Loyola School, she concentrated on elocution, ex tempore speaking and writing. A graduate in microbiology and biochemistry, she met Zarathusht when she was in her final year at St Xavier’s College. They married in 2005 after her graduation and moved to Dahanu where she got a job teaching math and science in middle school. Her in-laws, Khurshed and Moti Irani, are well known proprietors of Agnee Bakers in Dahanu. Zorion was born in 2006 and for the next couple of years she continued teaching, giving tuitions and completing her BEd whilst bringing up the baby with support from her husband and in-laws.
Her upbringing was "very Parsi, yet equally secular. We are a close knit Zoroastrian community in Jamshedpur with picnics and nataks and prayer competitions, bingo nights among other things. Agiary cleaning was a yearly affair and a much celebrated one as well. As youngsters we looked forward to the Parsi Anjuman cricket meets and Federation of Zoroastrian Youth Associations of India events that would take place,” she noted. There was however one idea that she couldn’t come to terms with: "Why did I have to marry a Parsi? Why did love come with a religious stamp on it? For a long while I even felt I didn’t belong. Although I did marry a Zoroastrian, I still haven’t been able to understand or accept this principle which is said to be a part of our ethos. I hope we as a community can be more open.” Her sister Kerban Billimoria Rajdeo is the lead, communication, for Edelgive Foundation, Edelweiss Group. As parents, Banoo and Zarathusht have ensured that "Zorion understands what it means to be Zoroastrian without being dogmatic about the rituals.”

Zarathust and Banoo (3^rd and 4^th from l) with their parents at son Zorion’s navjote

Besides travel and adventure, Banoo enjoys cooking, reading, solving crossword puzzles, large jigsaws and embroidery. "I believe that we must try everything at least once, be it new cuisines, styles of living or bizarre ideas. My school friends, who I am very close to even today, mean the world to me and I enjoy the few times in the year when we get to meet!” she stated.
The educationist recalled, "The most important lesson instilled in me while growing up, one that has stood me in good stead, is that the best way to show gratitude for what I have is to work all my faculties to their full potential. I have taken every opportunity that has come my way irrespective of whether I failed or succeeded. If there is anything I am grateful for, it is my family. I hope to one day begin an endeavor in which I can mentor new teachers through the initial years of their career and also work as a coach for schools which are looking for ways to improve their systems and processes. I am happy to provide support and guidance to anyone who wishes to join this profession.”