international
VentureStudio to upgrade skills with Centre
VentureStudio , an Ahmedabad University initiative, has been launched for Innovative Business Design in the state in collaboration with Centre for Design Research (CDR) at Stanford University. VentureStudio will bring glocal resources to develop an ecosystem for innovative startup ventures. The Centre will work with multidisciplinary teams to create products that meet community needs.
news
India, Afghanistan collaborate for education, HRD Joint Declaration between India and Afghanistan on the Occasion of the visit of Prime Minister of India At the invitation of Mr. Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Dr. Manmohan Singh paid an official visit to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. During the visit, Dr.
Manmohan Singh held detailed discussions with Mr Karzai on a wide range of bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest, including education. The two sides agreed to impart a long term commitment to their multifaceted bilateral relations and to actively develop them in the years ahead.
The two leaders shared their vision of Afghanistan as an
independent, democratic, stable and prosperous country.
Many UK schools spend less than £10 per child on ICT
Stanford joins hands with Jaslok Hospital
Many primary school pupils are going without up-to-date Information and Communication Technology (ICT) learning tools as 1804 schools across England and Wales spend less than £10 per pupil on ICT equipment. Altogether 12 per cent of primary schools are spending £10 per primary school pupil is especially worrying as this data covers a period before the real tightening of education budgets began and between April 1 2009 to March 31 2010, 377 of the 14,495 primary schools in England and Wales spent nothing at all. ICT resources have a very short shelf life especially in a school environment. Low levels of ICT investment means that schools will soon be running old, slow and very unreliable equipment which will impair the effectiveness of learning through ICT use. When one consider the pace of change in ICT equipment and the increasing importance of ICT to the competitiveness of the UK economy such a small per pupil expenditure seems anachronistic. Arguably then one can choose to put off investing in other parts of the school’s infrastructure for a while such, as buildings, but deferring investing in technology can have a very quick and detrimental impact on the effectiveness and relevance of their ICT assets. Even the national average spend annual spend on ICT of £50 per primary school pupil is seen by many commentators as too low.
To study possibilities of cooperation in medical services and training Stanford Medical Centre, an Ivy League institution in San Francisco, and Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre in Mumbai have signed an MoU. Stanford will provide the initial phase Teleconferencing Programmes to Jaslok doctors with top class education on “hot topics” to in turn offer best therapeutic options to Indian patients. There would also be opportunities to participate interactively with Stanford presenting and attending faculties. This could be expanded in later phases with visitations by Jaslok doctors to hospitals and clinics at Stanford and its affiliate hospitals in the US. “I firmly believe that Jaslok Hospital’s multispeciality doctors will benefit greatly by educational engagement with world renowned faculty from one of US top Ivy league institutions like Stanford Medical Centre,” Dr Mukesh Hariawala, Boston said.
IGNOU inks pact with SACON bird conservatory
The Indira Gandhi National Open University’s (IGNOU) Chair for Sustainable Development (CSD) has entered into a pact with the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) to offer programmes in the area of Environmental Impact Assessment and Ornithology. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed by the Registrar of the university U.S. Tolia and Dr. P.A. Azeez on behalf of SACON in the presence of Prof. Latha Pillai and Prof. P.R. Ramanujam, Pro VCs of IGNOU, offers a six month programme called PG Certificate in Environmental Management System and a year-long programme called PG Diploma in Environmental Impact Assessment and Management for students through online mode. The courses are expected to be launched in April 2012.
digitalLEARNING / june 2011
23