e-Learning in Higher Education : April 2007 Issue

The monthly publication on ICT and Education for Asia and the Middle East

Volume III Issue 4

April 2007

ISSN 0973-4139

www.digitalLEARNING.in

Rs 75

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The African Virtual Open Initiatives and Resources PAGE 14

Institutional Research Engaging Students for Quality in Higher Education PAGE 20

Course Management Pedagogy

Instructional design Introducing Technology Based Higher Education in Bangladesh PAGE 41

Virtual University University Networks

e-Learning in

Higher Education

Leaders’ Speak LS Venkatesh General Manager, Edutech PAGE 27 FORTHCOMING EVENT

30 July - 3 August 2007 Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

Interview: Dr P Venkat Rangan, VC Amrita University, India PAGE 10

Contents Verbatim

Volume III Issue IV, April 2007

“We have now a wider conception of the duties and responsibilities of universities...They have to meet the increasing demand for every type of higher education, literacy and scientific, technical and professional. They must enable the country to attain,in as short a time as possible, freedom from want,disease and ignorance, by the application and development of scientific and technical knowledge... It is for the universities to create knowledge and train minds who would bring together the two, material resources and human energies. If our living standards are to be raised, a radical change of spirit is essential.” Dr. S. Radhakrishnan Former President of India

Cover Story

The e-Learning Wave in Higher Education

Corporate Diary

Leaders’ Speak

Country Focus

LS Venkatesh General Manager Edutech, India

10 Interview Dr P. Venkat Rangan, VC, Amrita

Introducing Technology Based Higher Education in Bangladesh Subrata Kumar Dey and M Abdus Sobhan

University, India

Project African Virtual Open 14 The Initiatives and Resources (AVOIR) Paul Scott

School Track

ICT@RDPS, India Geetika Malhotra

Regulars

34 46

M-Learn Mark Your Calendar

News Perspective

Engaging Students for Quality in Higher Education Dr Jagannath Patil

18 29 32 44

India Corporate Asia World

All the articles are available online at www.digitalLEARNING.in

156% overall increase in the budget for higher and technical education A provision of INR 502 crores has been made for the National Mission for Education through ICT and distance learning. A substantial portion of this money would be used to provide high-speed interconnectivity between 84 Central educational and research institutions and for developing the e-Course content. Shri Arjun Singh, Union Minister for Human Resource Development has stated that in the field of higher and technical education the increase is of 156 per cent. The University Grants Commission had been given a Plan Budget of INR1269 crore in 2006-07, itself a substantial increase of over 68% over 2005-06 allocations, enabling increased assistance to Universities in general and the Central Universities in the North East in particular. This has been proposed to be raised in 2007-08 to INR 2373 crores which includes increased allocation of INR 1218 crores for the State Universities and INR 576 crores for the implementations of capacity in areas in Central Universities by 54%. Four new Central Universities have been created during 2006 through

Acts of Parliament. Arunachal Pradesh (Rajiv Gandhi National University) and Tripura University have been conver-ted from State Universities into Central Universities, while a new University of Sikkim has been created. The Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages has been converted into a Central University. Now all States in the North East have a Central University each. It is now proposed to establish 3 new IITs in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan for which the Annual Plan 2007-08 has proposed to provide INR 80 crores. It has also been decided to establish a 7th IIM at Shillong in the North East for which a provision of INR 6 crores has been made. Two new Schools of Planning and Architecture are also proposed to be started at Vijaywada and Bhopal and a token provision of INR 1 crore in each case has been provided. In addition to the existing Indian Institute of Information Technology at Gwalior, Allahabad and Jabalpur under the Government of India, a new IIIT (Design and Manufacturing) has been approved to be established at Kanchi-puram in Tamil Nadu. Proposals have been submitted to the Planning Commission

for starting 20 new IIITs so as to cover each major State. Erstwhile Regional Engineering Colleges/Government Engineering Colleges have been converted into National Institutes of Technology (NITs) with changes in their governance structure. There are 20 NITs at present. In order to build scientific research institutions of the highest standards in which teaching and research at the under-graduate and post-graduate levels will be undertaken in an integrated manner, two Indian Institutes of Scientific Education and Research (IISERs) have already started functioning at Kolkata and Pune. A third IISER is being set up at Mohali (Punjab) and two more have been proposed at Bhopal and Thiruvanathapuram. INR 125 crores has been provided for the IISERs in the Annual Plan.

digital LEARNING invites authors We invite editorial contributions from our readers in the field of Digital Learning. While no guarantee is made or implied, we will make every effort to incorporate all views and experiences in the relevant issues so as to better serve the ICT and Education community at large. Note that contributions may be edited for space and/ or clarity. Unconsolidated manuscripts and artwork will not be returned. Please be sure to read and follow the Editorial Guidelines available at http:// www.digitallearning.in/editorial.asp All correspondence should be addressed to: The Editor, Digital Learning G-4, Sector-39, Noida, India Tel +91-120-2502180 to 85 Fax +91-120-2500060 Email info@digitalLEARNING.in 4

Next issue: Measuring outcomes

April 2007 | www.digitalLEARNING.in

digital LEARNING Volume III, issue 4 | April 2007

Editorial

President M P Narayanan Editor-in-Chief Ravi Gupta Editorial Consultant Jayalakshmi Chittoor Sr. Assistant Editor Rumi Mallick Sub Editor Manjushree Reddy Marketing Siddharth Verma +91-9811561645 (India) email: siddharth@csdms.in Debabrata Ray +91-9899650692 email: debabrata@elets.in Circulation Lipika Dutta (+91-9871481708) Manoj Kumar (+91-9210816901) Designed by Bishwajeet Kumar Singh Web Zia Salahuddin Editorial and Marketing Correspondence digital LEARNING G-4 Sector 39 NOIDA 201301, India Phone +91 120 2502181-85 Fax +91 120 2500060 Email info@digitalLEARNING.in Group Directors Maneesh Prasad, Sanjay Kumar Printed by Yashi Media Works Pvt Ltd New Delhi, India digital LEARNING does not neccesarily subscribe to the views expressed in this publication. All views expressed in the magazine are those of the contributors. digital LEARNING is not responsible or accountable for any loss incurred, directly or indirectly as a result of the information provided. digital LEARNING is published in technical collaboration with Elets Technomedia Pvt. Ltd. (www.elets.in)

ÂŠ Centre for Science, Development and DigitalStudies Learning | Vol(www.csdms.in) 3 Issue 4 April 2007 Media 2006

The need for speed The President of India Dr APJ Abdul Kalam recently announced a vision plan that envisaged an empowered science and technology base by 2015 saying that there is a need to energise our university system and enable it to respond to the pressures of the market, so that it can retain and attract talent. A proposal of the government too was announced to set up several institutes of science, technology and IT in various parts of the country as part of its efforts to revitalise the higher education system. The National Knowledge Commission has also in its first report laid emphasis on the need to invest in education at this level of the knowledge pyramid. Although elearning has all potential in Indian higher education sector, adoption has been slow and will need major awareness and marketing efforts. The interest in distance education is growing very rapidly in India and is expected to double up in the next decade. In the last decade the number of open universities have gone up to 12 and the institutions providing correspondence courses crossed 100 mark. Indira Gandhi national Open University, New Delhi, the apex body to coordinate and monitor the distance education system in India has more than 7,50,000 students with extremely varied profiles, spread throughout the country. There exists an immense opportunity for institutions to establish new forms of electronic collaborations. The emergence of Internet and its combination with EDUSAT and communication and computer technology has opened opportunities to provide learning on demand and learner centred. The emergence of broadband and mobile Internet service in India makes it feasible to create a cluster of an institution with study center located in far flung areas which can further be connected in the another cluster to form a grid. In addition Wireless in Local Loop, Direct to Home satellite communication technologies are also becoming available. A combination of satellite communication technologies and grid Internet connectivity can be used by the institution for effective delivery system. Distance education is still a new phenomenon in the newly transitioned economies like Mongolia, Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam. Due to reverse economic and social conditions of developed countries, countries like Bangladesh are yet to establish a reliable e-Learning system or institution. There needs to be a supporting mindset for the adoption of e-Learning as well as keep up with the global trend. This issue examines e-Learning as a tool for promotion of higher education in Indian as well as in the global context. We are glad to introduce a dedicated space for the higher education community every month, with this special edition on eLearning in higher education.

Ravi Gupta Editor-in-Chief Ravi.Gupta@csdms.in

COVER STORY

The e-Learning Wave in Higher Education An Indian scenario of adoption and diffusion

Peter Drucker made a statement in his article The Death of the University that: “Thirty years from now the big university campuses will be relics. Universities won’t survive....” so that higher educational institutes shake off their inertia and utilise ICT to its best.The Indian institutes of higher education should also critically appraise what he meant to say as educational institutions in the western world and think of making the best use of ICT for their respective institutions. 6

April 2007 | www.digitalLEARNING.in

become more customer-centered and take a lesson from businesses, which regard customer to be the king. Focusing on blended learning, rather than insisting on teaching students at my place at my pace using an industrial model that is now becoming obsolete is what they need to look at. Universities need to leverage their competitive advantage in term of the ICT revolution and the new model of e-education has to be relied upon in the future.

Academic bodies in India and e-Learning Talking of e-Learning and academic bodies in India it is imperative to mention the UGC-INFONET. The chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC) in 2002 decided that the universities and colleges should also reap the benefits, which ICT had in store for them. The deliberations of the various committees led to the setting up of the UGC-INFONET towards the end of 2004. UGC also joined this crusade of introducing e-Learning. Wholly funded by UGC, UGC-INFONET provides electronic access to scholarly literature available over the Internet in all areas of learning to the university sector in India.

echnology coordinators view the problems of insufficient hardware, software, and training as major obstacles. Teachers consider the lack of time to develop technology-based lesson a concern. Administrators identify teachers’ lack of experience using technology in instruction as yet another challenge. Traditional institutions offering higher education in India need to Digital Learning | Vol 3 Issue 4 April 2007

In the United States, ASTD (American Society for Training & Development), the world’s largest association dedicated to workplace learning offers various courses in e-Learning such as e-Learning Courseware Certification along with CEC, an inter university centre of UGC is offering scripting, an e-course in scriptwriting for films and television. For enhancing the ICT skills of teachers’ organisations like the NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training), and NCTE (National Council for Teacher Education) etc. has been launching schemes from time to time. UGC too conducts IT / ICT orientation programmes for university and college teachers through Academic Staff Colleges.

e-Learning initiatives in India Forays have been made in the field of e-Learning in form of Brihaspati, an eLearning platform developed as open source freeware which IIT, Kanpur has developed and is using since January 2003 supported by Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Govt. of India. Faculties are using this platform to post the lecture notes, handouts, and reference material on the Intranet for supporting the classroom teaching, benefiting over 75 Universities / Institutes across India, and the list is growing. Yet another project to provide web based training is the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL), which is being funded by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and was first conceived in 1999 to pave the way for introducing multimedia and web technology to enhance learning of basic science and engineering concepts, was launched in September 2006. Significant infrastructure has been set up for production of video-based teaching material by the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), Bangalore based Indian Institutes of Sciences (IISc) and Technical Teacher Training Institutes (TTTI). The Oversight Committee on the Implementation of the New Reservation Policy in higher educational institutions has chosen this model to emulate. Sharing resources from NPTEL, in the South, the Kerala Education Grid (www.edugrid.ac.in) portal has been designed to increase and facilitate access to education resources by the educational community and to

facilitate collaboration, sharing of knowledge and best practices to improve the quality of education and learning. Also worth mentioning is Vartalaap, a computer-based solution over a computer network that creates an environment modeled closely on a real-world classroom.

(Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) a Scientific Society of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Government of India has launched eSikshak, an eLearning framework and is offering free computer courses in Telegu, a regional language over its portal.

In early 1999, the Tamil Nadu State Government announced its intention to establish a Tamil Virtual University designed to promote Tamil language, literature and culture internationally through the medium of Internet-linked computers. The University has come into existence and is offering quality Tamil education over the web. CDAC

Gyan Darshan which was launched on January 26, 2000 as an exclusive higher education TV channel on Doordarshan to provide quality distance education can be considered as an effective effort in India. At the institutional level many institutes, mainly private as of now

have entered into online distance education and the much talked about NIIT Varsity offers training to 500,000 students annually across 33 countries. One of the world’s leading management schools IIM Calcutta amongst others entered into a strategic alliance with NIIT, to offer executive development programmes through virtual classrooms. Researchers, academics, teachers, and students worldwide are excitedly embracing blogs (web logs). Chennai, capital of Tamil Nadu, a state in South India played host to the Bloggers’ conference held at the TIDEL Park. CDAC and IGNOU are two of the India’s most esteemed organisations

State wise list of Universities/Institutes approved by Distance Education Council India Andhra Pradesh 1. Sri Padmavati Mahila Vishwavidyalam, Tirupati. 2. Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages, Hyderabad. 3. Maulana Azad National Urdu University Hyderabad. 4. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University, Hyderabad. 5. S.V. University Triputi. Assam 6. Guwahati University, Guwahati. Arunachal Pradesh 7. Rajiv Gandhi University, Itanagar, Bihar 8. Magadh University, Bodhgaya, Chhatisgarh 9. Pt. Sundarlal Sharma Open University, Chandigarh (UT) 10. Punjab University, Chandigarh Delhi 11. DOEACC Society, New Delhi 12. Indira Gandhi National Open University New Delhi Gujarat 13. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University, Ahmedabad. Karnataka 14. Karnataka State Open University, Mysore,

Madhya Pradesh 15. M.P Bhoj Open University, Bhopal. 16. Rani Durgawati University, Jabalpur 17. Dr. Hari Singh Gaur Vishvavidyalaya, Sagar Maharastra 18. Symbiosis Institute of Distance Learning Pune, 19. Narsee Monjee Institute of Management 20. Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University, Orissa 21. Fakir Mohan University, Balasore. Rajasthan 22. Vardhman Mahaveer Open University, Kota, Tripura 23. Tripura University, Tripura. Tamil Nadu 24. Annamalai University, Annamalainagar 25 Tamil Nadu Open University Chennai 26. Vinayaka Missions University, Salem All Programmes. Uttar Pradesh 27. Indian Institute of Carpet Technology, Bhadohi, International Distance Learning Programme in Carpet, Wool and Textile. 28. UP Rajarshi Tandan Open University Allahabad 29. Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. PGDJMC Uttarakhand 30. Uttaranchal Open University, Haldwani\ 31. Kumaun University, Nainital. West Bengal 32. University of Burdwan, 33. Jadavpur University Kolkatta

April 2007 | www.digitalLEARNING.in

in their respective fields, which have held conferences in the field of e-Learning. Online Education is coming up as the biggest challenge to distance education in the near future. An overview of the institutions / organisations offering online education and the courses is as below:

Jadavpur University In the 2000-01 session, the School of Education Technology, Jadavpur University has started a new interdisciplinary 3-Semester (1½ years) Masters Degree Course, the first of its kind in India, entitled “Master in Multimedia Development”. Jadavpur University has been evolving a model of Multimodal Digital Distance Education (MMDDE) and has applied the concept for dissemination of postgraduate education. It is the first formal AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) approved PG course of its kind in the country. The modes of dissemination methods being used are print material, CD-ROM based selflearning packages, education through Web-based learning environment, live broadcast of some lead-lectures by eminent personalities through video conferencing and one-way video with two way audio for interaction, real time chat facility, online quiz and assignments, laboratory and project work at work centers. Besides this, the courses are also being conducted through Distance Education partners at their respective work centres such as CDAC, Kolkata and CMC Ltd, Kolkata, a subsidiary of TCS. Jadavpur University is the recipient of Hewlett Packard Foundation’s Global Technology for Teaching” award for 2006-07. HP will help Jadavpur University establish a mobile learning (m-learning) center where students taking M. Tech. course in Distributed and Mobile Computing can access content using hand-held computers. The University already has a digital library, and a content management and development system using an mlearning authoring tool. Digital Learning | Vol 3 Issue 4 April 2007

BITS Pilani Virtual University BITS Pilani is a technological university currently offering Master’s degree and Doctoral programmes in various areas of Science, Humanities, Management and various branches of Engineering & Technology. At present, BITS Pilani has three fullfledged campuses at Pilani and Goa in India and at Knowledge Village, Dubai in UAE. BITS had a significant expertise in distance learning pedagogy and instructional design. To make its model of distance learning scalable BITS conceived and designed the BITS Virtual University (VU), sponsored under Project of DIT.

With 50 classrooms in 34 different cities in the country, HughesNet Global Education has made higher education simpler than ever before. Hughes has tied-up with the premier institutes of India (and abroad) which include names such as Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kokhizode, Kolkata, Bangalore; Xavier’s Labour Research Institute (XLRI) Jamshedpur, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), Delhi and Manipal University, Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (Deemed University), Apollo University and Loyola Institute of Business Administration.

Online education with Hughes Escorts Communications

E-Learning network of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham

Hughes Escorts Communications Limited (HECL) (http://www. hughesecomm.com ) is a joint venture between Hughes Network Systems (HNS) and Escorts Limited providing Networking Solutions using satellite media. HughesNet Global Education platform seeks to re-define the next generation of education i.e. real time Interactive Onsite Learning (IOL). The platform seamlessly integrates the strengths and advantages of the traditional method of education with the latest in technology. Using a very powerful interface, HughesNet Global Education enables a student to have highly interactive sessions with students and instructors all over the country, using video, voice and data. Over the last two years, over 4750 students have successfully completed various programmes on this platform, thus demonstrating its efficacy and effectiveness.

Launched on May 15, 2004, this initiative uses satellite technology to seamlessly connect the four Amrita campuses at Amritapuri, Bangalore, Coimbatore and Kochi. Jointly run by Amrita University, and ISRO, this project has transformed Amrita University into a fully interactive, multi-disciplinary, multi-media, virtual campus without geographical limitations. For numerous Indian students who are unable to pursue studies in the United States, there is now another way to have access to American professors while studying at Indian colleges. The e-Learning project under the aegis of the IndoU.S. Universities Network launched by Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in December 2005 has initiated a partnership under which U.S. professors visit India for special lectures. Using EDUSAT the classes are transmitted to students 9

Delivering Tech-based Content is the Challenge in Multi-campus Network Dr PP.. Venkat Rangan, Vice Chancellor, Amrita University, Tamilnadu, India Dr. P. Venkat Rangan was appointed as Vice Chancellor of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham in 2003 that has now grown into a dynamic, 5-campus, multi-disciplinary, University with over 15 schools, 75 degree programs, 1000 faculty, and 7000 students (www.amrita.edu/campusesandschools) He was professor, Computer Science and Engineering at the University of California, San Diego and founder and director of multimedia lab at the university. Dr. Rangan has been the recipient of President of India’s gold medal from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Chennai in 1984. He has also won several prestigious awards including the NCR Research Innovation Award in 1991 and the US National Science Foundation (NSF) National Young Investigator Award in 1993. He has to his credit 30 patents and has published over 100 research papers, apart from the many other academic contributions and services. The professionally brilliant academic leader shares his experiences on his unique resolve to push for academic excellence at Amrita University. In the past, Amrita has already earned the success of becoming India’s first multi-campus University to be internetworked via Satellite. What are the efforts and steps that Amrita currently undertakes in using new technologies in knowledge and education endeavours? In the past four years, Amrita has been on a steep trajectory to quickly achieve a world-class status. In its second year itself (2004), AMRITA became the Nation’s First Multi-Campus University to be inter-networked via Satellite, enabling live interactive inter-campus classrooms. As a result of this historic launch, Amrita University is strategically positioned to lead the way in multidisciplinary higher education, research, and technology innovation as they are applied to multi-farious disciplines and societal needs. We are presently on the verge of introducing new initiatives that will make use of the existing technologies to deliver other services. What are the emerging technology support systems that make Amrita a new age learning destination for the higher education aspirants? One of the main focuses at Amrita University is to provide excellent research opportunities and to be a center at which they will be exposed to world class faculty and various information sources. We at Amrita, due to our close ties with some of the best Universities in the world, will be able to provide access

to the digital libraries of some of the best universities in the world to the research students. In addition, we work with industry partners to pioneer leading edge research in many fields, including health, cybersecurity and wireless technologies, among others. What are the challenges that the universities come across in furthering e-Learning? What is the possibility to overcome those? In a multi campus environment, the main issues relate to scheduling and agreeing upon course content. A lot of discussion is needed to coordinate this and much of it is happening. Much of the delivery is dependant on technology and the ability to deliver rich content seamlessly over the network. The many e-Learning related technologies in the West are dependant on high bandwidth which is relatively cheap there. The ability to deliver the content using lower bandwidth has not been properly addressed. Amrita is engaged in research to address this and is looking at enriching the learning experience over the e-Learning network. The number of students has gone up without a corresponding increase in teachers and other facilities, which in turn hinders the real growth of this sector. Your view on this! What would you suggest to overcome situations like this? This is the main issue that we have been dealing with in the last few years. The

Amrita e-Learning network partly addresses this issue as we are able to use the best lecturers and deliver the course over the satellite networks to our different campuses. In this light we have conducted courses over the satellite networks so that one lecturer can teach students at multiple locations. What message would you like to convey to the students and this community through Digital Learning? These days the attention span of the students is very low, especially in a classroom setting. However they can spend hours in front of a television screen or a computer monitor. The only way to reach out to this group is to provide rich content and deliver it using the latest technology available. Below is a quote from our Chancellor, Mata Amritanandamayi Devi which will be the message that I would like to share. “knowledge is the greatest gift one can give, for knowledge is imperishable. Even if we light a thousand lamps from one flame, the luster of the first lamp never diminishes. By sharing knowledge and experiences, we can prevent the flower that is this world from ever wilting and ensure that it remains eternally beautiful. By bringing together diverse streams of knowledge, we can create a magnificent river. May this great river of knowledge flow to caress the countries and communities of the world!” April 2007 | www.digitalLEARNING.in

throughout India. DST will be designing the curriculum and will provide the course materials. The project is expected to reach over 200 universities. The various disciplines of collaboration include Computer Science & Engineering, Information Technology, Electronics and Communication, Manufacturing, Biotechnology and Bio-informatics, Nano technology, Healthcare and others. The first series of Indo-US classes commenced from July 2006 with lessons delivered by University of Illinois and Buffalo.

DOEACC Society DOEACC Society of the Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Govt. of India is the premier organization for human resource development in the areas of Information Electronics and Communication Technology (IECT). DOEACC Society is implementing a joint Scheme of AICTE and DIT, Govt. of India to generate qualified manpower in IT by utilising expertise available with the computer training institutes in the non-formal sector after due accreditation of the courses. It has more than 900 centers with 10 centres of its own. Its centre at Kohima is the Regional Institute of eLearning and Information Technology- RIELIT. DOEACC centers at Aurangabad and Kolkata have been conducting a programme “Training of Trainers in e-Learning” with the objective to propagate the knowledge on e-Learning and its applications among teachers to integrate e-Learning methodology and approach with conventional teaching and learning to improve educational pedagogies. DOEACC centres of implementation at Kolkata and Aurangabad have developed eLearning environment and culture for last two years and are working closely with respective state governments to phenomenally scale up the efforts. DOEACC Centres at Imphal, Gorakhpur and Calicut are gearing up in their respective region for Digital Learning | Vol 3 Issue 4 April 2007

Post graduate studies at the Delhi University, one of India’s largest university are just a click away with Delhi University having launched its library portal recently (http://crl.du.ac.in) having an electronic database on each subject, with each database having at least 51,000 documents implementing the trainers’ programme in Phase - II. The examinations for DOEACC Computer Literacy course (Course in Computer Concepts) is being conducted online assisted by National Informatics Centre (NIC). Over 5000 students undertake this examination thrice a year using Computer Aided Paperless Examination Software (CAPES). DOEACC Centre, Imphal (www.doeaccimphal.org.in) is offering a 6 months course in Computer Applications online on MOODLE open source Learning Management System (LMS).

Lessons to learn Change is a painful process and is therefore resisted by most organisations but the need of the hour is effective change management by the leaders of the higher educational institutes, which are into e-Learning. Higher educational institutions in India which plan to venture into e-Learning should take a lesson from this and are suggested to first follow the education and communication strategy of organisational change where the stakeholders should be informed as to how the change will affect them. Most of the states run universities in India require an IT / ICT policy of their own.

Recently Visvesvaraya Technological University offering online distance education was in news with the teachers prohibiting the students from using EDUSAT and the “bucket theory” or the banking concept of education came into the picture. Fears among the teachers have cropped up that online distance education would put an end to their careers and others have a question in their mind regarding the fate of human aspect of teaching and perceive e-Learning as a threat. But their fears and questions are well addressed by Bill Gates who in his book -The Road Ahead said, “There is an often-expressed fear that technology will replace teachers. I can say emphatically and unequivocally, IT WON’T….” Indrajit Bhattacharya is currently the Additional Director of DOEACC Society, a Scientific Society under Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications & Information Technology, Government of India. He has more than 17 years of experience in Management of IT Education including experience in the field of Medical Engineering in organizations such as SIEMENS and Wipro-GE. Kunal Sharma is currently employed as Programme AssistantB with DOEACC, Centre, Chandigarh, Ministry of Communications & Information Technology, Government of India. He is currently deputed as a faculty at the Institute of Management Studies, H.P. University and is pursuing P.hD. with thesis dissertation as “ A Strategic Architecture for E-Learning: A Case Study of H.P. University”.

INDIA

2007 30 July - 3 August, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

Call for paper/proposal India is trying to achieve the 'Education for All' goal in one hand and investing in building infrastructure and initiating programmes to build a world class human resource capacity on the other. The National Knowledge Commission has emphasised the need for extensive use of ICTs for research, collaboration and university networking for building ICT skills, sharing education resources and reaching the un-reached in higher education though distance learning. Digital Learning India 2007 will take on the existing debates and provide a platform for all stakeholders to deliberate on the issues of enabling and strengthening capacities to achieve the national goals of education.

Digital Learning India 2007 The government has increased the allocation for education in this year's budget by 34.2 per cent to INR 32,352 crore, providing a much needed sense of stability to the education industry and boosted confidence to all stakeholders, investors. It has also increased the teacher training allocation from INR 160 crore to INR 430 crore. By 2012, India will require around 5 lakh professionals in the IT exports market, 1.11 million in the domestic IT industry and around 2 million in the ITES sector. Taking a cue from the global trends in education and capacity building, India's progress as the driver of the knowledge revolution through its human capacity is possible only through sustained efforts by the government, global assistance and collaboration and partnerships with private sector and civil society. Conference papers are solicited from all individuals and organisations interested in information and communication technology and its educational application in the developing countries like India and others. Decision makers, practitioners and all stakeholders of education, industry, and government - the key areas driving technology adoption and innovation in education. • Officers from Government Departments and International Development Cooperation Agencies • Programme Managers and Education Administrators • School Principals and Administrators, Teachers and Trainers • Directors, Researchers and other representatives from Universities and the Higher Education institutions • Corporate Training and Development personnel • IT Managers and Human Resources Executives • Technology and Service Providers • Publishers and Content Providers • Training Consultants and Company Representatives, etc. Discussion of conference themes with conference organisers may be made by email.

Key sessions • ICT in Education Policy • School management with ICT • Teachers' capacity building in ICT: The role of pre-service and in-service professional training • Pedagogical & curriculum reform in ICT enabled education • E-Readiness of higher education: Challenges and way forward • Web education and e-pedagogy- The future • Content development and instructional designs • Open educational resources: Possibilities • E-Learning in workplaces • Research and innovation for learning • Showcasing new tools and technologies in education We encourage you to make your presentation interactive through the methods: Tutorials and workshops/Informal and interactive sessions - posters, round table discussion, exhibits/Formal presentations of papers

Important Dates: Abstract Submission: 25 - 05 - 2007 Abstract Acceptance: 06 - 06 - 207 Full Paper Submission: 30 June 2007

Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies (CSDMS), G-4, Sector - 39 Noida, Uttar Pradesh - 201301, India Phones: +91-120-2502180-85 Fax: 91-120-2500060 Send your abstracts/papers/proposals to: manjushree@csdms.in

Project The African Virtual Open Initiatives and Resources

Collaborative Creation of Free Software in African Universities Paul Scott [PSCOTT@UWC.AC.ZA], University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa

he African Virtual Open Initiatives and Resources (AVOIR) project, initiated by the University of the Western Cape (UWC), is a collaborative effort of several African higher education institutions. It attempts to create educational and business opportunities that contribute towards the development of Africa through Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) development activities. It has taken an existing eLearning platform application, Knowledge Environment for Webbased Learning (KEWL) that was developed at UWC, and rebuilt it to run on a FOSS platform. The new version of the software, KEWL.NextGen, and then the Chisimba Framework is based entirely on FOSS. An innovative modular architecture is implemented using a model view controller (MVC) design pattern and offers great flexibility to adapt the framework for any purpose. It also has unique features such as the support of offline authoring of content, Active Dynamic Mirroring, and instructional design capabilities. AVOIR can be seen as an inclusive collaborative network. This means that anyone is welcome to join the network and start contributing to the projects at any time. There are

very few stipulations for new members of the network: 1. All code submitted to the project(s) should be GPL licensed 2. All documentation and subsidiary files should be CCBYSA licensed 3. All communications should be open and transparent for the entire network to see 4. Collaboration should be fostered at all times. It can be said that there are four cornerstones of the AVOIR project. To ensure the success of any AVOIR node, these four cornerstones should be addressed as much as possible in equal amounts. • Collaborating • Coding • Connecting • Implementing

Collaborating Collaborating is the process in which individuals or nodes communicate with each other using the Free Software tools at their disposal. This is one key area where all nodes should be quite active in. Collaboration enhances productivity through communication in the classic Free Software development model, where all parties communicate with each other in a peer to peer type asynchronous or synchronous environment, such as can be achieved through the use of developer mailing lists, forums and chat sessions.

Coding Code that is produced through the collaborative development process is checked into a central repository for peer review and approval. This ensures that the entire project is improved iteratively through normal development process at all times, according to institutional needs and requirements. All code is required to be configurable, so that any module can be used in almost any circumstance, as well as offer a number of options to the end user or administrator to modify the module to suit institutional needs.

The AVOIR network consists of: • Catholic University of Mozambique • Eduardo Mondlane University (Mozambique) • Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (Kenya) • Makarere University (Uganda) • National University of Rwanda • Uganda Martyrs University • University Cheikh Ante Diop (Senegal) • University of Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania) • University of Ghana Legon • University of Jos (Nigeria) • University of Nairobi (Kenya) • and the University of the Western Cape (South Africa) along with some additional partners. April 2007 | www.digitalLEARNING.in

Connecting Connecting refers to the process in which AVOIR nodes are able, and encouraged, to create networks external to AVOIR within their own communities and environments. This can be in the form of a small business that offers support for AVOIR products to local businesses, or the marketing of AVOIR products to small businesses around the nodes or the network as a whole.

staff and students, and all University processes are facilitated in some way or another by the tools provided by the overall AVOIR network. This includes, a new student enrollment and management system, committee administration system, faculty web sites and research project sites, as well as collaborative groupware sites that have created many opportunities to the institution as a whole. All of the above have been created and deployed using the toolset (framework) that the AVOIR network has provided.

It has been demonstrated a number of times, that a fully featured and working LMS can be set up and deployed in under 15 minutes by an experienced system administrator. The LMS is written in PHP version 4, and uses a MySQL back end database for storing the data. The application has been written in such a way that the administrator is able to take advantage of distributed or federated file systems, separate database servers and load balancing scenarios where the user load is increased. This

Implementing Implementing refers to the process of deploying AVOIR products within the institutions that have AVOIR nodes embedded in them. This has been greatly realised by the deployment of e-Learning systems throughout the continent, as well as a marked increase in use of the alumni portal system, committee administration system, and many other products built with the framework.

Challenges and successes AVOIR has had some remarkable challenges to overcome, as well as a number of shining success stories. The most challenging aspect of building the network and maintaining viable communication is bandwidth. Africa has a very limited amount of bandwidth available, and due to the extreme expense of buying the bandwidth, it is a very limiting factor. Bandwidth problems contribute to communication problems, and due to the nature of collaboration, this is a major inhibitor to the success of any network in Africa. Only through additional funding and pressure from the international community can these issues be addressed. In other areas, AVOIR has been a resounding success. At the University of the Western Cape, the AVOIR products are used on a daily basis, and provide education, support and job opportunities for thousands of students. A dedicated e-Learning team has been formed to support the Digital Learning | Vol 3 Issue 4 April 2007

AVOIR has been a resounding success. At the University of the Western Cape, the AVOIR products are used on a daily basis, and provide education, support and job opportunities for thousands of students. A dedicated e-Learning team has been formed to support the staff and students, and all University processes are facilitated in some way or another by the tools provided by the overall AVOIR network. This includes, a new student enrollment and management system, committee administration system, faculty web sites and research project sites, as well as collaborative groupware sites that have created many opportunities for the institution as a whole.

AVOIR and e-Learning The first product of the AVOIR network and collaborative network is KEWL.NextGen (KNG). KNG is a full featured e-Learning system and Learning Management System (LMS) that can be quickly and easily deployed on a minimal specification server or desktop machine in a very short period of time.

makes for an extremely robust application, with much redundancy built into it from the start. It can easily support a user base of up to 14 000 students from a single application server, served by a single database server. The follow on product of KEWL.NextGen is called KEWL3.0. It has been built on a greatly improved framework called Chisimba, that takes advantage of the object 15

e-Learning tools available for the system make use of many different pedagogies, and include a specific module for instructional design. In this way, the course administrator is not tied to a single specific pedagogy for online teaching and learning, but has the choice to create and deliver courses in the pedagogy of choice for the institution orientated features of PHP version 5 and above. It can make use of a number of different database back ends, including PostgreSQL, MySQL and a number of proprietary database servers such as MSSQL as well. This makes for even greater flexibility in installation and deployment on both Free Software based servers using Apache, or Windows based servers using IIS. At the time of writing, most of the e-Learning based modules available in the PHP4 version are available for this platform too, and work is being done on a daily basis throughout the AVOIR network to create new and more exciting modules for it. e-Learning tools available for the system make use of many different pedagogies, and include a specific module for instructional design. In this way, the course administrator is not tied to a single specific pedagogy for online teaching and learning, but has the choice to create and deliver courses in the pedagogy of choice for the institution. This creates an extremely flexible and unique environment for the delivery of course materials to students and learners that is unique amongst online eLearning systems. Most LMS will focus on a single pedagogical pathway that users are forced to adhere to in order to effectively use the system. e-Learning is achieved through a number of modules ranging from simple assignment uploads and

dictionary look ups to fully fledged survey tools and problem based learning modules. There are a number of summative and assessment tools available to the lecturer, including a large scale multiple choice questionnaire module that regularly facilitates learners in excess of 700 students simultaneously doing the examination at UWC. Other important tools include Rubrics, Wiki, mailing lists, Groupware suite, events calendar and many more (more than 200 modules are available). All in all, the AVOIR products (KEWL.NextGen and Chisimba) make a number of options available to users, administrators, lecturers and students alike. They are robust, well tested and extremely reliable applications and application frameworks that can be used to deploy fully fledged e-Learning or any other conceivable system type within an institution quickly and easily, using minimal hardware and bandwidth to the internet. Every part of the application is abstracted, multilingual and tested in very poor bandwidth conditions to ensure that all of these circumstances are taken into account at all times and that the user is left with a positive experience, no matter what. The code is GPL licensed free software, and is available from http://avoir.uwc.ac.za/ as well as links to supporting mailing lists (both user lists as well as developer lists). Demonstrations can be arranged, as well as test servers and installations on request.

Paul Scott is currently employed by the University of the Western Cape as Chief Software Architect for the AVOIR network, as well as the manager of the Free Software Innovation Unit based at UWC. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Botany, from the University of Port Elizabeth. Paul has many interests including Geographical Information Systems, Botany, Computer Science and Free Software and has created and contributed to many Free Software projects and at any one time, am working on around 10 different FOSS projects collaboratively with a global community. He has a passion for coding and a passion for capacity building and skills transfer.

Recommendations of National Knowledge Commission, India on Higher Education 1. Create many more universities. The higher education system needs a massive expansion of opportunities, to around 1500 universities nationwide, that would enable India to attain a gross enrolment ratio of at least 15 per cent by 2015. 2. Change the system of regulation for higher education. There is a clear need to establish an Independent Regulatory Authority for Higher Education (IRAHE). 3. Increase public spending and diversify sources of financing. Government support for higher education should increase to at least 1.5 per cent of GDP, out of a total of at least 6 per cent of GDP for education. 4. Establish 50 National Universities. There is need of the creation of 50 National Universities that can provide education of the highest standard. 5. Reform existing universities. Universities should be required to revise or restructure curricula at least once in three years. 6. Restructure undergraduate colleges. A Central Board of Undergraduate Education should be established, along with State Boards of Undergraduate Education, which would set curricula and conduct examinations for undergraduate colleges that choose to be affiliated with them. 7. Promote enhanced quality. It is particularly important to enhance the ICT infrastructure. Websites and webbased services would improve transparency and accountability. A portal on higher education and research would increase interaction and accessibility. A knowledge network would connect all universities and colleges for online open resources. 8. Ensure access for all deserving students. Source: National Knowledge Commission Report submitted to Government of India April 2007 | www.digitalLEARNING.in

Global introduces India’s first web-based cross-cultural educational portal

News INDIA National Knowledge Network gets nod The Central government has accorded in-principle approval to the establishment of a National Knowledge Network to connect libraries, hospitals, scientific and research institutions, universities and agricultural institutions across the country. The network, comprising 5,000 nodes with one gigabyte facility to interconnect the institutions, is expected to cost around one billion dollars. The idea behind this network, expected to fructify within the next year, is to create “an infrastructure of tomorrow” to ensure maximum use of convergence of technology.

Global Adjustments, a cross-cultural education and India destination services company, has announced an e-learning portal, www.globalindian.com, which is claimed to be the India’s first web-based cross-cultural educational portal, designed specifically for professionals seeking to function effectively in a global environment. Dayanidhi Maran, union minister for communications and information technology formally launched the e-learning portal with David T Hopper, US consul general and Lakshmi Narayanan, vice chairman, Cognizant Technology Solutions Pvt Ltd at a function in Chennai. The e-learning portal is designed in such a way that it offers the learner ample space and time using innovative multimedia technology.

‘E-GURUKUL’ : Distance learning for the army One of the greatest challenges of the Armed Forces is to keep their manpower up to date with the latest in technology. However, commitments in the form of peace time duties, exercise and large scale deployments in Counter Insurgency operations both in the North and Northern Eastern states, leave very little time for training. The new distance learning programme, e-Gurukul comes as a solution in this direction. For e-Gurukul, the Corps of Signals of the Indian Army has embraced technology to overcome this problem. By using available commercially available equipment, an interactive video and web based virtual classroom has been created for the first time in the Army. Instructors based in a central location can run classes on the backbone communication network of the Indian Army with students being in remote far-flung areas. To add the element of “human touch”, the video images of the instructor will be streamed live to all the students. The students in turn can interact with the instructor either via a chat facility or through an embedded voice application. An online test feature allows the assessment to be carried out individually. 18

Vadekakara first e-learning constituency Vadakkekara in Ernakulam district in southern India became the first elearning constituency in the state Kerala with Chief Minister V S Achutanandan formally inaugurating the project. As part of the INR one crore project, computers would be provided in all schools. Edusat Receive Only Terminal (ROT) would be set up in all high schools and higher secondary sections in aided and government schools with the help of KELTRON and IT@School programme. Over 100 schools will get the facilities. Computers would be provided in all lower primary and upper primary schools in the constituency free of cost. A kit containing 50 CDs would be distributed in all schools in the constituency. April 2007 | www.digitalLEARNING.in

Policy for setting up of a NRI / PIO University in India

people of Indian origin living abroad in nearly 130 countries.

The Union Cabinet has given its approval to a policy framework for establishing a NRI/PIO University in India in the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) as a Deemed University denovo under Section 3 of the UGC Act as an Institution of Excellence. The university will be set up by Overseas Indian Trusts or Societies with credible standing and experience in the field of education under the overall supervision of the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.

World Bank funds USD 74.34 million by March ’07 for primary schools in rural areas

In developed countries like USA and UK, higher education is expensive and increasingly overseas Indians do look to their country of origin for meeting the higher educational needs of their children. Setting up of NRI/ PIO University in India will cater to the needs of the PIOs/NRIs in sought after disciplines as well as impart educational standards at part with the best Universities in the world in one campus. There are around 25 million

The World Bank had provided for US $ 500 million between 2004-05 to 200607, for the SSA programme. Under the SSA, 2.4 lakh schools have been sanctioned upto 2006-07. The DPEP programme is only functional in 9 districts of Rajasthan presently, with World Bank funding tied up for US $ 74.34 million over the period 2001 to March 2007. 729 primary school buildings have been sanctioned under this programme.

The World Bank had funded the District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) and the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) as an ongoing programme, the assistance of which is provided on reimbursement basis, when Central Government funds provided for these programmes are first utilised.

A virtual business school International College of Financial Planning has tied up with the New Zealand Institute of Online Learning to offer two courses in business and management to students. This collaboration provides an exclusive licence to ICFP to use the two-year Diploma in Business and one-year Certificate in Management online courseware that will be available to learners - both students and working professionals at affordable prices. One can pursue them from home or work and study whenever it is suitable.

IIM-A receives Skoch Challenger Award for Academic Excellence

ICSI, India plans for e-learning initiative for students The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) will be introducing e-learning initiative for students in a couple of months. The ICSI is also setting up career awareness programmes to bring more students into the course. The demand for company secretaries is huge. Even the salaries have now doubled for the company secretaries who start somewhere around INR 25,000 to INR 30,000 and can even go upto INR 50 lakh and INR one crore, as they progress in their career. ICSI is in the process of rationalising its syllabus and is constantly updating their members on the various amendments and changes brought in by the regulators.

Indians don’t get drawn to online education Indian universities are reluctant to go in for research collaborations though the quality of state-run institutions in the country is better than in many Southeast Asian nations, education experts from Britain say. Although India is an IT giant, there is still a great reluctance towards online education in this country, say London Metropolitan University educationists, Robert Aylett and Mark Bickerton. In India, there is a tendency to look down upon distance education as the second best. LondonMet is in the process of developing a curriculum for delivering lessons in higher education courses through mobile phones, said Robert Aylett, deputy vice-chancellor (academic). Digital Learning | Vol 3 Issue 4 April 2007

Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) has been awarded the Skoch Challanger Award 2007 for Academic Excellence. Neelam Dhawan of Microsoft was honoured as Person of the Year. For exemplary usage of ICT in education Soochna Shakti Yojana of Chhattisgarh was also honored. While IIM-Ahmedabad is known to be the region’s leading business school, it has done some incredible work in sectors like agriculture, health, egovernance and rural intellectual property development and protection. Skoch Challenger Awards are independently instituted by Skoch Consultancy Services and adjudged to salute best practices since 2002. In India, Skoch actively works towards ICT led improvement of citizen services delivery systems. 19

Perspective

Engaging Students for Quality in Higher Education Dr Jagannath Patil [JP)NATH@REDIFFMAIL.COM], National Assessment and Accreditation Council, India “I tell my students to get two plants, one alive and one plastic. As time goes on, the students tell me that the plastic plant is pretty but that ‘It doesn’t call to me, it doesn’t say “Water me.” or “See if I’ve changed since last night - see if I have a new leaf.”The students become involved with the living plant. It keeps pulling to them, and they care about it. They nurture it, but they don’t want to force it. I think we have lost our sense of involvement and that we’re cheating ourselves. What would life be like if there were only plastic flowers?”

supports students, students’ associations and institutions to improve the effectiveness of student engagement in quality processes, also provides advice to the funding councils on good practice in the engagement of students in institutions’ quality processes. Taking cue from Sparqs, Higher Education Quality Committee of South Africa has recently initiated a Student Quality Literacy Project.

Efforts at NAAC

This quote by a distinguished professor aptly narrates the rationale behind involving the students in the higher education processess. The students are, unarguably, the most important stakeholders of Higher Education systems and also that of quality assurance mechanisms therein. The interest and participation of students at all levels in both internal and external quality assurance has to play a central role.

Involvinge and empowering the students in quality- The International Experience Even as the central role of student in Higher Education System is agreed in 20

principle by the policy makers and decision makers, the experience of actual involvement of students vary to a large extent from one country to another. A commendable work in this regard has been done by European National Students Union (ESIB) – The national Unions of Students of Europe. The ESIB has taken up the cause of advancing student involvement in QA in a systematic manner and has completed a detailed project on this issue. Besides the exemplary work done by the ESIB, the initiatives in Scotland and South Africa are quite noteworthy. Sparqs (Student Participation In Quality Scotland), a unique body in Scotland, assists and

The assessment and accreditation instrument of National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) in Bangalore, India is sensitive to take note of student aspirations and goals in a fast-changing world. The NAAC is an autonomous body established by the University Grants Commission (UGC) of India to assess and accredit institutions of higher education in the country. It is an outcome of the recommendations of the National Policy in Education (1986) that laid special emphasis on the quality of higher education in India. NAAC believes that the system of higher education, which is ready to appreciate students’ aspirations and shape its curricular performance accordingly, is primarily relevant. The NAAC has emphasised the importance of making institutional assessment of quality depend substantially on student interests. Forming an essential part of the assessment, the criteria of assessment for curricular planning and development insist on providing April 2007 | www.digitalLEARNING.in

adequate course options, strategies for meeting differential needs of mixed-ability groups and on student feedback, student progression and the support systems which enable it. “Student Support and Progression” is one of the seven criteria identified by the NAAC. Interaction with students is a vital element of site visits that validates institutional self-study report. Student participation is encouraged in all internal arrangements for quality assurance including the Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC). A large number of institutions in this country have their own success stories concerning students partnership in quality assurance. While these are sporadic and need closer structuring and co-ordination, newer initiatives are necessary to make students active in responsible functional roles so that they can set their agenda within the policy of governance of the institution.

A large number of institutions in this country have their own success stories to share concerning students partnership in quality assurance. Some have actively involved them in academic planning through representation of academic decision-making bodies. Others have made them effective partners with the institution in extension work. Many personality development programmes are student planned, funded and monitored. A few have involved them in the highest administrative bodies. While these are sporadic and need closer structuring and co-ordination, newer initiatives are necessary to make students active partners in responsible functional roles so that they can set their agenda within the policy of governance of the institution. To facilitate initiatives in this direction, the NAAC launched the campaign by declaring the year 2006 as Year of Student Participation.

•

• • • •

To facilitate initiatives in this direction, the NAAC launched the campaign by declaring the year 2006 as Year of Student Participation.

NAAC’s appeal to institutional stakeholders The NAAC appealed to all stakeholders to take up various activities such as. • Development of student feedback

•

on teaching learning and other related activities Development of a mechanism for follow-up action on student feedback Pro-active role of IQAC in promoting student participation Greater role in Institutional affairs by the Alumni Adoption of student charter by all institutions Introducing formal mechanisms to redress grievances Encouraging student councils for active participation in all academic decision making.

Asia Pacific Quality Network (APQN) Project Taking note of the worldwide initiatives, NAAC thought of initiating such project for student

participation in quality assurance at the international level as well. A project proposal on Student Participation in Quality Improvement was submitted to APQN. APQN has been developed with the purpose of serving the needs of quality assurance agencies in higher education in Asia, a region that contains over half the world’s population. The APQN is already helping to build alliances between agencies, and assisting countries that do not have a quality assurance agency of their own. The APQN board approved the proposal on student participation in quality improvement and now NAAC is working on this international project group on “Student Participation In Quality Assurance”. NAAC representatives also attended Student Participation in Quality

Country

Practice

USA

• •

Teacher’s promotion, pay etc. are directly linked with student feedback in many institutions. Several institutions are funded by alumni, thus having great stake in governance of institutions.

Australia

• •

Student union in each institute is funded for activities like induction programme, placement etc. National student satisfaction surveys are linked with special grants to institutes.

South Africa

•

Student unions submit separate self-study portfolio to national quality assurance agency at the time of assessment. Accreditation decision-making body (HEQC) has student representatives on Board.

• China

•

Student feedback has serious consequences for assessment. Institution may loose accreditation due to negative student feedback.

India

•

Institutions known for excellence have strong student feedback and involvement systems in place. Apprehensions among majority of general education institutions still exist. NAAC’s campaign on student participation is set to change the scenario.

(* Excerpts from mapping exercise report by Dr. Jagannath Patil, Project Leader, Asia-Pacific Quality Network-APQN) Digital Learning | Vol 3 Issue 4 April 2007

The BITS Connect Project funded by the Alumni of BITS Pilani, provided Internet connectivity to classrooms, all the rooms of the hostels, chambers and residences of faculty members, has the new online 24 x 7 feedback system, completely designed by the institute. Even regional universities like Shivaji University in Maharashtra are now using e-Assessment methodologies.

Assurance workshops organised by HEQC, South Africa. The present series of activities by NAAC is informed by the experiences gained from such international initiatives. The project aims at fulfilling the following key objectives: 1. To collect, analyse and disseminate theory, good practices and experiences of student participation in quality assurance in Asia Pacific Region. 2. To promote exchange of good practices in student participation in quality assurance between different countries

Website on student participation In addition to the continuation of above said steps the proposed activities of the group include- focus group discussions with student bodies and HEIs; Workshops and small group meeting and a post conference publication on Student Participation in Quality Enhancement. The most important and ambitious plan under the project is to launch a dedicated website for promoting Student Participation in quality Assurance. Promoting use of ICT and web based mechanisms for effective student engagement tops the agenda of the international project group.

Learning from global practices There are very important lessions to be learnt from global practices. 22

Future is e-Connect

is the BITS Connect Project funded by its Alumni of BITS Pilani, which provided internet connectivity to classrooms, all the rooms of the hostels, chambers and residences of faculty members, and the new online 24 x 7 feedback system, completely desig-ned by the institute. Even regional universities like that of Shivaji University in Maharashtra are now using e-Assessment methodologies.

A noteworthy feature about student feedback and participation practices is increased reliance on computerised processes. In USA, Europe, Russia and Australia several advances have been made to integrate student campus learning experiences and feedback mechanisms for quality improvements. It is quite interesting to note that global education brands of India like IITs, IIMs and Law schools, besides some noted accredited institutions have been following a set of good practices of involving students with extensive use of digital technology. A case in point

It cannot be a mere co-incidence that institutes known for excellence do have very strong student involvement in campus life. It is high time for the academic fraternity of India to wake up to the realities of the new world where the students and teachers are partners learning together to make a difference in the world. The world is shrinking and getting flatter with advances of digital technology. The only way to remain relevant to present and to the future is to keep engaged with students and there is no better way to do that than being e-Connected.

Though there will be uniqueness due to the cultural context, there are commonalities that can be extended to other countries. The practices at USA, UK and other European countries are well known to many but a very few people may be aware of some vital initiatives that were reported in the study by this author undertaken for APQN.

Dr. Jagannath Patil is currently Deputy Adviser of NAAC- National Assessment and Accreditation Council and currently leading an international Project group on â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Student Participation in Quality Assuranceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; under the auspices of Asia Pacific Quality Network-APQN. A university topper in post graduate degree in Mass Communication, he was a recipient of fellowship for doctoral research. He has experience of over a decade in teaching, research and academic administration. As an Adviser of NAAC he has coordinated Peer Team Visits to more than 220 Higher Educational Institutions. He has visited New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa, Thailand, China and the United States of America on academic assignments. He has been nominated as Governing Board member of Asia Pacific Quality Network. Recently, he has received a prestigious international award by the Government of Australia titled- Endeavor India Executive Award for year 2007. April 2007 | www.digitalLEARNING.in

India's Premier ICT4D event 30 July - 03 August, 2007 Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India www.eINDIA.net.in

eINDIA2007 unites seven specialised conferences and exhibitions

ommun ty Rad o

The National eGovernance Plan (NeGP) launched by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology is a comprehensive programme designed to leverage the capabilities of ICT to promote good governance across the country. The Indian economy is growing at a steady rate of 8-9%. For this growth to be sustainable there is a need to increase efficacy of business processes especially those directly controlled by the government. The eGov track of the eIndia2007 aims to bring together key stakeholders to forge the path to good governance for citizens and businesses in India, ensuring cross-pollination of information & knowledge across socio-economic and geographic boundaries.

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While India has made huge strides and has been a key player in the Information technology revolution, vast digital divide still exists that inhibits a sustained all-inclusive growth for the society. India is bracing itself to catalyse the potential of ICTs in all spheres of development and creating opportunities for private investment and initiatives to supplement its development. In this immense growth environment, there is also a need for strategic planning, knowledge sharing and collaborative vision building between the government and the private sector to leverage the country’s growth potential and steer the country to lead the knowledge revolution. eINDIA 2007 is an inclusive, consultative and constructive ICT for Development forum – the largest and only one of its kind in India – promoting and propagating the use of ICT4D through its seven seminal conferences. Through its seven different but interrelated conferences namely, ● egovIndia2007, ● Digital Learning India 2007, ● Indian Telecentre Forum 2007, ● eHealth India 2007, ● mServe India 2007, ● Community Radio India 2007 and ● eAgriculture India 2007. The conference will address the issues of digital divide and identify and explore opportunities for Digital India.

India is trying to achieve the 'Education for All' goal in one hand and investing in building infrastructure and initiating programmes to build a world class human resource capacity on the other. The National Knowledge Commission has emphasised the need for extensive use of ICTs for 2007 research, collaboration and university networking for building ICT skills, sharing education resources and reaching the un-reached in higher education though distance learning. Digital Learning India 2007 will take on the existing debates and provide a platform for all stakeholders to deliberate on the issues of enabling and strengthening capacities to achieve the national goals of education.

INDIA

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INDIA

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With the launch of a national programme, 100,000 Community Service Centres, the Indian telecentre movement is at a vibrant stage of development, with the key stakeholders representing government, private sector and civil society besides donors being engaged in fulfilling the aspirations of the grassroots community to join the knowledge economy. Second year in the series of annual consultations, the Indian Telecentre Forum 2007 will provide the platform to take stock of what has happened. The Forum will shape the way forward for the telecentre movement within India, and for creating an example for the world to learn from.

Telemedicine has been a technological takeaway for the developed countries. Defined as the use of communication networks for the exchange healthcare information to enable clinical care, it is increasingly being viewed as a tool for improving care and enhancing access to healthcare. Telemedicine helps to connect remote rural hospitals/health centres to super specialty hospitals located in the cities and helps patients in remote and rural areas to avail timely consultations from specialist doctors without the ordeal of travelling. eHealth India 2007 will deliberate on such initiatives and many other excellent though scattered efforts in this field and bring it together to form a conduit of critical information.

INDIA

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ommun ty Rad o

INDIA

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The Indian telecom sector after liberalisation has shown tremendous growth with its growth rate being one of the highest in the world. The mobile phones apart from bringing in the aspect of mobility in connectivity have an inherent ease in terms of usage unlike computer-based connectivity, which requires people to be literate and e-Literate at the same time. In a nation plagued by connectivity lapses, mobile technology may well emerge as the key to bridging the digital divide. mServe India 2007 will showcase the immense potential of mobile technology in the implementation of existing and future m-Government, m-education, m-agriculture and other applications.

Amongst all the broadcasting media in India radio has the highest penetration and thus makes it the media which can reach the rural and remote areas servicing even the unlettered and illiterates. Realising its potential in November 2006, after seven long years INDIA of lobbying by groups like the Community Radio Forum, that the government finally 2007 accepted to make changes in the Community Radio Policy, to allow community based groups to set up their own radio stations. Community Radio India 2007 will bring together key stakeholders on a common platform to take the community radio movement in India to the next level.

e-Agriculture India 2007 will explore the opportunities of how ICTs can be used to improve the lives of the rural communities. Timely information on weather, disasters, improved agricultural practices, commodity prices and market information would greatly benefit farmers directly to minimize the risks and provide opportunities for enhanced incomes while cutting out high debt servicing costs, and taking informed decisions. The impact is felt directly with improved incomes and savings, access to services and valuable connections with stakeholders. The Universities, policy makers, industry leaders, development specialists and NGOs working for the farmers’ interests would explore the current developments and scalability of experiments.

www.eINDiA.net.in

i4d Film Festival “A picture speaks a thousand words”… The audio-visual medium is obviously an extremely powerful tool that can change the way global dialogues take place.

first ICT4D film festival. The film festival will cater to all sections of the ICT4D domain.

The first attempt of its kind in this arena, CSDMS will bring together over 50 films at the upcoming eIndia2007 forum. The features, long and short, will be gathered from around the world through the well-established networks that we already foster. Grassroots representation from not only India but around the world in the various cinematic forms will constitute the world's

Interested persons are requested to visit our website at http://www.eINDIA.net.in/films to download the application form and guidelines. All submissions will be reviewed by the festival committee. Please be advised that we do not return VHS tapes or DVDs. We will contact those film-makers whose films/videos are accepted to participate in the festival.

Potential Participation International Development Agencies: ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) telecentre.org International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) United Nations International Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF) Unted States Agency for International Development United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Bank Asian Development Bank (ADB) International Finance Corporation (IFC)

Indian Government Organisations: ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Government of India Ministry of Human Resources Development, Govt. of India Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India Ministry of Health, Govt. of India National Informatics Centre, Government of India National Institute for Smart Government, India Department of Telecommunications, Government of India

! ! ! !

Department of Posts, Government of India National Rural Health Mission, India Planning Commission, India State IT and Education Departments

Research & Academic Institutions: ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Delhi University, India Centre for Good Governance, India Jawaharlal Nehru University, India National Council for Educational Research and Training IGNOU, Government of India Kendriya Vidhyala Sangathan, India University Grants Commission, Government of India IITs

National and International Networking Thematic Programmes: ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Mission 2007 Med-e-tel Euro India ICT Cooperation Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) Asian E-learning Network (AEN), Japan Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative South East Asian Ministers of Education Organisation

Past Sponsors and Exhibitors

empowering education... enabling careers

Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies (CSDMS), G-4, Sector - 39, Noida, Uttar Pradesh - 201301 Phones: +91-120-2502180-85 Fax: 91-120-2500060 For any information/enquiry contact Sulakshana Bhattacharya Tel: +91-9811925253 email: sulakshana@eINDIA.net.in

www.eINDIA.net.in

CORPORATE DIARY | LEADERS’ SPEAK

Need to create an ecosystem for the fledgling industry building a team of professionals to help institutions rapidly create the required infrastructure to deliver learning and ensure that the envisaged learning outcomes are met. We know some of the reasons like high performance and workforce productivity for which the board room is renewing its attention to enterprise learning. How does Edutech contribute to the causes?

LS Venkatesh General Manager Edutech, India LS Venkatesh is the General Manager of Edutech India, a leading organisation providing technology enabled knowledge solutions to enhance performance for academic and corporate clients. Venkatesh was instrumental in driving the Middle East Operations of Edutech to a high level of corporate excellence. Some of his other contributions in the Middle East include establishing a consortium of universities in Saudi Arabia to help share resources, creating a “Vertical Practices” group within the organisation to develop domain expertise in various verticals to gain competitive advantage and introducing new digital library solutions and technologies such as RFID to Libraries in the Middle East. In 2005, he moved to Chennai to head the India office of Edutech as the importance of Indian operations to Edutech’s overall strategy assumed significance. Venkatesh shares more about his enterprise e-learning experiences with Digital Learning.

How do you use technology at Edutech to change educational culture? The demand for education has risen not just because there are more people aspiring for quality education but also because of the need for life-long learning or continuing education, as the rapid skill and knowledge obsolescence in today’s world poses a huge challenge. On the supply side, we have shortage in both quality and quantity of faculty, trainers, physical infrastructure etc. The current state of education infrastructure in India lends itself well to the use of technology and therefore presents a huge opportunity. Keeping this opportunity in mind, Edutech has evolved a modular eEducation framework, by establishing partnerships with the world’s leading technology and content providers and Digital Learning | Vol 3 Issue 4 April 2007

World over the trend used to be to cut training budgets first if expenses needed to be reduced as it was seen as “non-productive”. Progressive companies are realising that it is a serious mistake to cut down on training. Companies today are investing significantly in evolving competence frameworks to support organisational performance. In medium to large companies, technology can play a great role in identifying and recording skill-gaps and facilitating training programmes to bridge the gaps within defined timeframes so that there is tangible improvement in people’s performance. Edutech’s Learning Solutions and Performance Management Solutions will help customers achieve just that. What is the enterprise learning solution approach that builds corporate competencies and goals? What kind of innovations is Edutech providing to enhance education and different learning communities’ access to technology? Enterprises are increasingly realising that HR and Training departments should be better aligned with corporate goals and objectives. As a result, HR and Training managers are 27

CORPORATE DIARY | LEADERS’ SPEAK more tuned in today with companies’ business imperatives.

similar is the enterprise e-learning concept in India and the Middle East?

Edutech devises solutions that are ‘tailor-made’ to meet the varying needs of its customers. This is achieved by choosing appropriate content, sound in instructional design and pedagogical approach, to achieve a certain learning objective in a given “community of learners” and using the right technologies to deliver content appropriate to the defined learners. We accomplish this through partnerships with world-class companies that have the best of the breed, proven solutions for meeting specific needs.

In India the challenge is in the numbers and diversity. Awareness is also a major issue and much needs to be done to evangelise e-learning. Infrastructure in terms of connectivity is still a huge bottle-neck. In the Middle East, companies have to deal with multiple cultures as there is a sizeable expatriate work-force. The drive for learning is much stronger in India as compared to some of the other markets.

What are the solutions you offer across the higher education and k-12 industry sectors? What forms the compelling basis on which Edutech’s solutions are built on. Edutech’s solutions for the academic sector combine didactic equipment, advanced learning technologies, information resources, learning content and tools. These resources when used effectively support the development of skills, such as flexibility, adaptability, critical thinking, problem solving and collaboration capabilities that are crucial to achieving success in today’s knowledge economy. Additionally, we help build a learning environment that is accessible, reliable and relevant to students. Edutech’s solutions include: • Online learning technologies for blended or distance learning programmes • Branded learning content for languages learning, mathematics, sciences, business and management, health and medicine, technical and industrial subjects • Custom developed content for specific curriculum • Online testing and assessment solutions • Classroom control and response systems 28

One example of Edutech’s ICT intervention in education is the assessment project that we conducted for Andhra University in 2006 and 2007. Andhra University wanted to improve the employability of students through better communication skills. Edutech deployed Perception, an online assessment tool from Questionmark Corporation, USA and conducted the practical English language assessments for 54,000 students of Andhra University last year. This year the number has gone up to 1,00,000.

• •

Digital language labs Digital Library solutions

The compelling basis for all our solutions is essentially reliability, scalability, ease of deployment and ease of use to achieve the desired learning outcome. How did you succeed in establishing a place for the company in this global niche market of e-learning? What has been your forte in this sector? A critical factor for Edutech’s success is our ability to listen to our customers and finding creative solutions that address their problems. We were an early entrant into this space and have done some pioneering work. Our forte is that we are probably one of the few companies in the world that is capable of providing end to end solutions facilitating the skill and knowledge acquisition and delivery processes for enterprises. Your company has global alliances and presence across GCC, US, India and Malaysia. How different or

What do you think are the most significant challenges that education companies have faced in approaching a system to facilitate e-learning? At this point in time, awareness is a key issue. Because of this, many organisations approach e-learning with a great degree of skepticism. Like with most things, there is a method to e-learning deployment and unless much thought is given and the strategy is worked out, it is unlikely to produce the desired results. We still don’t have Universities offering major programmes on educational technologies and instructional design. We need to create an ecosystem for the fledgling industry to thrive. Where do you see Edutech after five years? We see Edutech as a global brand to reckon with in the “Learning” and “Performance Management” solutions space. We would like to be seen and remembered as a company that played a pioneering role in evangelising the use of technology for realizing better learning outcomes in institutions and enterprises. We would like to be seen as an innovator and a company of choice for enterprises to partner with in their learning initiative and as an organisation that has the best talent pool in this industry. April 2007 | www.digitalLEARNING.in

CORPORATE DIARY | NEWS E-learning company offers course for medicos

TIS and BT break new ground in child protection training

MEdRC EduTech, a Hyderabad (India) based e-learning company has signed up a Memorandum of Understanding with Mediciti Institute of Medical Sciences and Hospital in order to provide e-learning solutions for MBBS students who want to be doctors.

The global e-learning producer, Tata Interactive Systems, and BT, one of the UK’s largest providers of learning services to government are collaborating to produce a five module programme to enable those working within ‘children’s services’ to understand such concepts as the basics of child protection, how to identify a child at risk and how to develop the skills needed to help each child.

MEdRC EduTech is planning to tie up with 20 more colleges, including colleges from Pune to provide these solutions by August 2007. MEdRC EduTech has also designed a solution for the five-year MBBS course on the basis of guidelines of the Medical Council of India (MCI), consisting of 6,000 lectures.

Oracle accelerates for SMBs Oracle has launched a portfolio of over 80 industry-specific’ application

solutions to address the needs of companies in 30 industry segments including industrial manufacturing, retail, life sciences, engineering, construction, professional services, financial services, government, education and health care. The company worked with 50 partners to design, package and price the new products. The move is a part of Oracle’s global Accelerate programme to meet diverse IT requirements of SMBs by combining partner expertise with Oracle’s applications and technology solutions.

India Inc doing its bit of social service Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the commitment of businesses to contribute to sustainable economic development by working with employees, their families, the local community and the society at large has gathered an interesting momentum in last two decades. While the origins of CSR activities can be traced back to the early 1930s, the concept of CSR interventions began to take proper shape only from the 1960s. A survey on CSR Monitor 2001: Global Public opinion on the changing role of companies, conducted by Environics International, which interviewed around 1,000 people from both developed and developing countries like USA, Canada, Mexico, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, India, Russia and Nigeria, revealed that: A recent study by Nottingham University Business School, covering seven developing countries in Asia (including India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand) to assess the state of CSR interventions in these countries, revealed that although India is poorer than the other countries covered under the study and had the lowest GNP per capita among the countries, it ranked number one in terms of CSR penetration. About 72% of India’s top 50 companies undertake CSR initiatives supported by well-defined CSR policies. Countries like South Korea (52%), Thailand (42%) and Singapore (38%) were behind India in CSR penetration levels. Most CSR interventions have been targeted at sectors like health & education, with interventions ranging from adoption of public health facilities by corporates, supplementing existing government programmes like the midday meal programme, assessing & improving learning outcomes in primary education through teacher training, leveraging ICT for improving learning outcomes, etc. Digital Learning | Vol 3 Issue 4 April 2007

With input from a number of councils, the child protection e-learning modules have been designed by Tata Interactive Systems (TIS) and are delivered by BT’s Flexible Learning service, which provides managed learning services to over 600,000 public sector learners in the UK. The modules comprise of Safeguarding Young People and Children, a ‘basic’ awareness level module, which is intended for all local authority employees.

Mysore gets first IT-finishing School Mysore will be getting its first ITFinishing School shortly. New 12month course by Raman International Institute of Information Technology, PG Diploma in Software Programming, is aimed at producing graduates who are trained up in soft-skills and technical skills. India produces nearly 4,00,000 engineers every year, but only one in four is employable. Lakhs of graduates come out every year, but only 10% of them are fit to be employed in the IT sector. The trend is that software companies today look for fresh graduates who are trained up in industry culture, and are wellversed with soft-skills and communication skills, along with technical knowledge. The students who want to get trained up in softskills and technical skills now have 29

CORPORATE DIARY | NEWS this option, with the new course to be launched by Raman International Institute of Information Technology (www.riit.com). The course is accredited at the professional level, with the certification from University of Mysore (UOM). Graduate with any degree can apply to the course, and selection will be done through entrance test. The course is divided into four sections – Foundation track, Techtrack, Project track and Internship track, all with duration of 3 months each. Bank loan facilities are made available by RiiiT to students with financial difficulties. Laptops are provided for every student. The Faculty with corporate exposure helps in shaping the soft-skills of students.

MSC Software Provides Global University Program

MSC.Software Corp., a leading provider of enterprise simulation solutions to include simulation software and services, has detailed its Global University Programme, a multidimensional offering to complement introductions of MSC.Software’s SimEnterprise solutions. The MSC.Software University Programme provides software bundles as well as curriculum development and teaching assistance and an online community to make principles and theory understandable, enjoyable and relevant for engineering students. Available as an online resource at http://www.mscsoftware.com/ university/ and with online forums at http://forums.mscsoftware.com/ 30

universities/, the program delivers gold-standard software and resources for today’s engineering institutions.

Auralog: Innovation for language learning GurukulOnline Learning Solutions has now tied up with Auralog, leaders in foreign language learning solutions, to offer their entire range of learning solutions on an e-learning platform. Auralog, the first multimedia publisher in the world to apply speechrecognition technology to language learning software, and publisher of the award-winning language software TELL ME MORE, is now the global leader in its field. Equally effective for the beginning learner or the advanced speaker, TELL ME MORE promotes advancement at all stages of language learning. Auralog’s language learning methods are recognised the world over, and its products are utilised in 65 countries in Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. Some of the languages offered: French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, American English, and British English.

Microsoft and Unesco recognise creative use of technology in education Unesco and Microsoft have joined forces to recognise and reward teachers from Europe, West Asia and Africa for new uses of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) at the Innovative Teachers Forum 2007 taking place at Unesco Headquarters and the Louvre Museum in Paris. The Innovative Teachers Forum supports the 2015 UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for literacy and digital inclusion by helping to build a global community of educators that share ideas, classroom practices using ICT, and above all a common passion for learning. The 200 participants from 40

countries qualified for the event in national competitions that were held to recognise innovative teaching. Teachers’ initiatives range from incorporating the internet and online courses in curricula, to interactive classroom exercises, through the use of blogs and digital portals for teachers, students and parents for interactive coursework, evaluation, feedback and dialogue. The Innovative Teachers Programme is part of Microsoft’s worldwide Partners in Learning initiative.

BT launches partnership with UNICEF BT, one of the world’s leading providers of communications solutions and services operating in 170 countries launched a three-year global development partnership with UNICEF which will include investing $3 million into bringing education, technology and communications skills to children from poor socio-economic backgrounds in South Africa, Brazil and China. In the first year, the BT and UNICEF partnership will reach over 18,000 children in some of the most economically deprived communities in South Africa. In addition to installing 250 computers, 150 head teachers and administrators will also be trained in effective school management and leadership skills. This partnership builds on three community initiatives that BT is currently involved with in India. Through the Katha Information Technology and e-Commerce School (KITES), more than 9,000 children have already been equipped with ICT skills. Second is LifeLines India and third is the BT and St Crispin’s ICT Training Centre in Pune. April 2007 | www.digitalLEARNING.in

CORPORATE DIARY | PROFILE Intel Education

Empowering New Age Research, Teaching and Learning

s a global technology leader, Intel is committed to enhancing lives by accelerating access to uncompromised technology for everyone, anywhere in the world. To this end, Intel’s involvement in education is longstanding and profound.

Intel® Education Initiative Through collaboration with educators and governments in more than 50 countries, Intel works to improve teaching and learning through the effective use of technology, and to advance mathematics, science, and engineering education and research. Intel’s education programmes are adapted to the needs of countries and utilise an approach focused on building local competency for teacher training and technology innovation.

Professional Development through Intel® Teach The Intel® Teach helps educators, both pre-service and in-service K-12 teachers, learn the optimal ways to integrate technology tools and resources into their own lessons to promote 21st century learning, and student-centered practices in the classroom. The programme delivers a range of offerings, including both face-to-face and online instruction, designed to enable teachers to introduce, expand, and support project-based learning techniques in the classroom. In India, the Intel® Teach Programme was launched in February 2000, and till date more than 670,000 teachers have been trained in private and government schools and in pre-service institutions. Digital Learning | Vol 3 Issue 4 April 2007

Community Education through Intel® Learn The Intel® Learn Programme enables underserved youth ages 8–16 to learn technology, critical thinking, and collaboration skills using an engaging, project-based curriculum in an afterschool, community-centered setting. In India, this programme started in 2004, and has touched over 30,000 learners across 100 centres with the Kerala State IT Mission, the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, and General Manager Chandigarh Administration.

LS Venkatesh Edutech, India

The Intel Computer Clubhouse Network This is an after-school, community based learning programme that enables youth in underserved areas to access cutting-edge technology and become self-confident, motivated learners. At each Clubhouse, students

create projects based on their own ideas. The two Computer Clubhouses in India have reached out to over 8,000 students in the community, equipping youth with 21st century tools in a safe learning environment.

Initiative for Research & Innovation in Science (IRIS) Intel has been organising, the Intel Science Talent Discovery Fair (Intel STDF) over the last eight years

infusing a spirit of discovery in school children and increasing their interest in science and technology. Every year, the national winners of Intel STDF have gone on to represent India and showcase their work to the international scientific community at the largest pre-college science fair in the world—the Intel® International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel® ISEF) held in United States of America. Ever since the first Intel STDF held in 1999, India has had an excellent record at Intel ISEF, with Indian students winning multiple awards every year. Steer the Big Idea, another initiative in science by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, encourages Indian students to participate at the International Exhibition for Young Inventors (IEYI). Intel STDF and Steer the Big Idea were merged in February 2006 to form

Initiative for Research & Innovation in Science (IRIS).

Intel® Higher Education In India, the programme has reached out to over 18,000 students and 1,000 faculties across 150 institutions. 35 Institutes have been selected for collaborative research and curriculum engagement. For more information visit www.Intel.com/education 31

Six schools to be chosen for FutureSchools@Singapore initiative

News

Pakistan Govt. to introduce education through computers in primary schools

By June this year, six schools will be selected in Singapore to be pioneering models of how information and communication technology (ICT), can make for an engaging digital learning environment.

Pakistan Government is planning to introduce education through computers in all government primary schools in a period of five years.

This is under the Education Ministry’s FutureSchools@Singapore initiative which aims to help students learn through creative and innovative ways in a world dominated by information technology.

ASIA

IT Department of Sindh and MCB Bank has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Intel Pakistan to provide computers at all primary-level schools. Government has already provided computer labs in 60 percent of government high schools. This MoU will increase the ICT skills among students.

Malaysian ministry launching programme to turn schools smart

The Education Ministry will launch efforts to strengthen national schools focusing on the programme to make them smart with information and communication technology (ICT) initiatives. Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said the programme, the third thrust of the Education Development Masterplan, would also pay attention to the strengthening and rebranding of all 88 smart schools. It involved efforts to equip all schools with the infrastructure, tools, software and applications, teachers’ training, and a suitable and sufficient transformation programme. 32

Malaysia-Indonesia pact in higher education Malaysia and Indonesia agreed to set up a joint committee involving Malaysian university vice-chancellors and the rectors of major Indonesian universities as a first step in enhancing cooperation in tertiary education. The committee would meet once a year in arranging the pact, which would include exchange programmes involving students and lecturers, joint research and training at the doctorate level for Indonesian lecturers in Malaysia. Indonesia plans to raise the academic qualifications of 138,000 of its lecturers to the Master’s and Ph.D levels in the next 10 years, and Malaysia has been identified as one such place for the purpose.

Philippines, the first country in Intel’s e-learning project Philippines will become the first recipient country for multi-million dollar Intel Microelectronics’ e-learning project, which is aimed to provide a holistic learning environment in public high schools. Intel’s ICT for Education project would be in partnership with the Department of Education (DEPED), Gearing Up Internet Literacy and Access for Students (GILAS) and the

Foundation for IT Education and Development (FIT-ED). The ICT for Education project will be under the Intel World Ahead programme, which is designed to provide computers, Internet access and educational content to schools worldwide. Specific programs will be the Intel’s ‘Teach to the Future Programme’, DEPED’s PCs for Public Schools and GILAS’s donation of Internet connectivity to public schools. Teach to the Future Programme has already trained 74,000 teachers in the Philippines with another 7,000 to be trained by the end of the year, while GILAS has provided Internet connection to over 1,000 high schools.

All public schools in Kenya to embrace ICT by 2008 The Government says it has spent over 200 million shillings for Information Communication Technology programmes in 142 secondary schools in Kenya in this financial year, and expects to bring in ICT in all public schools by 2008. The money was used to buy ICT equipment for selected schools in 71 districts. All the 4,000 public schools are expected to join the information technology by the end of next year. Of the 400 secondary schools that have been equipped, 39 have wireless Internet access. April 2007 | www.digitalLEARNING.in

Under the patronage of:

Supported by:

Republic of Kenya

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

European Commission

eLearning Africa 2007: Building Infrastructures and Capacities to Reach out to the Whole of Africa An Annual Event for Building eLearning Capacities in Africa

• Launched in May 2006 in Addis Ababa, eLearning Africa has established itself as the largest international gathering of eLearning and distance education professionals in Africa, enabling participants to develop multinational and crossindustry contacts and partnerships, as well as to enhance their knowledge, expertise and abilities.

eLearning Africa 2007, with pre-conference workshops, parallel topic strands and about 200 expert speakers, prominent keynotes as well as an exhibition with major vendors and service providers, will cover all aspects of eLearning in the development context and provide a massive capacity building event for all stakeholders and educational and training professionals.

• The 2006 event attracted 832 participants from 80 countries representing all continents, with 70% coming from Africa, documenting the vital interest in eLearning on the Continent and made the Addis conference a genuinely Pan-African milestone.

eLearning Africa 2007 will have a number of exciting features that extend the scope and outreach of the conference, adding value for both presenters and attendees:

• Last year’s gathering featured the work of more than 230 speakers from 46 countries, addressing all forms of technology-enhanced learning and including a rich mix of themes, topics and a variety of session formats. • Delegates are high-level decision makers and practitioners from education, business and government - the three key areas driving eLearning adoption and innovation.

• A high-level policy maker and industry leader summit entitled “Accelerating the Building of ICT Infrastructures and Capacities for African Educational Systems”. • The African TVET Summit “Access and Inclusion for TVET in Africa through New ICT-based Solutions”. • A convention of major donors and development agencies focusing on “ICT-Enhanced Education and Training in Development Cooperation”. • Two break-out workshops, one in Kisumu on Lake Victoria and one in Mombassa on the Indian Ocean.

Nairobi, Kenya • May 28 – 30, 2007 • www.elearning-africa.com Platinum Sponsor:

Gold Sponsors:

Silver Sponsor:

Sponsors:

Official Carrier:

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M-Learn

M-Update

Taiwan University gives mobile info access

Tamkang University has launched a platform that will give students, faculty members and administrative staff access to the school’s Web portal via heterogeneous mobile devices such as smartphones and wireless-enabled personal digital assistants (PDAs). The school has three campus sites in the country. Tamkang University’s portal, which went live in December last year, was conceived to provide a range of services for the school’s patrons and employees. Students can go to the portal to manage class messages, monitor student club activity updates as well as to check for test results and reserve library books. Despite the availability of wireless coverage at all three premises, the university said that it only recently made its portal compatible with a range of smartphone devices, using technology supplied by software vendor Sybase. Tamkang University’s portal can be accessed via smartphone handsets based on Palm, Symbian and Windows CE mobile operating environments.

M-Project

Discuss your stories at mServe India 2007 held along with eINDIA 2007 at Pragati Maidan from July 30 till August 3, 2007. Log on to 'www.eIndia.net.in/mserve' to send your papers.

MobilED: Cellphones as an educational tool

The Meraka Institute, the Helsinki University of Art and Design in Finland and the University of Pretoria in South Africa have, over the past 18 months, been working on a project dubbed MobilED, where they are investigating the use of mobile technologies and services for formal and informal learning. The first module that has been developed is the audio-Wikipedia - an online encyclopaedia - from which anyone can receive and upload information. Children send an SMS with a key word. In response, they receive a callback and a speech synthesiser reads the contents of the requested Wikipedia entry. A fast forward and rewind function has been added to make listening to the entry easier. In the pilot projects kits have been supplied, which include a cell phone and speakers, so that it can be used in the classroom. Piloting has so far taken place at Cornwall Hill College and Irene Middle School, both in the 34

From now on, I'll connect... my own way

Centurion area, where the project will run for a further two years. Further pilots are planned for more rural areas, possibly in the Northern Cape. As with Wikipedia, there is an interactive element whereby entries can be added to. At the end of each section there is a prompt, giving the option to either continue or to add to the entry. Should the user opt to add to the entry, the system records comments and saves them as a wav file. The additions are then added to the downloaded version of wikipedia, which the project uses. Currently all call costs for the pilot are being covered by the CSIR project. The next step that is being worked on is to use MMS. This

would greatly reduce costs and add to the functionality of the system. Another area currently being researched is the incorporation of an instant messaging service such as MXit, which is already highly popular amongst South Africa’s teenagers. Doctor Maths is a MXit project that offers high school learners support with their maths syllabus. MobilED has proven that cell phones can be very useful where there’s no other access to information sources. Libraries or Internet connections no longer need to be the sole access point for educational information for children. For more on the project, Merryl Ford can be contacted at mford@csir.co.za. April 2007 | www.digitalLEARNING.in

INDIA

2007 30 July - 3 August, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

Call for papers mServe India 2007 The Indian telecom sector after liberalisation has shown tremendous growth with its growth rate being one of the highest in the world. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has said the total number of telephone subscribers in India had hit 189.9 million, of which 149.5 million are mobile customers. The mobile phones apart from bringing in the aspect of mobility in connectivity have an inherent ease in terms of usage unlike computer-based connectivity, which requires people to be literate and e- Literate at the same time. The immense growth has also meant that the cost-per equipment has also come down drastically. This growth though, has been lopsided and the mobile revolution has been limited to urban areas primarily. The rural areas have remained untouched and in a nation which is plagued by connectivity lapses, mobile technology may well emerge as the key to bridging the digital divide. Image source: www.Indiadaily.org

mServe India 2007 will showcase the immense potential of mobile technology in the implementation of existing and future m-Government, education, agriculture and other applications.

Key Discussion Themes The conference will be divided into several thematic tracks such as: 1. Wireless and mobile policy and regulation 2. Muni Wi-Fi/ WiMax (m-Governance, m-Health, Case studies) 3. Mobile Handsets (Barriers to entry, Low cost handsets, Market scenario, Dual mode handsets, Market wrt Chinese/South East/South Asian market) 4. Mobile operators and service providers- CSR 5. Mobiles for sustainable development (m-Biz, m-Livelihood, m-Learning) 6. m-Content 7. University- Student Forum 8. Web 2.0/Mobile 2.0- Telling stories from the development community- Net Squared The implementation process, successes, failures, key issues and future plans will be discussed through panel discussions, workshops and presentations of case studies and best practices.

Individuals working with IT/Telecom companies, central/state government departments, national/ international government agencies, bi-lateral/multilateral organisations, research and academic institutes, development organizations, NGOs doing ICT projects, technology development, policy research, implementation etc. are encouraged to submit a 200 word abstract. The abstract should clearly define the aims of the project and indicate the key research/points to be further presented and discussed in the session. After evaluation of abstracts, selected authors would be asked to send full paper. Submit your abstract online at www.eINDIA.net.in/mserve

Important Dates: Abstract Submission: 25 - 05 - 2007 Abstract Acceptance: 06 - 06 - 2007 Full Paper Submission: 30 June 2007

Contact Details Himanshu Kalra (mob: +91-9818485406) himanshu@csdms.in eIndia 2007 Secretariat Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies (CSDMS) G-4, Sector 39, Noida, India - 201301 Tel. : +91-120-2502181- 87, Fax: +91-120-2500060

ICT @ RDPS

School Tra ck understanding of complex issues belonging to different realms.

Power S c h o o l In keeping pace with the latest trends, Rukmini Devi Public School in Delhi, India has been steadily adopting and implementing the latest technological developments not only for the betterment of its students, but also for enhancing the teaching process. As a learning resource, ICT is used for accessing contextual and referential information beyond the textbook and library, through the Internet and Intranet. Students acquire wide and in-depth conceptual understanding through audiovisual presentations on a regular basis. To further enhance skills to comprehend, analyse and interpret the information gathered, students are allotted IT projects for which they actively construct knowledge by exploring information through various ICTs, interacting with simulation and finally presenting their projects for evaluation. Similarly group project work promotes collaborative learning Digital Learning | Vol 3 Issue 4 April 2007

amongst school students and their contemporaries across global boundaries and caters to an

Learning being an eternal process, ICT has opened up several avenues to enrich and update teaching competence of the school faculty. They are able to train themselves in new pedagogical practices and are motivated to share perspectives through video conferencing, websites and other ICT inspired vistas. The school marked its imprint in 1998 on the Internet through its interactive website â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;www.rdpschool.comâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. It developed further adding up new sections and now has features to support a virtual school. At a micro

allocating resources, etc in optimum time with no error. Basic ICT skills are developed among the Rukminians from a young age itself by giving them initial training through multimedia and audio-visual labs. The skills are further polished in senior classes, where they are given knowledge of networking, programming, latest application software and operating systems essential to them under expert guidance.

level teachers are able to structure effective lesson plans after browsing through model teaching resources available on websites which brings a novelty to their teaching and takes them closer to their objectives. Besides this, ICT is also being used in the school for ensuring efficiency and accuracy at all levels of administrative work. Statistical data is collected and managed with more precision for planning purposes in various departments like examination, accounts and the library which aids in monitoring results, assessing needs,

The school has a history of conducting several successful Multi cultural education programmes for enhancing children’s understanding and appreciation for the world and its people. These exchange programmes, collaborative projects and other such activities are the efforts of the school to promote internationalism in school curriculum, which are facilitated by various ICT tools like e-mails, videoconferencing etc. In year 2006, British Council, India has recognised the incorporation of the international dimension in RDPS curriculum, by accrediting it with the ‘International School Award’. The school is poised to revolutionalise the face of education through ICT. Its steady but assured progress has enabled the Rukminians to compete with the rest of the world on equal terms by blending the power of technology with their cognitive power. Geetika Malhotra is the English teacher in Rukmini Devi Public Schol in Delhi, India. Apart from playing a role as an Editor of the school newsletter, she also looks after the examination department of the school and believe in incorporation of technology in all spheres of life.

April 2007 | www.digitalLEARNING.in

Knowledge Bank The Innovative Teachers Network Connecting Educators The Innovative Teachers Network (http://apac.innovativeteachers.com/ default.aspx) connects a global community of educators who share a common interest in enhancing teaching and learning through the use of technology. ITN for Asia Pacific is part of Microsoftâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s initiative to build and support a global network of teachers and educators in discussing and sharing resources with each other. This site is developed for teachers who are both experienced in the use of ICT in their learning and teaching as well as teachers who would like to find out more about using ICT in their classroom.

Educators can create their discussions and see what their peers think of the various issues regarding education. This is a great tool to seek support from others who might have more experience. Resources are typically contributed by educators and their partners on the network and Microsoft. Teachers would be able to make use of these resources to make classes more interesting! The professional learning section of the ITN is the place where Microsoft and partners post articles, white papers and other interesting research

Info-centre Digital Learning Power School Award 2007 Do you know a bright and prospering school having the power of innovation technology and brilliance that take the teachers, students, parents, administrators and others in the community to the level of excellence? If you do, take a moment to nominate this school for the Digital Learning Power School Award 2007.

The ITN Asia Pacific hopes to work with educators within the region as well as outside of the region to provide interesting content and information that will be used by teachers and schools. Registration is free and open to all in order to be part of the network. The network offers services like creating communities, which allows registered educators to create either open or restricted virtual communities online. The creators of these communities are then able to invite other educators to participate in specific projects or programmes that they are initiating. Digital Learning | Vol 3 Issue 4 April 2007

papers relating to teacher training, professional development, research in education and other interesting papers that are of interest to educators. Technology in the classroom has the power to transform the way you teach, and the way students learn. It can extend the walls of the classroom to the four corners of the globe. The Innovative Teachers Network delivers professional learning resources that engages the educators intellectually, to help meet todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s teaching challenges, and encourage them to become an active stakeholder in the teaching profession.

Nominations due by 30 May, 2007 Download Application Form www.digitalLEARNING.in or write to info@digitalLEARNING.in

Learning Curves New ICT service for primary schools cuts costs and boosts access

Intel to introduce low-end ‘Classmate’ PCs in India

SchoolTerm is not only a cost effective ICT system in British education, but it also helps schools save money. It saves teaching time, allows teachers and pupils to access their work from home and outlaws the annoying wait for a technician to arrive to sort out problems as they are resolved remotely.

Leading processor maker Intel will soon introduce ‘Classmate’, a portable computer for children priced between INR 9,000-11,000, in India under its World Ahead programme, aimed at adding a billion new global computer users.

Designed by Gloucestershire based company School-Tech (www.school-tech.co.uk) after two of its directors looked into the provision of ICT at their local schools, it is an innovative system based on a simple per user per month pricing model. It gives schools the latest desktops, software and servers, allowing them to run the latest educational applications and cut admin costs without busting their budget.

Two pilot projects with Classmate have been undertaken at Delhi Public School, Delhi and Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS), Faridabad near Delhi, India. Intel donated 60 PCs to Class VII students of these schools along with three laptops for teachers for the pilot project. The schools have been provided wi-fi connectivity to enable learning outside classroom. Classmate has 512 MB RAM and 2GB storage and operates on Windows XP, targeting an age group of 12-15 years. It will also have three security features, parental control on Internet usage, monitoring of machine by teacher PCs in the classroom and the kill switch to disable the machine in case of theft. Through Intel Foundation, the company will also run a training programme for teachers.

One of the major ways of cutting costs is by using School-Tech’s datacentre. Although schools share the datacentre and its resources each school has its own separate application In some schools the environment and data. This means faster access time, no more cranking most important thing up the computers first thing in the is being first in the morning, and less downtime. The technology race. First technology works within the fibered district. First curriculum, in particular in developing personalised learning laptop school. First spaces and even allows pupils and laptop state. First teachers to log on from home. It also handheld school. First makes report writing and lesson virtual school. First preparation easier.

USE YOUR SPACE We invite you to be a part of our ‘School Track’ section, which you can do by contributing your experience with ICTs as a schoolteacher, principal and administrator, or as someone in the school education process working in any capacity. We welcome your stories, research papers, opinion pieces, resources or any other such relevant information, news, and a new idea for this space that can help elevating the spirit of education in schools with integration of ICTs. We look forward to you using this space, by sending your words to info@digitalLEARNING.in

digital school. First paperless, bookless, unlibraried school. In the rush to be first to use a particular tool, sensible planning tends to be an after thought. “Ready, shoot, aim!” Many of these projects are illconsidered, wasteful and plagued by grandiosity.

Courtesy: http://www.fno.org

April 2007 | www.digitalLEARNING.in

Country Focus Subrata Kumar Dey [SUBRATA@IUB.EDU.BD], M Abdus Sobhan [ASOBHAN@IUB.EDU.BD], Independent University Bangladesh (IUB), Dhaka, Bangladesh

Introducing Technology Based Higher Education in Bangladesh What one needs for creating Technology Based Higher Education (TBHE) environment in Higher Educational Institutions (HEI) are necessary logistics like multimedia projectors, computers, Internet connectivity with necessary bandwidth, skilled e-content development group, technology-friendly HEI administration, adaptability of the learners to TBHE environment, etc. In Bangladesh, many of these conditions do not persist at a satisfactory level. Besides, it is difficult for a particular HEI to incorporate all of them. Feeling the requirement of an implementation-friendly framework for TBHE, the authors propose a framework for promoting TBHE-environment in HEIs of Bangladesh, perhaps suitable for other developing nations also. The methodology of the framework was incepted from the National ICT Policy of Bangladesh and the feedback of the expert-group working on ICT and Higher Education in Bangladesh. For this, the authors used the data of the survey conducted by the Expert Group responsible for preparing report on â&#x20AC;&#x153;Strategic Planning for ICT in Higher Educationâ&#x20AC;?, of which one of the authors is an expert member. The TBHE-environment for dissemination of information in limited form in most of the public universities in Bangladesh. However, a few private universities are promoting TBHE-environment exists for authentic delivery of learning-contents in electronic form through web and other media. The authors studied their approaches and compared it with the proposed framework.

ducational institutes, particularly the Higher Education Institutions, are the largest stakeholders to adapt to the technological advancement for better and efficient rendering of education to the mass learning community including regular classroom based as well as distant student via online and offline e-Learning. Though in recent years, HEIs in Bangladesh are using ICT in learning and teaching processes in order to increase the quality, efficiency, and dissemination of education, but not many of them could siege the opportunity and leverage significant benefits by adapting themselves to Technology based Higher education environment.

Current status of TBHE in Bangladesh Status of public sector HEIs Most of the public sector HEIs did not adopt technology for the Digital Learning | Vol 3 Issue 4 April 2007

improvement of imparting quality education. The major technology medicated activities performed by them are typical in nature that includes: uses of web sites for disseminating general information to the visitors, whereas no learning contents are disseminated; content delivery using overhead and multimedia projectors.

the student and respective advisor, using log to monitor online activities of students, online discussion forum, providing digital library (own and professional like IEEExplore, ACM digital library), etc.

Status of private sector HEIs

In Bangladesh, the only public sector university offering distance education is the Bangladesh Open University (BOU). Facilities provided are: maintaining website; established Media Center responsible for content development (CD based; noninteractive) for secondary, higher secondary and postgraduate courses; broadcasting recorded lectures through television and radio; etc. Learners still need to go to the tutoring/resource centers to give examination. Integration of remote and virtual lab is totally absent and the relevant lab courses are seldom conducted.

Most of the private sector HEIs represent the similar scenario like public sector HEIs. However, few selected HEIs are more aware about the necessity of TBHE environment and striving to provide more technology mediated services to their students. They have their own units of content development activities under different names and responsibilities. The TBHE support provided to their students are: authentic access to course material within and outside the campus, online submission of assignments and term papers, access of online transcript to

Usage of TBHE in distance education

Usage of TBHE environment in research and development

Adaptive standard of disseminating learning content

In most of the countries such as India, Pakistan, England etc. there exist special ICT facilities to extend helps to people engaged in research and development activities in its HEIs. There is one such network infrastructure in Bangladesh in the name BERNET (Bangladesh Education and Research NETwork: www.ugc.org/bernet.htm). This is the monitoring unit, which provides a quality assurance role to JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) in monitoring its network infrastructure and network content services to the researchers in different HEIs.

The most commonly used mechanisms for the dissemination of course material and other resources are email, shared-folder through intranet, Internet, etc. These are standard means used by the HEIs (not all of them follow all). School of Engineering & Computer Science of Independent University IUB), Bangladesh; delivery of course contents and interactions are supported by configurable e-learning system called CMOS (Course Management & Operation System) within and outside of campus. However, different systems are used by different schools of the university. CMOS offers easy upload/download of course documents, file sharing, chat, discussion forums. Online quizzes and exams are in the pipeline for implementation. These are supported by a campus wide optical fiber backbone. The framework also suggests various content-delivery modes using: direct delivery of the contents (white-board); indirect delivery through web-enabled computers, CD with computer and CD with television and DVD player.

Status of TBHE friendly administration Though the University Grants Commission (UGC) of Bangladesh regulates and approves the syllabuses of the private sector HEIs, there exists no monitoring body to oversee the separate ICT unit, if any, within the HEIs. Most of the public sector HEIs have independent ICT divisions doing typical ICT chores such as proper functioning of email, etc. However, they do not provide technology-supportive quality education due to the lack of TBHE friendly administration, policy framework and skilled human resources.

Necessity of TBHE framework Within an HEI, the successful establishment of TBHE environment largely depends not only on the friendly administration and fund, but also on an approved framework. The

framework helps in streamlining the quality of education, research and other services provided by various HEIs and eventually increases their competitiveness. Based on the learners’ needs (regular or distant), the framework helps the HEIs in designing their learning system, which is crucial for the development of the TBHE environment. Development of massive and costly system may not be useful due to socio-economic and cultural background of the learners. The framework can help HEIs in this regard.

Components of the proposed TBHE Framework Establishment of content development centers As acquired material (books, periodicals, journals, off-the-shelf educational software, etc) does not meet all the needs of an HEI, it is necessary to establish its own CDC. While establishing a CDC, the following issues need to be taken care of, such as: using cutting-edge technology, creative design modules for course content development as well as assessment through online exam, and seamless implementation of services and its maintenance.

Technology-mediated services for assessment of students The following services need to be incorporated in the learning system to assist the teachers: • Online submission of assignment by the students through authentic user account. • Uses of plagiarism detection tools to prevent plagiarism, ensuring fair grading.

Status of Internet connection and nature of connection in Bangladeshi HEIs Connected to Internet through Type of HEI

Institutes offering ICT degrees

Connected to Internet

Dial UP Connection

Cable Broadband

Own VSAT

Private University

Public University

April 2007 | www.digitalLEARNING.in

Practical/lab exposure

Benefits of the Framework •

•

The framework ensures that, the investment done on the development of infrastructure, logistics, human resources, technology mediated services, etc. are efficient and effective; and the services provided within the HEIs are exploited to the benefit of the institution. Uniform content development especially, for e-learning and dissemination policy of the framework will reduce the differences among HEIs in terms of content, quality learning and keep it at a minimum level. Effective TBHE environment will create facilities for the management people to better administer the HEIs. Adoption to TBHE environment will enable an HEI to produce more competitive graduates ready to serve the industry, and the society as a whole. Uses of biometric technology for authentic identification of examinee. Live generation of random question from a secured central database. Encrypted question paper may be distributed over the network / Internet, which will be decrypted at selected terminals at remote resource centers. For remote examination centers, provision for online invigilation, closed-circuit cameras may be installed in the examination hall. Publishing the cheating incidence publicly through Internet. Arrangement of videoconferencing for viva-voce of project of distant learner. Facilitating user groups, discussion forum for interaction among HEIs in this regard, etc.

Digital Learning | Vol 3 Issue 4 April 2007

For distant learner, introduction of Virtual Lab (simulated through CD and Internet) along with remote lab at resource centers can significantly provide lab exposure to the distant learner. Even for the regular students, integration of physical and virtual laboratories will help them in quicker and better understanding of the topic.

Regulatory body for Monitoring

The RB is to be formed for the planning, implementation and monitoring of TBHE in HEIs. The RB should have sufficient autonomy and regulatory power to oversee the overall TBHE environment. The RB may be formed with the participation of the stakeholders in association with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and ICT, and the UGC of Bangladesh. A web based monitoring system should accompany the RB.

Mitigating challenges in implementing TBHE Implementing quality e-learning is a big and challenging task. Although there is a significant increase in the online access to good number of courses

offered, the contents of many courses could not reach the required quality. One of the reasons behind that is, most of the Training of Teachers (ToT) programmes are focused on the usage of online platform rather than in designing online course content. Another challenge is to mitigate insufficiency of lab exposure to distant learners. Remote laboratories are necessary in e-Learning environments, especially in scientific and technical disciplines. The proposed framework allows the teachers to integrate laboratories in their TBHE system through website and remote resource center. It also enables the creation, distribution and exchange of pedagogical scenarios for practical lesson/task by establishing CDCs. Technology mediated assessment methods such as online exam system, usage of biometric and closed-circuit cameras for authentic participation of learners to the examination are not yet practiced by any HEI, which is a very challenging task also. The findings show that the total TBHE readiness is still far away for most of the Bangladeshi HEIs. A nationally accepted framework is required for the successful adoption of TBHE environment by an HEI. In United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, there exists such framework. Though the proposed framework is conceptualised after conduction of the survey on public and private sector HEIs, the framework is still under scrutiny and expert’s comments are pending on it.

Subrata Kumar Dey is working as lecturer of School of Engineering & Computer Science, Independent University, Bangladesh, since 2002. He obtained his Masters in Computer Applicationsfrom University of Madras, India and is in the process of completing his second Masters degree (M.Sc in Computer Science) from Independent University, Bangladesh. He acted as member and Organising Secretary of various national and international conferences organised by IUB. Very recently he served as the Organising Secretary of 9 th International Conference on Computer and Information Technology, ICCIT-2006. Professor M Abdus Sobhan works with the Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) in October, 2005 in the School of Engineering and Computer Science (SECS). He served as the chief executive of the apex body of ICT, namely the Bangladesh Computer Council. He also worked as the Vice Chancellor of Prime University, Bangladesh. He published more than 100 papers in national and international level journals and conference proceedings.

News WORLD Becta publishes ICT funding guideline for schools in UK Becta has published a guidance document for schools and local authorities on the usage of ICT skills. Becta has published the document entitled ‘Learning, teaching and managing with ICT: Funding guidance for schools and local authorities 2007-08’. This is the first time Becta has released the funding guidance for schools and local authorities. It emphasises that ICT spending should be seen as a key driver to help achieve e-strategy and wider Government objectives.

Australia. DET has already completed its first phase of ‘Learning with ICT’ project, including 14 schools in the Albany area in January. ‘Learning with ICT’ project involves key upgrades to schools’ IT infrastructure along with associated professional development for staff. The project also involves the provision of additional computers to schools, electrical upgrades, network cable upgrades and professional development of staff.

subjects like programming, Multimedia, Hardware, Networking, Microsoft suite among others.

RealeBooks Project wins National Technology Innovation Award

Lagos schools bring ICT skills for Nigeria students

Australia’s DET provides ICT skills to 100 schools

Schools of Lagos have partnered with foremost ICT training institute, named New Horizons to give world-class ICT skills to primary level students of Nigeria. Schools that have partnered are Legacy High School, Isolog Schools, Oxbridge Tutorial College, Doregos Private Academy, Sound Hope, and Queens land Academy.

Western Australia’s Department of Education and Training (DET) has provided a technology infrastructure upgrade at an initial 100 schools of

This partnership will make easy to students who prefer to study abroad. Nigeria Students of these schools would be trained on several ICT

A RealeBooks project with parents of the Family and Child Education (FACE) literacy program at Enemy Swim Day School in Waubay, South Dakota in United States is the national winner of the inaugural Verizon Tech Savvy Award. RealeBooks, a product of Coloradobased RealeStudios, provides e-Publishing solutions to schools, businesses and service organisations around the world.

US loses top spot in global tech study

European countries and Singapore have surpassed the United States in their ability to exploit information and communication technology, according to the Global Information Technology Report. The United States, which topped the World Economic Forum’s networked readiness index in 2006, slipped to 44

Top 10 1. Denmark 2. Sweden 3. Singapore 4. Finland 5. Switzerland 6. Netherlands 7. US 8. Iceland 9. UK 10.Norway

Bottom 10 113 Cameroon 114 Paraguay 115 Mozambique 116 Lesotho 117 Zimbabwe 118 Bangladesh 119 Ethiopia 120 Angola 121 Burundi 122 Chad

Source: World Economic Forum seventh. The study largely blamed increased political and corporate interference in the judicial system. The index also cited the United States’ low rate of mobile telephone usage, a

lack of government leadership in information technology and the low quality of math and science education. Nordic countries - traditionally strong in all surveys dominated the top of the rankings. Denmark edged Sweden for the top spot, while Finland was behind in fourth. Singapore, which topped the poll in 2005, was the top Asian nation in third. Rounding out the top 10 were Switzerland, fifth; Netherlands, sixth; Iceland, eighth; Britain, ninth; and Norway, 10th. The report covered 122 countries, with Chad, Burundi, Angola, Ethiopia and Bangladesh at the bottom. India secures 44th position in the list. April 2007 | www.digitalLEARNING.in

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Now on the STANDS 45

Mark Your Calendar april Smart School International Conference 16 - 18 April, 2007 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia http://www.msc .com.my/smar tschool/events/ updates.asp

Call for entries: Essays about the role of ICT in building a peaceful world

SOLSTICE 2007 - Researching eLearning for Innovation and Development 11 May, 2007 Lancashire England, United Kingdom

UNESCO and the Goi Peace Foundation are inviting young people from around the world to enter the International Essay Contest for Young People.

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Learning Impact 2007 / Summit on Global Learning Industry Challenges 16 – 19 April, 2007 Canada

12th International Conference on Education - ICE2007 21 - 24 May, 2007 Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam

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Schools Reform Conference: Challenges and Aspirations 17 - 19 April, 2007 Dubai United Arab Emirates

eLearning Africa 28-30 May, 2007 Nairobi, Kenya

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Interactive Mobile and Computer aided Learning 18 - 20 April, 2007 Amman, Jordan

Instructional Strategies for Blended & Online Learning 13 - 15 June 2007 Boston, MA, United States

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Navigating RFID Adoption Roadmap 25-26 April, 2007 Mumbai, India http://www.informedia-india.com/client/ index.aspx?id=conference&sub=program&confID=72

Higher Education in the 21st Century Diversity of Missions 25 to 27 June 2007 Dublin, Ireland http://heconference.dit.ie

The Higher Education Summit 2007 Synergies through Partnerships in Higher Education 26 - 27 April, 2007 New Delhi, India

International Management Education Conference 2007 (iMEC2007) 22 to 24 June 2007 Batu Feringghi, Penang, MALAYSIA

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StudyWorld 2007 11 - 12 May, 2007 Berlin Germany

30 July- 3 August, 2007 New Delhi, India

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Open to everyone under 26 years of age, this year’s theme is “The role of media and information and communication technologies in building a peaceful world”. This year’s theme recognises the influence that television, radio, Internet and other forms of media have in shaping our lives and society. Essays should address questions such as: What should be the role of the media and communication technologies in the future? How would you make use of these various tools of communication to help create a better world? This Essay Contest is a joint UNESCO-Goi Peace Foundation activity. Winners of the First Prize will receive a cash award and a trip to Japan. The deadline for entries is 30 June 2007. Further information and guidelines can be available at http://www.goipeace.or.jp/ english/activities/programs/ 0702_00.htm April 2007 | www.digitalLEARNING.in

The world is talking. Are you listening?

30 July - 03 August, 2007 Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India www.eINDIA.net.in/cr