Higher Education - At Leading Edge : June 2008 Issue

The monthly publication on ICT and Education

digitalLEARNING Volume IV Issue 6 June 2008 ISSN 0973-4139

Rs 75

www.digitalLEARNING.in

Teacher, ICT, and Insights PAGE 11

Interview: Prof. O R Reddy, Vice-Chancellor, B R Ambedkar Open University PAGE 21

Leader’s Speak Anoop Gupta, Corporate VP, Microsoft Unlimited Potential Group PAGE 33 India Formulating a National Policy on ICT in School Education

Your Say, Your Stake Policy Matters - PAGE 46

Collaborative Technologies for Enhanced Teaching with UKIERI page 52

Contents Volume IV Issue VI, June 2008

Verbatim He who asks a question is a fool for a minute; he who does not remains a fool forever - Chinese Proverb The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet - Aristotle Education is an ornament in prosperity and a refuge in adversity - Aristotle He who opens a school door, closes a prison - Victor Hugo

Voices from Government, Industry, Academia...

Look Out For Special Digital Learning Issue in August 2008

Cover Story

Country Focus

39

6

25

Policy Matter

Harnessing Growth: An Overview of India’s Higher Education

ICT, and Insights 11 Teacher, Rama Kondapalli

15 ILLL Fostering 3D

Interview: Dr Renu Khator, President, University of Houston

27

Learning

Interview: Dr Ashok Kumar Bakshi, Director, ILLL, DU

R Ambedkar 21 BOpen University: Bringing Education to Student’s Doorstep

Growing Demand of Trained Work Force Interview: Dr Raj Singh, Pro ViceChancellor

Assessing ICT Proficiencies, Facilitating Campus Dialouge at New York City University Teresa L. McManus

46

Leader’s Speak Anoop Gupta, Corporate VP, Microsoft Unlimited Potential Group, Education Product

33 Group

35 37

Kalyanaraman Srinivasan, CEO and Founder, GlobalScholar.com

Foyer: Intel Launches World Ahead Programme in Uttarakhand

India Formulating a National Policy on ICT in School Education

School Track

52

Corporate Diary

Interview: Prof. O R Reddy, ViceChancellor

University: 23 Amity Responding to

Leading the Success: From Farukhabad to Houston

Case Study: Computer Based Teacher-Learning Aids in Science Classroom

Collaborative Technologies for Enhanced Teaching with UKIERI

Regulars

57

Mark Your Calendar

News

18 41 44 56

India Corporate Asia World

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

digital LEARNING Volume IV, Issue 6 | June 2008

President M P Narayanan Editor-in-Chief Ravi Gupta Group Directors Maneesh Prasad, Sanjay Kumar Programme Co-ordinator Jayalakshmi Chittoor Assistant Editor Manjushree Reddy email: manjushree@digitallearning.in Research Associate Rachita Jha Research Assistants Shivani Satija, Angela S Nath Marketing Siddharth Verma (+91-9811561645) email: siddharth@csdms.in Sales Executives Rudra Ghosh, Fahimul Haque Subscription & Circulation Lipika Dutta (+91-9871481708) Manoj Kumar (+91-9210816901) Sr Graphic Designer Bishwajeet Kumar Singh Graphic Designers Om Prakash Thakur Chandrakesh Bihari Lal (James) Web Zia Salahuddin, Santosh Kumar Singh Amit Pal 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 digital Learning is published by Ravi Gupta on behalf of Elets Technomedia Pvt. Ltd.

Editorial Higher Education at the Leading Edge India presents a developmental paradox. It is one the fastest growing economy in the world and yet millions live in poverty and illiteracy. Sustaining the current growth and making it inclusive will depend on our ability as a nation to address this divide.

India’s higher education, which over the decades created some of the best human resources through IITs and IIMs, needs to evolve in order to become the harbinger of a knowledge revolution, capable of equipping our youth with skills needed in the fast evolving global markets.

For a nation this size and variations, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) came as an answer for bridging geographical spaces and vast differences in student profile.

It has allowed India’s education sector to think in terms of content and audiences beyond the confines of text books and classroom walls, beyond age and background. It has given a new meaning to developmental aspirations as the skilled work-force is set to expand exponentially and needs of the new knowledge economy are being addressed with greater flexibility and speed.

India has an advantage in the form of its mammoth educational infrastructure, developed in the last six decades, which can provide a solid launching pad for a new era of higher education in the country. In 1950, there were only 2,63,000 students in 750 colleges affiliated to 30 universities in India. In 2005, the figure has touched 11 million students in 17,000 colleges affiliated to 230 universities and non-affiliated university level institutions.

A vital issue that we need to examine is the private-public blend to address the massive demand for skill-based training in higher education. Emergence of higher education as a market and service industry should be seen as a path of vital transition to knowledge-based economy. Private institutions like Amity University, Symbiosis, IIPM, etc are now the first choice of thousands of students, who want to enhance their competitiveness and skills.

Also, certain pedagogical problems affect the teaching of ICT in Indian education sector.

On several occasions we have carried experts’ suggestions that ICT could and should be treated as an intellectual as well as service subject and some elements of ICT skills in the curriculum if required, which is more oriented towards the ‘I’ and ‘C’ than the limiting ‘T’.

This edition of Digital Learning is an effort to steer the deliberations on this thought.

This July, we will bring more discussions on the challenges and ways ahead for this sector in our forthcoming digitalLEARNINGINDIA2008 conference in New Delhi. Hope we can together keep up the dynamic flow of knowledge in higher education.

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

Printed at Vinayak Print Media E-53, Sector 7, Noida, U.P. and published from 710 Vasto Mahagun Manor, F-30, Sector-50, Noida, U.P. Editor: Ravi Gupta

© Elets Technomedia Pvt. Ltd.

June 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in

Ushering in an Information Century

India's Largest ICT Event 29 - 31 July 2008 Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

Witness an Inspired India at eINDIA2008, the largest ICT event of the country and join the global movement for ICT and Development.

Organisers

Co-Organisers

www.eINDIA.net.in Supporting Partners

速

knowledge for change

Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications & IT Government of India

Ministry of Human Resource Development Government of India

UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development The World Bank e-Development Thematic Group

ory t s er

c ov

Harnessing Growth An Overview of India’s Higher Education

India’s emergence as one of the fastest growing economies on the globe, with the possibility of a double digit growth rate, poses a critical challenge of its preparedness to capitalise on opportunities on the horizon for its massive and growing workforce. More importantly, is the country looking towards creating new ways to harvest this promise of growth through appropriate educational and training infrastructure. In this overview we will look at the emerging prospects, the current status of India’s higher education system, growing role of private institutions and challenges to emerging as a knowledge economy.

June 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in

ICT and higher education The revolution in ICT has been the main stay of globalisation of markets and knowledge systems. Availability of internet based services and communications has allowed distances and barriers to be breached in realtime and that too at lower costs than ever imaginable.

Internet technology has found two broad applications in higher education or university system. First is its use in creating seamless administrative systems and interfaces, like online admission forms, status tracking, availability of results, course schedule etc. In some cases, depending on how tech savvy faculty members are, online submission of assignments are also being done.

The second application, which is significant in the Indian context, has been in changing the very manner in which education is delivered as a process and also as learning experience.

It has taken higher education away from the confines of classrooms, libraries and individual lecture sessions.

Availability of online courses have allowed students and teachers from different parts of the world to converge.

Online universities do not require physical infrastructure and thus have facilitated greater accessibility to education as a student need not commute or live on campus.

There are over 221 universities, 39 Deemed universities plus seven open universities in India. Out of 9703 colleges, 550 are engineering and technical colleges, 655 medical and 600 management institutions backgrounds. Acquiring specialised degrees is today seen as a sure means of creating possibilities of better jobs, as mid-life career changes become more frequent.

Online education holds tremendous potential for India’s massive population, but any grand plans for this depend heavily on reliable high-speed Internet coverage. The concept of e-education, especially at higher levels, is just beginning to be viewed seriously.

Higher education system on threshold of change The growth of higher education in India in the past 60 years has been a phenomenal story. The country’s technical and medical institutions can boast of powering the global IT industry and becoming a mainstay of health sector in several developed countries particularly in the United Kingdom.

The growth can be ascertained from the fact that starting with only 263,000 students in all disciplines in 750 colleges affiliated to 30 universities in 1950, the numbers have grown to 11 million students Plan and non-plan budgeted expenditure for education by in 17,000 Degree the government of India in select sectors (INR billion) colleges affiliated to 230 universities and non-affiliated university-level institutions in 2005.

Flexibility offered by online courses has brought in a new range of students, in terms of social and professional

According to NASSCOM, India had a total of 650,000 IT professionals in 2002 and by February 2005, they rose to 813,500.

Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 6 June 2008

According to Brainbench Inc., India ranked behind the US in the number of certified software professionals with 145,517 against 194,211. India produces 400,000 engineers a year compared to 60,000 by US. In addition to this there are about 10 million students in over 6500 in vocational institutions. The enrollment is growing at the rate of 5.1 % per year.

This also presents a glaring contrast by the way of massive illiteracy that still persists in our country. Over the years, rigid policies and red tape have compromised the quality of higher education, and in some cases marketability, as they have failed to keep pace with emerging knowledge systems and technology.

Financial and infrastructural stagnation are placing massive pressure on the higher education system with explosion in enrollment due growing population.

High demand from primary and secondary education has led to the deterioration in the financial support provided by the government.

Open University System

The sheer geographical expanse and a large population have made India look at open university for a long time now as a viable means of reaching out hundreds and thousands of people outside the mainstream university system. Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has been a pioneer in the field and has over 11,87,100 students on its rolls. Currently there are more than seven open universities in India offering over 500 courses.

Modern communication technology

National Mission for Education through ICT Recently, decks were cleared for one of the most ambitious policy indications towards a national outlook and plan for integration of ICT in higher education, mooted by Ministry of Human Resource and Development a year ago, with the Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) agreeing to provide the technological support to the programme.

A National Mission for Education through ICT had been proposed by Human Resource Minister Arjun Singh. Under this plan all institutions of higher learning would be networked through broadband connectivity.

A provision of INR 502 crore had been made for the Mission and 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.

The student is now the customer or client. With globalisation, Universities are spreading their reach beyond geographical and political borders.

The British, Australian and American Universities are setting up campuses in other countries, realising that they can examine many more students than they can teach.

can be harnessed to effectively provide education through this medium. A distance education Council has been set up and a commonpool of programmes is available for sharing.

Open Universities can be highly cost effective as the cost of teaching through distance education comes down to a third compared to the traditional system.

They also maintain a close relationship with the industry and is specially helpful to those who cannot afford a regular university degree.

Growing role of private institutions

Since the late 1990s the higher education market is growing by 7 % a year.

With the growing demand for higher education and the need for aligning of content with the newer skill demands, the stage is set for private educational systems to come of age and assume much greater role than ever.

It will not be too ambitious to say that the growth in higher education sector itself is being propelled through private and unaided colleges or self-financing institutions. Many universities have now granted recognition or affiliation to unaided colleges and are also initiating self-financing courses in government and aided colleges. According to one estimate, close to 50 % of the higher education in India is imparted through private institutions, mostly unaided.

Privatisation of education has also brought in a sea change in the way education is viewed. From being seen as service delivery, it has now become a quality product. Universities are actively pursuing students, especially foreign institutions, using a wide variety of strategies to market their courses.

Hence many of them are collaborating with other institutions or franchisees to teach their courses under their brand name without getting involved in the direct business of imparting the education.

Moment of reckoning for India India, with a critical mass of skilled English-speaking knowledge workers, a functioning democracy and a massive domestic market, has many of the key ingredients for seizing the opportunity for making a transition to a knowledge economy. ‘India has a dynamic private sector, institutions of a free market economy, a well-developed financial sector, and a broad and diversified science and technology infrastructure. In addition, the development of the ICT sector in recent years has been remarkable.

% of expenditure in University and Higher Education as per government 5 year plans

In 2000-01, of the 13,072 higher education institutions, 42% were privately owned and run catering to 37 % of students enrolled into higher education.

June 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in

Higher Education Highlights in XI Five Year Plan •

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

Eight new IITs, four in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh.

Seven new IIMs, the first one at Shillong to start functioning from 2008-09 academic session.

Three new Indian Institutes of Science Education & Research, one already functional at Mohali, work underway in Bhopal and Thiruvananthapuram.

16 Central universities in J & K, Punjab, Haryana, HP, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, MP, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat and Goa. 20 Indian Institutes of Information Technology in the Public-Private Partnership mode.

Assistance to states for setting up 370 colleges in districts where access and participation rates are lower than the national average.

Assistance to states for establishing a new polytechnic in those districts that do not have one. About 700 polytechnics to be created through PPP/Private mode.

Establishment of an Indira Gandhi National Tribal University with countrywide jurisdiction to promote study and research into tribal history, economy, society, culture, etc. and to look into tribal issues, as well as to promote education of Scheduled Tribes.

Proposal to launch a National Education Mission through ICT which will provide Broadband connectivity to all the institutions of higher learning and make available high quality e-Content. for dissemination through the connectivity to be provided under this Mission.

10

India is becoming a global provider of software services. Building on these strengths, India can harness the benefits of the knowledge revolution to improve its economic performance and boost the welfare of its people,’ reads a World Bank report titled India and the Knowledge Economy; Leveraging Strength and Opportunities (April 2005).

‘The time is very opportune for India to make its transition to the knowledge economy—an economy that creates, disseminates, and uses knowledge to enhance its growth and development.

In India, great potential exists for increasing productivity by shifting labor from low productivity and subsistence activities in agriculture, informal industry, and informal service activities to more productive modern sectors, as well as new knowledge-based activities.

In doing so, it can reduce poverty and touch every member of society.

The way ahead India is uniquely positioned to reap the benefits of its economic gains by forging policies and strategies for effective use of knowledge to increase the overall productivity of the economy and benefit its own population. Some of the main issues, which the World Bank cites for strengthening India’s education system include: 1. Efficient use of public resources in the education system, and making it

more responsive to market needs, as well as ensuring expanded access to education, 2. Enhancing the quality of primary and secondary education, 3. Ensuring consistency between the skills taught in primary and secondary education and the needs of the knowledge economy, 4. Reforming the curriculum of tertiary education institutions to include skills and competencies for the knowledge economy, 5. Improving the operating environment for higher education and coordinating a system with multiple players, 6. Embracing the contribution of the private sector in education, 7. Establishing partnerships with foreign universities, 8. Increasing university-industry partnerships to ensure consistency between research and the needs of the economy, 9. Using ICTs to meet the double goals of expanding access to and improving the quality of education, 10. Developing a framework for lifelong learning, including programs intended to meet the learning needs of all, both within and outside the school system, 11. Making effective use of distance learning technologies to expand access to and the quality of formal education and lifelong training.

June 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in

c

ory t s r ove

Teacher, ICT, and Insights www.naacindia.org

Rama Kondapalli [ramakondapalli@hotmail.com], Deputy Adviser, National Assessment and Accreditation Council, India

3.

T

he revolution triggered by Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in all walks of life, has also touched the education sector.

The Indian experience at serious adoption of the ICTs has been just a decade old, though attempts to integrate the use of computers for educational purposes on a large scale dates back to late eighties. The initial costs involved, lack of appropriate training and exposure to new technologies, attitude of the users and natural resistance to change or ‘accommodate’ the new technology has made the integration process slower than anticipated.

However of late, such a state of affairs are changing, giving place to an enhanced awareness about the potential of ICT not only for effective and systemic functioning of the institution, but also for more meaningful adoption of it for teaching learning. Though the use of ICT encompasses almost all aspects of education, the use of ICT as a learning tool has been received most attention.

Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 6 June 2008

The recent National Curriculum Framework for school education emphasises on a paradigm shift in respect of the entire process of education, calls for a shift to learner centric ways and creation of citizens capable of reflective thinking and empowered participation in national development. For this it has late ample stress on integration of ICTs in the whole process.

At present, though there has been a significant expansion of use of computers and related technologies, much is yet to be achieved. Besides, use of computers for administration, educational institutions have incorporated the use of computers to a range of institutional activities and have found it helpful in enhancing efficiency.

On the whole, at least three distinct uses of ICT are discernible in the field of education, namely: 1. ICTs for Information Processing – Computers and related technology 2. ICTs for Information Dissemination – Internet, Telecommunications, Mobile Phones, Radio, etc.

ICTs for Information Delivery – Multimedia, Internet, Television, Telecommunication, Radio and Computers

The past decade has thus seen efforts made by institutions at different levels.

While many institutions successfully deployed computers and related technologies, quite a few of them were also successful in effective use of these for teaching learning. In this direction, the Government of India has initiated several programmes such as the Computer Assisted Learning and Teaching (CALT) in late 1980s. Under this programme, teacher educators were provided initial training in the use of computers. Other schemes include financial support to acquire hardware, setting up of computer labs and other resource supports.

The Intel Teach Programme has been one of the earliest corporate initiatives in technology orientation to school teachers and teacher educators. The Intel Education Initiative is a large-scale, sustained commitment to accelerate education improvement for the knowledge economy.

All these efforts also aided the Universities and institutions to provide curriculum modules that enable learners and teachers to use ICTs to plan lessons, develop instructional material, develop multimedia presentations, represent numerical data graphically, create result sheets, technology-based students activities etc. However, the change in the teacher stance - emphasised by NCF, that either learner or learning can only be achieved over time and through a proactive use of technology by the teachers, necessitates the appraisal of the 11

their labs with other institutions. Most institutions tend to deploy ICTs within their curricular boundaries, and very few venture beyond the prescribed curricular limits; and they become role models for others to follow.

attempts made in the Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) and study the impact of technology integration.

Simultaneous and constant attempts are being made by various agencies, both Governmental and non-governmental, to find out the impact of the efforts made and appraise the actual impact of their inputs on the integration of ICT at the ground level. However most times the little data available on ICTs in education is unreliable and underpin policy.

Therefore it is required that the research on ICTs in education should not just be a data and information collection exercise for tabulating periodical statistical returns; but that which will enable its use to manage the system better and help in making realistic policy decisions.

The NAAC in collaboration with INTEL has made an attempt to probe into the ground realities and suggest efficacy measures for use of ICTs in education.

more than 550 TEIs. While 80% of the institutions responded, only 275 of these provided complete and meaningful information with regard to all the four aspects stated above. The data have been analysed and major trends in technology integration discerned.

Appraisal of ICT integration in TEIs

Besides the above, experiences of 20 select TEIs on ICT integration were studied in detail and recorded as Best Practices, which are being published as part of this project study. These case studies are good examples of the different kinds of efforts made by the TEIs to deploy and integrate ICTs into their systems. Based on the attempts made by these institutions, and their major thrust areas in integrating ICTs, the institutions can be grouped into two – the TEIs that have integrated ICTs within the domains of their curricular boundaries and the second are those TEIs that have gone beyond the domains of the curriculum to innovatively integrate the ICTs to create path breaking practices.

The study focused on collecting and collating information from TEIs in 10 states for which. an e-survey was conducted . The data collected pertained to institutional contexts, Technology Deployment, ICT use and extent of its integration, strategies for sustainability, overall institutional impact and suggestions from the institutions for its effective integration and use. The questionnaire structured into four sections, both quantitative and qualitative data has been sought from

It is significant that both the groups include various types of TEIs – including University Departments, IASEs, CTEs, Govt. Colleges, Govt. aided Colleges and Private Colleges, rural and urban colleges, Colleges delivering instruction in different languages/ mediums, Colleges that have ample funds to deploy ICTs and those that face severe resource crunch, Colleges that have set up and expanded their own labs and colleges that share

12

The study of “Best Practices” helped throw light on the various ways and aspects of ICT integration and how in TEIs, with variations in geographic, institutional, resources as well as a positive attitude to ICTs, have helped them in successful integration of ICTs. These point to the needed emphasis in furthering technology utilisation in TEIs and the paradigm shift in the curriculum needed in teacher education. They also point to ways and means of partnerships and collaborations with Industry and corporate interventions to strengthen the systems and facilitate processes of ICT integration in education. As stated earlier, data was collected from across TEIs in ten states of India. On the basis of the e-Survey analysis, significant findings are presented.

Access to technology Data reveal that most TEIs have computers and Internet access mostly as a part of the University curricular requirements.

• The number of computers available in the institute varies from 5 to 30.

Most TEIs have an intake of 100 students and thus gain minimum access to computers. In several TEIs, more than three students work as a group on one computer, as the computer lab is made available only during the allocated hours/ class in the time-table.

• Many of the institutions that are part of a larger network of institutions and under the administrative control of a trust or a society are seen to have better access to computer labs as they are permitted to use the labs situated in other departments or sister institutions that may be on the same campus or at a different location. Such sharing of facilities is quite common and has worked well. However, though the university departments and the single unit institutions have their own computer labs, the number of June 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in

•

ports available seems inadequate.

The dial-up connection seems to prevail in most of the institutions while very few institutions that too mainly Urban institutions have broadband connection.

Overall there is a definite improvement in provision of computers on campuses.

However, the institutions early to deploy the computers and other ICTs need to upgrade their machines / software for which they are facing the problem of funding. Though the recently established TEIs have made some provision for a separate computer lab with more number of machines and better access to computers; many of them have not taken care of providing budgets for the maintenance and up-gradation of these labs.

The overall access of technology to teachers and students is inadequate in all TEIs as either they have limited hours of access in shared computer labs or their own labs, which normally have very few computers. As students barely get time with computers, due to the above stated limitations of infrastructure and time, teacher educators hardly have time to access them. While most institutions extensively use computers for office work, very few institutions have computerised their library activities.

Thus on the whole, despite improvement

•

•

•

administrative office which widely use computers for documentation, correspondence and other purposes.

Only a few libraries are computerised and except for some IASEs and University departments, there is no online access facility.

The computerisation of book issue-return and other library administration is also extremely limited.

In the curricular area, in almost all TEIs, computer/ICTs is a part of the curriculum as it is mandatory as per the NCTE norms. However, in several universities, apart from the general computer literacy component of the curriculum, there is also an ‘optional’ course available. Only a few students opt for the optional study as either they are in advanced learning stage or do not have the prior required knowledge. The main reason for limiting this course to an optional course and only for a few students , may be due to inadequate numbers of computers in the institution.

In general, computers are used for activities like lesson planning (55%) and development of multimedia presentation (25%). Use of computers for curriculum design and development, CAL, teaching / learning, including practice teaching, material development

•

•

This highlights the fact that there is a need to seriously think differently about the entire teacher education curriculum so that technology is seen as an active learning tool rather than a support to learning which is triggered otherwise.

There is a need to wean away from the teacher centric pedagogic ways and explore appropriate newer learner centric modes which will be greatly made feasible by the integration of technology.

Challenges to technology integration •

The NAAC in collaboration with INTEL has made an attempt to probe into the ground realities and suggest efficacy measures for use of ICTs in education in respect of technology provision, staff and students of the TEIs have inadequate access to technology.

Nature of use of technology •

•

•

The use of technology is reported in two aspects of institutional functioning, viz., office functioning including administrative communications and financial transactions; and curricular activities in the TEI including the practice teaching sessions in the schools.

Within the institution, it is the

Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 6 June 2008

•

by teacher educators, research and development is extremely limited.

Very few institutions (about 18%) stated that they used it for online collaboration with other institutions and agencies.

Less than 10% of the institutions insisted on the use of computer based teaching learning during practice teaching. The number of lessons each student teacher has to prepare using technology of some kind varies from one to three lessons. The reason stated for this is the non-availability of computers

in the schools and also limited expertise and technology access available at the TEIs. It is pertinent to note that most TEIs do not insist on the use of any technology, even those that are not computer based, during teaching practice.

Teacher educators, barring a few exceptions, do not resort to computer based teaching except for the occasional use of power point presentation. Relatively progressive institutions with computer savvy teacher educators encourage students to adopt technology, but again only through verbal explication of its benefits.

•

Inadequate availability of technology: A major difficulty faced is incurring the high initial investment in establishing a computer lab and in procuring adequate number of computers. It is said to be equally hard to regularly provide for maintenance and repairs especially if the institution is in rural areas. Internet connectivity in rural geographies is still very limited both in terms of bandwidth and accessibility which makes its use limited in many institutions.

Lack of infrastructure support: Apart from suitable physical infrastructure , Irregular power supply, internet access, adequate computers, power backup, suitable configuration, suitable work place in the labs, etc. and the cost of software needed to support the various operational needs and access to information still are issues 13

•

•

•

•

of concern and tumbling blocks in effective use of ICTs by the TEIs. Lack of orientation of teacher educators about technology integration: Teacher educators have knowledge of the potential of ICT in education but most of them do not have sufficient hands-on experience and exposure to ICTs. Due to lack of accessibility, they rarely resort to using it; and many may not have a real perception of what it entails. Typically, training and orientation programs have a duration of 2 to 7 days, and lack follow up or retraining opportunities which has been negative factor.

Resistance to change: Adoption of technology requires not merely the competence to use it, but a different view of the entire process and its components: learning, learners, teacher themselves, pedagogic ramifications, assessment of learning, and the entire organisation. Though some of the Teacher educators, are willing to adopt technology, most of them exhibit a natural reluctance to use it, as they may have had no exposure and hands on training in their initial training period and at subsequent teaching assignments.

Curricular revision in teacher education to situate technology integration more effectively has been an extremely slow and ad hoc process. So far, teacher education has barely managed to accommodate a suitable course on computers in response to the requirements of the NCTE other than basic computer literacy component. Very few TEIs developed innovative practices in the use of ICTs beyond the computer literacy component.

There is hardly any liaison between the TEIs and schools, especially with relation to technology. Their curricula and pedagogies are very different from each other and do not align in any way.

While many TEIs have only partial access to the computers they share, there is a need for better coordination with the other departments and to 14

streamline ways of providing more computer hours to students and teacher educators. Teacher educators need to be oriented to the appropriate use of computers. Many teachers use the downloaded material in place of self evolved lecture notes and presentations.

To enhance meaningfulness of the process teachers should be given more training on evolving interactive content and preparing presentations for use in the classroom situations and share them across the community.

Perceived impact of ICT in TEIs Trying to assess which ICTs and practices made a good impact on the quality of the educational provision and learning, it is observed that the inter-relationships of factors such as selection and deployment of appropriate and updated technologies based on the need analysis and resource capacities is important and more so the leadership and decision making makes a real difference. The administrative dimension is a major factor accounting for differences in the level of ICT integration , use and deployment within and among institutions in different states and universities. It is significant to note that in general, ICT is perceived only as a support. There is thus an immediate need to focus efforts on the immense possibilities of learner centric learning situations through appropriate use of ICT; and to innovate and research on various teaching learning issues which would be a concrete step towards effective and meaningful technology integration.

Overview and future directions The study reiterates the common observation that ICT and computers have come to stay in teacher education institutions. The concern is that technology has not yet become an integral part of their functioning.

At best, they have supplemented the curriculum concerns of TE with an ‘as is’ stance. That is to say, the ‘conventional’ curricular framework with all its components is maintained with the addition of ICT component into it. Introducing a potent technology

like ICT requires a serious re-look at the curriculum and points to a need to reformulate its aspects, which seems to be missing.

If we have to be successful in integration of ICTs in education : 1. Support for rural educational institutions on issues of connectivity, maintenance , deployment and constant power supply should be ensured.

2. Training and support to teachers on effective use of ICTs for TeachingLearning need to be given.

3. Need to contain the overcrowding of curriculum and advice institutions on the best ways to integrate ICTs within the core subjects more aggressively.

4. Share resources to and of the community specifically those provided by the corporate and various aid agencies.

5. Identify activities which would considerably leverage ICTs to address significant educational issues but are manageable within the available resources.

6. Identify ways and means to tackle the problems confronted in recruiting and retaining qualified and trained teachers.

7. Identify, document and disseminate information on successes and failures in ICT use and integration in education to as many as possible.

8. Develop a system of providing incentives to support genuine skills development , and innovations in use of ICTs .

9. Provide additional resources rather than redirecting resources allocated for other items.

If we have to improve our educational processes and ensure excellence and achieve recognised and measurable learning outcomes we need to make a difference – a difference in relation to many issues where the teachers need to act and perform.

Presently Deputy Adviser with National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), Dr Rama Kondapalli is also involved in consultancy services and training for faculty development and quality improvement projects in the field of education.

June 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in

ry o t er s

c ov

Life-Long, Wide, and Deep

ILLL Fostering 3D Learning

F

rom a modest beginning with three colleges, two faculties and 750 students, Delhi University has now acquired the stature of being the largest central University in India with 79 colleges, 14 faculties and an expansive student body of 3,70,000 students. To maintain its high standards in teaching and research, the University is constantly involved in undertaking several new initiatives to enhance the quality of content and its delivery.

However, this endeavour is strewn with several challenges such as designing of courses, development of learning material, learner centric delivery of the material, setting up advanced laboratories for science courses, and continuous evaluation, upgradation and modernisation of syllabi. With an aim to tackle some of these challenges and encourage a dynamic and collaborative learning environment, the Institute of Lifelong Learning (ILLL) was setup in 2007.

The major goals of ILLL are development of e-Learning material (print, multi-media and web based), faculty development, creating innovative delivery methods like Self Instructional Mode (SIM) and Distance Learning in order to encourage self reliance among students, and most importantly, encourage research which seems to be flagging in our country. The institute also plans to conduct research in curricula development.

The University also has a Centre for Professional Development in Higher Education (CPDHE), which undertakes orientation programmes and refresher courses for fresh university teachers. The CPDHE is being merged with ILLL. Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 6 June 2008

In conversation with Digital Learning, Dr Ashok Kumar Bakshi, Director, Institute of Live Long Learning, Delhi University Dr Ashok K Bakhshi is the Director of the ILLL as well as CPDHE. A professor of Physical Chemistry in the University, he holds the Sir Shankar Lal Chair of Chemistry since 1996. A double gold medalist, he has authored, individually and in partnerships, more than 100 research and

education articles, three books and one patent.

Dr Bakhshi is the recipient of several awards and academic honours. He is also on the editorial boards of reputed scientific journals and has been associated with various academic bodies like CBSE, NCERT, CSIR, UGC, etc.

15

How did the concept of ILLL evolve and what are the main objectives?

The concept of Lifelong Learning is very vast. It is three-dimensional – life long, wide and deep in nature – and cannot be quantified or captured. The term implies that it is never too soon or too late to learn; one should always be open to new ideas and learning. It is a form of pedagogy and involves digital learning, e-Learning, distance learning, etc.

The concept was created in 2007 with the following objectives in mind • Development of e-Learning material • Backup material for classroom teaching • Development and designing of courses for professional development of faculty • Continuous evaluation, upgradation and modernisation of syllabi and setting up of advanced laboratories for different courses How is the institute achieving the objective of development of e-Learning material ?

The development of e-Learning material will be done in two stages - one by producing reading material in print form; and second, creating e-Learning material to be uploaded on the ILLL portal. Apart from the text, web links, video snippets, virtual labs, etc. will also be included. Education comes in two forms - one is formal learning through the traditional classroom model and the second is open learning.

We are trying to develop material for both the models. In DU, Open Learning is currently limited to humanities and arts subjects and we are involved in the task of preparing instruction material in a student-friendly simplistic language.

for which we are developing course material for B.Ed and B.El.Ed courses in collaboration with the Central Institute of Education. Knowledge of ICT technologies is crucial in providing the much needed impetus for e-learning in the country.

We believe e-Learning is going to alter the face of higher education in the coming years. Preparing for e-Learning is, therefore, preparing for future What are the steps taken in order to enhance the quality of teachers?

Our faculty development programme focuses on the need to constantly update the teachers.

There are many UGC sponsored refresher and orientation courses for the purpose. ILLL is also working on starting faculty development programmes on specialised topics in various disciplines. A teacher undergoing the development programme can choose the topic of his/her discipline. The course content includes current features as well as new developments in the subjects. Our initial plan is to cover every teacher once in four years. Later on, the frequency of the training will be increased.

How does this content enhance learning for students?

Syllabi throughout the colleges are uniform, but our content comprising the reading and e-learning material proves to be a value addition for the students.

For example, if a teacher is taking a class on Thermo-dynamics, the students can access our portal and gather more information on the topic. So here, we are supplementing the traditional form of learning, a process that is known as Blended Learning.

Does this material go beyond the university level? What other courses have been introduced?

Right now we are focussed on producing e-learning material for the university courses. We are also introducing some new courses like Foundations of Banking in collaboration with ICICI Bank, the course content for which will be designed by them. We also have other courses like English Language Proficiency, which is a short term course designed to help those who are weak in English. Other courses that have been proposed are in Academic Administration, Information Literacy and Research Methodologies.

As we emphasise on the teaching and learning element, the development of e-learning material is our central focus.

Since a teacher is always limited by time constraints, e-learning content

We believe e-Learning is going to alter the face of higher education in the coming years. Preparing for elearning is, therefore , preparing for future.

What are the other initiatives that have been introduced?

There is also a plan to train teachers in ICT at the undergraduate level 16

June 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in

can supplement the traditional mode of teaching, with additional features.

How does ILLL develop the content?

What kind of technology is required for the purpose?

Our e-learning content is being developed in two stages. We are developing various programmes and reading material from our syllabi prepared by experts for the students.

This creates uniformity and is like a benchmark for the university students as well as faculty members. The second step would be to enhance this reading material through ICT. We add audio-visual and other such productive features, lending the course vitality and value addition. In order to disseminate such rich content we need a higher bandwidth.

A similar project called Sakshat has been undertaken by the Ministry of Human Resource Management, Government of India, with which I am associated as the Chairman of the Content Advisory Committee for Chemistry. Sakshat for the +2 level takes NCERT text books as the base for further supplementing the course.

We are also working on developing laboratory manuals for experiments in science courses. This manual will be supplemented by live recording of experiments which will be uploaded on the ILLL portal.

When will this project be accomplished?

It is going to be a gradual process. But we hope to introduce the content for this year’s batch of first year students.

Is this content accessible to the public? What are the challenges?

Our portal has been inaugurated but it is not in the public domain yet. Once the material has been uploaded, we will provide connectivity to all the colleges so that students can make ample use of this facility. There are technical challenges involved in providing this kind of connectivity, but we will have to tackle them.

One reason why research suffers in our Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 6 June 2008

country is because of lack of clarity of content, and that is what ILLL strives to achieve and enhance. The course material in classes 11 and 12 are extremely heavy for a fresh entrant in the field, resulting in very few students opting for pure science subjects later.

This affects future research and this is one reason our country is lagging in research. The exam oriented approach needs to be modified by making the syllabi light to give students more time to grasp it thoroughly.

What are the challenges faced by teachers?

Faculty development is a crucial element in ILLL. The competency of the teacher needs to be regularly upgraded throughout his or her professional

quality of teaching improves, the quality of research will automatically improve.

Giving recognition to teaching could be a very crucial motivational factor for teachers to engage in research and innovation in teaching.

What new innovations have been introduced at ILLL? We are going to introduce a scheme where lectures of a competent teacher can be taken across colleges. Once a competent teacher is identified, his or her lectures can be recorded and uploaded for students across the University, which is the main aim of e-learning.

There should also be a proper coordination between school education

DU launches e-Learning in 10 subjects Delhi University is set to supplement classroom teaching with e-Learning in the next academic session. Initially lessons for first year students in 10 popular subjects will be uploaded on the DU website www.du.ac.in.

Launched with an initial budget of INR one crore, the project has 300 teachers from various DU colleges working on it. The ten subjects being uploaded include Life Sciences, Physics, Chemistry, Math, History, English, Commerce, Hindi, Economics and Electronics. To make syllabi interesting, video snippets, flash animation, simulation of experiments and graphs will also be included apart from the text.

career. The present day economy is a knowledge economy and things are changing constantly. Therefore, teaching needs to be dynamic and teachers should update themselves with the latest developments. The main aim is to introduce dynamism and an urge to learn, not invoke unhealthy competition or pressure.

How does one encourage teachers?

From my experience as a teacher, I can say one way to foster encouragement among teachers is for the Government to recognize the importance of teaching. In my opinion there is a lot of emphasis on research and there are several awards for excellence in research. However, there are no government recognised awards for excellence in teaching. As a matter of fact, there is hardly any mechanism to evaluate the quality of teaching being imparted to students. One cannot be oblivious of the fact that once the

and higher education. The college should pick up from where the school has left, rather than being repetitive.

What do you think is the main problem with our Indian education system?

The main problem that faces our students, especially when they enter the field of higher education, is the lack of ability to implement what they have learnt in school. In school they might have acquired 95%, but when they go to IIT or abroad, they fare poorly because they are not taught to think out of the box or beyond the syllabi. This needs to be dealt with and one way to do it could be to orient students to do extra research and enhance their understanding. This is possible through e-learning, which also allows students to provide their own inputs thus encouraging thinking, creativity and the ability to go beyond the syllabi.

17

News india Admission open at GGSIPU Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU) announced the beginning of the admission process for its continuing education programme for working professionals. This year, the university has also started two fresh programmes, with an intake of 15 students each, in M. Tech (Nano-Science and Technology) and M. Sc (Biodiversity and Conservation).

In its weekends’ programmes, the university also offers eight programmes, including several MBA programmes with many streams of specialisations.

The university was recently allowed by the Distance Education Council to offer academic programmes through the distance education mode.

Ten new universities for Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu is all set to witness a major boom in higher education with ten universities, including a ‘World Class University’, to be set up by both State and Central governments during the coming academic year.

Replying to the debate on the demands for grants for higher education in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, State Higher Education Minister K Ponmudi said the Centre had announced that a world class university would come up at Coimbatore and a central university at Tiruvarur. The state will also get a deemed university, ‘Indian Institute of Management’.

Presidency college and Queen Mary’s college, two oldest colleges in the city, Government Arts college, Kumbakonam, where mathematical 18

genius late Ramanujan studied, P S G Engineering College Thiyagaryar Engineering college, Madurai and Government Arts college, Coimbatore would be converted into unitary universities. A separate university for teachers’ training would also be set up in the state. With this, the total number of universities in the state would go up to 24.

Children to no longer ‘fail’ exams in TN No student of arts, science and engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu will ‘fail’ in an examination from the coming academic year 2008-09. In a novel scheme, the Tamil Nadu government has decided to do away with recording ‘F’ (Fail) against any subject in mark statements, a move in order to tackle the growing number of student suicides.

Instead it will be replaced with the letters ‘RA’ (Reappearance) suggesting that the candidate will have to reappear for an examination in that particular paper. The Psychological Counsellors Association has agreed to counsel students free of cost. Consequently, counselling will be held for college students at the beginning of an academic year and every three months thereafter.

Free coaching for JNU aspirants

interact with the other students present in the class.

Student friendly education loan introduced for higher studies The Central Government has introduced a loan scheme to the students pursuing higher studies. The students, who avail this facility, need not pay the interest till they complete their studies. The interest will be borne by the Central Government.

The Human Resources Development Ministry has said that this scheme will be introduced from the academic year to begin in the month of July this year.

In order to pay the interest to the Banks on the loan of the students, the Central Government has come forward to earmark a grant of INR 4000 crore.

The Union Finance Ministry has approved the proposal of paying interest on educational loans. The Central Government will pay the interest on the loan of the student till six months after completion of studies. The student will have to clear only the loan amount.

For the education loan the banks at present are collecting an interest of 15% to 18%. The Central Government has already had talks with the banks and financial organisations. It is also stated that the Centre will not give any guarantee for the loans but will only take the responsibility of paying the interest.

DU to get Tactile Tiles to help the visually impaired Delhi University is working towards constructing straight paths and erecting appropriate signage boards for making the campus more disabled-friendly for its differently-abled teachers and students.

Students’ Union (JNUSU) will organise free coaching classes for JNU aspirants planning to take their entrance exams this year.

The coaching classes are conducted to prepare students for what they are going to face in the entrance test. These classes are especially designed for students coming from deprived backgrounds.

It is a good experience for students belonging to different backgrounds to

The Equal Opportunities Cell (EOC) of Delhi University set up for the welfare of students belonging to categories of Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and disabled persons is exploring new areas to make the University more accessible to physically challenged students.

Sign boards informing facilities are being put up in the campus, University procuring tactile tiles to guide the June 2008 | www.digitalLearninG.in

World Bank approves USD 600 million credit for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan The World Bank has approved a USD 600 million credit to support India’s ongoing Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, a nationwide centrally sponsored education programme designed to provide children aged 6 to 14 with quality education. The “Second Elementary Education Project” aims to improve quality and access to this critical social service.

The project also aims to promote equity by enabling hard-to-reach children to attend school, create better learning conditions for all children and provide capacity building and academic support to state and sub-state education structures. In the area of oversight, the project will help monitor learning outcomes and support research and evaluation of quality initiatives.

visually impaired, low-floor bus with a ramp to be brought on the campus.

Tech and M Tech courses be raised from INR 25,000 to INR 50,000 per annum.

Just as the Delhi metro stations in the Capital are fitted with tactile tiles, the University too will procure them to guide the visually impaired persons as they walk.

Though the government had assured that there would be adequate scholarships for the weaker sections, especially at the post graduate level, it appears that the total amount allocated for scholarships has not been increased. The committee said a hike was necessary for IITs to cope with the rising cost of education and running the Institutes, a view also shared by the ministry.

Aligarh Muslim University to accredit madrassas In an attempt to open up mainstream higher education in India to madrassa students, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) decided to accredit several Islamic seminaries across the country. The effort will begin with Uttar Pradesh, where AMU is located and which has over 1,900 madrassas recognised by the state Madrassa Education Board.

Around 170,000 students study in these seminaries - the figure being highest among all Indian states. The committee will review the syllabi of madrassas and recommend changes in the education system. It has been directed to expedite its effort in Uttar Pradesh. At present, there are only about 42 AMU-accredited madrassas in different states, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.The state Madrassa Education Board has welcomed the move by AMU, but said a separate university should be set up to for their students due to their high numbers.

Government approves doubling of IIT fees The government approved doubling of fees in the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). The HRD Ministry approved the recommendation of the CNR Rao Committee that the fee for B Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 6 June 2008

The new fees structure would be effective from the new academic session and would be applicable to all IITs, including the three new one being set up in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan.

Government approves National Means-cum-Merit scholarship In a bid to arrest dropouts among poor but meritorious students in the secondary stage, Government approved a scholarship scheme at an expense of over INR 3,000 crore.

A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh agreed to implement the Centrally-sponsored National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship during the 11th Plan. Each year, at least one lakh scholarships of INR 6,000 per annum would be awarded to students at the Class IX level till Class XII according to Finance Minister P Chidambaram.

Education loans to be simplified In a move to simplify education loan formalities, six to seven banks in the

country would provide “Online loan application” facility from this academic year, according to Finance Minister P Chidambaram.

The scholarship for pursuing school education after the eighth standard, which was planned for one lakh students for this year, would be extended to two lakh students next year. The scheme was being introduced for the best and meritorious students who could not pursue their education. The INR 6000 per year scholarship scheme for poor meritorious students was decided during the cabinet meeting held recently.

A separate pre-matric scholarship for the wards of those engaged in “menial jobs” to pursue higher education or ITI or diploma courses was also being implemented.

‘Scheduled Caste meritorious students’ scholarship scheme has been extended to 15,370 students,while the financial assistance for the minorities to pursue their education would benefit 20,000 students. The government also planned to encourage students to pursue pure science and research activities and give special incentives for them.

19

India's Largest ICT Event

29-31 July 2008 Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

Its How We Deliver The High Definition ICT And Education Experience

Alain Madelin President, Global Digital Solidarity Fund

D. Purandeswari Minister of State for Higher Education, MHRD, Goernment of India Dr. K Kasturirangan, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha)

Subhash C Khuntia Jt. Secretary, Dept. of School Education and Literacy, MHRD, Govt. of India

KEY SPEAKERS

R Chandrashekhar, Additional Secretary, DIT, Ministry of Communications and IT, Govt of India

Terry Culver Executive Director Global Nomads Group

Deepak Pental, Vice Chancellor, Delhi University

M C Pant, Chairman, National Institute of Open Schooling

Ashish Garg, Country Programme Director- India, GeSCI

Dr V S Ramamurthy, Chairman, Board of Governers, IIT Delhi

N Ravi Shankar, Joint Secretary, E-Learning Group, Ministry of Communications & Information Technology, Department of Information Technology

Dr R Sreedher, Director, Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA)

Randeep Kaur, Learning Advisor, Plan India

REGISTER NOW www.eINDIA.net.in/digitalLEARNING

Dr Rajashekharan Pillai, Vice Chancellor, Indira Gandhi Open University

c

ory t s r ove

B R Ambedkar Open University

Bringing Education to Student’s Doorstep B R Ambedkar Open University was the first open university to be set up in India. Initially known as Andhra Pradesh Open University, its establishment was an affirmative action on the part of the state government for providing opportunities of higher education to all sections of society. In 1983, the university stated functioning with a modest enrolment of 6,321 students and 22 study centres. Over the years, it has grown in stature and now has student strength of 1,56,806 and 200 study centres.

Prof O R Reddy, who took over as the Vice Chancellor of the university in November 2007, brings with him over 27 years of distinguished teaching experience. Holding a PhD in Special education, he has held academic positions such as Chairman, Board of Studies (PG) and Dean, Faculty of Education at Andhra University. Prof Reddy has also served on several expert committees like Recurring-Organisation of B.Ed curriculum in Andhra Pradesh under the aegis of APSCHE, External Evaluation Committee of the Janasala programmes under the central Ministry of Human Resource Development.

Digital Learning interviews Prof Reddy on BRAOU’s contribution in the field of higher education.

How is the BRAOU motto ‘Education at your doorstep’ being translated into reality?

Unlike formal institutions which require students to regularly attend classes at the college/university, open university offers a learner flexibility in terms of studying from home. Thus education is reached to the doorstep. BRAOU is also unique as it offers higher education opportunities to socially disadvantaged and geographically isolated sections of society. The university lays special focus on potential students like housewives, farmers, skilled and unskilled labourers, jawans, etc who are otherwise unable to acquire new skills and higher qualifications. And the figures speak for themselves. In the academic year 198384, the student strength of the university was 6,321. In 2007-08 the student strength reached 1,56,806.

What steps have been taken by the university to integrate ICT in its education framework?

BRAOU is one of the first open Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 6 June 2008

learning institutions to make use of interactive satellite-based technologies for providing support to its students. In 1999, the university started telecasting lessons through the Doordarshan regional channels. On Sundays, we also conduct interactive teleconferencing on the regional channels for our students.

We also have airtime on the radio network through which we impart lessons and radio phone-in programmes for students.

We have integrated ICT in our administrative services as well. Students can avail of online banking to pay admission and other fees. The exam schedules are prepared on computerised Date Sheets and a student data base is also prepared. Students have easy access to university information through the LAN network all throughout the year.

Since separate units were created for student services and examination branches, there is increased accuracy and speed in the processing of admission and examination data.

How does BRAOU ensure equal access to socially disadvantaged groups, women and persons with disabilities?

To meet the changing individual and social needs of all sections of society, BRAOU strives to provide education to all sections of society through its wide network of 200 study centres spread over the entire state. Scholarships are extended to eligible students as per norms. The university has a significant contribution in liberalising higher education in the state by ensuring equal access to those communities for which education was hitherto inaccessible.

A huge majority of learners from the Backward Castes (37.46%), Scheduled Castes (22%) Scheduled Tribes (7.37%) and women (34.22%) have been brought into the mainstream through education.

The university has brought in a silent revolution in the last twenty five years.

Current enrollment of students with disability in our university is 3227 at the undergraduate level and 89 at the postgraduate level. We are planning to 21

supply materials for students with visual impairment in Braille.

Apart from this BRAOU has signed an agreement with the Rehabilitation Council of India to offer B.Ed (Special Education) programme from this academic year.

Of the 200 study centres of the university, seven are exclusively for women. Why? BRAOU recognises that women have always been denied opportunities for education due to social and cultural restrictions. Therefore, exclusive centres have been set up for women to provide them equal educational opportunities. It also helps counter the notion that women cannot aspire for higher education. Apart from functioning as study centres, these also give special care and attention to their needs by offering women counselling and opportunities to overcome individual inhibitions.

What role does GRADE play in curriculum designing and improving quality of teaching?

The G. Ram Reddy Academy of Research in Distance Education (GRADE) was set up in 2001 to develop systemic research in Open and Distance Learning (ODL). Studies in open and distance learning have shown that research in system development can be used for strengthening and streamlining

Since 1998, 1000 prisoners have enrolled for undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Education has a positive impact on life-term prisoners and help them develop a purpose in life. Some of them become counsellors and teach other inmates 22

A huge majority of learners from the Backward Castes (37.46%), Scheduled Castes (22%) Scheduled Tribes (7.37%) and women (34.22%) have been brought into the mainstream through education the system and practices. Another main thrust of GRADE is human capital formation for ODL. The development and effectiveness of the ODL system depends on quality assurance processes in place in its various subsystems. The Quality Assurance Cell was therefore established as a nodal agency to promote quality assurance.

GRADE has identified important areas in the functioning of ODL and has developed performance indicators and performance ensuring measures for the same. These performance indicators are published as a series for information dissemination to benefit various functionaries in this system. The academy also organises periodic interactive workshops on research methodology in distance education.

What has BRAOU’s experience been vis-a-vis its initiatives for prisoners?

Through its study centres for prisoners, BRAOU is serving the cause of social rehabilitation by taking education to the doorstep of the prisons. Since 1998, 1000 prisoners have enrolled for undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Education has a positive impact on life-term prisoners and help them develop a purpose in life. Some

of them become counsellors and teach other inmates.

In March this year, 37 prisoners from the central prisons of curlapally, Rajahmundry and Warangal received their degree and diploma certificates in a convocation ceremony.

Plans are also underway to widen the university’s reach by setting up more study centres in district level jails too.

In your view how does short-term vocational and certificate courses help further the cause of higher education?

Being need based and related to livelihood skills, the vocational and certificate courses have a direct correlation to higher education. Students can pursue these courses as and when they feel the need to complement their livelihood skills.

How does your university plan to pursue the 11th Five Year Plan target for higher education?

We have initiated action for extending the outreach of BRAOU by offering new programmes and courses with a vocational focus. There are also plans to set establish 25-30 study centres, especially in those areas where the enrollment rate is minimally low.

We are also tying up with Andhra Pradesh Open School to carry out collaborative programmes. This will give a thrust to vertical mobility into the University through students who desire to pursue higher education after passing out of the open school.

How does BRAOU plan to initiate higher education among tribals?

At present, the higher education percentage in tribal areas is 7.4 %. The university is exploring means to improve it by opening more centres in areas where Integrated Tribal Development Agencies are functoning.

We also seek to enter into collaborative arrangements with continuing education centres to offer short-term vocational courses in tribal areas.

June 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in

Amity University ry o t er s

c ov

Responding to Growing Demand of Trained Work Force The Ritnand Balved Education Foundation started its foray into education with the Amity International School in 1991.

Soon it branched into higher education to set up Amity University, the country’s first private university.

Amity University now serves over 50,000 students across 22 campuses spread all over India and has a faculty of over 2500 members. It has also established over INR 50 crore worth scholarships and fellowships, which has benefitted over thousands of students.

Amity has always been at the forefront of technology and education and has launched programmes like cyber laws, bio-informatics and nano-technology among other professional courses.

Dr Raj Singh, Pro Vice Chancellor, Amity University shares some valuable insights on the state of higher education in India.

What new initiatives have been undertaken by Amity University to cater to the current demands of job market?

Unlike traditional programmes taught by government universities, Amity University provides professional programmes in higher education.

Globalisation and privatisation have opened up new avenues and numerous new jobs for which we require new specialized courses and training. For example, our MBA courses are not only into functional specialisation, but also sectoral like the Insurance, Telecom, Biotechnology, Rural Marketing and Retail Management.

We are the first university in India to have a unique programme in urban agriculture and food business. The programme focuses on bio-technology and soil systems. You will find 30 cropping sequences in our organic farm which has yielded very good results.

This assumes a lot of relevance in the Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 6 June 2008

background of global food shortage.

Amity has also been pro-active in the field of research in science and technology. An Institute of Nano Technology and Research was set up launching the first M Tech programme in the field. Since the course requires a lot of research work, we have partnership with companies having best labs.

We have also got sponsorships from government and multinational agencies for around 30 projects.

Please shed some light on collaborative research with other agencies. In what ways have students benefitted from it?

Currently, projects to the tune of INR 20 crore are underway, which are sponsored by the Departments of Biotechnology, Science and Technology, DRDO, and other multinational agencies. Some are exclusively under our faculty members, while others are in joint collaboration with these agencies. In the initial phase,

a project report is prepared by the faculty and submitted to the concerned department. Then comes the evaluation phase where there is discussion and debate. If the project gets approved funds are released, which is used for funding equipments for research, hiring researchers, etc. Once the project is over these facilities remain with the institution. So its a win-win situation for us. Moreover, involvement of faculty members in research means that students naturally get drawn into it. This is a unique way of involving potential students into research.

Tell us about the fellowships awarded by the university.

In order to give a thrust to research, our foundation has instituted 100 fellowships worth INR 4 crore for research scholars. We also have separate scholarship schemes to encourage meritorious students from different disciplines. These scholarships broadly 23

fall under following categories: • A student who does exceedingly well during admission process is given 50-100 % admission fee waiver.

• Students who perform well in their study programme are offered meritbased scholarships.

• Merit-cum-means scholarship are given to support students from economically weaker sections.

• There is also a scholarship to recognise extraordinary performance in a field, like sports or science and technology, etc. For example, we have given 75% fee waiver for one of our girl students who represented India at NASA. We also plan to fund her further studies.

Amity is the only institution in the country to have an Academic Staff college where we undertake staff development activities. We believe quality education comes with development of faculty What is your response to growing criticism of privatisation of education?

Globalisation and opening up of the economy has led to an increase in the demand for trained workforce, but the government universities have not been able to respond to this adequately. On the other hand, private educational institutions have played a phenomenal role in rising up to the needs of the emerging job market. In my view, the role of private educational institutions will grow because they are dynamic and have faster decision making processes as compared with government universities.

In the same way, the entry of foreign universities is imminent and cannot be wished away. But if we are to take them head on, we need to be competent.

Today, India is a net importer of higher education. More than two lakh students go to the US and the UK. The US earns more foreign exchange in education than in IT. This is not a good situation. India was once known the world over as a 24

centre for higher education. Unless we get that glory back, India will continue to be an importer of education. There is a heavy demand for education here. For example, out of the 1.5 lakh MBAs and four lakh engineers who pass out every year, not more than 50% are employed.

So the demand for quality education is very high and needs focus.

Please elaborate on the steps taken

by Amity towards ensuring quality education.

Lot of initiatives are under way in enhancing the quality of education. Ours is the only campus in the country to be certified in the environment system. We have also been certified with the ISO 9000-14001 Quality Award by AQSR, USA. This certification provides a uniform framework where we realign all our systems and that definitely helps in imparting quality education.

We also have a specialised department for quality assurance and enhancement and is headed by a senior academician.

Apart from UGC, Amity is the only institution in the country to have an Academic Staff college where we undertake staff development activities.

We believe quality education comes with development of faculty. So we train potential students at the institutional level, who then take up faculty positions at Amity.

Tell us about the role of private partnerships in curriculum enhancement.

When you look at any product, there is a core to it. Next is the knowledge augmented product. During the two year course, can the institution provide you with opportunities that will enhance and augment your qualifications? Amity provides its students with additional courses, either free or at nominal cost, as optional courses. For example, IT students can avail of a networking programme through the university’s tie-up with IT companies and also with EMC2 which is into data storage technology.

What initiatives have been taken by Amity for giving a thrust to ICT? EMC2 also conducts training

programme for the faculty. Currently 25 faculty members from Amity and 15 from other institutions in the country are being given training. Seventy Amity students are also a part of the training.

We have also teamed up with the British Standards Institution (BSI), which is the largest quality certification institution in the world. The BSI is offering packaged courses at very nominal cost like certification in information security management systems, food safety management system, business continuity system, etc. Apart from the students, a faculty member is also sponsored for the courses. At the end of the 40 hour course, students get a certification from the BSI. This unique initiative has received tremendous response and till now 700 students have participated.

IT giants like Oracle and Infosys have also joined hands with us, helping students become conversant with the latest technology in the market.

What other measures have been taken for integrating ICT in university functioning?

Amity strives for integrating ICT in its day-to-day affairs. The university campus is wi-fi enabled and laptops are given to all management, post graduate and IT students. This has helped generate interest in ICT and its application. The second advantage is that students can access any information at any point of time.

The second initiative is the Amity Centre for eLearning,which is implementing the Pan African eLearning Project. Under the project the university will impart training in English language to people in African countries.

We have also developed a student friendly Intranet, Amazon, where the students and parents can constantly interact with teachers and the management. They can post their requests, complaints and grievances, which are then looked into by the concerned departments. Latest news, programmes, results and even the attendance of students are put up on the intranet so that the parents can log in and gather information about their children.

June 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in

s

co

cu o f try n u

Leading the Success From Farrukhabad to Houston India born Dr. Renu Khator created history as she stepped in as the President of the University of Houston, USA, and Chancellor, UH System earlier this year. She is the first foreign-born to take charge as the president of one of North America’s largest educational institution and only the second woman to hold this prestigious seat in its history.

The story of Dr Khator is an inspiration for millions of foreign students who land up on the shores of America every year to pursue their dreams. Hailing from Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh, she came to the US after marriage to Suresh Khator, doctoral student at Purdue University.

After earning a doctorate in Political Science, she started teaching and was also involved in the university administration. In 2004, she was named provost of the USF, making her the second most powerful administrator there.

Dr Khator held the job for close to four years, during which she helped raise millions for research.

Her success made her a hot property in academic circles. In 2007, she received the offer from Houston University, which she ended up taking.

In an interview with Digital Learning, Dr Renu Khator talks about her first 100 days on the academic post as the President of the University of Houston and Chancellor of the UH system Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 6 June 2008

In her capacity as chancellor, Dr Khator oversees a system with an annual operating budget that exceeds US$1 billion and serves more than 57,000 students. The second most ethnically diverse urban research university in the country, Houston offers more than 300 undergraduate and graduate programs and awards 7,000 degrees each year.

In 2007, she and her husband were awarded the prestigious Hind Rattan (Jewel of India), given to non-resident Indians for their outstanding contributions in their field. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services included her among its 2006 Outstanding Americans by Choice awardees.

Dr Khator has also received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Purdue University’s College of Liberal Arts and the Outstanding Educator Award from the American Foundation for Greek Language and Culture for Enhancing Hellenic studies.

25

Tell us about your first hundred days as the President of the University of Houston and Chancellor of the UH system. What are your goals for the future?

The first 100 days have been absolutely fantastic. Houston as a city has been very open, welcoming and embracing.

The University of Houston has been more than what I had imagined it to be in terms of its potential and opportunities. Even before I joined the university, I had some idea of what lies ahead of the University of Houston, but I did not want to be pretentious; therefore, I invited the community to share their views about what should be the goal for the University of Houston.

I received 12,000 suggestions, leading to two major themes: (1) the University of Houston should become a top-tier research university; and (2) it should remain true to its mission of providing access and success to its students. These two are consistent with what I had thought of and these will become our primary goals.

How does the India Desk, that you have launched, intend to reach out to the Indian students on the campus?

We want Indian students to feel welcomed. Moreover, we want to make sure that they can cut through the bureaucratic red tape and get answers quickly and seamlessly. Hopefully,

India’s biggest challenge is lack of talented and qualified faculty. A total shift in paradigm - from regulatory approach to academic freedom approach - may be necessary to create a more conducive environment for talented people to go into the academia 26

Teaching and Research

Professor of Government & International Affairs, University of South Florida (1995-1997) Associate Professor of Government & International Affairs, University of South Florida (1991-1995) Visiting Fellow in the Department of Public and Social Administration, City Polytechnic of Hong Kong (August 1989-June 1990) Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of South Florida (19871991) Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of South Florida (1985-1987) by next year, the India Desk will be working fully.

According to the Congress-authored 2002 National Assessment of Educational Progress, only 10% of American college students are prepared to compete in the global economy. What are your views on it?

I tend to agree. The US Congress is aware of it and wants to expose 1 million students to other countries’ cultures by sending them to study abroad. There are other initiatives as well. We will be focusing on preparing students for the global economy at the University of Houston.

What major differences do you find between the American higher education system and the Indian system?

Both have their own strengths. The Indian system is theory-rich and more specialised while the American system is application-oriented and more comprehensive (every science and engineering student also has to take two years of liberal arts). I was fortunate to have been trained under both the systems and I appreciate them both.

Please tell us your views on privatisation of higher education

system in India. Is Public-Private Partnership a better option?

I believe that public-private partnership is the most desirable option. If the private sector (which is the primary beneficiary of graduates) joins help with the public sector, it creates a synergy that is necessary in today’s competitive environment.

What is India’s place in the global higher education scenario? What keeps India back from becoming a popular destination for higher education?

India has an enormous pent-up demand for higher education from its own population. The latest Five Year Plan, I believe, calls for 1,500 additional universities and colleges.

Its biggest challenge is lack of talented and qualified faculty. A total shift in paradigm – from regulatory approach to academic freedom approach – may be necessary to create a more conducive environment for talented people to go into the academia.

In what ways can ICTs complement the educational experience in Indian university system?

Technology is key to expanding outreach of higher education. There is no single model that can be imported or implanted. India will have to grow its own and ICTs will play a significant role in defining the most desirable model.

Higher education in India has generally neglected to address the issues concerning environment and sustainability. Please comment on it.

I think higher education has taken a theoretical approach to issues concerning environment and sustainability. Universities offer courses and training modules in both areas; however the missing element is the translational part, which is a challenge in most countries. The higher education has to be sensitive to social issues and researchers have to be willing to apply their theoretical knowledge to advance the society. Again, this requires a paradigmatic change and I would say that all countries – rich and poor – need to work in this area.

June 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in

s

co

cu o f try n u

Assessing ICT Proficiencies, Facilitating Campus Dialogue at New York City University http://www.bcc.cuny.edu/

L

earning expectations in the 21st Century are evolving. In addition to traditional subject content in disciplines taught in higher education, students are increasingly expected to demonstrate mastery of information and communications technology.

Colleges and universities are expensive.

Everyone, from government officials, to taxpayers, parents, students and employers expects evidence that the expense is worth the investment.

Beyond that, the reasons why we should care intensely about ensuring that higher education sufficiently values learning outcomes that are inclusive of proficiency in evaluating and using information and in using information and communications technology effectively are abundant.

The stakes are high. Advancing knowledge is vital to improving the quality of life in so many ways. We can easily think of examples in all the disciplines, medicine, public health, energy and environmental, social, sciences, humanities. The fate of our lives and those of generations

Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 6 June 2008

to come is impacted by the extent to which we can maximize the return on investment in improving knowledge of how to better meet basic human needs and empower individuals to realize their creative potentials in contributing to cultural legacies and enriching lives.

In the United States of America, we have recent further evidence of the critical need to care about developing information, communication and technology (ICT) proficiencies. Our constitution grants rights to free speech, and is built upon a tradition of suspiciousness towards government and powerful authorities. Intellectual freedom and the rights of citizens to have access to information are cornerstones of USA politics and history. It can hardly be otherwise, since how could a society possibly attempt to make sound decisions as a democracy if it lacks information vital to choosing options? In the 21st Century, information networks and technology have multiplied the complexities of accessing, evaluating, effectively using and communicating information. We

have witnessed the expansion of secrecy and propaganda, fully documented in news articles in mainstream publications such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and other well known journals and newspapers. In this context, the USA today represents a case study in how vital it is for higher education to value ICT related proficiencies.

So there are many reasons to care about ICT related learning outcomes. How can colleges and universities discover the extent to which they are successful in developing them? There are many assessment tools and measures, and more can be developed in-house or in collaboration with partners. There are advantages to various methods and approaches: I recommend considering a multi-faceted approach.

For example, consider my current research at the Bronx Community College (BCC) of the City University of New York (CUNY). I serve as Chief Librarian and Professor there, and have been interested in assessing students’ ICT proficiencies as we continue campus dialogues on the

27

best ways to ensure learning outcomes meet high expectations. In addition to campus surveys of students inquiring about their own assessment of their competencies, learning assessments related to class requirements and coursework, assessment tools such as iskills developed by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) and higher education partners can provide valuable evidence. I like approaches to assessing these proficiencies that are not multiple choice, or ranking on rating scales by the student or professor in part because these measures require the student to demonstrate evidence of ability to complete challenging real-world scenarios. The iskills assessment tool costs money per student to use, however, in my estimation valuable information can be obtained without testing the entire student population, and the quality of the report data is well worth the expense. And, let’s acknowledge, it isn’t really cost free to develop assessment measures in-house, as considerable time is invested.

Currently, my research involves librarians from eleven colleges at the City University of New York, and is

28

funded as a Collaborative Research Incentive Grant involving use of iskills to gather data assessing 2,246 students’ information, communications and technical (ICT) proficiencies. The students being assessed have a similar profile in that they have completed 45 to 60 credits and are CPE eligible.

The aim is to learn more about student proficiencies, and to draw conclusions about how CUNY might be able to better support students acquiring ICT proficiencies.

The assessment tool involves sitting at a computer for 75 minutes and demonstrating abilities related to defining information needs, accessing it, effectively managing it, integrating it in meaningful ways, showing evidence of ability to evaluate its quality, authority, currency, and accuracy, potential bias, as well to create and present and communicate it. You can learn more about these proficiencies, how they are defined, and tasks that are completed to show evidence of achieving desired learning outcomes by going to the ETS web site, www.ets.org, and following the links under higher education.

At BCC and CUNY, as at higher education institutions around the world, we are looking closely at the learning outcomes we need to expect, and assessment measures that can give us accurate and useful data on the extent to which we are succeeding in achieving them. It is a dynamic and evolving process, and I expect the data from this research to contribute to the ongoing dialogue as we seek to improve and show evidence of accountability and return on investment to all of the stakeholders in our higher education enterprises. The assessment research will help us ensure that we are effective in teaching, learning and research activities that are at the center of daily life in higher education.

Teresa L. McManus is a Professor & Chief Librarian at Bronx Community College of the City University of New York. Her research is currently focused on assessment of information and communications technology fluency; best practices for improving support for student development of proficiencies; assessing scholarship and professional development across disciplines; rising expectations in higher education; the connection between use of libraries and academic achievement; and in improving communication between librarians and administrators to advance understanding of library issues in higher education.

June 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in

knowledge for change

India's Largest ICT Event 29 - 31 July 2008 Pragati Maidan, New Delhi www.eINDIA.net.in

Co-Organisers

Ministry of Human Resource Development Government of India

Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications & IT Government of India

UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development

Supporting Partners

速

The World Bank e-Thematic Group

eINDIA2008 Thematic Tracks

INDIA

INDIA

2008

2008

INDIA

INDIA

2008

2008

Introduction

Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies (CSDMS) announces and invites you to join the premier ICT4D (Information and Communication Technology for Development) event - 'eINDIA2008'. The event aims to examine the myriad challenges which appear in integrating Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) with different spheres of life, to share and work together, to analyse and assess, as well as to work towards realising a technology enabled knowledge society.

Inaugural Address

D. Purandeswari Minister of State for Higher Educataion Ministry of HRD Government of India

eINDIA2008, the fourth annual ICT4D forum in India will be convened at New Delhi, India from 29th to 31st July 2008. The three day forum aims to render active conferencing, networking and showcasing, while organising six seminal tracks- egov INDIA, Digital Learning INDIA, Indian Telecentre Forum, eHealth INDIA, mServe INDIA, and eAgriculture INDIA. As an international event, apart from the general public and the media, the eINDIA2008 Conference and Exhibition expects to bring together 4000 high level representatives of the ICT industry, government, civil society, academia, and the private sector, from all across the globe to share the best practices and digital opportunities for development, to discuss and exchange knowledge and ideas that will shape the future of global ICT development.

The Conference offers a perfect platform for establishing and fostering high level networking contacts with leading representatives of the world's ICT sector on both governmental and business levels.

Conference Objectives •

Provide a collaborative forum to participants to share knowledge and ideas, enabling them to develop cross-

sectoral contacts and partnerships, as well as to enhance their knowledge, expertise, and abilities; •

Give a reference framework for describing impact, and looking at approaches and methods currently used in the ICT4D sector, and their suitability;

•

Highlight barriers of ICT integration in India and other countries, and identify gaps in current research;

•

Synthesise the main results of experience sharing and the progress made in recent years to provide a baseline for discussion with policy makers, and community of practitioners.

Organiser Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies (www.csdms.in) is a leading Asian non-governmental institution engaged in advocacy, research and community building in e-Government, ICT for Development, and knowledge management issues, through capacity building and media initiatives. .

Programme Advisory Board Chair

Co-Chair

R Chandrashekhar

S C Khuntia

Additional Secretary, DIT, Ministry of Communications and IT, Government of India

Joint Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of HRD, Government of India

Today, technological implementations may reach across campuses, institutions, departments, offices and other workplaces and often require the integration of systems involving both academic and business units. It is a collaborative approach, that needs not only technology, but also strong leaders who know how to engage whole communities as well as top-level strategists. We invite you to join us for Digital Learning INDIA2008 in New Delhi, from 29-31 July 2008 to examine the myriad challenges that appear in ICT and Education, to share and work together and to analyse assess, and create actionable plans for leading technology- enabled education. The conference follows three previous ICT in Education conferences in India and two in Asia. It will provide a unique opportunity to interact with education leaders and decision makers from around the country and beyond, who have a shared interest in improving educational achievements with the integration of ICTs.

Key Themes

Who will attend

School Track • Introducing ICTs into the School System: e-Education Policy and Practice • Building the ICT Infrastructure : Flexible Integration Solutions in a Dynamic Environment • e-Content and Open Source • Empowering Educators with ICTs • Improving Technical and Vocational Education • Quality Development, Quality Assurance, and Quality Education • Smart Classrooms with ICT • e-Education and the Global Network

Higher Education Track • Unleashing the Strength of Universities Through ICTs • Policy Issues and Large-Scale TakeUp of ICT Education • Digital Higher Learning Through Partnerships • Empowering Educators • Improving Technical and Vocational Education • Quality and Education Standards • Teaching and Learning Online • Alternative Assessment Strategies, Innovative Approaches in Evaluation • Global Perspectives to Higher Education

• • • • • •

• • • •

Vice-Chancellors, Principals, Directors, Deans and Registrars School Principals and Administrators, Teachers and Trainers Policy-makers & Regulators Senior Staff from Government Departments People from International Development Cooperation Agencies Representatives of International Education Missions and Leaders of Professional Associations, and NGOs Corporate Training and Development Executives Human Resources Executives, and IT Managers CEOs, Technology and Service Providers Publishers, Instructional Designers and Content Providers

And also • Partnership Sessions Focusing on Critical Issues Hosted by Education Movers and Shakers • Corporate Best Practices and Professional Learning Sessions

®

Supporting Partner The Global eSchools and Communities Initiative (GeSCI), the Dublin-based United Nations ICT Task Force provides strategic advice to Ministries of Education in developing countries on the effective use of Information and Communication Technologies for educational and community development. GeSCI will provide strategic partnership in eINDIA2008 event and help conceptualise and build the agenda of the conference. The eINDIA conference will provide the right context to take forward the discussions and.recommendations of stakeholders, in line of the ICT in Education Policy formulation.

www.eINDIA.net.in/digitallearning Contact Person: Siddharth Verma: Mobile No: +91-9811561645, Email: DL@eINDIA.net.in

Exhibition Floor Plan

Media and Partners Zone Conference Hall

132 No. of Seating

Hall No. 11,10

132 No. of Seating

51

12 sqm

Help desk

Pragati Maidan, New Delhi 52

53

For Exhibition Enquires:

54

Educomp

sales@eINDIA.net.in 108 sqm

120 sqm

48 sqm 6 sqm

50

Lunch Area

9 sqm

9 sqm 12 sqm

27

Exhibition

15 sqm

30 sqm

16 sqm

eINDIA2008 will feature an Exhibition and Demonstration area, where leading international ICT4D players, manufacturers, suppliers and service providers will present their latest products and services.

49 12 sqm

48

38

37

24 sqm

30 sqm

28 30 sqm

12 sqm

47

36

39 16 sqm

20 sqm

29

26

20 sqm

EI India

46

35

12 sqm

40

45

32 sqm

30

25

Edurite

Merittrac

12 sqm

43

40 sqm

40 sqm

40 sqm

41

34

31

24

20 sqm

25 sqm

25 sqm

25 sqm

42

33

32

23

Rex Rotary India

25 sqm

25 sqm

30 sqm

Metalearn

24 sqm

18 sqm Hitachi

18 sqm

18 sqm

20 sqm

56

21 sqm

9 sqm

24 sqm

57

12 sqm

44

55

20 sqm

12 sqm

Julong Education

9 sqm

25 sqm

58

27 sqm

9 sqm

30 sqm

OneRoof Inc.

59

32 sqm

9 sqm

36 sqm Ceeco 40 sqm

60 42 sqm

21

22

25 sqm

25 sqm

48 sqm 54 sqm

19

S Chand

61

Designmate

18 54 sqm

Luidia Inc.

13

17

16 A Edutech 21 sqm

18 sqm

16 130 sqm

42 sqm

18 sqm

62

www.eINDIA.net.in

81 sqm 108 sqm 120 sqm 130 sqm 190 sqm

Cargo Entry

Lunch Area

12

21 sqm

18 sqm

Microsoft

63

Almoe

85

108 sqm

Government

12 sqm

89

9 sqm

94

86

24 sqm

9 sqm

EdistaLearning

18 sqm

RB COMTEC

Nextenders

84

93

8

9

90

91

9 sqm 12 sqm

92

Promethean

11

10

63 sqm 84 sqm

Everonn

ACTIS

60 sqm

12 sqm

Lunch Area

Mindstec Distribution

15

42 sqm

Cambridge University Press

Nettsupport

88

95

120 sqm

Ministry of Communications and Infomation Technology Pavillion

9 sqm

24 sqm

Pavillion

15 sqm

96 Globus Infocom Ltd.

6

190 sqm

87 260 sqm

30 sqm

15sqm

7 64 120 sqm

4

82

Crane Global Solutions

80

76

81

48 sqm

79

32 sqm

36 sqm

36 sqm

15sqm

77

78 60 sqm

83

24 sqm

24 sqm

75

Sumitron

108 sqm

27 sqm

5

mimio

Globus Infocom Ltd.

Schnellopt

Digital Learning Exhibition Area

56 sqm

40 sqm

70 sqm

14

Secretariat G-4, Sector - 39, Noida, UP, India Tel: +91-120-2502180 - 85, Fax: +91-120-2500060 Email: info@eINDIA.net.in, Web: www.eINDIA.net.in

21 sqm

20

18 sqm

The Exhibition will be a critical space for professional interactions amongst participants, within the conference.

Inter Systems

Digital Learning Exhibition Area

Sudiksha Learning

18 sqm

3

74

1

2

SMART Technologies 18 sqm

54 sqm

84 sqm

65

66

67

PMA

68

69

27 sqm 9 sqm 12 sqm 9 sqm 12 sqm

Asclepius

70 9 sqm

71

GKP/One World Southasia

12 sqm 7215 sqm 7315 sqm

indicates tentatively blocked

Digital Learning Exhibition Area

egov, eHealth and mServe Exhibition Area

21 sqm

We Believe in Right Devices, Right Curriculum and Right Training www.microsoft.com

As part of its commitment to delivering accessible technology and transforming education for citizens across the Asia Pacific region, Microsoft Corp Chairman Bill Gates announced some new programmes and partnerships at the Government Leaders Forum - Asia (GLF Asia) in Jakarta, Indonesia recently.

The programmes include new education tools for people with special needs, extension of a skill development and certification programme available through internet cafes in Philippines, further progress of its K-12 programme Partners in Learning, and expansion of Microsoft Innovation Centers in Indonesia.

In an interview with Digital Learning, Anoop Gupta, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Unlimited Potential Group, Education Product Group, Technology Policy and Strategy talks about Microsoft’s new initiatives unveiled by Chairman Gates.

Anoop Gupta, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Unlimited Potential Group, Education Product Group, Technology policy and Strategy Tell us about your role in the Unlimited Potential Group.

As Corporate Vice President, Unlimited Potential Group of Microsoft, my responsibility spans education worldwide, product solutions, strategies and new business models for spreading the reach of technology.

Our group is committed to making technology more affordable, relevant and accessible for the five billion people around the world untouched by technology and thereby help bridge the Digital Divide.

By working with governments, inter-governmental organisations, NGOs and industry players, Microsoft hopes Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 6 June 2008

to attain its first major milestone, of reaching the next one billion people who have been untouched by the benefits of technology, by 2015.

It is a great opportunity to address the need for education, which is the fundamental pillar for people to move ahead. The job requires lot of creativity, innovation and is very fulfilling as a mission.

How does Microsoft plan to further its commitment on delivering accessible technology?

Microsoft believes that technology can play an important role in enabling access to quality education for everyone.

33

Access has two dimensions: access to education itself and accessibility for people with special needs. We are very excited about our new partnerships with New Zealand-based Weta Workshop and Australian software developer Northern Territory Institute for Community Education and Development (NTICED). Weta is an Oscar winning animation studio that has done animation for major movies like Lord of the Rings.

The focus of these partnerships is to develop resources and tools based on Partners in Learning Curriculum that will be available on a portal delivering audio, written text, images and video through rich animation-based content. This will help the estimated 10% of the world’s population living with special needs acquire skills and knowledge through technology.

Please share with us details of the e-Learning initiative in Philippines.

An important concept that drives us is that learning is a lifelong endeavour and not something that you can do only up to the age of 18 or 21. Although computer literacy has become a vital workplace skill in today’s knowledge-based economy, millions of people worldwide still lack this skill. We are looking at Internet cafes as a venue for delivering basic IT education in Philippines.

We are looking at Internet cafes as a venue for delivering basic IT education in Philippines.

Under this innovative programme, 16 IT courses, free certifications through Microsoft IT Academy Learning Portal and free ‘digital literacy’ courses will be made available in more than 169 iCafes owned by local internet cafe operator Netopia.

Although questions have been raised about internet cafes being used for gaming and entertainment, we believe cafes are a compelling way in which education gets delivered. We are really excited as this will allow millions of people first time access to some of the best skill sets developed by Microsoft.

Chairman Gates announced the expansion of Microsoft Innovation Centres (MICs) in Indonesia. What are Innovation Centres and how do they function?

MICs help develop local software economies through partnerships with universities around the world. Since the first Innovation Center in 2006, a network of 110 centers in 60 countries, including more than 30 across 13 countries in Asia Pacific, have come up. These centers offer software development courses, business skills and employment programmes for students; fosters software quality certification and technology labs; and support the Microsoft Imagine Cup, the world’s largest student software development competition.

In Indonesia, we are collaborating with Pelita Harapan 34

University, Jakarta, to open a new Innovation Center. This is apart from the four centers already running there in partnerships with leading universities.

Imagine Cup is an important aspect of MIC. The Bandung Institute of Technology Innovation Center has for the last three years fielded the winning team representing Indonesia. This years winning entry, Team Butterfly, showed how technology can help promote environmental cause by creating a tool that allows people to report environmental abuse to government.

The finals are to be held in Paris in July where more than 42,000 students from across the Asia-Pacific region have registered for the competition.

Partners in Learning initiative by Microsoft has been in operation for the past five years. Would you like to share some of its high points and future plans?

Partners in Learning is our flagship K-12 education initiative.

This year marks a special landmark for us. We have touched an estimated hundred million students and four million teachers globally through this programme! We take a holistic view on how we believe ICT in education will have a true impact in education learning and that means right devices, right curriculum and right training for the teachers and students.

Earlier this year, we announced a recommitment of USD235.5 million to the programme, which will bring Microsoft’s total 10-year investment to nearly USD500 million. This will enable the programme to significantly expand its impact by reaching more students and teachers around the world in the next five years.

One such example is Korea’s Ubiquitous Learning (U-Learning) project, developed in collaboration with the Korean Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

Using technological tools like Tablet PCs and mobile devices, students access, share and present content; while school curriculum has also been digitised. Starting with nine schools, the programme has since expanded to 20 and the government aims to fully digitise all curriculum by 2020.

What is the Peer-to-Peer coaching model?

This concept is based on the premise that teachers look to their colleagues first when they need assistance in integrating technology into their classrooms. By training teachers to serve as coaches for colleagues, they are able to assist their peers develop necessary skills to integrate technology into classroom teaching and learning. This will in turn help improve students’ academic achievement. Through this programme, the coaches act as facilitators in the local environment.

From the feedback we have received so far, we have gathered that the peer-to-peer model has been successful in facilitating use of ICT in education, the percentage of which has gone up from 20% to 80%.

June 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in

Bringing Knowledge Based Decision Making in to Industry www.GlobalScholar.com

Kalyanaraman Srinivasan, popularly known as Kal Raman, is the Indian born CEO and founder of GlobalScholar.com. He hopes to establish the on-line education platform for teachers, parents, and students in India. Hailing from a remote village in Tamil Nadu with no electricity or running water, the entrepreneur has hopes and dreams of making education easily accessible in India. With the mission to ‘empower the world to learn’, Kal shares his experiences and journey with Digital Learning.

Kal Raman

CEO and founder, GlobalScholar.com

When and how did your journey towards the path of empowering through education begin?

It started with my life. I was born in a family of five children and our father passed away when I was 15 years old. Our mother brought us up with a pension of INR.420 per month. We lived in a house with no electricity or running water in remote village in Tamil Nadu (Mannar kovil). Our mother made sure we got educated. I am who I am today because of my education (God’s grace played the crucial role with good people helping me along the way). So, this concept of empowering through education is very personal and believable for me.

Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 6 June 2008

Could you give us a business overview in terms of the service, product, revenue and performance?

Our business is to empower the teachers, students, parents, and administrators with tools to improve the student outcome.

These tools could be used in the class room to manage everyday curriculum, test student progress towards objectives, inform parents/administrators about the student progress etc.

These tools can be used to provide supplemental corrective or enrichment education in a 1:1 or 1: many set up also. We also provide information about educational institutions, news, games etc. Our goal is to empower people in the educational value chain with user friendly cutting edge technology. We look at revenues and profits as output variables, but we focus 35

on only one input variable which is ‘customer experience, one customer at a time’.

In what ways will this concept of an on-line education platform enhance the teaching and learning experience?

These tools will facilitate discipline in teaching and learning.

As you know ‘discipline breeds creativity’. The advantage of providing technology based tools is that we can provide personalised teaching and learning experience for every teacher and student.

How in your opinion will this service change the way educational programmes are currently delivered?

For the first time ever, the educational fraternity will get access to real time and actionable information to impact the student outcome. Multi-national businesses have such infrastructure today to make critical business decisions, but education as an industry is behind in terms of ‘knowledge based decision making’. We are trying to make the education industry which inculcates knowledge in individuals to have these knowledge based decision making tools. This will empower everyone in the value chain and the final output will be an ‘improved student learning outcome’.

What makes GlobalScholar different from other on-line services?

GlobalScholar is the first company which is attempting to put end-to-end ‘knowledge based decision making’ in to the knowledge industry. Various successful companies solve problems in the niches but we are the first ones to build a huge infrastructure to provide end-to-end infrastructure to solve the problem holistically. Be it in a classroom, off the classroom, information on educational institutions, sharing relevant news/happenings etc we try to customise the information for the teacher and student. We are also the first company, which is trying to be neutral to content, grade, country, language, etc. This is a huge undertaking which requires passion, commitment, and relentless execution. This dream may take years or even decades to realise, but we are patient and focused.

How do you rate GlobalScholar in the international market? How has the product fared in the on-line Indian market? In terms of market penetration and acceptance, where do you see GlobalScholar?

Our name suggests the fact that we want to be global. With no marketing, we are ranked highly in terms of traffic in many countries like the USA and India (Alexa ratings). User acceptance will be dictated by the market and technology trends in various countries. We try to think global and act local. For example, we are aware of the low Internet penetration in India (but a high wireless adoption), so we will tailor our solutions accordingly. Everywhere in the world the customers want great customer experience at cheaper prices and that expectation is constant irrespective of the 36

geographical location and we will work towards meeting that expectation. The results will take care of themselves.

In terms of the US, I believe education will be a hot sector.

Currently, the big business sectors are technology, media, energy, etc. Education is not yet a blue chip sector. For the US (and any other country) to maintain a robust economy and remain a player in the global business field, there needs to be a solid educational foundation.

Which level of education is GlobalScholar currently covering- secondary, higher secondary, etc.?

We stand for life-long learning. From K through college and beyond.

Multi-national businesses have such infrastructure today to make critical business decisions, but education as an industry is laking in terms of ‘knowledge based decision making’. We are trying to make the education industry, which inculcates knowledge in individuals, to have these knowledge based decision making tools What are the challenges you have come across in this venture of boundary less education?

We need to make sure we come across truly as a ‘friend and enabler’ of the people in the education system. Education has an emotional connection and it is part of the fabric in every community and if we need to succeed in our efforts we need to weave ourselves methodically in to the system. This task will take lot of hard work, commitment, and patience.

Would you like to mention about your partners, if any, in this venture?

We are an enabler for education and hence, we look at every educational entity, be it for-profit or non-profit, to be our partners. Even though we are a for-profit company, our mission is to ‘empower the world to learn’ and everyone in the education industry would share our mission. So, everyone could be our partner.

Is there any plan for further diversification? Having roots in India, do you have any plan and vision for the country?

Absolutely. Our name says it all. Being an Indian, I am kind of biased to India. If not for India, I would not be where I am today. India is a huge opportunity for every company. With more than 400 million students under the age of 21, GDP growing at CAGR of 8.5%, the opportunity is just getting bigger. It will be unwise for any company not to focus on India. India also has quite a few successful educational companies, we admire them and will learn from them.

June 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in

er Foy

Accelerating Technology Learning

Intel Launches World Ahead Programme in Uttarakhand www.intel.com

Intel announced the extension of its ‘World Ahead Programme’ in Uttarakhand on the May 13th this year when a Memorandum of Understanding was exchanged between Chief Minister B C Khanduri and Sandeep Aurora, Director Sales & Marketing, South Asia, Intel. The ‘World Ahead Programme’ integrates and extends Intel’s efforts to drive progress in accessibility, content, connectivity and education.

In its attempt to accelerate technology learning in the classroom, Intel India also donated 200 computers to the state government on the occasion.

These computers will be used to empower students in 50 government / government-aided schools by September 2008. After exchanging the MOU, the Chief Minister said, ‘We have to bridge the technological divide to bring about all round development in the State.

Presently, there are various constraints in the educational infrastructure and the government is working to bring about the necessary changes’.

On the occasion Aurora, stated that Intel’s World Ahead Program was working to improve the overall quality of education, by providing school’s access to technology, through PCs and preparing teachers on effective use of technology in education. He also added

Chief Minister B C Khanduri and Sandeep Aurora, Director Sales and Marketing Intel India, exchanging the MoU

that they were ‘pleased with the increase in teachers’ participation in Uttarakhand, and that the students find learning easier and more interesting with a technologyaided curriculum’.

Intel’s initiatives in Uttrakhand have a broad objective of achieving universal compatibility for the students of government/ government-aided schools by bridging the digital divide, preparing students for the 21st century, promoting professional growth of teachers and making technology an integral part of the school curriculum.

The ‘Technology in Education’ contest for which the awards were announced at the event, recognises and rewards

Chief Minister giving away the awards Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 6 June 2008

teachers, students and schools who have successfully and innovatively integrated technology in education.

This year around 366 entries were received from various schools in the state, out of which 64 entries were given the awards under the categories of state, regional and district level. The winners were also given cash awards by the state government. The award winning students, teachers and schools also received citation certificates by Intel and cash incentives by the government in the felicitation event .

In India, over 8,66,000 teachers have been trained under the Intel Teach initiative and over 52,000 learners have been touched under the Intel Learn

The new agreement between the state government and the ‘World Ahead Programme’ will strengthen already established relationships and will extend the benefit to teachers, students and communities of Uttarakhand 37

An evaluation of impact of the Intel program in Uttarakhand reveals that: • • • • •

90% of the Principals believe the program has a positive impact on teachers, students and on overall school functioning.

88% teachers in Uttarakhand are using technology in new ways like making projects, teaching lessons by diagrams, using the Presentation tools.

74 % students mention that teachers are able to explain the lessons better when taught through the use of computers and this helps in easier comprehension of the lesson.

While signing the signature wall with all the participants, Minister for Education Madan Kaushik expressed happiness at the fact that ‘a large number of schools have been equipped with computers with the help of Intel and many such projects will be undertaken in the near future.

‘We see our children and schools as part of a global India and want to take the necessary steps towards this goal’.

Program. Till date, over 21,314 teachers in Uttarakhand have been trained under the Intel Teach Programme.

This agreement between the state government and the ‘World Ahead Programme’ is expected to strengthen the already established relationships and extend the benefit to teachers, students and communities of Uttarakhand.

With over 50 schools in rural and semi-rural Uttarakhand targeted as beneficiaries for the donated computers, the aim of Intel and Uttarakhand government is to develop model schools that showcase the full benefits of effective technology integration in teaching and learning through computers and the teacher training programme approach.

At the end of the event, the chief Minister, Education minister, Director Intel India and the participants took a pledge and thereafter signed a signature

Education Minister Madan Kaushik signing on the signature wall

wall, where they promised to work towards an Uttarakhand ‘where all the teachers and students are equipped with the right tools to connect them to 21st century opportunities’.

Highlights of the awards •

•

Chief Minister unveiling the World Ahead PC

38

Teachers as well as students showcased innovative Projects like ‘Fire Line”, “Environment“, “Innovation on Significance of Number Seven”, “Refraction and Reflection of light” and “Thales Theorem” Awards were conferred over all the 13 Districts of the state including districts like, Almora, Bageshwar, Chamoli, Champawat, Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital, Pauri, Pithoragarh, Rudraprayag, Tehri, US Nagar and Uttarkashi.

He felt that the initiatives provided by Intel would go a long way in extending the benefits of technology aided learning to the students in rural and semi rural areas of Uttarakhand.

June 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in

Computer Based Teaching-Learning Aids in Science Classroom

Sucheta Phadke, Vice President, ILFS ETS, India

There is an aesthetic dimension to everything. Every school environment, every teaching act, every setting you create to spend time in, enhances or diminishes the quality of life. Whether you are teaching science or art, the challenge is to make it beautiful.

– Eliot Eisner, to the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Spring 1990

With the advent of computers and technological advances like the Internet, the face of education world over has changed.

Be it school education, higher education, teacher training or distance education, the use of technology in some form or the other is prevalent. There is a definite change in the entire teaching-learning process. Government systems have acknowledged the benefits and there are enough examples to illustrate that technology based education is here to stay along with the traditional methods.

The current focus with all the stakeholders is to ensure that technology is used effectively to address issues that schools and governments are grappling with – problems related to student motivation, participation, absenteeism, drop-outs and gender bias, to name a few. Using technology in Science education is no exception to this. In fact fostering an inquiring mind and a scientific temper in students has always been the aim of curricula across the world. Can technology help?

Yes to great extent, and coupled with teacher involvement and participation, can extend learning possibilities beyond imagination.

Computer based teaching-learning aids in the science classroom Imagine using a Tabla and string instrument in a classroom to explain the basic concepts of ‘Sound’. A great idea no doubt, but not feasible in our environment of over-crowded classrooms, multi-grades in one classroom and the effort of Eclipses

Light

A solar eclipse occurs when moon comes between the Sun and the Earth. During solar eclipse the lighted portion of moon faces the Sun. The smaller window shows the Sun seen from the Earth. Drag the Earth around to see.

Eclipses-Simulation Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 6 June 2008

transporting these teaching aids from one classroom to the other. But technology can provide the solution. Computer Based Teaching Learning Materials, which focus on the understanding of concepts, make a huge difference to learning.

Technology Based Learning Materials, created with inputs from experts and instructional designers, give teachers a platform to explain concepts, help students relate principles to real life scenarios and thereby foster a spirit of inquiry.

Following are some considerations in using computer based teaching learning in the science classroom.

Content which enables active and constructive learning Content that enables active and constructive learning focuses on exploration. The user interacts with the content, explores objects in the defined environment, observes effects of the exploration and concludes from the experience.

For example, explaining phenomena like ‘Eclipses’. What is the basic concept behind eclipses, how do they occur, are some of the questions that fascinate every student. Imagine, getting an interactive learning aid, where you can form shadows and explain the formation of eclipses. Simulations like these will not only explain but prove to be a powerful teaching aid. Relate this to the real life coverage in television and the understanding is complete.

Content which redefines ‘interactivity’

Interactivity is not about clicking the mouse and exploring data on the computer screen, but is about making a meaningful learning experience for the user and class. Content can be explored with the help of a mouse, but it also has to bring context to learning. It has to provide for observation, correlation and conclusion. Presentation and design of the content should ensure that by viewing and exploring it, the class gets ‘interactive’.

For example, while teaching the concept of ‘Projectile Motion’ one could play various media clips to generate discussions in the classroom, like a cricket match with a batsman hitting for a six, a gardener watering plants in the garden with a hosepipe.

Getting children to observe, apply principles and arrive at conclusions will enhance understanding of concepts.

39

Concept based content versus syllabusmapped content Computer based instruction is a reality all over the world and India is no exception. Governments across are keen to create and develop content mapped to their syllabus. There are two important considerations here: a) whether the content covers all the concepts and b) whether the content is culture specific.

In the context of science education, the first consideration is more relevant. It has been observed though that in certain instances there is teacher resistance to using concept based learning material and teachers would like each and every page of the textbook to have relevant multimedia/computer based learning units. This need not necessarily be true. This is because not all concept teaching would require technology intervention and also because it has to be used for the advantages that the medium offers. The second consideration is that of making the learning culture specific. If teachers take the responsibility, then they could enhance the concept-based materials by getting children to work on extension activities.

For instance, while explaining the concept of sound with the exploratory learning material, teachers could ask students to drop stainless steel bowls and plates on the ground to observe the different sounds that they make.

Learning objects

An interesting future trend could be the use of ‘Learning Objects’ in school education. Creating computer-based learning materials is costly and time consuming. Syllabi are updated and upgraded every five years. Learning objects will not only prove to be cost effective, but will empower the teacher totally, giving them total independence to create multimedia content of their own choice. Learning Objects in this context are digital entities in the form of animations and graphics supported with voice-over and text.

Traditional multimedia gave the teacher a pre-structured sequence of frames within the unit. In this solution the lesson is divided into different components of animations with voice-overs and text, graphics with voice-over and text and only text.

Teachers can define their own sequence and thus use the Learning Objects to support their own instructional goals.

These ‘Learning Objects’ can be tagged with SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reusable Model) standards and viewed with the help of a SCORM player or a Learning Management System (LMS).

Teachers can ‘Reuse’ objects from different contexts to enhance their classroom sessions. Again the teacher/facilitator will play an important role in using the ‘learning objects’ creatively. They may not use the LMS/SCORM player at all, but may just use the bank of objects to generate interest in their lessons.

40

Interactive group learning The key premise for science education has been to involve young minds in activities that arouse curiosity, generate interest in research, invention and innovation. Learning based on understanding is essential to innovation and creativity.

Finding answers to the question ‘WHY’ leads to ‘WHAT’ and ‘HOW’, which takes one on a path of discovery and understanding.

Interactive Group Learning provides immense possibilities for achieving this. Observing, Discussing, Exploring, Problem Solving, Doing and Creating with your peers, not only makes the process fun but also nurtures teamwork and collaboration.

Building hypothesis and validating them as a team ensures that children can handle all types of real-life situations as well.

K-yan – the vehicle of knowledge - is a powerful delivery mechanism, which can be used for this purpose. There could be various themes identified. An activity module for one of the themes for the week could be on ‘Understanding Flight’. Make paper planes by following instructions from the worksheet provided on the Science website, fly the paper planes, compare their performance and change parameters. Listen to a televised talk by experts in the filed on ‘Flight Principles’.

Observe flying in nature. Explore Aerodynamic inputs through the multimedia components. Discuss the concept in class, share observations, viewpoints and conclude your understanding.

Designing computer-based teaching learning aids

A variety of teaching-learning strategies can be used while designing content. Listed below are a few key ones: • Active Learning – These strategies focus on exploration.

Users can explore content and construct interpretations.

• Constructive Learning – Strategies that bring context to learning as students begin from a point of already existing personal experience, knowledge or interests.

• Cooperative Learning – Strategies that take advantage of and build upon shared individual knowledge.

The possibilities of using technology and computer-based teaching learning materials in the science classroom are immense. The need is for professional educators to be actively involved with instructional designers and multimedia experts in the creation of this content. The need is for teachers to participate in the process and act as facilitators. This will ensure that we expand the resources for teaching and learning in the science classroom beyond imagination.

The author Sucheta Phadke, Vice President IL&FS ETS heads the Content Development Division. A well known name in e-learning circles, Sucheta has many articles and presentations on e-Learning and computer aided learning to her credit.

June 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in

Educomp launches ‘MagiKeys’ Educomp, India’s largest Education company, launched a unique software application that will allow millions of government school students to communicate on the web, email, chat and write documents in their mother tongue.

‘MagiKeys’ has been developed by Israel based software company FTK Technologies Ltd and will be introduced to government schools in the country in collaboration with Educomp. This initiative is being supported by Intel’s World Ahead Education Programme. In India, Intel and Educomp are involved in a number of initiatives aimed at bringing the benefits of technology to students and teachers. MagiKeys was launched

by Goa Minister for Information Technology Dayanand Narvekar at the inaugural session of Goa IT Conclave held at the Marriot Hotel in Panjim.

Based on a technology developed by FTK Technologies, Educomp MagiKeys provides a user-friendly, Indian language Online Word Processor, with virtual keyboard. The dynamic virtual keyboard provides the first comprehensive Indian languages data entry tool. It includes features like a Web Based Editor, quick e-mail creator, over 3000 different letters and combinations in 11 Indian languages (Hindi, Marathi, Gujarathi, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, Punjabi, Urdu, Telugu, Bengali and Konkani), making Educomp MagiKeys a holistic solution for the educational needs of children in India.

SMART unveils a low cost interactive whiteboard SMART Technologies have announced the SMART Board V280 interactive whiteboard, priced approximately 30% lower than other SMART Board interactive whiteboards.

Designed to enhance the learning of students in regions challenged to Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 6 June 2008

Shiksha would offer information about educational institutes in the country as well as overseas. The portal will have the entire gamut of information on education, ranging from the name of a college, the courses offered, course content to the fee structure.

New education website Bloust goes into the classroom provide a quality ICT-enabled education, the SMART Board V280 interactive whiteboard aims to accelerate adoption of 21st-century education technology in countries with significant budget constraints.

A Florida-based mother of three has launched an education-based Internet business that enables teachers to create free personalised websites.

Like all SMART Board interactive whiteboards, the V280 is a whole-class teaching and learning tool that allows educators and students to access and control any computer or multimedia application, including the Internet. They can also write notes in digital ink and save their work to share later.

The V280 features a hard, laminated 77” (195.6 cm) surface large enough for classrooms with many students and ideal for whole-class interaction.Users write on and control the V280 with an ergonomic pen that has a natural grip for effortless writing. The V280 also comes with award-winning Notebook collaborative learning software, which is setting the global standard for creating, delivering and managing interactive lessons within a single application. With the V280 and Notebook software, fewer steps are required to perform tasks, making the V280 easier to use than other pen-driven interactive whiteboard brands. Notebook software supports 41 languages, including Arabic.

Info Edge launches education portal `Shiksha’ Info Edge (India) plans to launch a portal exclusively focussed on education. The company plans to invest USD 5-10 million in the project over a period of three years. Info Edge already has portals like naukri.com, jeevansathi. com and 99acres.com.

BLOUST.COM, brainchild of Debbie Popkin, is a social network developed to bridge the gap between home and school by allowing teachers, students and parents to share information and create an interactive environment to promote student success.

Nawras wins ‘Best ICT Portal’ award Nawras was awarded the ‘Best Strategic ICT Portal’ at the Pan Arab Web Awards (PAWA) announced at Burj Al Arab in Dubai.

The awards committee, in association with Microsoft, MSN Mena and BSA, presented the 2008 PAWA to recognise excellence in web design and development skills, showcasing creativity and the best website in the Pan Arab region.

This is the second time in the company’s history that the Nawras website has picked up an award at this prestigious event, which this year attracted over 480 entries from the region.

41

Intel to expand its Teach programme in Arab

Partnership (UPP) to ensure speedy ICT development in Palestine through education.

Working with USAID and the Palestinian Information and Communication Technology Incubator (PICTI), Intel also said it would be launching a competition for youth to come up with the best business plan, an exercise the company hopes will stimulate student interest in entrepreneurship.

Laith Kassis, General Manager, PICTI reckoned the organisation’s partnership with Intel and USAID would “allow us to further nurture the diverse Arab talents and enhances the growth of dynamic businesses in Palestine. We are indeed proud of this partnership and look forward to building on the successes we have achieved so far.”

Intel Chairman, Craig Barrett used his fourth visit to the UAE to release his programme of education and training and work with the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation to expand Intel’s Teach programme across other Arab countries, and to bring in a volunteer programme with INJAZ al-Arab to help educate Arab youth.

Working with local governments and Ministries of Education, Sheikh Muhammed’s foundation and Intel plan to train more than 2 million Arab teachers by 2011.Training will occur throughout Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, UAE and Yemen. The programme aims at developing Arab talent and improving education in the region.

Arena Animation launches Academy Specialist Programme

Intel Corporate Vice President Will Swope unveiled a number of educational initiatives meant to help Palestine set itself on the right technological track.

Global in animation and multimedia training provider, Arena Animation has announced the launch of the new version of its comprehensive 2.5 year high-end animation-training course, the Arena Animation Academy Specialist Programme 2008 (AAASP 2008), designed as a complete 3D Animation Career Programme.

Swope talked about how the company was working within the US Palestinian

This specialist programme is aimed at training students in the latest industry

Intel rolls into Palestine

42

relevant technology so that they enter the world of animation as trained professional animators. Through projectbased work in conjunction with theoretical and practical experience, students would get an opportunity to explore different ways to put ideas into practice for developing their portfolios.

Educomp forms joint ventures with Raffles Delhi-based Educomp Solutions has formed two 50:50 joint ventures (JVs) with Raffles Education, a private education group in the AsiaPacific region.

While the India joint venture is for professional education, the China JV is for K-12 business initiatives.

Raffles Education Corp (Group) had a market capitalisation of US$2.78 billion.

The JV in India is expected to bring in the entire suite of the group’s professional development programmes and courses to the country, providing Educomp’s large student population with meaningful alternatives when they graduate from high school.

Educomp currently works with six million school students and aims to widen its reach to 10 million students by 2010. Under the terms of the JV, the existing Raffles Design Institute in Mumbai will be merged with the JV operations.

The 50:50 partnership will be rolled out over the next two to three years. In China, the two companies will partner with each other to bring to China the entire suite of Educomp’s extensive programmes and products for K-12 students.

June 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in

You have toiled You have spent sleepless nights You have fought all odds You have made the impossible, possible You have converted those who doubted your ideas

You have done your best...

News Asia Microsoft (Malaysia) extends its community programme

The CD-ROM has been especially valuable for teachers who don’t have fast Internet connections (or no Internet connection at all), and those who have limited funds and lack the time to search for free quality teaching resources. The materials and lesson plans provided on the CD-ROM have been used by teachers worldwide, but are of particular relevance to the secondary school curricula of seven ASEAN countries: Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam.

UNESCO book on Open Access to Knowledge in South Asia Software company Microsoft (Malaysia) is to invest another RM500, 000 in its Unlimited Potential (UP) community out reach programme ICT outreach programme this year.

According to the company, UP has provided basic ICT skills to around 1,700 people in the past three years, and is in line with its objectives of education, innovation and opportunities.

Microsoft (Malaysia) said that it has invested RM2.1 million (US$667, 216) in the programme to date, and runs this in partnership with the National Council of Women’s Organisations (NCWO). The ICT training leads to a certification that will help the graduates find work or improve their job prospects.

UNESCO Bangkok releases CD-ROM on ICT resources A CD-ROM, comprising Directory of ICT Resources for Teaching and Learning of Science, Mathematics and Languages, provides a collection of ICT-based resources for teaching and learning the three subjects for secondary-level students. It includes simulations, video clips, interactive learning objects like quizzes, animation, and other kinds of multimedia activities. The directory is organised subject-wise and a separate directory has been provided to give an overall view of the types of resources available.

44

The UNESCO Office in New Delhi has released a book on Open Access to Knowledge and Information.‘Scholarly Literature and Digital Library Initiatives - the South Asian Scenario’ illustrates South Asian initiatives on open access to information and knowledge. It has its genesis in the recommendations and proceedings of UNESCO-supported international conferences and workshops.

The book describes successful digital library and open access initiatives in the South Asia sub-region that are available in the forms of open courseware, open access journals, metadata harvesting services, national-level open access repositories and institutional repositories.

It is a authoritative source-book on open access development in this sub-region.

UN launches new training course to help developing Asian countries use ICT

About 60 experts from around 30 countries in the Asia-Pacific region are taking part in a new initiative aimed at equipping government officials with the knowledge and skills they need to fully utilise the potential of ICTs to achieve national development goals.

The initiative, called the ‘Academy of ICT Essentials for Government Leaders - A Modular Training Programme’, is undertaken by the United Nations Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development (UNAPCICT) The Academy consists of a core ICT for development (ICT4D) curriculum that begins with ICT basics and progresses to more advanced topics. It is targeted primarily at policy makers in central, provincial and local governments; managers in the public sector; and ICT educators at public training institutes.

IBM to enhance skilled manpower in Asia

IBM has announced a new online programme to allow students at more than 2,100 institutions in India, China, Singapore and Vietnam for enhancing their credentials and better compete for the growing number of technology positions available in the region.Yearto-year demand for IBM software certification has surged because certifications help the industry locate and hire top software developers.

Under the new programme, students will be offered access to online exams. It will help increase the number of qualified, skilled software developers available to meet a growing opportunity for software innovation worldwide.

For a discounted rate of US $30, students at universities across these four countries now have access to 25 web-based exams covering IBM’s rational software delivery portfolio, IBM said.

According to the company, 22 different certifications are available in emerging technology job areas such as architecture management, change and release management, process and portfolio management, and quality management.

The new programme will help students to learn the latest in industry-leading software engineering techniques, tools and the software development process, besides enriching their engineering experiences by promoting their practical skills.

June 2008 | www.digitalLearninG.in

Now it's time to get recognised!

Because your ideas can improve the lives of many Because your work has been inspiring Because you have made a difference Recognition can potentially bring you the much required funding, government support, NGO collaborations and academic research around your innovations to scale up and boost your endeavours.

Apply for eINDIA2008 Awards Awards are in the fields of e-Agriculture, e-Governance, Digital Learning, e-Health, Telecentre Forum, m-Serve, and Municipal IT. Nominations are invited for: • • •

Government initiative of the year NGO initiative of the year Policy initiative of the year

Nominations are also invited for the following special category awards: • • • • • • •

Farming initiative of the year ICT enabled government department of the year ICT enabled school and university of the year ICT enabled hospital of the year Grassroot telecentres initiative of the year Innovative mobile service provider of the year ICT enabled municipality of the year

Last Date June 30, 2008 AWARDS

Contact: Ritu Srivastava (Tel: +91-9999369624) G-4, Sector 39, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, 201301, India Ph:+91 120 2502180 to 85; Fax: +91 120 2500060 Email: Awards@eindia.net.in

Nomination forms are available online :

www.eindia.net.in/2008/awards

ICY L O P RS E T T MA

India Formulating a National Policy on ICT in School Education Expanding the multi-stakeholder perspective

Ministry of HRD Govt. of India

How do teachers, administrators and policy makers feel about their experiences with technology? Is there a balance between teaching about technology as a subject, and as a tool for learning? Has the technology integration proved financially, technically and administratively sustainable over time?

In continuation to our discussions on formulating a National Policy on ICT in School Education in India, and our attempt to make the discussions more wide, open and collaborative, we are producing the discussions that the UN Solution Exchange (www.solutionexchange-un.net. in\en) Community members have reflected on the key thematic pillars like ICT Infrastructure, e-Content, Capacity Building, Innovation and Research, Monitoring and Evaluation, Quality in School Education, and Public Private Partnerships in a series. In this issue, we are presenting a part of the discussions happened on the issues of Capacity Building and Innovation and Research. The May issue of Digital Learning has produced the e-Discussions of the UN Solution Exchange Education and Development community on the ICT Infrastructure and Quality issues.

As we know, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (www.education.nic.in), Government of India, has already initiated the process to formulate the ‘National Policy on ICT in School Education’. The Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative (www.gesci.org), a UN ICT Task Force founded organisation, along with Centre for Science, Development, and Media Studies (www. csdms.in) provides strategic assistance to MHRD in the preparation of this policy.

46

June 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in

Capacity Building Responses were received from both ICTD and Education communities of UN Solution Exchange who have attempted to address the challenges of empowering the educators with ICTs by sharing their valuable thoughts on the issue.

Queries

Respondents

What are some of the key capacity gaps facing ICT in school education? Are there any good examples where these capacity gaps have been addressed?

• • •

Can you suggest creative ideas and innovations for building capacity for ICT in school education?

Do you have any insights about the capacitybuilding process that would be relevant?

• • •

10 responses were received on the thematic focus area namely, Capacity Building. Responses were received from both ICTD and Education communities of UN Solution Exchange facilitating the e-Discussion.

• •

Rajen Varada, Technology for the People, Bangalor Jitendra Shah, Indictrans, Mumbai Anindya Kumar Banerjee, Panchayats and RD Dept., Government of West Bengal, Kolkata Nisheeth Verma, Learning Links Foundation, New Delhi John Mathew, Business Consultant, Kochi Srinivasan Ramani, International Institute for Information technology, Bangalore Anjela Taneja, ActionAid, Bhopal Anindya Kumar Banerjee, Panchayats and RD Dept., Govt. of West Bengal, Kolkata

Rajen Varada, Technology for the People, Bangalore

‘Peer learning as an add-on to capacity building!’

Capacity building is not a one-time exercise and needs to be ongoing especially in government schools where teachers are overloaded, schools short staffed and transfers happen often.

The gap is not so much in the capacity building as much as in the lack of developing innovative thinking in the trainers. ICT content needs to be defined in this context.

What really are we saying when we try to define ICT in school? Is it Information & communication or Education? Is it only the digital form of the school curriculum and enhanced rote learning or is it going to bring in an environment of creative exploration of knowledge? Are the schools going to be true centres of learning and information or continue as (e) rote teaching? Karnataka has developed excellent Radio learning material for schools in collaboration with EDC along with capacity building material. A compilation of such initiatives and collation of content in local language will be helpful.

May I suggest Peer learning as an alternative/add-on to capacity building? Create student clubs and include creative tools (software such as Photoshop, adobe insight, illustrator, flash or GIMP and so many other open source software) as part of the schools software library.

Anindya Kumar Banerjee, Panchayats and RD Dept., Government of West Bengal, Kolkata

‘Trainers should be screened for IT background’ I think the following reasons may be some of the gaps facing ICT@SCHOOL. 1. The School does not have adequate trained manpower to understand what is being taught hence mostly depend on the private partner.

2. The headmaster/headmistress are not interested to learn the advantages mostly due to ignorance they feel they are Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 6 June 2008

3.

too old for the new technology but this very technology can make their retired life better if they can help in automating their own service books. There are other examples of using the same for preparing online tests for the students.

The trainers from Private partners should be screened with their educational and IT background in question. In 47

West Bengal the government had given the criteria for trainer and the quality control mechanism was ensured in this way.

I often meet the trainers in my state and interact with them and am aware of the issues they face while training as the training in this state is not mandatory but optional.

I feel there are many methods/ways which will perhaps help the ICTD team to device a fruitful process for Capacity

Building for ICT@ SCHOOLS. I would also like to invite suggestions from the team members if we could ask the Private Partners and some Head masters where ICT is in real practice to attend a workshop on brainstorming the process.

Nisheeth Verma, Learning Links Foundation, New Delhi

‘Need a network of all teacher-training institutions’ The Capacity Building exercise needs to be done at three-tier level which can help in better implementation At State level: Experiment and adopt the best practices for the integration of ICT in both formal and non-formal education programs in order to increase access to education, enhance educational quality, and improve learning performance, especially among populations traditionally most excluded from education.

• Strengthen the training and professional development of teacher trainers, teachers and non-formal education facilitators in the integration of ICT in education.

• Establish a state Clearing House in order to produce, collect, process, utilize and disseminate local contents and link it to other relevant institutions.

At District/school level • Effective use of ICT in improving teaching and learning’ project involving training teachers to create project

• •

portfolios using Project Based Learning.

An online teacher resource base to be developed and implemented and A network of teacher-training institutions to be established so that teachers can share their education courseware and innovative practices.

At Educational institutions level • The formulation of plans for the integration of ICT into the curriculum, • The creation of a framework for enhancing learning opportunities using ICT across the curriculum, • Designing a flexible curricular model to embrace interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary thinking, • Development of attitudes that are value driven, rather than technology-driven.

If worked at these levels, we can ensure transparency, developing effective usage model, and overall implementation.

John Mathew, Business Consultant, Kochi

‘There has to be clear guidelines to keep content current and interesting’ Most of the ICT installations in schools that I’ve been to have been maintained by one faculty member and interested students. All the administration, upgrades, installation and discarding were decided by this local group within each school. The infrastructure and capacity of this group was decided specific to the school and they are only responsible to the school board/ parent teacher committee.

Most other forms of capacity building, with respect to infrastructure, are hinged on funds. The other aspect capacity related issues is that of content. As content increases, maintenance and ownership will become difficult. There has to be clear guidelines as to how content will be kept current and interesting to students.

Jitendra Shah, Indictrans, Mumbai

‘Use scholarships!’

To address the issue of Capacity Building, I would recommend, use scholarships for higher education students (Post Graduate and Ph D) to provide support in schools.

48

June 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in

Anindya Kumar Banerjee, Panchayats and RD Dept., Govt. of West Bengal, Kolkata

‘Trainers need to remain aware of the changes in the industry’ I somehow have been close to ICT@School not only in the East but also at Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Jharkhand by some means or the other and have a lot to share in this forum of learned people who are trying to come to a conclusion for the FUTURE of INDIA. I am sure the 7 Thematic Pillars made will stand good enough like the 7 Colors, 7 Wonders, 7 Sur, 7 seas, 7 Continents one day. I strongly feel that this exercise was required for the best understanding of the ICT@School project being thought about

by MHRD.

I understand that much has been written about the important issue of deciding on our children’s future related to education and literacy in ICT, I request all to think more logically and humanely rather than impulsive thinking as it is our own people we are talking about.

Capacity Building is an ongoing process and needs to be mentored by a national policy. I strongly feel that one session/ semester should be kept for the Trainer/School Management so that the trainers are aware of the changes in the industry vis-a-vis the changes in the outflow of the curricula to the students.

I am sure these 14 days have been a learning experience for all of us in the forum but it will bear the fruit only when the actual formulation of these policies are implemented with or without us or the stakeholders of the project of ICT@School.

Srinivasan Ramani, International Institute for Information technology, Bangalore

‘There is scarcity of effective teachers to handle ICT infrastructure’ A key issue is the scarcity of effective teachers who can handle ICT infrastructure and utilise it for educational purposes. Any training we give such teachers is lost within a couple of years as many of these teachers move out of educational institutions and go to business and industry. We could modify an idea of the SNDT Women’s University in Mumbai and use it to solve this problem.

SNDT offers a Master of Educational Technology (Computer Applications) (http://www.sndt.ac.in/det/METCA%2 0Prospectus%202007-08.pdf ). IGNOU could offer a ‘Diploma/Degree for ICT Teachers in Schools’ to start with, for the benefit of teachers working in schools.

This would be a part time course spread over two or three years, giving significant credit for effective performance as a teacher using ICT. Practical work specified to the participants could be teaching assignments, which could be graded by local senior teachers or other administrators. In addition, the participants would be learning in the distance education mode and taking Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 6 June 2008

examinations. Those enrolled would serve the school during their education, and get the greatest reward – getting better educated. If they leave the school system after qualifying for a 49

Diploma/Degree, that would be fine. The economy needs such people too.

Indian languages, thereby doubling the utilisation of e-Books created. The scheme should not exclude books in English.

We could announce an award of INR one lakh per author for a hundred authors a year for creating educational content in the form of e-books in Indian languages. This may be any one, not necessarily a teacher; for instance it could be a college teacher writing for school students. Those whose books are selected for the award should put the e-Book in the public domain, so that anyone can use it. This would be a method of providing inexpensive content for digital libraries at schools. If 50,000 schools use an e-Book and it has a notional value of INR 50 per copy, the value created by the proposed “Indian Language e-Book Award Scheme” would be INR 25 Lakhs. Public libraries should also be able to use public domain content in

Ministry of HRD’s National Programme for Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) has created thousands of hours of video lectures, covering a lot of the four-year curriculum in four disciplines of engineering at the university level. The valuable experience gained in this project can be used to create video content to cover school curricula in all Indian languages. School-teachers can be trained and invited to create video content in their areas of expertise, and in their own language. The best teachers can provide inspirational lectures and model lectures. This content can also be packaged as short video clips which a local teacher can use in the class, offering his/her own lecture livened and enriched by the video-clips.

Anjela Taneja, ActionAid, Bhopal

‘Introduce computer education in the curriculum’ 1.

2.

3.

4.

The shortage of teachers is a huge problem to begin with. My sense is that IT trained teachers would currently be a bit of a luxury for the system. Ensuring PTRs are met would be a starting point. Ensuring that hiring of para-teachers (untrained teachers) stops or they are trained would be a prerequisite for up scaling of computer education.

A suggestion offered previously in the discussion was to introduce computer education in the curriculum. However, let’s not forget that only a fraction of teachers hold professional BEd degrees. A lot of states have done away with the requirement to hold them in the first case. It would, therefore, be an incomplete step in that direction if we rely only on pre-service training The alternative is in-service training. Only 40% teachers in government schools had received training in the previous year (with the figure going down to 26% for government aided schools). Therefore, one would need to keep in mind the reality of teacher training when planning teacher training processes.

One solution that may come to mind is mobile teachers providing computer education to several schools. This should be feasible, provided a sufficient number is hired and they are given transportation. However, this would involve the risk of adding another layer to the already stratified teacher profession. Ensuring that the teachers already in place are used instead of adding further layers would be a better idea in my opinion.

In conclusion, I am not an ICT expert, but a manager of education programs from within the NGO sector who has 50

some understanding of how the system operates in the most interior areas. If the government is to come up with a policy for its citizens, it should be a policy that reaches out to all of them- and that means also reaching out to the most excluded and marginalised. The real challenge in my opinion is how to find the resources to reach out to these areas and the solution for this may not come from the few isolated small scale NGO experiments backed with plentiful funds, but in the overall processes of strengthening the public school system.

Consequently, the need for ICT infrastructure in government schools cannot be seen in isolation from the overall questions of quality and I hope the policy would recognise the actual reality of abyssmal infrastructure overall and doesn’t result in computers at the expense of books, blackboards and charts, but rather in both being present in all schools (not just a few elite rural schools).

June 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in

research innovation Queries

Respondents

Suggestions on the role and types of research in understanding untapped user needs in schools.

• •

Suggestions on how to seed, discover, incubate, and upscale innovation for enhanced effectiveness in the teaching-learning process.

Anindya Kumar Banerjee, Panchayats and RD Department, Government of West Bengal, Kolkata M V Ananthakrishnan, Developmental Infomatics Lab, KReSIT, IIT Bombay, Mumbai

Anindya K Banerjee, Panchayats& Rural Development Department, Govt of West Bengal, Kolkata

‘Innovation, an easy word but difficult to attain’ Innovation is an easy word for all but difficult to attain, yet when you work with students who experiment with the great tool you will probably notice they are more innovative at times and with more and more unemployed youth some open competition on “Innovative Ideas” and you get a lot of ideas to work with.

Research, well, for this there are agencies and NGOs and government agencies or even retired employees from the education department who can be or may be used to do the research to bring in new avenues that will help generate revenues for the private partner and awareness on newer technologies for ICT@School.

In West Bengal I have seen that once the students are able to learn the basic concept they love experimenting and come out with great creative things and thus innovate things which matter to them the most “learn”. I would ask all members to give one weekend to each student in a month to show his/her creativity in using ICT as a tool to churn out

“INNOVATIVE THINGS”. Yes, the student who delivers the best (let the teachers and senior students decide) gets additional 5 marks on the net marks in his home exams/final exams.

How to seed, discover, incubate, and upscale innovation for enhanced effectiveness in the teaching-learning process!

It is already discussed for [a]. Trainer/teachers to let the imagination go wild they need Vitamin “M” i.e. Money, believe it or not we all work for it so be it. [b]. For the student community we should give them free room to innovate and incubate ideas from their mind and the free flow of these as matter/content [c]. Seek parents to send their innovative ideas in sealed envelopes to the Headmaster to read aloud a few of them each day in the assembly (so if there are 1000 students there will be 1000 ideas) VOILA!! We would get a lot to learn every day. Unless imaginations fly we will not be able to think great things for our own future our kids.

M V Ananthakrishnan, Developmental Infomatics Lab, KReSIT, IIT Bombay, Mumbai

‘Throw-away prototyping to be adopted as one goes on improving and adding value’ The research areas that need to be explored are: (a) An important factor to remember that the student is the customer for education. (b) A thorough understanding of the learning process of children in terms of approach that are most effective. (c) Development of prototype lessons and their field testing with children. A number of cycles with students from different scenarios would add value to the approach. (d) Throw-away prototyping to be adopted as one goes on improving and adding value. (e) School teachers should be involved in developing school curricula and instructional resources. School principals/ headmasters should play a supporting role (and not a dictatorial one) to the teachers and students. (f) The role of students in the selection of courseware (either in-house or vendor-supplied). (g) Thrust must be on adding value to concepts/principles Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 6 June 2008

through localisation of content. (h) Researchers must go on to the field to get data and not work on data collected through questionnaires. They must interview all the stakeholders I education (students, parents, teachers, headmasters, trustees, administrators, end-users both from industry and academics). (i) Research projects should be such that their results are verifiable and sustainable. Teams should visit the endusers at regular intervals (for at least three years) even after the projects are completed.

IIT Bombay can provide examples of how the end-user (the student) was actively involved in the development of an ICT-based solution to educate the children of nomadic tribes. In fact this work has been awarded the FIRST PRIZE by UNESCO in the non-formal education category of 2007.

51

Collaborative Technologies for Enhanced Teaching

School Track

www.ukieri.org

I

CT can improve the quality of teaching, learning and management in schools and so help raise standards. When the quality teaching and learning is done creatively and collaboratively, it works wonder for the education community in terms of their capacity building. That’s why ICT is at the heart of the UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI) commitment to improving learning

education workshop. The three day workshop at British Council was attended by a total of 54 Indian and UK participants.

Till date the UKIERI programme has brought together 245 schools in India and UK who are working together on mutually agreed collaborative projects in subject areas such as Environmental Sciences, Sports, Languages, Entrepreneurship, etc.

Power Learning for all through innovation, research, and collaboration. The school strand of the UKIERI was launched to contribute significantly to the UKIERI’s aim of creating a lifelong relationship between young people in UK and India and to assist them in meeting their need to live and operate in a global economy.

The UKIERI cluster school partnership is supported by the Leadership and ICT Components of the programme that allow schools participating in the programme to evolve strategically and make best use of the opportunities through harnessing appropriate technology and tools for education.

The ICT workshop introduced the concept of using ICT based tools to enhance collaborative technology and encourages participants to tap the creative talents of their students through use of digital video dairies, blogging and podcasting. The participants also learned and planned a strategy for using ICT to collaborate effectively, during the workshop.

The teacher representatives from various schools of UK and India have the opinion that the techniques learnt will empower them to allow their students to explore their subject areas innovatively and express themselves effectively and strengthen bonds with their partner schools in both countries. Digital Learning further captures the views and experiences of Ewan McIntosh, the ICT Consultant of British Council, who is also the National Adviser, Learning and Technology Futures, Learning and Teaching Scotland.

Moving forward with this aim, an ICT in education workshop was organised by the UKIERI programme from 17-19 April 2008 at British Council, New Delhi which encouraged teachers to use creative collaborative technologies for enhanced teaching and learning experiences. It was facilitated by Ewan McIntosh of Optima, Baldev Singh of Imagine Education. Kanta Vadehra, Head School Programmes, and Rittika Chandra Parruck, Manager School Programmes, British Council, Delhi were also facilitating the ICT and

52

June 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in

Emerging Pedagogies Impact Emerging Technologies

more to tweak and add to previous work. Moreover, students on two continents can work together, at the same time on the same text, video or project display.

Ewan McIntish (ewan@ ewanmcintosh.com), The Optima, ICT Consultant, British Council, Scotland

In April, I was fortunate to work with about 90 British and Indian teachers in Delhi, helping them discover the kind of collaborative tools that allow impressive digital products to be made in, literally, minutes.

The workshops were arranged as part of the British Council’s UKIndia Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI). What we saw there were teachers who had often never met, getting to know each other over a collaborative task, and seeing concerns about their goals, potential outcomes and the crowded curriculum back home simply evaporate throughout the course of making photostories, videos, planning mindmaps and uploading content to the net to share with the folk back home. The teachers, for once, felt like their students will: they forgot they were learning, but had never learnt so much in such a short time.

It’s been about five years since I heard anyone ask whether or not technology should be part of learning.

The simple truth is that technology permeates every part of our lives, no matter how ‘unconnected’ we might feel. Whether through the pervasive mobile phone, particularly in India, or through high-speed broadband, technology such as search and Wikipedia has made knowledge a commodity, and social networks have made connecting with others around the world a routine. The role of formal education is arguably in showing how one gains wisdom from the combination of these people and this knowledge.

It has its challenges: old pedagogies (chalk and talk, sage on the stage) simply don’t work any more, particularly when these technologies are brought into the classroom, but even when they are banned, blocked or filtered: young people’s expectations are reaching well beyond what teacher-centric classrooms were ever able to offer.

New collaborative technologies do not simply involve one or two children at a time, while the rest stare on in envy (the oxymoron of average Interactive Whiteboard use).

Web-based collaboration allows us to work over longer periods of time (another change-maker from the Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issu 6 June 2008

50-minute lesson secondary teachers are used to) to achieve more complex outcomes.

We can share photographs in a click, make photostories with audio backing, picking up on the sights, sounds and soul of a place. We’ve not quite got internet smell yet. With a tool like Animoto.com, students can create MTV-like music videos containing photographs of their place of work or their home. For a 12 year-old this is more along the lines of their expectations than a two-dimensional PowerPoint and awkward oral presentation in front of their friends.

The ease with which material can be exchanged, from class to class, rather than student to student, reinforces teamwork and the frequency with which communication can take place.

It also opens up the door to more effective pedagogy. Traditionally, teachers could be seen passing the veto on any work that was not fit to be placed in the envelope or class email for the partner school.

However, frequent exchange of material, especially when it’s not yet the finished product, allows students to peer-assess their work, influence the final outcome to make it better.

Because these multimedia products have become so easy to edit, remix and republish, it’s not a big deal any

Learning how to use the latest collaboration and creative tools that are out there, for free or for a few dollars, is in itself not difficult. The software designers have done their job in making tools easy to access.

The real skills are in getting to know people in your education community and in the wider global education community. One of the key learning points in the recent UKIERI workshops was that sharing

One of the key learning points in the recent UKIERI workshops was that sharing ideas and outcomes on the UKIERI website will help spawn future projects. It’s hard for many teachers to see this until they do it, and see it happen, but the very act of sharing projects on the World Wide Web means that someone, somewhere will find it and be keen to expand on those ideas, or kick off a new project 53

Take the art teacher who, since his UKIERI visit, has started a learning log (http://zhoeben.edublogs.org/), attended an “unconference” of teachers wanting to effect change through technology (http://tinyurl.com/2oes6l) and has got his students creating their own television channel online to share their work with a partner school in Delhi (http://fortismere.blip.tv/) ideas and outcomes on the UKIERI website will help spawn future projects. It’s hard for many teachers to see this until they do it, and see it happen, but the very act of sharing projects on the World Wide Web means that someone, somewhere will find it and be keen to expand on those ideas, or kick off a new project.

Anyone can set up a weblog for free on the web (try http://edublogs.org) and, with one familiar face as an online learning buddy and critical friend, a learning community is spawned. Before you know it you’ll have a small audience of colleagues, learning from your experiences. I started mine three years ago. I now have around one million people a year finding stuff out from my learning log.

Teachers generally have no problem taking on this learning journey - it’s refreshing, motivating and

54

the feedback from students and parents makes the extra initial effort worthwhile. Convincing school managers and education districts to change their ways requires more of a groundswell movement. Again, teachers in Scotland, my home country, have found that their blog posts and face-to-face “blog meets” in cities around the country have started to effect change in the curriculum. They have found that the technologies they have pioneered are now the perfect vehicles for opening up the curriculum and breaking down the subject barriers that pervade the secondary sector.

Some of the projects that have been created in the past few months illustrate this. Take the art teacher who, since his UKIERI visit, has started a learning log (http:// zhoeben.edublogs.org/), attended an “unconference” of teachers wanting to effect change through technology (http://tinyurl.com/2oes6l) and has

got his students creating their own television channel online to share their work with a partner school in Delhi (http://fortismere.blip.tv/).

It’s all for free. He’s also started using a photo-sharing website, which he previously used as an online gallery for his students’ artwork, as a collaborative project with his partner school (http:// tinyurl.com/65g63x).

You don’t need to be part of an organised scheme like UKIERI to make a start with your international collaborative project. Just this month, a colleague in Glasgow, Scotland, has struck up a short-term poetry project with a school in the USA. On The Street Where You Live (http://tinyurl.com/6rcbcx) involves two schools’ students writing poetry that describes the street on which they live, and publishing it to one collaborative blog. While the project is between two schools, there is nothing to stop similar projects beginning on a simple blog (edublogs.org) or, if you’re stuck for finding a partner, you could always join in an existing project like On The Street Where You Live.

The impact of emerging technologies is not in the motivation that they appear to create in students (which can wear off in time) or in an inherent educational goal of the product (normally, the tools being used are not designed for education). The impact from emerging technologies comes from the emerging pedagogies that they enable and encourage.

Peer-assessment, student-led learning is hard to do without the flexibility and potential for out-of-hours learning that web and mobile-based technologies allow. So, while teachers often ask for research to show the impact of these technologies, they are probably looking in the wrong place. The impact will come from the pedagogies employed by the best education systems in the world, with some of the highest attainment and, most important, highest enjoyment in learning.

June 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in

News world Jamaica library service making use of ICT

The report states that Jordan showed the most marked improvement with a massive 11 step rise to 47th place.

Saudi Arabia and Oman entered the ranking for the first time at 48th and 53rd place respectively. In terms of internet penetration and network readiness the region saw a massive 600% improvement.

UN pact for rights of disabled comes into force A UN convention aimed at ensuring equal rights for the world’s 650 million disabled people in work, education and social life recently came into force.

Director General of the Jamaica Library Service (JLS), Patricia Roberts

The Jamaica Library Service (JLS), opened its doors to the Ministry of Energy, Mining, and Telecommunications, which is seeking to establish community points for computer and internet access, so that persons can use these facilities free of cost at public libraries islandwide.

The pact, the first of its kind and billed by the United Nations as the first new human rights treaty of the 21st Century, took effect 30 days after being ratified by 20 countries that have signed it. That figure has since risen to 25, but does not include the United States and Russia.

The pact stipulates that the disabled may not be excluded from mainstream education systems. It demands that governments provide them with physical access to transportation, schools, housing, medical facilities and workplaces.

There are approximately 131 libraries, which make up the public library network, with some 100 libraries outfitted with computers. Of this number, 83 libraries, along with one mobile library, have internet access.

Mauritania modernises its technology

The UAE continues to lead Middle East’s ICT readiness

The Prime Minister explained the benefits of the technology and outlined the roll-out of the technology throughout the government. The government also decided to computerise all the ministries.

The UAE continues to lead the Middle East’s information and communication technology (ICT) readiness index at 29th place, even as other countries in the region moved up, according to the Global Information Technology Report (GITR).

The big movers in the rankings were Qatar and Kuwait both of which jumped up four places to occupy 32nd and 52nd place respectively, while Bahrain moved into the top 50 for the first time coming in at 45th.

56

Recently, the ministry of technology in Mauritania inaugurated a video conferencing system in its Naoakchhott offices.

Approximately 400 delegates from around the world are attending the threeday conference.

Currently, Namibia is in the process of starting the implementation of the Third National Development Plan (NDP3), which emphasises the importance of technology and innovation in achieving the goals set out in it. The Ministry of Education has embarked on a comprehensive ICT initiative popularly known as Tech/Na! aimed at integrating ICT in the education system.

IGNOU expands courses in Qatar The Indira Gandhi National Open University’s (IGNOU) off campus centre, MES Indian School, will soon be providing undergraduate courses in science and doctorate programmes.

The MES off campus centre, which started in 2000, offers many courses, including the much sought after bachelor’s degree programmes in education, commerce and business administration.

Bachelors Preparatory Programme (BPP), a six-month course, is a special feature of the university. The course enables anyone educated up to seventh grade gain entry into undergraduate courses.

Sheffield home to world’s largest e-Llibrary

Tech/Na! in Namibia

Sheffield, the e-Learning capital of the UK, is now home to the world’s largest and most sophisticated library of eLearning materials. It is being marketed worldwide by Learning Light, the Sheffield-based non-profit centre for the use of learning technologies within the workplace.

The Minister of Education Nangolo Mbumba officially opened the ISTAfrica conference in the capital and said that it will be a significant opportunity to jump start the EU-Africa Strategic Partnership on Science, Information Society and Space, which was agreed to at the EU-Africa Summit, held in Lisbon in December last year.

The library consists of over 750 hours worth of UK-developed e-Learning content with a value of £15 million. It is being marketed by Learning Light in partnership with Cambridge University Press to jointly promote the learning materials in international markets.

June 2008 | www.digitalLearninG.in

Mark Your Calendar june Embracing Innovative eLearning Technologies 2 - 4 June 2008 Sydney, NSW Australia http://www.arkgroupaustralia.com.au/events-c018embracingelearning.htm

The Emerging Global University Market 5- 6 June 2008 Reykjavik, Iceland IEEE International Workshop on Mobile, Ubiquitous and Classroom Technology Enhanced Learning 11 - 13 June 2008 Taichung, Taiwan http://muctel2008.nutn.edu.tw

The 5th International Seminar on Quality Management in Higher Education - QMHE 2008 12-14 June 2008 Tulcea, Romania http:////www.cetex.tuiasi.ro/qmhe2008/

ACA Annual Conference ‘Beyond 2010 - Priorities and Challenges for Higher Education in the Next Decade’ 15 - 17 June 2008 Tallinn, Estonia www.aca-secretariat.be/08events/upcoming.htm

The 3rd International Conference on e-Learning 26 -27 June 2008 Cape Town, Western Cape South Africa http://academic-conferences.org/icel/icel2008/icel08home.htm

july

The 2nd African Council for Distance Education( ACDE) Conference and General Assembly 8 - 11 July 2008 Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria http://www.nou.edu.ng/noun/acde2008

The 5th Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning: Access to Learning for Development 13 - 17 July 2008 London, United Kingdom http://www.col.org/pcf5 Paris International Conference on Education, Economy & Society 17 - 19 July 2008 Paris, France http://www.education-conferences.org

International Workshop on Social and Personal Computing for Web-Supported Learning Communities (SPeL 2008) 28 July - 1 August 2008 Turku, Finland http://software.ucv.ro/~popescu_elvira/spel2008

iSummit 2008 29 July 2008 - 1 August 2008 Sapporo, Japan http://icommons.org/isummit/

eIndia 2008, India’s Largest ICT Event 29 - 31 July 2008 Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, INDIA www.eIndia.net.in

august

Register Now!

24th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning 5 -8 August 2008 Madison, Wisconsin, Wisconsin, United States http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference

The 8th IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies - ICALT 08 1 - 5 July 2008 Santander, Cantabria, Spain http://www.ask4research.info/icalt/2008/

International Conference on Open Learning and Distance Education OLDE’08 13-15 August 2008 Vienna, Austria

www.eINDIA.net.in/register

http://wahss.org/ Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 4 April 2008

Enlist Your Event Here. Write to info@digitalLEARNING.in

57

Subscription Order Card

subscribe Now!

Unbelievable cut !!!

The new subscription prices are on offer:

digital LEARNING

Duration (Year) 1 2 3

Issues Subscription USD 12 100 24 150 36 250

Old Subscription Price INR 2160 4080 5040

New Subscription Price INR 900 1500 2000

*Please make cheque/dd in favour of CSDMS, payable at New Delhi

Three easy ways to subscribe: Web : Log on to http://www.digitalLEARNING.in/subscribe.asp and submit the subscription form online.

Fax : Complete the information below and fax it to +91 120 2500060 Post : Complete the information below and send it to Digital Learning magazine, CSDMS, G-4 Sector 39, Noida 201 301, U.P. India Tel +91 120 250 2180 to 85 Fax +91 120 2500060 Email info@digitalLEARNING.in Web www.digitalLEARNING.in

www.digitalLEARNING.in

I/We would like to subscribe to monthly

digital Learning

magazine!

Please fill this form in Capital Letters First name.................................................... Last name ..........................................................

Designation/profession ................................................. Organisation .......................................

Mailing address .........................................................................................................................

City .............................................................................. Postal code .........................................

State . ........................................................................... Country ..............................................

Telephone...................................................................... Fax .....................................................

Email ............................................................................ Website ..............................................

I/We would like to subscribe for

1

2

3

Years

I am enclosing a cheque/DD No. ............................ Drawn on ...................... (Specify Bank) Dated ......................................................... in favour of CSDMS payable at New Delhi.

For Rs./USD ................................................................................................................... only Subscription Terms & Conditions: Payments for mailed subscriptions are only accepted via cheque or demand draft • Cash payments may be made in person • Please add Rs. 50 for outstation cheque • Allow four weeks for processing of your subscription • International subscription is inclusive of postal charges

Rush Your Subscription Request!

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 58 Fax +91-120-2500060

May 2007 | www.digitalLearning.in

速

4th

29 - 31 July 2008 Pragati Maidan, New Delhi Organisers

Co-organisers

Ministry of Human Resource Development Government of India

knowledge for change

Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications & IT Government of India

UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development

Supporting partners 速

The World Bank e-Development Thematic Group

Higher Education Partners

School Partners

CBSE

IGNOU

University of Delhi

NIOS

Digital Learning Sponsors and Exhibitors Diamond sponsor

Learning partner

Gold sponsors

Assessment partner

Platinum sponsor

Associate sponsors

Silver sponsors

empowering education... enabling careers

Exhibitors

empowering education... enabling careers

For sponsorship and exhibition enquiry, contact: Siddharth Verma(+91-9811561645), DL@eINDIA.net.in

www.eINDIA.net.in