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Asia’s First Monthly Magazine on ICT in Education
VOLUME 7 | ISSUE 04 | april 2011 | ISSN 0973-4139 | `75 www.digitalLEARNING.in
INTERACTIVE
WHITEBOARDs bringing life to classrooms
A comprehensive coverage of the interactive whiteboard market scenario in India
Watch out for 13-15 JULY 2011 the ashok, New Delhi, INDIA www.worldeducationsummit.net
Š 2011 SMART Technologies. All rights reserved. The SMART logo, smarttech and all SMART taglines are trademarks or registered trademarks of SMART Technologies in the U.S. and/or other countries. 11014-08
Create a new look in your classrooms. Visit smarttech.com.
Getting students to grin, gasp and grow is easy with SMART education solutions. We support you all the way with everything from exceptional products to premium digital resources.
The new face of learning
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In the world of interactive teaching, Mimio products stand apart. The NEW MimioClassroom™ family of products. We took award-winning teaching technologies. We gathered meticulous input from teachers and administrators. We then challenged some of the best engineering minds in the industry to create an entirely new standard. All MimioClassroom tools are designed to work together. Simply. The MimioTeach™ interactive system transforms the whiteboards you already have into interactive whiteboards. The MimioCapture™ ink recording system lets you use dry erase markers to write, edit, and erase directly to your computer. The MimioVote™ assessment system provides instant testing results with a handset that’s easier for students—it automatically renumbers in a convenient storage and charging tray. The MimioView™ document camera displays high-resolution images and launches the onscreen software simultaneously. When Ken Royal of Scholastic experienced the new MimioClassroom tools, he said they were “…simple to use, priced right, and not confusing for teachers….” Exactly what we had in mind.
For any kind of queries: Please call mimio-India sales @ +91-120-2488809 or email to mimioinquiry@mimio.com www.mimio.dymo.com
Contents
digitalLEARNING
cover story
Volume 7 > issue 04 > april 2011 issn 0973-4139
rni no. upeng/2008/25311
44
P Kishore Managing Director, Everonn
story 08 cover Interactive Whiteboards: Bringing L|FE to Classrooms
A comprehensive coverage of the interactive whiteboard market scenario in India
interview
16 Abhilesh Guleria
Country Head - IT Platform and Display Solutions Business, NEC India
event report MDI’s International 24 ICISTM-2011: IT Conference 2011: Shaping Youth’s 59 EDGE Future with Higher Education
corporate profile Initiative in 44 Everonn Bettering Education
corporate diary Education Now a Real54 Distance Time Experience
62 Vinod John
Senior Director (Sales), SunGard Higher Education in conversation
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school focus
62
Vinod John Senior Director (Sales), SunGard
British School: Advamced 56 The Learning with Advent of IWB
66 product Innovative Education Concepts
advertorial
06 Hitachi 15 Mimio 18 Almoe 20 Aveco 21 Dispro Visual 22 Cybernetyx 26 Smart 52 Cybernetyx
regular features India News 46 Business News 49
Visit www.digitallearning.in for news, interviews, resources and articles on ICT in education in India
editorial
Interactive Whiteboards: Creating a Stir in the Education Sector
Advisory Board Prof. Asha Kanwar, Vice President, Commonwealth of Learning Dr. Jyrki Pulkkinen, CEO, Global eSchools & Communities Initiative (GeSCI) Shri Subhash C Khuntia, Joint Secretary, Department School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India Prof. V N Rajasekharan Pillai, Vice Chancellor, Indira GandhiI National Open University (IGNOU) President: Dr. M P Narayanan Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Ravi Gupta Editorial Team: Dr. Prachi Shirur, Dr. Rajeshree Dutta Kumar, Divya Chawla, Sheena Joseph, Pratap Vikram Singh, Dhirendra Pratap Singh Sales & Marketing Team: Debabrata Ray, Arpan Dasgupta, Bharat Kumar Jaiswal, Fahimul Haque (Mobile: +91-8860651632), Rakesh Ranjan (sales@elets.in) Subscription & Circulation: Gunjan Singh Mobile: +91-9718289123 (subscription@elets.in) Graphic Design Team: Bishwajeet Kumar Singh, Om Prakash Thakur, Shyam Kishore Web Development Team: Zia Salahuddin, Amit Pal, Anil Kumar IT Team: Mukesh Sharma Events: Vicky Kalra Editorial & Marketing Correspondence
All over the world, Interactive Whiteboards (IWBs) have played a major role in spreading the use of technology in education. Over time, IWBs have not only made teaching and learning more engaging and productive but also adapted to the changing trends in the educational context. In view of the transforming reforms in the school education sector, IWBs have transformed their functioning to suit classroom requirements. With the education market size in India estimated to be $ 50 billion by 2015 according to reports by ASSOCHAM, the potential growth of technology in this sector is tremendous, although it can also be highlighted that integration of ICTs in education is still at a nascent stage in India. The proliferation of schools and educational institutes today provide a large and untapped market for the IWB sector. Challenges in the use of IWBs such as teachers training and provision of regular supply of electricity have to be addressed by provision of efficient tools and training solutions. Financial barriers of educational institutes can be overcome through low-cost and adaptable solutions. For a student, IWBs pose more of an excitement rather than a challenge, coming from their intrinsic nature to learn and adapt to newer technologies. Solution providers have bombarded the market with IWB packages, complete with teacher training kits and accessories, with no dearth of choices in the sector. We hope to see an education market in India replete with examples of appropriate integration of technology to fulfill the teaching and learning aspirations of millions of students and teachers alike. The teaching community will only be too open to change as long as their initial apprehensions towards technology are addressed through proper and relevant training and orientation. The possibilities are immense and the future will see greater innovations to suit the education technology requirements. The Interactive Whiteboard special issue seeks to highlight the role of IWBs in the Indian market and also puts the spotlight on voices from the education stakeholders. Also, as a continuation of our efforts in profiling leading edupreneurs, we bring an exclusive interview coverage with Kishore, Managing Director, Everonn, the company that is now one of the leading players in the education sector. Watch out for more of such inspiring interviews in our upcoming issues.
digitalLearning - G-4 Sector 39, NOIDA 201301, India, Phone: +91 120 2502181-85, Fax: +91 120 2500060 Email: info@digitalLearning.in digitalLEARNING is published by Elets Technomedia Pvt. Ltd. in technical collaboration with Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies (CSDMS). Owner, Publisher, Printer - Ravi Gupta, Printed at Vinayak Print Media D-320, Sector 10, Noida, U.P. and published from 710, Vasto Mahagun Manor, F-30, Sector - 50, Noida, UP Editor: Ravi Gupta
Dr. Ravi Gupta Editor-in-Chief Ravi.Gupta@digitallearning.in
digitalLEARNING / april 2011
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advertorial
Hitachi’s StarBoard, FX TRIO Ruling IWB Market With technology advancement in Interactive WhiteBoards, Hitachi is delivering the best digital learning equipment in the form of StarBoard and multiple user accessible FX TRIO 77 and 88
Hitachi StarBoard: Reliable Interactive WhiteBoard Technology
Tarun Jain Country Head
H
itachi Limited, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics worth 100 billion dollar company with approximately 400,000 employees worldwide and having expertise across sectors like information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials, logistics and financial services. Hitachi offers advanced interactive whiteboards, cutting-edge LCD projectors and premium LCD and LED televisions. Hitachi is also a world leader in the LCD projector space, including ultra and ultimate -short throw projector technology which virtually eliminates shadows. For more information visit www.hitachiconsumer.com/in
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Powered by the most advanced presentation software available – the StarBoard Software Suite - the Hitachi StarBoard technology is easy to install and operate.
StarBoard Link EZ (Mobile Unit) Advanced StarBoard Link EZ which allows you to write with the finger, digital pen or any other object and which turns your dry erase boards or any wall into fully functioning interactive whiteboards of 45” to 90” diagonal sizes.
StarBoard DCHD5M Document Camera The StarBoard DCHD-5M document camera is a precise and efficient visualising tool. It enriches lessons and makes them more interactive, exciting and dynamic. By projecting the image of any object onto the whiteboard, the users get full control over presentations and visualise any object in real time and in 3D.
StarBoard FX-TRIO Series Interactive Whiteboards Hitachi FX-TRIO 77 and 88 is the world’s first interactive whiteboard which allows three people to write with the finger, digital pen or any other object simultaneously. The FX-TRIO also benefits from a superior surface (anti glare and anti hotspot) and boasts improved accuracy and durability.
StarBoard FX Series Interactive Whiteboards Premium FX Series Star Board interactive whiteboards are equipped with industry’s best anti-glare surface to enhance picture clarity. These products are available in two sizes categories: 77” and 82”, pen operated.
StarBoard Interactive Wireless Tablet The Hitachi Starboard WT-1 allows you to use the interactive whiteboard wirelessly. The users can comfortably control lessons and presentations on the interactive whiteboard up to 10 meters away from your computer. Seven such devices can be connected to one PC at the same time for interactive group work.
StarBoard Panel The Hitachi Starboard Panels provides the full functionality of an interactive whiteboard through a 17”/19” LCD display.
Hitachi LCD Projectors New generation Hitachi projectors, meet the diverse needs of corporate and educators. With advanced Ultimate Short Throw technology on select models, they offer unparalleled clarity and brightness, coupled with practicality, portability and ease of use. A combination of great features, including reduced short throw distance, easy installation, shadow free and networking capability create the ultimate solution to your projection needs. This is an ideal presentation tool for education and business development.
Achievements Combination of industry best LCD projectors and interactive whiteboard technology deliver customised presentation solutions and superlative picture quality. Advanced Hitachi ultimate-short projectors, especially designed for usage with interactive whiteboards shadow less presentation. Ultra-durable StarBoard series interactive whiteboards continue to function even when dented. \\
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INTERACTIVE WHITEBOARDS:
BRINGING LIFE TO CLASSROOMS
Going out of tradition is hard-hitting and resistive on Indian mindsets. Developing human capability through education technologies is yet to catch up in India. digitalLearning brings out a comprehensive reportage of IWB market scenario in India. Equipped with perspective of service providers and education stake holders we bring out the emphasising on the status of IWB usage in India and level of acceptance among educators. Read on to get an in depth analysis of overall global trends and how IWBs have impacted the Indian education sector
By Pragya Gupta
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ndia’s Education sector is likely to step up its IT spending to about USD 704 million in 2012, reflecting in a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 19 percent during 2007-2012 says the Springboard research report. Traditional education system has undergone a vast change moving out of the era of the blackboard, classroom and conventional methods of teaching to a more intelligent, digitised and smarter way of imparting knowledge. One of the major tools emerged in this changed education system is interactive whiteboard. According to Future Source Consulting, an independent global research company that tracks interactive
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Emerging Technologies The future of the IWB is vivid. More and more players are coming in with innovative technology and solutions. Here are some latest solutions are about to hit the market. Cybernetyx: Cybernetyx plans to launch interactive, multi-touch 77 inches video wall for the education and government vertical at affordable prices significantly lower than generic video walls. Cybernetyx is planning to launch its interactive video wall ONFINIA Interactive Video Walls with rear projection and multi touch technology in the fourth week of April in India and Germany. However, the solution is deployed in some premium schools in the country. Mimio: It converts ordinary whiteboard into an interactive whiteboard - instantly. The MimioTeach interactive system is a device in a compact bar shape which is to be placed on existing whiteboard. It connects computer to a standard projector. It makes everything accessible on a computer from a whiteboard. It also lets the teacher create engaging lessons with MimioStudio software.
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whiteboard sales, about 7,500 (Rs 75 crore in value terms) IWBs were sold in India in 2009. The agency projects this to touch 28,000 units (Rs280 crore) this year and 70,000 (Rs 700 crore) in the next. The Indian education segment has realised the potential and effectiveness of imparting knowledge through technology, more and more institutes are adopting interactive whiteboards and various audio-visual techniques like projectors and LCDs. Interactive Whiteboards in the Indian education system has started playing instrumental in enhanced teaching experience. However, the market is still in the nascent stage but almost majority of schools and higher education are showing interest in Interactive Whiteboards into their classroom. Metro cities have grasped the IWB technology very well. Interactive Whiteboards help teachers to record sessions and share them with students. IWB have tools for presentation like spotlight, snapshot, reveal, sharing. Using the software, teacher can write, draw and annotate on its surface and navigates the computer functions from interactive whiteboard with finger or pen. This powerful versatile teaching tool allows electronic files to be used later for repeated sessions or mails to absent student as an attachment. The software has a built in library of images on different subjects which the teachers
can use into their lessons.IWB enables the user to draw, write or making notes, drag and mark up onto the surface controlling the PC. Looking at the lurching market third party research has shown that students and teachers around the world are benefiting from the use of interactive whiteboards and are witness to increased student engagement, learner retention and motivation, improved test scores and attendance are among few of the results. There are various types of interactive whiteboards and devices available in the Indian market. Interactive white
Transforming Lessons into Experience: The Leading Players’ Whiteboard market in India is divided broadly into four categories: Branded boards, Chinese boards, and Indian boards and Devices players. eInstruction, Genee, Hitachi, Panasonic, Promethean, Samsung, SMART come under branded segment. In Chinese segment, Zoulong has been doing well in the Indian market. Globus Infocom is the Indian player predominantly catering to the government vertical. Mimio and eBeam offers devices to
about 7,500 interactive whiteboard were sold in India in 2009. The agency projects this to touch 28,000 units (Rs280 crore) this year and 70,000 (Rs 700 crore) in the next boards are boards which are truly interactive by nature and Devices help in converting normal LCD screens to interactive whiteboard. IR (Infra Red) interactive whiteboard uses infra red beam to make the board touch sensitive. A resistive membrane board consists of two resistive sheets separated by air gap. Electromagnetic Board is composed of grid of wires, operated with stylus.
for 21st Century Learning ScienTech: ScienTech has launched eBeam Engage. Their interactive whiteboard device combines more than ten multimedia and navigation tools in one sleek console to make lesson delivery effective and fun. Wireless keyboard eliminates need to toggle between computer and interactive surface combined with high fidelity JBL speakers. SMART: SMART plans to launch its latest interactive and intuitive product SB885 ix in July. It enhance the power of collaborative learning by enabling two users to instantly and easily work on its surface at the same time using their fingers or a pen. The integrated system combines an interactive whiteboard with an ultra-short-throw projector that virtually eliminates shadows and glare, a multiuser Pen Tray and a control panel that enables teachers to manage all classroom technology products from the front of the classroom. Clarity : ONFINITY Portable Interactive Whiteboard System Model CM2 Max helps to convert whiteboard, projection screen, plasma or wall into an interactive whiteboard instantly with help of existing multimedia projector.
the market to convert LCDs into interactive boards.
Leading Players (In an alphabetical Order) Aveco: Aveco offers include the most basic features to the most sophisticated technology which are for the customer’s benefit and substantial value Clarity: Clarity India Learning Solutions is a subsidiary of Young India Films, and focuses on Primary, Montessori and Secondary Education. They offer activity based learning offering high quality teaching learning material. Cybernetyx: Cybernetyx’s approach is to introduce further newer devices, and disruptive technology in the learning space. “The rapid benchmarks established by our EyeRIS interactive systems in such a small time, in terms of the user acceptance, and technological breakthroughs, would be made incrementally progressive in the other parallel devices and technologies from Cybernetyx. One of the major fundamentals of the Natural User Interface paradigm of Cybernetyx’s Visual Touch technology is “creation through collaboration” enabling collaborative and distance learning through the cloud,” informed Nishant S. digitalLEARNING / april 2011
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Rajawat, Director-Technology (APAC), Cybernetyx India Disprovisual: DISPRO interactive boards are made with latest American E-Beam technology, needs multimedia DLP or LCD projector and a USB port to convert in to interactive whiteboard. eBeam: The ebeam is a dongle that converts any flat surface into IWB. It’s at the centre of many IWBs on the market and uses IR signals for input. It accepts input from a battery powered pen. It needs calibration of the board. Genee: Genee have comparatively low price complete classroom solutions including visualises and slates. Globus: It is an Indian manufacturer and their IWBs are reasonably priced. Hitachi: Hitachi Starboard offers good quality in terms of robustness, accuracy and warranty; it allows interaction from finger and pen. It allows two handed interaction allowing up to nine people to
use the board simultaneously. It can use dry wipe marker on the board. Mimio: Mimio offers devices that convert normal LCD into IWB. It accepts input from a battery-powered pen along with handwriting recognition. Promethean: Promethean ActivBoards offer interactive whiteboard solutions. Interactive whiteboards are a key component to Promethean’s all-in-one 21st century classroom solution: The ActivClassroom. Promethean offers a range of interactive whiteboard solutions to meet needs of today’s classroom. Samsung: Samsung India Electronics (P) Ltd recently unveiled its solutions for the education segment with latest display solutions and customised applications on the Galaxy tab making the classroom room experience more interactive. Samsung aims to tap educational institutes, plans to focus on 9 cities
in India which include – Delhi/NCR, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Ahmedabad in its first phase of roll out. Samsung plans to target 20000+ educational institutes in the country with both IT and Mobility solutions. SMART: SMART’s integrated classroom solutions includes combining the following: SMART Board interactive whiteboard, ultra short-throw projector and audio system with single power source, SMART Notebook collaborative learning software, training and professional development, services and support, content and access to the online community designed for educators, the SMART Exchange which now offers more than 51,000 digital resources. Zhulong: It is the highest selling Chinese interactive whiteboard available in the Indian market due to comparatively lower price.
FACTORS DRIVING GROWTH Sanjiv Pande, Director for India, South Asia, SMART Technologies: One major factor driving the interactive whiteboard market in India is the pedagogical value and proven results of adopting interactive whiteboards into millions of classrooms globally. This research has shown that students and teachers around the world are benefiting from the use of interactive whiteboards and are witness to increased student engagement, learner retention and motivation, improved test scores and attendance are among few of the results. Mohammad Ghouse, Country Manager, ScienTech: India is the fastest growing nation in the field of education. One of the widely accepted theories is the Million classroom market in India. The easy availability of quality content and growing number of Content providers and it is the demand of Gen Y.
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Nitin Joshi, Sales Manager - Indian Subcontinent Mimio: In the Indian market adoption of IWB technology (which is accelerating) will continue to be driven by perceived value but within an increasingly rigorous assessment of functional and supportive attributes. In addition to purchase price, educators and educational institutions will pay increasing attention to transportation and installation costs, the essential training at time of deployment and following on as teachers gain competence and also the after sales support and warranty service (including warranty service logistical costs). Nishant S. Rajawat, Director-Technology (APAC), Cybernetyx: The sensible, welliformed and pragmatic Indian customer today values a “best and cheap” interactive solution over a “cheap and best” one. Consequently, the two major factors that are driving the current Indian market are product features and pricing, in that specific order. \\
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Smartly Focusing on SustaSanjiv Pande, Director for India, South Asia, SMART Technologies, in a tete`-a-tete` with Pragya Gupta, shared the ICT scenario in the education vertical and SMART’s command on the market. Excerpts:
How have SMART solutions contributed to interactive whiteboard market in India? The SMART solutions and technology not only help K-12 but have huge relevance of application in higher education, government and business sectors. We cater to a wide panorama of customers even though bulk of our present market, in terms of revenues and presence, are in K-12. We are catering to India and
An Overview of the Trends The first interactive whiteboards were designed and manufactured for use in the office only. They were developed by Xerox Parc around 1990. This board was used in small group meetings and round-tables since then market has taken a big leap.
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number of improvements had been made on the design and feature part, including the addition of an eraser markers and front or rear projection. With change in target market from office tool to K-12 education, it has become most profitable education technology in the K-12 educational system. In recent years, growth surged tremendously, close to 600,000 interactive whiteboards were sold worldwide in 2008, generating nearly $1 billion of revenue. The interactive whiteboard phenomenon continued to take hold on a global scale, with 750,000 boards sold worldwide in 2009 and the market was tracked to reach close to 900,000
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unit sales in 2010, according to new research from Futuresource Consulting. “With global classroom penetration sitting at just 7%, these numbers only represent the tip of the market potential iceberg,” says Colin Messenger, Senior Consultant, Futuresource. “This everexpanding penetration of IWB and other associated technologies has helped drive a significant evolution in interactive education.” “Back in 2005, only three countries sold more than 10,000 IWBs. Last year, we saw 12 countries hit this level. Driven by continued technological developments, our projections show that one in six classrooms will have an IWB by 2012” added Messenger.
The combined markets of the U.S., UK, and Mexico account for more than 70% of the worldwide interactive whiteboard installed base, with the remainder spread across more than 60 different countries.
UK The Becta Harnessing Technology Schools Survey 2007 indicated that 98% of secondary and 100% of primary schools had IWBs. In 2008 the average numbers of interactive whiteboards rose in both primary schools (18 compared with just over six in 2005, and eight in the 2007 survey) and secondary schools (38, compared with 18 in 2005 and 22 in 2007). Futuresource predicts that by 2012, 80%
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inable Engagements neighbouring market like Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh. This trend will continue for the huge demographic dividend opportunity that India has. By 2015, India is going to have 47 million surplus working age population. The K12 segment is very critical in terms of bringing role of technology, delivering quality and inclusion. What are the challenges when it comes to the adoption of technology? One of the major challenges is resistance to any kind of change and inability to embrace change. The biggest challenge is the ability to get all stakeholders embrace change among administrator and teachers. The prime challenge to K12 is inadequate number of skilled teachers available; secondly implementation of technology and getting best of technology is shaping pre-training teachers. We at SMART really focus on our solution. We don’t want sell and go away but to build a sustainable engagement with our customers so that key stakeholder like teachers, sustainable training and professional development go around with our engagement in the long run.
What are your strategies for sustainable engagement? Which direction is IWB heading in India? Smart in India will focus to differentiate ourselves as well as to bring value to the table by ensuring that there is a mix of services as well as solution in the offering we take to the market. Training and professional development is key aspect to that. Over 75000 private schools in India and every year 2000 to 3000 keep getting added. In terms of penetration, not even 10-15 per cent of schools have covered in implementation but the market potential seems to be large. Over a period of time, they all will be potential users of technology as the society has to change to leverage demographic dividend possibility in India. By 2015, what SMART like to achieve? We want to be a strong contributor to the India’s growing human capital and so I cannot give any futuristic statement but we have set up presence in India because we want to be a part of this growth journey. We see a lot of significantly opportunities for us to add value, as globally we are the numero uno and we would work in India to ensure that we have fair share of the market by 2015.
classroom penetration in the UK, with volumes for EMEA six times greater than in the UK. More than 150% growth is forecast for 2008, with the majority coming from China and India. Australia and New Zealand also have their success stories.
China In China, IWB market is growing rapidly at a pace of 25 to 30 percent every year. Only about 5 percent of classrooms in China are equipped with IWB in comparison with a penetration ratio of 70 percent in the United Kingdom, 25 to 30 percent in North America and 10 percent in the Middle East. According to a survey conducted by www.3see.com, in 2009, the sales volume of IWBs in China exceeded 67,000, up by 109 percent year-on-year. The education market accounted for 91 percent of the sales.
Opportunities in the Indian Market The Indian market is very nascent at this stage with lower penetration level
offering immense opportunity to the solution providers. According to Future Source Consulting, 7,500 (Rs 75 crore in value terms) IWBs were sold in India in 2009. The agency projects this to touch 28,000 units (Rs 280 crore) this year and 70,000 (Rs 700 crore) in the next. “India and South Asia are important markets for SMART, and we recognise there is great potential for our products and solutions throughout the region,” says Nancy Knowlton, SMART’s CEO.
SMART technologies intends at being in line with global market share of 50 per cent in India in by 2013. Almoe Digital Solutions, distributor of Promethean’s products sold 2,000 IWBs in the domestic market in 2009 and targeted 3,000 units in 2010 and ScienTech sold 3,000 units of its DGS&B (Directorate General of Supplies & Disposals)-registered products in India in 2009. (Source: Futuresource Consulting, www.chinadaily.com.cn, Business Standard)
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IWB Redefines Pedagogy in Schools Schools are now of chalk and talk .Real potential of technology has removed the chalk -dust hazard for teachers and students to a great extent. In our survey done for schools, 90% of the schools believe that ICT has changed the teaching learning process
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CT enriches the campus by incorporating its role well. It has integrated and unified the various parameters of school functioning, be it administrative, teacher training, and enrichment and imparting pedagogical practices. Nita Arora, Principal, Sri Venkateshwar International School, Dwarka, New Delhi, “ICT has changed the way we work. On line tests and contests for students, on line contests for parents, e-newsletters on monthly basis, up-
dated photo galleries, digitalised school records-whether attendance, health and nutrition, marks, assignments, feedbacks and response system has become very effective and immediate. “ IWB intrigues students of all ages but the adoption is more at schools’ front. It let teachers to take advantage of innovative tools by drawing sketches or make notes which appear instantly on the students’ displays. IWB has multiple benefits with audio and video capability; it allows
Opinion Survey: digitalLEARNING has conducted an opinion survey in IWB acceptance among some big schools. Here are some excerpts: • IT infrastructure upgrade is ‘need based’ in most of the schools • Most of the schools invest more than 10% of its ICT budget in IWB and AV • Maximum schools organises in-house trainings • Maximum schools are satisfied with their IWB vendors • Almost every school pays special attention in AV part as well • Schools will further invest in IWB until it reaches every class room • Schools are partly happy with learners’ response system • Many schools changed their IWB brand in the last 3- 4 years • Factors leading the schools to change their IWB brand in last few years are - budget, additional features, lack of service support,etc. • IWB user miss: more internal storage, built-in animation, online accessibility of lecture to their students. • Some school feel that training the teachers was the major obstacle earlier as because it is difficult to shift from traditional teaching to IWB. But once when the teacher is trained, teaching-learning experience becomes a joyful experience. • The resources / content used for delivering the lesson plans have to be updated constantly
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the teacher to present educative videos for the class. It helps in capacity building of a teacher to deliver more efficiently. Speaking on the acceptance among students, Prantika Das, Computer Teacher, The Millennium School, Noida, “Students are very happy with the IWB because special focus is given to his intellectual, creative and mental ability. Concepts are more easy and simple to understand, conceptualization of content is easy. Freedom from chalk and talk method. Teachers’ acceptance is very high as concepts are more creatively taught. Give more options to a teacher to teach in a more innovative way,’’ Talking on virtues of traditional board and whiteboard, G Ravindra, Director, NCERT, “Whiteboards offer lot of flexibility and all. But traditional has lot of virtues in terms of simplicity and the human management and creativity is spontaneous in them. Whiteboard offers flexibility and technology and could be the supplement to the traditional blackboard rather replacement. Each one has its own place. IWB is programmed one and there is nothing spontaneous. Pedagogically, number of users is very less. They are being used in limited urban areas may be in some private, not many government schools are using whiteboards, there are some KVs using it. It has to be popularised, and people still have to accept it. Yes it has virtues. May be it will take some time to be as a complementing agent it should be replacement. It will take time I am not saying it will not replace at all. IT will take another 30 years to replace with IWB. We believe in flexibility and complementation but not in elimination to feel the unity. \\
advertorial
Simply Teach with New Technology Interactive learning is now a part of everyday learning, but the challenge for educators is how they integrate the technology into lessons in a straight-forward way to ensure students are kept interested and engaged
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YMO/Mimio has recognised this and has developed the simplest interactive whiteboard solution on the market, enabling teachers to easily incorporate interactive teaching technologies and methodologies into their existing classroom. After much observation, interviews and listening to teachers regarding what they need, the company created the MimioClassroom product suite, a collection of innovative and affordable interactive teaching products, purposedesigned and built to enable teachers to do what they do best – simply teach. The easy-to-use, teacherfriendly interactive whiteboard devices in the MimioClassroom suite transform any standard whiteboard into an interactive teaching tool, designed to save time and increase student attention. Laurence Huntley, General Manager of DYMO/Mimio, emphasises the value of creating simple technologies for teachers, and says: “We believe teachers need to be freed from the inherent distractions of new technology and the simplicity of our elegant design achieves this very well.” MimioClassroom products can be used to educate
students of all capabilities, including children with behavioural issues and special needs – or exceptionally gifted children. As Mr Huntley points out, “if the teacher can engage students in interesting and exciting projects through interactive teaching technology, there’s less chance of boredom and disruptive behaviour.” The newly launched and updated DYMO/MimioClassroom suite includes an expanded range of interactive products, such as MimioVote,
a student assessment system that provides the easiest and most accurate way for teachers to evaluate student comprehension. Other accessories include the MimioView document camera, which offers useful editing and storage features, plus the MimioCapture Ink Recording System and the MimioPad Wireless Tablet. To help teachers develop interesting and engaging lessons, the specially created MimioStudio 7 Software has been designed to deliver automatic integration and let MimioClassroom tools work
seamlessly together or on their own. Teachers also have access to mimioConnect and mimioTraining, where they can collaborate online with other teachers as well as share and download resources, plus take part in virtual training programs. For further information on DYMO/Mimio ITT, please visit www.mimio.dymo.com; you can also follow DYMO/Mimio on Twitter @mimotechnology and via Facebook. Download lesson plans and connect with other educators at www. mimioconnect.com \\ digitalLEARNING / april 2011
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interview
The projector market in India and overseas has seen a sea change with the advent of various companies. In an Interview with Jaydeep Saha, Abhilesh Guleria, Country Head IT Platform and Display Solutions Business, NEC India speaks about their reign amidst leading competitors in the modern-day market
NEC Projecting Future Trends Please comment on the factors driving the projector market in India in the education sector. What is the scope of growth in the education space? Education market has already been covered by the projector wave. Almost 40 per cent of the academic market is under the impact of the global leader NEC for the affordable price; the projectors are 3D enabled high contrast with stereo solutions. Besides green IT philosophy, these projectors have an eco and anti-carbon meter which portrays the nature-friendly mode. These intelligent projectors au-
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tomatically understand and deliver the beam as per the wall colour. These TCO certified products are easy to set up and works at an altitude of even 5000 feet. The built-in LAN is compatible to other machines and helps connect easily. What are the emerging technologies in this segment for education? We have Ultra Short Throw projectors, NP600S, which throw a big image from a short distance. It can fill a large screen in a small room. It is set close enough to the screen to avoid shadows from someone walking between the projector and
the screen. It can throw its minimum diagonal size image of 60 inches from just under 3 feet, a 100-inch image from five feet, and its maximum 110-inch image from 5.4 feet. What are the opportunities and challenges in the projector market, with specific reference to the education sector? NEC is uniquely positioned as a holistic IT solutions provider to the education space and has a wide product and solutions portfolio that helps education institutes increase operational efficiency
interview
and lower their total cost of operation. We believe that a focused learning environment for students is the key for excellence. Incorporating technology in the curriculum at any level can greatly increase the effectiveness of teaching. The world is quickly learning the benefits of adding multimedia capabilities to educational environments. What are the strategies being adopted by vendors to promote their product? At NEC, it is our endeavor to provide state-of-the-art display technology and dynamic designs to our customers. We organise direct mailer campaigns, display virtual desktop and communicate as our products are entirely targeted at the K-12 and higher education sectors, besides the business sectors in the country. Our projectors are not just products but entire education solutions. How it changed the education scenario in India? The 114-year-old legacy that we have,
has helped us get customers in a very helpful way from various pleathoras of aspirants. The education sector has adopted the e-learning and audio-visual mode of integrated learning and we have delivered products as per the needs of the market. Since the integration of technology into the classrooms is a top priority, educational institutes purchased NEC Multimidia projectors to supplement teaching with visuals to inspire imagination and creativity, as well as enhance the learning experience. What are the upcoming products or solutions for education segment? The upcoming NEC products are upgraded and have been designed keeping in mind the latest requirements of the users. These products are not only equipped with bluetooth technology and 3-D ready but are also wireless with 5,000 hour lamp life, 7 watt speaker and variable audio out facility with closed captioning and one year (or 500 hours) warranty on original lamp. These Digi-
tal Light Processing (DLP) projectors are enhanced with eXtended Graphics Array (XGA) solutions, besides the compatibility video mode of MPEG and AVI with Volume Control module and VGA functioning, USB and other cables available in a variety of lengths from 3 - 100’. Tell us something about your tie-up with Cybernetyx Cybernetyx is a Germany-based advanced Research and Development enterprise focused on creating world’s most technologically advanced and affordable Interactive Whiteboard systems and multi-touch surface computing solutions. The tie-up with this technology giant would help provide interactive technologies provide the most advanced and economical interactive projection solutions for education and corporate sectors. Besides, the art, commerce, trading and game world would also be benifitted with various customized deliverable from us. It would also provide specific solutions to automobile, mapping, molecular and geographical sectors. \\
3D Projectors in Today’s Market
3D projection is any method of mapping three-dimensional points to a two-dimensional plane. As most current methods for displaying graphical data are based on planar twodimensional media, the use of this type of projection is widespread, especially in computer graphics, engineering and drafting. 3D Projectors in India The Third Dimension technology has taken the world by storm and 3D projectors have actually intensified the viewing experience of the viewers. These projectors actually aim at bringing pictures which are life-like and might just be conned into thinking that the images of people that on the screen are actually real. Such is the demand for 3D Projectors that major companies like Sharp, Sony, LG, Panasonic, Optoma, Pico, Hitachi, Infocus, NEC, Benq, Acer, Samsung,
Sanyo, Mitsubishi, Viewsonic , Philips have got into the industry with full force and are providing you with the best 3D technology. The basic qualities of these projectors for which they are in utmost demand are 3D single lens type projector, two HDMI 1.3 sockets and 300 ANSI lumens, full HDTV, 16:10 aspect ratio, 2500 lumens brightness, 10watt speaker, 2.4 cms 3D provider, contrast ratio of 3200:1. The features mentioned are just few of the many that these individual products have.
Categories Home Theater Projectors Video Projectors Digital Projectors 1080p Projectors LCD Projectors DLP Projectors LED Projectors Portable Projectors Pico Projectors 3D Projectors
Multimedia Projectors Office Projectors Classroom Projectors Business Projectors LCoS Projectors 3LCD Projectors DLP 3 Chip Projectors Handheld Projectors Pocket Projectors CRT Projectors
digitalLEARNING / april 2011
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advertorial
Promising Future with Promethean Activboard Activboard caters to today’s classroom needs with enhanced interactive whiteboard technology, coupled with apt software and the facility to respond as active participants in the lesson
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romethean believes that technology holds the power to unleash the potential of human achievement. As the global leader in learning technology, Promethean combines innovation, real-world experience, scientific insight and thought leadership to help realise the fullest potential of every instructor, presenter and student everywhere—from the classroom to the boardroom to any space where information, collaboration, and global citizenship must meet. We developed the ActivClassroom to bring our vision of more engaged, successful education to life, and believe that this reality of an active, 21st century learning experience can empower people everywhere to reach higher levels of individual and collective achievement. Easily implemented and simple to learn, the ActivClassroom is a 360-degree, technology enabled learning environment comprising interactive white boards, learner response systems, software, training and professional development, resources and instructor communities all proven to improve educational results. Promethean’s aim is to unlock the potential of human achievement in education and training at all ages around the world. It does so by creating, developing, sup-
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plying and supporting leading edge, interactive learning technology and by encouraging the growth of the world’s largest online teacher community in this field. Integrated classroom systems are helping teachers to engage, motivate and assess their students and learners. Research reinforces that assessment for learning is a key factor in the success of educational initiatives and can develop teachers’ professional understanding about the process of learning and how to motivate all students.
Learner Response System: Learner Response Systems are creating a revolution in education through devices offering unprecedented opportunities for student involvement and assessment. Each learner response device gives individual students a voice while equipping teachers with a revolutionary tool for delivering dynamic lessons tailored to the immediate assessment of student performance. Traditionally, you would only find out some time later how well a class is following a lesson – when written or follow-up work was analysed. By which time students may well be unable to remember exactly what their thought
process was – and when they started getting left behind.
ActivExpression – Communicate No message is too complex to communicate. There are always more questions than those that can be answered with a simple yes or no. And students generally have much more to say than just A, B, or C. Sometimes, the answer is E=MC2, Milkha Singh, 12,426, or LOL. The Active Expression device has: • Full text capability, enabling numeric, sentencebased, symbolic, and, of course, yes, no, A, B, and C-based responses. • It is an easy-to-use tool for polling and pre-planned participatory exercises alike. • Ir works on the fly, ready to query the class at any time. • Everyone answers (anonymously if necessary), and everyone is heard.
ActiVote – Assessment. A personal response or ‘voting’ unit is designed to encourage class participation and enhance learning. Personal response units can be standalone or integrated into your whiteboard system. If they are standalone, you may experience
the disadvantage of having to log in and out of its interface in order to use it. If it is built in, it is available for use anytime and so you are much more likely to use it as part of your lesson. Votes can be recorded by individual students or by the whole class – and can all be saved to a flipchart. Votes can be cast in ‘named’ or unnamed’ mode, with only the teacher knowing how an individual has voted. Unnamed mode can increase student’s confidence while ‘named’ mode can provide you with an excellent assessment tool, proving that your students are learning.
Interactive Tools and Classroom Sound Systems Apart from LRS, Promethean also has a wide range of Interactive Tools such as ActiView (Visualiser), ActivArena (Dual User Functionality on Existing ActivBoards), ActivSlate (A Wi-Fi tablet integrated with ActivBoards), ActivPanel (Turns the biggest screen into an Interactive Board), ActivSound (An array of classroom sound systems). Promethean range of products are available through its sole importer in India – M/s. ALMOE Digital Solutions (P) Ltd. (www.almoe.co.in). \\
advertorial
Aveco’s Delivery on IWB Pitch Passionate about providing innovative products and services and fulfilling the unmet needs of the customers, Aveco’s offers include the most basic features to the most sophisticated technology which are for the customer’s benefit and substantial value
Sandeep jain Managing Director Aveco Technologies Pvt Ltd
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stablished in 1992, Aveco Technologies Private Limited is located at Secunderabad. Incorporated in 1995, Aveco is driven by strong focus on value, quality and integrity. The well-nurtured and loyal network of strong and dedicated dealers spread across country give strong relationship with consumers and are the foundation for future growth. The wealth of knowledge and international expertise to the service of local consumers aim to add liveliness to life. Everyday needs for presentation, communication and interactive solution are met with brands that help people see good, present good, feel good and get more out of life. Dealing in products, which are designed to stand
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the test of time, offer supreme ease of use and represent extraordinary value for money. The use of interactive whiteboards in schools is gaining in popularity, giving more teachers than ever before access to this technology. Interactive whiteboards add new dimensions to instructorled classroom delivery, enrich content with multimedia, simulations and games, manage content, provide classroom connection to the web and save presentations for use as podcasts for remote students. These and many other capabilities are available with modern, touch-sensitive electronic whiteboards! The interactive white board, the projector and the computer when integrated together with audio becomes a very powerful tool in the hands of the teachers to impart effective learning through visualisation and active involvement of the students. Teachers have found that increasing pupils’ exposure to white boards significantly and positively impacts pupil achievement and teacher preparation. Students’ participation becomes a powerful reinforcement and review activity because they are hearing the concept explained at their learning level through visual media. Interactive white board engages students in learning.
Watching a presentation becomes interactive when the teacher is able to pause the presentation, point out details and add in her own notes to the presentation. Reviewing for a test is easier when the teacher captures the instruction both audio and visual form. Students can play and re-play the lesson in video format. Tied up with one of the best manufacturers of interactive whiteboards and customising the product as per the best of requirements in today’s classrooms, it caters the segment with refined product “Aveco e-Guru” interactive board which has been one of the successful products well accepted by the education industry. The technology and the software are furnished to the level where tutor can make his own interactive
presentation as per the ease of understanding and the better memory retention of the students in classroom. Deep diving into the interactive segment, the technological biggie has come up in the market with the tools that convert any of the existing surface into interactive. Tied up with Pen N Free (PNF) the technology-oriented company providing an innovative MMI (Multimedia Interface) solution for more natural interaction between humans and computer, Aveco has come up with the solution of having the range of products that can convert your display device interactive starting from minimum of 15” to maximum of 120” in diagonal. These devices also convert professional displays and the LCD monitors into interactive surface.
advertorial
3D Covering Education This new age 3D technology provides a realistic and immersive environment for virtual dissection and exploration of human anatomy
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yber Anatomy Med VR is a three dimensional, virtual -reality model of the complete human body. More than 13000 body parts are displayed in full colour, with medically accurate details. This enables us to understand the spatial relationship between the bones, muscles, arteries, veins and nervous that one finds in actual cadaver. The 3D model allows multiple students to perform the same exercise. Doctors, teachers, and other health professionals using this 3D product are able to explain the anatomy of human body, without fully relying on actual cadav-
ers or sacrificing precious cadaver organs. Cyber-Anatomy’s real time simulation environment makes a full set of interactive functions available. Rotation, dissecting, zooming in/out are just a few examples of the flexibility allowed to students on global scale. This can meet the shortage of qualified medical faculties at many places now and in near future.
Cyber Science 3D for K-12 Education Cyber Science 3D, an interactive three dimensional educational K-12 software
covers important subjects like Botany, Zoology, Chemistry, Micro Biology, Human Anatomy, Mechanical Engineering, Earth Science. This allows virtual laboratories in schools, colleges where there are no laboratories or it is not practical to run and maintain these laboratories at great recurring costs. Teachers, professors can advance students’ core curriculum and understanding of the human body and other subjects. Cyber Science 3D real time simulation environment makes a full set of interactive functions available. This can meet the shortage of qualified faculties, fully equipped laboratories, at
many places now and in near future also. Dispro Visual Technologies Ltd proudly offers these 3D Educational products equipped with software/hardware set up catering to different segments as: • CYBER ANATOMY Med VR (Medical Colleges, Universities) • CYBER SCIENCE 3D Interactive 3D science models for (K-12 students) • EDU MAGIC 3D for pre school kids • DISPRO ACTIVE3D • DISPRO PASSIVE 3D
digitalLEARNING / april 2011
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a user’s perspective
Redefining Interactive Whiteboard Experience The heart of all Cybernetyx products is the pioneering Visual Touch (VT) technology, which is amongst the world’s most advanced 3-D optical tracking engines today. An inspired user of the product provides his views
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y brother’s son got a new iPad recently and he is crazy about the intuitive multitouch functionality and the amazing applications on it. He wishes that such kind of gadgets could be used in his classroom to teach all subjects in a fun filled way. I told him that there are Digital Interactive Whiteboards in a lot of good schools today and is growing every day. On this he expressed his discontent of not having seen such interactive system yet, neither in his school nor in his friends’ schools. I was wondering if such iPad can be designed which can be of the size of a whiteboard in the classroom. What if you get large multi-touch systems which will do much more like an iPad instead of the generic interactive board in a classroom? How will it be better than the normal interactive whiteboards available today where the teacher mostly write/draw and interact on the board using the same old mouse-clicks imitated by a pen/finger? I did some Google on my own and came across “CYBERNETYX Interaktiv UG”, a leading German firm which focuses on research and development of cutting-
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edge multi-touch interactive solutions. To my delight, besides their global headquarters in Stadthagen, Germany, I found out that one of their experience centres is located in India, at Noida and fixed up a quick meeting with their team. This turned out to be an amazing experience to be in a comprehensive demonstration of a new generation of interactive technologies from Cybernetyx. The demonstration encompassed not just Cybernetyx’s flagship surface-independent, multi-touch, gesture-based interactive whiteboard series, EyeRIS, but also interactive projectors, surface computers, huge multi-touch interactive video walls which go up to a size of 10 X 3 meters, interactive floors, and various other futuristic human-computer interaction devices. Let me explain what I found very special and different about the IWB technology EyeRIS, from Cybernetyx: If there is no screen and your existing whiteboard in the classroom gets converted into not just an interactive whiteboard, but an iPad like intelligent display device, understanding all your gestures, and multiple inputs to the computer at the same time.
How about 3-4 students coming on the board and solving Mathematics puzzle simultaneously on the same board? Apart from this, the sheer awesomeness and cool points earned by making a Venn diagram activity look like a scene from the movie Minority Report using gestures to explain the various concepts. This also brings in the feeling of teamwork and partnership among the students in a classroom along with the competitive spirit which always brings in more from an individual. Incidentally, multi-touch, multi-user capability is one of the key features which will change the way we interact and collaborate as per a recent research. The other key fe tures were gesture re ognition, ease of deployment and usage of the interactive systems. This kind of collaboration has never been part of any classroom till now. A generic IWB system still lacks features like gesture recognition and multi-touch capabilities. EyeRIS provides the answer to all of this and is an ideal tool to mediate the relationship among teachers. If students in the classes’ plan the teacher chooses some episodes to use them like an effective interactive and participation enhancing tool.
Are you ready for it? One of the most crucial questions is that are we yet ready for such a product in our classrooms or our office boardrooms? You need to answer it yourself based on the advantages which we have discussed. The success of iPad and Smartphones has certainly proved the immense acceptability of such technology in the market space. However, cost plays a major role in such deployment over so many classrooms in a school. When we discussed this with Cybernetyx team, the product manager, Abhijit Potdar, advised that apart from being the most advanced system for interactive teaching and learning, the system comes at a very nominal price as compared to other interactive whiteboards in the market. In addition, 4-6 hours training schedule at your school for the teachers to get familiar with the product which is currently bundled along with the product pricing itself. Cybernetyx has multiple distributors and partners across India for promotion and distribution of their products in India, Nepal and Bangladesh. For more information, you can visit: www.cybernetyx.com \\
event report
ICISTM-2011
MDI’s International IT Conference
Panelists at MDI Conference
Management Development Institute (MDI) in association with University of Florida, USA and Grenoble, EU, France, organised the Fifth International Conference on Information Systems, Technology and Management
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e are amidst an information age where the rate of growth and complexity of data collected is growing exponentially, fuelling demands for effective and efficient information management, technology and systems solutions which are required in every industry today. ICISTM-2011 aims to bring together researchers, developers and practitioners from around the world in academia and industry for sharing state-of-the-art results and for exploring new areas of research and development in the knowledge economy. The inaugural session witnessed a very enlightening thought exchange by Dr Andrew Lim, Head and Professor, Department of Management Sciences, College of Business, City University of Hong
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Kong. He spoke about the importance of the business value model and measuring KPIs effectively. Purchasing IT packages is essential, but to implement effectively is of paramount importance. Prof Sartaj Sahni and Dr Renaud Cornu Emiux from the University of Florida and Grenoble EU respectively, which are the partner Institutes with MDI for ICISTM 2011, also spoke about the importance of research work in IT. The conference attracted a large number of research papers from India, US, Europe and Africa. The papers presented by the authors under various tracks included Information Systems, Information Technology, Business Intelligence, Information Management, Health Information Management and
Technology and Applications of Information Systems. The basic focus of Prof Prem Vrat’s (Professor of Eminence—MDI) session was on the knowledge society and its edge to India due to demographic dividend and IT strength. Besides the wisdom hierarchy, the knowledge society should ultimately be based on wisdom for the good of the society and also interpret human values in technology. However, there are various challenges that hurdle in the process. Dr Sanjay Ranka (Professor in the Department of Computer Information Science and Engineering at University of Florida, USA) spoke on the “Energy and thermal efficient multicore computing” and pointed out the areas of concern
event report
which include rising temperature, glaciers receding, projected risks – extinctions, population, area and economy (GDP) affected by 1m sea level rise, ICT impact on carbon dioxide emissions, carbon dioxide emissions comparable to aviation industries, cost of cooling, cost of cyber infrastructure, efficient ICT methods – reduce total emissions by 15 per cent climate group and global e-sustainability report. 22 per cent - BCG for US, evolution of multicore processors are the new workhorses – high power density doubles every three years and need for thermal optimisation. He further added that the main job is to develop an integrated framework for multicore that addresses computation, energy and temperature. Dr Sumeet Dua (Upchurch Endowed Professor, Associate Professor and Graduate Coordinator of Computer Science Louisiana Tech University, USA) later spoke on the “Associative Learning Algorithm Framework in Data Mining” The agenda of the session included data mining principles – importance on business applications, associative and correlation based learning, applications, image mining, protein classification, data mining – extraction of interesting information or patterns from data in large databases or other information repositories. Prof Renaud Cornu Emieux, from Grenoble EM, France highlighted four powerful worldwide changes that have altered the business environment. These changes in the business environment and climate, pose a number of new challenges to business firms and their management. A growing percentage of the American economy – and other advanced industrial economies in Europe and Asia –depend on imports and exports. Foreign trade, both exports and imports, accounts for more than 25 per cent of the goods and services produced in the United States and even more in countries such as Japan and Germany. Companies are also distributing core business functions in product design, manufacturing, finance, and customer support to locations in other countries where the work can be performed more cost effectively. The success of firms today and in the future depends on their ability to operate globally. The United States, Ja-
pan, Germany, and other major industrial powers are being transformed from industrial economies to knowledge – and information based service economies, whereas manufacturing has been moving to lowwage countries. In a knowledge and information based economy, knowledge and information are key ingredients in creating wealth. There has been a transformation in the possibilities for organising and managing the business enterprise. Some firms have begun to take advantage of these new possibilities. The traditional business firm was – and still is – a hierarchical, centralised, structured arrangement of specialists that typically relied on a fixed set of standard operating procedure to deliver a mass-produced product (or service). The new style of business firm is a flattened (less hierarchical), decentralised; flexible arrangement of generalists who rely on nearly instant information to deliver masscustomised products and services uniquely suited to specific markets or customers. Intensive use of information technology business firms since the mid-1990s, cou-
obstructions pointed out at the session: • Synchronisation of mind sets across globe like punctuality • Lower focus on quality and customer orientation • Law of diminishing calibre • Best talent does not join research and teaching as preferred careers • Shortage of talent and role models, teachers in education system • Learning is not compulsory but neither is survival • Let leaders use all the talent India has • Dimensions in Knowledge Management • Technological, people, process and performance dimension
the rise of information economies and the growth of the internet have recast the role of the business managers in managing information resources pled with equally significant organisational redesign, has created the conditions for a new phenomenon in industrial society -–the fully digital firm. The primary concern of Information Management, in the enterprise today, is to ensure that the knowledge necessary to drive critical business processes is available where it needs to be, when it needs to be. The costs of failure to do this are high. If we just have a re-look at the emerging complexities and dynamic nature of the business, we find that the globalisation of business. Internet technology is supplying the foundation for new business models, new business processes, and new ways of distributing knowledge. This digital integration, both within and outside the firm, from the warehouse to the executive suite, from suppliers to
customers, is changing how we organise and manage a business firm. Ultimately, these changes are leading to fully digital firms where all internal business processes and relationships with customers and suppliers are digitally enabled. In digital firms, information to support business decisions is available anytime and anywhere in the organisation. Systems for supply chain management (SCM), customer relationship management (CRM), and knowledge management along with enterprise systems (ERP) are the major enterprise applications that firms today are using to achieve digital integration. Keeping in mind these challenges, the conference provides a good platform to discuss and arrive at some policy issues, which can be useful to industry and the society at large. \\ digitalLEARNING / april 2011
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advertorial advertorial
Leading the Way: Smart in Classroom Every day, teachers around the world profess that SMART products help them transform learning. They say we make it easy to create extraordinary moments in the classroom and help students succeed. Since we invented the interactive whiteboard nearly 20 years ago, we’ve grown into a company of over 1,300 staff, with offices in North America, Europe and Asia. Now, hundreds of thousands of educators use our products Why choose SMART? We take great pride in the fact that more educators choose SMART Board interactive whiteboards than all other brands combined – it means we’ve earned their trust. But SMART is more than just an interactive whiteboard company – we offer full education solutions that help you engage students and make learning extraordinary.
Easy to use and Easy to succeed At the core of our education solutions is the SMART platform, which includes two fundamental products – the touch-sensitive SMART Board interactive whiteboard and SMART Notebook™ collaborative learning software. These easy-to-use products are recognised by educators around the world as having the power to transform teaching and learning. To help educators achieve this transformation, we also ensure the availability of apt content required to create extraordinary lessons. Through the SMART Exchange online community, teachers are connected to each other and to high-quality SMART Notebook lesson activities.
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Easy to extend When you’re ready to further enrich your schools with products that compliment the SMART Board interactive whiteboard, you can look to the SMART classroom. It’s an extensive selection of easy-to-use, modular products that give teachers more ways to engage students. The SMART classroom helps teachers shift easily between whole-class, small-group and individual learning environments, addressing all learning styles. Whether your teachers specialise in math, special education, science, technology, early education or distance learning, we have products to support them.
Easy to implement and own Whichever products you select for your classrooms, you’ll know that they will be supported fully. And you can be sure of seeing a maximum return on your investment. We provide industryleading services, including professional development, customer support, consult-
ing services and access to the best of digital content. We’ve considered every aspect of your technology rollout, so you can implement SMART products quickly and on a large scale, with rapid adoption and student success as your end results.
Easy to belong When you purchase SMART products, you become part of a community that spans all continents, bringing togeth-
er people who use SMART products to transform teaching and learning. Dozens of independent companies are creating hardware, software and content to round out the SMART solution, and thousands of teachers say they can’t imagine teaching without a SMART Board interactive whiteboard.
Making learning extraordinary every day When we make it easy to succeed at implementing our products, educators make our products part of their lives. Our commitment to SMART education solutions has resulted in profound and lasting changes in schools around the globe.
What educators say Using the SMART Board allows students to use multiple senses in the learning process. The fact that the students can use “touch technology,” which allows students the ability to touch the screen and manipulate the object on the screen, lets students participate physically with the materials on the board. – Sister Maryanne Winterberg, Immaculate Conception School The students love the board. Anytime we turn it on, we have their attention immediately. They are curious and very excited to interact with it. The board and software have definitely had a positive impact on teaching and learning at O’Hara Catholic School. – Dianne Bert, O’Hara Catholic School
Watch out for digitalLEARNING Open and Distance Learning Special Issue, June 2011
Key highlight • Higher Education Institutes and Universities providing distance education • Special coverage of Universities under Distance Education Council (DEC) • Private players providing services in the ODL segment
Listing of: • Correspondence Courses
• Conferences
• Institutions
• Directories
• Online Courses
• Journals
• Videoconferencing
• Online Teaching and Learning
• Associations
• Products
• Chats and Forums
• Resources
Why Advertise: • To be a part of a comprehensive and first of its kind coverage of open and distance learning institutes • The issue will be a User’s Guide and will have a year-long shelf life • The issue will reach out to colleges and universities and ODL institutes across India • The issue to serve as a information repository for all students, working professionals, educators and others interested in pursuing distance learning courses • To highlight your technology platform for supporting the dissemination of Open and Distance Learning Courses
For editorial queries, contact: Sheena Joseph, sheena@digitalLEARNING.in, Mobile: +91 8860651644 For advertising queries, contact: Jyoti Lekhi, jyoti@elets.in, Mobile: +91 8860651634 www.digitalLEARNING.in
corporate profile
With a 24-year legacy into bettering education, Everonn has come a long way and is now one of the leaders in the market with its hi-tech initiatives. In a tête-à-tête with Dr Ravi Gupta, Editor-in-Cheif, digitalLEARNING, P Kishore, MD, Everonn speak about the journey of the company. Excerpts:
Everonn Initiative in Bettering Education Please elaborate on how the journey of Everonn began. When you are a first generation entrepreneur you don’t have to worry much; there is nothing to lose. The journey began 24-years ago. So, what started as one teacher and four students, today is an assembly of 6900 people and we touch and teach about three million children every day. Of course we pioneer in bringing the first digital content in classrooms. Our entire innovation started from a very
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fundamental education psychology. It says that what you read your brain retains only 10 per cent of it. However, the learning process says what you see and hear, the brain retains 20 per cent of it. And the next level of experiential learning says your brain retains 40 per cent. We said can we take the children from 10 to 20 per cent. So I used computer as a vehicle to deliver the read, see and hear in the Indian classrooms. So we brought in digital classroom 24-years ago.
Computers were costly and not user friendly at that time. How did you manage with the Proposed Plan? There were only two manufacturers at that time-Wipro and Aiko Computers. Thus instead of choosing such costly things, we got most of the content from BBC which we used to deliver in video cassette players in the classrooms. Those days there was a language called “logo” that we used to teach; that’s how we had built our platform.
corporate profile
Which were the initial schools? I started this in Ooty as it is famous for its private schools. Nobody believed in it as they also had not seen computers. So I finally started in my alma mater Breeks Memorial School, following which we had almost all the schools in the Nilgiris. The next scale was targeted to the government. In 1998, we partnered the Tamil Nadu government and introduced this in 17 government schools. In 2000, Tamil Nadu became the first government in India to introduce this in the government schools and we got 332 schools. That was a PPP model for the first in the country. How did you handle 332 schools suddenly in terms of funding? Besides the funding of Arun Kumar, my friend, I am mainly thankful to IDBI bank for granting the huge sum of Rs 21 crore at that time. Although I started with an SBI loan of 1 lakh 15 thousand in 1987 and I continue banking with them. How long was this project and what happened next? It was a five-year BOOT- Build Own Operate and Transform model. The next state was Andhra Pradesh and the then chief minister Chandrababu Naidu launched a project for thousand schools. In 2002, I had my first large investor, Satpal Kattar, founder investor of HDFC bank. In 2006, we had Tamasik investing with us from Government of Singapore. In 2007, I took this company for an IPO. It was oversubscribed and we still hold that record. There was nobody willing to underwrite our issue. I went to collect Rs 50 crore. My issue was oversubscribed 145 times. I ended up collecting Rs 7,200 crore. We have 43,000 shareholders. World’s biggest people are today investing with us, including Black Stone, India Capital and Morgan Stanley. So, did the IPO change the whole journey of your growth? We at Everonn believe that education can be measured in two ways-- one is a good teacher and another is good quality content which can be consistently delivered but that is missing in India. So we selected to do this by the satellite as my content was heavy. We pioneered in bringing it to the schools and colleges of India. Therefore
a student in Nagacoil, Nellur or Shimoga will get to learn from the best teachers as they don’t have teachers there. Today I can set up a virtual classroom anywhere in India in less than four hours. So don’t you think that the whole expansion from pre-school to Bschool was dramatically in a very short time? An Everonn customer is for five years, be it government schools or colleges. So the challenge to my team was, can we make it to 25-years? So we are setting up schools, colleges across India. This is completely a people-driven company. We have built a team and they are the own-
regulator so that the focus on quality is given. What is your opinion on the Union Budget’s new allocation to education, including Right To Education? I think the RTE is very important. Each one of us has to support it. We have to ensure that every kid in this country is educated. There are inefficiencies in the government. When the government is spending more money on one child’s education then how is it different from private schools? The government shouldn’t be doing this. Why should we pay for inefficiencies? So, give them an education voucher. I think the step has begun. If you have decided to give
What we did from the last 500 years will be completely different in the coming 20 years. The future OF learning is about collaborative AND immersive learning ers of the team. They are also the share holders, be in skills, technical, all of them are partners in the company. Do you think it would be tough for Indian companies to have sustainable growth when companies like Pearson are coming here and working so aggressively? Indian companies will be there as they are able to raise more money for the fact that they know Indian market better. Foreign companies will also come in and play at large. My vision is to make every Indian a global product and a global citizen by delivering them world class content and practice. Let’s remember that this is the wealth-creating India. How can India’s GDP grow to two trillion? It can only be done by human capital. Education is the only answer to create wealth in this young India. How do you see the government playing its part? Government has no choice. With limited resources that’s all they can do. I think the days of public private partnership is here to stay. The government would have to be a good facilitator and
cash directly for kerosene, gas then why can’t you give it for education? You recently had investment from SKML. What are your strategies for that? I think the objective is to help us set up more classrooms, schools and colleges. They are interested in what we are doing. Nikhil Gandhi has very clearly got his vision for education and adding value to every young Indian. I admire him for what he has done in infrastructure. I think Indian education needs quality infrastructure. It’s a great synergy for us to have someone like Nikhil Gandhi. What’s going to be the education scene in the next five years and Everonn’s role in it? I assume that in the next five years education will move from black to white. For generations we have gone through the teacher centric guru-shishya system, but in the next two decades it will move from teachercentric to student-centric which will be completely technology-driven where they can do self assessments. The classrooms will be round unlike previous ones where the teacher sits in front addressing them. \\ digitalLEARNING / april 2011
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news
INDIA
City students part of UIDAI project The unique identification project started by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) in 2006 finds home gems Samarth Bharadwaj and Himanshu Bhatt part of a team of students from IIIT-Delhi , who are working and contributing to it. Both second-year research students at the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Delhi have been working hard on the project which is an initiative to provide and uniqueness every individual to avoid duplicity and fake identities. Bharadwaj had begun working on
the project last year and there are four research students from IIIT who are conducting a feasibility study on finger prints of labourers and farmers — people who work with their hands — to analyse the quality of their fingerprints and find out if they can be used as a part of unique identification.
As part of the unique identification drive, fingerprints and retina identification will be stored as unique identifying features of people. It is usually difficult to get clear fingerprints of labourers and people who work with their hands, compared to other people, because they work with their hands for years and as a result they may have scars or warts, which make the fingerprints difficult to capture. Elaborating on the procedure, Bharadwaj said, “We were given a huge database of fingerprints.
No scholarship plans for Madrasas: Chhattisgarh govt
The Chhattisgarh Governmnet, on Monday, has informed the State assembly that it does not have any scholarship scheme
for Madrasa students. “There are 364 Madrasas in operation in the state, the teachers of these Madrasas are offered grant
from the central government’s Scheme for Providing Quality Education in Madrasas (SPQEM)”, said state education minister Brijmohan Agarwal to the state assembly. In reply to a congress member who wanted to know what the government was doing for Madrasa students, Brijmohan said that the state government has no scheme to provide scholarship to students studying in Madrasa schools.
IGNOU gears up to promote vocational education in Madhya Pradesh An agreement to work together in offering certificate, diploma and associate degree programmes in Vocational and Skill Education through its community college has brought together Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and Madhya Pradesh Government. Prof. V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, VC, IGNOU after signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Commissioner of Higher Education, Government of Madhya Pradesh (MP) said, “Our government has declared 2010-2020 as the ‘Decade of Innovation’. We need to achieve inclusive and sustainable growth in education and skill development. New solutions in many areas are necessary to reach such targets in expedient ways. Andhra Pradesh govt gives English push at primary education level With English increasingly becoming the preferred language of education even among the students hailing from poorer sections of the society and also rural areas, the AP government has decided to lay emphasis on English right from Class I in its schools. Accordingly, English will now be taught as the second language from Class I from 2011-12 academic year, minister for primary education Sake Sailajanath said. “The basic idea is to provide access to children from poorer sections as well as rural areas to English education right from Class I rather than Class III, so that they compete with students of private schools,” said Sailajanath.
Pitroda points out urgency to reform Higher Education Advisor to Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovation, Sam Pitroda, has expressed his discontent on the education system and the government’s attitude towards higher education reforms. Speaking at the V-Cs’ conference Friday, Pitroda said the government must “act now” on education reforms “as there has been no progress in this regard in the last five years”. He said India desperately needed to devise its own model of education as western models did not work here and focus has to be drawn to the changing role of the teacher. Pitroda said he tried to follow up on the status of the many National Knowledge Commission recommendations, but he was continually told that discussions and consultations were on.
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Taking IT into the wild at Kanha MADHYA PRADESH FOREST DEPARTMENT Kanha National Park | Madhya Pradesh
REAL-TIME GOVERNANCE
Technology brings hands-on management to forest officials for: Faster response to fire-prone zones mapped on the Fire Alert Messaging System built using reliable Microsoft technologies such as Microsoft SQL Server Efficient surveying of forest area and wildlife using GPS-enabled PDAs operating on Microsoft CE Framework
Synapse|www.synapse.co
Real-time information updates using data synchronisation applications
Located in a region removed from modern telecommunications, forest officers of Kanha National Park felt the need for more effective monitoring of their environment. Tracking animals, mapping land holdings, and containing forest fires – this unpredictable ecosystem posed a real challenge. The M-Mantra for Forest and Wild Life Management System provided the ideal solution. Today, over 27,000 officers in the depths of the Madhya Pradesh jungles are connected to a Command Centre in Bhopal via PDAs. Now they can efficiently gather data, share information and notify citizens. Geomapping technology has helped the MP Forest Department trigger quick alerts and faster response times in such a wild environment. The result - Greater reach and control over the most inaccessible depths of India’s wilderness. ENABLING INDIA This is one of the many steps to bring e-governance to the grassroots. Over the last 17 years, Microsoft has partnered with 14 state governments and created over 300 applications to-date. To know more about Microsoft’s initiatives, visit www.microsoft.com/india/msindia
THE PREMIER GLOBAL PLATFORM FOR E-DEVELOPMENT
2-3 AUGUST, 2011 the ashok, New Delhi, India
Bridging the Knowledge Divide Event Highlights l Conference with thematic sessions on governance and health l Meet and network with key domestic and international government influencers l Exposition on eGovernance and eHealth technologies l Explore new business avenues in government, education, health, agriculture and other development sectors l Awards for excellence in governance and health standards all across the globe
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BUSINESS
news
Education to get infra status Investment in education and health sectors has long been on high priority in the country’s policy framework. Henceforth, capital stock in educational institutions and hospitals will be treated as infrastructure sub-sectors informed the Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee. Stock like railway tunnels, fixed line telecom, solid waste management system and airports may get infra status as well. This move is a step to encourage public-private partnerships in hospitals and schools & colleges and boost the sector will become eligible for capital subsidy through viability gap funding. In the infrastructure bracket, education will enjoy benefits like tax sops and lending from banks.
Sequoia pumps Rs 25 cr in K-12 Sequoia Capital India recently announced capital investment of close to Rs.25 crore into K 12 Techno Services. Through the venture, the company expects to add 25-30 more schools across the State in 2011-12, primarily to have computer and language labs, Abacus Mathematics facilities etc. Last year, significant funds were infused into school sector for setting up the entire infrastructure for several of the 70 institutions run by K 12, apart from adding facilities.
Educomp bags Rs 67.93 crore: stocks rise Global education solutions provider Educomp has received a Rs 67.93-crore order from the Maharashtra Government for implementation of information and communication technology (ICT) in 540 secondary and higher secondary schools covering class V to XII in the State. The contract resulted in share value gains for the company. Educomp Edureach has received the Letter of Intent (LoI) on March 9, 2011 from the Government of Maharashtra for implementation of phase II of ICT@ Schools Project in regions of Nasik and Latur. The total worth of the order is Rs 67.93 crore and will be implemented in build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) model for a period of five years including supply and maintenance of computer hardware, software and lab accessories, training of school teachers, among other things.
Everonn Education on a buying spree Learning solutions provider is eyeing acquisitions of small-sized Indian education companies with annual revenue of 100-150 million rupees within a time frame of three months. The areas of expansion include skill development business and its school management business to augment its revenues from providing educational content to schools and college that constitute 60 per cent of overall profits. Moreover, with plans to expand its global footprint and enter South East Asia into countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam with its education solutions business, the company is surely on a growth overdrive. Everonn expects its revenues to go up by 50-60 % in the current fiscal and FY12.
Tree House raises Rs 150cr in IPO As a market debut, Matrix Partnersbacked Tree House Education and Accessories Ltd recently engaged in the pre-schools business and is looking at a Rs 150-crore initial public offering. Tree House plans to use Rs 41 crore of the money raised through the public issue to expand pre-school business, Rs 11 crore acquisition of office space, Rs 15.6 crore to procurement of exclusivity rights to provide educational services , and also construction of in-
frastructure for educational complexes in Rajasthan and Gujarat.
NIIT alliance with agri ministry brings market gains The IT major has been appointed as the training delivery partner by Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, to offer specialized IT training program to the users of National Animal Disease Reporting System (NADRS). The programme will equip
users of NADRS with basic computer knowledge
to manage their work more efficiently and help farmers adopt modern approach in their livestock management. The news of the tie-up reflected in the outperformance of the company shares visa-vis its peers, as the stock trading at Rs.50.10 rose up by 2.14 per cent and hit an intraday high of Rs.51.50.
digitalLEARNING / april 2011
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advertorial
Cybernetyx Bridging Digital Divide Cybernetyx interfaces not just are interesting for the present digital natives, but also help the digital immigrants to adapt to the newer technology in a more efficient way
Nishant S. Rajawat Director (Technology)APAC, Cybernetyx Interaktiv UG (haftungsbeschränkt), Stadthagen, Germany
A
s Marc Prensky puts it, “Our students have changed radically. Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach.”It is now clear that as a result of this ubiquitous environment and the sheer volume of their interaction with it, today’s students think and process information fundamentally differently from their predecessors. They are Digital Natives, born in the information age, and at ease with it. So what does that make the rest of us? Those of us who were not born into the digital world but have, at some later point in our lives, become fasci-
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nated by and adopted many or most aspects of the new technology are, and always will be compared to them, Digital Immigrants. Consequently, the digital natives tend to understand better with the digital representation and processing of the available information whereas, the digital immigrants intrinsically only comprehend the physical objects and information and relate the digital information with the same for the purpose of understanding. For the digital immigrants to get comfortable to the newer tools of learning, these tools have to mimic the real world in a convincing way. On the other hand, for the digital natives, the new learning tools have to be a swifter and exciting way to interact with the vast amount of digital information available to them. Digital information is increasing exponentially in the form of images, videos, and data. Cybernetyx also plans to introduce various devices in the Indian market pertaining
to better interface between the students and the enormous amount of digital information available in a rich and a fun way. We are focused on introducing interactive tools which will understand the “human” ways of interaction and which will respond to our ways of communication. Additionally, these tools will be intelligent enough to be capable of interacting with real physical objects. Children can learn alphabets by taking a physical dummy of the letter and keeping it on the table-top interface. The interface will not only identify the object and its genre but also will react by triggering a set
of relevant events including various ways of writing and pronouncing the alphabet. The new parameters of the digital interaction will also allow us to move beyond the single-input driven WIMP interface, and the newer set of devices will allow us to interact with the interface using our gestures and physical movements. One important skillset that will be required to succeed in the advent of the information age is bound-less collaboration. This essential skill can be boosted by using the collaborative interfaces that the newer devices of interaction will provide us. These interfaces will not only entice and excite the kids to learn the essential skills of collaboration, but also how to use it for meaningful creation. The results of these acquired skillsets will go a long way into their lives, as the digital information will only increase exponentially in the coming times. \\
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corporate diary
With the learners today having access to new technology tools for communication, many institutes have realised the importance of interactive and engaging modes of education delivery. More so, in the delivery of distance education programs Abhimanyu Gupta, Director, Actis Technologies, in conversation with Rachita Jha, tells us how his passion for innovative audio-visual solutions is the extension of his vision to deliver educational services beyond the physical boundaries
Distance Education Now a Real-Time Experience What is the market size of audiovisual solutions in the education sector and expected growth rate in the coming years? According to a recent research study by Springboard Research, India’s Education sector will step up its spending on technology from an estimated USD 356 million in 2008 to USD 704 million in 2012, reflecting a CAGR of 19 percent during 2007-2012. Out of it, the Audio Visual market in India is expected
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to grow at a CAGR of 15-20 per cent by 2013. The video applications itself will account for around 86 per cent of the total audio visual market share. Tell us more on the changing maturity of the education sector towards audio-visual solutions In today’s competitive environment, increasing adoptability towards IT peripherals has brought about a drastic change in educational sector. Education
is now glocal with access to the varied user friendly audio visual solutions. Our innovative solutions enhance real-time communication with qualitative collaboration, making education an easier platform for everyone, saving time, money and resources. The video conferencing and interactive whiteboard technology has brought about a revolution in the monotonous classroom set up in educational institutions. It provides both students and
corporate diary
teachers from diverse communities and backgrounds to explore, communicate, analyse and share information and ideas with one another. The interactive whiteboard solution on the other hand allows capturing the whiteboard contents in the PC for sharing, printing etc. and annotation drawing audience’s attention to content. It makes the interactive live video sessions, interviews of professionals or a well-known face of a particular industry a splendid learning experience. Could you elaborate on your upcoming projects and products that are in the research and innovation pipeline? One of the many solutions that we are working is the Rich Media and Streaming solution. While the presenter will be teaching, training or presenting any topic, this solution can record everything simultaneously, including the
sions leveraging the power of enhancing the learning experience. Teachers should also be amenable to new ways of imparting training. They need to be computer savvy, as this would help them use products like the Interactive Whiteboard more comfortably. What is the importance of partnerships in the growth strategy of any company in the business of technology solutions for the education sector? Partnership plays a pivotal role as a driving force for any organization. When we talk about the significance of partnership with any organization, there is a fundamental criterion that we believe needs to be taken into consideration. One important criterion is to have a fair understanding on how far their vision and mission are at par with ours, in terms of qualitative and quantitative growth. For
The video conferencing and interactive whiteboard technology has brought about a revolution in the monotonous classroom set up in educational institutions presenter’s video and any presentation images. It’s highly beneficial for the audiences as they can immediately watch recorded presentations live or on-demand – anywhere, anytime.
Actis, partnership is not only restricted to signing an agreement, but rather it’s about how the symbiosis among the two entities can aid to the overall growth of the product or solution in the market.
What are your views on the changing role of teachers in delivery of education with introduction of IT-based solutions in educational institutions? Information technology is emerging to pervade all aspects of education as a key learning and administrative tool. In today’s world, where there is a dearth of good professors, the IT based solutions help in getting the lecturers from different parts of the world to address groups of students across the globe.It helps institutions increase their reach to students who may not be able to otherwise benefit from it. It allows remote faculty to participate and conduct training ses-
Your Company has recently partnered with Sonic Foundry the global market leader for rich media webcasting and knowledge management. What will be core areas of collaboration between the two companies? All organisations and educational institutes look for solutions which can help to increase the efficiency of trainings and reduce the time spent by trainers. Understanding the need of the hour, Actis Technologies collaborated with Sonic Foundry in integrating training modules. We foresaw this partnership as helping India in the enterprise and education sector, changing the entire
dynamics of the learning and training models in the institutions. The media site server by Actis technologies provides a lot of benefits for the educational sector. Actis media site server helps clients in enhancing their online learning, interactive lectures and multimedia presentations automatically. While the presenter will be teaching, training or presenting any topic, Mediasite could record everything simultaneously, including the presenter’s video and any presentation images. It’s highly beneficial for the audiences as they can immediately watch recorded presentations live or ondemand – anywhere, anytime. It provides the most robust rich media management platform to schedule, secure, catalog, customize and track recorded content. What are the top five technologybased solutions for the education sector that are profit-making businesses in India? Keeping in mind the latest trend of the audio visual solutions in Indian education sector, Distance Learning Center, Interactive Training, Auditoriums, Conference/Boardroom and 3 D tele-presence are in focus. These solutions are the innovative extensions of educational services beyond the physical boundaries. It helps the educational institutions increase their reach and grow business exponentially. The Distance Learning center allows remote faculty to participate and conduct training sessions with students aiding to clarity of audio and visual effect. This makes learning not only interactive but an effective real time experience. The interactive whiteboard in the training center brings an innovation in the mundane classroom set up. It provides the capability to conduct both video and audio conference in high definition and document collaboration with real time PC. The training center also provides facilities to both the faculty and student like recording and streaming audio, video and PC presentations over IP network. The documents and media files can be shared with ease and clarity. This makes learning easier even for those who missed out some sessions and want to recall any specific section from the entire topic. \\ digitalLEARNING / april 2011
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school focus
The British School
ADVANCED learning WITH ADVENT OF IWB IWB is the basis for a transformed pedagogy of real time teaching, inclusive and extended learning. It is now an integral part of the learning process- is to be used as a tool, as and when necessary By Deepti Sawhney
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he British School, New Delhi is a centre of Excellence for the Promethean AvtivBoards. The journey to this effect was filled with learning experiences, both for the staff and the students. We took the Interactive Boards plunge in 2007-08 and slowly phased them in. By 2009, we had an IWB in every classroom and in 2010, having trained staff and achieved the required training levels; we were awarded the Centre of Excellence from Promethean, UK. The British School aims to make ICT an integral part of the learning processto be used as a tool, as and when necessary. The curriculum advocates “when to click” rather than “what to click”. With a repertoire of technologies available at hand, the students need to judiciously decide what to use and when, taking decisions after analysing various options, being a part of the critical thinking mantra we advocate. There is an array of material available that is compatible with the Promethean IWB. Externally produced material may or may not match the planning and the flow which learning takes. Some kinds of alterations are required to match various dimensions like the time frame, daily planning and of course, the ability differences in the classroom.
Innovation Lies in the Key The teaching process has changed over time and has evolved keeping in mind, the changing trends and demands of so-
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ciety. The students are no longer taking in information without processing and without asking the question-why? Thus, arises the need to innovate. Innovation requires a teacher who has the vision, expertise, conviction and the strength to pull it through. A huge amount of importance is given to the emergence of ICT in education as it does have the power to innovate. The motivation that the area provides further enhances the probability of using it as a hook to impart learning.
those that should be avoided. What really bought the idea in was the fact that the staff found the IWBs to be highly motivating and learner-centric. And also, that the working area of a Promethean IWB is very similar to the conventional whiteboard. Even the very techno challenged teachers are at ease using the ActivPen. All teaching staff is required to clear Level 1 certification within 6 months of joining to ensure that we maintain the standard of lesson delivery.
Towards 21st century Learning
Content Development
The major benefit of the IWBs is of course, the interactivity! They synchronise together the teacher, the student and the teaching medium and makes learning active and alive. If the teaching-learning activity is planned prudently, it allows students to work together around a shared task, thus advocating and supporting collaborative learning. Skills like critical thinking, creativity, global awareness, initiative and self-direction are some of the student outcomes that are identified by Partnership for 21st Century Skills. The IWB can deftly facilitate all that.
Staff TrainingContinuous Professional Development Staff training for the IWBs is an on-going process. The school has a professional Learning Community which learns by sharing strategies that work and also
The school follows National Curriculum of England with adaptations to enrich it, relevant to the Indian locale. The staff makes their own lesson content as they know what suits their class best. IWBs lessons are saved as a resource database to be shared, analysed and reflected upon by the teaching community-within and outside school. A lot of flipcharts are available on Promethean Planet, a forum where teachers across the world share ideas and lessons. As the years progressed, the school has accumulated a huge wealth of resources which can be tweaked and used, year after year.
Real-time Teaching With the resources readily available at hand (provided software), teachers can quickly alter lessons to flow with the needs of the class during real time teaching. A huge amount of activities can be designed to inculcate decision making (associate
school focus
sound with pictures), problem solving and creativity (2Draw). IWBs along with suitable software and appropriate planning can make abstract concepts of science and numeracy a visual treat. They enhance the lessons with vibrancy of multimedia-which can address all learning styles and intelligences. They are great for all the stages of a lesson-be it the lesson starter or the plenary. Or it can be used just for display, for example, promoting reading by showcasing e-books on screen makes the books come alive. And students can interact with the story by annotating, recording voice-over, twisting traditional tales-the list can go on.
Sharing the Learning Working with IWBs encourages students to overcome any fear of handling technology. As the IWB basically displays hardware, the students use it for sharing their work, presenting results, making rubrics, doing peer-assessment and showcasing their research. The interac-
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tivity of the board makes the students feel in-charge and in full control. The empowerment boosts their confidence level and in the peer-assessment sessions, tactful delivery of observations and positive criticism have been given and received amicably!
Peripherals that Enhance the Experience Teachers and students using the IWB can be sufficiently mobile, unlike working on the computer. Mobility can be improved further by using peripherals like wireless keyboard and mouse, ActiVote, ActivExpression, etc. ActivSlates facilitate classroom engagement from any corner of the room. This wireless, fully integrated tablet encourages classroom engagement and takes student participation to another level. Besides, the web-cam attached to the IWB can be used to showcase science experiments, slide observations and art brush strokes.
Assessment The IWB supports a vital strand of ICT in the National Curriculum- Reviewing, modifying and evaluating work as it progresses. Several versions of work with annotations can be saved for the students to critically evaluate their work and also reflect on their responses. The IWBs used with learner response systems (ActiVote) show immediate feedback, thus endorsing feedback being timely and immediate. ActivExpression is also a LRS device which helps to make assessment a selfreflection process. \\ Author
Deepti Sawhney ICT Coordinator, Primary, The British School
event report
EDGE 2011:
Shaping Youth’s Future with Higher Education
Panelists at EDGE 2011
Inaugurated for the period of three days (9-11th March 2011), at Indian Habitat Centre, New Delhi, the Edge Forum came up with agenda to shape the future of youth with Higher Education
By Pragya Gupta
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tarted in 2007, EDGE conference is taking its legacy forward year on year by taking Higher Education to next level of intensification. To speak on ‘Shaping the Future of Indian Higher Education’ EDGE 2011 conference brought together a constellation of stars including Vice-Chancellors, Presidents, Directors, Professors, Education Councils, Entrepreneurs, policy makers and Union ministers to interact, collaborate and understand the prevailing trends in the Higher Education sector. Inaugurating the conference, Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for HRD and Communications and Information Technology, Govt of India said, “India is poised to become the ‘centre of gravity in global Higher Education. We are at the cusp
of next revolution in education in India and more investment in Higher Education is the only way forward. Financing education is a government commitment and our national duty with no strings attached. What we need is a change of mindset among all stakeholders in the Higher Education sector. We must also ensure that the profession of teaching gets highest priority.” Dignitaries present during inauguration are Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Prof C.N.R. Rao, Chairman, Science Advisory Council to Prime Minister, National Research Professor and Linus Pauling Research Professor and Honorary President, JNCASR, Bangalore, Dr Ayoub Kazim, MD, Dubai Knowledge Village and Dubai
International Academic City, Prof Bertil Andersson, Provost, Nanyang Technological University, Ajit Gulabchand, Chairman, Lavasa Corporation, Dr V.S. Ramamurthy, Director, National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Prof V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, Vice Chancellor, IGNOU, Dr S.B. Mujumdar, Chancellor, Symbiosis International University. Prof C.N.R. Rao, well-known educator, scientist and institution builder was honoured with the EDGE Education Personality of the Year Award to recognise his extraordinary and exemplary contribution to Higher Education sector. While receiving the award, Prof Rao focussing on the need and value of teacher-student interaction commented, “Absence of teacher or direct teaching totally based on digitalLEARNING / april 2011
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ICT will not improve education standards in India. Thus our deliverables to the students must be unconditional.” Madan Padaki, Co-Founder and CEO, MeritTrac Services Pvt. Ltd. has won Young EDGE Award 2011 for having demonstrated leadership in the education sector with significant contribution to the field of Higher Education. As 40 million youths look for Higher Education by 2020 compared to 17 million currently, the sector needs to act now to fully exploit our demographic potential. Higher Education would need one million faculties to teach them and would need more than 504 universities that are present now. According to the estimates of Ernst and Young, the sector would require nine lakh crore in investments. Stakeholders in the sector need to explore various options to achieve the government set target of Gross Enrolment Ratio of 30 per cent by 2020 from the present 13.5 per cent. S.B. Mujumdar, Chancellor, Symbiosis International University and Patron of EDGE Forum said, “The idea of EDGE conference is to connect good institutions and universities in India to collaborate and cooperate and find solutions for many challenges in our country. We intend to bridge the gap between government, colleges and universities which will speed up the process of expansion and inclusion in the Higher Education sector in India.” Prof V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, ViceChancellor of IGNOU and Academic Programme Committee Chairman of EDGE 2011, said, “EDGE is the foremost platform
for the stakeholders in Higher Education sector in India and the world to converge. Interactions at the platform will help us act together towards identified goals with a beneficial intent for the education sector.” The other stalwarts who addressed the conference include D. Purandeswari, Hon’ble Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Govt of India, Rajesh Ankushrao Tope, Hon’ble Minister for Higher and Technical Education, Government of Maharashtra, Dr Narendra Jadhav, Member, Planning Commission, Vibha Puri Das, Secretary (SE and HE), Dept. of Higher Education, Ministry of HRD, Govt of India, Amit Khare, Joint Secretary, Department of Higher Education, MHRD, Govt of India; Marlene M. Johnson, Executive Director and CEO, NAFSA. The conference has also covered various critical topics for the sector like International Partnerships, Future of Medical Education, Vocational Education, Education Infrastructure, Funding Education, Frontiers of New Assessments, ICT for Next Generation Learning Environments, Creativity in Higher Education, Medical Education and Education Policy Framework. Four workshops were conducted covering diverse topics like “New Models of Admissions” by the College Board, USA; “Governance Issues in Educational Institutions” by IIM-Bangalore; “Making International Partnerships Work” by Symbiosis and “What it takes to be in Top 100?” by QS Apple. More than 30 international institutions from USA, France, Singapore, Aus-
Prof Rajasekharan Pillai, Vice Chancellor, IGNOU & Kapil Sibal, HRD Minister, Govt of India
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VIT, State University of New York Binghamton Sign MoU VIT University, Vellore, India has signed MoU into a formal academic and research cooperation with State University of New York (SUNY) at Binghamton, USA during the Edge 2011 conference for 5 years with a provision for extension on mutual consent. Through this co-operation both universities will work jointly on activities such as establishing joint research activities, joint supervision of Ph.D students, faculty exchanges, exchanging information of interest such as publications and project documents, student exchanges and collaborative delivery of degree programs.
tralia, Dubai and Canada are exploring partnerships with Indian Institutions. The workshop on “Governance Issues in Educational Institutions” has discussed various issues and solutions. The event also consists of EduExpo for Educational Institutions, Publishing Houses, IT Companies and other service providers. Sessions on Education Infrastructure, Critical Aspects in nurturing International partnerships, Mainstreaming VET for Sustainable Growth, Funding Education in Emerging Market- discussing on various financing option available including mobilising alumni for funding, contingent loan mechanism for students and then sessions on Future of Medical Education, Developing Competence: The Role of Creativity in Higher Education discussed various important aspects of Higher Education. The final panel discussion on government policy frameworks to encourage, enrich and enhance the sector was driven by Oscar Fernandes, MP, Rajya Sabha, Dr Narendra Jadhav, Member of Planning Commission, Dr G. Viswanathan, Chancellor, VIT University, Amitabh Jhingan, Partner, Ernst and Young India and Anand Sudarshan, CEO and MD, Manipal Education. \\
corporate diary
SunGard Higher Education provides software and support, systems implementation and integration, strategic consulting and technology management services to help colleges and universities build, unify and manage their digital campuses. Vinod John, Senior Director (Sales), SunGard Higher Education in conversation with Pragya Gupta shared…
Towards Solution Centric Approach Please share with us more about SunGard’s operations in India? SunGard is one of the world’s leading software and technology services companies. SunGard provides software and processing solutions for financial services, higher education and the public sector. SunGard also provides disaster recovery services, managed IT services, information availability consulting services and business continuity management software.
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SunGard Higher Education is present in 40 different countries serving 1800 universities and 14 million students worldwide. Today SunGard Higher Education is a leading solutions provider to the higher education community. SunGard Higher Education has recently entered the Indian higher education segment; however India has been a product development and engineering hub for company for many years with around 3000+ employees in India across Bangalore and Pune.
How do the Indian higher education institutes look at Information Technology and what does SunGard Higher Education bring to the table? Well firstly, the transformation of Indian Universities has only just begun. There will be a huge adoption of modern technologies in the near future. That is not to say there is no technology in use, traditionally Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) look at technology to help manage the more traditional back office business
corporate diary
processes such as financial accounting, payroll, inventory and so on and provide lab facilities to students. While these are important, we believe institutions can and will look at using technology to deliver more learning content and services to students, to help faculty, to enable collaboration with alumni and industry and to provide progress reports to parents. We anticipate another wave of innovation to occur once the Indian Universities are effectively running digital campus environments. At this point we expect the emphasis to shift to far more personalised learning, with the institution able to adapt and respond to an individual learner’s needs. We expect that for teaching and learning technology will help to provide convenient, personalised services for students and improve the overall educational experience provided and also help faculty deliver effectively. Technology will help connect the learning community, help cultivate relationships with stakeholders such as faculty, students, alumni, industry, parents and administrators, and enable wider collaboration between Indian institutions as well international institutions. A number of HEIs in India benchmark themselves against their more established peers in various parts of the world. To help achieve the goal of excellence in delivering world class education, and related services to students, technology alone is not the answer. The key is to encapsulate best practices followed by institutions using technology and making them available to institutions – that is the business value institutions should expect from companies like SunGard. SunGard Higher Education helps institutions to promote individual achievement, enhance institutional performance and foster education communities worldwide. SGHE fulfills this mission through the technologies and services we offer. Success comes when we help our higher education clients excel in the achievement of their institutional missions, which also operate at these different levels. • At the individual level, we help institutions serve learners as they
achieve their educational goals, and we help administrators, staff members, and other campus personnel excel at their responsibilities. • At the institutional level, we provide a wide array of systems and services that help colleges and universities improve their accountability and effectiveness as organizations, employers, and places of learning. At the community level, our technologies support communication, collaboration, and other community needs. Our company’s active involvement in higher education professional associa-
In a market dominated by small time ERP players, the solutions you are offering is different. How challenging is it to convince institutions about the value you bring in? You have to understand we are not an ERP vendor. We are a higher education company providing software and services to 1800 institutions in over 40 countries. 85% of our service professionals have a higher education background. We bring this wealth of experience when we engage with a new customer. However during the initial stage of our engagement sometimes it’s a challenge to
SunGard “Tops” helps institutions efficiently and effectively develop, deploy and manage learning programs by providing support for online program delivery and student success tions, standards boards, and other organizations reflects our commitment to help sustain vibrant, education-focused communities throughout the world. You have deployed your solution at IIM Bangalore. Please share with our readers the nature of the solution? IIM Bangalore has implemented SunGard Higher Education’s Banner Digital Campus solution for efficient course administration, better student services and enhanced collaboration with other institutes. Banner Digital Campus is the world’s most widely used collegiate administrative suite of student, financial aid, finance, human resources, and advancement systems. IIMB went live with Banner in April 2010. Since then it has also launched its portal “Sarvam” built on SunGard Higher Education’s Luminis Platform to provide online services to its various stakeholders including students, faculty and administrators. The Luminis Platform provides the solid foundation of portal features, integrated enterprise applications and supporting infrastructure required to support an institution’s digital campus.
make customers who are used to people selling them ERP solutions as a commodity understand the value of our consultative approach. We try to understand the objectives of an institution and the challenges they face in achieving them. It’s only after we have done our due-diligence, interacted with various stake holders, understood their specific objectives and issues that we come up with a solution which would help the institution reach its goals. What future do you see for elearning or online education in India? How SunGard can help this vertical with its solutions? If India has to achieve its goal of achieving a gross enrolment ratio of 20% by 2015, institutes would have to focus on new channels of reaching and engaging students like e-learning or online education. Secondly it is not only the number of students that matter, quality of education is also of prime importance. We cannot open an IIT or an IIM in every nook and corner of the country, the key is to make the same quality and content available to students even in the most remote parts of the country. This is possible now due to the IT and telecom revolution that has occurred in India during the last two decades. \\ digitalLEARNING / april 2011
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THE PREMIER GLOBAL PLATFORM PROVIDING THOUGHT LEADERSHIP IN EDUCATION l l l l
gathering of global leaders and experts on education conference with thematic sessions exposition on education technologies watch out for World Education Summit awards!
13-15 JULY 2011 | the ashok, New Delhi, INDIA co-organisers
Organisers
Highlights
Power tracks on > School education > Higher education > Skills development l
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Ministers’ conclave Secretaries’ conclave Industry leaders’ conclave Education leaders’ conclave
platinum sponsor
supporting partner
Watch out for World Education Summit Award Log on to www.worldeducationsummit.net/awards.asp
exhibitors
www.worldeducationsummit.net
Participating Institutes (India) • • • • • • • • • •
Delhi University IIM, Lucknow IIT, Delhi Kurukshetra University Maharishi Dayanand University Maharshi Markandeshwar University Bangalore University Gulbarga University Kannada University Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University
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Karnataka University Kuvempu University Andhra University University of English and Foreign Languages Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Kakatiya University Maulana Azad National Urdu University Acharya Nagarjuna University National Academy of Legal Studies
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and Research University (NALSAR) Osmania University Tamil University University of Madras Jadavpur University Rabindra Bharati University University of Burdwan University Of Kalyani University of North Bengal Vidyasagar University
and many more...
Participating Institutes (International) • Bakhtar University • Holy Family Red Crescent Medical College and hospital • Botswanan College of Open and Distance Learning • Bocodol • Alexandria University • International Institute of Capacity Building in Africa • St. Mary’s University College • Addis Ababa University • Haramaya University • IICBA • Institute of Educational Development and Extension • Tasmac London School of Business • University of Malawi • Malawi College of Distance Education
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Asia E-University Mauritius College of the Air Mauritius Institute of Education Mangolia National Centre for Communicable Diseases Namibian Open Learning Network Trust Namibian College of Open Learning International Centre for Academics Nepal Information Technology Pvt. Ltd. National Open University of Nigeria National Teacher’s Institute of Nigeria The University of Papua New Guinea Middle-East Educational Services Open Minds International, Singapore
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Evergreen Public School Nav Bharti Public School Kasturi Ram International School GD Goenka Public School, Dwarka Arwachin International School Manav Sthali School Sachdeva Global School Maxfort School K R Mangalam World School,
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Regent International Institute of Higher Studies, Sri Lanka Glory Institute Sultanate of Oman Academic Institute of Distance Education Emlalatini Development Center, Swaziland Wisdom Education Institute, UAE Universal Empire Institute of Technology, UAE Vinayaka Missions University,UAE Royal College of Applied Science and Technology, UAE Institute of Modern Technologies, UAE Emirates Professional Training Institute, UAE
and many more...
Participating Schools
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DAV Public School Indraprastha International School The Millennium School, Lucknow Vidya Sanskar School Bal Bharti, Pitampura Blue Bells Group of Schools, Gurgaon Shemford Group of Schools JM International School
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Sri Venkateshwar Int. School GuruHarkishan Public School Apeejay School, Pitampura Green Fields School Richmondd Global School Cambridge Foundation School Jaipuria School, Vasundhara Mount Carmel School,Dwarka Amity International School
and many more..
For Programme Enquiry Contact: Rajeshree Dutta Kumar, Mobile: +91-8860651641 rajeshree@csdms.in For Exhibition and Sponsorship Contact: Jyoti Lekhi, Mobile: +91-8860651634 jyoti@elets.in
contact
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World Education Summit Secretariat CSDMS and Elets Technomedia Pvt. Ltd. G-4, Sector-39, Noida, India World Education Summit Secretariat (IGNOU) Vice Chancellor’s Office, Indira Gandhi National Open University, Maidan Gardhi, New Delhi-110068, India Tel: +91 120 2502180-85, Fax: +91 120 2500060 Web: www.worldeducationsummit.net
product
Innovative Education Concepts IE Concepts is a new initiative in education, with ideas to spearhead the change in education in India. The aim of the initiative is to be well recognised in the education field for the quality of services and training provided to various schools across India. Their objective is to be a part of the change in the education trend in India By Sudarshan Borker
I
nnovative Education (IE) Concepts works with schools to provide low cost IT solutions to set up interactive learning centers for language labs, math lab, other applications and smart class solution. It helps improve teacher’s teaching skills and develop new innovative educational products which will help in changing the current education trend that has been followed for years. IE Concepts conduct seminars for principals and teachers to enable them stay abreast with new practices evolving in education and teaching methodologies and make schools aware of ICT in education.
Products of IE Concepts: EduPc EduPC is a low cost computing device which lets schools set up language labs, math labs or an interactive learning center at cost effective prices which requires multiple computers. The technology eliminates the use of multiple desktop computers environment replacing to a consolidated client-server computing model, hence reducing the overall set up cost by 50 per cent. These units have no moving parts or internal hard-disk as the data is stored on the server and the access to certain applications can be restricted to the users. Overall in the long run, there is no need for system replacements or system updates. The server is the only hardware which needs to be updated. The system supports over 30 users on a CPU server setup, as per user configuration. It consumes less power as compared to desktop units, thus reducing energy
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cost and air conditioning usage. It also has rich multimedia playback for video files and high quality audio and animation. Investment cost to set up desktop units is reduced by 50 per cent and long
Benefits of EduPC • Low Cost • Low power Consumption • Back up power not required • No Air conditioning require as no moving parts in the device • Easy Installation • Smart Design • Supports all Multimedia including Mic and Audio input • 30 frames per second video streaming from server (Best Quality) • No AMC required for the Devices • Automatically adjust to main server hardware configuration (only Hardware to be upgraded and maintained)
term operations cost saved by 75 per cent. The solution is compatible with other learnings and supports Windows.
What is IE Class? IE Class is one-of-its-kind product for leveraging the power of web with its simple user interface, allowing the instructor to teach using a wide variety of media. These include audio and video playback, web browser and access to YouTube educational videos, all displayed through a data projector or on a LCD screen. The device is used as a stand alone unit in schools where they opt for just one or few units where purchase of server is not required. It would support all features as a networked setup and the content would have to be stored on an external device. Compared to a desktop computers, the solution eliminates applications that are hardly used in the classroom. The devices add value to the technical aspect of the class setup and also makes it easier for the user. With competitive features and low cost, the solution gives schools the liberty to setup their own infrastructure and load relevant content for use. \\
Easy as pi That’s what teachers say about SMART education solutions. They say SMART makes it easy – easy to use technology effectively and help students excel. What is it about SMART that makes teachers so enthusiastic? It’s our comprehensive collection of products, professional development, resources and support. That probably explains why teachers don’t ask for their blackboards back. Discover how simplicity leads to success. Visit smarttech.com.
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