Changing IT Trends in Andhra Pradesh : August 2010

Asia’s First Monthly Magazine on ICT in Education

INDIA VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 8 | AUGUST 2010 | ISSN 0973-4139 | RS. 75 www.digitalLEARNING.in

CHANGING

IT Trends in Andhra Pradesh

Jawahar Knowledge Centre trains young engineers to become knowledge workers P6

WI-FI: CHANGING LIVES OF MANY

P31

COLLABORATION TOOLS FOR CLASSROOMS P37

TECHNOLOGY, ICT & MATH EDUCATION

P44

VOLUME 6 ISSUE 8 AUGUST 2010

digitalLEARNING

ISSN 0973-4139

Contents

COVER STORY

JAWAHAR KNOWLEDGE CENTRE INITIATIVE CHANGING IT TRENDS IN ANDHRA PRADESH

JUST-IN-TIME LEARNING - EFFECTIVE & EFFICIENT PEDAGOGY OF FUTURE

TECHNOLOGY, ICT AND MATH EDUCATION

LEADER’S SPEAK

CORPORATE DAIRY

Sam Pitroda, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations

CASE STUDY

ENOSHA, A FREE, OPEN AND FLEXIBLE LEARNING OBJECT REPOSITORY

ICT IN EDUCATION – A CORE DRIVER OF GLOBALISATION

SAGE - AUTOMATION OF ADMINISTRATION OF EXAMINATION IS NOW EASY

WI-FI: CHANGING LIVES OF MANY

ICT-ENABLED EDUCATION AS A RIGHT TO EDUCATION: AN IMPERATIVE

WEB 2.0:COLLABORATION TOOLS FOR CLASS ROOMS

E-TEACHING AND E-LEARNING THROUGH CLASSROOM WINDOWS

www.digitalLEARNING.in

RNI NO. UPENG/2008/25311

Vivek Agarwal, CEO Liqvid

EINDIA 2010 PREVIEW

digitalLEARNING INDIA 2010 SESSIONS

digitalLEARNING AWARD NOMINEES

Visit to the Digital Learning portal for news, interviews, resources and articles from the Indian ICT in education domain www.digitallearning.in

EDITORIAL

Vote for Change Agents The global education sector has been completely transformed by the advent of modern ICT tools. The need of the hour is to find ways in which the strengths of the available and upcoming technologies can be integrated to achieve the country’s objective of “Education for All”. The needs of the beneficiaries need to be identified and the interventions suitably localised to ensure that this goal is reached in the shortest possible time. There is also a need to monitor the how well the money is being spent. We, at Digital Learning have always aimed at bringing the new developments to the foreground through our magazine, our website and our events. In continuation of our attempt, the digitalLEARNING Awards were instituted to felicitate the most innovative applications of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Education. This issue of the magazine is dedicated to those individuals and organisations that are making the difference right now. As most of you are aware, June was the month when we had invited all stakeholders to nominate projects and initiatives that they thought makes the difference in ensuring quality education and skills development through ICT. Overall 170 nominations were received for the digitalLEARNING Awards 2010 under seven different categories. After a preliminary evaluation by an independent jury, the nominations were put up on the eINDIA website for public voting. We were surprised by your enthusiasm that was demonstrated by the number of votes cast for the eINDIA2010 awards—121,577 votes to be precise, across all tracks and categories. The results of the awards have been compiled and sent to our jury of experts drawn from all over the world with expertise in their respective domains. The awards will be presented during eINDIA2010 on the August 5, 2010. While we, at Digital Learning are now geared up for this year’s biggest ICT event, we would like to dedicate this issue of the magazine to the frontrunners of the ICT revolution who are working hard to bring quality education for all.

Dr. RAVI GUPTA Editor-in-Chief Ravi.Gupta@digitalLEARNING.in

President: Dr. M P Narayanan | Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Ravi Gupta | Managing Editor: Shubhendu Parth | VP - Strategy: Pravin Prashant Product Manager: Dipanjan Banerjee (Mob: +91-9968251626) Email: dipanjan@elets.in Editorial Team: Dr. Rajeshree Dutta Kumar, Shipra Sharma, Divya Chawla, Sheena Joseph, Yukti Pahwa, Sangita Ghosh De, Subir Dey, Pratap Vikram Singh, Gayatri Maheshwary Sales & Marketing Team: Fahimul Haque (Mobile: +91-9873277808), Debabrata Ray, Arpan Dasgupta, Bharat Kumar Jaiswal, Anuj Agarwal, Priya Saxena, Vishal Kumar (sales@elets.in) Subscription & Circulation: Astha Mittra (Mobile: +91-9810077258, subscription@elets.in), Manoj Kumar, Gunjan Singh Graphic Design Team: Bishwajeet Kumar Singh, Om Prakash Thakur, Shyam Kishore Web Development Team: Zia Salahuddin, Amit Pal, Sandhya Giri, Anil Kumar IT Team: Mukesh Sharma, Devendra Singh | Events: Vicky Kalra Editorial & Marketing Correspondence: 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

digital LEARNING

AUGUST 2010

COVER STORY

Changing IT trends in Andhra Pradesh

MALTI CHANDRA SHEKHAR

Jawahar Knowledge Centre has helped over 200 engineering colleges in the tier II and III towns of the state increase their employment rate of graduates from 8% to 28%

As a proportion of national GDP, the IT sector revenues have grown from 1.2% in 1998 to an estimated 5.8% in 2009 and it is here in Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s IT industry where the state of Andhra Pradesh plays a major role. Its share of IT exports in the country has grown from 7.5 % in 200304 to 15 % in 2008-09. The state capital Hyderabad is ranked the number one Indian ITES destination by NASSCOM. However, the tremendous growth in this knowledge-based business within a short period of time has created the problem of skill-set shortage.

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GETTING IT RIGHT The state of Andhra Pradesh produces half a million graduates from its colleges and universities every year. However, due to poor awareness of industry grade skills only 10% of general graduates and 25% engineering graduates can be employed in various sectors of industry and amongst them, those who benefited the most are from urban background or students of the premium institutions. As majority of the engineering colleges in private sector are established in Tier II and Tier III towns and rural areas to meet the educational

needs of these populations, the students were facing disadvantage of location, lack of soft skills and communication skills required by the industry. Furthermore, ease of accessibility and affordability of higher education in the state encouraged the socially and economically disadvantaged students to pursue technical education who required additional training and career guidance for competing in the global market. Added to this, in the globalised market, the skills required by a student in engineering college went beyond the

300000 239000

Employment

ANDHRA

187450

200000

PRADESHâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S SHARE

151789 126920

TO IT EXPORTS

85945

100000

HAS GROWN FROM 7.5% IN 2003-04 TO 15% IN 2008-09

0 1997-2004

2004-2005

2005-2006

2006-2007

2007-2008

Year wise Figure 1: Growth of employment in IT sector in Andhra Pradesh

JKC college registration status (as of May 2009) Educational stream

Total Colleges in the state in 2008

2004-05

2005-06

2006-07

2007-08

2008-09

2009-10

Engineering & MCA

653

102

164

219

297

459

385

Degree

1740

137

260

334

300

Total Colleges

2393

102

175

356

557

793

685

Expansion of JKCs in terms of college registrations

technical skills that he acquires through the university curriculum. Therefore, it is important to manage these large number of knowledge workforce coming out of the engineering colleges situated in semi-urban and rural areas and turn them as high quality human resources to cater the market needs. It is realised that for effective employment of the huge number of graduates there needs to be a synergy among the academia, industry and government. To realise the vision of effective employment, the government of Andhra Pradesh has incorporated the Institute for Electronic Governance (IEG) a non-profit organisation to train young engineers to become knowledge workers through Jawahar Knowledge Centre (JKC) initiative - the main activity of IEG. JKC aims to offer quality human resources and services to IT and ITES sector by brining synergy among the institutions of government, industry and academia.

The initiative has already attracted a large number of engineering students from all over the state, providing them with a world-class infrastructure, the best guidance, content and opportunities to apply their knowledge to challenging problems. Since its inception in 2004, it has been working closely with major companies both local and global, to impart industry grade skills to the graduates of the colleges. INDUSTRYâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;ACADEMIA SYNERGY The JKC initiative has played a remarkable role in linking major companies with colleges located in semi-urban and rural areas. As a result, students in remote parts of the state are not only aware of the industry requirements, but are also able to upgrade their industry skills and obtain opportunities in the MNCs. JKC has also initiated industry certification programmes for subsidised/

free price enabling the students to become proficient in the technology of his/her interest before passing out the colleges and to also improve the employability. CAMPUS PLACEMENT JKC has helped extensively in campus placements to at least 200 engineering colleges in the tier II and III towns across the state. JKC initiative has led to an increase in the employment rate of the graduates from 8% to 28%. Due to its spread all over the state and establishment of relations with more than 100 industries, several thousands of JKC trained rural students have been selected for prestigious organisations like Infosys, IBM, Wipro, TCS, Satyam, Cognizant, CTS, ICICI and many more. The initiative is so successful that over the years, there is lot of expansion in the JKC registrations both in terms of colleges and student.

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AUGUST 2010

JKC EXPANSION Within a short span of time, JKC has expanded in an exponential manner. The initiative first started with engineering (all branches) and MCA students, then expanded to degree students (BA, B.Com, B.Sc and management students) and for the past one year it has also been extended to the students in government high schools (6th class to 10th class students). College registrations have gone up from 102 in 2004-05 to 793 in 2008-09 and student registrations, from 7091 to 112,600, respectively. Since 2008, JKC has also been extended to selected 1031 government high schools located in six districts (Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Nizamabad, Khammam, Srikakulam and Vijayanagaram) under the ICT@5000 Computer Education in Government High schools scheme of school education department, Andhra Pradesh. IEG’s computer aided education programs in the high schools are aimed at establishing an ecosystem that will provide effective learning environment for children in subjects like mathematics, science, English language and social studies, with special tools to promote critical thinking and analytical skills leading to the enablement of “student centric learning’.

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The state of Andhra Pradesh produces half a million graduates from its colleges and universities every year. However due to poor awareness of industry grade skills only 10% of general graduates and 25% of engineering could be employed in various sectors of industry.

ROAD AHEAD JKC now aims to cover 1,000 colleges and 200,000 students annually in the near future. In order to ensure inclusion of each and every segment of society, it aims to start a special training program for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, minority and backward classes. The uniqueness of this programme is that it is a “finishing school model” of six months duration that is completely free of cost. This program also provides high quality training in technical, aptitude and soft skills, 24/7 library, high-speed Internet and individual laptops primarily aimed at creating awareness in this specific class of the society through tribal empowerment programme.

JKC has brought significant change in the students from rural background in terms of employability and employment opportunities, exposing them to state-of-the-art assessment techniques thus enabling them to prepare for the global competitions. JKC has motivated eight Indian states to replicate the programme in their states. \\

MALTI CHANDRA SHEKHAR

Director (Academic Affairs), Institute For Electronic Governance, Email: 380mcs@gmail.com

IN CONVERSATION

SAM PITRODA ADVISOR TO THE PRIME MINISTER ON PUBLIC INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE AND INNOVATIONS 10

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Networking for Knowledge THE KEY ARCHITECT OF INDIA’S TELECOMMUNICATION REVOLUTION, IN AN INTERACTION WITH RAVI GUPTA AND PRAVIN PRASHANT, SAM PITRODA TALKS ABOUT HIS VISION FOR THE INDIAN EDUCATION SECTOR

What is your vision for public information infrastructure and innovations in India? As we move into a growth era, India needs to be globally competitive and needs to innovate. Both the President and the Prime Minister of India have focused on innovations. The President has talked about 2010-20 as a decade of innovations. Today, there is a political will to support innovations in all spheres. Taking this political will forward and translating it into action is a key challenge. India has been innovating for centuries. However, for the last 100 years or so the country has lost its edge, while a lot of innovations have come from the US in the last 50 years. Today, India needs to create its own models of innovation rather than adopting a US model, as that will not solve the problems of our country. There is also an urgent need to create various development platforms — for homeland security, applications, UID, education, etc. The creation of these platforms is critical to empower millions of people around, and sure, the government is committed to creating this robust, universal, standardised, secure information infrastructure for the people of India. What kind of innovations will be relevant for India and which should be the focus areas? There is an urgent need to create a broad platform for innovations that focus on the organisation and the system, rather than focusing on materials and

technologies. Another important aspect is to have growth-based innovations that are sustainable, scalable and affordable. The innovations should affect people who are at the bottom of the pyramid, i.e. should be able to change the lives of those millions who are not in the mainstream. It is also important to create the required ecosystems for innovations like the venture capital, recognition for young talent, provision of facilities to people, and creation of an innovation environment at our institutions and then identifying the key drivers for innovations. What can be done to trigger this at a more fundamental level? Traditionally, a few people have controlled information. People at the bottom of the pyramid don’t get the benefits of this information. If information is democratised then opportunities can be given to millions and millions of young people. Looking at the telecom industry, the first phase of the telecom revolution is beginning to end. The second phase is about to begin where the broadband platform will be provided for all. The major task in the second phase is to take highspeed broadband to 2.5 lakh panchayat members. Fibre will be taken to the doorsteps of panchayats. How do you see the education system changing in India with the active play of ICT? The 11th plan is all about education, where the government will be spending

67 billion dollars on education. About Rs 6,000 crore have been approved by the cabinet to build a knowledge network. This network is about connecting 1,500 locations. The programme is about connectivity of the nodes. The schools, all universities and R&D institutes will be connected and scientists will begin to collaborate, and teachers will be able to share the resources. This programme has already been implemented, 15 nodes have been connected and are working. Within 18 months, all the nodes will be connected and made operational. This will be the mother of all networks. Consolidation of old networks will also be done. The augmentation of networks will be the key to connecting 2.50 lakh panchayat members. This is the kind of revolution the government is aiming for in three years. How do you see the digital roadmap for India over the coming five years? Multiple platforms should be set up, which should not take more than three years. It is important to have the broadband platform, the UID platform, the GIS platform, the application platform, the security platform and the payment platform. The job of the government is to provide the platforms and see the larger and the holistic picture. People from various departments have to come forward and work towards the accomplishment of the goals. On the national GIS plan for the country, the vision is that every bit of the physical asset, each and every building, road and street is mapped. \\

digital LEARNING

AUGUST 2010

CASE STUDY

eNOSHA

A One Stop Online Repository System of Learning Objects Classroom Windows PETER MOZELIUS & ENOSHA HETTIARACHCHI

In a country like Sri Lanka, more than 100,000 students per year do not have access to tertiary education. One of the primary reasons being the lack of repository and storage of the e-learning objects and developed content. eNOSHA is a free, open and flexible learning object repository

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In a country like Sri Lanka, more than 100,000 students per year do not have any access to tertiary education. One of the primary reasons being the lack of repository and storage of the e-learning objects and developed content, as around 50 new courses though have been created and stored in the Moodle virtual learning environment, it still lacks adequate structure, metadata or search mechanism. Addressing this challenge, the

discussions in the European â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Sri Lankan eBIT project during 2006 and 2007, paved the way for creating an online system for storing learning objects, named eNOSHA system by the LOR group in the Swedish â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Sri Lankan NeLC project funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA). A LOR is a storage and search system for digital learning material for reusing and sharing the content. From the very beginning some of the

A LOR L is a storage and search system for digital learning material syste for reusing and sharing the content.

fundamental design ideas were to reuse or develop a LOR that should be free, open and flexible enough to serve all stakeholders at the UCSC e-Learning Centre. CHALLENGE Lack of free and open learning object repositories. METHODOLOGY Based on the traditional face-to-face meetings as well as in online distance meetings between UCSC in Sri Lanka, Focus groups with staff from UCSC and the involved Swedish universities, the eNOSHA development is based on a participatory design principle where the presumptive users have been iteratively consulted in matters of usability, user-friendliness, and graphical design. User feedback has been an important factor in creation of the different project sprints and usability tests with scenarios using the new-implemented functionalities. DESIGNING FOR FLEXIBILITY eNOSHA is developed keeping in account various needs, like varied curriculum and course structure of different organisations, varied contents, templates supporting bulk uploading so that it can be used in different organisations as per the needs and requirements.

GENERAL DESIGN AND MODULARISATION eNOSHA is built on an idea about some core modules that can be extended with auxiliary units. The very fact that different universities and organisations have different needs, eNOSHA system in all aspects is so designed that it can be extendible and users should be able to develop and attach their own modules without affecting the core functionality.

IMPLEMENTATION AND AVAILABILITY The eNOSHA LOR system is a XAMP product tested on the Windows and Linux platforms. In addition to the main PHP programming language, JavaScript and Ajax were used on the client side. All data and metadata are stored in a MySQL relational database and eNOSHA has a localisation scheme based on language files.

THE METADATA SET LOM is a huge standard that covers a lot of metadata aspects. Metadata is often defined as data about data and is an important tool to categorise objects in LORs and make them searchable. All existing courses in the BIT, eBIT and FIT programmes at UCSC exclusively use digital content following the SCORM standard.

CONCLUSION So far no user tests have contradicted the fundamental design idea of context independency and adaptability. If categories, learning object granularity and user roles can be changed and redefined from the administrator module without making any changes to the source code we believe that also organisations without internal software engineering support can run and use the system when it is installed.

LEARNING OBJECTS GRANULARITY A learning object can more specifically be defined as “any reusable digital resource that is encapsulated in a lesson or assemblage of lessons grouped in units, modules, courses, and even programmes.” To facilitate reuse and to decrease context dependency a LOR needs to divide courses and course modules into more fine-grained units. In the UCSC adapted version of the eNOSHA system learning objects are divided into four granularity levels:

THE FUTURE During 2010 and 2011 the eNOSHA system will be tested at universities in Sweden and Finland. Interviews will be conducted with users to try and separate context dependent problems from the general LOR problems. The eNOSHA – Moodle integration needs to be evaluated and the new module for hyper video is still under construction. \\

digital LEARNING

AUGUST 2010

CASE STUDY

ICT in Education

A Core Driver of Globalisation PROF. SHWETA BHARDWAJ

Switching from manual to CAE is not only about technologyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;it is also about content and effective instructional practices. The focus is on curriculum and learning, where the curriculum should be redesigned giving equal importance to use of the educational videos, lab sessions, projects, student driven activity such as power point presentations, and educational games 14

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The education world has been greatly influenced by rapid development in information and communication technology (ICT) and increasing availability of information. Schools and universities have advanced by leaps and bounds when it comes to incorporating technology into the learning environment. Government as well as private organisations like Intel, NIIT and Microsoft is taking enough initiatives to encourage the use of technology in the education system. Schools and universities are using educational tools like Moodle, iCore, Thinking Cap and Microsoft Silverlight which not only helps in

delivering classes but also in automating the complete educational system. As the access to information continues to grow exponentially, educational institutions cannot limit themselves to delivering a prescribed syllabus from teacher to student over a fixed period of time. Even after sixty years of independence, India is home to 66% literates. Computer Aided Education (CAE) includes but is not limited to multimedia presentations, interactive digital books, video conferencing, educational games, whiteboard and Internet based learning. Individual instructors can use these tools

Continuous Improvement Feedback LAYER 4

Training Maintenance

Instructor& Students Layer Training LAYER 3

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

Role Change Tool acceptance

Technology Layer Network LAYER 2

Communication Mode

STANDARD DELIVERY PROCESS

Software implementation

Objective Layer Programme LAYER 1

Syllabus/ curriculum

FOCUSED APPROACH

Course

Figure 1: A layered approach for technology aided education system

during the knowledge delivery process. For a successful CAE, it is important to have an effective integration of the educational tools and the knowledge delivery process at each level, be it schools, colleges and universities etc along with the involvement of key stakeholders. This calls forth and proposes a “layered approach” to technology aided education system that primarily entails the correct fit of technology in the teaching process and the initiatives taken by government and private organisations towards technology aided education system. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL The ‘ICT in Schools’ scheme, an Indian government initiative dates back to December 2004, which supports

computer aided education process and enhances computer knowledge among the secondary school students. 2365 schools were sanctioned under outright purchase and 7200 schools on BOOT model. Andhra Pradesh was the first state in India to offer ICT education to its entire 1.8 million school going children. COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES With an aim to impart technical education by using technology, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), in 2003 had initiated– National Programme for Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) that is a joint initiative by the seven Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and Indian Institute of Science (IISC) Bangalore. The objective of NPTEL is to enhance the quality of engineering

education in the country, along with the focus on developing curriculum based video courses, web based e-courses, digitally taped classroom lectures and additional study materials in every subject possible. Another scheme like e-shiksha initiated by Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) is an e-learning portal that supports learning – anytime, anywhere with a multilingual subtitles thus supporting students of various demographics. Some of the other prominent initiatives undertaken by Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey Women’s University (SNDT) Pune, the Pay Phone Welfare Association (PPWA), and Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) have been remarkable and unique in imparting mobile education on music, dance, art and craft, nutrition, public health and AIDS awareness. PRIVATE SECTOR INITIATIVES Amongst the private sector initiatives, Intel India has been playing a pertinent role since past ten years with various central and state education bodies in offering programs in higher education, teacher training, informal education and science promotion. The Intel Learn Programme focuses on project based learning enabling the youth aged 8 to 18, to develop critical thinking, problem solving and collaborative learning attitude. Microsoft is also actively involved in encouraging the use of technology use in learning and education through the “Partner in Learning (PIL)” which is a global initiative that aims to provide a better access to technologies, teacher’s training and use of an innovative method to impart knowledge. Further, Educomp smart class, mathguru, edulearn, iCoreTM (an educational software by iCore ), Thinking Cap, NIIT educational products are some of the key educational products that encourage the use of technology use in teaching in a single integrated solution to all school activities like interactive classroom for teachers, math lab and IT wizard for the students and quick school for the school management. ROLE TRANSFORMATION Unlike the traditional education system where an instructor delivered a lecture, technology aided education system has

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AUGUST 2010

enabled the instructors to become more responsible in the knowledge delivery process and the participation of the students participate in the knowledge gaining process becomes two ways where they too are encouraged to contribute their view point on the topics. With the new defined role, the instructor becomes a part of the class and there is a dual sharing of knowledge by both instructor and the student. With the use of ICT, the students no more remain confined to the classroom teaching and prescribed books, but rather make an extensive use of the websites, magazine article and newspaper readings and real life examples. PROPOSED ARCHITECTURE: A LAYERED APPROACH For those who are currently operating on a manual basis but is now moving on to integrate ICT in educational organisation, the proposed architecture (refer to Figure1) outlines the layered approach. Switching from manual to CAE is not only about technologyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;it is also about content and effective instructional practices. The focus is on curriculum and learning, where the curriculum should be redesigned giving equal importance to use of the educational videos, lab sessions, projects, student driven activity such as Power point presentations, and educational games. Further continuous evaluation should be adapted rather than class tests and

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Even after sixty years of independence, India is home to 66% literates.

exams. Integrating technology in the education system needs planning, analysis (hardware, software, network and administrative support) and timely implementation. Technology integration can also lead to re-engineering of the education, administrative process. Training should be rendered to the instructors as well as the students on the usage of the tool. The success of CAE will depend on the acceptance of the tool by the instructor and the students. Challenges of ICT integration in education system: \\ Absence of a top leadership, proper management and acceptance of the new work environment \\ Improper investigation and monitoring \\ Need of re-engineering before final adoption WAY AHEAD Apart from imparting knowledge through Internet and integrating educational tools in the educational process, technology aided education also includes mLearning and Direct to

Home (DTH) learning. (For example, Apple encourages mLearning through iTuneU; Digital cable TV operators like Airtel, Tata Sky and Reliance) The system should be alert to the new developments happening in abroad and in India in telecommunication and educational domain. Organisations should adopt available technologies and facilities to develop new product from time to time. CONCLUSION IT has helped organisations to think beyond traditional learning method and redefine the concept of education. CAE helps students to focus more on knowledge rather than learning. Technology has no doubt opened the gateway to various educational resources but for teaching communities it is important to acknowledge that it is not the silver bullet that will solve all the academic problems, rather the instructors, students and the school management need to join hands to make the difference in the process and improve quality. \\

PROF. SHWETA BHARDWAJ

IBS, Bangalore, Karnataka, India, Email: gemishweta@gmail.com)

CASE STUDY

SAGE

Automation of Administration of Examination is Now Easy DR. V. AJAYAKUMAR Director, Computer Centre, University of Kerala

A System for Automated Governance of Examinations (SAGE) has been developed by the Computer Centre of University of Kerala for complete automation of all stages of the administrative part of examinations. The procedure for governance of examinations has been thoroughly revamped and simplified, based on a model, which numerically represents all the examinationrelated events of this century

The efficiency and exactitude in carrying out administrative work associated with administration of examinations hold a University in high esteem. This is more relevant in the case of Universities that have large number of colleges affiliated to them. Though many IT firms have come forward with digital solutions for the governance part of University Examinations, most of them have failed to prove well-tailored to the user’s requirements. A System for Automated Governance of Examinations (SAGE) has been developed by the Computer Centre of University of Kerala for complete automation of all stages of the administrative aspect of examinations. The procedure for governance of examinations has been thoroughly revamped and simplified, based on a model, which numerically represents all examination-related events of this century. New procedures for all the stages from course design to issue of degree certificates have been prescribed and digital solutions provided. Using the new model, the system ensures exactitude and timeliness in examination governance. The contributions of IT during the last two decades have been fully utilised for all stages viz. the realisation of online registration to online delivery of mark sheets. The provision given for recruiting agencies to verify the genuineness of University degrees on Internet and the instantaneous progress reports made available to the students are some of the remarkable features of this system. All the sections of the examination wing have been made “pen less”. Statistically significant observations on awarding internal assessment marks are also made. The system has been in use for the last 5 years for all the major examinations of University of Kerala. The number of grievances coming to the examination sections has been drastically brought down. The labour productivity has increased by nearly 3 times after the installation of this system. In 2009 another project named “SWEET” (System for Web-Enabled Exam Transactions)

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YEAR

Intake of Students

Number of Employees engaged

Mark lists generated per employee

2001 (before computerisation)

1500

900

2006 (after web-enabling)

10000

4500

SWEET: WEB BASED ON-LINE FACILITIES Enrolment and creation of student database immediately after admission process Registration to examinations with e-payment facilities Issue of hall tickets and nominal rolls Entry of attendance data of examinations by college office Entry of internal assessment marks by college office Entry of marks in Centralised Valuation camps by University staff or teachers Delivery of subject- wise results and their changes (This information has been available on websites for years) Delivery of mark lists Submission of applications for revaluation or scrutiny Submission of applications for provisional certificates, degree certificates / official transcripts Delivery of official transcripts Verification of genuineness of degree certificates Victimisation in internal assessment detected scientifically Examinership given to the most appropriate person (as per the subjects taught by the teacher) Improvement in Labour Productivity by 5 times Integration of information with other systems and subsystems Chances of litigation minimised (like unlawful claims for degree certificates) Management Information System to generate strategic information needed for decision-making High benefit-cost ratio (low cost of development, low maintenance charge, reduced travel costs for accessing reliable information)

WEAKNESSES OF THE EXISTING MANUAL SYSTEM Incomplete, inconsistent and rapidly varying regulations Delay in scrutiny of results and poor counterfoil management Consequences of delay in announcing revaluation result Difficulty to trace missing marks, attendance details etc. Mark lists conveying bare minimum information Final consolidation of results is difficult Tedious process of results analysis Evaluation of the quality of valuation is difficult Difficulty in assigning duty to the most appropriate teacher Online retrieval of information is difficult Difficulty in correctly implementing decisions regarding moderation Necessity of maintaining different types of application forms Poor management of question paper inventory Inability to ensure quality of question papers

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BENEFITS OF SAGE SYSTEM Improvement in Productivity: timely announcement of the result (within seven days after the evaluation) Any Time Information System (ATI): enabling students to get examination related information on Internet Official transcript and mark lists are available on the Internet Recruiting agencies can verify genuineness of degrees certificates of the candidates Timely announcement of revaluation results (within 45 days) Interactive website to communicate with University (through the University web portal) Information through Interactive Voice Response System (by just entering the registration number on telephone) services through web portal

was successfully implemented. It enabled all communications between affiliated colleges and University office to be â&#x20AC;&#x153;paper lessâ&#x20AC;? by this system. The System for Automated Governance of Examinations developed for the complete automation of the Examination Wing of Universities has been on a trial run in the University of Kerala. The results have been quite encouraging and the principles of design as a whole can be replicated in other parts of the country as well. The unique aspect of this automated system is that though it makes use of the latest technologies available today, the cost of implementation is considerably low compared to any other system of comparable quality available now. Moreover, as the University owns the source code of the software, any modification in it can be made at any time, without depending on other organisations. This model of IT enabling ensures that new employment opportunities are generated either inside or near the organisation that is modernised. \\

eINDIA2010 PREVIEW

digitalLEARNING India 2010, Sessions Preview DAY 1: AUGUST 4, 2010 2:00 pm—3:30 pm Plenary Keynote Session I: Envisioning eLEARNING on a Global Platform & Vision 2020: Policies, Strategies & Relevance for Achieving Excellence Background: India is a growing power in terms in education and professional capacity. This session is an introduction to political strategies being planned and implemented to achieve brilliant capacity development in education, in context of ICT. Aim: To elaborate, discuss and debate on the plans for betterment of education till 2020, through utilisation of ICT. 4.00 pm to 5.30 pm Plenary Keynote Session II: Access, Equity and Excellence in Education: Opportunities for Public Private Partnership Background: Today the major problem India faces in terms of education is lack of availability of resources – both –material and human, for the existing and prospective students. Here is where support of the private industry can make a difference. Aim: To invite policy makers and practitioners to elaborate on ways in which Private players can use ICT to enable dissemination of education; providing for equity, access and excellence to present and future generations of children. DAY 2: AUGUST 5, 2010 digitalLEARNING K-12 (School Education) Track 2010

9.00 am to 11.00 am

Role of Technology in Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyaan Programme: Challenges and Opportunities One of the major Indian initiatives in the education sector is the RMSA. This initiative has been launched to provide access to quality secondary education. Aim: To carry out deliberations focusing on the provisions and challenges this initiative has been facing and role ICTs can play in facilitating access to quality secondary education.

11.30 am to 1.00 pm

Round Table Discussion I Moving Towards Digitally Equipped Schools: Priorities and Challenges, Understanding Challenges and scope of creating interactive classrooms and teacher education

digitalLEARNING Skills Development and Vocational Education Track 2010

digitalLEARNING Higher Education Track 2010

Opening Plenary - Systemic Enhancement of Learning & Teaching in Innovation, Research and Development: Policy and Practices Higher Education in India is going through major changes in policy and implementation. Some recent developments are the opening up of the education sector to foreign universities, plans of dissolution of certain bodies with target of creating a unified body for regulation of higher education etc. Aim: To hold discussions on the latest development in the field of research and development from policy perspective. Education Leaders’ Conclave: Imperatives for Growth in the Knowledge Economy

digital LEARNING

AUGUST 2010

2.00 pm to 3.30 pm

The nation is rapidly digitising all processes at primary, secondary and senior secondary level to make the education process more effective and efficient for the future generations. Aim: Education Secretaries and Principals of Schools to discuss the ways to develop modules of interactive classroom and teaching.

India has the finest of educationists and academicians who are experts not only in dissemination of knowledge and practice but also in creating creative changes in the system to evolve a knowledge economy that is the best in the world. Aim: To bring together the leaders in the field for discovering the methods and modules for producing human capacity par excellence.

Digital Storytelling: ICT mediated Learning and Practices (CEMCA, COL)

Governance in Higher Education: Role of Technology and Future Trends

In an era where ICT have become a necessity and not a luxury, the importance of reaching out to the poorest of poor and imparting knowledge (both formal and nonformal). Community Radio has been a technology that has surpassed the other technologies due to its ease of access and ubiquity. Aim: Sharing of stories related to digitised mode of radio for dissemination of information and knowledge. 4.00 pm to 5.30 pm

Round Table Discussion II, Role of e-Learning to Enhance Subject Knowledge of Students: Exploring options of using multimedia to effectively communicate content and motivate learning Importance of using e-content and digitised infrastructure in schools is being realised for better understanding of subjects amongst students. Aim: The session is to explore how multimedia instruments can help in encouraging children to learn in a more productive way, through deliberations amongst the implementers of learning.

ICTs are leading the way in making Indian higher education system a great success in India and abroad. Aim: The session will witness discussions and recommendations on the present use of technology in the sector; and the prospective use of ICT in the sector.

Assessment, Accreditation & Quality Standards in Higher Education: Technology Leading the Way Online examinations and standardisation of norms is a recent trend in the country. Technology is being updated and used to develop strategies and forms for making assessment and accreditation uniform and fair. Aim: Share how technology can be and is being channelised to make accreditation and assessment successful processes.

Glimpses from digitalLEARNING India 2009

www.digitalLEARNING.in

DAY 3: AUGUST 6, 2010 digitalLEARNING K-12 (School Education) Track 2010

9.00 am to 11.00 am

Strategising & Implementation of Policies on Usage of ICT in Leveraging Learning Usage of ICT for policy implementation of programmes such as SSA among others has been in the limelight recently. Aim: Inviting stakeholders from government to discuss effective use ICT tools in school education.

11.30 am to 1.00 pm

Round Table Discussion III, School Leadersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Conclave â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Right to Education and Role of Information and Communication Technology April 2010 saw implementation of Right to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) for all children in the age group of 6-14 years. Now what is being sought is its implementation across India. Aim: An attempt to take recommendations from Principals regarding the role of ICT in execution of the RTE act.

2.00 pm to 3.30 pm

Round Table Discussion IV, Breaking Barrier Towards Access and Success: Technology as Enabler in Inclusive Education Inclusive education has been an issue of debate for years. But it was only recently, that ICT is being looked up on as a tool that can not only bridge digital divide but also gender and economic divides. Aim: This session invites educationists to discuss how technology can support seamless education across various disparities

4 pm to 5.30 pm

digitalLEARNING Higher Education Track 2010

digitalLEARNING Skills Development and Vocational Education Track 2010

Open University & Distance Education: Policy Strategies for Utilising ICT / Flexible Education Practices (Special IGNOU Session)

JKC Programme for Skill Development and Training (IEG Special Session): Importance of Industry-University Synergy in Skill Development Programmes

Effective and efficient ICT implementation is the key to the success of Open and Distance Education Aim: Inviting specialists in the field of ODL for tabling best practices involving ICT implementation for providing education to anyone, at any time and any where.

The lacunae in formal education is filled in by developing skills in the range of non-formal streams. Capacity building supply is linked to employment by the industrial demand. Aim: To understand why it is important to create and sustain an industrial interface with the Universities for skill development and vocational training programmes.

Strengthening Capacities of Educators: The ICT Way

IGNOU Special - Skills and Vocational Literacy: Technology Enhanced Employment

Teacher training, teacher availability and courses to equip teachers with necessary skills to make education more effective for students in any course being taught is gaining special attention. Aim: To hold deliberations on how teachers can be taught (both inservice and freshers) with ICT to equip them to run with international standards and enhancing teaching learning process.

Technical prowess is interwoven with employability. There is a need for the employee to cater to these needs. In such a scenario IGNOU which is an international open university, is being invited to elaborate on how technology can help in enhancing employment skills.

Maintaining Quality Standards in Engineering and Management Education: Key Requirements

National Skills Mission: Diverse Perspectives and the Role of Industry

With multiple colleges springing across country, the immediate issues that arise include that of quality and standardisation of education. Aim: This session will focus on the above issues in context of management and engineering education, with focus of what are the necessities of the respective fields and role of technology in delivering the same.

Within the XIth Five Year Plan special emphasis is being given on the advancement of skills training to ensure that India develops a human knowledge pool and addresses the demand supply imbalance being raised today. What role does the private sector play as a support system will be the focus of this session. Participants will also discuss about the strategies for overcoming the current challenges that the national mission is facing.

VALEDICTORY

digital LEARNING

AUGUST 2010

AWARDS

Nominees of digital LEARNING for eINDIA 2010 Awards BEST SCHOOL Country

Project Name

Project Implementer

State

ICT Govt Schools

ZPH School, Korullu

Andhra Pradesh

India

ICT Govt Schools

ZPH School, Vadali

Andhra Pradesh

India

ICT Govt Schools

ZPHS, Alluru

Andhra Pradesh

India

Digital Literacy

JPHS,Dundigal

Andra Pradesh

India

eSchool

SPS High School

Andhra Pradesh

India

ICT Schools Computer Education Project

ZPPSS, Machupahad

Andra Pradesh

India

Project Name

Project Implementer

State

Country

SAGE- System for Automated Governance of Examinations

University of Kerala

Kerala

India

RISAL Social Repository and Networking

The University of Hong Kong

Hong Kong

China

ICT enabled Interactive Website

Baldev Ram Mirdha Institute of Technology

Rajasthan

India

National Library & Information Services Infrastructure for Scholarly Content (N-LIST)

Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET) Centre

Gujarat

India

PROMETHEAN Activ Classroom

Singhania Univeristy

Rajasthan

India

EduNxt

Directorate of Distance Education, Sikkim Manipal University

Karnataka

India

Bringing Excellence in Education through IT

University of Petroleum and Energy Studies

Uttarakhand

India

eCollege Suite

Kottakkal Ayurveda College

Kerala

India

Digital ICT Class Room Window

Hindustan University

Tamil Nadu

India

Online Laboratory Management System

Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur

West Bengal

India

Technology Enhanced Learning and Teaching (TELT) Model @IIITM-K

Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management, Kerala

Kerala

India

Central Placement Cell Information System

Delhi University

Delhi

India

Center for Innovative Learning

Sharda University

Uttar Pradesh

India

Vidu Piyasa: UCSC Virtual Campus for ICT Education

University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC)

Colombo

Learning Management System (LMS) and Computer Based Tutorials (CBT)

Punjab Technical University with All India PTU DEP Associates

Punjab

India

E-Bridge

Punjab Technical University with All India PTU PTU DEP Associates

Punjab

India

BEST UNIVERSITY

www.digitalLEARNING.in

Sri Lanka

Project Name

Project Implementer

State

Country

E-QP :An electronic solution for the secure conduct of Simultaneous Multi-location Examination

Anna University, Chennai

Tamil Nadu

India

ICT Enabled Education

Institute of Lifelong Learning, University of Delhi

Delhi

India

Open Source Library Management System

Anna University Chennai

Tamil Nadu

India

Empowering Jamia Through Management Information System

Jamia Millia Isliamia

New Delhi

India

BEST ENGINEERING COLLEGES Country

Project Name

Project Implementer

State

Engineering Education

BMIT, Jaipur

Rajasthan

India

eCampus

Malla Reddy College of Engineering and Technology

Andhra Pradesh

India

Implementation of FOSS tools like DSpace and Moodle

Vidya Academy of Science and Technology

Kerala

India

SmartCampus

The Oxford College of Engineering

Karnataka

India

Centre for Innovative Learning

School of Engineering & Technology

Uttar Pradesh

India

E-learning In RIET

Rajasthan Institute of Engineering Technology

Rajasthan

India

BEST MANAGEMENT COLLEGE Country

Project Name

Project Implementer

State

Online Learning and Teaching

MDIGurgaon

Haryana

India

Atrium

Indian School of Business

Andhra Pradesh

India

SAPling

Indian School of Business

Andhra Pradesh

India

IT Enabled Academic Institute Management System

MIT School of Management, Pune

Maharashtra

India

OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING Project Name

Project Implementer

State

EduNxt

Directorate of Distance Education, Sikkim Manipal University

Karnataka

India

HL Seven India eLearning Course

HL Seven India

Karnataka

India

National Library and Information Services Infrastructure for Scholarly Content

Information and Library Network Centre

Gujarat

India

Web Based Examination System

School of IT, Punjab Agricultural University

Punjab

India

ICT Enabled Examination On-Demand in IGNOU

National Centre for Innovations in Distance Education, IGNOU

New Delhi

India

Animated Business Concepts (ABC)

Knowledge Horizon

Maharashtra

India

University18

MSL Learning Systems Pvt Ltd

Haryana

India

www.digitalLEARNING.in

Country

OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING Project Name

Project Implementer

State

Country

Distance Learning Initiative on RTI Act

Director

Kerala

India

ODLSoft: Smart Solution for Open and Distance Learning

Computer Division,IGNOU

Delhi

India

Telecentre.orgâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Chilean Academy

Asociacion de Telecentros Activos de Chile (ATACH)

Region Metropolitan

Chile

MKCL Distributed Classroom

Maharashtra Knowlegde Corporation Limited

Maharashtra

India

Pocket Education (PE)

Mobile Learning

Penang

RetNetIndia

P Mahesh Shanmugam

Karnataka

India

National e governance plan

SREI Sahaj e Village Ltd

West Bengal

India

Hindi India Water Portal

Water Community India

Delhi

India

IT @ School ViCTERS

IT @ School Project

Kerala

India

U-Sikshak

Centre For Development of Advanced Computing

Andhra Pradesh

India

National e-Learning Centre (NeLC) Project

University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC)

Colombo

ETEN (Educomp Tele Education Network)

IndiaCan Education Pvt. Ltd.

Uttar Pradesh

India

Go Global Go OnLine

USOL, Punjab University

India

Punjab Technical University Distance Education Programme

Punjab

India

Open Academic Webcasting

ICT-SDU Science Dissemination Unit

Trietse

Italy

TOPPER TV

Greycells Media Limited

New Delhi

India

Online Laboratories at IIT Kharagpur

Prof C K Maiti, IIT, Kharagpur

India

Database of e-Resources for Teaching Physics effectively

Indian Association of Physics Teachers (IAPT)

Maharashtra

India

Amrita Virtual Interactive E Learning World

Amrita e-Learning Research Lab

Kerala

India

Vidunena

Felidae

Western Province

CET RURAL

KEONICS

Karnataka

India

Digital University

Ajay Garg

Maharashtra

India

Live Webcast Courses CDEEP IIT Bombay

CDEEP IIT Bombay

Maharashtra

India

Vishwa Ghana Pradeepa

DFOLRL

Southern

India

Project Name

Project Implementer

State

English Seekho (M Learning)

IL&FS Education & Technology Services Ltd

Maharashtra

India

EduNxt

Directorate of Distance Education, Sikkim Manipal University

Karnataka

India

Knowledge Water Portal

Water Community India

Delhi

India

One Laptop per Child India

OLPC India

Delhi

India

Malaysia

Sri Lanka

PRIVATE SECTOR INITIATIVE

digital LEARNING

Country

AUGUST 2010

Maidan Garhi, New Delhi - 110

0068 INDIA I www.ignou.ac.in

PRIVATE SECTOR INITIATIVE Country

Project Name

Project Implementer

State

eLearning in Technical Education

SoftTech Engineers Pvt Ltd

Maharashtra

India

LIS Links

Badan Barman

Assam

India

Reinventing Education Partnership Programme

IBM India

Karnataka

India

Dr. Normahdiah Sheik Said

Universiti Putra Malaysia

Selangor

Malaysia

Community Technology Centres

Goodwill Social Work Centre

Tamil Nadu

India

University18

MSL Learning Systems Pvt Ltd

Haryana

India

Cisco Networking Academy

Cisco Systems, Inc.

New Delhi

India

Canon Achievers Platform

Canon India Pvt Ltd

Uttar Pradesh

India

Project Star Trek

Mission Apollo

Maharashtra

India

Project Jyoti

Microsoft Corporation (India) Private Limited

Haryana

India

Project Shiksha

Microsoft Corporation (India) Private Limited

Haryana

India

Digital Learning - Class Room Windows

Hindustan University

Tamil Nadu

India

EduWorld Science Net

EduWorld

Kerala

India

Angrezi Seekho (Learn English)

Spice Digital Limited

Uttar Pradesh

India

A New Teaching-Learning Paradigm through ICT Interventions

Educomp Solutions Ltd

Haryana

India

System to Bridge Distance in Distance Education

Process-Max Solutions P Ltd

Maharashtra

India

Pilot Program for Kendriya Vidyala Schools

S Chand Harcourt Formerly known as HMSC LEARNING PVT LTD

New Delhi

India

TUNE

G-Cube Webwide Software Pvt. Ltd.

Uttar Pradesh

India

Station-eTraining Initiative

Station-e Info Services Pvt. Ltd.

Gujarat

India

GharExpert.com

Haryana

India

Panini Keypad

Luna Ergonomics Pvt Ltd

Uttar Pradesh

India

Mobitel mLearning

Mobitel Pvt Ltd

Western India

India

Iken.in - Knowledge, just a click away

Mexus Education

Maharashtra

India

Countrywide Online CAT Practice Examinations

Triumphant Institute of Management Education TIME

Andhra Pradesh

India

Educampus

Educampus Learning Private Limited

Karntaka

India

Chrysalis ICT Curriculum for K-10 students

EZ Vidya

Tamil Nadu

India

TOPPER TV

Greycells Media Limited

New Delhi

India

Database of e-Resources for Teaching Physics

Indian Association of Physics Teachers (IAPT)

Maharashtra

India

Low Cost Computer Training Labs for the youth of Maharashtra

NComputing India

Tamil Nadu

India

RazorBee Teachers Aid

Ariem Technologies

Karnataka

India

www.digitalLEARNING.in

SKILLS DEVELOPMENT Project Name

Project Implementer

State

Country

One Laptop Per Child

OLPC India Foundation

Delhi

India

Seer Akademi Certification in VLSI/ Embedded Systems

Seer Akademi Pvt. Ltd.

Andhra Pradesh

India

Siyafunda Community Technology Centres

Ahmed Ismael

Ekurhuleni Metro

South Africa

Science And Research Awareness Series

Stony Brook Medical Center

New York

USA

My Mobile My Second Life

Ape and SuperApe Entertainment and InfoTech Pvt Ltd

Mahashatra

India

Skill development for e-learning in agriculture

NAARM

Andhra Pradesh

India

Telecom Skills Initiative

LIDO Telecom

Karnataka

India

CAD Training Centre in Sikkim

C-DAC Kolkata

West Bengal

India

ICT Awareness and Manpower Development

Jetking Ameerpet Learning Centre

Andhra Pradesh

India

Retail Training Certification for DE&SE, Govt. of Maharashtra

Tata Interactive Systems

Maharashtra

India

Transformation, Empowerment & Skill Development of people with mental illness.

Turning Point

West Bengal

India

Vicki Standish e-Education Centre

The East West Foundation of India

Tamil Nadu

India

Jawahar Knowledge Centre Initiative

Institute For Electronic Governance

Andhra Pradesh

India

Empowering Underprivileged Youth through Computer Literacy Programme (CLP)

D.Net (Development Research Network)

Bangladesh

India

NIIT Yuva Star â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Career Development Centres

The NIIT Institute of Information Technology

Delhi

India

Cefin Technologies

Delhi

India

On Line Mock Papers for Competitive Examinations

Scaling Heights

Uttar Pradesh

India

Career Oriented Training Program Sponsored by KVTSDC

RiiiT

Karnataka

India

University Industry Professional Skills Project

University of Delhi and Confederation of Indian Industry

Delhi

India

World Class Academy For Vocational Excellence

Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Limited

Maharashtra

India

DesiCrew Solutions, ICT based Rural BPO

DesiCrew Solutions

Tamil Nadu

India

Employability focused Experiential SPRINT Programs

TalentSprint

Andhra Pradesh

India

Convergence of Skill Developement for Employment

Karnataka

India

TARA Akshar â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Angoothe Se Kalam Tak

TARAhaat Information and Marketing Services Ltd

New Delhi

India

eGovernance Program for Executives

T A Pai Management Institute

Karnataka

India

Microsoft India Project Jyoti

Microsoft Corporation India Private Ltd

Haryana

India

Finitiatives Learning India Pvt Ltd

Karnataka

India

digital LEARNING

AUGUST 2010

SKILLS DEVELOPMENT Country

Project Name

Project Implementer

State

Chrysalis ICT Teachersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Vocational Empowerment Program

EZ Vidya Pvt Ltd

TamilNadu

India

Station eTraining Initiative

Station eInfo Services Pvt. Ltd.

Gujarat

India

Computerji Jode Duniya se

Aga Khan Rural Support Programme India

Gujarat

India

Project Gyan

CCAOI

Haryana

India

Business Facilitators /Business Correspondents Training Initiative

Crux Management Services Pvt. Ltd.

Andhra Pradesh

India

IT@School Project - Programme for ICT enabled education

IT@School Project

Kerala

India

Online Training Program Management & Monitoring System

HM&FW Dept

Andhra Pradesh

India

Entrepreneurship Development through Online Training in Local Languages

Friday Solution Pvt Ltd

Tamil Nadu

India

Sakshat Amrita Vocational Education

Amrita Vishwa Vidya Peetham

Kerala

India

ICT Resource DVDs to Teachers in Kerala A Kerala initiative, IT@School project, to impart IT education in schools has

in any computer or Laptop, would be distributed to 60,000 high school

developed a Resource DVD to distribute among high school teachers in

teachers in the state. It was also mentioned by IT@School Project Executive

order to provide for complete Information and Communication Technology

Director K Anvar Sadath, that the teachers had also been given direction to

(ICT) enabled educational system. It was reported that the Resource DVD,

use this technology while teaching their subjects also, thereby enabling

which is supposed to be first of its kind in the country, comprises of various

the new ICT STD e textbook to be a reference book for teachers in this

tools, software and features which were in line with the new ICT syllabus.

regard. Additionally, the DVDs are to include the PDF versions of various

Developed on a free software, the resource DVD, reportedly can be used

textbooks, latest versions of free application software.

www.digitalLEARNING.in

CASE STUDY

Changing Lives of Many P. UMA MAHESWARI (Assistant Professor) & DR. S. ARULCHELVAN (Assistant Professor, Department of Media Sciences), Anna University Chennai

Anna University Chennai is one of the top most technical institutes in India and has taken several initiatives to enhance teaching learning process; most prominent being the recently introduced Wi-Fi services within the campus

Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) access technologies offer an interesting insight into the changing way in which the Internet is used and impacts our everyday life. With the increase in technology use by students, higher education institutions are investing money into new technologies for college students in order to meet the needs and expectations of this technology oriented generation. Growing popularity of social networking, video sharing, and music streaming, true broadband Wi-Fi access is becoming a necessity to support the new generation of Wi-Fi enabled devices and applications. Wi-Fi, a play on the older term HiFi, is a wireless networking technology used across the globe. Colleges and universities have been perhaps the earliest and most aggressive adopters of Wi-Fi technology over the past five years. Wi-Fi offers a simple way to provide network connections in hundreds of campus locations that could not be reached cost-effectively with wired Ethernet: classrooms, libraries, administrative offices, and even outdoor areas and athletic facilities. Anna University, Chennai is one of the top most technical institutes in India and has taken several initiatives to enhance teaching learning process; most prominent being the recently introduced Wi-Fi services within the campus and

students from Anna University now will be able to access wireless broadband Internet within the campus. Under this project, the University has invested a huge amount in providing Wi-Fi services to classrooms, hostels and four campus of Anna University namely, College of Engineering, Guindy, Alagappa College of Technology, Madras Institute of Technology and School of Architecture and Planning. To avail the benefits of Wi-Fi services, the students just need to register their laptops with the Centre before they can access the network freely. With a 26 Mbps capacity, the university network is geared to handle unlimited usage by the students. LITERATURE REVIEW It is believed that technologies that facilitate resources can be used effectively to promote lifelong learning, and support learner-centred approaches by being vastly available. However, in spite of its remarkable contribution to humanities as a whole, specifically to developing countries, technology is also creating new gaps within societies as well as between developed and developing countries, particularly through the so-called â&#x20AC;&#x153;digital divideâ&#x20AC;?. Universities have a considerable role to play in bridging these gaps but they must do so within a context that

is shifting as we speak (UNESCO, 2001). So, the institutions have to be committed to ensure that technology is used effectively to enhance learning/ teaching processes. METHODOLOGY The University has introduced a new wireless technology to improve studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life with almost 70% of the campus being now connected to Wi-Fi. In order to find out the usage and impact of the Wi-Fi connectivity, a study was conducted between March and April 2010 covering about 200 students and twenty teachers from various strata of different disciplines of engineering using a self-administered questionnaire and in-depth interview to gather data. The study aimed at giving a deep insight about the impact new technology. RESULTS Positive impact of Wi-Fi usage on students learning Increase in usage of technology, as 40% students have already bought their laptops and 60% planning to buy one Purpose of usage is primarily for email and reference for the course work Time spent online has now increased to 12-15 hours per week Increased interactions among students and faculty, especially for circulating large texts

digital LEARNING

AUGUST 2010

between the extent and ways in which students use technology and their level of developmentâ&#x20AC;?. \\

Wi-Fi offers a simple way to provide network connections in hundreds of campus locations that could not be reached cost-effectively with wired Ethernet: classrooms, libraries, administrative offices, and even outdoor areas and athletic facilities.

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The study, though, had a positive impact on students, it also revealed conflicting results where many students spent long hours sending instant messages and on facebook. However, the in-depth interview with faculty members revealed that they were quite content with the Wi-Fi technology that keep the students in par with the technological advancements happening all round the world and Internet is one medium which has bridged the gap. This service has

www.digitalLEARNING.in

enabled teachers to upload their lectures and take online classes and the faculty is also accepting online submission of the assignments and are sending notes online to their students. The findings of the study affirm that Wi-Fi has encouraged students to invest in technology and has enabled them to transfer large quantity of data with the availability of high speed connections.The results of the study support empirically what many professionals have observed to be true: â&#x20AC;&#x153;there is a connection

EDUCATION and ICT

www.digitalLEARNING.in

CASE STUDY

ICT-Enabled Education as a Right to Education: An Imperative

DR. SUDARSAN PADMANABHAN AND JOSEPHINE A.

This paper argues that Information Communication Technology (ICT) enabled education should be an integral part of the Right to Education Act (2009) passed by the Parliament of India. This paper also presents an ethical argument for the formulation of a National Policy that would ensure ICT Enabled Education as a part of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA)

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) or ‘Education for All’ was a massive programme instituted by the Government of India in 2000-2001 to enroll 205 million children in schools and retain them until they complete primary schooling. Right to Education (RTE) Act 2009, which ensures education for all children in the age group of 6-14 years, came into effect from April 1, 2010 and SSA is the vehicle to implement the RTE. Assessment of the SSA by the Joint Review Mission (2009) indicates a considerable increase in the enrollment rate while nearly 2.7 million children drop out of school every year. According to Karin Hulshof, United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) Representative-India, the RTE would directly benefit about millions out-of-school children in the age group 6-14 years ensuring quality education; this would also lead to the increase in the economic productivity of the country. Despite the tremendous success of the SSA, the challenges to the universalisation of primary education are manifold. This paper proposes that an ICT enabled education, as a right to education has the potential to transform the system of education under the SSA and also address key issues such as increasing number of out-of-school children, dearth of qualified teachers and imparting quality education. Children belonging to the economically weaker sections of the society often lack access to quality education at the primary school

level and tend to remain as unskilled labourers languishing without any hope or opportunities for upward mobility. Such a situation has major implications for India’s economy and socio-political development. In this context, the prospects of ICT enabled education as an integral part of the right to education holds significance particularly as an effective tool of imparting education to the poor and rural children. The computer-aided education could be utilised to facilitate creative teaching and to make the process of learning more

informative and interactive. Introduction of ICT enabled education as part of the SSA also has the potential to attract the under-privileged children to school, accelerate the rate of enrolment and retain children in schools. A national policy on ICT enabled education as a right to education assumes greater significance as the Government of India is intent on preparing the future generations to face the challenges of ‘knowledge economy’ of the digital world lest the ‘digital divide’ that creates a chasm between the information rich and the poor widens the

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socio-economic inequities drastically. An ICT oriented SSA does not aim at creating technocrats for the global economy but would rather harness the potential of the computer aided technology to provide a knowledge platform for those who need it the most, which would enable the development of the marginalised and the deprived sections of the society and the development of the community as a whole. This article analyses why ICT enabled education should be mandated with the SSA beginning with the under-privileged segments of the Indian society as a moral imperative based on John Rawls’ theory of justice. An ICT enabled education becomes a right when viewed from the paradigm of social justice. John Rawls in his Theory of Justice advocates two principles of justice based on rational choice theory to ensure equitable political and social arrangements in a society. The ICT enabled education as a right to education is justified under the ‘difference principle’ that advocates positive discrimination in favour of the deprived sections of the society. RIGHT TO ICT ENABLED EDUCATION John Rawls, one of the foremost American political philosophers of the 20th century, advocates two foundational principles of justice for establishing social and political institutions that would ensure equity. The first principle of justice ensures equal civil and political rights while the second one emphasises fair equality of opportunities in the distribution of socioeconomic advantages in the society. The ‘difference principle’, which is part of the second principle, emphasizes the need for the social systems to be advantageous to the less privileged in the society without adversely affecting other segments of the society. Rawls notes that ‘…the (difference) principle holds that a configuration is efficient whenever it is impossible to change it so as to make some persons (at least one) better off without at the same time making other persons (at least one) worse off.’ Rawls remarks that under ‘difference principle’ the equality of fair opportunity will be ‘democratic equality’ as it is advantageous to everybody. While universalisation of primary education and RTE are justifiable under the first principle, ‘ICT Enabled Education as a right to education at school level’ could be justified under the ‘difference principle’. It implies that the

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denial of primary education is injustice as it is the fundamental right of a citizen and ICT enabled education could be the preferred action of the government done in favour of the disadvantaged sector of the society. Applying the Rawlsian idea of reflective equilibrium, in which the formal law and the substantive notion of fairness are in a state of dynamic equilibrium, the RTE which is the law and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan which is the vehicle to realise the RTE would be complete and successful only when the millions of under-privileged children are entrusted with the benefits of an ICT enabled education. Ensuring access to ICT enabled education to the under-privileged children would be a positive discrimination at the behest of the neediest. This is explained pictorially in Figure 1: According to Census 2001, at least 72.2% population live in rural India. There is high potential for ‘appropriate technology’, which is centred on the

and access to information. Many top technical institutes in India have piloted a number of programmes and proved the scope of appropriate technology in rural development. Some of the e-Agriculture programmes like e-Sagu by IIITHyderabad and aAQUA by IIT-Mumbai benefit many farmers to have better yield in their farms. The use of mobile technology in curative and preventive rural health services, data collection for NREGA scheme and rural online banking with biometric authentication are the new and progressive initiatives in Tamil Nadu by RTBI, IIT Madras. Sugata Mitra in TED talks highlights how children could be self-taught with the use of computers and utilise it as a medium to aid their school education. While there could be no disagreement about the use of computers as a tool for better learning, the broader socio-cultural experience of the children, the process of learning as a creative activity, and the school as

Figure 1: Rawls’ difference principle in ICT-enabled education as right to education

needs of the neediest and relevant for rural economic growth, social and political development. For instance, e-learning and computer-aided education if accessible in the rural setting could benefit a large number of people in the rural and remote areas, which lack even basic educational resources

a place for dynamic exchange of ideas between teachers and the students are of paramount importance. Learning and education can not be restricted to information-gathering. Schools cannot be assembly lines for technocrats. We propose that it is vital to improve the educational infrastructure in the villages

We propose that it is vital to improve the educational infrastructure in the villages and under-developed areas and ensure access to the Internet at the nodal points in rural villages. This could in turn energise the community as a whole in the path of development.

and under-developed areas and ensure access to the Internet at the nodal points in rural villages. This could in turn energise the community as a whole in the path of development. To ensure social justice, by applying the Rawlsian difference principle, access to ICT enabled education should become an integral part of the right to education. In other words, poverty and the need for ICT enabled education are directly proportional to each other. This condition implies that the more the opportunity for ICT enabled education for the less privileged the better the outcome for the society. It also entails the fact that the major challenges of SSA such as imparting quality education and retention of children without dropping out could be addressed in a meaningful way with the application of ICT enabled education coupled with SSA scheme. The following case study proves the proposition as discussed.

CASE STUDY The Panchayat Union Middle School in Mangudi village, Pudukottai district in Tamil Nadu, around 400 kms. from Chennai, stands as a successful model of public private partnership in implementing ICT enabled education under the SSA. This school has won the ‘Tamil Nadu State Best School Award’ for the year 2007-2008 and the prestigious ‘Ten Star Award for Health and Hygiene’ by the UNICEF. The local and the state media have repeatedly highlighted the innovative approaches in educational management, training and curriculum development introduced by the Headmaster of the Mangudi School, Mr. Jothimani. In 2004, Jothimani took charge of the school besieged by a plethora of issues ranging from irregularity of children, dropouts, teacher apathy and lack of basic amenities such as drinking water and toilets. The school had a strength

of about 190 students with a number of long absentees. He found that most of the dropouts and the long absentees were from upper primary sections. These children were paid full daily wages of the adults of Rs.100/- in the agricultural farms and so they were forced to accompany their parents. Jothimani persuaded the parents of the Mangudi village to send their children to school. As the first step to make learning a joyful and creative experience, Jothimani, who had training in computeraided education, introduced audio visual aids and the computers in the class rooms. He persuaded the village community leaders and local politicians to renovate the school and sponsor necessary teaching aids for the school while additional classrooms became a reality with SSA funds. At present, the school has a computer lab with eight computers, an LCD projector, more than 10 televisions and audio sets to conduct programmes. The Village Education Committee (VEC) of SSA of the School, the local NGOs and educational trusts have donated teaching aids including computers. Jothimani motivated and trained the teachers to use computers as an innovative teaching tool. The school follows Activity-based Learning (ABL) and Active Learning Method (ALM) teaching methodology as mandated by the SSA. The Mangudi School children studying in the upper primary sections are well versed in using MS-word, Excel, Power point, Internet, and Adobe Pagemaker. All these children also have their own email id and exchange group-wise duties online. They present their weekly assignments in different subjects using power point. There was a tremendous change in the school environment after the introduction of electronic media as a pedagogical tool. Children found the school very interesting and the daily attendance increased from 60-65% to 95-98% on an average with increase in enrolment from 190 to about 250. There was sustained interest in children for learning and about 95% of graduate students continue their secondary school education as compared to 40-45% earlier. The parents, who were earlier dependent on the financial support of their children, currently looking for schools that could provide quality education like Mangudi School, at high school level. The daily attendance remains above

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would be done only if children from all segments of the society are provided with a level playing field to realise their potential. At present, the chasm in access to ICT enabled education is deepening the urban – rural and the privileged – under-privileged divide. Hence, ICT enabled education should be prioritised as a vital part of the SSA with the rural and under-privileged segments of the society receiving special attention. Such a policy of positive discrimination favouring the vast majority of the children in India who are from the rural and deprived communities would provide them opportunities to receive quality education enabled by ICT, enhance their individual capabilities, boost their confidence and instill a strong sense of hope for a better future based on justice and equity. \\

Universalisation of education in India becomes an imperative particularly because more than 40% of the world’s second most populated country are children who would be seeking employment in the near future. Justice would be done only if children from all segments of the society are provided with a level playing field to realise their potential.

95% throughout, with nil dropouts for the last three years. The parents of the children and the community leaders of the Mangudi village have realised the importance of ICT enabled education and the metamorphosis of the entire village. The Mangudi village community celebrates ICT enabled education and the opportunities that it has opened up to its children in particular and the community in general. People in the village are highly motivated to improve the educational facilities in the school. At present, the Mangudi School is one of the most sought after schools in the area which would not have been possible without the introduction of computers into the classrooms. CONCLUSION India’s progress is ineluctably associated with the programme of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) or Education for All. SSA’s attempt to achieve universal education has been bolstered by the Right to Education Act (2009). Right

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to education should not simply be about empowering the under-privileged population by ensuring access to primary education but also facilitate quality education commensurate with the demands of the age of globalisation, knowledge economy and information technology. Universalisation of education in India becomes an imperative particularly because more than 40% of the world’s second most populated country are children who would be seeking employment in the near future. Justice

DR. SUDARSAN PADMANABHAN

Dr. Sudarsan Padmanabhan is the Assistant Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Madras.

REFERENCES 1. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ home/education/Will-RTE-fulfil-theSSA-dream/articleshow/5761551. cms 2. http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/02/ stories/2010040262101000.htm 3. Rawls, John, 1999. A Theory of Justice, Revised Edition, The Belknap Press of Harvard University 4. Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, p.58 5. Rawls, 1999, p.57 http://www. c e n s u s i n d i a . g o v. i n / C e n s u s _ Data_2001/India_at_glance/rural. aspx 6. http://www.solutionexchange-un. net.in/emp/e-discuss/res11070719. pdf 7. http://aaqua.persistent.co.in/aaqua/ forum/index 8. http://www.rtbi.in/ideate.html 9. http://www.tedafrica.org/talks/lang/ eng/sugata_mitra_shows_how_kids_ teach_themselves.html 10. Fieldwork was done by Josephine A.

JOSEPHINE A

Josephine A. is a Ph. D. Scholar in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Madras.

CASE STUDY

Web 2.0 Collaboration Tools for Class Rooms SIMMI KHER

Web 2.0 has revolutionised the education world and brought the world closer. Web 2.0 site allows its users to interact with other users or to change website content, in contrast to non-interactive websites where users are limited to the passive viewing of information that is provided to them

The Internet has undergone a revolution since the 1990s and early 21st century. Earlier, the World Wide Web was mainly used to surf and find information where the information streamed in only one direction. Websites were typically made by people who had mastered HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) coding and knew FTP (File Transfer Protocol) site management. However, in 2004 the Internet began to change its appearance and gave birth to new web tools that allowed ordinary people to dynamically work on the web. This enabled people to add and delete the contents to already existing websites and hence websites became more dynamic and information flowed both the ways. People, who did not belong to the programming world were rapidly editing and adding public contents to the web in the form

of their own periodicals, podcasts, videos, wikis, photographs, slideshows, auctions, and more. The second generation of the web had taken birth, named Web 2.0 making websites more attractive and user friendly. As per Wikipedia, Web 2.0 is â&#x20AC;&#x153;commonly associated with web applications that facilitate interactive information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design and collaboration on the World Wide Webâ&#x20AC;?. Examples of Web 2.0 include web-based communities, hosted services, web applications, social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, wikis, blogs, mashups, and folksonomies. A Web 2.0 site allows its users to interact with other users or to change website content, in contrast to non-interactive websites where users are limited to passive viewing of information that is

provided to them.â&#x20AC;? Web 2.0 technology is also known as the Read/Write or the interactive web, as the users are able to read the content and at the same time able to make changes to the content as per their requirements and hence this serves as a great platform for educational purposes. Today, teachers are using the Web 2.0 tools to introduce lessons in their classroom. Students are collaborating with other students around the world, creating online content and displaying their work to a global world. Web 2.0 facilitates professional collaboration, networking, critical thinking, collaboration, innovation, creativity, global understanding and multicultural learning. Various tools for collaborative writing and editing, private communication, online conferencing, file sharing, and desktop sharing enable teachers to effectively collaborate with

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It has been truly said “Power comes from effectively combining information with technological capacity and the creative capacities of human beings.” ~Lois Gander

the students beyond school hours thus making optimum use of the technology available. GOOGLE DOCS Google Docs is a free service provided by Google to its users. It serves as an excellent application for collaboration where teachers and students can use it to share documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Professionals can too collaborate with their teams and clients in real-time SKYPE Skype is an application that allows making voice calls over the Internet (the technology is called Voice over Internet Protocol – or VoIP) that is completely free of cost. Apart from VoIP, Skype also offers in-built features for instant messaging (IM), video conferencing, and file sharing. MIND MAPPING TOOL A mind map is a visual tool that helps build up around a central idea by creating branches like a tree whereby each branch symbolises a thought process of an individual using different words. A mind map provides a pictorial image of your thoughts and hence helps to assimilate them. This is especially very useful for teachers and students whereby teachers can use mind maps to evaluate students’ logical bent of mind, creativity and their thought process. For students it serves as a tool to graphically

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put their thoughts together. Bubbl. us, for example is a simple free online application that allows brainstorming easily by creating a mind map for any topic. WRIDEA Wridea is a brainstorming tool that enables one to collaborate and share ideas with colleagues, students, and fellow learners and organise and categorise ideas onto different pages, providing unlimited storage, and also allowing users to comment on topics and ideas. Features of Wridea are: • Sharing and collaborating ideas with others • Categorising ideas under different pages • Prioritising ideas by assigning different categories • Inviting and creating friends groups • Sharing page(s) with others • Commenting on ideas • Searching ideas • Creating and customising Wridea tools and API DIIGO Diigo is a social bookmarking site that can be used by researchers to mark and highlight pages on the World Wide Web. The can even add footnote remarks, make notes or add comments to these pages and access them later from any computer . “Diigo” is an abbreviation for “Digest of Internet Information, Groups and Other stuff”.

AUDIO PAL This is a free site to create audio files where voice can be recorded by phone or microphone and uploaded as an audio file. It can also create audio from text to speech. GLIFFY Gliffy is an online diagram software for creating professional-quality flowcharts, diagrams, floor plans, technical drawings, and more. The online diagram editor makes it easier than ever to create great looking drawings. The power of graphics organisers has been verified by research in promoting strong thinking skills and comprehension for all ages. It is a free online tool for creating graphic organisers without purchasing any software. Teachers and students can create the organisers or the class can create them together, such as in a brainstorming session on any topic. By using the above tools, the teaching learning process can be made interesting enabling both the teachers and students to collaborate, work and share together. Indeed Web 2.0 has revolutionised the education world and brought the world closer. \\

SIMMI KHER

Coordinator India, Tony Blair Faith Foundation

CASE STUDY

e-Teaching and e-Learning through Classroom Windows ROBERTS MASILLAMANI AND RABINDRA KUMAR SINGH

The neologism ‘eLearning’ is the technique of Learning through the use of electronic devices where live teaching is facilitated through electronic media extending beyond the reach of the classroom, popularly termed as Class Room Window (CRW). The unique aspect of CRW is the ability to transcend space anywhere, whereby the system enables expert lectures of renowned professors of leading colleges and universities to get connected to the rural area students. A CRW is typically a teacher-centred technology that can be created by streaming a live classroom activity from one place to another

using the broadband Internet and innovation in ICT. The CRW facility if extended to universities or colleges, the campus of global Universities, maximises reach of the classroom of renowned colleges, university and resource person globally, by optimising the use of ICT facilities. This provides a gateway to active and live learning facilities effectively than distance learning, learning through podcasts or conventional eLearning. This CRW facility can be extended to provide effective tutorial tables’ room for the students after university working hours for additional guidance. The CRW facility

can also be applied to form effective university clusters, which will result in resource, cost and time-sharing. These facilities, if extended to the rural colleges, where resources are not easily available, would bridge the digital divide. Instead of podcasting a lecture, another time in a different environment and classroom, the live lecture can be streamed through digital equipments at another classroom. This helps the rural engineering college classroom to log on to another live classroom. A research study conducted on remote classroom concept through tele-lecturing system during the year 1970 reveals that the student’s attitudes

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gateway. After entering the Tutorial tablesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; room, a student searches for his professor and clicks to sit in one of the chairs of the table where the professor is seated following which the students are then taken into a separate room where the tutorial begins as in the Figure 2. UNIVERSITY CLUSTERS CRW develops a healthy interaction between the higher education technical institutes, where India would soon be witnessing University Clusters (UC), which means a group of Universities come together to promote resource, time and cost sharing, while optimising the available time and resources, using CRW concepts. Figure 1. Results of the Research Study

improved considerably. Further, substantial research on media assisted teaching at the University of North Carolina, showed that such classes were as effective as those taught in traditional environment (Figure 1). CRW Tutorial Tables Room provides effective tutorial tables room for the

CREATING A TRUE CLOUD True Cloud computing is Internetbased computing, whereby shared resources, software and information are provided to computers and other devices on-demand, like a public utility. The University clusters in this context can build together one educational cloud exclusively for the CRW implementation. Fostering the state-of-the-art technology

students after university working hours. A CRW tutorial tablesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; room, is a room with tables that will hold 4 to 5 students through CRW technology, whereby students needing additional coaching meets the Professor at the CRW tutorial room on invitation which can be either a free entry or an entry through payment

CRW CONNECTIVITY BLOCK DIAGRAM DISH Antennas Cyber Space

Active Classroom Receivers

Display Display CRW Broadband Channel

Display

CRW Tutorials Tables Room

Internet Lecture Recording

Remote Classroom

Display

Figure 2. An active classroom for CRW with other connects

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IMPACT AND CHALLENGES The integration of Information and Communication Technologies with broadband Internet has led to an explosion in the use of digital media in higher education both locally and globally. However, frequent emergence of cutting edge technologies in the communication and computer-engineering field and the global e-learning raises hurdles in communication, culture, and technology that must be addressed before successful implementation and effective outcome. But in spite of this, CRW has marked the beginning of a new era in today’s world of ICT enabling many educationalist, policy makers, industrialists, higher education department, department of science and technology and others to come forward to foster CRW technology. \\

Figure 3. A simple block diagram of a University Cluster Cloud

at the academic level, to build a healthy interface between the university clusters and the rural colleges is to provide all the information communication technology relevant to an active classroom and the classroom window, through a True cloud using Remote Infrastructure Management technique (Figure 3). BENEFITS AND SCALABILITY \\ Enable effective interaction with the peer urban group \\ Brings about new ideas and innovation due to the mix between rural and urban \\ Extend the reach of the classroom of renowned colleges, university and resource person globally, by optimising the use ICT facilities \\ Facilitate podcasts and replay of the lectures at leisure for the students \\ Better evaluation through a regular assessment via software, like, moodle software

SOME HIGHLIGHTS Transcends space anywhere Provides live classroom atmosphere at remote locations Opportunity to undertake innovative projects and research initiatives by the rural and urban students combined via interactive sessions with the professors from abroad Enable selection of international supervisors on account of its participative interaction ability Planning of frequent meeting between the supervisors and the research scholars Promote active collaboration between universities after signing the memorandum of understanding

ROBERTS MASILLAMANI

Dean, Computing Sciences, Email: deancs@hindustanuniv.ac.in

RABINDRA KUMAR SINGH

Prof and Head of IT Department, Email: it@hindustanuniv.ac.in

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CASE STUDY

Just-in-Time

A Pedagogical Shift Integrating e-Tools, e-Resources and e-Knowledge

PADMAJA NARAHARISETTY

“Just-in-Time” (JIT) is a pedagogical shift towards problem and competence-based learning environments. It’s a holistic approach that involves new pedagogical strategies, processes, people and systems to deliver knowledge and skills required by academia and organisations, in a timely and costeffective manner 42

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Web-based technologies embedded with vast, and easily accessible online content have brought about a metamorphosis in learning paradigms. Community activities such as Blogs, Wikis, and Moodle have effectively leveraged on technological advancements and inter-connectivity, promoting collaborative enhancement of knowledge on a scale never seen before. What’s needed today, however, is to map content to context, on the fly. “Just-in-Time” (JIT) is a pedagogical shift towards problem and competence-based learning environments. It’s a holistic approach that involves new pedagogical strategies, processes, people and systems to deliver knowledge and skills required by academia and organisations, in a timely and cost-effective manner. JIT requires a well-knit assemblage of atomic learning assets

INDIVIDUAL LEVEL

ORGANISATIONAL LEVEL

Individual performance improvement

Alignment of employees to business strategy

Speeding up learning curve

Meeting the deadlines and increasing operational efficiency and flexibility.

Faster adaptation to job requirements

Continuous reutilisation of the JIT learning modules- cost effective training and more effective transference of acquired knowledge.

More effective transference of acquired knowledge

Investment in work related priorities and goals according to personal pace of learning acts as a motivating factor

Learn as required by work-related activities and demands

Helps overcome the increasing scarcity of human experts in critical operations

Task simplicity at operational level processes

Brings into existence legacy systems supporting core activities or

Table 1: Two Dimensional Benefits of JIT Learning

and runtime creation of coherent learning content that’s aligned to learner’s needs and preferences. In a business environment, time is the essence. An organisation therefore, would seek to provide access to right information, at the right time, leveraging on latest technology and systems. Role based performance support, just-in-time, and on “just enough” basis is preferred over conventional linear course based learning pattern. The granularity and associated selforganising capability of learning object architecture in line with the learner’s preferences is the key to JIT learning - a learning system that integrates the e-tools, e-resources and e-knowledge with the learner preferences minimises the gap between the learning and application offering context-oriented help and providing a tie-in to knowledge base of the organisation. A successful JIT-Learning system needs emphasis on key topics that aids a learner to obtain better insight of underlying concepts and promote reaching plausible solutions appropriately supported with business processes and knowledge domain. A seamless integration of work skills, system requisite and interaction can aid knowledge acquisition, improve learner’s decision making skills in work related tasks, and help resolve expert scalability problem. With an aim to gauge the efficacy of different learning interventions and pedagogical constructs (both used in MSIT programme and those popular in the Industry), the authors conducted two surveys in October 2008 on following

“The context of operational learning is changing due to a no-time-to-spare pace of today’s work environment. Event-based or “just-in-case” learning is no longer adequate; now, employees need knowledge, data and tools integrated into the workflow so that it is available at the moment of need.” – Gloria Gery

Project Name Just-in-Time Learning - Effective & Efficient Pedagogy of Future The Organisation CIHL, MSIT Division, IIIT-Hyderabad Key people Padmaja Naraharisetty, Principal Mentor Tools facilitating just-in-time learning • Virtual conferencing • Threaded discussions • Electronic resource repository • Simulation based learning modules • Electronic administrative tool

sample populations: Internal participants of the MSIT programme and Industry professionals (43% from IT/ITES, 10% from engineering sector, 21% from academics, 26% from other professions). The survey results highlighted that JIT, if suitably encapsulated in a Learning System Design, can enhance and accelerate the learning experience. In a knowledge economy, where learning

demands are dynamic, flexible and are required to be delivered at fast pace across distributed geographies, JIT surely provides a focused approach that leverages on technological advancements and reduces cognitive load on the learner. Specifically, a JIT approach would create a learning ecosystem that is: just enough, just for me and just in time. The quote from Gloria Gery captures the very relevance and significance of JIT Learning: “The context of operational learning is changing due to a no-time-to-spare pace of today’s work environment. Eventbased or “just-in-case” learning is no longer adequate; now, employees need knowledge, data and tools integrated into the workflow so that it is available at the moment of need.” \\

PADMAJA NARAHARISETTY

Principal Mentor, CIHL, MSIT Division, IIIT-Hyderabad

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CASE STUDY

Technology, ICT and Math Education

PROF. INDER K RANA Department of Mathematics Indian Institute of Technology Bombay e-mail: ikrana@iitb.ac.in

INDIAN EDUCATION SYSTEM The system of education in India is ‘10 + 2 + 3’ model. Education is a state subject and there are 26 states in India. Each state has its own Education Board which is responsible for all matters relating to school education in that state. This makes the education system nonuniform. Indian education system is highly examination-oriented. The ‘examination mentality’ has had a strong negative influence on everything connected with education in India: textbooks, style of teaching, and teacher preparation. There is little scope for innovation and use of technology in regular teaching. In the year 2005, the Central Board for Secondary Education took an initiative and issued a directive to all the schools affiliated to it (Figure 1.) WHAT MATH LAB CAN ACHIEVE (CBSE) However, there was no real effect of this circular as no support system was set up. Still, there is no attempt to include really meaningful technology inputs in math education as part of curriculum.

ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN MATH EDUCATION What is technology What is technology? It can be summed up from the perspective of evolution, as:

Slate

Sliderule

Software

It has evolved from oral education and engraving on clay tablets / stones, to writing on palm leaves, to the invention of ink/paper and printing, to digital media in the modern times. Technology hardware: Hand held calculators on one hand and multimedia workstations on the other; digital class rooms on one hand and virtual class rooms on the other are some of the examples of technology playing a role in math education. ICT, Course distribution over the Internet, use of softwares like Maple, Mathematica, Mupad, Drive, GSP, Cabri, and so on, help to compute and simulate. Learning management softwares and evaluation tools are playing a vital role in making laborious tasks easy.

MATHEMATICS LABORATORY IN SCHOOLS Concept of Mathematics Laboratory introduced by the Board in 20022003. Manual titled ‘Mathematics Laboratory in Schools’ published by the Board to give fuidelines and specimen activities. Aim: To remove the fear for mathematics among chilren and to make the subject more interesting. All affiliated schools were advised to start the Mathematics Laboratory for classes III onwards and integrate evaluation of practical competencies in Mats with the evaluation of the subject. Board expects all affiliated schools to have their Mathematics Laboratories by 31st March, 2005. Circular No. 03/28.01.04 Figure 1. Math Lab aims

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TECHNOLOGY IN MATH EDUCATION Education (more so Math education) is in the midst of a change driven by technological developments. Technology is entering many facets of math teaching and learning. Technology is a valuable tool in the teaching and learning of mathematics, for it has the ability to empower mathematics students as well as mathematics instructors. In some cases the use of technology is prompted by the methods that can help a teacher to do some jobs easily and in a better way. In others it is motivated by the belief and effort to impart instructions in a way that will help to achieve the learning goals of students. Integration of technology in education can also be because of nonacademic reasons. TECHNOLOGY SUPPORTED E-MODULES Aims The aim of an e-module should not be to replace a teacher, but to support a teacher. An e-module helps in building intuition and developing independent thinking. Intuitions built at early stages help later in formalisations. Efforts should be made to present numerical, graphical and symbolic representations of various concepts so that a student has the freedom to choose one or more of multiple intelligences. RECIPE FOR AN E-MODULE • Select a topic. • Revise the basic concepts. • Give an example of the activity you want them to do. • Activity should involve observation, analysis of observation based on the concepts revised, conclusion and its justification. • Give a short quiz to test the assimilation of the concepts.

MATHS LABORATORY AND INTERNAL ASSESSMENT IN MATHEMATICS Maths Lab provides a conducive ambience for students to learn the subject in a joyful manner through practical activities and interaction. Teachers need to pay attention to both the transactional strategies and evaluation strategies. Simple experiments and projects will lead to the development of different skills like numerical, observation, thinking, analytical and so on. Establishing a Maths Lab does not involve high cost. Improvised aids using inexpensive material can be made. Space required is also quite limited.

•

• •

Circular No. 10/02.03.05 What Math Lab can achieve (CBSE)

• AN EXAMPLE OF AN E-MODULE This module was developed for middle school(age 14-16 years) on the topic of perimeter and areas. It is developed first by typesetting the text in ‘Latex’ and

using the add-on ‘Prosper’, which gives smooth beautifully aligned Power point presentations in pdf format. Here is an outline of the module: • Concepts on rectilinear figures:

POSITIVE ASPECTS OF TECHNOLOGY USE Technology adds new components to teaching and learning of mathematics by providing: • Tools for visualisations/ illustrations. • Tools to do tedious computations in less time. • Tools to recognise pattern in a problem. • Helps to formulate conjunctures. • Tools to develop problem solving skills. Technology Enhanced Learning, Visualisations Visualisations can be developed manually (sometimes) or with the help of technology tools provided by calculators/computers. This paper will discuss in details with specific example to illustrate how visualisations can enhance the processes of teaching and learning. The visualisations should be used to: • Explore / Experiment. • Observe / Conjuncture • Convince / Prove • Extrapolate / Extend

•

triangle, rectangle, square, parallelogram and rhombus are revised. Computations of areas of these figures is demonstrated by flash animations. Non rectilinear figures are introduced. Problems involved in finding the perimeter and area of a circle are exhibited by the use of applets. Show with the help of animations how these can be determined. Historical background of defining and determining  and its uses are illustrated. A short session with hands-on activities on these concepts is included. A quiz is given to evaluate the impact of the module.

draw any conclusions/conjectures about the geometrical shapes involved? It may help to look at the figure on the right hand side shows a rearrangement of the shapes in figure on the left hand side. May be naming the sides will help in thinking: a b

Does this enable students to think and respond? If still not, the following picture can be shown: b

a b T

b×b

a T

T Example: Let a student be shown the following picture:

C×C

a×a T

T T

This should help to motivate most of the students to conjuncture: Area of figure on left hand = Area of figure on right hand 4 × Area of triangle + Area of square = 4 × Area of triangle + Area of two squares, and hence a2 + b2 = c2 This is the called Pythagoras Theorem. Given the information that in the first figure, inside quadrilateral is a square, students can be asked if they can

These explorations are much more captivating when shown digitally.

digital LEARNING

AUGUST 2010

USE OF e-MODULE AND FEEDBACK FROM KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA, I.I.T. BOMBAY

•

One of the e-module was used in a Math Lab for middle level (8th standard) on the topic of areas and the another for senior secondary (12th standard) students on the topic of derivatives in calculus at different schools. Students (total number of students: 77) were asked to tick one choice in each column of the questioner:

•

The way the lab was conducted

•

The contents of the lab were

Would you like to have more such labs?

Very interesting (46.15% ) Difficult ( 6.41%)

Very much (41.02% )

Interesting (42.30% )

Moderate (78.20%)

Yes (52.56%)

OK (11.53%)

Easy ( 15.38%)

No (6.41%)

Some general comments • Activities were new and interesting. Concepts are much clearer now. • It cleared my fundas. Would like to attend more. • We need such labs in Integration also. • Actually such labs are really good, but I need to be intelligent enough to grasp things! • It was time consuming, but still interesting. • Boring!! • gre8! • Sir, please conduct these types of labs more often • This is something that I had not done before, helped me to understand graphs. • This kind of labs should be conducted for chemistry also. • Excellent, just a bit slow. • Cool! Expecting more such in future. • Amazing mental exercise! Too good, making concepts crystal clear. • I really liked it from the down of my heart. • A new look at calculus, amazing! Thanks a lot! • Thank you very much, sir.

CONCLUSIONS Negative aspects of Technology use • One of the biggest drawback of technology is that it needs resources: both financial as well academic. Given that schools/colleges have limited resources, there are difficult choices to make on how to invest the resources. • Technology enables a false sense of accomplishment to deceive the school/college and community. • For teachers, using technology increases workload to learn technology. Also it puts pressure on them since they have to change their teaching approach. In their enthusiasm, teacher may loose perspective and aim of instruction. • For students, learning to use technology itself may be time consuming and frustrating. • Using technology can lead to an easy way of getting answers for students. This can lead to weakened conceptual understanding and basic skills.

www.digitalLEARNING.in

•

Technology is not versatile and its functions are limited. After all it is the product of human mind. Technology by itself cannot promote learning. More often than not, it needs a facilitator.

Some questions Some of the questions one asks are: • Is the use of technology required for learning in general, or for learning math in particular?

Is there evidence that students learn mathematics better with any technology or with specific technology? Is it worth spending on technology when there is a shortage of resources, both financial and academic? Can technology compensate for the lack of qualified instructors?

Some answers • Technology is not a universal tool and an omnipotent aid that can always help. Technology often provides convincing demonstration of ideas, helps to conjuncture, but does not replace ’proof’. • Nor does constructing a proof rules out the use of technology. • This distinction must be emphasised and the importance of both must be appreciated. • Technology cannot replace live class room teaching nor it can compensate lack of qualified teacher. In terms of valid reasons, from a learning standpoint, there actually is some evidence that specific technology can improve students’ learning of mathematics when implemented properly. • Learning does not take place in the technology. Learning takes place in the interaction between motivated faculty and motivated students. Whenever possible, technology can be used to provide such environments. • Used properly, technology can help the teacher to impart instructions in a more effective way that will enhance students understanding and motivate them to learn. \\

The silent ICT revolution now has a voice. 1,21,577 people have cast their votes to select the best-of-breed development projects setting a new chapter in the Global ICT Movement Thank you for being a part of this movement at eINDIA.

CORPORATE DIARY

Giving an Edge Over English www.liqvid.com

VIVEK AGARWAL CEO, LIQVID

An MBA from Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Vivek is also a visiting faculty to the International Management Institute. Committed to exploring how technology can be used to make high quality education and training available to the billions of people at a cost that they can afford and at a place they can reach.

www.digitalLEARNING.in

Our vision is to provide effective and enjoyable experiences to learners everywhere. Our ambition is to bring the benefit of education particularly English to hundreds of millions of learners in a high-quality and cost-effective way by leveraging the power of technology.

Can you give our readers a brief description / background about your company? Liqvid is a company specialising in application of technology to the learning process. We provide customised learning solutions and English language learning solutions to customers around the globe. We have global leaders as our customers and partners. Our vision is to provide effective and enjoyable experiences to learners everywhere. Our ambition is to bring the benefit of education particularly English to hundreds of millions of learners in a high-quality and cost-effective way by leveraging the power of technology. This will help improve the social fabric of our country as India seeks to take its place among the developed nations of the world. What are the services and products offered by your company? How do Liqvid’s services and products stand unique from other similar competitors? Liqvid’s English Edge offering has 3 dimensions on which it is differentiated – Pedagogy, Curriculum and Delivery. In terms of pedagogy we use the new communicative approach as opposed to the traditional grammar translation approach. On the curriculum side, we have created specialised curriculum for different needs of learners – work, academic and general and social. We have also created content in 10 different vernacular languages as well as for different proficiency levels of the learners. There is distinctive content for adult and young learners. On the delivery side, we have leveraged technology to create a blended learning approach where both trainers and learners have a multimedia rich software, supported by manuals and course books.

Give an overview on the processes involved in “liqvid development”? Liqvid follows rigorous, learner-centric processes that ensure highly effective and enjoyable learning experiences. Our processes have steps involving content, delivery, pedagogy, curriculum, instruction design, graphics, usability, technology, quality assurance, project management, user feedback, security and licensing. All these different elements work together seamlessly to ensure that our learners get a learning experience that is not only helps them learn effectively but also makes it enjoyable. Elaborate on the latest and current happenings at Liqvid? This is a very exciting time for Liqvid. All parts of our businesses are turbocharged and headed for exponential growth. We have a great product which has been validated by dozens of customers and tens of thousands of users. We are now extending our offerings to cover new areas like Mobile and Internet, which have become attractive after recent developments in the telecom sector. We are also in the midst of bringing out a major new release of our product. We are expanding our team and opening new offices. Who are your clients and partners? Are there any new collaboration or partnership initiatives that you would like to share with us? We have partnerships with the global leaders in English language, namely BBC and University of Cambridge. We have leading organisations as customers across a range of segments – Vocational, Institutional, Schools, Corporates and Government. Some of our customers include the British Council, Educomp, Everonn, HCL and Allahabad University. More than 1,00,000 learners have gone through our programmes. The programme has proven to be highly

effective for the learners, who have shown remarkable satisfaction levels and improvements in their scores. Illustrate on any forthcoming innovation or initiative that Liqvid may be undertaking? Liqvid has a large team dedicated to R&D. The team is continuously coming out with new ideas around pedagogy, content and technology that add new features to our products. The newest and biggest areas for us are Mobile and Internet learning. How do your services and product contribute to the potential and opportunities of Indian education sector? English is an integral part of every educational offering – at every level. School students need to pass their examination, higher education students want jobs and corporate executives need English to improve their career prospects. In addition, English language is a social leveler in India – I met a young mother once who was learning English because her son was embarrassed that she could not speak to his teachers in English during PTA meetings. In addition, our expertise in leveraging technology for the learning process is helping ensure that the education models become scalable. This approach helps learning reach a very large number of people in a high-quality and scalable way. How do you envision your products with the existing market players, locally and globally? Do you have any expansion plan in the global market? All our products are designed to be of highest quality and are bench-marked globally. We have already established a footprint in South Asia and have established several partnerships in UK and Europe. We are now starting to make inroads in China. \\

digital LEARNING

AUGUST 2010

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