LABS2.0: October 2010

Asia’s First Monthly Magazine on ICT in Education

INDIA VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 10 | OCTOBER 2010 | ISSN 0973-4139 | ` 75 www.digitalLEARNING.in

umentation Virtual instr utes can let instit iment per overcome ex osts and set-up c

EN SKILLS DRIV N IO T A EDUC

onal Making vocati of rt pa a training iculum rr cu l na io educat

SPIRED

LEARNING IN TOOLS

struments What Texas In fer to (TI) has to of a di In schools in

Dilip Chenoy, CEO & MD, NSDC delineates on skill development in India

Melendy Lovett, Sr. VP, Texas Instruments on Nspired Learning Technology

February 5, 2011 The Claridges, New Delhi

exploring frontiers of

technology in higher education..

Discussion Topics Technology road map for higher education Institutions Role of technology in improving academic quality Smart class rooms and smart campuses Online assessment tools and associated technologies Virtual learning environments Distance education and remote learning

Organisers |

Target Audience Chancellors and Vice-Chancellors of leading universities Principals, Directors, and Deans of colleges and higher education institutions Academicians and Education experts Policy makers from central and state education departments Education technology vendors and solution providers

Presenting Publication |

For sponsorship enquiries: Fahim Haq, Email: fahim@elets.in, Mob: +91-9873277808

www.digitalLEARNING.in/highereducationsummit

VOLUME 6 ISSUE 10 OCTOBER 2010

digitalLEARNING

ISSN 0973-4139

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Contents REGULAR FEATURES

ANALYSIS | IWB

NEWS

30

A CASE FOR CLASSROOMS

6

National

7

Corporate

RESEARCH PAPER

8

International

34

DEVELOPMENT AGENDA

10

SKILLS DRIVEN EDUCATION

COVER STORY

16

ZERO SETUP, ZERO MAINTENANCE LABS

IN CONVERSATION

14

Dilip Chenoy, MD & CEO National Skill Development Corporation

28

Melendy Lovett,Senior Vice President, Texas Instruments

42

Jaemes Shanly,Director of Sales, Latin America & Indian Subcontinent, Mimio

CASE STUDY

22

OPEN ACCESS TO ENGINEERING EDUCATION

24

GEARING FOR AN ECONOMIC BOOM IN THE NORTH EAST

36

ICT TRAINING FOR THE MASSES

RNI NO. UPENG/2008/25311

IS RPL A MYTH IN INDIA?

SCHOOL TRACK

38

Dilip Chenoy, MD & CEO National Skill Development Corporation

28

TECHNOLOGY @ BRITISH SCHOOL

COMMENTARY

40

GIVING LIFE ANOTHER CHANCE

EVENT REPORT

44

ASEA 2010, STRENGTHENING STEM CAPABILITIES

MY JOURNEY

46

Melendy Lovett,Senior Vice President, Texas Instruments

46

Ravinder Goyal, Director IACM SmartLearn Ltd

BOOK REVIEW

49

THE ACE OF SOFT SKILLS

LOG OFF

50

THREE-QUARTER BLACKTHUMBS!

Ravinder Goyal, Director IACM SmartLearn Ltd

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

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EDITORIAL

Bridging the Skills Gap in Education Engineering education in India today stands as one of the biggest educational systems globally. The dearth of skilled and technically trained manpower has only added fuel to the process. Correspondingly, however, there are innumerable complexities associated with the mushrooming number of engineering institutes. Not only do we need to nurture the large number of student aspirants vying for an engineering degree, but also look into concerns of providing quality in education and industry relevant skills.

An engineering degree will not serve any purpose if it does not qualify as appropriate for industry requirements. While comparing engineering graduates of the developed nations, it is evident that they possess highly technical skills which gives them the confidence to handle complex problems. Such skills are lacking in their Indian counterparts.

Part of the problem is the need to identify certain foundation skills, which then becomes the governing principle for evaluating the quality of all academic programs. These necessarily have to be in tandem with business demands. Sprucing up technology skills is one of the important challenges to meet the demand for quality education.

The twentieth century has already witnessed an extraordinary growth in education technology. There is no indication that the speed of expansion will be any less in the current century. The shelf life of majority of the technologies is by now much lower than the duration of any three or four year degree program. The speedy trend of technology becoming obsolete is compelling the educational system to buck up and enable graduating students to be highly skilled in multiple aspects.

Advisory Board Prof. Asha Kanwar, Vice President, Commonwealth of Learning Dr. Jyrki Pulkkinen, CEO, Global eSchools & Communities Initiative (GeSCI) Shri Subhash C Khuntia, Joint Secretary, Department School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India Prof. V N Rajasekharan Pillai, Vice Chancellor, Indira GandhiI National Open University (IGNOU)

This is where skills development becomes imperative. And not just in the subject knowledge, but also in a host of soft skills which are the pre-requisites for climbing the ladder in a highly competitive economy. Educational institutes in our day have realised the importance of life long learning and self learning skills - in wake of the rapid trend of technological obsolesce - and want to ensure that their student inculcate the abilities of information retrieval and acquisition of latest knowledge.

The new age requirement of the globalised world means that all stakeholders have to be on their toes. Rising up to challenges and meeting ever increasing pressures can only be acquired through reforms in the educational system, skills training and imparting education par excellence. The future of India lies in our hands.

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. Prachi Shirur, Dr. Rajeshree Dutta Kumar, Divya Chawla, Sheena Joseph, Yukti Pahwa, Sangita Ghosh De, 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), Rakesh Ranjan Subscription & Circulation: Manoj Kumar, Gunjan Singh (subscription@elets.in) 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 | 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).

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NEWS

NATIONAL

SRISHTI SCHOOL OF ART, DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY ANNOUNCES COLLABORATION WITH FRANCE BASED L ECOLE DE DESIGN Bangalore-based Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology has announced a joint program with L’École de Design, Nantes Atlantique, a premier design school in France, to offer a two year advanced diploma program (post-graduate level) in Transcultural Design. The objective of this diploma, which is the first of its kind in the India, is to equip budding designers with leadership, creative and critical thinking skills to design products, services and communication for a globalizing world. The curriculum for the two year program has been developed in partnership with L’École de Design and will focus on interaction design, responsible innovation, ethnography and cultural hybridity in design. Beginning in October 2010, the program will enable Indian students to spend an academic year in France, studying and working, while French students do the same in India.

HIGHEST NUMBER OF FOREIGN STUDENTS AT IIM-A NEXT YEAR

COLLEGE EXAMS ON MOBILE PHONES

With completion of 50th year, the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) has another reason to celebrate.

The prestigious institution is preparing to admit the highest number of foreign students under its student exchange programme for the next academic session.

Officials at IIM-A have owed the large number of foreign students applying for admission into the institute to India’s growing global image as an emerging economy. The rising number of foreign students every year that come to pursue education at IIM-A is a proof of the institute’s popularity.

VIRTUAL LABS FOR STUDENTS

IIJT LAUNCHES VSAT FACILITY TO ENABLE LAST MILE ACCESS TO EMPLOYABILITY TRAINING Indian Institute of Job Training (IIJT) and TeamLease Services, India’s largest staffing solutions company recently, launched a country-wide VSAT facility to enable last mile access to employability enhancement training. The VSAT infrastructure will enable IIJT to give quality career skills training to all candidates, even those in more remote locations who may have been limited by lack of access to quality faculty, infrastructure and exposure to industry professionals.

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Seshadripuram First Grade College, Yelahnka in Bangalore has taken up an extension to elaborate on its experiment of conducting students’ exams on mobile phones for all the courses. Last year the college had launched a pilot project for conducting examination for some courses, whereby students were provided mobile handsets preloaded with questions with four options as answers and the students had to click the correct answer, revise it and then click the submit button. Dr M Prakash, Principal, Seshadripuram First Grade College, Yelahnka, mentioned that effort is being taken to make evaluation and assessment paperless and speedy.

Vineet Joshi, Chairman, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has recently, announced that the board will be considering the possibility of setting up virtual laboratories for students. He made the announcement while addressing teh gathering at the recent programme organised by the Kuruvila Jacob Memorial Educational Trust at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Madras. Regarding the pressure that several students in CBSE schools are undergoing due to the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE), the chairman described that in order to combat the pressured caused on the students due to homework and projects, CBSE is encouraging schools to indulge in group projects and activities. The occasion also marked the launch of online and offline content in physics and chemistry by CBSE, which had been an initiative of Kuruvila Jacob, involving the collaborations of several academicians, research scholars, teachers as well as web designers.

GEMS EDUCATION ADDS ANOTHER FEATHER TO ITS CAP A global recognition has been received, in form of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 27001 Certification for the quality of IT infrastructure, by GEMS Education, the largest kindergarten to grade 12 private school operator in the world. The ISO is the world’s largest developer and publisher of international standards and is recognised as the world’s leading non governmental authority on quality standards.

In order to certify GEMS Education’s Infrastructure and Data Centre services, both of them were examined and audited to ensure that they adhered to a rigorous set of standards of quality, security and reliability.

NEWS

CORPORATE

SPICE TO ENTER EDUCATION SECTOR

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT INVESTS $400M IN EDUCATION, TEXAS

With idea of diversifying into educational space, the Spice Group plans to set up a global university at Modipur in Rampur district of Uttar Pradesh by 2012.

Recently, Group Chairman BK Modi described that the university is to support and propagate “holistic education”. The

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, the publishing giant is to make a $400 million investment to back up the company’s increasing emphasis on putting more technology into classrooms. The announcement regarding the same was made on September 13, 2010 and it was mentioned alongside that the investment includes $100 million in incubator money for technology supporting student achievement. The Boston-based company also plans to invest $300 million over the next three years developing its own technology, such as a pilot algebra application for the Apple iPad currently being tested by 400 California students.

SEQUOIA CAPITAL, SONG INVEST $15MN IN K12 TECHNO

total cost of the project is estimated to be around `1,000 crore and the university is to be completed by 2012. To be built on nearly 100 acres at the site of the now defunct Modi Xerox factory, the university will be a part of S Foundation. The group is also planning to set up a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) unit in Rampur, which will start its operations in the next three months.

NIIT FORAYS INTO AFGHANISTHAN NIIT, leading Global Talent Development Corporation and Asia’s largest IT trainer, now forays into Afghanistan. The company has entered into a standard education Agreement with ARIA Institute of higher education, one of the top education institutes in the country, to develop an employable talent pool of IT professionals in Afghanistan. Under this standard education agreement, NIIT will offer cutting edge programs in software engineering and networking. NIIT will also offer career programs of six months to two years duration, a host of modular programs such as office productivity tools, hardware and networking programs, creative publishing and other high end technology programs to enhance employability for youth.

Sequoia Capital and Song Advisors announced that they have invested $ 15mn in K12 Techno Services Pvt. Ltd. K12 manages over 60 schools run by 15 different trusts under the Gowtham Model School and Orchids – the International school brand. It offers a whole gamut of specialized education support services to enhance the quality of learning and teaching. Sequoia Capital’s global experience and local expertise will help fuel K12’s expansion plans. With this investment, KP Balaraj, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital and Ravishankar GV, Principal, Sequoia Capital and Vishal Vasishth of SONG have joined the board of K12. Sequoia Capital’s portfolio includes global leaders like Cisco, Google, Oracle, Electronic Arts and Yahoo! and market leaders in India including Café Coffee Day, SKS Microfinance, Just Dial and Shaadi.com. ISB based Song Investment Advisors is backed by Soros economic development fund, Omidiyar Network and Google. This is Sequoia Capital’s third investment in India’s education sector and SONG has also focused on education as one of their key focus sectors. SONG targets the high growth SME space in India catering to mass market needs.

NIIT LAUNCHES GOOGLE CERTIFIED ADVANCED ONLINE ADVERTISING PROGRAMMEME NIIT, leading Global Talent Development Corporation and Asia’s largest IT trainer, announced the launch of ‘Advanced Online Advertising’ programme for advertising and marketing professional in association with Google India.

As part of this initiative, NIIT will offer a specially designed training programme in online advertising which will be certified by Google. The training programme in online advertising has been designed and customized to equip the Indian advertising and marketing professional with better understanding of Google’s global advertising programme Google ‘AdWords’. The programme content and module outline has been designed by experts from Google and will cover all aspects of search engine marketing, measuring and optimising online campaigns.

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NEWS

INTERNATIONAL

AYURVEDA MEDICAL COLLEGE IN UAE A Middle East-settled non-resident Indian industrialist, B R Shetty, recently announced his plans regarding opening of an Ayurveda medical college at the upcoming Herbal City in Abu Dhabi in the UAE in collaboration with Santhigiri Ashram in Kerala. He mentioned the same while addressing a gathering at a one-day conference on ‘Health and Research in The Middle East Asian Countries’, organised as part of the Parnasala Dedication Celebrations at Santhigiri Ashram. Santhigiri Healthcare Division is running a chain of Ayurveda hospitals and panchakarma centres all over India besides two medical colleges, one for Ayurveda and the other for siddha in Kerela

LAUNCH OF THE NEW SCHOOL MODEL AT ABU DABI Dr Mugheer Khamis Al Khaili, Director General of Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC), recently announced the launch of the New School Model (NSM). Dr Al

ONLINE COURSES FOR OHIO STUDENTS Chancellor Eric D Fingerhut, from Ohio Board of Regents, announced the launch of OhioLearns!

Gateway, a new initiative called for by Gov. Ted Strickland and the Ohio General Assembly. It would give all Ohio high school students access to online courses. This initiative is an addition to the existing OhioLearns! program, which has provided higher education distance learning courses and degree programs for public and private colleges and universities for more than 10 years. The students can avail navigation of the online course catalog and select from 40 approved courses, linking them to a variety of course providers and web-based courses. The courses will assist school districts across Ohio to differentiate educational offerings and meet the various needs of their students.

AUSTRALIA, 1000 VICTORIAN SCHOOLS TO RECEIVE ENRICHED EXPERIENCE WITH CISCO SUPPORT Cisco wired and wireless networking are to be standardised by the Department of Early Education and Child Development (DEECD), as the foundation for 21st-century teaching and learning in up to 1,000 primary and secondary schools across Victoria.

This education-grade network will support future demand from one-to-one computing, mobility for flexible learning spaces, high-definition video, digital content and the Ultranet. DEECD’s innovative use of Cisco networking technology in schools will help create media-rich and highly engaging online curricula centered around video and collaboration, automate administrative processes, safeguard important school resources, and enhance the learning process in countless other ways.

Khaili explained that the new school model is to help in establishing a better education system and is to focus on overall development of the students, teachers, environment and community at large.

KUSTAR COLLABORATES WITH GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY FOR EDUCATION AND RESEARCH A partnership has been announced between Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research (KUSTAR) and the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), to develop cutting edge Engineering-based education and research initiatives in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United States of America (USA).

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed at a ceremony held in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The aim of this collaboration is to establish a framework for exploring sponsored research, joint research opportunities and joint educational programmes. The two parties will explore areas in which Georgia Tech may provide assistance with short-and long-term faculty and administrative needs, and encourage exchange experiences for students and faculty.

US SCIENTIST HONOURED WITH STOCKHOLM WATER PRIZE Recently, Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf, conferred the Stockholm Water Prize on US scientist Rita R Colwell for her pioneering research on prevention of waterborne diseases. Colwell, a scientist with the University of Maryland and John Hopkins University in Stockholm, has made outstanding contributions to control the spread of cholera which affects some five million people worldwide and causes deaths to an estimated 120,000 people annually. She was joined by 17 previous Stockholm Water Prize laureates and hundreds of water experts at the City Hall of Stockholm.

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DEVELOPMENT AGENDA

Skills Driven Education India has a large youth population and comparatively less number of colleges to accommodate all. In midst of this scenario, issues of quality standard, demand-supply ration and regulation to govern colleges, especially the one away from the mainstream higher education, have caught eye of one and all

By Yukti Pahwa

t was not until 1943 that India saw creation of the Constitution of Technical Education Committee of the Central University Board of Education (CABE). In 1945 the All India Council of technical Education (AICTE) came into being. With economy growing and taking Indians to various skill based occupations, slowly the issues related to what is known as the technical education, skill development and vocational education has caught eye of one and all and has become a matter of attention for the government of India. AICTE is a statutory body that is involved in planning, developing and maintaining standard for running a technical education institute. Later, the Indian Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) and Indian Institutes of Science (IISC) came into existence and heightened the level of technical education in the country. Setting of such prestigious institutions changed the outlook of technical education in India but with drawbacks of its lack of availability to all in the country.

The courses that have been termed as technical come under administration of AICTE; include the degree and diploma courses in Engineering, Computer Application, MBA, Pharmacy, Architecture, Applied Arts and Hotel Management. Also, AICTE gives out 50 National doctoral fellowships for a period of three years. India has over four lakh AICTE approved institutes that facilitate engineering degree courses, around 12 hundred institutes that offer diploma courses in engineering, around four hundred institutes that offer diploma course in pharmacy, 63 institutes that offer courses in Hotel Management and Catering Technology Courses and 25 AICTE approved institutes that

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Pondering over the quality of students who apply for technical education, it is worth attention that the aspiring young people who apply in institutions such as IIT show that at least 10-15 percent of these applicants are comparable to the students at major public universities in the US

provide with diploma courses in Architecture. Additionally, there are other centrally governed programmes like the Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme assisted by the World Bank and Indian National Digital Library for Science and Technology. One of the public sector undertakings of the ministry is the Educational Consultants India Ltd (Ed.CIL).

INDIA VS WORLD Often heard government views, including views of Shri Kapil Sibal, Human Resource Development Minister, resonate of the great potential the India encompasses. It has been estimated that not far in the future, India will have a population ration where majority will be in segment of youth earners/ workers with minority remaining as dependent population, while most of the developed nations are to see a skew whereby majority of their respective populations will fall in category of dependent inhabitants. In such a scenario, India will hold the prospective workforce not only for itself but nations across the world. Foreseeing such

a need, it becomes all the more important for us as a nation to have a skilled workforce which is not only trained but is recongnised or certified too, in order to deliver quality services.

Pondering over the quality of students who apply for technical education, it is worth attention that the aspiring young people who apply in institutions such as IIT show that ‘at least 10-15 percent of those applicants are of IIT quality and comparable to the students at major public universities in the U.S.’ At the same time, India as a nation has to still catch up with other countries. For instance, ‘A comparison between India and China in this regard shows that China has developed the technical education sector much more rapidly than India. China has produced more than 5,000 Ph.D. holders per year compared to India’s 1,000.

China has also successfully implemented the concept of scalability as it currently has fifteen IITs (eight of which have only recently started), though it is still not clear how the newer IITs will be staffed with qualified faculty as in the existing IITs.’

OPEN UNIVERSITIES AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT Open universities offer skill development and vocational education programmes, as a part of higher education sector, unlike other mainstream higher education universities. These courses are additional course which are not offered by the latter, especially in area of skill development. The open universities provide flexibility, anywhere-anytime access to education.

For instance, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), the largest Open University offering distance learning programmes collaboration with Srei Sahaj e Village Limited, a part of Srei Infrastructure Finance Limited has come up with a cost effective skill development vocational programme, for Indian rural inhabitants. This has been channelised through over 29,000 Common Service Centres (CSCs) in states of West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, UP, Orissa and Tamil Nadu. This programme involves the learning strategy known as ‘Education That Works – Learning System’ (ETWLS) that revolves around self regulated computational system and whereby, the skill assessment is done online.

SKILL DEVELOPMENT AT SCHOOLS When it comes to skill education and vocational training, there is a noticeably high demand for skilled workers in the industry. The demand is met by supply of untrained/ non certified labour, mainly consisting of illiterate youth/ children or the drop-outs.

There have been lots of efforts made by the government in order to introduce vocational training in form of Industrial Training Institutes, etc, and other training centres of varying capacity across fields at higher education level, but there is hardly any initiative at K12 level for introduction of the same. The attitude towards training in areas away from the mainstream is not very positive in Indian context, especially for those who want to pursue and/ are in a position to pursue higher education. It is considered as the last or perhaps no option at all.

For those students, however, who drop-out of school or are interested in becoming a part of the work force at an early age, vocational training and skill development are of utmost importance.

Certification in such cases, if provided, can help youth to attain good salaried jobs and earn a decent living. Without

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any kind of recognition, even if one is skilled, the person usually ends up having abrupt employment pattern or being unemployed off-and-on.

The All India Council for Vocational Education under MHRD is responsible for planning, guiding and coordinating the programmes at national level for vocational education and training, mostly for the grade 10th pass students, besides the State Councils for Vocational Education at respective State Levels. A major question that rises is that of a ‘choice’.

Is it only the government school children who need to be ready for introduction of any skills or vocational training, because we observe a large drop-out from government schools? Shouldn’t there also be an effort to train students from public and private school as well so that, if there is a choice, the young people can join the workforce directly after secondary or senior secondary level?

Offcourse, there is a need! However, still a greater need is that of bringing an attitude change in the society towards such training or learning. There is a need to introduce for our Indian audience the importance of the non formal education, which is taken as synonymous with the skill development and vocational training education, in a manner so that it is considered as an important a supplement to higher education, and not completely discarded as a left-over for those who cannot do anything else, with formal education.

Rita Kaul, Principal from The Millennium School, reflects upon importance of non formal education or technical education, “At the Millennium School, besides academics, we anyway equip our students with a variety of life skills which will help them become productive citizens.

“Presently, most school students are not equipped with such skills that make them fit for industrial based jobs”

S C ARORA VICE CHAIRMAN, LOTUS VALLEY INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

It is an essential part of the cutting edge learning system called the Millennium Learning System adopted by us.”

Similarly, SC Arora, Vice Chairman, Lotus Valley International School, mentioned that there is a need to make students adept with non-formal education or skill education and vocational training that can enable them to get a job immediately after school, more so students from that strata of the society who do not wish to pursue higher education. He added that presently, most school students are not equipped with such skills that make them fit for industrial based jobs. About inclusion of skill development in course and curriculum prescribed by CBSE, he opined that “Some subjects are there that cater to skill education and vocational training, but it is not adequate and most of the school do not go for this options.”

We have in our school system some major drawbacks in form of hindrances such as absence of teachers, issues of quality and standardisation. Often technology is sought as a major tool to overcome these and add value to the in-use education system. On similar lines, Rita Kaul, adds in support of role of technol-

ogy for skill development and vocational training, “India has a fast-growing Service based industry. So there is definitely a huge role of IT based education if we want to dominate globally since it will help both in terms of increasing reach as well as enhancing quality.” ICT presents a more unique way of making learning interesting and existing, especially in reference to use of multi-media. With a similar opinion about role of ICT, SC Arora mentioned that for imparting any type of education ICT can be used in form of audio- video aids, which makes learning and grasping of a concept easier for students.

PRIVATE INITIATIVES AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES Skilled labour force is not only a demand of the industry but also a concern. In order to share the effort of creating a trained skilled force many private companies have started collaborative programmes to offer livelihood, especially to rural youth. One of such initiatives is the Larsen and Toubro Ltd, ECC division’s initiative in partnership with MoRD, Government of India, where the former supports the latter for execution of Demand Driven Skill Development

The Town Schools Education Initiatives

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TSEI, is a private limited service provider for school,

to reach the BPL families. It has also been

resource center. The provide for courses including

vocational and skills training, authorised by the

accorded status of IGNOU community college

the following - Information & Communication

Director General Employment and Training, in order

and offers diploma courses in teacher training for

Technology- Computer Courses, Fundamentals,

to equip people for acquiring livelihood in states

undergraduates, as well as for in-service teachers.

MS Office, internet, TALLY, Computer Networking,

of Uttar Pradesh and Uttrakhand. The courses

It acts as an interface between the industry and

DTP, Web Designing; Soft Skills; Retail – Sales;

that it provides in these states are also certified

the people and aims to provide modular skill

Hospitality; Travel & Tourism; Security; Garment;

by the National Council for Vocational Training.

courses to meet employment needs on both the

Para/Asst.

TSEI also has alliance with the Ministry of Rural

ends. Its first skill development center was set

Leadership. The specialty of the courses is that it

Development. It is also responsible for the project

up in Ghaziabad district at Murad Nagar, which

provides cost effective opportunities, provides with

allocated by MoRD know as the Swarnjayanti

was made functional with advance technology

standardisation and certification, interconnected

Gram Swarojgar Yojna, for enabling skill training

and audio visual multimedia room and digital

short-term courses and recognition from NCVT.

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Teachers

Trainings;

and

School

Programme. Under this programme the company offers training to rural youth (BPL) in area of construction. The initiative costs around INR 470 million, out of which MoRD is responsible for 30% of the funds and remaining 70% is being taken care of by L&T, for training and infrastructure facilities.

SHOULD SKILLS AND MAINSTREAM HIGHER EDUCATION MERGE? Some opine that tertiary education and /skill development and vocational training should be a part of the mainstream higher education system while others opine the opposite. For instance, Navyug Mohnot, CEO, QAI, “Skill development and vocational training should be constituted as a separate entity, more so in a country like India.

This will broad-base the provision of skill development linked to the investment cost of education. Most western countries have a developed framework consisting of sector specific Skill Development Councils and Guilds that track industry manpower statistics, track quality and provide certifications of skill sets acquired.

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) do not typically understand the requirements of training needed for skill based jobs, as they specialise in grooming students for knowledge based jobs. However, HEI’s will gain by leveraging their brand, academic and physical infrastructure to provide private/corporate trainers a platform to disburse the skill development of the targeted manpower.”

Participation of the private player facilitates not only infrastructural and monetary benefits to various programmes that they support, but also provides a platform for the youth in training to get hands on experience with the industry.

NATIONAL SKILL DEVELOPMENT MISSION IN INDIA The 11th Five Year Plan aims to increase the present skill development capacity of 3.1 million per year to 15 million annually. India targets to develop manpower of 500 million skilled workers by 2022.

The aim of the mission is to increase employability, meeting the supply demand balance, making employees adept with knowledge of technology and skills, improving livelihoods of people, and making skill development an attractive proposition for investment. The National Skill Development Mission is inclusive in nature

India’s National Council on Skill Development has been set up as an apex institution for policy direction and review. The council that is chaired by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, has the ministers for Human Resource Development, Finance, Industries, Rural Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Labour and Employment and Micro Small & Medium Enterprises as its members

and is to minimise disparities of gender, urban-rural, and employment in organised and unorganised sectors.

The objectives of the National policy on Skill Development include – creating opportunities to earn living, especially for disadvantaged groups, promoting participation of stakeholders from private sector in developing a workforce, creating a mechanism that caters to diverse needs of stakeholders/ industry and so on.

Its coverage is to encompass development of institution-based skill development including ITIs/ITCs/vocational schools/technical schools/ polytechnics/ professional colleges, e-learning, webbased learning and distance learning and so on. The initiative promotes quality skill education to provide with skilled supply of labour to the dynamic, changing and increasing industrial demands. Under the same umbrella, effort are to be taken to create a framework of National Vocational Qualification Framework (NVQF) in

order to provide quality, flexible, continuous, lifelong learning knowledge to the seekers of skill education. The initiative is to proceed with states becoming the key actors.

WHAT IS REQUIRED? From the above note, it can be gathered that at present what we need to uplift the value of skill development and vocational training in the country is • Provide with trained instructor • Provide with certification and standardisation of courses available in the sector • Have independent accreditation systems • Include industry for facilitating various programmes in field of skill training, and • Bringing about change in the mindset of people about the field, so that it can be regarded as more than ‘just the last option’. \\

digital LEARNING

OCTOBER 2010

13

INTERVIEW

Technical Integration in Mainstream www.nsdcindia.org

As the CEO and Managing Director of National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), Dilip Chenoy strongly believes that the organisation presents an enormous opportunity to transform the skill landscape of India and impact the livelihood of millions of people. Just four months into the organisation he is working towards delivering the core value that NSDC was set up for. In an interaction with Yukti Pahwa, he touched upon he various aspects of skill development in India NSDC has an equity base of INR 10 crore. Kindly elaborate on the amount that has already been invested so far and the progress made.

The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) has funded 3 proposals, entailing a total monetary requirement of INR 45.38 crore. Combined, these three projects seek to skill more than 1 million youth over a 10-year period. The funded projects would impart training in the gems and jewelery sector, automobiles, welding and retail, apart from introducing courses for electricians and machinists. Further, NSDC has also approved the funding of 5 projects, which include funds for the formation of the Automotive Skill Development Council on a pilot basis.

Technical education is an alternate to mainstream education. What is your opinion about the same?

The view that technical education is an alternate to mainstream education perhaps needs to change to the view that the technical steam is an integral part of education and key to the competitiveness of the future. An increased focus on technical education is essential for the country to ensure that its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) continues to grow at upwards of 8-9%.

A study conducted by management consulting firm IMaCS (an ICRA subsidiary) on behalf of NSDC has projected that there could be a potential shortage of 240-250 million people in 21 critical sectors of the economy by 2022. Industry has to lead in ensuring that this gap is bridged and the NSDC is the vehicle to enable that.

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Kindly highlight any recent noticeable happenings in the sector of Skill Development sector.

Skills development has been accorded top priority by the Government. The Government’s vision is to train 500 million youth by 2022 in 21 sectors which it has identified as focus segments. Already, 17 ministries are engaged in the task of training and skill development initiatives. The Government has moreover set up the NSDC in collaboration with the private sector to catalyse private sector involvement for meeting its goal. The NSDC’s mandate is to help train at least 150 million of the 500 million people by 2022 by incubating skills development initiatives of both for profit and not for profit organisations by providing funds for this purpose.

As stated earlier, the 3 projects that have already been funded by NSDC have the potential to train over 1 million youth over the next 10 years. A significant emerging trend is that skill development and training is being viewed as a sustainable business and many corporations and individuals are looking to start new ventures.

Do you think skill development and vocational training should be formally integrated as part of Higher Education?

The entire education framework needs to provide for lifelong learning and also mobility from one stream to another for those who wish to do so. Currently this is only possible in selective areas and in a limited manner. There are global examples where this framework has been achieved and it would soon be so in India as well. In addition, skill development has to be integrat-

ed into the career path of every individual and industry has to build in systems and procedures to do this.

Do you see any role of ICT in propagating skill education and vocational training?

ICT can play a huge role in propagating skills training nationwide and helping in the process of promoting inclusive growth. In order to be able to achieve scale in skill development to meet the ambitious goals set by the PM’s Council, use of IT is imperative. NSDC has identified those skills that can be taught through E-learning, new products would be required for teaching, IT would be increasingly used for certification and assessment and IT as a skill could transform rural India to the back office for Urban India!

What role do Private Players hold for propagating vocational training you foresee for the Indian context, with or without holding partnerships with other agencies?

Private Sector would need to lead the skill development initiative. We need several large scale initiatives it is possible to look at an entity developing skills of 10 million persons in 10 years. Either new ventures could be launched or existing ventures scaled up. Industry needs to come together to set up Sector skill councils that would define competencies, develop curricula build a framework for assessment and certification and provide industry training opportunities.

The opportunity is huge. The private sector are now coming forward to develop linkages with the NSDC for skills development initiatives. \\

DILIP CHENOY MD M D & CEO EO NATIONAL NA NAT ION ON O NAL A S SK SKI KILL L DEV DE EV VELO EL LOP OPME PME PM ENT NT CO COR ORPOR POR RA ATI AT TIO T ON N

digital LEARNING

OCTOBER 2010

15

COVER STORY

o r e Z , s p b u a t l e e s c o n r a Ze inten ma come r e v o s e stitute n i ensur t p l e e y h d n ts, an on ca n i t e a t m i n r e expe strum n n i w l o l a b fullVi r t u cepts f n o o c s r arrie eering n i g cost b n e iy of h r e v i l de

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o integral are labs to study of higher sciences that a reputable engineering institute without a well-equipped lab is hard to think of. However, lab experiments are becoming increasingly cost-intensive due to the rising sophistication of newer hi-engineering streams such as microelectronics and very-large-scale integration (VLSI).

Virtual Instrumentation (VI), which surfaced as cost-effective alternative to real lab experiments found early takers in the industry. Its benefits have been enormous not only for scientists and engineers but for markets too, as it enables quality improvements, shortens the development and testing cycles, and thereby helps lower costs.

Consequently, VI has been used to significantly cut down dependence on reallab experiments in engineering institutes, globally.

S

STILL NEW TO INDIA In India VI is still more of a concept than a reality, among engineering institutes.

Barring the IITs, not many institutes in India have introduced VI for simulation and analysis.

Nevertheless, educators from engineering institutes have a positive view with regard to introduction of technology in the engineering process. Cost effectiveness is one of the major reasons for this encouraging trend. However, it is observed that a total replacement of actual laboratory experiments with virtual experiments is not encouraged.

At the Apeejay College of Engineering, VI is used in B Tech programs of electronics and communication engineering, and electronics and instrumentation engineering; and for the M Tech program of instrumentation and control engineering. It is also used in areas related to digital image processing, control engineering, configuration of various control design and system solutions.

Stressing on the need for VI in engineering colleges, Dr Nagaraj R, Professor and HoD at the Oxford College of Engineering, Bangalore, says that virtual instrumentation provides significant advantages at every stage of the engineering process— from research and design to manufacturing tests.

“Thanks to virtual instrumentation, institutes can provide lab access to more number of students. It also gives students the opportunity to do experiments multiple times with different permutation and combinations. It provides more opportu-

“VI gives access to more number of students and opportunity to do experiments multiple times with different permutation and combinations” RAHUL DESHMUKH OFFICER ON SPECIAL DUTY, CDEEP, IIT-BOMBAY

The Chennai COE

M V Muthuramalingam, Chairman, Velammal Educational Trust (extreme left) and Jayaram Pillai, Managing Director - India, Russia & Arabia, National Instruments (right) at the inauguration of ‘Virtual Instrumentation Centre’

In its bid to strengthen its research and development capabilities, as also to make designing easier for students, the Chennai-based Velammal Engineering College has recently tied up with National Instruments for establishing a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for promoting innovation and creativity in the field of VI. Emphasising on the importance of the collaboration, M V M Velmurugan, C.E.O Velammal Educational Trust says, “The aim is to benefit the college in terms of gaining domain expertise through research projects. Students shall learn industry relevant methods of making measurements & control and shall also gain practical knowledge which will help them gain placements in core multinational industries.”

The focus of the centre is to work on research areas like embedded industrial control, image processing, robotic system design, measurement and automation, wireless sensor network by encouraging ideation and innovation through projects based on real world applications, access to industry events, educational workshops, and training sessions on NI’s LabVIEW. “Traditional lab experiments are limited by the instruments and restricted with syllabus. But the Virtual Instrumentation based laboratory experiments will nurture innovation and creativity in engineering and science education,” adds Velmurugan.

digital LEARNING

OCTOBER 2010

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Online Laboratories @ IIT Kharagpur

Lab-on-demand an IIT Kharagpur helps improve technology education through expansion of lab-based learning opportunities. Prof CK Maiti, Electronics and ECE, IIT Kharagpur explains the rationale, “It is mandatory to have laboratories for hands-on experience in all engineering and science programs. Laboratories demonstrate course concepts and ideas and develop hands-on skill of the students. However, a fully equipped laboratory usually results in a huge expense. Maintenance costs also can be significant. Additionally, teaching assistants are required to set up the laboratory, instruct in the laboratory, and grade laboratory reports.”

“These are time-consuming and costly tasks which result in relatively low laboratory equipment usage, especially considering that laboratories are available only when equipment and teaching assistants are both available,” Prof Maiti points out.

The Laboratory-on-Demand is an initiative of Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of

nity to learn. Institutes can also save cost on the investment on setup,” says Rahul Deshmukh, Officer on special duty for Center for Distance Engineering Education Programme (CDEEP) at IIT, Bombay.

IT SAVES COSTS, TIME TOO A virtual control system laboratory simulation is considered to be more cost effective than the use of laboratory infrastructure, which demands heavy investments.

Talking about the importance of virtual

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India, under the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NME-ICT).

Laboratory courses on hands-on experiments are an integral part of engineering education. The IIT Kharagpur ‘Microelectronics and VLSI Engineering’ Laboratory-on-Demand (LoD) is a remote microelectronics device characterization and parameter extraction laboratory.

LoD helps learners to measure the different characteristics and extract device parameters of various microelectronics devices at any time and from anywhere using a Java-enabled web browser.

The equipment required to conduct microelectronic device experiments are often very expensive, require trained manpower and adequate space, which makes the provision of hands-on experimental facility to individual student difficult in a traditional laboratory setup.

Also, opportunities for experimental research by engineering students in India have been limited by the high cost of equipment.

laboratory experiments as compared to the usual lab experiments in engineering institutes, Dr Nagraj states, “The virtual laboratory will bridge physical distance and availability of resources in far off places. Today, it is possible to design good experiments among students for better learning using VI. Additionally, with virtual instruments, you can quickly develop a program, take measurements from an instrument to test a prototype, and analyse results, all in a fraction of the time required

Internet-based laboratory has been developed at IIT Kharagpur as a response to this problem. LoD is currently being used by the IIT students from their hostel rooms. It has also been tested by the faculty members from various universities and engineering colleges. Partner institutions include VIT University, Vellore and NIST, Berhampur. The IIT-Kharagpur ‘Microelectronics and VLSI Engineering Lab-on-Demand’ is open to students of engineering colleges in India.

The Lab-@-Home is an initiative to develop virtual instrument-based online devices and circuits laboratory covering most of the experiments suggested in the AICTE model syllabi for all AICTEapproved engineering colleges in India offering undergraduate courses in electrical, electronics, electronics and communication, computer, instrumentation and IT. Currently, more than 15 experiments on electronic devices and circuits are available for the undergraduate students.

Lab-@-Home from IIT Kharagpur enables students to characterise various semiconductor devices and circuits at any time and from anywhere using a Java-enabled web browser. Lab-@-Home is a complete solution for teachers for teaching the devices and circuits laboratory classes with students authentication, remote experiments, submission of online laboratory reports, holding test and vivavoce examinations, and finally grading the students and also preparing the grade sheet for the class. Lab-@-Home is available to all engineering colleges in India.

Source: www.lod.iitkgp.ernet.in/netlab

to build tests with traditional instruments.”

However, Dr GRC Reddy, Director, National Institute of Technology, Calicut, cautions that virtual lab experiments can only supplement and not replace the usual lab experiments.

According to Dr Sarbjit Singh, Executive Director, Apeejay College of Engineering, “Virtual laboratory experiments facilitate research scholars and engineering students to develop test and measurement, data acquisition, instrument control, data-

(Delhi, Chandigarh, Dehradun)

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“VI clubbed with interactive boards is ideal for classroom teaching” vices are ideal for classroom teaching.

Exposure to real instruments during lab sessions would also be essential.

How would you rate India as compared to other developed countries with reference to ITenablement of engineering education?

The penetration of IT so far in Indian education has been largely on administration side such as ERP. There are still mindset barriers in accepting and adopting IT for classroom education in regular academics. We are dealing with a generation that likes debate and not lectures. We have to be in sync with the new generation.

Mohammed Ghouse Country Manager, Business Communication, Scientech Technologies

Do you think training courses in engineering education is important?

Hands-on training methodology and training courses are of great importance.

We realised this long back and took strategic decisions resulting in Scientech Learning Centre, the training division of Scientech . We mould students to the industry atmosphere and expose them to various technologies.

What are your views on the importance of virtual instrumentation in engineering institutes of India?

We believe both real and virtual instruments are equally important. Virtual instruments in products like Tina (software) clubbed with interactive boards and de-

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What are the upcoming technological innovations that could have a potentially revolutionary role in engineering education?

There are several comprehensive product portfolio and truly innovative educational solutions and resources. TechLab and MiniLab include tools like oscilloscope, function generator and power supply in a single assembly. This is a perfect way of saving space and cost, especially in the academics.

There are also hands-on learning methodology and tech books such as electronic platforms for theoretical learning and doing practical that are in great demand.

Tech books are available for all basic and advanced communication and computing technologies. The Online University (www. sku.bz) platform is where the study modules are organically developed for easy understanding of subjects and topics.

What is the importance of industryacademia collaborations in improving the quality of engineering education?

We at Scientech strongly believe in more and more industry-institution interaction.

The Scientech Learning Centre is a live example of that.

The industry has plenty of resources and expertise which can be effectively utilised by the academia.

DR GRC REDDY DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, CALICUT

“Virtual lab experiments shall only supplement and not replace the usual lab experiments”

logging, and measurement analysis applications.”

He further emphasises that VI also helps in quick re-configuration of various control sub-systems, and easy and rapid integration and evaluation while developing projects for control engineering. “In a matter of a few hours, one can optimise and provide a cost-efficient solution. Another striking feature of virtual laboratory is that a group of students can participate to view the proposed solution in graphical form on the display screen, seek comments, modify on-line and arrive at an optimal solution,” he adds.

Experts also suggest that virtual instruments are not just easy and quick to develop, it helps test and optimise control design systems without physical fabrication and hard-wire engineering. Besides, they have graphical interface, large library of functions and devices, and are reusable by any number of students.

“Being software driven, VI can also facilitate a group of students to collaborate and participate in design and analysis sessions with distant institutions, universities and laboratories,” Dr Singh says.

However, there is a lot more that needs to be done in order to familiarise Indian educational institutes with the concept of VI, by highlighting its benefits and also providing relevant knowledge and support for the installation of required infrastructure. \\

CASE STUDY

Open Access to Engineering Education www.cdeep.iitb.ac.in

The Live Webcast project at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay provides web based distance education solution for engineering aspirants and benefits those living in remote areas

By Rahul Deshmukh

he live webcast course at Center of Distance Education Programme (CDEEP) IIT Bombay has been started with the objective of providing quality education in the field of science and engineering, to any willing individual, free of cost. Live webcast courses are ideally suited for individualised learning. They seek to benefit all those who live in remote areas, and those who want to update their knowledge.

With the spread of the virtual classroom, CDEEP is proving that distance is no longer an obstacle to learning. The project provides web based distance education solution for those wanting to pursue an engineering degree.

T

WHY DISTANCE EDUCATION? About 500,000 students enroll in engineering studies in India every year at the undergraduate level which is only 2.5% of the age group. Although only a select group studies engineering, according to McKinsey report, only 25% of the engineering graduates of India are employable. The main reason for this state of affairs is deficiency of quality faculty in the engineering colleges of India. Because of this dismal state, not many students with a Bachelor’s degree in engineering are ready to go for higher studies. Moreover, less than 1% of them can hope to enroll in Masters programs. This has resulted in a big shortage of Masters and Ph.D graduates in India.Also, out of the astounding number of students who throng to give the engineering entrance exams, only 1% of the aspirants succeed in getting admit-

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ted to the IITs. Major structural changes are required in order to solve the creases facing engineering education in India. Distance education and the internet are the tool though which effective transformation of the situation can be brought about.

LIVE WEBCAST COURSE IIT Bombay has been active in distance education for the past eight years with the satellite transmission. In January 2008, IIT Bombay signed a MoU with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to transmit its courses, free and unencrypted, through the satellite EDUSAT. In return, ISRO has agreed to pro-

vide free bandwidth. Any institution that has a student interactive terminal (SIT) may receive the courses free of cost, but may not record them without IITB’s explicit approval.

The project is basically designed to target the individual as an audience called “SOLO mode”. It intends to give complete time flexibility through the video on demand service. It also provides off line interactivity through the learning management system.

Looking in to the cost and availability of bandwidth in India and to minimise the cost per view, streaming was done on 100kbps so that the common user with 128kbps dialup/broadband connectiv-

management system gives a platform to the external student to interact with the faculty and other fellow students through discussion forum and chat. All the presentations, class notes, assignments, question paper and sample solutions are made available on LMS. Video on Demand provides the time flexibility for reruns and for better understanding.

With the spread of the virtual classroom, CDEEP is proving that distance is no longer an obstacle to learning. The project provides web based distance education solution for those wanting to pursue an engineering degree

ity can also participate in the program.

With internet being used as the tool for communication, the project has a global reach. The project has also transmit-

ted courses from virtual sets with the best presentation tool like ticker, document camera, presentation, presenter and edutainment concept. The learning

THE PILOT PHASE The project started with a pilot of 600 students and 32 faculties of different engineering colleges from the state of Gujarat. Five courses were beamed in the pilot phase. Till date more than 100 courses are transmitted on live webcast of different disciplines of science and engineering from IIT Bombay.

The project has more than one lakh beneficiaries including students, faculty, working professionals, researchers and individuals. The Government College of Engineering Poona (COEP) has accepted the courses of CDEEP IIT Bombay as plug in replacement for their regular courses.It has also attracted international participation from countries like USA, UK, Australia, Japan, China, France, Norway, Pakistan, UAE etc. Apart from the educational institutes and individuals, corporate like Wipro Ltd., Persistent, Tech Mahindra Ltd. have used the courses for quality improvement and as refresher courses for their employees. The same service is also being used by the Ministry of Human Resource Development for their teacher training programs. \\

Project OSCAR today

an interactive setting for students so that

interested organisations. Material can also be

has resulted in the introduction of several

they can gain easy access to course material

obtained through open source and under the

educational initiatives for the benefit of the

and also provide for a wider dissemination of

Creative Common license. Students can use

student community. It has now become a

education.

and download the material for non commercial

prominent mode of instruction for diverse

In this background, Project OSCAR (Open

purposes.

courses meant to be transmitted through

Source Courseware Animations Repository)

The Project OSCAR portal

distance learning. Technology is now being

was launched with the objective of creating

experts, school/ college teachers to register

extensively used and newer opportunities are

a wide repository of web-based interactive

as mentors while programmers and students

being explored as a means to support different

animations

and

can register as developers. Mentors suggest

education methodologies.

technologies. Concepts have been taken from

topics where animations would be useful.

However, the dearth of relevant course

numerous quarters ranging from topics taught

Developers build these animations using the

material is one of the constraining factors in

in school to advanced subjects. Attempt has

Project OSCAR development methodology and

distance education. Even in situations where

also been made to translate animations to

tool kit, with periodic feedback from mentors.

the content is available, they often tend to

local languages. Coursewares and animations

Project

be costly and may also lack quality. There

that

brought

channels like email, a discussion forum and

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together and transferred to a compact disc at

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OSCAR

digital LEARNING

provides

enables subject

communication

OCTOBER 2010

23

CASE STUDY

Gearing for an Economic Boom in the North East The North-East India, of late, is being seen as a fertile recruitment ground for IT and BPO service providers. The government and private players are using this opportunity to provide relevant skills training to the population.

Public – Private Partnerships are crucial to these developments, with companies willing to invest in training requirements

By Sheena Joseph

he Government of Megahalya signed a MoU with Symantec, a foreign franchise, to develop and implement IT skills development and IT educational programmes in the state. The MoU is aimed at enhancing the skill requirements of IT graduates, besides maintaining a database of certified participants, that can feed into employment initiatives. The focus is to take a holistic skill development approach, understand industry requirements and create specific development initiatives. The training programme is being offered by the state government free of cost.

The state government has been encouraging and attempting to approach IT and ITES companies to invest in the state, with the objectives of creating IT employment, improving IT infrastructure

T

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and using IT as a catalyst to fuel economy in other industries.

The state government has also asked the company to conduct job fairs in Shillong so that students can be provided placements in top firms after the completion of the programme. Around 2000 students will be benefited in the first phase of the programme.

According to the agreement Symantec is responsible for implementing education services in the State thereby running a training program to train about 2000 candidates in its first phase. This will help in creating employment opportunities for candidates both inside and outside the state. Symantec has partnered with ETPL (India) to compile sample profiles of graduates from different disciplines and establish skill

requirement to develop IT orientation.

Dale Smith, Senior Director of Education Services, APJ, Symantec elaborates on the details of the program.

According to her, Symantec’s program imbibes good quality orientation, superior process delivery and a keen emphasis on information availability and security on every trained student for higher job achievement. Also, by providing trained professionals to the industry the state will be able to give significant and sustained cost advantage, attributed to the wide differential in wage-costs and productivity gains achieved by firms in sourcing from Meghalaya. Another firm to have taken this attempt forward is Genpact, one of the country’s top BPO employers. Tata Consultancy Services and 24/7 Cus-

DONALD P WAHLANG COMMISSIONER & SECRETARY, HEALTH & FAMILY WELFARE, IT AND SPORTS

Could you elaborate on the present situation of skill development initiatives in Meghalaya?

Symantec and NIIT have been responsible for the skill development of the students in Meghalaya. Symantec has trained around 1941 student in various IT security related courses whereas NIIT was instrumental in training students in various courses like IT Fundamentals and Tally, Diploma in Financial Accounting, Diploma in Information Technology, and Networking. The courses offered by Symantec are almost in the final stages whereas the courses offered by NIIT are still going on. In addition, IT Department, GoM also supported DOEACC Society for conducting IT skill development

GOVERNMENT OF MEGHALAYA

What have been the challenges in the process of implementing the skill development initiatives in the state?

The challenges in implementing the Meghalaya recently signed a MoU skill development initiative in the state with Symantec for skills development have included hurdles like the mismatch in the state. Could you give us details between the course content and student expectations. Also, since the courses ofabout the programme?

It is a fact that the Government of Megha- fered are free of cost, the youth often do laya had signed an MoU with Symantec, not take it seriously. Post training placefor IT skill development programmes in ment avenues have been a challenge too. the state. As a matter of fact, the tie up also includes advisory services and resi- What are the emerging areas in IT dency programme for the first year. So that you foresee for the state? far, Symantec has conducted the trainEmerging areas in IT that have the poing programme and provided training for tential to flourish include BPOs and Soft1941 students. Besides, 531 students ware Services. BPOs can very well utilise the availability of manpower which is fluhave been certified so far.

tomer have also joined the bandwagon.

Low attrition rate, good knowledge of the English language and a sense of loyalty are the qualities that are being touted as the key factors in promoting this trend.

The north-east India is being seen as a fertile recruitment ground for IT and BPO service providers.

The hiring trend among BPO’s are reflective of this development. Firms like 24/7 Customer has hired about 150 people from north-east and east India in the last few years, while Maveric Systems, an independent testing organisation, has hired 24 students from four engineering colleges and one university there.

In order to improve the technical skills the employees, companies are also willing to invest in training requirements of the new recruits. ‘24/7 Varsity’ programme was launched in Guwahati by 24/7 Customer to educate lecturers in universities in skills required for the BPO

DALE SMITH SENIOR DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION SERVICES, APJ, SYMANTEC

ent in English, while the software services can make use of the eligible resources.

What is the importance accorded to PPP models?

Public Private Partnerships are of crucial importance in skills development initiatives. NIIT and Symantec are important collaborations for skill development.

BASIX has been appointed on a PPP mode to run CSCs in Meghalaya. Other projects, apart from IT related projects, have also been initiated on a PPP / BOOT (Build Own Operate Transfer) model in the state.

Recently, several companies have evinced interest in setting up their businesses in Meghalaya. Your comments.

With several e-Governance project initiatives on the forefront, companies are looking at investing in Meghalaya. There are several reasons for this trend. The state government has been encouraging and supporting numerous developmental projects. Also, peaceful environment has prevailed in the state during the last 10 years. Low-cost production inputs for the companies due to easily available workforce has also been a reason for the trend. Besides, these companies can easily tap the knowledge, technological aptitude, and ingenuity of this available workforce. Additionally, the state has a strategic location and easy access to other neighboring states.

“Through the successful continuation of Symantec’s training program, the government will be able to offer sustained cost competitiveness to attract IT companies to the state.

This course will help develop a better understanding of IT skill requirement in the industry”

industry. Significant investments are expected with the entry of IT and BPO firms, which will automatically result in the overall development of the region.

The latest phenomenon is of crucial importance even for the IT and the BPO

industry in the context of the industry facing a severe shortage of manpower.

Currently, the industry employs 1.6 million people. Despite this, supply of quality manpower has for long been a nemesis for the industry. \\

digital LEARNING

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PCF The Pan - Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF6)

6 th Pan Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning 2 4 t h - 2 8 t h N o v emb e r , 2 0 1 0 . H o t e l L e Me r i d i e n , K o c h i , I n d i a Access & Successin Learning: 1

2

.Social Justice

Global Development Perspectives

.Community Development

• Community based Learning and Outreach

• Access to Justice: Life, Liberty & Livelihood

3

.Skills Development

• Skills Development for National Development

• Scaling up Quality Education for All

• Open Education Resources: Models to Choose Adopt and Adapt

• Global Development Discourses; North-South Dialogues

• Education & Employment of Persons with Disabilities

• Innovative Pathways to Knowledge Society

• Regional Cooperation: Who can benefit from whom?

The Sixth Pan Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF6) will take place from 24-28 November 2010 at Le-Meridien, Cochin Resort & Convention Centre (Kochi, Kerala), India.

The theme of PCF6 is: Access and Success in Learning: Global Development Perspectives. PCF6 as an international conference will explore the contribution of open and distance learning to international development goals by opening up access to learning at every level. The Forum brings together practitioners, researchers, planners and policy makers in the fields of open and distance learning and development from over 70 countries.

It provides opportunities to share experience and expertise and to contribute to future policy and provision.

Participants will represent the main Commonwealth, Asia and international institutions and agencies active in the field, including funding bodies and technology providers.

The Commonwealth of Learning's biennial Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning has grown to become a leading international conference on learning and development. PCF6 brings the forum to India for the first time, jointly organized by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) and Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), coinciding with the completion of 25 years of IGNOU.

PCF6 PERSONALITIES

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

PROF. M.S. SWAMINATHAN HONORARY CHAIR Prof. M.S. Swaminathan is a Member of the Parliament of India (Rajya Sabha), a member of the National Advisory Council, Prime Minister's Office, Government of India and the UNESCO Chair in Ecotechnology at the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation. He has been acclaimed by the TIME magazine as one of the twenty most influential Asians of the 20th century from India after Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore.

HON STEVE MAHAREY: KEYNOTE SPEAKER (FORMAL EDUCATION)

PROF. V.N. RAJASEKHARAN PILLAI CO-CHAIR , VICE CHANCELLOR IGNOU Prof. V. N. Rajasekharan Pillai is the Vice-Chancellor of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi. He has served as Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the University Grants Commission, New Delhi and he is the former Vice-Chancellor of the Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala. He is the recipient of the prestigious Presidential Gold Medal of the Indian Science Congress from the Prime Minister of India in 2008.

PROF. P.R. RAMANUJAM PROGRAMME CHAIR, DIRECTOR, ACADEMIC PROGRAMMES COMMITTEE, PCF6 Professor P.R.Ramanujam is Professor of Distance Education and Director at the Staff Training and Research Institute of Distance Education (STRIDE) at the Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi.

.Formal Education

• Revamping Teacher Education • Open Schooling • Technologies for Scaling up ODL programmes • Quality Issues

• Assistive and Affordable Technologies

SIR JOHN DANIEL CO-CHAIR, PRESIDENT & CEO OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF LEARNING Sir John Daniel, the President of COL since 2004 after gaining wide international experience in universities and the United Nations system.

He is a former Vice-Chancellor of the Open University, UK.

4

Steve Maharey is the Vice-Chancellor of Massey University, New Zealand. He had been an honorary minister in the Government of New Zealand from 1990 until 2008.

PROF. BADRI. N. KOUL: KEYNOTE SPEAKER (SKILL DEVELOPMENT) Prof. Badri Nath Koul was a Pro-Vice Chancellor and Director at Indira Gandhi National Open University, Delhi; Coordinator/Head, UNESCO chair (educational technology) from 1999 to 2003, University of West Indies.

PROF. TAN SRI DATRUK DR. ANUWAR ALI: KEYNOTE SPEAKER (COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT) Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Anuwar Ali, an economist and exponent of higher education, is the second Vice-Chancellor and President of Open University Malaysia.

MS. CHETNA SINHA : KEYNOTE SPEAKER (SOCIAL JUSTICE) Ms. Chetna Sinha is the Founder and Chairperson of Mann Deshi Mahila Sahkari Bank, a micro finance bank which lends to women in rural areas. She has been actively empowering women in drought prone areas of rural India by inculcating entrepreneurial skills and providing them access to land and other means of production.

SIR JOHN DANIEL, CO-CHAIR, PRESIDENT & CEO OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF LEARNING Sir John Daniel, the President of COL since 2004 after gaining wide international experience in universities and the United Nations system. He is a former Vice-Chancellor of the Open University, UK.

PCF6 International Programme Committee

EXHIBITIONS STALL:

Prof. M. S. Swaminathan Honorary Chair Prof. P. R. Ramanujam Programme Chair Dr. Latha Pillai Advisor Mr. Roger Mills Von Hugel Institute, Cambridge Dr. Don Olcott Chief Executive, The Observatory of Borderless Higher Education Sir Mason Durie Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Massey University Prof. Sunday Reju National Open University of Nigeria Prof. Asha Singh Kanwar Vice President - COL Dr. S.S. Jena National Institute of Open Schooling, India Prof. Uma Kanjilal School of Social Sciences, IGNOU Prof. Ellie Chambers Professor, Institute of Educational Technology, UK Open University Mr. A D Braimoh UNESCO Chair of ODL at UNISA

In addition, there are sponsorship opportunities available for 50 exhibition stalls, @ US $ 2175 or INR 100,000 per stall of 3mx2m size at the Main Venue (i.e. Le Meridien, Kochi, Kerala), for all five days of the PCF6.

The package for this sponsorship is as follows:

Sir John Daniel | Prof. V .N. Rajasekharan Pillai Co-Chair Dr. R. Sreedher Director, Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia Mr. Himar Arjun Singh Conference Manager Mr. Brian Sayer Consultant Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development, Solomon Islands Mr. Armoogum Parsuramen Director - UNESCO Stamenka Uvalic-Trumbic Chief HED / AMQ, UNESCO Prof. Dominique Abrioux President Emeritus- Centre for Distance Educationr Prof. Dr. RIM Aminur Rashid Vice Chancellor, Bangladesh Open University Prof. Kris Murugan Professor - Tamil Nadu Open University Mr. K. Ganesan Principal Education Secretary, Govt. of Tamil Nadu Dr. Pauline Greaves Social Tranformation Prog. Div. Dr. C. G. Krishandas Nair Managing Director, Cochin International Airport Limited

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN at http://www.pcf6.net For Early Birds (30th of September, 2010) USD $ 450, Daily Fee: USD $ 200

A. Basic infrastructural facilities such as furniture, lighting facilities, etc will be provided in each stall by the Event Manager of PCF6 while the refreshments, lunch, dinner, drinks etc for the team members of the sponsorexhibitor at each stall will be borne by the concerned sponsors themselves; B. Those who are sponsoring two or more stalls will have their freedom to customize their stalls' space as per their convenience. Specific type of computers, any special equipments, etc as are required by the exhibitorsponsor will be provided by the Event Manager on hire basis; C. A directory of final sponsorexhibitors containing complete contact details and other relevant information about them will be prepared and made available to them and the participants;

PCF

D. There will be a dynamic display of sponsor-exhibitors at prominent place at the venue, and at other places as may be possible; E. Sponsor-exhibitors can use the stalls for distribution of their publicity and other promotional kits/materials.

PCF6 Secretariat:

Sixth Pan-Commonwealth Forum (PCF6) Commonwealth of Learning Indira Gandhi National Open University, Room No. 20Block 14, Maidan Garhi, New Delhi - 110068, India Tel: +91 11 29572621, Fax: +91 11 29535063 Email: pcf6@pcf6.net, Web: http://www.pcf6.net Official Conference Organizer & Travel Manager:

Conferences & Incentives Management (I) Pvt. Ltd. C1/D, First Floor, Green Park Extn., New Delhi - 110016, India Tel: +91 11 46184400, Fax: +91 11 26536086 Email: pcf6@cimindia.net, Website: www.cimindia.net

www.pcf6.net Phone: +91 29532294

pcf@pcf6.net Fax: + 91 29535063

IN CONVERSATION

MELENDY LOVETT SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, TEXAS INSTRUMENTS

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www.digitalLEARNING.in

Learning Inspired Tools www.education.ti.com

Melendy Lovett, Senior Vice President, Texas Instruments, in conversation with Dr Ravi Gupta, talks about the company’s new offering—Nspired Learning technology—that she claims can make science and mathematics learning more interactive

Could you elaborate on the objective of introducing the Nspired Learning technology in the K-12 segment?

Our objective is to use technology to provide deeper understanding of Maths and Science subjects and help students gain higher test scores. We are looking for ways that help the teacher give newer, better and diverse ways to reach more students in the classroom and enable them to progress in these subjects.

What are the products being offered

by TI? The solution that we use is Nspired Learning. It includes the teacher demonstration tool, which the teacher uses to present and conduct the class, and take review and analysis after the class.

There is also the student interface which can be the hand held Math and Science learning devices or a computer.

We have our assessment system which wirelessly connects teachers and students in the classroom and also allows teachers to get real time feedback on the understanding level of the students.

There is an excitement when the students and teachers are networked.

We have the back-and-forth document transfers during lessons, that provides a two way communication to connect to the class.

Do you think India is ready for a product like this?

I believe that the timing is very good for a product like Nspired Learning to

be implemented and that is because of the reforms that are being promoted by CBSE and policy leaders. The educational reforms aim at promoting higher order thinking and Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) of the learning process. Education already has a well respected foundation in India. With the reforms that are underway, Nspired Learning can help teachers take the theoretical knowledge of a policy change and use technology to carry forward the concept of CCE. It gives teachers a mechanism to implement CCE in classrooms and create a digital portfolio for every student in the class.

What is the USP of the product?

One of the foundation elements of Nspired Learning is the concept of multiple representations. For instance, if a mathematical problem cannot be understood in one go, the technology has the ability to link together multiple representations of a problem. Students are then able to explore and use reasoning and sense making to better learn concepts and remember them.

With the Nspired technology, students can achieve the analysis and synthesis skills necessary to help them succeed in advanced Math.

How is the academic content generated for this technology?

The smart learning platform offers lesson content as an integral part of it. Our preferred approach is to work with local content developers like Learning Links

Foundation and also with major publishers. One of the features that attract a lot of teachers is that they can take the content provided by Learning Links Foundation and customise or tailor and upgrade it according to requirements.

What is the roll out strategy of the programme?

Initially, we are focusing on CBSE and ICSE schools, with pilot projects that will be implemented in Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Mussourie. There will be ten schools where this pilot project will be implemented, lasting for a duration of one year. Part of the pilot will be a third party evaluation of how the project is meeting its goals. After the one year period, we will evaluate the results and, based on this learning, chalk out a plan for further expansion.

The reason for starting this with CBSE and ICSE schools is that there are several reforms that are underway that fits with the Nspired Learning offering. Their policy are very well aligned with our objectives. Our long term interest is in having a broader base in India.

What is the importance being given to teacher training?

We are focused on creating professional development opportunities that will leave the teachers prepared, confident and eager to get back to class with the Nspired learning technology.Learning Links Foundation is our partner in providing this professional development. \\

digital LEARNING

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ANALYSIS | IWB

A Case for Classrooms Installations will go up as IT adoption, now limited to labs in select institutions, rises in both government and private classrooms

By Pratap Vikram Singh

echnology is playing a vital role in modernising education systems.

Among other things, interactive whiteboards (IWBs) and audiovisual equipment are emerging as powerful tools in modern teaching.

Interactive whiteboards are an alternative to traditional whiteboards and flipcharts. These whiteboards can connect to digital video distribution systems in educational institutions and can also be used to interact with online shared

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annotation and drawing environments.

They offer a powerful means for integrating media elements into teaching to enhance content and support collaborative learning.

IWBs attract the attention of children.

The teaching of complex concepts can be simplified through these interactive boards. In organisations other than educational institutions, IWBs can be used during board and client meetings and for presentations. The notes written on these

boards can be saved and circulated via e-mail.

NASCENT MARKET, HEALTHY OUTLOOK Around one million interactive whiteboards are expected to be sold globally in 2010, according to a report by Futuresource Consulting of United Kingdom.

The IWB adoption continues to gather steam, with nearly 750,000 boards sold worldwide in 2009.

IWB Accessories

Worldwide IWB usage segments

Projector: It enables the display of the computer monitor to be projected onto the whiteboard. Short-throw and ultra short-throw projectors have shown more efficiency in the operation.

Track: A track allows the whiteboard to be placed in a way to provide additional wall space in the front of the room. Some tracks provide power and data as well to the whiteboard. A mobile stand is also necessary to move the whiteboard between rooms. The height should be adjustable.

Printer: A printer allows copies of the whiteboard notes to be made. A slate or tablet makes it possible for students to control the whiteboard from the room.

Personal response system: This facilitates students to answer test questions posted on the whiteboard or take part in polls and surveys. Also attached is a wireless unit through which the interactive whiteboard is connected to a computer and operates wirelessly.

Primary Education (5-11yrs) Remote control: This allows the presenter to control the board from different parts of the room and eliminates on-screen toolbars.

Higher Education (17 + yrs)

TYPES OF WHITEBOARDS

Government

Interactive whiteboards are sold in wide varieties based on the technology and the usage.

Corporate Displays

Resistive: These whiteboards are composed of two flexible sheets coated with a resistive material and separated by a micro-thin air gap. This technology allows one to use a finger, a stylus, or any other pointing device on the surface of the board.

Secondary Education (12-16 yrs).

Electromagnetic: These work on magnetic sensors that react and send a message back to the computer when they are activated by a magnetic pen. A number of wires are attached to the computer from the board. However, there are other alternative and emerging sensing technologies as well.

Optical and infrared: The whiteboard surface responds to the pressure created by the finger and marker through infrared light. This technology allows whiteboards to be made of any material, and with this system no dry-erase marker or stylus is needed.

4.7%

Embedded dot patterns: Here, the whiteboard surface has a microscopic dot pattern embedded in the writing surface where a wireless digital pen with an infrared camera reads the dot pattern to determine the exact location on the board.

Source: Futuresource Consulting Interactive Whiteboard report 2009

of schools across the world will use interactive white boards by 2011 Source: Futuresource Consulting

Capacitive: Just like the electromagnetic type, the capacitive type works with an array of wires behind the board. In this case however the wires interact with fingers touching the screen instead of an electromagnetic pen.

Laser: These whiteboards react to infrared laser beams that sweep across the whiteboard surface. The board surface is usually constructed with a hard surface like ceramic, which has long life and erases cleanly.

Ultrasonic and infrared: Here, the marker or stylus sends out both an ultrasonic sound and an infrared light to the whiteboard surface that is made of any material.

Ultrasonic only: These devices have two ultrasonic transmitters in two corners and two receivers in the other two corners. Touching with a pen or even the finger on the whiteboard causes these point waves to be suppressed, and the receivers communicate the fact to the controller.

Frustrated internal reflection: In this case, infrared light bounces within a flexible and transparent surface. Image processing software turns the light spots observed by the cameras into mouse or pointer movements.

Six out of

100

classrooms in India will have interactive white boards by 2014, up from one IWB in 200 classroom at present Source: Futuresource Consulting

digital LEARNING

OCTOBER 2010

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According to the report, while one out of every hundred classrooms had an interactive whiteboard globally in 2004, the ratio has gone up to nine per hundred at present. Futuresource expects interactive whiteboard to reach one out of every seven classrooms in the world by 2011. It is forecasted that by 2011, 4.7 percent of schools will be having these boards. Interestingly, over 75 percent of the classrooms in United Kingdom have an IWB. As per the data available for 2010, India has only one IWB in 200 classrooms. This is expected to go up to six in hundred by 2014. In 2009, overall there were 7,500 IWB in India. This year, it has grown to 16,000 and by 2011 it is expected to shoot up to 38,000. This shows a clear spur in the demand for interactive boards in the India classrooms. According to a research report by Futuresource, India provides a significant market opportunity, because of its 4.9 million classrooms spread across 1.2 million schools. Out of these, 1.6 million classrooms are in private schools, which represent a mere 19 percent of the total number of schools in the country.

GOVT VERSUS PRIVATE SCHOOLS Overall, there are almost as many private schools in India as there are government

Adoption of IWBs in private schools is faster than in government schools. In many European countries, it is the other way round

schools which have computers, however, the market is extremely fragmented with a vast disparity in the education system throughout the country. In most schools, IT equipment tends to be located in an IT lab as opposed to individual classrooms, thereby limiting the potential penetration opportunities for IWBs and projectors.

In India, the adoption of IWBs in private schools has been speedier than in government schools. However, in many other countries including UK, Italy, Spain, Australia, Russia, it is the other way round. Governments are quite serious about IWBs’ adoption and are prioritising their installations in schools and higher educational institutions.

Interactive whiteboards serve the purpose of an electronic file and allow the teacher to store notes and annotations for later distribution in both paper as well as electronic format. Companies are now

focusing on creating supplementing instructional material specifically designed for interactive whiteboards.

When it comes to non-education segments, IWB options are still somewhat limited. However, prospects of using IWB in meeting rooms, both in the government and industry sectors quite bright. So far, IWB market stakeholders seem to have taken little interest in developing IWB offerings for the non-education streams. A potential barrier for IWB market growth is that in many Indian schools, computers are used in computer labs rather than in classrooms. Since IWBs need to be connected to computers, many schools will initially be installing a single unit (for the lab). They will require more IWB units only when computers expand from the labs into the classrooms. Given this, it may be more relevant to consider IWB penetration by schools and not by classrooms in India. \\

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

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LAST DATE FOR SENDING ENTRY OCTOBER 15, 2010

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RESEARCH PAPER

Is RPL a Myth in India?

Workers with few, or no formal qualifications are most vulnerable in securing decent employment. By formally recognising workers’ skills, Recognition of Prior Learning is seen as a means of creating a level playing field in order for them to gain opportunities for further learning and to improve career prospects

By Mamta Srivastava & S S Jena

he Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) provides individuals with an opportunity to validate skills and competencies, which have not been formally recognised. The importance of recognising skills, including prior learning and previous experience, irrespective of the countries where they were acquired and whether acquired formally or informally, is also highlighted by the ILO’s Recommendation (No. 195) on Human Resources Development: Education, Training and Lifelong Learning.

The role of RPL as a means of facilitating participation in formal education and training is often highlighted. However, in India no documented studies have examined the practice of RPL in the workplace, or otherwise, despite its potential contribution as a means of enhancing employability, labour mobility and career prospects.

The need for giving emphasis on skill development, especially for the less educated, poor and out of school youth has been highlighted in various fora. The skill level and educational attainment of the work force determines the productivity, income levels as well as the adaptability of the working class in changing environment. Large percentage of population in India is living below poverty line. One of the important causes is lower percentage of skilled persons in the workforce.

Those workers who acquired skills predominantly on the job or through other activities are often disadvantaged in gaining access to formal education and training, or in securing employment which adequately reflects their skills and experience. Workers with few, or no, for-

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Open and Distance Learning need to address issues on how to standardise competencies within the broad framework of RPL for placing a comprehensive educational system

mal qualifications are most vulnerable in securing decent employment due to absence of opportunity both vertically and horizontally.

By formally recognising their skills, RPL is seen as a means of creating a level playing field in order for them to gain opportunities for further learning and to improve career prospects. Recognition of skills can contribute much to the self-es-

teem and motivation of workers. For the growing enterprises, a better recognition of workers skills is a way to overcome skills shortages and match skills demand with supply. It can also provide an opportunity to improve the overall skill level and work performance of an industry.

In India, skill development at present is taking place mostly in the informal way, i.e. persons acquire skill at the work-

place when they help their parents, relatives and employers etc. and such skills get transferred from one generation to another.

However, as been observed often, such persons do not have a formal certificate and thus earn lower wages and are exploited mostly by their employers.

They have come through informal system due to socio-economic circumstances of the family and the compulsions of earning a livelihood rather than attending a formal course. While their productivity is low, their contribution to the national GDP cannot be ignored.

It is in this context that there is a growing demand to create a system of certification, which not only recognises their skills but also provides education and training in a mode that suits their economic compulsions. It will not only benefit the workforce to earn a decent living but also contribute to the national economy by better productivity of this workforce.

WHAT OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING SHOULD DO? The ODL need to address issues on how to standardise the competencies within the broad framework of RPL for placing a comprehensive educational system, a clearly defined qualifications framework linked to occupational standards, and a sufficient resource capacity to administer the system and ensure quality. For this, the system needs to draw emphasis on several aspects.

These include an established framework of credit, qualifications and/or occupational standards and awareness among employers, practitioners and candidates. Autonomy for providers to develop their own system according to target group, needs and resources are also to be looked into.

Rigorous assessment processes to ensure quality and clear, jargon-free information to the learner is also required.

Sufficient resources and investment in the skills of practitioners and assessors will be required to administer the system.

There is a need for recognition of, and investment in, skills needed by applicants to access an RPL process.

The major concern in the context is the absence of a well laid down Vocational Qualification Framework in India and how the competencies and the skills be graded. The question of equivalency also needs to be addressed. Awareness among employers is another issue, which needs to be addressed consistently.

THE CHALLENGES As has been observed, majority of the workforce are in unorganised sectors in India and those are the workforce that possess skills required for a particular job.

Hence, there is a huge challenge in identifying where skills exist, communicating to potential candidates, and administering the process, is immense, including low levels of literacy and numeracy among potential candidates. Also, RPL is expensive (as mentioned in documents of other countries), yet should be less expensive than training. In developed countries, RPL has tended to incur costs for learners. Cost could be reduced by streamlining processes, using online support, and workshops for candidates There have to be clear indications of who is required to pay for what, and when. A nominal charge may help adult learners value the process. In many countries, outcomes are linked to occupational standards rather than curricular structures, leading to a lack of connec-

tivity with further education and a mindset that a certificate of recognition is an end rather than a means to further development. Developing a critical linkage between the practitioners and the trainers in the context of the RPL is required.

Record keeping and its updation is the real challenge for the certification. Establishing relationship with the skills and requirement in certification in a graded system and establishing the relationships between RPL, and regular assessment process, within a broad, flexible framework for assessment are the other areas of concern.

Qualifications are regulated because the public - learners, employers and others who use qualifications - want qualifications that are appropriate, of high quality, valued and respected by others in the community and understood by those who take them and use them. Can RPL fit into this framework of traditionally defining the qualification framework needs to be seen in the context. \\

DR S S JENA

DR MAMTA SRIVASTAVA

Chairman, National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS)

Deputy Director, Vocational Education Department, National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS)

digital LEARNING

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35

CASE STUDY

www.aisect.org

AISECT, a Bhopal-based organisation, which offers ICT education, training and services to semi-urban and rural India. Through a network of over 8,000 centres spread across 4069 cities of India, the company aims to empower people and generate sustained employment for youth across the country

By Santosh Choubey

he NSS 61st Round results show that among persons of age 15– 29 years, only about 2% have received formal vocational training and another 8% have received nonformal vocational training. This proportion of trained youth is one of the lowest in the world. The corresponding figures for industrialised countries are much higher, varying between 60% and 96% of the youth in the age group of 20–24 years.

Although this gap was always present in our country, the rapid growth of services sector and more recently the renewed thrust on manufacturing sector has suddenly brought the shortage of skilled manpower and hence vocational education infrastructure in our country to the forefront.

Realising that skills and knowledge are the driving forces of economic growth and social development for any country, the government has taken the initiative of launching skill development as a national mission. At present the capacity of skill development in India is around 3.1 million persons per year.

It is heartening to see the sudden interest that the skill development and capacity building arena is receiving from all quarters. This only shows that the task that AISECT took up 25 years ago, despite the amount of skepticism that our business model received initially, was not in vain. Since 1985, we have been promoting ICT based training and services in semi-urban and rural India to empower people, generate employment for the youth and unfold entrepreneurship based initiatives thus bridging the digital divide

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AISECT’S TARGET MARKET SEGMENTS

Major Cities: 60

Good Power, Trained HR Better Connectivity, Convergent Technology,

District :600

Blocks: 5,550

AISECT points of intervention Poor Power,

Panchayats: 2,00,000

Unskilled HR, Unreliable Connectivity

Villages: 7,00,000

Non Convergent Technology, Language and Gender divide

and creating an inclusive society.

The journey began in the mid eighties at a time when Information Technology was becoming a powerful technological tool in urban India, having the potential to change people’s lives altogether. However, 80% of India’s population living in the rural areas was oblivious to this progress and advancement. Thus, AISECT took up the task of designing an appropriate model for rural ICT intervention; a model that would reflect the demand side of communities rather than the supply push perspective of ICT providers; a model which does not depend too heavily on

Government or donor support but can survive on its own.

Initially, we started the mission of spreading IT awareness in schools of small towns and villages of Madhya Pradesh. However, when requests from the local community started pouring in, it was decided to take our initiative to the next level and therefore Computer and IT classes for all, irrespective of age and gender, were instituted by AISECT. The organization was moved beyond schools and AISECT Centers were established at strategic locations in various towns and bigger villages of Madhya Pradesh. Grad-

GROWTH IN NUMBER OF CENTERS AND STUDENTS BETWEEN 2006-07AND 2008-09

Number of Centres

8000 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0

Number of Students

7000 82,000

100000 80000 3609

50,636

60000

2857

40000

32,345

20000 2006-07

2007-08

ually, the network started growing and today there are over 8000 AISECT Centers across 4069 cities of the country. What fuels our network is that we cater to the huge demand of informal employment in the organized sector of IT and ITeS, something which National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) also points out as a huge gap area. In addition to the 2.3 million people who are directly employed in the ITeS sector (organised employment in an organised sector); there are scores of computer literates which are required in District Govt. offices, petrol pumps, bank branches in semi-urban areas, various showrooms and other retail establishments, a demand that AISECT has been addressing for many years now.

Traditionally, we selected our target market segments in semi-urban and rural India, as this was a huge but largely fragmented segment still waiting to be tapped, owing to poor support conditions. With metros witnessing the proliferation of IT training organizations, the segment of youth living in Tier two and three cities, district and block level places still had no quality training provider, a gap which AISECT filled in successfully.

Consequently, AISECT today is virtually the strongest national level player in this business of training across semi-urban and rural India, covering District, Block and Panchayat level places. We have till date trained over 1 million students across the country through a host of skill enhancement programs and generated over 10,000 entrepreneurs through AISECT’s widespread network.

The AISECT model became a World Bank-IIM (A) Case Study in 1999 wherein it was listed as the only sustainable and scalable model for ICT penetration across semi-urban and rural India.

AISECT’s unique value proposition arises from the breadth of its offerings. Through

2008-09

0

2006-07

various Academies, the organization provides a host of university certified Undergraduate, Post Graduate, Certificate and Diploma courses in the areas of IT & ITeS, Hardware and Networking, Banking, Finance, Insurance, Rural Management and much more. Its various academies include AISECT Academy for IT and Management, AISECT Academy for Hardware and Networking, AISECT Academy for Livelihood and Vocational Training, AISECT Academy for Arts, Science and Commerce, AISECT Academy for Insurance, Banking and Finance and AISECT Academy for Rural Management.

The MoU that we signed last year with IGNOU is the first of its kind and makes AISECT’s range of programs unparalleled in the country today. Now all the AISECT Courses are available with an added advantage of IGNOU Certification as well.

Besides, ‘Multi-Purposeness of an IT Training Centre’ is a concept which has been pioneered by AISECT in this country and has been our core differentiator. We have always believed that the infrastructure created by an entrepreneur for training of students can also be leveraged for delivering services to an audience larger than just the student community. Hence, the AISECT Centers also deliver qualitative and timely services including data processing and data entry, exam form downloading and results viewing, selling of insurance policies and collection of premiums, selling of recharge vouchers for telecom and DTH, ticket booking for railways among others.

AISECT’s mission is to reach out to the remotest corner of India and promote ICT based training and services to empower people and generate employment for the youth. AISECT is now also looking forward to increase its presence in the Metros, with its unique bouquet of educational products.

2007-08

2008-09

To further improve upon the learning experience delivered through our centres, we have developed our own Learning Management System (LMS) called AISECT Online, which will be launched very soon.

AISECT Online is the latest in series of technology-enabled innovations which AISECT has been implementing in the field of Education and Training for past 25 years. AISECT Online is a new-age LMS that will take full advantage of modern technology in further improving the quality of training for students and administrative processes for our learning centres, thus delivering a rich learning experience to our students. AISECT Online will empower students with anywhere, anytime access and foster a collaborative and interactive approach to learning. The biggest advantage of AISECT Online would be that it will bring all stakeholders of the vast AISECT community on one platform and develop a sense of togetherness amongst them.

Over the next five years we plan to take the number of centers to 15,000. Through a carefully worked out plan, we have identified the centre opening potentials of each of the 600 districts of India and plan to implement this over the next couple of years. Our research has revealed that other developing countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Vietnam Nepal and Myanmar also exhibit similar consumer needs and these markets would also become our focus in times to come. \\

ABOUT AUTHOR

Santosh Choubey

The author is Chairman & Managing Director, AISECT Ltd.

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SCHOOL TRACK

Technology @ British School www.british-school.org

digitalLEARNING brings to you a peek-view of The British School. It is an international school which is based on the National Curriculum Of England, with suitable adaptations, to take into account the location in New Delhi. It has approximately 650 students on roll and currently has 58 nationalities. Its a diverse cultural mix with the truly international flavour

By Yukti Pahwa & Sheena Joseph

he British School, New Delhi, was founded in 1963.

It is a not-for-profit day school with an international student population of about 60 nationalities, with around 640 students enrolled in classes from nursery to year 13. The school offer’s a unique teacher to student ration of 1:6 and holds professional affiliations with the cambridge International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO) and is an accredited member of Council of International Schools.

It has a fully wireless campus, has on-line research databases, facilities for teachers to plan activites online and has virtual learning environment.

The school facilitates international education by enabling students from Delhi who have a clear vision or who may think of opting places like UK , USA and Canada for their higher studies, through their course and curriculum.

It also has runs the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme that includes a period of industry training. The objective is to help the students with soft skills that go a lon way in their careers, as also help student prepare for the real world challenges. This has been done due to the fact that at this age children have the widest grasping mind and intellect power. This programme runs for the final two years of a student’s secondary education.

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Intercultural Schooling with a Difference! forming an inclusive society through the education system we follow.

GRAHAM RANGER DIRECTOR, THE BRITISH SCHOOL

In conversation with, Graham Ranger, Director of The British School, New Delhi. There he teaches on the IB Diploma Programme. He has been heading the school since July 07. From 2002-07 he was one of Her Majesty’s Inspector’s of Schools, in England, with national responsibility for helping to improve some of the most dysfunctional schools in inner city areas. Here is what he had to say about the school: What are the measures taken by the school to provide international education with Indian soul?

We do not set out to be an Indian school.

We do not follow ICSE or CBSE. We set out to follow overseas curriculum and 90% of our teaching staff is Indian. The aim to have such a large percentage of teachers is to be able to imbue Indian culture amongst its students. We have students of about 60 different nationalities in our school. We work towards

Kindly elaborate on the teachinglearning and other activities at school.

Our school is a reservoir of privilege. Our teacher student ration is 1:6. What is offered here, as compared to some other schools, is learning with technology.

Technology has played an important part in changing the role of a teacher in the present day scenario, in terms of making teaching learning process interactive and having group based learning.

We encourage students to participate in their education, speak and evaluate their education.

I do not want students to come to school, sit silently throughout the day and absorb wisdom, which is a very outdated traditional method. We are an accredited school by Council of International Schools. There are many schools who are members with CIS but only five schools are accredited by CIS and we proudly, are one of them.

What are the challenges and opportunities that ICT brings to education in your school?

The challenge for teachers is the role change/ cultural change, not being the only source of information students can access, which was the case earlier. Secondly, to keep up technologically with students, especially, on what the students do with it in their leisure time. If we do not use the technology as well as the students, then I think we are letting them down.

One downside is the amount of control you have to bring in, in form of filters and checks. Talking about opportunities, we have a fully wireless environment; children can bring their laptops and access any information anywhere.

We have Promethean interactive whiteboards in every classroom and there is a time to time training for the teachers to

make them adept with the technology being used so that they are at ease while using the same with students. For teachers, one of the benefits is that they are using IT now, they are using software where system track the progress of the students and reduce the menial administrative work required of teachers. We also have intranet facility for parents and students, to cut down on emailing. So, all students can just access the website and get all updates. We are, also at present, trailing with Moodle, which is an online virtual learning environment/ platform with primary and secondary students.

What are the efforts taken by your school to enhance the capacity building amongst teachers?

Everybody gets a full induction of all the technology available at the school. We invest a high percentage of our budget into training the teachers, that is, six percent.

This is because we have to have internationally competitive staff and we have to give them exposure to the technology being used across other international school.

Does the school hold any collaborations? What do you opine about PPP in school education system?

We have collaborations with a lot of corporate houses, in order to provide students who are about to graduate with work experience. The students are also later, additionally, put through CRS units of corporate houses to get a week of experience with NGOs and social work. We have membership with Round Square.

About PPP, it is a good model for schools but only when much needed invest comes from private players but at the same time accountability is maintained through public aspect of the partnership. It becomes a topic of concern when it leads to springing up of school like mushrooms, especially with respect to the quality of education it brings along. \\

digital LEARNING

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COMMENTARY

Giving Life Another Chance How the USAID supported programme, Ek Mauka, is providing basic livelihood and employability skills to out-of-school deprived youth

By Sourav Banerjee

I

f India is to realise its vision of being a world leader, it has to empower its burgeoning youth population by providing them with relevant education and skills. Currently, the lack of quality and relevance in the education system results in most of the children leaving school before they complete their basic education. Those who complete their education often lack basic skills, like communication, critical thinking, and life skills that can help them find employment opportunities once they are out of school.

It is estimated that only 25% of technical graduates and 10 to 15% of general graduates have the necessary skills for immediate employment. Access to vocational training is also limited, with only 2% youth receiving formal and 8% receiving informal skills training.

This shortage of knowledge and skills has resulted in a workforce that does not meet the demands of the current and future job market that largely caters to a globalised economy. This in turn has led to an increase in the number of unemployed youth despite steady economic growth. Of those who are employed, a large proportion is underemployed with jobs that are not commensurate with their educational qualifications. The continued exclusion and disillusionment of these young people may prove costly for India in terms of social stability. Uneducated and unskilled youth tend to become socially marginalised; the resultant boredom and idleness can be significant drivers of violent extremism among such youth.

The government, civil society, and the private sector are all aware of the extent of this challenge. However, a holistic, coordinated effort to address this challenge has been lacking. Over the past few years, both the government and the private sector have made significant invest-

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Ek Mouka -IT training for disadvantaged youth

ments in this sector. The government has launched new programs and expanded existing schemes. However, the quality of the various government programmes is not consistent and significant gaps remain, including; poor linkages with emerging industries and the current job market; weak monitoring; and outdated pedagogy. The majority of these programmes do not assure job placement.

Therefore, their credibility is low among potential students. Private sector efforts, on the other hand, mainly cater to betteroff students and therefore are limited in their reach.

Given these gaps in skill development, a number of NGOs, funded by donor organisations and private foundations, have launched skill development initiatives for the poor and disadvantaged. Many of these programmes have been very successful, having placed a number of dis-

advantaged youth in new economy jobs.

As the courses offered are short term and flexible and have no access barriers, they are also popular with students.

The USAID supported Ek Mouka programme provides basic life and employability skills to deprived out-of-school youth. Implemented by the CAP Foundation, a Hyderabad based NGO, the programme provides training to youth, aged 18-25, in market-oriented skills, such as computer usage, spoken English, communications, and customer relations to make them more employable.

Poor and marginally educated youth are mobilised, provided training in the skills sought by industry, and then linked to jobs. The programme is designed in close collaboration with the private sector and fulfills their need for trained manpower. Apart from providing financial resources and sharing training costs, the

private sector is also engaged in market surveys, curriculum development, classroom lectures, training, and placement.

Partnerships have also been established with government and non-government organisations for supporting scale-up, implementation, technical cooperation, and resource mobilisation.

Over the past four years, Ek Mouka has provided training to over 100,000 youth across 15 states, with a placement rate of over 70%. The placement figure does not include a number of graduates opted to pursue further education instead of employment as a result of the programme. The average entry level salary of the graduates is ` 3500 per month and, in most cases, this has made a significant difference to the lives and families of these poor youth. The quality of the training has been ensured through a dynamic curriculum, digitised content, frequent training of trainers, regular assessments, and close monitoring, including tracking of students post placement. The entire process, from mobilisation to final job placement, was standardised and internationally certified (ISO 9001:2008).

Some of the key lessons learned from the implementation of this programme include: • At every stage, close engagement of the industry is critical to the success of any skill development programme; • The curriculum needs to be dynamic and flexible and must reflect the demands of local industry; • Students need to be multi-skilled, particularly for entry-level jobs.

Training them in specific technical skills limits their career path; • Life skills, including workplace readiness skills, are a key component of any skill; development/vocational training intervention, especially if its target group is poor and disadvantaged youth; • The trainers are a key link in the entire process. Adequate investment must be made to build their capacity; having trainers from the same community as the trainees help; • Use of technology for delivering content, as well as for assessment and monitoring helps ensure quality in large scale programmes; • Linking training to placement ensures accountability of the service provider; • Education and skill development needs to be seen as a continuum.

Ek Mouka graduate placed in a retail outlet

Ek Mouka has provided training to over 100,000 youth across 15 states, with a placement rate of over 70%

Skill development programmes should emphasise the importance of education in a career.

Through another initiative called Skills for Youth (SkY), USAID is attempting to use some of these lessons to strengthen current government programmes and policies on skill development. A holistic approach to skill development will need to have the following essential components: 1. Improved quality of the secondary and higher secondary education systems, with an emphasis on critical thinking, communication, teamwork and strong career counseling.

At the end of high school, students should be able to make a conscious decision on whether they will pursue higher education or vocational education; 2. Improved quality of vocational training programmes. Programmes should be closely linked to the industry; provide strong life skills/ workplace readiness skills; and be linked to job placement. While there could be a broad curricular framework at the national level, service providers should have the flexibility

3.

4.

to adapt this framework to local industry demands; An integrated vocational education and higher education system. Students should be able to carry over credits from vocational courses to a university degree course; A parallel “second chance” system for those who have not been to school or dropped out of school early. This system should have provisions for lateral entry into the education system. Given the Right to Education and the government’s emphasis on universal elementary education, such a parallel system should not be required in the long term. \\

SOURAV BANERJEE

Senior Specialist – Education and Skill Development, United States Agency for International Development (USAID India).

digital LEARNING

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INTERVIEW

Teaching Tools for Student Engagement www.mimio.dymo.com

Mimio began in 1997 with a singular philosophy: to make learning more engaging for students. Yukti Pahwa and Sheena Joseph, in conversation with Jaemes Shanley, find out more about their interactive teaching technologies and what it takes to integrate them to the Indian classrooms

systems, white boards and document cameras or data visualisers.

DIRECTOR OF SALES, LATIN AMERICA & INDIAN SUBCONTINENT, MIMIO

How is the technology expected to benefit teachers in India?

All three of the technologies - the student response systems, white boards and document cameras - are being used in significant numbers in classrooms across North America. One of the challenges that was observed, for teachers, was that it becomes a difficult and complicated process to integrate independent systems while teaching, all of them being controlled by different softwares. The Mimio Classroom Suite is an integrated and easy-to-use suite of interactive teaching tools and services tailored specifically for the Indian educators. It allows the interactive whiteboard devices, student assessment systems, document cameras, accessories and software to seamlessly work together or on their own.

Mimio has recently introduced the new Mimio Classroom Product Suite. Could you tell us more about it?

We have introduced a new product which is a completely revamped whiteboard system. The new Mimio Classroom Product Suite is based on the feedback, experience and knowledge gained from interacting and observing more than three lakh classrooms globally, thereby resulting in better refinements in the design and, most importantly, integration of several technologies into one comprehensive system. This includes the student response

What are the differences that you have observed in terms of technological integration in India and abroad?

According to me, the differences that exist are reflective more of the differences among teachers in terms of their positioning in the technology fluency curve. This implies that on a scale of 1-10 (where 1 signifies total ignorance and 10 represents expert in usage of technology), we will find teachers who populate the entire scale.

Although, it can be visibly observed that, the percentage of teachers from North America or Britain populating the higher end of the scale will be more than the teachers from other parts of the world.

JAEMES SHANLY

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Countries like USA are more in the evolutionary stage of technological integration, while in India the trend is more of a transformation.

Could you tell us about the partnerships that Mimio has entered into with other companies in India?

With our tie-up with Educomp Smart Class, Mimio now has over 30,000 classes in India. Smart class is a comprehensive system in terms of content, teacher training and technology usage in classrooms. ICT is a very dynamic industry, with a lot going on in this field. We need to be careful so as to not make ICT a tidal wave which inundates and overwhelms everyone. In India we find a lot of elements which are extra ordinary, be it in terms of the incredible quality of digital content, interactive software and systems like smart class, which have managed to transform classrooms in India from being abysmally equipped to being technologically sound.

How are the Mimio interactive teaching technologies different from other products in the market?

Two significant aspects which can differentiate Mimio from others are, firstly, our approach to whiteboards - which is to bring technology to the board rather than build technology into the whiteboard. This has a host of positive implications in terms of costs, transportation, implementation, installation, and after service support. In a market size like that of India, all these factors are really important. But it also has to be made easy to use. Document cameras are an important transitional technology

ICT is a very dynamic industry, with a lot going on in this field. We need to be careful so as to not make ICT a tidal wave which inundates and overwhelms everyone

as it allows the teacher to pull anything from the analog world into the digital content and be able to use them more broadly and flexibly. We also invented a system where the teacher handsets automatically renumber themselves when returned to the recharging tray- a convenient and time saving feature for both teachers and students. When stored in a tray, handsets recharge automatically, so there’s no need to deal with the hassle or expense of replacement of batteries.

The most powerful aspect of this technology is that the teacher can assess the student learning and understanding of the class. It allows the teacher to constantly

get feedback and then look at those results and find out who has not understood. There has been a lot of research into learning styles and not everyone learns in the same way. One of the advantages of ICT is that it allows teachers to present content in different ways and lessons can be structured accordingly.

What is the role of Mimio in creating content and curriculum standards?

Every country has its own curriculum standards and objectives, and there can be certain commonality of design. We have done some work in the US, and are looking at the discipline and structure of

measurable and observable learning outcomes based on curriculum standards.

We are hoping that over time we can extend this globally and contribute to healthy educators and link educative interactive technology with curriculum standards.

We have our software application and a content gallery, but most of it has been influenced by the requirement standards of North America- which is our largest market. We also have a web portal, with more than 40,000 members worldwide, where teachers can share, upload and download content. Over time we seek to move towards a more neutral content, which can then be universally used. \\

THE PRODUCT DYMO/MIMIO INTERACTIVE TEACHING TECHNOLOGIES LAUNCHES NEW MIMIOCLASSROOM PRODUCT SUITE Provide real-time assessment with easy, flexible test creation options.

Inspired by teachers and students, the MimioVote student assessment system is the easiest, most accurate way for teachers to assess student comprehension. The rechargeable MimioVote system provides real-time assessment and flexible testing options. Newly designed MimioStudio software and intelligent illuminated response buttons eliminate student error – making assessment, test taking, grading and analysis much easier and more time efficient for both teachers and students. Tests can be created with custom or standardized content, and results gathered in real time.

The MimioTeach assessment system allows for teacher-led and self-passed assessments. The MimioStudio software automatically configures and illuminates only the appropriate responses. Unlike conventional assessment systems the MimioTeach handsets automatically renumber themselves when returned to the recharging tray – a convenient and time saving feature for both teachers and students. The MimioHub wireless receiver integrates automatically with MimioVote, allowing the system to send data instantly to the computer.

Instantly share and annotate live video and images of multi-dimensional and flat documents.

The model of simplicity, MimioView is the most integrated and easy to use document camera available on the market.

The MimioView camera allows teachers to capture and instantly share live video and images of dimensional objects and flat documents for easy display, annotation and manipulation. The compact design of MimioView is roughly the size of a tissue box and features a single mini USB cable, one-button activation, autofocus and lighting correction, saving teachers valuable set up and classroom time. The MimioView camera easily integrates with the MimioTeach and MimioVote systems through the universal MimioStudio software. Users will find useful editing and storage features such as copy, cut, freeze, highlight, rotate, save and live video markup as well as the ability to drag and drop images and video into lessons and tests.

DIGITAL LEARNING

OCTOBER 2010

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EVENT

ASEA 2010

Strengthening STEM Capabilities The four-day conference saw experts from 13 Asian countries brainstorm on ways to improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education in the region

By Rajeshree Dutta Kumar

odern society has evolved progressively into a more complex environment, propelled by technological innovations upsurge and the access to knowledge. To thrive in a knowledge economy and to meaningfully contribute to society, students must possess a broad range of cognitive skills such as critical thinking, effective communication and collaboration, problem solving skills and technological literacy. One way to develop these skills is through an effective science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education.

Considering the vastness and wide differences of education systems in Asia, and with all the challenges it faces, the first Asia Science Educator Academy (ASEA2010) was organised from August 3 to 6, 2010 in Seoul and Daejeon (Daejeon is one of 16 provinces in Korea). The initiative was aimed at addressing the need for a sustainable and collaborative initiative for capacity building in STEM education especially in the areas of policy development, curriculum, research, professional development, and science fair management.

ASEA2010 was co-organised by Korea Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Creativity (KOFAC), National Science Museum of Korea (NSM-K) and Intel Asia with financial support from Intel Foundation.

It sought to bring together key education stakeholders from 12 Asian countries to discuss the essential issues and concerns affecting STEM education in

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ASEA2010 participants from 13 countries at the Summit

the region. The aim was to understand the state of STEM education in the region and the methods being employed to prepare the next generation of leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators. The participating countries included China, Indonesia, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

The ASEA 2010 brought together governments, academics, curriculum planners and science professionals to develop a sustainable and collaborative action plan, discuss issues, share best practices, create networks, build partnerships to support the overall development of STEM education in Asia.

The four day summit began with a welcome note by Lee Sup SIN, Director, Department of Science and Culture, Korea Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Creativity, (KOFAC). He urged all the participants to combine the

participating organisations’ expertise into a shared vision to form the basis for a common regional endeavor towards developing STEM education.

The day one began with the welcome

by KOFAC President Dr Yoon Chung, followed by an introductory note by Ashutosh Chadha, Strategic Education Director at Intel Asia Pacific. Ashutosh shared the vision and the role of his organisation in driving the capacity building of the educators by providing technology literacy and life skills programmes. He also shared with the audience that Intel is committed to provide support to informal or formal education settings in governments and NGOs and any other partner, who manage local implementation.

DAY I: CHARTING FUTURE COURSE The day one of the conference saw the participants focus on “Charting the Fu-

ture for Systemic Change: Formulating National Master and Development Plans”. The day began with the special speech by Prof Yves Quéré, French Academy of Science, France on Nurturing science literacy and promoting science communications. He focused on building an eco system enabling science literacy amongst the students.

The session witnessed presentations of the distinguished panelists. Dr SookKyoung Cho discussed on the innovative ways of science communication and STEM education practices in Korea and also emphasised on the need for a discussion forum to share the best practices across the Asian countries.

SUN Mengxin, Deputy Director General, China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), China spoke on the various policies and measures undertaken in China towards science education and communication. Dr Cesar Saloma, Dean, College of Science, University of the Philippines highlighted the measures of scientific productivity and current performance and trends in the country. He also made an exemplary case for best practices. HO Vinh Thang, Secondary School Department Officer, Ministry of Education and Training, Vietnam made his presentation on Science Talent Student Development Plan—a Government of a Vietnam development plan for students.

DAY II: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR STEM EDUCATORS Initiating the day two proceeding focused at “Professional Development for STEM Educators” Prof. Masataka Watanabe, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Japan shared his country experience on the knowhow of nurturing science literacy and promoting science communication amongst the school students.

Peaking on the subject, Dr Mee Young CHOI, Programme Specialist, Education for Sustainable Development at UNESCO Jakarta Office emphasised on the importance of education as an instrument to bring about change. He focused on the various strategies and future directions to be undertaken for low carbon and green growth by educating the students and empowering them with a life skill.

The Day II discussions started off with the presentation by Dr Ester Ogena, Director, Science Education Institute, Philippines on professional development of science and mathematics teachers and

China delegates from ASEA2010 participating in Action Planning

educators in Philippines. Dr Anup K Rajput, Head Media Resource Central Institute of Educational Technology, India highlighted the need for professional development of STEM educators. Dr Jen-Chung Chuan, Professor, National Tsing Hua University and Head Judge of Taiwan ISEF spoke on professional development for STEM educators with special reference to the ‘Joy of the Math Project’ undertaken in Taiwan. Hongmei MA, Senior Programme Officer, Beijing Student Administration Center spoke about the various innovative practices and reflected on the nuances of bilingual Science education. The concluding presentation was by Prof Liu Yingjian, Beijing Normal University whose discussion was broadly based on the science activities undertaken to inspiring kids at the elementary level in Beijing.

DAY III: FOSTERING INNOVATIVE PARTNERSHIP With the day three focusing on “Innovative Science Fair Implementation Models”, including the Public-Private Partnership model, Prof Carole MP Neves, Director, Office of Policy and Analysis at Smithsonian Institution initiated the discussion through his special speech on the science education model at his institution.

Sharon B Snyder, Manager of International Fairs at Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF), Society for Science and the Public (SSP) set the context of the session through her presentation that highlighted the role of in-

novation in science education. Marianna Fung, National Taiwan Science Education Center, Taiwan talked about the various implementing models to develop and support youth’s creativity in science and technology in Taiwan.

The day also saw Dr Kwan Sitathani, Deputy Executive Director, National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC) of Thailand present a case study on nourishing the innovative capability in high school students. Dr Syed Azhar HASAN, Director General, Pakistan Museum of Natural History Islamabad and Chairman, Science Review Committee (SRC) Intel National Science Fair, Pakistan echoed the need for enhancing change through research in Science education. Shweta Khurana, Intel India, shared the experience of Building IRIS India, which is an initiative for research and innovation in Science.

DAY IV: GETTING COUNTRY PLAN READY While the conference saw the setting up of ASEA Steering Committee as the core driver of sustaining and moving ASEA2010 to the next level, a decision was also taken to foster international collaborations to promote science education in the region.

The conference concluded with the decision that the forum would work towards creating an action plan to support capacity building and creating a guiding framework to implement programmes and projects towards enhancing STEM education in Asia. \\

digital LEARNING

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MY JOURNEY

Nothing is Impossible “Nothing is impossible” if you dare to dream and take feasible extraordinary actions towards achieving your dreams.

In 1981, I was shifted from our home town Bhiwani to Delhi after completing four years of schooling and enrolled in a public school in Kalkaji. The school was having infrastructure till 7th standard and was offering further education at other campus which was quite far. That made me to shift from this school to a government school in CR Park for my further education.

Ravinder Goyal Director IACM SmartLearn Ltd

I scored 73.3% in board exams and left with little option to choose second rank colleges or to go to South side for an engineering course. My family decided and opted for the first one, and I enrolled for BSc-Maths in Deshbandhu College, where I felt that it is just for the sake of a degree for which students are enrolled without any specific interest in studies. Partying and missing classes was not my cup of tea. So I didn’t appear for first year exams and dropped out.

In between, after my 12th exams were over, I was sitting with my father in his office, when one of his friends, Col RG Malhotra, owner of ICS, a computer training company, just dropped in. When he asked me what I was doing after 12th, I just said “nothing” and also that I was not happy with the college life. He just told my father that he was taking me and will get me enrolled at the main training center of ICS for a two years course. Without any further discussion, I just followed him and enrolled for a computer course.

That’s was my first exposure to computers way back in 1989. Over a period of next five to six months, I felt that’s exactly what I was looking for. During these years, I kept running a small showroom of electronic goods, as my love for electronics was not completely over. During the last months of course with ICS, I decided to change from electronics to computer training and started ICT – ‘Institute of Computer Technology’ with just four PC XT 8088 machines with 640KN RAM. I remember my vendor’s words, he said “drive carefully, don’t jerk too much”. So I, with my brother, Rajesh Goyal, drove back home the PC like carrying a pregnant woman in the car. I would like to mention here that my borther and my father OP Goyal have been a source of constant moral support and have always stood by me in whatever decisions I have taken throughout my career.

The first team at ICT was me, my brother, my friend from ICS, a teacher of my brother, who joined us on part time basis. That’s how I started my journey back in 1992 in a computer training era and still travelling.

Apart from this I would like to sincerely mention here the names of Dr OP Sharam, Pradeep Chaturvedi and Dr Janardan Jha, who have been my mentors and have always extended their full guidance and support whenever it was needed. During first five years, I explored software development, computer sales and even planned to setup a manufacturing assembly line for which I visited Taiwan back in 1994. Due to little exposure and lack of resources, our growth was quite slow, but I started dreaming about having a nation-wide training company. My first task was to brand it. I closed down all the software development and sales business and remained idle for almost one year around my marriage in 1996. With a go getter attitude, I never allowed myself to drown in the lake of failures and closures.

In the month of October 1997, two major events happened in my life. I became father and I had the name

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of my new training company IACM. While building the foundation of IACM, I realised that there were no courses available mapped to various international certification. The available courses, were heavily priced and were affordable to only Sec A+/A society. Tier II and Tier III city students were left only with courses leading to small employment opportunities.

In 1997, I founded IACM, with a mission to map all the courses to respective international certifications offered by companies like Microsoft, Cisco, Novell and CompTIA. IACM became the first company to announce the international certifications in combo packages at affordable price; almost one third of the fee charged by companies like NIIT, APTECH and TULEC. In turn making it affordable to students from Tier I and II cities. And the rest is history. During this period we opened or first franchise outlet in Delhi and few more in Delhi NCR region during 1999-2001 period. We were just in the midst of becoming stable, suddenly the industry nose crashed amidst of Internet bubble burst and fraudulent activities of two-three major training companies cropped in last one to two years. The industry from 2400 crores settled down to 900 crores. Majority of the companies seen advertising full page in leading dailies, disappeared overnight. This was a blessing in disguise.

I took this as an opportunity to position IACM. When the industry was gasping, I planned to release our first half page advertisement in TOI on back page. In 2001, we started developing IACM courseware and managed to bring down the fees further; making it more affordable to less privileged sections of the society.

To address the need of teaching non-science undergraduate students from different parts of northern India, fueled the need of working on teaching methodology to deliver more in less time.

So, I designed the SMART Learning teaching methodology, in which I focused on learner’s participation and making the classroom sessions more interactive; from teaching to explanation. IACM became the only training company in India to win the most coveted National Golden Peacock Innovative Product/Services Award in 2002 for its SMART Learning teaching methodology.

Basically the tie-up with Manipal IT education in 2002 to develop the PG and Advanced Diploma courses in Hardware and Networking under Sikkim Manipal University and training of the trainers across 150+ centers in 11 cities across brought the confidence to start IACM franchise expansion. I also attended and certified myself on various certifications like MCSE, MCDBA, MCDST and CCNA during 2000-01 to gain deeper understanding of the certification requirements. In 2003, I was awarded with “Gem of India” award in recognition of outstanding services to society and excellence in education sector and also delivered a talk during 13th World Congress on Total Quality organised by Institute of Directors in Mumbai. In the course of progressions, I developed various sessions for training and developing the team and the business partners on selling, operations, leadership and HR. In 2003, seeing increasing volumes of students opting for IACM’s training, I considered the use of technology in operations and started working on on-line management systems. I completed my graduation in management through distance education mode around this time. Today, IACM is almost working on a paper-less office concept and have build-up various portal for its day-to-day operations: cconnectnew.iacm-india.com (for centre operation); econnect.iacm-india.com (for students); placement.iacm-india.com (for recruiters); vijayeebhavo.iacm-india.com (for scholarship); faculty.iacm-india.com (for faculty testing); skillcertification. iacm-india.com; and (for assisting companies to filter right candidate to avoid huge cost of interviewing and enabling non IACM students to show their expertise in 100+ skill area. Under beta testing).

I received “Certificate of Approval” in 2009 by Constantinus Club and Austrian Professional Association of Management Consultancy and IT in “Constantinus International” category for our C-Connect Project. It was termed as the first non- European entry. This was our first international exposure in IACM. Today we have 60+ centers across India and are present in 14 states. The journey, I started in 1997 with a dream of a company having its presence across India was fulfilled. The dreams never stopped. We are on our way to open our first International office very soon. Still dreaming…

digital LEARNING

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BOOK REVIEW

It’s All About Being Skilled!

Book: The Ace of Soft Skills: Attitude, Communication and Etiquette for Success Authors: Gopalaswamy Ramesh and Mahadevan Ramesh Publishers: Doling Kindersley Pages: 456 Price: `550

By Yukti Pahwa

aking a successful employee out of an educationally qualified person depends upon certain factors such as communication and etiquette. The authors of the book, from enriched academic and professional backgrounds, portray the role of “Soft Skills built on Attitude,” “Manifested through Communication” and “Polished by Etiquette” in lives of those who aspire to be in any corporate/ service industry. The book begins with the definition of soft skills as the knowledge, other than technical (educationally acquired) knowledge, that is necessary for progress; along with its characteristics and the misconceptions that exist around it. The idea is to equip Indian professionals in carrying out effective interaction with international business community, especially addressing the USA, and vice versa.

The Book has been divided into to three parts. The first portion deals with chapters related to attitude. Here the importance of skills such as passion, pride, process of attaining goals, maintaining modesty and balance in attitude of self in work environment have been explained; in addition to group skills including team and shared accountability, and avoidance of blame game. Willingness to seek friendship

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and learning from people with diverse backgrounds and culture, avoiding stereotypes and biases of different nature, especially gender has been talked about in details. A whole chapter deals with “Learnability” and “continuous learning”, that entails learning about skills that equip employees to keep up with the ever changing world. Following chapter walks around the interplay between the performance and expectation, ending at a note that employees should always “under-promise” and “over-deliver”, with respect to the employers’ expectations.

Other chapters deal with a note on time management, accountability, analysing and managing risk parameters, alertness, resiliency in terms of optimism and keeping spirits high at work place, and finally, the importance of hard work.

The second part of the book highlights a unit on elements, modes of communication and distractions in communication; the source of distractions and the ways to minimise distortions in communication, in business scenarios such as presentations and group meetings. Furthermore, there is an explanation towards relevance of doing audience analysis and aim of impactful communication. The following chapters focus on listening skills, using correct posture and body language in

different situations, use of visual aids, process of writing resume´, interview meetings, writing proposals, preparing reports and feedback mechanisms.

The final segment of the book draws upon the skills related to ‘Etiquette’ and mannerism. It elaborates on how behaviour has to be modified with “small talk and humour”, change with change in medium of communication (highlighting the phone and email communication), special situations like foreign trips and/ requests made by important people that have to be regretted, and finally the adaptation of behaviour with change in language and culture around.

A devoted chapter on “Respecting Privacy” is a beautiful empahsis on how one should be “privacy-savvy at many levels” at workplace. Just before the book ends the chapter on “Learning to Say No” provides with an impetus to the reader with the ways in which potentially harmful requests from the boss can be averted. Finally, last few pages have been dedicated to the importance of the English language skills that are, in todays world, considered as the most important of the skills baggage one should carry. The book makes an insightful reading and is full of contextualised Indian illustrations, for all those who belong to service industry. \\

digital LEARNING

OCTOBER 2010

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LOG OFF

SHUBHENDU PARTH Managing Editor, digital LEARNING

Three-quarter black-thumbs!

India’s rise as knowledge services hub contrasts with three out of its four females being illiterate

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recent report by UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) indicates a clear case of gender disparity in primary and secondary education across the world.

The first edition of the Global Education Digest (GED) warns that boys and girls in only 85 countries will have equal access to primary and secondary education by 2015, the cutoff year for achieving Millennium Development Goal (MDG) objective of eliminating gender disparities at all levels of education.

The Digest indicates that going by the present trend, over 72 countries will not be able to achieve the goal by 2015.

Worse, 63 of these countries will also fail to ensure that boys and girls get equal opportunities to complete their secondary-level courses.

This is surprising, if not completely shocking, since the report has come out a full 15 years after the fourth World Conference on Women at Beijing in 1995.

Shortly after this landmark conference, the international community had pledged to eliminate gender disparities at all levels of education by 2015.

Yet, as the GED indicates, two out of three countries in the world today face gender disparities in primary and secondary education, and as many as half may not be able to eliminate it by 2015.

As per the report, over 796 million adults lacked basic literacy skills across

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the globe in 2008, with nearly half of them being in South and West Asia, notably including India (283 million), Pakistan (51 million) and Bangladesh (49 million).

What comes as a shocker is that the share of illiterate women has almost remained static at 63-64% over the past 20 years even though the size of the global illiterate population has been shrinking during the period.

Interestingly, the region also boasts of the biggest increase in absolute literacy rate for women—from 34% in 1990 to 51% in 2008. Over the same period, the male literacy rate in the region increased from 68% to 81%. But, while the overall gap between men and women shrank from 26 to 22 percentage points, it continues to remain the biggest gender gap among all regions, larger than the 18-point gap in the Arab states and in sub-Saharan Africa.

India finds itself bracketed with 10 other countries—Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Morocco, Nigeria and Pakistan—that have biggest population of illiterate females, three out of four in the world.

This can have a serious impact on a learning nation like India that is looking at catching up with the global economy and garnering the largest share of world’s knowledge outsourcing business.

Talking about the needs of a learning society in his book eTransformation,

Nagy K Hanna clearly states that the implications of the ongoing ICT revolution for education and learning are pervasive and profound, both in terms of the demand for new knowledge and skills and the capacity and modes of supplying such knowledge and skills.

He also points out that skilled human resources are a necessary condition for leveraging available ICTs for re-inventing them to get closer to the realities and needs of a developing country like India.

Unfortunately, despite proving its ICT capabilities on the global map, India has not been able to leverage its strength in technology to reduce the gender gap in education.

True, the country has managed to finally roll out the Right to Education (RTE) Act through the 86th Constitutional amendment eight years after it was passed in the Parliament, and it is a right step in the direction to ensure that the country not only meets its “education for all” objective but also creates a gender balance in the country’s primary education system.

However, the RTE needs to be backed by a strong e-strategy too, which seems to be missing. While the country needs to spend 6,000 crore for setting up the National Knowledge Network, it also needs to chalk out plans for School Education Grid to ensure that every child, including the girl child is able to secure a minimum level of education.\\