The monthly publication on ICT and Education
digitalLEARNING Volume IV Issue 3 March 2008 ISSN 0973-4139
Rs 75
Education Planning On a Fast Track
www.digitalLEARNING.in ICT - Vision, Policy Framework and the Need PAGE 20
Technology in Education Awards 2007 PAGE 42
Key to ICTs in Education is Human-ware, Not Software
Sam Carlson, Education Specialist, World Bank
PAGE 35
Leader’s Speak
Nirmala Shankaran Co-Founder, Hey Math! PAGE 25 Look Out For
Opportunities for Digital India
Special Centrespread Pullout
11th Five Year Plan: India’s Education Plan page 6
Contents
Verbatim
Volume IV Issue III, March 2008
One test of the correctness of educational procedure is the happiness of the child. – Maria Montessori The years teach much which the days never know. – Ralph Waldo Emerson Life is the art of drawing sufficent conclusions from insufficient premises. – Samuel Butler To climb steep hills requires slow pace at first.” – William Shakespeare All that is valuable in human society depends upon the opportunity for development accorded the individual. – Albert Einstein
Cover Story
Corporate Diary
6
25
11th Five Year Plan India’s Education Plan!
30 31
- Vision, Policy 20 ICT Framework And The Need
Development Agenda To ICTs In Education Is 35 Key Human-ware, Not Software Interview: Sam Carlson, Education Specialist, World Bank
All, It Is Difficult To 39 After Teach A Teacher
Nirmala Shankaran Co-Founder, Hey Math!
27
Policy Matter
Leader’s Speak
School Track
Innovation: NIIT + Innovation = Math Lab! Commentary: Create a Level Playing Field Case Study: Implementation of ICT in Schools Under BOOT
The Foyer
42
Interview with Mamta Sharma, Vice Principal
Technology In Education Awards 2007
Fact Sheet
18
Budget 2008-09: Education Allocation Up 20% At INR 34,400 cr
Regulars
45
Mark Your Calendar
News
28 33 38 44
Corporate India Asia World
All the articles are available online at www.digitalLearning.in
digital LEARNING Volume IV, Issue 3 | March 2008
President M P Narayanan Editor-in-Chief Ravi Gupta Group Directors Maneesh Prasad, Sanjay Kumar Programme Co-ordinator Jayalakshmi Chittoor Assistant Editor Manjushree Reddy Research Associate Rachita Jha Web Editor Arunesh Dogra Marketing Siddharth Verma +91-9811561645 (India) email: siddharth@csdms.in Subscription & Circulation Lipika Dutta (+91-9871481708) Manoj Kumar (+91-9210816901) Sr Graphic Designer Bishwajeet Kumar Singh Graphic Designers Om Prakash Thakur Chandrakesh Bihari Lal (James) Web Zia Salahuddin Santosh Kumar Singh Amit Pal Editorial and Marketing Correspondence digital Learning G-4 Sector 39 NOIDA 201301, India Phone +91 120 2502181-85 Fax +91 120 2500060 Email info@digitalLearning.in Printed by
Editorial Poised on the Brink of a New World Order Obviously education is a high priority in the 11th Plan as an instrument for change in the times to come. Poised on the brink of a new world order formed out of the all pervasive presence of ICT in the workplace and in our day-to-day lives has taught us all the need for an ICT component in education going ahead. Not just in a few areas, all segments of education in India are in various stages of consolidation and, or integration of technology. Where there is no access to technology, the answers are increasingly found in the technology itself. New vistas of possibility have also opened up in terms of the technology’s inherent ability to reach far-flung rural areas and impact the entire teacher-learning experience. The use of ICT has opened new ways of thinking and in many cases, cleared the path for the deployment of an education delivery system that meets almost all the requirements of instruction design, transfer of learning and even for monitoring the quality of the education imparted. Classrooms are changing as we speak. Students across this great land of ours (and in fact, world over) are increasingly gaining vital exposure to ICT. These young learners, who earlier might never even have seen a computer in their classrooms, are intrigued by the possibilities and eventually delighted by their own hands-on experience on these new ‘wonder’ machines. This increasing visibility of ICT in education has been a natural outcome of the all-pervasive presence of ICT all around us. With this 11th Five Year Plan, all our hopes, fears, expectations, consternation, plans, and eventual outcomes will progress a little further down the road to the future. When viewed in the light of the impeding budget looming in the background questions about the efficacy of the role ICT plays in education, what are the standards, measures and parameters for measuring the quality of education, the need for an all-encompassing vision for the future. With a rapidly-growing number of strategies and proposals being continually made in every educational forum involving the main four stakeholder segments, namely, Government, private sector, civil society, and academia at the onset, as to how education with foresight can effectively improve their ability to educate and let educate; regardless of what might be, one thing is certain: We are all in it together.
Vinayak Print Media, Noida Gautam Budh Nagar (U.P.) India Email: vinayakprintmedia@gmail.com digital Learning does not neccesarily subscribe to the views expressed in this publication. All views expressed in the magazine are those of the contributors. digital Learning is not responsible or accountable for any loss incurred, directly or indirectly as a result of the information provided.
Ravi Gupta Editor-in-Chief Ravi.Gupta@csdms.in
digital Learning is published & marketed in collaboration with Elets Technomedia Pvt. Ltd. (www.elets.in)
© Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies 2008 (www.csdms.in)
March 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in
c
ory t s r ove
11 Five Year Plan India’s Education Plan! th
Learning About Learning Ensuring Equity Investing in Teachers Systemic Reform Role of Government The Nintendo Generation A New Model for Education
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Leadership + Standards + Technology = Reform
March 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in
P
rime Minister Manmohan Singh has termed the 11th five year plan as “India’s educational plan”. The 11th Plan, approved at the meeting of the National Development Council in December 2007, places the highest priority on education as a centred instrument for achieving rapid and inclusive growth. At INR 2.70 lakh crore, it constitutes 20% of the Plan, representing a credible progress towards the target of 6% of GDP. The 11th Five Year Plan presents a comprehensive strategy for strengthening the education sector covering all segments of the education pyramid. It is through universal literacy, access to education and knowledge-based industrial development that India will believably march ahead to join the front ranks of the great nations of the world overcoming the challenges of ensuring that everyone has an access to education and skill building in their activity. The Economy Funda:
The wish list: The 11th Plan Approach Paper
The approach paper mentions that the 11th Plan should ensure, we move towards raising public spending in education to 6% of GDP. It must fulfill the Constitutional obligation of providing free and compulsory elementary education of good quality to all children up to the age of 14. It must ensure both access and good quality and standards in respect of curriculum, pedagogy, and infrastructure irrespective of the parents’ ability to pay. Elementary Education Under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), dropout rates for both boys Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 3 March 2008
and girls of all social groups must be reduced sharply, if not eliminated altogether. This was around 31% in 2003-04 and was much higher in many states. With the Employment Guarantee Scheme adding to family income, the pressures are expected to somewhat reduce. Opening of crèches for children at the work site will reduce the incidence of girls dropping out to take care of younger siblings. SHGs formed by mothers should be given the task of preparing mid-day meals. A set of national testing standards will be created and a chain of institutions that test and evaluate children according to set norms will be established. Making available ICT solutions, shared management personnel, and management skills with the school committees will be crucial. Secondary Education A major initiative for expanding secondary education up to class X, must be initiated in the 11th Plan and should include access to organised sports and games. The required expansion of secondary education calls for both public and private effort. At present, private aided and unaided schools account for 58% of the total number of secondary schools and 25% of the student population. The 11th Plan will have to find sufficient resources to evolve strategies to significantly expand the number of places in secondary schools, including expansion of intake by private schools wherever this can complement the public effort. The present trend of combining upper primary with secondary school education may need to be strengthened. Technical/Vocational Education The NSS data shows that only 3% of the rural youth (15-29 years) and 6 % of the urban youth have gone through any kind of vocational training. There is need to expand vocational training from the present capacity of a mere 2-3 million to at least 15 million new entrants to the labour force. While we have 5,000 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) (under the Ministry of Labour)
and 7,000 Vocational Schools (under the Ministry of HRD), China has about 5,00,000 Secondary Vocational Schools. The 11th Plan must pay special attention to devising innovative ways of modernising the ITIs and increasing their number substantially. ITIs in India typically cater to around 40 skills compared with 4,000 in China. Vocational training for both men and women should be accorded top priority in the 11th Plan. An initiative at block level for vocational training (VET) should be taken. VET will be given priority at par with secondary education in allocating public sector financial and physical resources – land and other supportive services. Higher and Technical Education Only about 10% of the relevant age group in India go to universities whereas in many developing countries, the figure is between 20 and 25%. The 11th Plan must undertake a major effort to expand and improve the quality of our higher education system. The NASSCOM-McKinsey Report 2005 projections indicate that these will fall short by about 5,00,000 suitable professionals (representing an opportunity cost of USD 10 billion) by the end of the decade and in the absence of corrective action, this gap will continue to grow. However, if current trends are maintained, the IT-ITES sector will need an additional 1 million plus qualified people in the next 5 years and will generate exports of USD 86 billion in FY 2012. The 11th Plan must address these, new colleges and universities must be set up, to provide easier access to students in educationally backward districts. A specific plan for upgrading a few existing select universities with a ‘potential for excellence’ must be formulated, laying down specific parameters which are in tune with global standards. One university in each state should be made a model university through all round upgradation during the 11th Plan. Select state universities should be upgraded to the level of central universities.
NKC Recommendations Translated to 11th Plan Action Major components of the 11th Plan relate to some of the recommendations made by National Knowledge Commission.
School Education •
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Reorient Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan bringing in a strong rights focus to make Right to Education a reality: ensure basic learning conditions, special focus on Maths, Science & English, common syllabi, curriculum and pedagogy. Gradually reduce Central Government’s funding over the Plan period rather than move immediately to 50:50. Ensure minimum standards and norms for public and private schools and address systemic issues of accountability and decentralisation of decision making, teacher recruitment, teacher training, learning outcome measurement, teacher motivation. Recognise and encourage the role of private providers. Special focus on disadvantaged groups and educationally backward areas. Scheme for universal access and quality at the secondary stage; set up 6,000 model schools one in each Block, upgrade 15,000 primary schools to secondary level, additional infrastructure and additional teachers, hundred percent trained teachers. Use ICT-based pedagogy and learning aids, provide broadband connectivity to all the Government and Government-aided secondary schools. Strengthen teacher training and professional development.
Vocational Training & Skill Development
Launch a National Skill Development Mission with an outlay of INR 31,200 crore to increase capacity from 2.5 million to 10 million per annum. The National Skill Development Mission would: • Modernise existing public sector infrastructure to get into PPP mode with functional and governance autonomy, establish a credible accreditation system and a guidance framework for all accrediting agencies, encourage agencies to rate institutions on standardized outcomes, and establish a National Skill Inventory and a National Database for Skill Deficiency Mapping on a national web portal. • Set up a National Qualifications Frame-work, which establishes equivalence and provides horizontal mobility between various vocational, technical and academic streams at more than one career points and a Trainee Placement and Tracking System for effective evaluation and future policy planning. • Enlarge the coverage of skill spectrum to 1,000 trades with relevance to our emerging needs, while making a distinction between structural, interventional and last mile unemployability, and correspondingly set up programmes for 24 months, 12 months and 6 months
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duration. Finishing Schools will be encouraged to take care of last mile unemployability. Create a National Skill Development Fund imposing a universal skill development obligation on industry to invest in skill development of SCs/ STs/OBCs/ Minorities/others candidates from BPL families – as their contribution to affirmative action combined with matching Government contribution. Enlarge the 50,000 Skill Development Centres programme eventually into a Virtual Skill Development Resource Network for web based learning.
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Put in place a National Innovation Policy which encourages competition among enterprises, greater diffusion of knowledge and increased support to early stage technology development initiatives and grassroots level innovators. Foster increased collaboration among the R&D institutes, Universities and private sector enterprises and leverage upon their cumulative strengths in designing and implementing various innovation programmes.
Higher and Technical Education •
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Improve quality: work on a detailed reforms agenda including: a) admission, curriculum and assessment; b) accreditation & ratings; c) teachers competence and motivation; and d) restructure affiliated colleges and research for policy formulation. An apex independent regulatory mechanism accompanied by greater autonomy and internal accountability; establish a high level committee to suggest specific reforms. Reduce disparities based on gender, caste, region, etc. through differential support. Establish 30 new Central Universities, 16 in States where they do not exist and 14 as World Class Universities (all India admissions, course credits, regular syllabi revision, incentives for faculty, strong linkage with industry and research institutions, no affiliated colleges, outsource non teaching functions). Establish a National Science and Engineering Research Board for rejuvenation of research in Universities. Launch a national Mission in education through ICT coverage in all the Universities and colleges; broadband connectivity through National Knowledge Network and requisite nodes within institutions; to be implemented through an empowered committee. Revitalise and reform polytechnics through industry linkage and teacher development, establish 210 community colleges and 700 polytechnics. Strengthen open universities and reform statutory bodies, scale up Sakshat as the education portal for 50 crore people. March 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in
The 11th Plan must simultaneously address the problems of varying standards, outdated syllabi and also inadequate facilities. The National Merit Scholarship Scheme needs to be expanded to cover at least the top 2% of the student population in fields of education and skill training.
Initiatives for inclusive development
The open schooling programme should be strengthened and expanded. In case of subjects that do not require laboratory work, it will be helpful for students to access prerecorded selection of lectures, tutorials, and standardised tests available at Internet kiosks. Testing and examination centres where students can take standardised examinations in parts can reduce the pressure. The 11th plan should pay attention to creation of electronically available content and testing mechanisms so that the pressure on infrastructure can be eased. Adult Literacy Programmes Aim is to increase adult literacy to 85% by the end of the 11th Plan period. Of the 30 crore adult illiterates in our country, a significant proportion is not covered under any adult education programme. A programme using the new computer based self-learning system will be framed for the 35+ age group. Currently, literacy programmes cover 598 out of 600 districts in the country. A computer based functional literacy tool developed by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has the capacity to make an adult illiterate read a newspaper in 8-10 weeks. This seems as a potential tool, if deployed nationally as a mission, India can become 100% literate within 5 years.
The Check List-11th Plan
Elementary education and basic literacy The 11th Plan needs to be seen both in the national and international context. As an economic powerhouse in the context of a globalising economy, 10
While great strides have been made in providing access to education, the Right itself cannot be said to have been realised for all children. The challenge for SSA is to be able to address the needs Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan: for access and quality Strategies and Fact File education for each child. • There has been a reduction in the number of out of school children, This will require a strong decline in gender and social gaps and a decline in drop out rates. rights orientation within • The number of teachers and the programme number of schools have increased universalisation of elementary education with quality is a must which only can lead to universalisation of secondary education. The National Policy of Education (NPE), as revised in 1992, had indicated three thrust areas in elementary education: • Universal access enrolment • Universal retention of children up to 14 years of age • A substantial improvement in the quality of education to enable all children to achieve essential levels of learning In respect of Elementary Education, the objective of the NPE has been addressed in 11th Five Year Plan mainly through the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, and the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, the two flagship programmes of the Government, and through Teacher Education schemes.
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substantially. Surveys show that 90% of rural population was served by primary schools in 2002-03 whereas some gaps have been noticed at upperprimary level. Infrastructure facilities have improved but backlog still exists. The existing challenges are bringing the 6-7% children under the ‘hard to reach’ category into the fold of education, issues pertaining to quality improvement, bridging social gaps and reducing interState, inter-district and inter-block disparities. The goal of universalisation of elementary education includes education for children with special needs (CWSN). Quality of education in terms of better educational attainment levels are a thrust area for the next phase of SSA. Special emphasis needs to be made on education of girls to launch a frontal attack on gender gap with March 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in
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a focus on ‘inclusion’ and ‘quality’ and keeping in view the forward as well as backward linkages. Girls education schemes could also offer opportunities for publicprivate partnership to augment the resources required for creating/ up-gradation of girls schools at the upper-primary and secondary levels to improve infrastructure and facilities (library, lab and sports). Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan seeks to provide elementary education to all children in the 6-14 years age group by 2010 and 2% education cess has been levied on all taxes and earmarked to fund this programme. There is a need of more upper primary schools. At all India level, there was one upper primary school for 2.8 primary schools in 2004-05. In 2005-06 this ratio of number of primary to upper primary schools was 2.5:1. To bring the ratio of primary upper primary school to 2:1 (SSA norm), the additional need for upper primary schools works out to 1,40,000. 98% of the rural population has been served by primary schools in 2002-03. In terms of habitations, 87% were served and only 13% were yet to be provided with primary schooling facilities within one km from these habitations. During the 11th Plan period 1,32,623 primary schools have been sanctioned and it is estimated that more than 96% of habitations now have a primary school within 1 km. Access facilities in the upper primary schooling is, however, still an issue as, only 78% of the habitations had such facilities within a radius of 3 km. in 2002-03. There has been significant growth in school infrastructure under the SSA. However, the huge infrastructure gaps and slower capacity to implement large civil works programmes in some States, has led to low completion rates. This means that allocations for civil works will need to be maintained for select districts in the 11th Plan period as well. One of the outcome indicators for reporting of SSA progress in the
Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 3 March 2008
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outcome budget is reduction of dropout rates by 5 percentage points each year. It is expected that the dropout rates of children for the elementary cycle would be reduced from 50.39% in 2004-05 to less than 20% by 2011-12, during the 11th Plan period, even in a conservative scenario. Financial Progress of SSA: GOI Releases and Expenditures
New Thrust Areas • • • •
Need to work towards and enhancing quality of an integrated system of teacher education Linking teacher education with institutions of research and higher education Continued professional development of teachers and teacher educators Establishing linkages between CRCs-BRCs-DIETs-SCERTsUniversities/Apex Agencies
ICT in Education
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can be used in schools for a variety of purposes to improve the effectiveness of the classroom transaction. The technologies that can be used include computers for computer-aided instruction and computer-aided learning, satellite based programmes on television, radio programmes, etc. Several attempts have been made in the past 5 years to evolve an ICT strategy for government schools, both by the
Ministry of HRD and the Department of Information Technology (DIT). However, a concrete strategy for a phased coverage of schools has not yet been finalised. The latest effort is report of the Committee on Technology in Education (with representation from MHRD and DIT) finalised in 2005. This Committee made the following recommendation – out of total no. of 10,00,000 schools in the country, the
programme ‘Technology in Education’ will cover 6,42,600 schools, which include 4,22,400 primary schools, 1,61,700 upper primary schools and 58,500 secondary schools. Every school will have server, five PCs, printer, Internet connectivity of 256 kbps plus other consumables, etc. The total cost for implementation of ‘Technology in Education’ in 6,42,600 schools is estimated to be 2,7631.8 crores. The entire programme is to be implemented in 3 years starting from 2006. Under SSA the focus has been on implementation of computer-aided learning (CAL) at the upper primary stage. About 10,000 schools in the country have implemented this strategy by providing 4-6 computers in an upper primary school. Various models of procurement of hardware and maintenance as well as development of multimedia content have been used by different States and UTs. Corporate foundations and several private sector organisations have been actively involved in this work. 11
In a few States, like Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttaranchal, programmes for interactive radio instruction (IRI) are being implemented with the support from some resource organisations. However there is still not adequate clarity about the objective for introduction of ICTs in schools and appropriate strategies for this purpose. Existing provisions for CAL are restrictive. Most States are not in a position to expand the coverage of schools, since this activity is presently funded only under the innovation component that provides INR 15 lakhs each year, per district. The following are the recommendations for this component: (a) Several technologies or applications of technologies should be encouraged. These include: • Computer Aided Learning (CAL): The children (group of 4) interact with the multimedia content and teachers act as facilitator. • Computer Aided Instruction (CAI): The teacher centric instructional content is displayed by using large screen TV. Instead of regular CRT monitor, the CPU can be connected with TV with the help of Video Tuner card. • Satellite based education: The satellite receiving terminal, digital receiver and set top box could be placed at Audio visual classrooms. The TV used for CAI can
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be used for this program as well by plugging the satellite signal. Radio Programs: Radio programmes are being used in some States for literacy, orienting teachers and even for students, during or after school. IRI is being implemented in a few States.
Such a diversified use of technologies is more appropriate than using only computers.
(g) In all cases, cost-sharing and revenue earning models should be factored in while planning for use of ICTs in schools. It is recommended that ICTs in education should not be included under the district level innovation component, but should become a part of the State level plan. Allocations should be approved for this component only if a State/UT has developed a clear
To ensure 100% enrolment and retention up to Higher Secondary stage by 2020: Secondary education should be universal but not compulsory (b) There is an urgent need for national and State level policies on the use of technologies in education. Such policies should address aspects like – educational objectives for introducing ICTs; nature of technologies, equipment; procedures for procurement and maintenance; phasing of implementation in schools; setting of standards for content; evaluation/cost – benefit analysis etc. Such policies should form the basis for an expansion of the use of ICTs in schools. (c) ICTs are most effective at the secondary and upper primary stages. Therefore only upper primary schools need to be included in the initial stage. (d) ICTs could be used effectively for training and capacity building of teachers, resource persons at cluster and block and DIET personnel. Once ICTs are available at school level, they can be easily used for the purpose of transfer of information for MIS. (e) Internet connectivity needs to be considered vis-à-vis the costs and the likely educational benefits. (f) The programme for introduction of ICTs should not neglect the aspect of maintenance of equipment and the payment of recurring costs of electricity, consumables and internet connectivity.
‘technologies in education’ policy that has articulated the aspects mentioned in (b) above. The implementation of this component should cover the dimensions of appropriate identification of schools, infrastructure and equipment, teacher training, appropriate software and multimedia content that is informed by an approach to the teaching learning process, utilisation of the infrastructure for adult literacy and training of youth, research and evaluation component. It is important to develop standards, and if necessary, a clearing-house mechanism to review the content developed for use of ICTs. At present there is a wide variability as well as duplication of efforts across the country for content development. An allocation of INR 5,000 cr. may be provided for the 11th Plan period at the initial stage for supporting programmes for use of technologies in education. Decisions on state-wise allocations could be taken by an empowered resource group or task force at the national level based on appraisal of policies and implementation plans prepared by States and UTs. States and UTs would also need to constitute task forces or resource groups to finalise their strategies for this March 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in
component. While this allocation may not be adequate to achieve coverage of all schools, it is more than 50 times the current annual allocations under SSA.
Secondary Education
There were 1,01,777 high schools and 50,272 higher secondary schools/ institutions in the country as on 30 September 2004. Out of this 41.05 % belong to government and local bodies, 29.35 % are private schools receiver government aid and 29.60 % are private unaided. There are 41 examination boards out of which only two are of All India character i.e. Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) with 8,300 (approx.) and 1,500 (approx) number of schools affiliated to them respectively. The Vision • To move towards Universalisation of Secondary Education: the target during the 11th Five Year Plan is to provide a secondary school within 5 kilometers of any habitation and to provide a higher secondary school within a distance of 7-8 kilometers of any habitation. This will be part of the vision to ensure universal secondary education by 2017, i.e. the end of the 12th Five Year Plan, whereas the target for GER by the end of the 11th Plan could be fixed at 75% for secondary stage. • To ensure 100% enrolment and retention up to Higher Secondary stage by 2020: Secondary education should be universal but not compulsory. The State has to take up the responsibility for providing access to secondary education. Not only universal enrolment, but universal retention and satisfactory quality of learning should also be a priority. Strategies There is a need for paradigms sift in the conceptual design of secondary education, the guiding principles in this regard are universal access, equality and social justice, relevance Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 3 March 2008
and development, and curricular and structural aspects. ICT @ Schools: The main objective of the scheme is to establish an enabling environment to promote the usage of ICT, especially, in Secondary and Higher Secondary Government and Government–aided schools in the rural areas. The present scheme has essentially four components. The first one is the partnership with the State governments and union territories for providing computer education and computer-aided education to Secondary
& Higher Secondary Government and Government aided Schools. The second is the establishment of SMART schools, which shall be the technology demonstrators. Universalisation of Computer Literacy through the networking of Kendriya Vidyalayas and Navodaya Vidyalayas with neighboring schools is the third component. The fourth component relates to the activities of State Institutes of Educational Training (SIETs) which are mandated to produce educational content in the form of films, videos, audios, etc. It is suggested that during the 11th Plan, the scope of the present scheme should be enlarged to target all the Government and Government-aided schools for providing ICT infrastructure. Further, special emphasis has to be given to incorporate teaching-learning methodologies for computer literacy.
Universalisation of access and improvement of quality In the context of Universalisation of Secondary Education (USE), large scale inputs in terms of additional schools and teachers are to be provided to meet the challenge of numbers, credibility and quality. For assessment/provision of educational needs, physical infrastructure, human resource, academic inputs and effective monitoring of implementation of the programmes, following steps are required to be taken: • Mapping of secondary schooling
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provisions (course mapping and curriculum) Assessment of enrolment and physical infrastructure Requirement of schooling facilities and learning resources Training of in-service teachers
Learning Resources (ICT, Library, EDUSAT) Investment in this regard is required for improving school libraries, laboratories and workshops to promote experimental culture while reducing the importance of external examinations. There is also need to have Computer–interfaced experiments and projects utilising database from public domain. In view of the above, a science laboratory and an art and crafts laboratory need to be set up in each secondary school. 13
In conformity with the advocacy in the National Curriculum Framework (NCF- 2005) about curriculum enrichment for overall development of children rather than remaining textbook centric and ensuring that learning is shifted from rote memorisation, the secondary schools should be equipped with a Learning Resource Centre (LRC) with following inputs: • Library and Separate Room: It is suggested that ICT Resource Room and Library of the school may be housed in one big room (minimum size- 10mx7.5m), or these may be housed in two adjacent rooms. Library shall be looked by a separate teacher. • Provision for ICT Support: the tentative budget estimates for providing ICT facilities in all 1,81,520 schools is INR 24,160 Crore. The items of expenditure include: ICT infrastructure and maintenance, Librarian cum ICT coordinator’s salary, Infrastructure for pre- service teacher’s training, Training of ICT coordinators, In service teacher’s training in the use of ICT in the schools, Digital content procurement/development and distribution, Establishment of resources in schools by state governments, Establishment of resources in schools by KVS/NVS, Monitoring, evaluation, research. Innovation, etc. Such facilities can also be procured on BOOT basis through private sector which can provide maintenance and other support. • Link with EDUSAT: EDUSAT can be used for conventional radio and TV Broadcast, interactive radio and television, exchange of data, video/ teleconferencing and web-based education. Total Estimated Expenditure : inr 1750 cr At nios level : inr 300 crore At soss level : inr 1450 crore (29 soss)
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Capacity Building Orientation of Secondary School Teachers: An Orientation Programmes for the Teachers teaching the Secondary Classes needs to planned and operationalised through NCERT. Orientation of Educational Planners and Administrators: To cover all the Headmasters of 1,81,520 schools during the eleventh plan, National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA) needs to collaborate with and make a network of institutions like IASEs, CTEs, University Departments of Education, Management Schools, Regional Institutes of Education, (NCERT), Indian Institutes of Management, etc. Public Private Partnership 57.04% of high schools and 62.83% higher secondary schools are run by private sector. Out of these 28.52% of high schools and 31.79% higher secondary schools are classified as private unaided schools. • Private sector can be encouraged to invest part of its profit towards philanthropic activities in the education sector by adopting Government schools for improvement of infrastructure and resources like, library, science lab., audio-visual and ICT infrastructure, art workshops, sports facilities, drinking water and toilet facilities, etc. • Several functions of the government school can be outsourced through private sector involvement. For example, entire computer education can be outsourced from private sector who can provide computer and computer teachers for a fee. Similarly transport arrangements for students particularly for girls can be outsourced. • Private sector should also be involved in designing curriculum and in designing a testing and certification system so that the demand for appropriate skill by the industry can be met.
Open schooling system
It is necessary to design, create and establish alternative Educational
Current Quality Status in Colleges of Higher Education in India (As on March 31, 2005) • Total Number of Colleges 17,625 • Number of Colleges under UGC purview 14,000 • Number of Colleges recognised under Section 2(f) of UGC Act 5,589 (40%) • Number of Colleges recognised under Section 12(B) of UGC Act 5,273 (38%) • Number of Colleges actually funded by the UGC 4,870 (35%) • Number of Colleges accredited by the NAAC 2,780 (20%) • Number of Colleges accredited by the NAAC and scoring above 60% 2,506 (17.9) provisions for some prospective learners who will not be able to take advantage of formal schooling during stipulated school hours. The open schooling programmes up to pre-degree level are being offered by the National institute of open schooling (nios) and 10 State open schools (soss). The States that have set up soss are West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, and Jammu and Kashmir. The open schools network when fully developed should be able to cater to at least 15% students in secondary education. the open schooling network needs to be expanded to ensure that every state provides open schooling facility through its regional language. Higher Education An exciting time has come for higher education in the country. The 11th Five Year Plan document proposes an almost 10-fold increase in outlay for higher and technical education. The planners have set ambitious targets to attract 15% students passing out of class XII (from the current 10%) into higher education by 2012 and 22% by 2017. In the new Plan, there’s more of everything – 30 new central universities are to be set up, seven IITs and IIMs, 10 National Institute of Technology, five research institutes to be called March 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in
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The World Bank supports the GoI’s education strategy as expressed in the 11th Plan Document. It reflects a realisation that education and skills development are at the core of the country’s effort to generate inclusive growth, rather than just growth which benefits a few but eludes many. And it reflects GoI’s commitment to address human capital shortages as quickly as possible, with significant increases in funding to be made available to the states. If anything, the concern is the capacity of the States to absorb and make the best use of those funds.
Sam Carlson World Bank India scarlson@worldbank.org
Based on my own limited view and experience in India, it would appear that the poor quality and limited capacity of the India educational system may already be holding India back, but this government’s commitment to address these issues must be recognised and congratulated. The 11th Plan calls for a four-fold increase in educational investment over the 10th Plan, with large allocations for all education levels.
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It is interesting to see that there is more focus on the higher education. The only thing I want to comment on the plan is there is no exquisite mention on rolling more faculties. Suddenly there is such a huge increase in the number of universities. And if you start forcing the faculties currently available for the purpose, that would not help much. And preparing the faculties would be a mammoth task. Training teachers would take at least 10 years. Rolling more faculties should be considered.
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V S Ramamurthy IIT B vsramamurthy@nic.in
As before the focus has been on outlays, not on outcomes, the 11th five year plan brings a larger picture in comparison to the previous plans, looking at the allocations to education as opposed to thinking about improving the delivery of education services. Today, the situation in India is not lack of finances, but lack of proper delivery of education tools, which is of more value for students. So the focus should be on the learning outcomes, which refers to the accountability to the system, and this should be seen through teacher absentees, community control over schools, decentralisation of curricula, text books, exams, and use of school vouchers as way to deliver quality education.
Parth J Shah Centre for Civil Society parth@ccsindia.org
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The plan scenario is an evolving one. In spite of the constantly changing scenario, the current plan is actually is a good one.
Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 3 March 2008
Kirti Saxena Ministry of HRD ksaxena@nic.in 15
Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research, 20 IIITs, two schools of architecture and 330 colleges in educationally backward districts. Infrastructure in existing universities and institutions is also in for major upgradation. Among the big beneficiaries of these special grants will be 17 yet-to-identified central universities which will get INR 3,298 crore. Besides, 39 engineering institutes will receive a whopping INR 6,749 crore, again for ramping up infrastructure. A good dose of funds has also been set aside for upgrading agriculture, management and medical institutions. The document envisions wide-ranging reforms in the way higher education is imparted and much of the fund allocation has been tied up to the beneficiary institute carrying out structural changes. Analysis of the past Five Year Plans indicates that, there have been continuous efforts to strengthen the base by developing infrastructure, improving the quality through several programs and schemes, introducing reforms in content and evaluation and encouraging generation of knowledge through research. The focus of fifth five-year plan was on infrastructure development,
the sixth plan onwards the focus shifted to consolidation and quality improvement. The Seventh Plan laid emphasis on research and academic developments. It was from this plan onward that the development centers of excellence and area study
aimed at quality and relevance of higher education, research and development, management in financing and the use of the new information and communication technologies. The Tenth Plan provided the basis for higher education in the 21st century.
Analysis of the past Five Year Plans indicates that, there have been continuous efforts to strengthen the base by developing infrastructure, improving the quality through several programs and schemes, introducing reforms in content and evaluation and encouraging generation of knowledge through research programs got special attention. From the Eighth Plan onward, the need for differential funding was recognized. Under this plan, it was envisaged that the developing departments would be provided necessary funds to bring up their facilities and activities to an optimum level for their teaching and general research pregrammes. The Ninth Plan aimed at gearing the system of higher education to meet the challenges arising out of the major social, economic and technological changes. The focus of Tenth Plan was
Use of ict in Higher Education During the 11th Plan period, it is proposed to spread the coverage of ICT to all the 360 Universities and 17,625 Colleges in a phased manner. The benefits yielded by the Programmes during 10th Five Year Plan would be continued and harvested for revitalising and empowering intellectual hubs (Universities and Colleges) of the society through network, e-Resources, online learning, access to global resources, archiving of contents and eLearning management techniques so that these reforms contribute immensely to enhance the access parameters in general and in particular to various Social Groups, Minorities, Women, Backward and remote areas. In the first phase, it is proposed to cover 200 Universities and 5,000 Colleges across the country for achieving the desired objectives by using Broadband, Wireless, DSL, Leased line/TDM/ FTDMA VSAT/SCPC/DAMA/Radio Frequency link, for establishing connectivity depending upon the geographical location in phased manner: This will include the following provisions: • Access to global resources including multimedia based educational content through networking of colleges and universities.
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March 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in
• • • •
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Platform for collaboration among teachers and students using Communication Networks. Better access to e-Contents (e-Journals and e-books). Digitising of Indian intellectual Content (Ph.D. Theses/ Dissertations) Development and Maintenance of Union Catalogue (Books, Serials, secondary serial, current holdings etc. and others non book materials for Universities and Colleges). Audio/Video conferencing system at Universities. Manpower Training.
Open & Distance Learning
Enrollment target– The ODL System, in the scenario of a growth rate of 20% in the student enrollment, is likely to account for about 30% of overall enrollment in higher education in the country. This will result in significant increase in the enrollment at the end of the 11th Plan, the ODL System should account for an enrollment of around 7 million students. Development of New Programmes and Courses – A national quality framework for such competency and skills would have to be a priority during the 11th Plan. The 11th Plan proposals for the ODL system require a special thrust on development of vocational programmes. As a policy measure, at least 10 % of credits being developed in each school should be devoted to vocational, employment oriented programmes targeted at enabling selfemployment or increase in employability of people.
Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 3 March 2008
Media Infrastructure-Gyan Darshan, Gyan Vani and Edusat During the 11th Plan, the efforts would be to develop complete audio visual curriculum based content on a course-to-course basis as well as on creating integrated media learning packages course-wise, which would be available both as CDs and as software on IGNOU’s e-Gyankosh, the national repository on open learning material and integrated with One Stop Portal Sakshat of MHRD for use nationwide.
(SITs) is in place, another fifty are being installed. It is proposed to enlarge this network to about 500 SITs to extend the access to the disadvantaged and those in marginalised areas. It has also been decided to mobilise 10 teaching ends in the Edusat Network in addition to the teaching hub at IGNOU Hqs.
While one channel of Gyan Darshan (GD-I) was put on Direct-to-Home (DTH) access through the Doordarshan DTH platform, in the 11th Plan thrust will be to provide the interactive curriculum based channel (GD-II) through the DTH platform so that a large number of learners are able to interact through toll-free numbers directly from there own homes. Funds would also be required to develop large educational software in all regional languages for the 50 plus Gyan Vani Radio Stations that could be in existence during the 11th Plan.
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Over the next five years, an augmentation of about 40 positions, including the teaching positions for the Regional Centres is proposed. 30 positions proposed for the headquarters include production, staff, transmission staff, staff for the Edusat related activities and technical staff, at various levels.
Edusat
While an impressive setup of up to 131 Satellite Interactive Terminals
Current Quality Status of Universities in India (as in 2007)
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Total Number of University Level Institutions (367) Total Number of Universities under UGC Purview (317) Number of Universities actually funded by the UGC (164) Number of Universities accredited by the NAAC (128) Number of Universities accredited by the NAAC and scoring above 60% (128)
There’s no denying the fact that there always are and will be plans. It is hoped that this plan will factor in overlaps, intersections and converging agendas while minimising wastage without loosing out on quality education. There is also no denying the pace of change in a socio-cultural context, as well as in the technological context. Technology and the needs of society are changing even as we plan, so to speak. While it is true that all plans are hope, this plan will have to think-on-itsfeet, sustain itself and even evolve as the very scenario it is to operate within changes.
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Budget 2008-09 eet h s T
FAC
Education Allocation Up 20% At INR 34,400 cr
The budget has increased total allocation for the education sector by 20%t from INR 28,674 crore in 2007-08 to INR 34,400 crore in 2008-09. In crore Rs Central Plan outlay by Ministries/Departments
2007-2008 Budget Estimates
2007-2008 Revised Estimates
2008-2009 Budget Estimates
Ministry of Human Resource Development Department of School Education & Literacy Department of Higher Education
28674 22191 6483
25453 22191 3262
34400 26800 7600
Budget Expectations • • • •
Increased education allocation Employ more teachers Construct more schools Upgrade more institutes technically
The Budget Brings •
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Total allocation for education sector including the NER region increased by 20%t to INR 34,400 crore from INR 28,674 crore. Provision of INR 13,100 crore to the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). INR 8,000 cr for National Programme of Mid-Day Meals in schools. INR 2,185 crore for the scheme of Universal Access and Quality at Secondary Stage (SUCCESS). Secondary education to be provided INR 4,554 crore. Shift in focus of SSA to enhancing retention, improve quality of learning and ensure access to upper primary class against access and infrastructure at the primary level. INR 650 crore allocated to A Model School Programme to establish 6,000 high quality model schools. INR 130 crore allocated for Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas to make them more accessible to SC/ STs.
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INR 80 crore for setting up new and upgrading existing hostels attached to Balika Vidyalayas. Earmark additional INR 750 crore to be allocated for National Meanscum-Merit Scholarship Scheme. INR 3,440 crore for University Grants Commission - includes an allocation of INR 875 crore for implementation of the recommendations of Oversight Committee. INR 3,205 crore for Technical Education, including INR1647 crore for implementation of the recommendations of Oversight Committee. INR 502 crore for National Mission on Information and Communication Technology. Set up three IITs, two IISERs and two schools of Planning and Architecture. Allocation of INR 100 crore to the Ministry of Information and Technology to establish the National Knowledge Network. 16 central universities in each of the hitherto uncovered states; three IITs in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan; two IISERs at Bhopal and Tiruvananthapuram; and two schools of planning and architecture at Bhopal and Vijayawada: INR
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5 crore grant provided to Deccan College and Postgraduate and Research Institute, Pune. Upgradation of 500 ITIs: The implementation of the scheme of vocational training improvement with World Bank assistance. Upgrade 1,396 ITIs into centres of excellence in specific trades and skills under public-private partnership.
Impact • • •
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Positive impact on players operating in the domestic sector. Benefit to players operating in the technical upgradation space for education. Focus on higher education along with primary education will lead to overall economic growth and development. Companies like NIIT, Aptech, Everonn will benefit. Companies involved in education infrastructure like Educomp and Navneet Publications expected to benefit. In the long-term, technology companies will benefit. More skilled labour available for KPOs and tech companies going forward. Higher education and thus incomes is also good for the retail sector. March 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in
icy l o p ter t ma
ICT In School Education
Vision, Policy Framework And The Need
I
ndia has an excellent opportunity to initiate its efforts in re-formulating an education policy in such a way that the following can be the key areas of focus: • Creativity, cultural values, national need, critical thinking, Entrepreneurial Thinking and subject orientation formulate the content for students across school education. • Education system is in continuous alignment to the economic-GDP 2020 vision of 44% of national GDP from agricultural income, 21% of GDP from manufacturing sector and 35% of GDP from the services sector. • Develop knowledge resource not just to meet the national need but also the global need on knowledge human resources. It is important that the existing economic and digital divide needs to be bridged. Implementation and integration of ICT into the education system should address the following points: • Regardless of gender and financial status of students, education for every student should be the motto of ICT implementation. • Provide cost-efficient delivery of education to build a strong equitable and economically strong knowledge society. • Develop partnerships with government and private agencies for delivery of ICT education. • Create inter-connected clusters of villages with a central hub. Each central hub connected to an urban city with basic health-care facility provided. • Pilot test the hub-cluster model with three villages near an urban city. 20
ICT implementation has given an excellent opportunity for the Education Policy Implementation specialists to re-visit what we want our future leaders of India to be like. In this way, we get an idea of what needs to be taught, who is our target audience across India, and how to reach all corners of India. The country’s growth is measured by its economic state, literacy rate and health-care facilities. By 2020, the employment pattern should aim at 44% in agriculture, 21% in manufacturing and 35% in service sectors. Of course, manpower reduction in agriculture has to be met with increased technological input. Universities and educational systems should create two cadres of personnel: (1) a global cadre of skilled youth with specific knowledge of specific skills and (2) another global cadre of youth with higher education. These two cadres will
not only power the manufacturing and service sectors of India but also fulfill the human resource requirements of various countries. The need therefore can best be defined along the following lines: • Throughput of higher education system should increase from existing 11% to 20% by 2015, 30% by 2020 and 50% by 2040. • Hub-and-spoke model of interconnected clusters of villages with each hub in these clusters connected to an urban city. • Agriculture-based education to reach the rural schools and colleges, so that the urban movement of rural people can be reduced and technology-supported agriculture can grow and flourish. • Awareness and reach to health-care facilities through the network of clusters. Meaning, rural areas get Internet-based basic health-care help.
Vision & ICT Balanced Scorecard
March 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in
Vision
Working backwards from the national 2020 vision we can derive a vision for ICT in schools. The driving factors of the vision are: • Ensure that when students leave school, they should be confident, creative and productive users of new technologies and more importantly understand the impact of those technologies on society. • Prepare students for adult life when nearing the end of their compulsory schooling.
Goals – ICT Balanced Scorecard, Operational Targets and Challenges
ICT Balanced Scorecard The Goals and Objectives can be categorised into the following categories: 1. National Economic Contribution 2. Stakeholder Orientation 3. Operational Efficiency 4. Future Orientation Based on the aforesaid four categories, it is possible to develop an ICT Balanced
opportunities. There should be complete implementation of ICT education by 2013. However the challenges would include aspects such as Basic Software Content — language diversity in India will force ICT to have content in multiple languages. Lack of trained teachers and motivation of all concerned authorities, particularly school administration’s mindset to and non-appreciation of value of ICT to transform and improve education will have to be addressed. The language diversity in India does not negate the lack of regional teachers, as the teaching may have to be in regional languages. The advantages that developed countries (or single-language countries) have is absent in India – owing to its language diversity. Other issues such as accessibility, affordability and networking and the annual budget would also be included.
Stakeholders in ICT
Stakeholders in ICT •
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Enable equitable and cost-efficient delivery of education to create a strong equitable, imaginative and economically strong knowledge society that which is globally integrated. Implement technology education – not as an end in itself – but as a means to promoting creativity, empowerment and equality, producing efficient learners, problem solvers, potential researchers and potential entrepreneurs. Support education and training workers to acquire and maintain the skills needed to take full advantage of the potential of ICT to transform learning. Partner across agencies at all levels of various ministries in the government to ensure the development of a policy and regulatory framework to enable acceptance of ICT in education and training.
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Scorecard. This in turn can help the policy makers, administrative personnel and performance evaluators to derive the performance measures from the goals defined in the ICT Balanced Scorecard. Operational Targets and Challenges All schools in India to be a part of hub and spoke model – defined within the clusters of villages/locations within a year, a technology package and a computer lab and an electronic library system. At least 80% of school teachers must be trained in computer skills and computer-aided instruction. All schools’ collection and analysis of key performance measures of ICTeducation impact should be automated in three years time. An integrated Human Resources Information Network in three years should be developed in collaboration. This would be an integrated database of skilled manpower, education and training services, job
Policy Guidelines for ICT High-level policy guidelines for ICT are typically derived keeping in mind the national need of critical thinking, entrepreneurially spirited future leaders. The following key points can help in defining the policy guidelines: • Actualise the role of education and training in the strengthening of an equitable, imaginative and economically strong knowledge society • Improve and increase quality, accessibility and cost-efficiency of the delivery of education • Support education and training specialists to acquire and maintain the skills needed to take advantage of ICT and to transform learning • Create high quality digital content, services and applications • Work with partners and agencies for content, delivery and training and technology • Promote connectivity and access to ICT in schools • Upgrade teacher competencies. • Integrate ICT into curriculum. • Improve quality of teaching and learning 21
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Develop a cadre of citizens who can contribute to the workforce and economy globally
It is important to understand that – in the name of ICT in schools – it is not enough to equip schools with personal computers and train teachers in their use. ICT in itself is not going to radically change education systems. But it does give an opportunity to re-visit what education and its system should be seeking to achieve. ICT can be a great enabler. Macro-Economic Impact • To ensure that ICT does not become another source of gender and economic inequality: ICT should be used to bridge that disparity and create a leveling ground for gender and economically disparate society like ours. • To translate the national vision of ICT to the last granular level: This would mean translating the ICT national vision to each and every school’s vision on ICT. It is important to create an ICT master plan according to each and every school’s vision and its sociocultural setting. • To narrow digital divide by developing ICT education policy complementing other government initiatives viz. public education through ICT, computers donation, Internet access, health-care facilities’ access. Policy Development • To create a national policymaking, regulatory and implementing agency for systematising collaboration between government agencies, ministries are enabled – this will help in harmonised implementation of ICT in education programmes. The various stakeholders that may have to work together on this common platform could be: Human Resources Development Ministry, Education Division, Health-care Ministry, Information & Broadcasting Ministry, Telecommunication Department, Infrastructure Ministry, Private Sectors 22
• •
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(particularly in content and hardware provision), etc. To ensure transparency of decisions taken or amended by the policy makers to all stakeholders To formulate an ICT bureau comprising of education policy committee and education performance evaluation committee – Education policy committee’s responsibility is to consolidate policies based on suggestions from stakeholders and also to work closely with international experience (for e.g. advanced countries. UNESCO also has done some extensive survey and research on ICT in education). Interacting and taking inputs from organisations like UNESCO, PISA, OECD, etc. can greatly enhance the policies and also can hasten the ICT implementation and integration – Education performance evaluation committee’s responsibility is to formalise the framework for performance measures, implementation of the same, data collection and analysis of the measures to feed back for policy and performance enhancements. To develop standard budget based on school size and existing resources
Students & Parents • To establish criteria for partnership with content providers to provide and maintain content for primary, secondary and senior-secondary schools. • To ensure that ICT should create a leveling ground for the disadvantaged and for those with special needs as well. • To establish selection criteria for students to be considered for potential job-providers. Potential job-providers need to be consulted for the same (particularly for the vocational sectors). • To build a platform as a part of ICT master plan, for parents to participate in their wards’ development. This can enhance the value of Parent Teacher Association
•
(PTA) meetings on an ongoing regular basis – instead of a quarterly hands-off PTA meeting. To build a platform for peerlearning for students.
School & Teacher Training • To enhance acceptance of ICT in schools, school leaders to be considered as primary audience. They can help in adopting strategies to integrate ICT into the curriculum. • To appoint an ICT coordinator in each school to ensure administrative and pedagogical support for teachers. • To build a buddy system approach for novice teachers with expert teachers in an ICT classroom. • To define incentive system and motivational strategies for teachers who promote ICT education. • To provide autonomy to schools to select ICT personnel and resources as per their need based on the standards defined. Curriculum, Content and Pedagogy • To ensure that dichotomy between technologists and educators does not arise – by composing teams with both of them. • To create a knowledge-base on good use of internet and technology. • To bring in to education the safety issues pertaining to Internet an integral part of parenting as well as teaching and learning activities at home and in school. Software, Hardware & Infrastructure • Establish appropriate firewall and filtering mechanism for preventing access to undesirable websites – which otherwise can be counterproductive to a student’s growth. • To ensure that pilot projects do not take more than two years as they have to battle the obsolescence rate of technologies. • To create a definitive rule-set pertaining to intellectual property rights to educational materials. • To create standards for software, hardware applications for implementation of ICT resources. March 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in
+
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To formulate multiple clusters, based on geography and ethnicity, of units (villages and locations) in India. Each of these clusters is strategically connected to an urban city. Create a hub-andspoke model.
Approach for formulating Key Performance Measures In order to develop good measures it is important to have a clear knowledge of the following: • Purpose of measure • What is to be measured • Key concepts and methods of measure
Steps to define Key Performance Measures The various aspects that need to be measured are: • Measures classified into primary, secondary and senior-secondary school categories.
• • • • • • • • • • •
– Career-orientation in Senior Secondary School. Reliability and long-standing vision of the contents. Consistency in involvement of stakeholders and content providers. How much students think that they have improved. Impact of teaching methods. Availability of infrastructure for disbursing content. Change in teaching methods. Efficiency of clusters and its telecommunication links within and with the urban centres. Teachers’ confidence and acceptance in using ICT. Barriers to computer related activities. Percentage contribution to various sectors from senior secondary education. Classify measures into the following four categories 1. National Economic
Steps to define Key Performance Measures • 24
Measuring content, teaching and improvement of learners in – Creativity for Primary School. – Subject orientation for Secondary School.
Contribution aligned to national economic goals. 2. Stakeholders’ Orientation (ease of use of content, students’ and teachers’ opinions and
acceptance of content, training methods and technology, outputs to corporates for hire from vocational standpoint). 3. Operational Efficiency (infrastructure availability, infrastructure efficacy, teaching, implementation, data collection, students’ reach etc.). 4. Future Orientation (content, training, technology-Use, telecommunications’ setup, training methods).
Approach: Pilot Implementation
Policy Formulation • Everonn Systems, given their pedigree in education system to schools can help in consolidating the responses for policy formulation and assist MHRD in finalising the policy for ICT implementation; defining the clusters for schools in villages across India; key performance measures and work closely with stakeholders in defining the content for ICT education. Everonn Systems can take an ownership-role alongside MHRD to ensure ICT integration into schools’ curriculum. Pilot Implementation • Starting the pilot project with the Everonn Systems network of schools – by defining a cluster around the schools within Everonn’s VSAT network. • Providing the existing Everonn infrastructure and content support for these schools. • Deploying an Everonn team to assist MHRD in defining the cluster. • Providing an Everonn-ICT coordinator for the defined cluster. • Capturing the data for key performance measures for ICTeffectiveness evaluation. • Developing the web-enabled application for parent-studentteacher interaction. • Developing the home-pages on the web for school. A paper from ‘Everonn Systems India Ltd.’ March 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in
On The Path To Math
http://www.heymath.com/
? What forms the compelling basis on which Hey Math!
solutions are based on? Every child, irrespective of whether they go to school system in any part of the world, we feel that they should get quality education. It is a well known and accepted fact that there is a fundamental teacher shortage. Because of that there is a subjective discontentment amongst the students and every one on the teaching quality of the subject teachers. This concern comes from the parents as well and they try to supplement with tutorials. They, out of desperation, send their children to the tutors. Again, tutors are also less in number; there is a fundamental shortage in the whole system. There is also no more one to one tutoring, and the students end up going from one set to another set of class rooms and end up doing additional work. The desired solid foundation of a given subject is not built up. When the students go back to the school, they find themselves in great trouble, as the teaching method in the school is very different from the tutorial teaching set up. Through our Hey Math! curriculum, we want to provide students access to the best teaching methodology by collaborating with high performing Mathematics system. We try to tap on the experts on Maths across the world to contribute to our contents. We understand the effective ways of digitising those and making available for students.
? Could you tell us about the adoption rate of Hey Math!
Nirmala Shankaran Co-Founder, Hey Math! talks about a different curriculum which is intended to provide students access to the best teaching methodology by collaborating with high performing Mathematics system Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 3 March 2008
programme, who needs it, where does it go…? In Singapore we are the number one curriculum provider in Math. We get 35-40% market share for the secondary schools. In India, it is for the last 2 years that we have started getting into the school system. Parents are subscribing to the product individually. Our aim is to get into a collaborative arrangement with all stakeholders. This is actually the dream of the former President, Dr Abdul Kalam – ‘One good Math teacher to be available to 100 kids, rather than to schools’. We have digitised our curriculum so that we can reach to each student. We have collaborated with university of Cambridge, top performing schools in Singapore, top CBSE schools in India.
? What has been your approach so far in the entire
process of opening a Global Math Lab? Our approach is very global. We try and raise the teaching quality; we plan to go to the consumer. We get a lot of enquiry from all across the world. We are fortunate to receive a lot of media attention, for which lot of people have signed in online. 25
Our foremost approach is to empower teacher. We are on the sides of the teacher. We never intented to replace the teachers. Our success lies where the teacher is actually good and takes initiative. Because of the size of the classroom, the teacher is not able to cater to the needs of each child on a one to one basis, for which she goes towards average needs of the class. As a result, the brighter students tend to lose interest and the bottom rung of the class, i.e. the students who take time to pick what is being taught, also lose their interest. By using our product, the teacher immediately engages herself in the entire classroom. Our solution helps teachers save their time in lesson planning. Then we go to the parents and tell them these are the supplementals that they can access from home, in case schools are not subscribing.
that, we have a virtual team consisting of people from UK, Singapore, and other parts of the world. Our expertise here in India is ideation and curriculum.
? What has been the biggest concern so far?
Our main concern is to look for the gaps across all the different curriculum of different Boards – ICSE, CBSE, State Boards... We know what the examination boards want, what CBSE wants, what the Gujarat State Board wants. Although there are variations in the school curriculum as far as State Boards are concerned, but Math is being taught at all the schools at all levels. We want to chart a universal curriculum which can cater to the international schools’ curriculum. We are currently done with the CBSE, ICSE, Tamil Nadu Board, among others. The first thing that we tell those who join us – just unlearn
For past seven years, we have been what you have learned. Just erase your brain and start again. developing and focusing on the content, In India within the traditional system of learning, the recall is not there. We never quite understand how a problem is solved, purely Mathematics based curriculum, as the K-12 teaching is not that supporting. Our goal is that we will shield the child with variable teaching quality. which is delivered online and is embellished every day ? Is there any plan to take Hey Math! offline? ? Would you elaborate on the design of the online Math
Lab? It is designed as a self learning, intuitive tool, it has texts, animation and the curriculum objective, all meeting together. It is both teacher-led and self learning. The curriculum meets the needs of class 3-12. The content is so designed that it will work for the entire curriculum framework in India. For past seven years, we have been developing the content. We are focused on the content, purely Mathematics based curriculum, which is delivered online and is embellished every day. We keep looking for ideas. The teachers are constantly coming to us because they are part of our workforce. We are not giving a readymade content, we are not tutoring. Rather, we give access to a curriculum which helps one to self learn. At every stage, we provide something that the child of his age should learn. So far, the mode of instruction is English. We could eventually do the curriculum in vernacular languages. But one can learn even by seeing the animation. Here the mode of instruction becomes immaterial. There is lot of interactivity. Each of our lesson plans has lot of things within it. The teachers can print something out or pause at any point. Within the chapters there are a lot of problem to do, which ends with the practice lessons for the children to do.
? What comprises the team working behind the Math
Lab? Our team consists of Math graduate from the top university across the world. They are all based in Chennai. Apart from 26
Hey Math! has adopted a very dynamic process, in which we keep on updating our curriculum whenever it necessitates. If there is an exciting idea coming up, we incorporate that immediately. With CD or any other offline format, there comes a break.
? What next? How about the outreach strategy?
Literacy and numeracy will not be extinct. They are there to remain forever. Moreover, there is constant need to solve the problems of teacher shortage, and quality teaching. We try to redefine quality teaching. We were not ready to come to India few years back, as we were not sure about the readiness. How do we enable the system with the desired infrastructure? Why cannot the corporate sponsor a school? Instead of supporting talents, the corporate should help in putting the infrastructure well in place in schools, they can adopt a school! It should even go beyond. We wish to go to any school. We are not hungry for the economic profits. What we need is few good teachers in different schools who can take and use our product. We have spent seven years in ensuring the quality of our content, and making it cost effective as well. In schools, the cost is only INR50 per child per month. We would like to push this through government agencies like NCERT, CBSE, etc, even through programmes like Edusat. It is easier to have a work force that can collectivise the ideas. I wish to have something where we have a curriculum that maps each and every chapter prescribed by NCERT, and if just put it online and make available for the community of teachers having access to something like this. This is going to create a systemic impact. March 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in
NIIT + Innovation = Math Lab! www.niit.com Making Math easy is something most of us identify as a good thing. In the case of NIIT and the US-based Key Curriculum Press Inc, a leading player in the field of software research and development for Math education, have teamed up to launch a software called Math Lab, that enables school students to learn and explore mathematical
for promoting the subject. Additionally, as per the CBSE directive, 20% of the marks will be allocated to each student from the Math Lab assessments, towards the final marks. Conceived as a dynamic construction and exploration tool that spans the current mathematical curriculum and is
Based on Imagination, Investigation and Interaction, NIIT’s Math Lab provides students of basic mathematical and geometrical concepts an opportunity to engage in activities that allow them to understand, internalise, discover, and verify concepts and verify mathematical facts and theorems using technology tools. The school curriculum governing body, the National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT), through the National Curriculum Framework has indicated that Mathematics as a subject will be treated as a prime focus area in schools, till 2010, with an emphasis on increasing the subject’s visual appeal and creating an enjoyable learner experience for school students. In alignment with this agenda, the apex body for secondary education in schools, CBSE, has issued directives to all schools following the CBSE curriculum to install a Math Lab
Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 3 March 2008
being made available to Indian schools, jointly by NIIT and Key Curriculum Press, will offer multiple teaching and learning aids comprising of technology applications, videos, manipulative and measuring instruments and tables to schools. Based on three fundamentals that are Imagination, Investigation and Interaction, NIIT’s Math Lab provides students of basic mathematical and geometrical concepts an opportunity to engage in activities that allow them to understand, internalise, discover, and verify. Additionally, the software utilises concrete objects and situations, thus building interest and confidence in
students learning the subject. The laboratory also allows and encourages the students to think, discuss amongst themselves and with the teacher, and assimilate concepts. Using tools such as ‘The Geometer’s Sketchpad (GSP),’ together with hands-on activities using a wide variety of mathematical models, students will be able to construct an object and explore its mathematical properties through an exciting visual process; a process that would help in building a strong foundation in Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometry, algebra, trigonometry, pre-calculus and calculus. Currently, Maths as a subject is taught mostly in a ‘paper-pencil’ mode. GSP allows students to construct objects, drag points and lines with the mouse. As the shapes and their positions change, all mathematical relationships are preserved and students can examine entire sets of similar cases in a short span of time. Launched in 1991 in the US, GSP is currently used by over 25% of all secondary schools in the US. GSP has also been localised and published in Japanese, Arabic, French, German, Spanish, Korean, Danish, Slovenian, Czech, Swedish, Hebrew and Hungarian. Plans for Indian languages are currently being discussed, as part of NIIT’s initiative.
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NIIT enters China As part of an MoU, NIIT will work closely with the Wuxi government to develop human capital for the emerging IT industry, in the region. NIIT has also signed another MoU with Wuxi New District with similar objectives for the district. Through these partnerships, NIIT will set up IT training centres and offer its industry training programmes, while the Wuxi government will provide support for enabling preferential policies at national, provincial and municipal levels.
Microsoft India opens Tech Lab at IIT Madras Microsoft India has inaugurated a technology laboratory at the Indian
Institute of Technology, Madras (IITM). The IITM Microsoft Windows Technologies Lab has been envisaged as a hub that will harness innovations through research, and provide a platform for faculty and students to leverage the platform for a variety of research and trainings. T.A Gonsalves, head of CSE, and Will Poole, vice president of Microsoft, inaugurated the laboratory. The laboratory will offer MS technology for the faculty and students to work with. In addition to helping students with their B Tech and M Tech projects, as well as MS and PhD research, the laboratory will have experts from Microsoft visit the institution regularly to conduct seminars and workshops. The company envisages that an integration of research and innovation will in the long term
Indian publishing major MBD to provide customised e-Content Publishing house MBD group will invest INR 100 crore (USD25 million) within the next three years to develop customised educational e-Contents for schools, corporate houses and those preparing for competitive examinations. The new initiative would function under the banner of MBD Alchemie. “We have already invested nearly INR 30 crore in the last eight months and would invest an additional INR 100 crore within the next three years. From a product-based company, we are reinventing ourselves as a service company,” says Monica Malhotra Kandhari, senior director of MBD group. E-learning is considered to be the future in delivering content. According to an estimate, the e-Learning market was about USD7 billion in 2004 and is expected to touch USD28 billion by the end of the current year. The company will create customised services for well-defined verticals such as content business, technology in education, teacher training modules, campus solutions, retail and technology services among others. The content would be provided through an interactive web portal. It will be a knowledge portal but will be excellent on its user interface, navigation and high level of interactivity. IBM would provide technology support, as agreed under the new partnership between the two industry giants. “In future IBM will also promote MBD Alchemie services both in India and abroad through our huge network,” says Ramesh Narasimhan of IBM. Students, executives and those preparing for competitive exams could log in and register their name. They could avail services round the clock as per their requirement and convenience. Students can ask questions directly to an expert, interact with teachers and take part in a mock test to hone their skill and capability. 28
enable incubations from the Institute and beyond.
Compiere opens new development center in India
Compiere, which sells open source business products, has announced the opening of a product development center in Noida, India, located near the capital of New Delhi. The company says the new development center is needed for its recent growth in “capabilities, skills and geographical presence” to address the expanding demand for its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) products. The center, which is fully operational, is staffed by application software development and test engineers with experience in enterprise application functionality, Java development, Web architecture, automated application testing and customer support.
Pearson’s 2007 profit exceeds analyst estimates on education
Pearson Plc, the publisher of the Financial Times newspaper, reported 2007 profit that surpassed analyst estimates as the company expanded its education business and sold some assets. Pearson has been selling assets such as foreign-language newspapers to focus on the Financial Times and its education business, which publishes textbooks and provides testing for nurses, businessschool students and stockbrokers. Last year, Pearson bought online course company eCollege.com for $538 million and sold its French newspaper Les Echos for 240 million Euros to LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA. Sales rose 4.3% to 4.16 billion pounds. Net income dropped to 284 million pounds ($564 million) from 446 million pounds a year earlier, because of a tax charge stemming from the sale of its Government Solutions unit. Education, Pearson’s largest business, will record ‘another year of good profit growth,’ Pearson said. March 2008 | www.digitalLEARNING.in
International Book Bank recognizes McGrawHill Education for book donations The International Book Bank, a non-profit that ships donated books to developing countries, will honor McGraw-Hill Education, a leading global provider of educational materials, with its first President’s Corporate Partner Award at the Book Bank’s 20th anniversary celebration on April 12, 2008. Over the last ten years, McGraw-Hill Education generously donated books to the International Book Bank to help increase global literacy. The books are housed in the International Book Bank’s 43,000-square-foot warehouse in Southwest Baltimore, where custom shipments for literacy programs in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America, are created and sent from
the Port of Baltimore. Dr. Charlotte K. Frank, Senior Vice President of Research and Development from McGraw-Hill Education, will accept the award at the International Book Bank’s event.
Year of exceptional growth at Scholar360
Scholar360, a leading eLearning solutions and services provider, reported
SkillSoft survey shows need for more on-the-job training SkillSoft, a leading provider of ondemand e-learning and performance support solutions for global enterprises, government, education and smallto medium-sized businesses, today announced a SkillSoft-commissioned survey indicated that eight out of ten employees would have higher job satisfaction levels if they received more on-the-job training. But, a SkillSoft survey also found, nearly three of those same 10 workers don’t even have this opportunity, because they don’t have access to any ongoing training in their workplace. The information came to light as part of a comprehensive survey commissioned by SkillSoft in which more than 200 employees working in entry-level to executive positions in IT, sales and marketing, customer service, finance, human resources and administration were interviewed. Roughly 80% of workers said they would be more satisfied if they were given additional training. Nearly 28% of respondents said they work in companies where there is no ongoing training to help them further develop their skills. The SkillSoft-sponsored survey was conducted by Infosurv, Inc., a full service market research company. Invosurv’s online sampling partner for this survey was Greenfield Online, who developed the first online respondent panel in 1994. More than 40% have been in their field for over 10 years and almost half were from the field of information technology. The study included participants from all areas of the United States and more than 60 % have been with their employer for more than three years. Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 3 March 2008
that 2007 was a year of exceptional growth and innovation. In 2007, Scholar360 experienced an increase of over 300% in number of new clients, including most notably, a partnership with UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), a specialized agency of the United Nations. This collaboration enables members in universities in all 50-member states to collaborate on projects and discuss issues. Scholar360 was the first LMS to combine social networking and other Web 2.0 tools (Wikis, blogs, RSS feeds, communities, live chat, etc.) with the academic features in a Learner Management System. In 2007, Scholar360 added several new features to allow for greater flexibility and customization by clients, crucial reporting capabilities, and full support of the SCORM 2004 standards.
ePals in eLearning Agreements with National Geographic, Intel
ePals Inc., an Internet learning community, and National Geographic Ventures, which creates and distributes digital content for the National Geographic Society, have announced a partnership that will enhance the ePals site with National Geographic content to create unique learning experiences for classrooms, students and families around the globe. Initial topic areas of focus for the new alliance include maps and geography, habitats, global warming, natural disasters, people and culture, great leaders, water and weather. In each area, classrooms and teachers will be able to choose among projects that emphasize collaboration, 21st-century skill building and the use of school-safe communication tools to seamlessly work with learners around the world or down the block. 29
Create A Level Playing Field www.everonn.com Inequity in education is one of the worst offenders of economic growth for any country. Income levels, rural or urban settings, the educational level of parents, nutrition and health are just some of the factors limiting access, achievement, and permanence of children in learning situations. The barrier imposed by this combination of factors leading to Awareness-divide, is extremely rigid and difficult to surpass. Evidence clearly shows that inequity in education in itself propels illiteracy and that leads to economic diversity. A lot rides on equity – economic standards, societal health & well-being and most of all – awareness. Awareness-divide is probably more dangerous than digital divide. This vicious circle is one that an education policy maker has to help break before taking a country on the path of economic growth.
Some of the questions that one should ask before planning for setting up an ICT education policy are: 1. What kind of reach-out-model (de-centralised, centralized, cluster, etc.) should be adopted to implement ICT education policy so that geographic diversity does not result in awareness-divide? Should e-Learning be adopted as policy alternative to specifically target remote and rural communities? 2. How to create a uniform technology platform, network infrastructure and content across the country so that digital-divide is avoided? 3. If research indicates that boy-students tend to develop adaptive expertise to computers than girl-students, then it is clear that equal opportunity and equal access by itself are insufficient. What should be the roles of ICT policy maker, school, and parents in ensuring that gender does not create digital-divide? Do we need novel pedagogical practices? 4. How useful can ICT be in improving the quality and quantity of education for special groups and communities? 5. Are lower achieving students less computer-friendly? Do they use computers for different purposes? How to address students with special needs? 6. What specific guidelines should the ICT policy maker include to reach-out to linguistic and ethnic minorities?
Inequity measuring indicator
It is therefore of paramount importance that an education policy, which brings in ICT as a means to develop computer culture should also focus on creating a level playing field. In order to achieve equity in education, one has to be aware of the following: • What dimensions cause inequities, • How to address them and, • How to measure the inequities.
Six dimensions that cause education inequity
Gender, race, economic strata, geographic spread, technology and students of differing academic strengths (and with special needs too) are the six main dimensions, which can potentially cause inequities. To add to these, language poses a special barrier to be overcome. 30
There are various indicators by which different aspects of education across a country can be measured. Some such indicators are enrollment ratios, education attainment, quality by cognitive test scores, standard deviation of years of schooling, gender reach ratio, etc. Lately, an educationGini index helps measure education inequity. Generally Gini coefficients are used to measure distributions of wealth, income and land. Using enrollment, financing or education attainment data one can derive education Gini-coefficients that help in understanding the divide in education. This would become an important input to the policy maker.
Conclusion – A holistic approach
A holistic approach needs to be adopted in order to address inequity problems. It is inevitable that technology has become an inherent part of the triad (others being content and teacher), of a students learning process. Thus as a part of policy planning process, every stakeholder (parent, peer, student, school, policy maker, technology provider, content provider) has a role to play in bringing this inequity down and without making efforts towards quantifying the inequities, a policy can never progress in its evolution. March 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in
Implementation Of ICT In Schools Under BOOT
www.educomp.com
Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) provides an opportunity for private sector participation in financing, designing, construction, operation & maintenance of public sector Programmes and projects. Educomp Solutions Limited works very closely with various Governments, Ministry of IT, Ministry of HRD, and Govt. of India in the execution of educational programs, teacher training and content development projects under the PPP model.
Assam: Winds of change
The North East is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse regions in India, comprises States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura. North East India is a region with strong natural and human resources. However, it has remained backward in the field of communications and even after 60 years of Independence, the region has a poor economy and connectivity remains a problem. While various development schemes and tools have been devised over the years, the emergence of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a tool of development across different parts of the world opens up new possibilities. It is widely accepted that the integration of modern Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) into the teaching learning process has great potential. The use of computers in High & Higher Secondary schools is basically vision as a teaching and learning aid besides to develop computer literacy amongst the children. Computer aided learning will help to make the present teaching learning process joyful, interesting and easy to understand through audio-visual aids. AMTRON on behalf of State government of Assam has moved ahead to tap these opportunities for High and Higher Secondary Schools across the state in phase manner by harnessing the potential of Information Technology to aid educational transaction to improve its quality education. The Rajiv Gandhi Computer Literacy Programme (RGLP)an innovative effort of Government of Assam in introducing computer literacy and computer aided learning in schools, was launched in the year 2003. RGCLP is a good beginning for disseminating education among rural children effectively and economically. The gap between people and information technology and education which exists due to lack of infrastructure facilities is now being bridged. Schools in the Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 3 March 2008
most rural and remote area have been turn into an informationhub under this project. Educomp Solutions Ltd. has been entrusted by the Government of Assam to implement the programme on Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis in 100 numbers of High Schools under Phase-IV across 10 districts in the state. As a part of the programme a state-of-art ultra modern computer lab is being constructed in the 100 schools wherein IT Infrastructure have been installed in one of the classrooms of the school and two Computer Faculties have also been deployed in each school. An interactive training has also been provided to all the Computer Faculties for transacting the classes covering both theory and hands-on sessions. Printed guidelines, manuals and lesson-plans have also been provided to the trainees for ready references. More than 60,000 students of Class V-X are being covered through the project. It not only contains school curriculum but each student are taken through an eventful journey of self discovery, positive relationships, and creative expression through an innovative methodology including Observation, Retention and Implementation. Educomp Solutions Ltd. has taken up the challenges in translating the dreams into reality by converting remote classrooms into an IT hub by traversing the hurdles which includes areas inhabited by ethnic tribes, militant and difficult groups. Our LABs are first in areas like remote forest in Kokrajhar [Assam-Bengal border] and in Char-reverine areas of Dhubri where in only communication is though country boats. It’s a challenge for us and we are committed in this eventful journey
Orissa: Impact of BICEP (Biju Pattaniak Computer Aided Education Project)
Educomp Solutions Ltd. has been selected by Orissa Primary Education Program Authority (OPEPA) as an implementing 31
agency to set up the Computer Lab & to provide the Multimedia Based Content CDs in Science, Mathematics, Computer Literacy and English in Oriya and provide Training to 600 teachers covering 300 Schools across the state. Kanak Manajari Devi, Asst. Teacher, Bapuji Nagar UP School, Bhubaneswar, has been instrumental in bringing a slum girl, Suneeta Digal to the school. Suneeta is severely deprived of minimum amenities of livelihood. Suneeta, although had enrolled her name in the school but happened to be irregular attending the school due to poverty and deprivation. She works as a part-time babysitter in a nearby house in terms of some food and money. Her mother works as a maidservant in the nearby household to sustain her family. Her father works as a daily laborer. Once Kanak Manjari Devi came to know that in Suneeta’s master’s house there was a computer for his children and she is allowed after her household work to see the computer being operated by her masters children. Suneeta showed her eagerness towards computers before the teacher who then clarified her that State government of Orissa has provided
Chhattisgarh: A step towards creation of Knowledge Society
The Government has expressed a strong commitment towards education for all; however in India Schedule Caste and Tribal population still lagged behind. But in order to improve the quality of economic, social and spiritual lives and coping with changes to their living standards, as well as for providing protection from exploitation. Further without appropriate levels of education opportunities are being restricted for Schedule Caste and Tribes to fulfill their collective responsibility to participate in bringing about social change. Seeing & Understanding the need to educate the SC/ ST Student Department of Tribal Welfare, SC/ST Development, Govt. of Chhattisgarh has moved ahead to provide Computer Education to the SC/ST Students to make them computer literate. Educomp Solutions Ltd. was chosen by the Government of Chhattisgarh to implement the programme on Build, Own & Operate (BOO) basis in the selected 340 Hostels across nine districts in the state.
computers to the schools under Biju Patnaik Computer Aided Education Programme (BiCEP) and the students are allowed to learn computers free of cost. Then she got interested to come to school and learn computers. Next day Suneeta came to school properly dressed and with seriousness. Then Kanak Manjari took her to the CAE lab and made her exposed to CAE, and then she became so excited that she told that it’s just like dream becoming true for a poor girl like her. Kanak Manjari Devi has taken a personal initiative to bring Suneeta back to school. Devi is very sincere and takes extra effort to make girls becoming literate as good as computer literate. 32
The project includes setting up a computer lab in each hostel across the State. The computer lab will be equipped with computer hardware, software, multimedia based educational content & teaching materials and basic facilities. A full time teacher is deployed at the respective Hostel in Hostel to guide students on the usage of computers and impart computer aided education (CAE). The programme will initiate a new learning revolution in bringing learning to life and in opening new gateways for every child. The programme aims at providing education for all round development of a child. (written based on contributions from Ibrahim Nafis, Lalatendu Mohanty, monika Talwar and Subrat Biswas) . March 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in
News INDIA Make education loans easier and faster - FM
There are good many numbers of public and private sector banks in India offering education loans to bright and deserving students for higher study in India and abroad. With a view to provide better educational facilities to bright and deserving students across the country, the Finance Minster P. Chidambaram has asked all public sector banks to clear education within 15-30 days. Chidambaram, in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, said, “As per the norms prescribed under the Model Education Loan Scheme, the banks are required to dispose of loan applications within a period of 15 days to one month.” The minister also added that banks should also institute an online system to clear such loans. In fact the facility is now provided by all major public sector banks. “The government has advised the banks to institute an on-line system of loan applications,” the minister added. Pointing out the advantages of online loan system, the minister said, “This will enable students to download the loan application form, apply online and learn the status of their loan application.”
Vacant posts in Indian universities
Based on the information furnished by University Grants Commission (UGC), there are 415 Universities/ Institutions in the country as on 31 Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 3 March 2008
December 2007 and 6,680 from which there are 1,820 teaching posts and 5,067 non-teaching posts lying vacant in Central Universities as on 31 March 2007, and 627 teaching posts lying vacant in 74 State Universities as on 1 May 2007.
social media such as blogs and social networking sites, is also mulling the e-Route to attract students. HCL plans to launch an exclusive and interactive site for campus recruits to give them an idea about the organisation’s culture.
The UGC has been directing all the central universities to fill up the vacant posts in Universities. The UGC has issued a circular to all Universities of State governments to fill up the vacant posts on regular basis as per norms of Commission since continuation of appointment of faculty in contract, part time and guest faculty on long-term basis effects the quality of education. The Central Government has already increased the age of superannuation from 62 years to 65 years in respect of teachers of Centrally Funded Technical and Higher Educational Institutions which come under the purview of Ministry of Human Resource Development, in view of acute shortage of experienced teachers. The State governments were also requested that they too may take a similar view in view of the prevailing circumstances.
Hewlett Packard Learning Solutions (HPLS) is a strategic initiative to leap into the education market aimed at becoming a one-stop-solution for all information communication and technology (ICT) needs of a school. This will include hardware, software, networking, training, maintenance and financing solution through one window.
IT companies take e-Route to attract students
Software majors are increasingly tapping the e-Route to capture mind share among students. While Cognizant has exclusive blogs and networking forums for potential hires, Wipro hosts training material on its site. HCL is also planning an exclusive forum online for its potential recruits. Corporates feel that such measures would help in sensitising the student fraternity about industry expectations and help them make a smooth transition from the campus to the corporate world. TCS’ e-initiative NextStep is complemented by an e-Learning portal that offers an opportunity to students to connect with TCS and get access to various web-based courses on software development, database management, testing, among others and offers a first level orientation to Software Engineering. HCL Technologies, which gets 5-6% of its overall hires from
HP enters education arena
HPLS will primarily dwell on two broad areas in schools — administrative and academic. Besides setting up the infrastructure, HPLS would also provide corporate support and enable identified resource persons of HP to participate in the pedagogic and administrative aspects of the programme, wherever necessary. Initially, the company will provide e-Learning solutions in Science and Maths to various Boards. Social Sciences and English will be added by April. The cost of deployment of HPLS solution can vary from INR 10 lakh to INR 18 lakh depending on the size and strength of the school. HPLS has also tied up with ICICI Bank to secure finance for schools over a three-year period. The company is targeting a 5% market share from 10,000-odd private schools in the 20 cities it has launched.
IGNOU to set up three institutes for NE States
The Indira Gandhi National Open University will set up a National Institute for Vocational Education and Training (NIVET), a Northeast Centre for Research and Development (NCRD) and an Institute for Professional Competency Advancement of Teachers (IPCAT). The NIVET will identify and develop need-based relevant vocational programmes in the region. It will facilitate trained youths in getting employment at local level and create 33
Developing tech aids for India’s disabled C-Dac, or Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, a research and development organisation headed in Pune, is developing low-cost products for the physically challenged person with limited purchasing power. C-Dac has developed a digital programmable hearing aid that, with a two-year battery life and at INR 2,000, is just one-tenth the price of the cheapest digital hearing aid in the market today. Along with the hearing aid, C-Dac has also developed an application called Shruthi, that can be used by audiologists and doctors to customise the hearing devices to the particular
market linkage to them. The institute will also conduct basic surveys on the prospects of vocational programmes. It will only operate within the eight northeast states. The university will start NCRD at Guwahati which will act as a development think tank for the entire region. It will undertake and promote research and development activities in the region. It will collaborate with government’s policy, education and development centres, NGOs, other research organisations and universities. The NCRD will also create and maintain a database and a library.
CII seeks e-Publishing courses in India
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has urged State Governments and education institutions to offer courses in e-Publishing in order to promote e-Publishing in India. According to Gopal Srinivasan, Chairman, CII-Tamil Nadu State Council, courses, which are covering aspects like langauge grammar, software, art, semantic analysis and 34
hearing characteristics of each patient. C-Dac will also look at taking these products to other third world countries in Africa. Kerala is using another of C-Dac’s tools for the visually impaired called Braille Mozhy (currently in Malayalam), an assistive device that is an integration of Braille-to-text and text-to-speech technologies. The Government-run research and development organisation Media Lab Asia is also supporting the funding and development of various assistive technologies including a screen reading software called Safa, developed in collaboration with the National Association for the Blind (NAB). Safa is available in Hindi and English, enables a visually impaired person to
lexical analysis could help aspirants enter the e-Publishing industry. According to report from research firm Valuenotes, the Indian e-Publishing industry will grow at 35% year to year to be worth USD 1.46 billion by 2010. Currently, the size of the industry is estimated at over over USD 500 million and employs about 30,000 people, most of who work out of South India. In this result, the Indian companies are planning to offer value chain from the low-end data entry and typesetting work to the high-end copy editing, content development and media services.
Distance learning for Kanpur medical students
Now the students of GSVM Medical College of Kanpur (India) can access all the important lectures of the expert professors of AIIMS and Chandigarh PGI from their own college through the distance learning facility. The state government is planning to connect these colleges online to provide better learning facilities. With colleges becoming a distance learning centres, the students will easily access the lectures by the expert professors from the top medical colleges like AIIMS, Lucknow and Chandigarh. The on-line learning
operate a computer using speech output and has been worked on by developers some of whom are blind. Media Lab Asia is providing funds of INR 45 lakh for three years for the project. Even BarrierBreak Technologies, with current revenues of INR1.18 crore, is entering the market for products aimed at the physically challenged with the launch of a screen reader with English and Hindi versions. The product belongs to an Ireland company called Dolphin Computer Access, and will be customised and distributed in India by BarrierBreak. The Indian company plans to launch the products at 50-55% less than international sticker prices of around USD 1,000 (INR 39,700).
programme will also help them in accessing the lectures of foreign experts.
IT recruitment from IIT slows
Firms like IBM, HCL, Hughes Software and CSC opted out of placements this year and hiring by firms like India’s largest IT services provider Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and Wipro has dropped. Confirming the trend, a placement official from IIT Roorkee said, “While many companies say they have a particular number in mind and would recruit likewise, our alumni network at these companies informs us that these IT giants are exercising restraint in recruiting trainees due to a slowdown.” Recruitment by IT companies at IIT Kanpur has gone down from 130 students in 2007 to 72 in 2008. With the US slowdown and rupee appreciating against the dollar for most of 2007-08, IT firms are under tremendous pressure to manage margins and costs. The companies, however, maintain with the boom in other sectors like investment banking and retail, and the urge to be entrepreneurs, IT firms are left with little option but to reduce their hiring from these institutes. March 2008 | www.digitalLEARNING.in
nt e pm o l e a dev gend a
Key To ICTs In Education Is Human-ware, Not Software www.worldbank.org
What is the World Bank’s mission for education in India? What does it want to do in technology-induced education? The World Bank’s mission for education in India is multi-layered. In terms of elementary education, our objective is to assist the Government of India in the attainment of Education For All and the Millennium Development Goals, which means all children (both boys and girls) completing at least six years of primary schooling. We do this through our technical and financial support for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan programme. At the secondary education level, our goal is to assist the states and Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) to prepare new investment programmes to expand access and improve the quality of learning at the secondary level (for example, through use of technology to improve learning in Maths, Sciences, Social Sciences). We do not currently provide financial assistance to the secondary level, but that may change if the Government of India requests our support. Beyond secondary education, our objective is to help address the skills shortage in India, which is a constraint on inclusive growth. We do this through our support for the USD 280 million Vocational Education and Training Improvement Project and the USD 250 million Technical/Engineering Quality Improvement Project. In terms of technology-induced education, the World Bank hopes to provide useful technical assistance in planning and implementing educational programmes which integrate the use of technology, based on our knowledge Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 3 March 2008
Sam Carlson
Sam Carlson is Lead Education Specialist for the World Bank in India. After teaching in Asia and the USA for several years he undertook graduate studies at Princeton University, he joined the World Bank. Assignments include education project preparation and implementation in Latin America, Africa, East Asia and South Asia, along with research in educational technology, secondary and higher education. In 1998 Sam started World Links, a programme which links secondary schools around the world via the Internet for online collaborative project-based learning (www.world-links.org). In terms of technology-induced education, the World Bank hopes to provide useful technical assistance in planning and implementing educational programmes which integrate the use of technology, Sam says.
of other countries’ experiences around the world. The Bank hopes to ensure that the focus of technology-induced education remains on students’ learning and skill development, rather than on procurement and installation of thousands of computers in schools. Technology can promote development of higher-order information reasoning skills, problem-solving skills, cross-cultural collaboration and communication skills, and technological skills, all of which are demanded in the labor market linked to the global knowledge economy. But these skills are simply not measured by secondarylevel board examinations, which in India’s extremely competitive education system are the obsession of parents and schools alike. The risk here is that the knowledge and skills enabled by technology which can help Indian youth succeed in life may not be measured or valued by parents or teachers, such that there will be underinvestment in the key areas needed to make technology useful in Indian schools. What is the impact of the World Bank on access, learning outcomes and reducing skills shortages in India? The World Bank’s impact on access, learning outcomes and skills development cannot be measured independently of the impact achieved by state departments of education and MHRD in the implementation of their projects and programs. For example, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan has had a huge impact on expanding access to elementary education, enrolling more than 15 million children who were out of school. This was achieved primarily through the efforts of the central and state governments, which the World 35
Bank has been privileged to support. In terms of impact on learning outcomes, both MHRD and independent assessments (such as Pratham’s ASER 2007 Report) show improvement over earlier baseline assessments, but there is still a very long way to go. SSA is increasingly focused on this important aspect, as the access issue becomes less acute. With respect to addressing skills shortages, our support to vocational and technical education has increased the numbers of graduates from these levels of education and, more importantly, improved their employability. For example, the placement rate of technical education graduates increased from 38% in 2003 to 65% in 2007, with a doubling of average starting salaries. According to you, what are the challenges faced at different stages of education in India? As mentioned earlier, at the elementary level, the challenges are (i) to reach the hardest to reach children who are still out of school and get them enrolled, and (ii) to improve the quality of learning so that enrollment means something in terms of acquisition of cognitive skills. At the secondary level, the challenges are to expand access (a gross enrollment rate of just 40% is far below where India should be, relative to labor market and household demand, and relative to its GDP per capita) and improve quality at the same time. At the technical and higher education levels, there are major challenges in terms of institutional and governance
The World Bank hopes to ensure that the focus of technology-induced education remains on students’ learning and skill development, rather than on procurement and installation of thousands of computers in schools by the state departments of education (for example, massive recruitment of new teachers in Bihar). We also support institutional strengthening of the Department of Education in Karnataka, and targeted investments in primary education in Rajasthan. Our vocational and technical education projects are implemented at the state level, nationwide, so that ultimately we are engaged with all the states. What defines a successful Policy in ICT in Education? How do you review the formulation and implementation of educational policies and practices in the country with special reference to ICT? A successful policy in ICT in education is one which provides a vision and medium-term strategic framework for the expanded use of ICTs in Indian schools to improve student learning in all subjects and to enhance the development of ICT-specific skills which are essential for both future employment and lifelong learning. Such a policy must embrace all the key ICT components: hardware, software, electronic content, teacher professional development, promotion of learnercentered instruction, assessment, technical support, investment and recurrent financing needs. In addition,
Seeing happy, healthy children who are learning in school, whatever the level, is one of life’s great rewards reform; the sub-sector is over-regulated and under-governed and the twin challenges of increasing access and improving quality are also there. Outline World Bank’s engagement in Indian education at the State level. In addition to support at the Government of India level, the World Bank supports education through Development Policy Loans in Orissa and Bihar, where specific reforms are being undertaken 36
the policy should tap the respective comparative advantages of different players in the public and private sectors, so that all knowledge and resources which can be brought to bear can be integrated. Typically, the temptation is to over-focus on the rollout of technology hardware to schools and to declare victory in the integration of ICTs into education long before it is a reality. The real key to
ICTs in education is the ‘human-ware,’ not the hardware or software, because it is extent and nature of the use (or nonuse) of ICTs by teachers and students which will determine the success of investing in ICTs in education. Experience from many countries over the past 15 years suggests this aspect is often not given sufficient attention; India would be wise to avoid this mistake. What is the World Bank’s educational vision for the year 2012? How do you plan to take forward this vision? What is your personal agenda? The World Bank’s educational vision for 2012 is consistent with its mission, already described above. We hope by 2012 all children aged 6-14 are enrolled in school and demonstrating knowledge and skills appropriate for their grade level. We envision that secondary education will be accessible to all children completing grade 8, regardless of their household income level, gender, or social category, and that secondary students will be able to demonstrate acceptable learning levels on both national and international achievement assessments. For those youth continuing on to vocational and technical education, we envision that by the year 2012 at least 90% of them will secure good jobs upon graduation, which support the country’s economic and social development. In terms of my personal agenda, I can think of no better job in the world than assisting the central and state governments of India to make these visions a reality. To do that I intend to keep listening, observing, learning and seeking opportunities to share what I know from nearly 20 years of international experience in education with the World Bank. Ultimately, seeing happy, healthy children who are learning in school, whatever the level, is one of life’s great rewards. March 2008 | www.digitalLEARNING.in
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News ASIA Japan grants USD13 million for enhancing literacy in Afghanistan Japan’s aid package will be delivered through UNESCO for enhancing literacy within the framework of the Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE) which was launched by the Director-General of UNESCO in 2005 as a global framework to support the developing countries to promote literacy towards the realisation of Education for All (EFA).
LIFE is officially adopted in Afghanistan as a national literacy framework which offers a platform for all the literacy players to plan and implement their respective activities in a harmonised manner to collectively achieve the National Education Strategic Plan (NESP) literacy goals. Funded by the Japanese Government, LIFE will provide actual literacy learning to the 6,00,000 illiterate youth and adults especially women in 18 selected provinces in Afghanistan. In order to tackle the enormous literacy challenges, to date LIFE has already put in place in the county by organising the LIFE coordination working group with the initiative of Literacy Department of the Ministry of Education and UNESCO.
Channel (NGC) Asia and Wiseman Education kicked off the Think Again Documentary Making Competition 2008 in Hong Kong. 1,000 students, forming over 200 teams, have signed up for this year’s competition. The organisers received responses from almost 40 teams sent forth by schools in Shenzhen and Suzhou, China, in addition to the local and international schools submissions in Hong Kong.
become more globalized. Only 6% said the method would reduce spending on private education.
The themes for the competition this year include science and technology, among others. The aim is to challenge students’ language, thinking and analytical skills, presentation, as well as cinematography and editing techniques.
However, 75% of respondents said they prefer such classes to be limited to the English subject. About 18% said they do not want these classes at all, while only 3% said all classes should be taught in English.
Korean parents support English-only classes
Those against the English-only classes said they are concerned with the teachers’ capabilities of teaching solely in English and they are also doubtful as to whether the teaching material would be sufficient for the students. A mere 5 % said all classes should be run in Korean as it could result in students experiencing identity crises and also cause a decrease in the use of the Korean language.
According to Korean online education site Topia Education, 61% of 624 parents with children currently in middle school said they support having English-only classes, while 31% opposed it. The majority said such classes will help their children learn English more effectively, which could also help them
Where does Bangladesh stand in achieving the Education for All Goals by 2015!
study carried out by the World Bank on the status of Bangladesh in terms of achieving the EFA Goals, was shared with a number of key stakeholders. The study also offers some policy options to accelerate achievement of the EFA Goals. The Government’s National Plan of Action for Education for All (2002-2015) embraced all the EFA goals of making education compulsory, accessible and inclusive.
Since 2001, Japan has contributed a total of USD 3.2 million for ‘Safeguarding Bamiyan Cultural Heritage Site’ and a total of US$ 500 thousand for ‘LAND Afghan literacy project’ to UNESCO in Afghanistan, in support to these activities.
NGC student documentary competition in Hong Kong With support from the Hong Kong Education and Manpower Bureau and Hong Kong Parents Teachers Association, National Geographic 38
Bangladesh is likely to meet the adult literacy target by 2015 if the national literacy rate increases at the current rate of 3% per annum. At a workshop organised in Dhaka on 13 February 2008, the results of a
The policy note reports low levels of learning achievement, poor literacy and numeric skills of primary school graduates. The progress in the quality of school is more difficult to assess because of the lack of systematic assessment and monitoring of learning achievement results, the study observed. March 2008 | www.digitalLEARNING.in
Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JN V) Mungeshpur
After All, It Is Difficult To Teach A Teacher Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti is an autonomous body that was set up to establish and manage fully residential co-educational schools (one in each district in the country) known as Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNV). Education in JNVs is free for all enrolled students, including lodging, boarding, textbooks, uniforms, etc.
School Track
One of the first to integrate technology, NVS has actual grassroots experience in the integration of technology in education. In 1999, NVS and Intel started a joint initiative launched by the Department of Education, Ministry of HRD, Government of India. Since then, Intel has three ongoing programmes running, the Intel Teach curriculum, the Intel Initiative for Research and Innovation in Science (IRIS) and the Intel Learn curriculum. Digital Learning spoke to Mamta Sharma, the Vice Principal of JNV, Mungeshpur, who talks above the Intel-NVS collaboration and the digital opportunities in the school.
Power School How do you view the changes in the integration of ICT in school education? Officers came, the entire vision changed, the priorities change. Every person has their own vision and mission. ICT, once meant just the procurement of computers, now changed to not just the presense of computers, but also how much you are able to use these computers - ‘usage’ model. NVS believes that ICT integration means how you can most effectively use computers, how to effectively utilise the resources that we have, and how to benefit the community around! NVS has changed the definition of ICT integration with changes in the overall scenario. Writing a speech or presentation is not an end. Delivering it is an end, reaching out to the needy ones is another end to which the presentation itself is just a ‘means.’ We also have project-based learning, where we have moved out of the textbooks, towards inquiry and how to search for solutions to a problem, making connections to real life. Real life connections would really mean, Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 3 March 2008
design activities in such a manner that meet the learning needs of the students, connect to the world outside of the classroom, and include meaningful tasks or projects that in How do you integrate the given curriculum with ICT? The steps to integrate technology into the curriculum starts right from the day our teachers get training on professional development curriculum of Intel. They learn to use technology into their curriculum, practice student-centric approaches. These teachers then train other colleagues on the same curriculum. The teachers then plan multidisciplinary lesson plans that not only promote judicious use of teachnology but also engae students into meaningful and authentic real life activities.
perspective has become larger with Art teachers and Language teachers. So there is a lot of scaling-up that has happened since. I’ll give you an example, earlier when it came to teaching the science curricula, topics such as ‘the universe’ and ‘pollution’ were always there. Today, there are more sensitive issues that have been included. ‘Women empowerment’ using examples of women in different careers, etc, was a nice project that was done earlier. So teachers are also looking beyond the textbook. How do you evaluate teacher training? We don’t really evaluate teachers, but it is the programme that is evaluated in terms of how far we have reached? The issues faced by teachers are usually similar, just their proficiency levels in terms of ICT varies and they usually need brushing up of their technical skills. Regarding pedagogy,
How the scope of ICT in education changed? Earlier the teachers who would go for training on ICT integration were usually Maths or Science teachers. Now the
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most teachers are good in NVS and now thankfully, most of them are also on par with technology. The training has components to gauge teacher ability in a peer-based evaluative environment, called ‘Showcasing.’ After Showcasing, teachers get time to revisit their projects and make changes and that is the necessary feedback in terms of evaluation. After all, it is difficult to teach a teacher. But we still have to evaluate the teachers, which we do through showcasing and areas of improvement are suggested. So there are two aspects to teachers’ training. Firstly, as a teacher, they plan the lesson involving project based learning and integrating technology judiciously. Secondly, as student, they make student samples that highlight the higher order thinking skills imbibed by students while doing projects. What is the community involvement of your school? The Intel Learn programme has a component called ‘Pacesetting’ of MHRD under which we provide opportunity to children of neighbouring schools that might not have computers or infrastructure. In addition to developing IT skills in the laerners, the Intel Learn Programme inculcates necessary skills for the 21st century like collaboration skills and problem solving abilities. The curriculum is especially designed to also develop presentation and communication skills, basic skills which repair students for the workplaces of tomorrow. These students come to the Vidyalaya for a 15-day programme
40
as they learn a curriculum called Technology. Using a project based approach, the curriculum activities and projects, demonstrate to learners how technology can contribute to and help improve their communities and variety of jobs respectively. Learners not only develop new technology skills and learn about their communities and various professions, the develop critical thinking skills as they collaborate to collect information, analyse that information, and finally, present it to their fellow students, teachers and other special guest from or outside their schools. How is the ICT component built into the syllabus? About 20% of the CBSE syllabus has to be taught through ICT wherein they have to bring projects connecting to real-life scenarios, catering to problem-solving skills, developing critical thinking and how to take typical topics and explain those which are difficult to explain in class, such as photosynthesis (Biology), chemical-bonding (Chemistry), etc, these can be easily explained using computers. The students are also motivated by the audio-visual aspect of the lesson. The student can actually see things that would not be possible to be observed otherwise. Using a computer-made presentation, such abstract concepts can be easily taught. What other challenges did you face in integrating ICT? Like I mentioned earlier, 20% of the syllabus in all subjects and all classes has to be taught using ICT, except
for third language. According to the demand from students and their teachers, I feel we need more periods. I also feel that we need to have computers in every classroom. Currently we do loose a little time when students move to the Smart classrooms or the computer room. We also need to increase our infrastructure in terms of adding more computer rooms, projectors. Thankfully there is very little preparation time that is required from teachers, and they can simply teach from the CD and intervene where ever they feel they need to influence the course of the class. However, the integration of the ICT component of the syllabus and the rest of the standard curriculum needs some work in terms of updating the content. What changes have you seen since ICT first entered the scene? We have started maintaining all our schools records on computers. All teacher records like marks, report cards, etc. In this each teacher enters their data into an Excel sheet. Say, if we want to take a comparative look at any student’s marks in the month of August, July and December, then these can be displayed together for analysis. Earlier we had to shuffle through sheets of paper to see the same information. Now the information has been fed into the computer and can be called up in a matter of mouse-clicks, plus the fact that I can view any student’s performance on the computer in my office itself. School administration records are also maintained on the computers itself.
March 2008 | www.digitalLearning.in
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Technology In Education Awards 2007
Intel India And NVS Honour
Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) with support from Intel, conducted a state level joint competition and received 277 entries from schools, teachers and students across the country. As a part of the award ceremony, where the winning teachers and students were recognized for their successful and innovative integration of technology in classrooms, the winners showcased their projects and shared their experiences with the audience.
Schools, Teachers, And Students
An elite panel of judges evaluated the entries and after three stages of screening, selected 15 winners across four categories. Intel Teach Program and Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti jointly organise contest for ‘Best Integration of Technology in Education’ every year. The joint contest aspires to acknowledge the best practices of technology integration in classrooms. The awards are presented
18 February 2008, New Delhi, India to the teachers, students and schools who have enhanced learning by effectively and innovatively integrating technology supported project-based learning into the curriculum, and thereby promoting inquiry-based and collaborative learning. Intel India works with teachers of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas to help them integrate technology in their lessons to captivate, inspire and empower students with 21st century learning skills. In an effort to motivate teachers and students, and acknowledge many novel attempts made to integrate technology in education. The event was attended by A.K. Rath, Secretary,
On Dias: Secretary, Dept. of School Education & Literacy, MHRD, Commissioner-NVS, and Director Corporate Affairs, Intel (South Asia)
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Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of HRD, Government of India, O.N. Singh, Commissioner, NVS, senior officials from various regions of NVS, representatives from NCERT and NUEPA, principals, teachers and students from JNVs, eminent educationists and the Intel team. The event began with the showcasing of the projects by the winning students and teachers. The winners shared an overview about their project, highlighted the measures taken by them to tackle the stated problem and the innovative use of technology in making the project successful. Principals from winning schools also shared the strategies and innovative ideas adapted to effectively integrate ICT in their institutions. The welcome address was made by TCS Naidu, Dy. Commissioner, Academics, NVS. He made special mention of the JNV students winning accolades at Intel Science and Education Fair and also at MHRD, Computer Literacy Awards. According to Rahul Bedi, Director, Corporate Affairs, Intel (South Asia), who also addressed the gathering, “Under our World Ahead Program, we are working to improve education by preparing teachers and students for success in 21st century. Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti shares our vision and has been a valuable and enthusiastic partner. Through our nine years of partnership, we have tried to find new ways to use technology to address critical learning issues so that students in March 2008 | www.digitalLEARNING.in
India are geared for a better future.” He also highlighted the need for the 21st century skills in today’s knowledge-based economy and released an audio-visual on Intel and NVS partnership. ON Singh, Commissioner NVS congratulated the winners and shared that it was indeed a proud moment for NVS. Speaking of the long and fruitful partnership between NVS and Intel, he said, “Our partnership with Intel has been very successful as we have helped students and teachers to incorporate technology in classrooms and open new avenues of education for them. We hope to work together in the future, to take this initiative to greater heights.” He also stressed on the fact that teachers are need to be proficient in technology and mentioned that the JNVs bagged the maximum awards at the 4th Computer Literacy Excellence awards 2005 among the Government Schools categoryone more feather in the cap. Further, he presented the Pace Setting Report to the Chief Guest, A K Rath. The reports highlights the efforts made through Intel Learn Programme to develope technology skills, critical thinking and collaboration skills in children from rural communities with little or no access to technology. The winners of the Annual Contest 2007 were felicitated by the Mr Rath who addressed the gathering after the awards were given, “NVS schools are like beacon in rural areas. Nobody would have thought of these kind of schools 20 to 30 years back.” He also added that under the 11th five year plan, the number of JNVS across the country would be doubled and the allocation of funds to the Universalisation of Education would also be increased. He also said, “In the pyramid of education we find our base to be very weak. There is a need for good Science and Maths teachers
Technology in classrooms: Students showcase winning project Digital Learning | Vol 4 Issue 3 March 2008
Intel Teach Programme - NVS 2007 Contest winners Region category • Hyderabad • Jaipur School category School JNV, Kommadi JNV, Mettakur Reddy JNV, Mundali JNV Mungeshpur
• Bhopal
District Vishakapatnam Yanam Cuttack Delhi
Teacher category School Teacher name JNV Panchwati Y. Ramprasad JNV, Kommadi G.V. S. Nageswara Rao JNV, Gajanur Ramachandra Deshpande JNV, Kiltampalem R.V. Raghavendra Rao Student category School Student name JNV Barginagar Arti Sen JNV Kagal Omkar Zirange, Shubham Chaudhary JNV Goshala Anwesha Satapathy, Devi Prasad Behera JNV Bhupdevpur Vaibhav Khare, Vijay Suman and also the need of one secondary school within a radius of seven km.” He also congratulated the successful partnership of Intel and NVS and said, “I compliment Intel, specially their CSR division for their very bold initiatives of integrating ICT in Education. They are not only providing quality training but also promoting science and mathematics in a big way thus paving way for knowledge based economy.” The programme culminated with Anshul Sonak, thanking NVS for their belief in Intel. He also mentioned about the representation of the JNV students in IRIS which gave Intel a lot of confidence. 43
News WORLD UK University dropout steady at 22%
An drive to reduce the number of university dropouts has had no effect, according to a report from a committee of MPs. The proportion of students who fail to complete their degree has remained at 22% for five years. Edward Leigh MP, chairman of the committee, said, “Five years from our last report on student retention the percentage of students dropping out has not budged from 22%. This is despite some £800m being paid to universities over the same period to help retain students most likely to withdraw from courses early.” Poorer students, older students, disabled students and those with families – non-traditional students the government is keen to attract – are more likely to drop out. In 2005, St George’s hospital medical school, Oxford University, the Royal Veterinary College, Warwick and Bristol universities had below 3% drop out rates. ‘For universities with consistently low retention rates the funding council’s regional teams should agree specific improvement plans,’ the committee’s report says, citing personal difficulties, dissatisfaction with courses and financial pressure as reasons why students drop out.
A third of teachers ‘struggle with technology’: study A third of teachers struggle to use the technology schools are equipped with and want more support and training, according to the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), U.K. NFER’s first Teacher Voice Omnibus Survey (TVOS), which was completed by about 1,000 teachers, including heads and newly qualified classroom teachers, shows widespread use of information technology 44
in schools 80% said it had made a difference to the way they teach. But a ‘sizeable minority’ (33%) felt they lacked the necessary skills to exploit the technology available to them and needed more support and information to integrate information and communication technology (ICT) in lessons, NFER found. However, NFER said when compared to research conducted in 2004, the findings suggest that teacher competence in using ICT has improved overall. Two thirds (67%) said they had the ICT skills to exploit the technology available to them and 62% said ICT helps to raise pupil attainment. Teachers also said ICT leadership in schools could be improved. Just 27% of respondents felt that the leadership of ICT pedagogy in their school was inspirational and only 44% said that their school is innovative in its use of ICT.
Czech science award for school students
The Czech company Ceska Hlava, in collaboration with the Czech Senate and the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, has launched a competition for secondary school students. Entitled ‘Innovating Minds - Czech Awards for Young Europeans’, the natural sciences and technology competition is open to all European students up to 19 years of age. The prize will be awarded in five categories: information and communication technology (ICT), health and quality of life, environment, product and technology innovations and design and architecture. Applicants must submit their project synopsis online, including an independent expert’s review provided, for instance, by a science teacher. The applications for the Innovating Minds Award 2008 have to be submitted before 10 September. The award ceremony will then be held in October 2008 in Prague. An international jury will select the winners in each category. The jury is made up of scientists, politicians and experts from industry.
Roll up for the Eddies
The results are in for this year’s Edublog awards (‘Eddies’ for short), an online event that showcases the best use of blogs, podcasting and other social software in education. Now into their fourth year, the 2007 Edublog awards saw more than 500 nominations in 14 categories, including new additions such as ‘best educational use of a virtual world.’ Edubloggers: Roll of honour • Best educational use of a virtual world Suffern middle school in Second Life: rampoislands.blogspot.com • Best educational use of a social networking service Classroom 2.0: www.classroom20.com • Best educational wiki Welker’s Wikinomics: welkerswikinomics. wetpaint.com • Best educational use of video/visual RBG Street Scholars Think Tank Multi-Media • Best e-zine: rbg-street-scholarmulti-media-e-zine.blogspot.com • Best educational use of audio SmartBoard Lessons Podcast: pdtogo.com/smart • Best elearning/corporate education blog eLearning Technology: elearningtech.blogspot.com • Best educational tech support blog El tinglado: tinglado.net • Best librarian/library blog A Library By Any Other Name: alibraryisalibrary.blogspot.com • Best teacher blog The tempered radical: teacherleaders.typepad. com/the_tempered_radical • Most influential blog post Is It Okay To Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher? thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2007/09/ is-it-okay-to-be-technologically. html • Best resource sharing blog TipLine - Gates’ Computer Tips: tipline.blogspot.com • Best new blog dy/dan: blog.mrmeyer.com • Best group blog Techlearning blog: www.techlearning.com/blog • Best individual blog ScienceRol: scienceroll.com March 2008 | www.digitalLEARNING.in
Mark Your Calendar march 16th Convergence India 2008 19-21 March 2008 New Delhi, India www.convergenceindia.org/ci2k8-participants-list.html
The 2008 International Conference on e-Education 27-29 March 2008 Bangkok, Thailand http://www.e-case.org/e-Education2008/
Intl. Conference on Quality Enhancement in Educational Communication 29-30 March 2008 Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India http://bdu.ac.in
2nd International Computer & Instructional Technologies Symposium 16-18 April 2008 Izmir, Turkey www.icits.org
Third International Conference on Interactive Mobile and Computer Aided Learning, IMCL2008 16-18 April 2008 Amman, Jordan http://www.imcl-conference.org
International Conference on Open and Distance Education ICODE’08 25-27 April 2008 Rome, Italy http://wahss.org/
International Conference Of Educational Technology ICOET2008 3-5 March 2008 Muscat, The Capital, Oman http://www.icoet,.com
april Strategic Marketing for Higher Education Providers Conference & Workshop (Hong Kong Venue) 7-9 April 2008 Causeway Bay, Hong Kong www.conferences.com.sg/conf-em.htm
The International Conference on Technology, Communication and Education (i-TCE2008) 7-9 April 2008 Kuwait http://www.i-tce.org
Blended Learning Conference 9-11 April 2008 Sydney, NSW, Australia www.liquidlearning.com.au
TCC 2008 Worldwide Online Conference 15-17 April 2008 Online http://tcc.kcc.hawaii.edu Digital Learning | Vol 3 Issue 5 May 2007
may Sloan-C International Symposium on Emerging Technology Applications for Online Learning 7-9 May 2008 Carefree, Arizona United States
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13th International Conference on Education 20-23 May 2008 Brunei Darussalam, Brunei Darussalam www.ubd.edu.bn/news/conferences/webice08/ index.htm
TL2008 - Teaching and Learning 2008 26-28 May 2008 Aveiro, Portugal www.iask-web.org/tl08/tl2008.html
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digital Learning invites authors We invite editorial contributions from our readers in the field of Digital Learning. While no guarantee is made or implied, we will make every effort to incorporate all views and experiences in the relevant issues so as to better serve the ICT and Education community at large. Note that contributions may be edited for space and/or clarity. Unconsolidated manuscripts and artwork will not be returned. Please be sure to read and follow the Editorial Guidelines available at http://www.digitallearning.in/editorial.asp All correspondence should be addressed to: The Editor, Digital Learning G-4, Sector-39, Noida, India Tel +91-120-2502180 to 85 46 Fax +91-120-2500060
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