DL may 2012 issue

Asia’s premier Monthly Magazine on ICT in Education

volume 8

I issue 05 I MAY 2012 I ISSN 0973-4139 I ` 75

www.digitalLearning.in

Higher Education in India

AICTE

Issues, Challenges and opportunities

Cover Feature p-12

Inside

J S Saharia, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of School Education, Government of Maharashtra

Dr Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, Chancellor, TERI University

Sushma Berlia, President, APEEJay stya Group

Anand Sudarshan, Managing Director & CEO, Manipal Education Services

Guest Editor Prof. SS Mantha Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)

ORGANISERS

CO-ORGANISERS & partners

23 - 24 July 2012, Le Méridien, New Delhi

Conclave of Global Leaders in Education Programme chair

Prof. SS Mantha Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)

Programme co-chair

Prof V S Ramamurthy Director, National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS)

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Speakers at 2012

The Honourable Dr Vasant Kumar Bunwaree Minister of Education, Ministry of Education and Human Resources, Mauritius

Smt Vibha Puri Das Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development

Dr Akshai Aggarwal Prof Rameshwer Rao Vice Chancellor, Gujarat Vice-Chancellor, Technological University Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University

H E Prasad Kariyawasam High Commissioner for Sri Lanka to India

Dr Vandana Lulla Director, Podar International School

leaders gracing the World education summit 2011

Dr A P J Abdul Kalam Former President of India

Silver Sponsor

Shri Kapil Sibal Hon’ble Minster of Human Resource Development and Communications and IT Government of India

Dr N Jadhav Member, Planning Commission, Government of India

Loynpo Thakur Singh Powdyel Hon’ble Minister of Education Thimphu, Bhutan

ExhibitorS

www.worldeducationsummit.net

Dr Taseer Al Nuaimi Hon’ble Minister of Education, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

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Contents

ISSN 0973-4139

volume 08 issue 05 may 2012

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Cover story

The Scenario for Higher Education in India Issues, Challenges and New Opportunities ACADEMIA SPEAK

in conversation

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Prof S K Sopory, Vice Chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru University

30 Rajeev Shorey, President, NIIT University

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Dilip K Bandyopadhyay, Vice Chancellor

38 Dr Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, Chancellor, TERI University

18 Sushma Berlia, President, Apeejay Stya group 20 Anand Sudarshan, Managing Director & CEO, Manipal Education Services 22 Dr Darlie O Koshy, Director General IAM & ATDC, Apparel Export Promotion Councile 24 Prof Ranbir Singh, Vice Chancellor, National Law University, Dwarka 26 Dr Anup K Singh, Director, Jaipuria Institute of Management 28 Dr D K Modi, FounderChairperson (Chancellor) 29 Dr S C Jain, Vice Chancellor, Mangalayatan University

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Opinion

56 Sujit Bhattacharya, Director, Indus World School

Tech Focus 42 Shaji Thomas, Executive Director (Business Development), Entab Infotech Pvt Ltd

32 Technology Platforms for Open Ended Learning

44 Rajendra CM, Managing Director, Asia Pacific & EMEA, Talisma Corporation

POLICY MATTER

46 Karan Garg, MD, IFW Techno Creations Pvt Ltd

34 J S Saharia, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of School Education, Government of Maharashtra

corporate diary

50 On its Second Anniversary, RTE Inspires a New Round of Debates

perspective

By Prof C Shanath Kumar

52 Dr Vandana Lulla, Director and Principal, Podar International School, Mumbai 54 Amol Arora, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Shemrock & Shemford Group of Schools

48 Vinod P John, Senior Director (Sales), Ellucian

60 Social Media in Education

By Anand Agarwal and Ishvinder Singh, Elets News Network (ENN)

news 37 Policy 66 Corporate

asia’s first monthly magazine on The Enterprise of Healthcare Volume

08

Issue 05

May 2012

President: Dr M P Narayanan

Partner publications

Editor-in-Chief: Dr Ravi Gupta c onsulting editor: Ashis Sanyal Editorial Team

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www.digitalLEARNING.in | www.egovonline.net | www.ehealthonline.org Write in your reactions to Education news, interviews, features and articles. You can either comment on the individual webpage of a story, or drop us a mail: editorial@elets.in

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guest editorial

Technical Education in the New World Order As a Nation of more than a billion people, we need to count in the global arena. One of our great strengths is our creativity and a passion to develop innovations and technologies that can pitchfork us into a new era. Globalisation has both helped communities to grow and also be in conflict. Past twenty five years have been marked by profound technological changes as proposed by Thomas Friedman in The World is Flat.

This era has seen unprecedented educational expansion and scientific discovery and helped create a whole new world.

Education is at the core of responding to challenges and opportunities. Even as we tackle the immediate numbers crisis, the economic crisis, the slowdown crisis, our long-term competitiveness and ability to deal with global challenges of self preservation and growth requires citizens prepared for the interconnected world of the 21st century.

Our goals for the Nation must therefore include ensuring that every student has access to a world - class education at affordable terms and that which produces an internationally competent workforce and informed citizenry.

Technical Education in this country is on a growth path. With more than 8000 Institutes in the Degree Sector, 2500 in the Polytechnic sector, and more than 1.5 million seats at the entry level in the degree stream, 0.5 million in the polytechnic stream, we have one of the largest Technical education systems in the world. A host of ITI’s in every State also cater to vocational education.

Today, a student who wishes to get into a technical education program can do so. A few problems like finding the finances can be facilitated through a good student loan model. The Government’s model of providing the same through setting up of a finance corporation is laudable in this context.

However the near total inclusivity has also put undue and tremendous pressure on the system to respond to the new expectations like finding suitable teaching faculty in all these Institutes, retaining them over long periods of time, providing them a facilitating mechanism to grow amongst their peers, an enabling mechanism to prosper in the societal expectations, and a suitable placement for almost 1.5 million youngsters graduating from our Institutes every year. It would also be worthwhile here to note that a student with 50 percent minimum eligibility at the qualifying examination also gets into this system along with the student at the top of the ladder. A teacher’s role here assumes tremendous significance in this context. However, unfortunately a normalisation of the process caters to common denominator and hence a fall in standards.

Our examination systems, being what they are, will also cater to common denominator that only aid in propagating more mediocrity in a system that is already mediocre. We know that mediocrity breeds only more mediocrity. A university professor once set an examination question in which he asked “what is the difference between ignorance and apathy”. The professor had to give an A+ to a student who answered: I don’t know and I don’t care.

Hence we have a system that is extremely difficult to be high on quality metrics.

The industry would obviously employ the best of the lot. In the absence of an industry profile, the available job market in absolute numbers, and the available graduates, the mapping would always be incongruous.

New institutes, programs and new courses are all based on perception and whims of a few entrepreneurs, who prefer to set up institutes in the areas they choose with scant regard to the demographic needs, probably to raise their social status - however much that perception may be flawed. The affiliating universities and the State Governments do not help the cause by not preparing the perspective plans for the regions in their jurisdiction. This results in a highly skewed growth of technical education with

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guest editorial

no bearing on either industry needs or that of the country’s needs. Finding a good faculty in this scenario is a challenge since a teacher’s role in the growth of education and standards for the same cannot be overemphasised.

For almost a decade, as part of the several expert committees, I have visited various campuses of professional colleges in different parts of the country. Most of them, unfortunately, don’t have the environment that motivates the faculty to do research. Unless the quality of research and knowledge created is of a high order, a paper can’t be published in a top-ranking journal or get good citations. To write such a paper, faculty members will have to update themselves by reading about new developments in their area and interacting with the industry. This ensures they don’t teach outdated stuff. Research is a philosophy and a religion. It possibly cannot be thrust on an Institution and its faculty. Enormous funding is required, facilities created and a research ambience provided so that the teachers with research aptitude thrive. In the ultimate analysis “An educational system isn’t worth a great deal if it teaches young people how to make a living but doesn’t teach them how to make a life.” Mathematicians have sought knowledge in figures, Philosophers in systems, Logicians in subtleties, and Metaphysicians in sounds. It is not in any, nor in all of these. One who studies only men will get the body of knowledge without the soul, and he that studies only books, the soul without the body.

We need to realise the difference between an Institute that does teaching and also does research and an Institute that does research and also does teaching.

Institutes in order to be world leaders have a responsibility to create new knowledge. For this, they need to invest in faculty.

This means providing them with supporting infrastructure and having a sufficient faculty development budget.

Investigations have revealed that many faculty members are experiencing dissatisfaction in their work environments and are typically becoming more dissatisfied over time. A longitudinal study by Sorcinelli (1994), for example, found 33% of new faculty in their first year reported being very stressed. This percentage rose to 49 percent in year two, and went to 71% in year five.

A new PhD faculty or someone who has worked in industry, a new faculty member at a university is faced with balancing many different issues. The new faculty member must learn the procedures at the Institution, university, teach their classes, and get their research program up and running. This could be a challenge. Orientation programs help but only so.

The strength and character of undergraduate programs in Technology is in mathematics, physics and the various fields of science which will be recognized as primary indicators of the quality of a college or university. Hence making requisite capital investments in faculty and facilities are essential steps to achieving institutional distinction.

A very important aspect here is also the exposure to international practices that a faculty gets. Internationalisation plans are critical for good faculty development. In the face of general concerns about research grants, endowments, regional and international partnerships, it is critical that institutions take time to reflect on the job faculty have at hand, that of teaching and learning. We need to realise that faculty is the strength of an institution, its face to the world that projects its academic face and eventually the incremental value addition that it does to the intelligent quotient of the universe. All available studies have shown that any investment that is made in faculty in particular and education in general has not done any harm to any country’s image but has only enhanced the same in the comity of nations.

Finally world class education should lead to skills for all so that the recipient becomes employable. Competency based skill modules that are seamlessly built into formal education as is done within the NVEQF, that provide high order skills along with a Degree or a Diploma is the new mantra that we should follow. This new paradigm would provide enhanced employability along with an increased GER. As Anne Sullivan who herself was blind, and taught Helen Keller as a child, said and I quote, “I am beginning to suspect all elaborate and special systems of education. They seem to me to be built up on the supposition that every child is a kind of idiot who must be taught to think.” We need a paradigm that changes Education to knowledge of the world around us. It should develop in us a perspective of looking at life and help us build opinions and have points of view on life. I believe information cannot be converted to knowledge without education acting as a catalyst.

Finally, as Mahatma Gandhi said and I quote, “The real difficulty is that people have no idea of what education truly is. We assess the value of education in the same manner as we assess the value of land or of shares in the stock-exchange market. We want to provide only such education as would enable the student to earn more. We hardly give any thought to the improvement of the character of the educated. The girls, we say, do not have to earn; so why should they be educated? As long as such ideas persist there is no hope of our ever knowing the true value of education”. So friends, true value of education would be realised when we build character in our children through education and that is what we need to aim for in our Institutions.

Prof S S Mantha Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) digitalLEARNING / may 2012

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EDITORIAL

The Challenge of Higher Education In sheer numbers and diversity, India is home to one of the largest higher education systems in the world. The possibilities seem great for higher education institutes in the country that are charged with equipping our graduates to compete in today’s knowledge based society. Distance education, cutting edge learning-management systems and the prospect of collaborating with important institutions from other parts of the world are just some of the transformational benefits that public and private universities in the country have started embracing.

However, significant challenges also loom. Some of these challenges have to do with issues related to management and regulation. The most major challenge before us is to bring equity in the quality of education that is available across the country. The idea of quality education is more close to the heart of students in rural, semi-urban and urban areas, as they are also eager to become stakeholders in the ongoing economic revolution in the country. A large number of additional students are knocking at the doors of our educational institutions. The system must grow at a rapid pace in order to cater to the educational needvs of these students.

Most Indian universities have imbibed new solutions from ICT to bring improvements in the nature and the scope of their educational and administrative facilities.

The logic behind the use of high-end technology is that such solutions allow students to become more engaged in constructing their own knowledge, and cognitive studies show that ability is the key to learning success. But technology can also be an expensive proposition. At times, faculty members, who are used to teaching in one way, might be averse to learning new methods.

In this issue of digitalLEARNING, we have interacted with many leading stakeholders of the higher education space. The idea behind these interactions is to present a view of the higher education sector as it exists today; we take a look at the achievements and also the issues that require our urgent attention. We have also conducted a research on the Right to Education bill. Every educator is in favour of contributing his mite to the achievement of India’s educational goals, but there are also some concerns being expressed. We present a complete picture.

The World Education Summit is scheduled for 23rd and 24th July 2012, at Le Méridien, New Delhi. This issue of digitalLEARNING is a part of the special series through which we are making in depth coverage of the education sector in the country. I invite all of you to become part of the WES and participate in the discussion on the best ways of bringing landmark improvements our education space.

Professor S S Mantha, Chairman AICTE has kindly consented to be guest editor of the entire series of issues that will be released in the run up to the World Education Summit. Along with the May issue, he will also be the Guest Editor for June, July and August issues of digitalLEARNING. I would like to thank him for the invaluable guidance that he is providing in creation of these special issues of digitalLEARNING that feature in depth analysis of the education sector in the country.

Dr. Ravi Gupta Editor-in-Chief Ravi.Gupta@elets.in

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cover story

The Scenario for Higher Education in India

Issues, Challenges and New Opportunities

By Sheena Joseph Cherian, Elets News Network (ENN)

T

he higher education system in India has witnessed remarkable growth; it is being heralded as the largest system of its kind in the world. However, the system continues to be fraught with numerous issues. There are the issues concerning management, which include aspects like access, equity and relevance. The assessment of institutions and their accreditation is something that the regulators need to attend to.

There are the issues related to financing and ensuring that education in the country continues to be a public service. It should not be allowed to degenerate into a profit making venture.

A large number of additional students continue to knock at the doors of our institutions for higher education. As a nation we can’t escape the moral obligation of providing high quality

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higher education to each and every son and daughter of this country. New policies and strategies that will give rise to larger number of high quality institutions are the need of the hour. It is imperative that we find the solutions to these problems, as we are now engaged in the using higher education as a powerful tool for creation of a knowledge-based information society that will take India into a bright new future.

In our coverage of the higher education sector in India, we interacted with the leading personalities of a large number of education institutes. These individuals have expressed their views on a range of issues that are of importance to the higher education sector. In pages that follow we present a broad account of the interactions that we have conducted.

COVER STORY ACADEMIA SPEAK

Effective Education through e-Governance “We are trying to implement many e-Governance initiatives to bring more effectiveness to our system of education.

We now have an online admission process,� says Prof S K Sopory, Vice Chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru University

nologies and new models to expand our higher education system. The students these days are focussed on the subject of quality; they want access to quality education. So quality is of great importance.

National Commission of Higher Education and Research will hopefully help us bring quality in the system of education.

JNU has been collaborating with many foreign universities for academic linkages. Can you highlight certain case studies in this regarding what are the future plans of JNU for overseas expansions?

JNU has collaborations with many foreign universities. We are now planning to have active presence in other Asian countries like Malaysia. There are also plans to go to South America in countries like Brazil. JNU already has a global studies programme under which, students come from outside and out students go to foreign universities.

The Union Cabinet recently cleared the National Commission of Higher Education and Research. What is your view on this?

I think this is the right step. The National Commission of Higher Education and Research will enable us to manage all the ideas by which we can use new tech-

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What is your view on imparting of vocational education?

Vocation education is very important.

You have to help students develop the skills so that they are able to find the right jobs and placements. At JNU we get students who are from different strata of society, so we have developed internal systems to inculcate English speaking and writing skills to all our students.

We are also developing programmes for imparting computing and mathematics related skills.

What is your view on the use of ICT in education? How far has the JNU been able to integrate ICT technology into the educational and administrative processes?

We are trying to implement many e-Governance initiatives to bring more effectiveness to our system of education.

We now have an online admission process. The system for online registration was started last year. There is no doubt that ICT can play a major role in the process of education. We have plans to use technology for both, education and administrative purposes.

What is your view on the subject of foreign institutes being allowed to set up their campus in India?

In fact, I have given my view on this subject in the Rajya Sabha. There is no harm in foreign institutes setting up their campus in India, but we have to be careful about what kinds of universities are allowed to come in. So some methods of regulation have to be there.

These days many institutes have been going in for virtual laboratories for teaching their students. What is your view on this?

In some sectors of education, virtual laboratories might be useful. For instance, in biology students can benefit from virtual laboratories. But there are other sectors of education where virtual laboratories might not be that useful. So the usefulness of virtual laboratories depends on the nature of the subject that is being taught.

JNU has a research centre facility.

Are their plans to expand this facility?

We have very advanced instrumentation research facility. Students from JNU and even those from other institutes have access to the facility. We want to expand this facility we have approached department of by technology. We are intent on providing our students a through grounding on latest technologies that are currently available.

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Education Must Lead to Wisdom Please provide us with a brief overview of the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University?

What are you plans for promoting the participation of women in engineering institutes?

Our University has more than 65000 students, 106 affiliated colleges, and 122 programs. We feel that now at this stage, we can rightly claim to be a leading education brand. Many students who are passing out of our University are getting good employment. The Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology (IGIT) is an institute of engineering for women.

We see tremendous response from women for joining the engineering courses that we offer in the institute. We are taking 180 students in the field of mechanical and automobile engineering.

“We see tremendous response from women for joining the engineering courses that we offer in the institute,� Professor Dilip K Bandyopadhyay, Vice Chancellor, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University

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should also contribute towards holistic development. The University should essentially provide education that is skills oriented. In addition to skills, students should also gain wisdom. Now what is wisdom? Wisdom is the process of combining the knowledge of your cultures and customs with the curricular knowledge. Wisdom is something that allows you to become a valuable part of the society. So task of education is to inculcate the values of knowledge, skills and wisdom in all students.

The Union Minister of HRD has proposed Common Entrance Test for all the engineering aspirants.

How is it going to impact the overall engineering education process?

We have been conducting the test for our university and affiliated colleges for the last 13 years. Our university has been given the responsibility, under the act, for taking these tests forward. Now, it is the decision of the concerned state whether to go for the centralised test or for the other one. I would say that the centralised state test is going to be good for students as they will not have to give multiple examinations.

Please tell us about the technological solutions being used at IP University?

Online admissions are something that we have recently started at the University. We also have a system for total examination automation. The entire student life-cycle is being recorded and automated. Students can access online information, including attendance, mark sheets, grades etc through an easy to use interface. Our institute also has an excellent connectivity. Also, all classrooms have electronic boards so that when the teacher writes something, it gets recorded on the disk. This can then be kept for future reference. In addition to that, we are now going to start video conferencing facilities in affiliated colleges so that good lectures on a particular topic are recorded. The same can then be broadcast to some of our affiliated colleges, so the students can listen to them and also have a question and answer sessions.

What are the basic requirements for enhancing employability skills among graduating students and how can we align education with vocational skills?

I am of the opinion that education provided at the University should not just be aimed at producing employable skills, it

Tell us about your involvement with National Mission of Education through ICT. We have become a member of the National Mission of Education through ICT. Educational content will be available online and it may just replace the typical classroom learning model.

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Cover COVER Feature STORY ACADEMIA SPEAK

Taking Education to the Masses “I would like to start with this quote ‘For life that I have to compromise at every step, I wish to live that is true but not this much and not at any cost’. I say this to illustrate the kind of regime, as far as Education is concerned that we were living in,” says Sushma Berlia, President, Apeejay Stya group Tell us about the Apeejay Stya group’s endeavours in education?

The Apeejay Education Society, established by the leading Industrial House of Apeejay Stya Group in the year 1967, has built a rich heritage of nearly four and half decades in the field of quality education through a family of 30 institutions, i.e. 13 schools and 16 institutions of higher learning, in various states of the country, along with the Apeejay Stya University.All Apeejay institutions are guided by his vision of value-based holistic education, focusing on acquiring thinking skills and learning how to learn for life. Today, the Apeejay family comprises over 32,000 students, 60,000 alumni and 2,200 faculty, providing education from pre-nursery to doctoral level.

In terms of regulation of the higher education sector, what are the key challenges and opportunities in India?

I would like to start with this quote “For life that I have to compromise at every step, I wish to live that is true but not this much and not at any cost”. I say this to illustrate the kind of regime, as far as Education is concerned that we were living in.

Any regulatory system should be transparent and ensure accountability, and we are really looking forward to discuss on some of these pertinent issues which are being considered and being taken up but more than that the framework within which we are trying to move ahead because everything else comes from that overall vision and flows from there.

The roles of the Regulatory bodies need to be reviewed in order to act as a true facilitator and an enabler. The focus should

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be on building a strong educational system that helps the country win a global edge. The need of the hour is to tailor education reforms in such a way that it fulfils the need and opportunities in the future for the students.

the desired regulatory system. The country needs a regulatory environment that encourages diversity and quality comparisons between institutions—not one that centralizes authority or enforces dead uniformity.

The Union Cabinet has cleared the establishment of National Commission for Higher Education and Research, a higher education regulatory body. What are your views on the process of subsuming various regulatory body for a common regulatory body?

Indian higher education is on a reform path. The creation of an all-encompassing national commission for higher education and research (NCHER) is to regulate quality standards in all branches of higher education. This should be a constitutional body free of political intrusions, replacing the current regime of multiple regulators saddled with their dysfunctional, inspection-based regulatory arrangements.

Keeping in view the prevailing various Acts i.e. – UGC, AICTE, NCTE (leading to several windows)–certainly having a

With Foreign Collaborations being the key focus of educational institutes, what are the current and future plans for Apeejay in furthering these collaborations?

The increasing internationalisation of higher/tertiary education has give rise to mobility of academics, students and professionals, and the mobility of education itself, in the guise of transnational or cross border tertiary education, either in faceto-face programs or through e-learning mechanisms.

International collaboration and networking between institutions in different areas of teaching and research is the most significant factor in the organisation of Higher education in many countries including India.

I strongly believe that collaboration is the way forward and it will help a higher

The role of the private sector in Indian higher education has increased significantly over the last decade uniform body like NCHER, in itself will go a long way. The new commission is the super-regulator. But it remains doubtful if such a superstructure can govern a complex and increasingly diverse system.

However, careful design of structure and instruments of regulation could create

education institution rise to the standards of its foreign partner. At Apeejay we strongly believe that for such collaborations to become meaningful, teaching must go hand in hand with research and only then will quality education and foreign collaborations are meaningful.

COVER STORY Cover Feature ACADEMIA SPEAK

Do you think Industry Academia Partnership is important to provide employable skills for students?

With rapid advancement of knowledge and rapidly changing technology base, it has become absolutely essential that the industry and academia work together as partners in progress. We have seen that students while equipped with graduate certificates lack in employable skills sets. This has, in turn opened up a yawning skills gap between academic output and industry expectations.

Our industries need not only qualified manpower having knowledge and skills of handling state-of-the-art technology and decision support tools in its design, manufacturing and managerial activity, they also require a regular and easy flow of technology and that can only be assured by a synergetic partnership between industries and academic institutions/ universities.

What are your views on the use of ICTs in Education? How does the Apeejay Group keep up with the rapidly changing technological changes?

Effectiveness, Affordability, Scalability, Equity, and Sustainability are broad intertwined issues which must be addressed when considering the overall impact of the use of ICTs in Education. In the last two decades, India has significantly contributed towards the creation of knowledge society through revolutionary developments in the field of ICT. The range of media and tools that has become available to us for transmission, storage and retrieval of data is amazing.

What role do you think Private Universities play in the education sector in India?

Education sector is witnessing an exponential growth and we have to synchronise our processes to meet the growth.

But, like in any other growth industry, the biggest challenge is to execute growth plans and building information systems that can scale with business growth. The higher education sector needs to grow to accommodate a larger fraction of India’s population. The government’s objective to increase enrolment to 30 percent needs tremendous expansion.

There is a need to evolve an appropriate policy framework for facilitating greater flow of private investment in education sector including removal of entry barriers, simplified procedures for affiliations etc. Also, there should be sufficient flexibility for Centre-State and private sector participation under various PPP models.

The role of the private sector in Indian higher education has increased significantly over the last decade, with majority of students currently being enrolled in private institutions. This role will only increase considering the substantial investments required in the sector.

Sushma Berlia President, Apeejay Stya Group digitalLEARNING / May 2012

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COVER STORY ACADEMIA SPEAK

Transforming India Through Quality Education and in Antigua, we have the American University. We are the largest education services providers in India. We thrive on the passion to see an empowered India that is transformed into an influential entity through the power of quality education.

Do we need regulation in Higher Education space?

Anyone who thinks we do not need regulation is completely wrong. We definitely need regulations, but we need good regulations. A good regulation is one that leads to the growth of the education sector in terms of science, scale, institutional excellence, and primarily in terms of benefits to the students. The students are the key focus of any educational system.

“The regulatory systems that we currently have in the education sector are focussed on input norms and there is very little focus on the process. We need to have a more balanced approach when it comes to regulation,” says Anand Sudarshan, Managing Director & CEO, Manipal Education Services

Tell us about your endeavours in the education space.

Manipal group has three universities in India: Manipal University, Sikkim Manipal University and Manipal University, Jaipur. Manipal Global Education operates institutes and Universities outside India. In Malaysia we have a University as well a Medical College, in Nepal we have a Medical College, In Dubai we have a University Campus

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Give us your view on the regulatory system in Higher Education?

The regulatory systems that we currently have in the education sector are focussed on input norms and there is very little focus on the process. More importantly, there is almost no focus on outcomes. We need to have a more balanced approach when it comes to regulation. We need to consider the outcomes as well while enacting new regulations. Also, we have regulatory institutions that have been formed at a much earlier point of time when the education scenario in the country was quite different. During the last 20 years we have changed considerably, it is certain that in the next 10 years, we will change beyond recognition. The regulatory institutions also need to change with the time.

What is your view on foreign institutions coming to India?

I have always been supporter of the good foreign providers being allowed to come to India. I am also of the opinion that

we don’t need a policing system to regulate who can be allowed to come in and who is not welcome. I think that in our country, the students are smart enough to choose the kind of institutions where they would like to get educated. Of course, there can be difficulties in some cases, but on a broad level an open market policy towards foreign investments in education will be beneficial for the country. I think the coming of foreign institutes in India will be of help in increasing the overall standards of education in the country.

What opportunities do you see of partnering with the government in education space?

There are plenty of opportunities for collaborating with the government. A vast majority of the institutions are owned by the central or state governments.

Many of these state owned institutions are open to the idea of entering into partnerships with private institutes for improving their quality of education.

Working closely with the government for furthering the educational goals of the country is a necessity.

How do you plan to address the issue of lack of employable skills in our students?

These are two words: Employable and Skills. For you to understand what is employable or not, the employers have to speak up and say “this is what I want.” Our industry is not doing this in a clear and precise manner. They are not informing what kind of training they want us to provide the students.

Second is Skills: For a person to be productive, he needs not only the knowledge, but also the skills. The curriculum is heavily focused on the knowledge and not much on skills. This needs to be changed. The debate is currently on about the best ways of achieving this objective.

COVER STORY ACADEMIA SPEAK

Apparel Sector is Labour Intensive “At the Apparel Training Institute, we follow a specific model of training that is rather comprehensive and dynamic,” says Dr Darlie O Koshy, Director General IAM & ATDC, Apparel Export Promotion Council

What is your view of the apparel sector in India?

The thing is that the apparel sector is quite labour intensive. For every one crore of investment, about 275 people get directly employed and another 125 people are indirectly employed. After agriculture, the apparel sector offers maximum employment opportunities. Unfortunately large numbers of mills have closed down, and this has led to rise in unemployment levels in the sector.

Give a brief overview of the Apparel Institute.

You require different sets of skills and different knowledge levels for gaining employment in the apparel sector.

Some of the institutes are just doing higher education like NIIFT, NID. And some do just the vocational part, and some do the short term programmes.

But at the Apparel Training Institute, we follow a specific model of training, which is more comprehensive and dynamic. We help our students develop all kinds of skills, basic skills as well as the top skills.

Tell us about SMART system of education.

We have spent a lot of time in developing what is called the SMART (The skills for manufacturing of apparel through research and training). This initiative is supported by the ministry of textiles integrated skill development project. Today we are running 95 or 97 centres of SMART, which basically offer short term courses, mostly 2 months courses for providing basic

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have around 19,000 students in entire country. On the middle level we have 3,500 students and at the top we will have about 300 students. This way of training students for different levels is important, as then you create talent that can cater to the needs of all the stages of the industry. For instance, if you create 1500 or 2000 designers, what happens is that you are not having any relation with the total requirement of the industry. The designers also need to have merchandisers, pattern makers, etc. So our education has been dedicated to catering to all the verticals of the apparel industry.

Dr Darlie O Koshy Director General IAM & ATDC, Apparel Export Promotion Council

entry level skills under the national vocational education system. We have now gone a step further and created community college network with the help of FICCI. We have been involved in many IGNOU colleges, which offer programmes and courses that will lead to jobs in quality control, production, assurance, pattern making, and iCATCAM. How many students are you educating at present?

Our students are at different levels, some come for basic training, some for middle level training and others for advanced degrees. At the basic level we

Does this mean that you are more focussed on the business of fashion?

We are focussed on the basics of fashion far more than the design element itself. We are not creating more designers, we are creating more merchandisers, more junior level managers, more middle level managers and more technically qualified managers, professional and production managers. Our DNA is creating a business oriented individual who can create an economic export multiplier when they join the workforce. It is important that the students have the kind of training that will enable them to keep an eye on the changing dynamics of the workplace in fashion industry. It is possible that tomorrow’s workplace might eliminate the large number of people as automation systems will gain popularity. The people you are training today should be focused on technology.

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COVER STORY ACADEMIA SPEAK

Creating Legal Institution of Global Standards Delhi. The vision of the university is to create a legal institution of global standards that will compete with the best institutions outside India. We need to prepare our lawyers for a legal career that introduces them to wide range of opportunities in legal profession across the globe. The University is fully residential and maintains separate residence for boys and girls. The Halls of Residence are provided with Common Room facilities, indoor games, television and a state of art gymnasium.

“We need to prepare our lawyers for a legal career that introduces them to wide range of opportunities in legal profession across the globe,” Prof Ranbir Singh, Vice Chancellor, National Law University, Dwarka

Tell us about the achievements of National Law University?

The National Law University was established in 2008 by Act No.1 of 2008 of National Capital Territory of Delhi and with the initiative of High Court of

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There already are a lot of law schools in India, how does your institute stand out?

The thing is that there is dearth of good law schools in India, even though there are as many as 900 law colleges in our country. Not all of them are as good as they ought to be. We need to have law schools that can compete with the best law schools like Oxford or Cambridge, where they have extensive Law departments. I would like to speak the famous phrase, “We are doing it different, so that makes a difference.”

What are your views on the regulations in the higher education sector in India?

I believe too much of government regulation is not good for universities in the country. The university should be provided a mandate. The best possible alternative according to me is that the university should be given a mandate to come out with the best of research and best professionals, but that will happen only when the university has been given a fair amount of financial, administrative and functional autonomy.

The Union Cabinet has cleared establishment of National Commission for Higher Education and Research, a higher education

regulatory body. What are your views on the process of subsuming various regulatory bodies for a common regulatory body?

I have no issues with government coming up with any kind of regulatory structure. Only thing I would like to point out is that sometimes, the human beings who run an institution are more important than those institutions themselves. If you have very high level body and but it is not being managed well then nothing is going to happen.

There is lot of foreign collaboration happening in the university space, please tell us about your views on this?

I would be most happy to see a top class institution like Harvard University, Stanford University and Cambridge University coming into India, but lot of changes at policy level is required to enable top universities to come in.

Is this a National Law University open to collaboration with other universities?

Collaboration is not a new thing. All the best law schools in the country have a system of collaborating with other law schools. The system of academic exchange and collaborative research are fairly common. We have already stated developing parameters for collaborations.

What are your views on ICT in education?

I believe ICT is of great importance.

Online education systems are in vogue these days. IGNOU is doing very well in online education space. Lot of teaching is being conducted through virtual classrooms. India is a vast country, and we need ICT solutions to reach out to larger sections of the population.

COVER STORY ACADEMIA SPEAK

Committed to Management Education ing through process of observation and practical experience.

Tell us about the collaborations that you have developed with foreign universities.

We have collaboration with 8 foreign universities for student and faculty exchange and for joint research, but we haven’t gone for any joint programme because regulation in this country does not allow that. However, in future foreign educational institutions will be coming to India, as under the WTO regulations we are bound to open our education sector. Our IT companies are setting up huge establishments in Europe, US and other countries, so we have to reciprocate by opening up our own economy. However, Indian institutions are very well placed to take on foreign competition.

“Regulation is very important, as education in our country is an enterprise for serving the public, it is not for profit,” says Dr Anup K Singh, Director, Jaipuria Institute of Management – Noida

What are the main initiatives of Jaipuria Institute in the management sector?

Jaipuria Institute of Management is committed to advancement of Management education in this country. We are highly student centric, and we try to understand the needs of the corporate world, before coming up with an educational programme for our students. We are also focussed on providing learn-

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The skills that the graduates coming out of technical institutes have often doesn’t match the requirements of the industry. Do you think that academia should be more deeply aligned to industry to ensure that the students have employable skills?

We need to understand at times the students might not have had a proper school and undergraduate education, resulting in the fact that their foundation is weak. At Jaipuria Institute we also have system for catering to cater to the needs of such students. We have intensive courses of communication, because we have realised that communication is very important skill that employer’s seek Do we need a regulatory system for education in India?

Regulation is very important, as education in our country is an enterprise for serving the public, it is not for profit. But some rouge institutions can try to make

profit, so we need regulations to control such institutions. Unless we have a right kind regulatory framework, the interests of the student will not be served.

Can you highlight about the on job training that students get here?

Tell us about the corporates that you are associated with?

As we are located in a business hub like Noida, we have lot of business organisations around us. GE and Hero Honda are often around. We are able to send our students to their facilities to do some projects. We have plans to develop better integrations with private sector in times to come.

What are your views on ICT in education?

ICT is most important for educational institutions. The present generation is so deeply into technology that unless you have cutting edge ICT solutions in the institutions, you will not be able to hold the attention of your students. We even need to use social networks like Facebook for reaching out to students. We have done collaborations with Finland university , where they are conducting a programme through Facebook. We are making significant investments in ICT. Please tell us your views on the future of education in India?

If India has to become a great country, our quality of education has to improve drastically. China has made great improvements in education and that is why the country is far ahead of us. We have not reached a point where we can compare ourselves with Europe or US, we should be comparing ourselves with China and Malaysia and Thailand. The problem we are facing is that our higher education is showing improvement in terms of number but not in quality, so we have to focus on quality.

cover story ACADEMIA SPEAK

The Philanthropic Vision of Education tablishing community welfare facilities.

Our vision is to become one of India’s respected self-financed education providers, and a leading centre of innovation and learning. We wish to impart quality education across all levels. Our mission is to set up educational institution that provides a healthy environment for both faculty and students.

“In education space, India is replete with disparities. On the one hand we have the 2nd largest higher education system in the world, and on the other we have only 65 percent literacy rate,” says Dr D K Modi, FounderChairperson (Chancellor), Dr K N Modi University, Chairman, Dr K N Modi Foundation

What has been the guiding vision of your Group?

Behind the establishment of the Dr K N Modi University, there are the seeds of caring and social service sown by India’s one of the most distinguished industrialists and philanthropists, the late Dr. K N Modi (1922-2005). Dr Kedar Nath Modi Foundation was set up to carry on his work of promoting education and es-

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What is your view of the education system that we have in India?

In education space, India is replete with disparities. On the one hand we have the 2nd largest higher education system in the world, and on the other we have only 65 percent literacy rate (as per Deloitte report 2010). We are not only one of the most populous nations, we are also the home to largest number of illiterate people. There is a huge demand supply gap- not just in terms of number of seats available, but more so in terms of seats available in institutions who offer quality education. We can take the example of IIT-JEE. There 3.95 lakh applicants compete for just 7000 seats. For AIIMS about two lakh students compete for 77 seats. At the National Institute of Technology (NIT), two lakh students compete for 9500 seats.

Do you think Industry Academia Partnership is important to provide employable skills for students?

Industry–academia collaboration is important. In the buoyant Indian economy, where only a fraction of the graduating students are employable, corporations face the challenge of recruiting an industry-ready workforce while continually ensuring supply of talent to meet its scaling operations. In fact, the latest NASSCOM report states, “Only 25 percent of the technical graduates and 10 percent of general graduates in India are fit for employment in multi-national organisations”. Even after recruit-

ment, companies need to spare many months before the new recruit finally starts being productive through on-thejob training. These challenges can be overcome through a focused industryacademia partnership producing employable human capital through ‘tailormade’ courses. In the current scenario, students too are looking for not just a degree, but a significant way through which they can either get a job or enhance their career.

Tell us about your view on the system of regulation in education that we have in India?

The regulatory system in India is quiet complex. If there is a common regulatory system for higher education, then it will be easier for institutions to operate and grow. But common regulatory system will only be effective only when it is taken forward in a transparent manner.

Government of India should take care that the regulatory system is free from political influence, money power, regional, linguistic and communal biases.

Please share your plans for Dr K N Modi University for furthering collaborations with foreign universities?

Dr K N Modi University has signed an MOU with Kent State University. The purpose of this agreement is to develop academic and cultural interchange in areas of education and Research. Dr K N Modi University is also a member of Businet (an International Organization of Higher Educators) and National Entrepreneurship Network. Businet has 93 members across 25 Countries. This network of Educational Institutes interacts amongst themselves in various areas.

From the next year we are going to start law and BSc nursing courses. For these courses we will be looking for foreign collaborations.

ACADEMIA SPEAK

COVER STORY

Foreign Collaboration in Institutions knowledge exchange. It opens avenues for enabling our students and teachers to visit different institutes and their students can come to our institutes. To fulfil this objective we have tied up with Vanier College, Quebec, Canada. Their students visited Magalayatan last year.

Dr S C Jain, Vice Chancellor, Mangalayatan University On Foreign Collaborations Certainly, the institutes need to focus on foreign collaboration. We are trying to establish contacts with the foreign institutes so that we can make use of their expertise and also share their resources through video conferencing and satellite communication and

Regulation in the Higher Education As far as the regulatory bodies are concerned, our experience is not satisfactory.

Universities want these regulatory bodies to be innovative. They should appreciate new initiative and should not impose unnecessary regulation. They all follow the normal traditional path. The problem is that the Indian regulatory structure does not accept innovation easily. We want a regulatory body that will embrace progressive thinking; it should perform well.

Inculcating job oriented skills We are of the opinion that the institution

can achieve growth only when it starts providing quality education for making students employable. If we want our student to be employable, our curriculum should have adequate space to incorporate training programmes.

Flexibility is the key for developing employability related skills in a person.

Mangalyatan University is trying to follow this objective.

ICT in education The traditional classroom era has already passed. Once upon a time we used to have a situation where 15-60 students used to sit in a classroom and the teacher used to deliver lectures. In the modern era, we have students choosing to get lectures in virtual classrooms. Video conferences, satellite classes, and classes with audio/ video facilities have become very common. Mangaltayan University has been using ICT solutions for a long time.

digitalLEARNING / May 2012

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INTERVIEW HIGHER EDUCATION

Tackling the Problem of Skills-Deficit “Industry-academia partnership plays an important part in mitigating the skills crunch. Training individuals to make them job-ready will not only make a difference in their lives, it will also lead to enrichment of our communities,” says Rajeev Shorey, President, NIIT University, in conversation with Pragya Gupta Foreign collaborations have been among the key academic elements of educational institutes today.

Can you highlight the initiatives of NIIT University (NU) in this regard?

TNIIT University recognises the fact that innovation does not stop at national borders; we believe that developing close relationships with like-minded institutions of higher learning across the globe will enhance the domestic educational environment. In its endeavour to strengthen a symbiotic relationship with eminent Universities, NU has signed memorandum of understanding with Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, China, Aalborg University, Centre for Teleinfrastruktur(CTIF), Denmark, and Changshu Institute of Technology, China These mutually beneficial agreements are designed to initiate joint research programs, seminars, conference

projects, industrial projects, exchange of information projects, training and internship projects for staff and students.

These programmes also enhance the global perspective of our students by enabling them to develop an understanding of different cultures.

What are your views on the process of subsuming various regulatory bodies for a common regulatory body?

The Higher Education and Research Bill, 2011, introduced by Human Resource Development Minister, Kapil Sibal, seeks to promote autonomy of higher educational institutions and universities for free pursuit of knowledge and innovation. The NCHER will subsume all existing regulatory bodies, including UGC, AICTE and Council of Distance Education. The Bill also provides for comprehensive and integrated growth of higher

“I strongly feel that Information and Communication Technology will play a key role in making higher education Accessible, Effective and Efficient.

Since inception, NIIT has innovatively used technology to offer quality education” 30 30

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education and research keeping in view the global standard of educational and research practices.

Currently, there are more than 11 million students enrolled for higher education in more than 600 universities and 24,000 colleges. In the next 5 years, Indian government expects 700 new universities and 10,000 colleges to be built mostly by the private sector. In such a scenario, it is becoming increasingly important to have a regulatory system that will ensure quality of higher education in India.

We welcome this initiative which is a step towards building autonomous, qualitative and integrated institutions.

This will accelerate the approval procedure and create a unified regulatory system. If the new regulatory body is constituted in a transparent manner, India can have a transparent and unified higher education system.

I hope the bill will bring about transformation in the higher education sector in near future by building a strong and vibrant higher education system that can contribute towards development of the country.

Do you think Industry Academia Partnership is important to provide employable skills for students?

What are the linkages of NIIT University with the industry?

In India, there is a mismatch in what the industry needs and what the universities

HIGHER EDUCATION

are creating. One of the approaches to tackle the problem of skills-deficit in fresh graduates is partnerships between the industry and academia. It is widely held that knowledge, skills, and resourcefulness of people are critical to sustain development, economic and social activity in a knowledge based society. Given the current high-paced growth and dynamic investment climate in India, the demand for knowledge workers with high levels of technical and soft skills is only bound to increase.

In response to these challenges, many companies today have intensified their academic interventions in order to tackle the impeding shortage of knowledge workers. Industry-academia partnership plays an important part in mitigating the skills crunch. Training individuals to make them job-ready will not only make a difference in their lives, it will also lead to enrichment of our communities.

At NIIT University we are focused on building great careers, hence extensive connectedness to the industry is the hallmark of the University. In fact, proving industry-linked education to our students is one of the four core principles of NU. What are the initiatives of NIIT University to achieve the objectives of the national skills development mission?

NIIT University has already practised a concept of “education at work” at M Tech level. For us M Tech is not a vocational education, the University has a unique system of integrating work with education, which is scalable and applicable to any sector of economy.

Several studies indicate that an overwhelming percentage of students passing out from engineering colleges and B-schools lack skills needed to start working. How can this be tackled by higher education institutes?

Today, most companies want to recruit fresh graduates who are industry ready in every sense. As per NASSCOM estimates, of all Engineering graduates, only 25 percent will be ready with desired skill sets to be employable by the industry. Hence, top scores, latest technology skills, international certifications and relevant industry exposure is the need of the hour for every engineering and IT graduate.

What are your views on ICT usage in education?

We are living in an age where technology has touched every aspect of our lives including how we access information, the way we communicate with each other, and how we carry out research and development. Hence it is hardly surprising that ICT usage in education is increasingly gaining importance in India. Ready availability of multimedia, computers and Internet has opened up several interesting teaching-learning possibilities. As a result the importance of IT-enabled education has increased many folds. Use of IT in education has

INTERVIEW

enabled students to understand the concepts better and apply them in practical life.

What kind of ICT solutions are being used by the University for teaching and administration purposes?

I strongly feel that Information and Communication Technology will play a key role in making higher education Accessible, Effective and Efficient. Since inception, NIIT has innovatively used technology to offer quality education. In fact, providing “Technology based” education to its students is one of the four core principles of NIIT University to achieve the excellence in education. Amongst its various other initiatives, NIIT offers synchronous learning based Executive Management programmes from India’s top B schools through NIIT Imperia. It is an effective technological tool to bring together the faculty and students, who are otherwise separated by significant distances. Through the new high-tech environment, students can experience learning almost in the same way as they would if they were in a normal classroom. They can ask questions from their instructor and learn about the answers.

Rajeev Shorey President, NIIT University digitalLEARNING / May 2012

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Open and Distance Learning | Opinion

Technology Platforms for Open Ended Learning

By Prof C Shanath Kumar

T

here is a clear shift in education system; from being teacher-centric it has become learner-centric. The role of a teacher has transformed. Rather than simply delivering a lecture, the teacher is designing learning experiences for students.

Open- Ended Learning

Prof C Shanath Kumar Professor & HOD, EduNxt, Sikkim Manipal University

“Learning is breaking out of the narrow boxes that it was trapped in during the 20th century; there is an increasing dialogue in global education circles towards student centred learning”

Learning environments which allow students to have individualised learning goals and customised pedagogies are termed “Open- Ended Learning” environments. Modern technologies are capable of offering students an autonomous and open-ended learning platform.

They also give rise to an independent study and a rather self-managed kind of studying environment. This mode stimulates the students’ enthusiasm, improves his comprehensive capabilities, and thus accomplishes remarkable learning effectiveness.

In the emerging distance education scenario, the understanding of open learning environments may provide a way of developing useful pedagogical strategies and curriculum plans for a new generation students.

Distance Education Universities often have to cater to a large number of students in their programmes.

The students are, more often than not, from diverse backgrounds. Many of them are working students and others are fresh students. Thus, there is a wide diversity of knowledge levels and learning styles among these students. Further, they also have varying pressures in terms of the time that they can devote to the enterprise of learning. Open ended learning requires creative effort in designing appropriate learning paths for the stu-

The OELEs may be pursued on multiple technology platforms that have now become available to us. These platforms may fall into three categories: • • •

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Open and free platforms where anyone interested may join and participate.

Available by specific invitation and subscriptions and moderated groups.

University related and having goals associated with degrees and certifications.

www.digitalLEARNING.in

Open ended learning may take many different forms in terms of student behaviour and learning goals.

1. Problem Based Learning: The students may be inducted into a certain context of a problem and may be taken through a set of learning activities in order to be able to solve specific problems.

2. Inquiry based Learning: Students may seek to delve deeper into specific challenges in the subject area and may seek to pursue answers to specific questions that they may encounter in the course of their learning.

3. Case based Learning: Students may work on cases with definite context having a set of questions to work on and may arrive at a set of alternatives for solutions.

4. Discovery based Learning: The students may follow an organic path of discovery in their learning and may explore continuously into their areas of interest leading to research and formulations of hypothesis.

5. Social Learning: Students may engage in more informal modes of learning involving extensive interactions among their communities and groups and may validate their views by sharing with similar minded students.

dents. It also requires deliberate instructional and pedagogical considerations.

Technology Platforms A key element of Open technology platform is the Learning Management System (LMS).

It is an enterprise level learning management solution for Open-ended learning systems; it provides a holistic learning experience to the students, collaborative knowledge sharing experience for the teachers and students and operational efficiency to the administrators.

Using these technologies teachers can streamline processes, track student performance and deliver a consistent training message to the user’s desktop. It allows students to learn at their own pace and have continual feedback on the progress of their education.

DELNET

Developing Library Network

Nelson Mandela Road, JNU Campus, Vasant Kunj New Delhi-110070 www.delnet.nic.in DELNET is a major resource-sharing library network in South Asia. It covers a wide spectrum of memberlibraries and their resources. DELNET pools the information about resources available in the libraries in India and outside and consolidates information through union catalogues, union lists and other databases.

This is being done to satisfy the major information requirements of students, researchers, scholars and the public in the country. DELNET services also support the research activities in India as we regularly supply suitable content and information materials to libraries and their users. DELNET has 4084 educational institutions in India including Universities and Colleges, R&D organizations, etc and 23 member-institutions outside India. The DELNET resources have now reached over 1.25 Crore records. The DELNET services are more effective in the country with the Inter Library Loan and Document Delivery Services which are provided to libraries across the country and also to the member-libraries outside India. DELNET also provides DELPLUS software free of charges to member-libraries for the library automation purposes. DELNET is also supporting the use of Koha software which is an open source integrated library management system.

DELNET MEMBERS (as on April 26, 2012)

1.

INDIA

2.

Other SAARC Countries

Andaman and Nicobar Islands Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Assam Bihar Chandigarh Chhattisgarh Delhi Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jammu & Kashmir Jharkhand Karnataka Kerala Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka

Total 3.

Outside SAARC

Oman Philipines United Arab Emirates United States

Total

GRAND TOTAL

2 688 2 11 15 8 47 238 8 171 224 31 19 17 195 113 3 1 7

11 4 1 3 4

12

4107

Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram Nagaland Odisha Pondicherry Punjab Rajasthan Sikkim Tamil Nadu Tripura Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand West Bengal

Total

310 314 4 2 2 2 75 20 128 234 5 622 3 454 53 67

4084

Membership Fee Admission Fee : Rs. 5,000 Annual Membership Fee : Rs. 11,500 for further information contact: Dr. H. K. Kaul, Director, DELNET Phone : 011-26742222, 26741266 Fax: 011-26741122 Email : hkkaul@gmail.com, director@delnet.ren.nic.in Web : www.delnet.nic.in

POLICY MATTER INTERVIEW

Online Systems Can Monitor Lakhs of Schools J S Saharia, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of School Education, Government of Maharashtra, talks to Rachita Jha about development of education in the state

Tell us about the implementation of Sarva Siksha Abhiyan in the state.

Sarva Siksha Abhiyan is being fully implemented in the state. We are focused on ensuring that the financial outlays are made in efficient and transparent manner. The issue of stakeholders is also important. We also recognise the fact that there is need for more e-Governance in the education system. Steps are being taken to implement the e-Governance initiatives. There is lot of technical and repetitive work that can be easily done through online systems and other

technological tools. Lakhs of schools can be monitored through online systems, which are now being created. It is important that we have a robust and efficient software. We have plans to use latest mobile communication systems to seamlessly transfer data wherever it is needed.

Please shed light on the e-Governance projects being implemented in Maharashtra. e-Governance brings transparency to the working of the entire system. The citizens of the state are able to access services from the government in an easier manner. e-Governance also enables the government to have a holistic look on how its projects are working at the ground level. Are the benefits actually reaching the targeted sections of the population? There is a new kind of clarity in the system that is beneficial for both the citizens and the government.

How effective are the e-Governance systems?

The e-Governance systems that have been launched are already bearing fruit, and in times to come their scope will be much wider. Speaking specifically of the education sector, the most important stakeholders in education are, of course, the students. We are using e-Governance systems to bring more benefits to the students. Online tools are being used to monitor the teaching system and

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bring more efficiency to the management of our institutions.

What kind of mobile based projects are you planning for education sector?

Students are already very close to mobile technology. It is possible to transfer information to them about the course and the content through mobile devices that they hold. Basically this is an emerging technology. We still need lot of new information to create solutions that are durable and useful. But we are determined to bring mobile based solutions into our education system and there are going to be lot of new developments in times to come.

Have the new developments in ICT inspired some changes in curriculum?

Of course, technology always has the power to change not just the methodology of education but also the content.

Computer labs are being started in various schools. There is renewed focus on ensuring that our students get quality education in latest technological trends. Our first and foremost priority is the students. We are doing everything we can to ensure that they have access to best teaching methods. We have in place a system of monitoring the quality of the computer labs and ensuring that the quality of teaching is as per the guidelines set by the state government.

There is a system for receiving regular feedback from schools located across the entire state.

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Rush your Nomination for Awards For nomination forms visit www.worldeducationsummit.net Last Date 31st May 2012

23 - 24 July 2012, Le Méridien, New Delhi Awards for Schools: • Best Innovation in Science, English and Maths Education • Best Innovation in Global Collaborative Learning • Best Innovation in Special Needs Education • Best Innovation in Pedagogical Practices • Best Use of Social Media in Education • Best eSchool Award • Best Innovation in Open and Distance Learning Awards for Higher Education Institutes (HEIs): • Best Innovation in Global Collaborative Learning • Best Use of Social Media in Education • Best eCampus Award • Best mLearning Initiative • Best Innovation in Open and Distance Learning • Best Innovation by Private University

• Best Technology Enabled Management Institute • Best Technology Enabled Engineering Institute Awards for Vocational and Skills Training Initiative: • Best Innovation in Vocational Education and Skills Training • Best Public-Private Partnership in the field of Vocational Education and Skills Training Awards for Government Sector Initiative • Best Government Sector Initiative in Education World Education Start Up Awards: • Best Innovation in Education Technology for Schools • Best Innovation in Education Technology for Higher Education Institutes

Awards for Private Sector Initiative: • Best Test Preparation Services for Entrance Examinations • Best Use of Assistive Technologies in Education • Best Multi-Media Content for K12 Education • Best Training Provider to Working Professionals • Best Technology for Engineering Institutes • Best Technology for Management Institutes • Best Assessment Tool Providers • Best mLearning Initiative • Best Interactive Solution Providers • Best Tablet Providers in Education • Best Technology Solutions for Higher Education Institutes

Winners of World Education Awards 2011 For Programme Enquiry Contact: Sheena Joseph Mobile: +91-8860651644, sheena@elets.in For Exhibition and Sponsorship Contact: Fahim-ul-haq Mobile: +91-9873277808, fahim@elets.in

ORGANISERS

CO-ORGANISERS & partners

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policy news

AICTE, Microsoft Join Hands to Provide Cloud Technology for Engineering Students AICTE Chairman Dr S S Mantha in the presence of Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal, has announced that it is deploying microsoftlive@edu as one solution amongst many such initiatives with IT majors and Industries to more than 10,000 technical colleges and institutes throughout India. The initiative has been taken in a bid to broaden educational reform to improve technical education and prepare students for the workforce of tomorrow, Live@edu is the

MHRD Reschedules 59th CABE Meeting The 59th Meeting of Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), which was schedule to be held on 23rd April 2012 has been rescheduled to 6th June 2012.

The Minister of Human Resource Development also proposes to hold Education Minister’s conference to have wideranging discussion on various issues concerning both sectors of education on 5th June 2012.

first step in AICTE’s deployment of Microsoft cloud computing for education.This initiative make AICTE into Microsoft’s largest cloud customer in the world.

This will expand students’ access to high-quality technical education and collaboration.

Kapil Sibal has also launched AICTE’S two new management programmes. A Five year integrated masters level management programme and five year dual degree management course.

Mallikarjun Kharge unveils Web Portal of DGET for Effective Implementation of Skill Development Scheme Union Labour & Employment Minister Mallikarjun Kharge has unveiled and dedicated the Official Web portal Directorate General of Training & Employment (DGET), M/o Labour & Employment to the nation for the effective implementation of Skill Development Scheme (SDIS) to promote training of around 6 lakh people in the Country annually. The portal is is developed by the Helwatt Paackard, India.

“I am quite confident that this powerful Web-portal would not only facilitate DGET in all these aspects but also enable to keep a track over outcome of the Scheme,” Kharge said.

Click, Learn, Advance

CourseLine® is an online learning platform that offers Hospitality Management Education courses from the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (EI) in a digital format. These higher education courses are used in hospitality programs worldwide.

Course material is organized into core competencies for each topic area developed by subject matter experts. A combination of key terms, web links, case studies, exhibits, interactive activities, and quizzes help reinforce the material covered in each competency. Review quizzes and final exams are taken online with immediate feedback.

CyberCinema® is an online platform that provides access to EI’s various hospitality training videos; many of which come with quizzes to gauge viewer comprehension.

Flexible pricing for academic institutions makes it easy, convenient and affordable to offer from one to 30 courses online.

For further details, contact: ksimon@ahla.com Tel # +91-22-26820878

digitalLEARNING / May 2012

37

12-04249

interivew

higher education

Dr Rajendra Kumar Pachauri has earned global acclaim due to the active role that he has played in several international forums dealing with the subject of climate change and its policy dimensions. He has served as the chairperson of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) since 2002. Under his tenure, the IPCC was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.

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www.digitalLEARNING.in

higher education

interview

ICT Poses

as a Cornucopia of

Opportunities

“With the great deal of effort and fair amount of additional investment, we created this green campus,” says Dr Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, Chancellor, TERI University, in an in depth conversation with Sheena Joseph Cherian, ENN

Tell us about TERI University.

TERI started as a research institute, but it turned into an academic institution because I realised that our research could gain a new impetus when we had young people around to motivate us.

The students too can gain a lot by being proximate to the kind of researchers who are at the institute. So we decided to set up an Institute of Higher Learning which came into existence in the year 1999 when we received UGC recognition. The TERI University campus was inaugurated in the year 2008.

What are your views on the regulatory regime that we have in education sector? In your opinion we need to make education more autonomous or is there need for more regulation?

What we need is a system of transparent accreditation. Basically we need to have in place a bureaucratic body that is run by persons of distinction. So that’s what we really require and if we can ensure that, I think you will have a far more effective system of regulation than what we have currently. These days we require a large number of higher education institutes in this country. If people who are going to create these new institutes have to face lot of bureaucratic problems, they might be forced to back out, and that will not serve the interests

of higher education in the country. So either we should reform the UGC itself or replace it with something else that is far more dynamic and far less bureaucratic.

Tell us about your Green Campus.

With the great deal of effort and fair amount of additional investment, we created this green campus. This is a very difficult site to construct on, because this is a rocky area. However, we went ahead and did it; we did it because we felt that we have to practice what we preach. Over a period of time our green campus will save us lot of money, as we use much less energy, much less water.

Merely by working in this campus and getting their education here, the young people are imbibing knowledge and experience that they otherwise could not get from the text books.

When it comes to foreign collaborations, what is the vision of TERI University?

Mahatma Gandhi has rightly said that while he would like to keep the windows of his home open, he would not want the winds from outside to sweep him and others from their own dwellings. I think it is critically important in this age that we link up with the institutions everywhere in the world. This is because knowledge is universal. Knowledge has to be seen as a resource that is accessible

to everyone. TERI University has relationship with the Yale University, with the University of Eastern Finland, with the Open University in UK, with University in Australia, with the Free University in Berlin, and few other universities in the world. We have also entered into the MOU with the National University of Mongolia. TERI university right from its inception has emphasised on the relationship building aspect of knowledge creation. Therefore we work very closely with the Universities across the globe.

Does TERI University have online programme for students?

We do have online programs, but we have to do a lot more in this area. We are also hoping to set up TERI University centres in the other parts of the country. We have requested permission from the authorities concerned to set up the centres.

Once we are able to expand, these online long distance programmes will take off in a big way. Faculty over here in Delhi will be able to provide learning through electronic means to centres of the TERI University in other parts of the country.

What are you views on the industry-academia collaborations?

I think the Industry-Academia partnership is absolutely crucial for giving students an overview of the kind of issues that they will be dealing with in future. digitalLEARNING / May 2012

39

interivew

higher education

which we are essentially doing in partnerships with industry.

What is view on ICT in education?

ICT poses as a cornucopia of opportunities by which you can not only create information far more efficiently; you can also access knowledge that has been created by anyone else in a different part of the world.

It is imperative to have ICT at the core of the pedagogical methods that we use for teaching and training out students.

What initiatives would you like the government to undertake in the education sector?

I would like to refer to what the Prime Minister has been emphasising. He has said that Science and Technology is the area where he is going to provide much more funding. He has also highlighted the importance of sustainable development in a society like ours. Now to make both these things happen, firstly you need much more research for sustainable development and this will go into the study of policies, of analysis of different types of development models, both at the national level and the subnational levels. This will also require that we provide enough funding for Science and Technology research in universities in particular. The government should also think about creating an institution on the lines of National Science Foundation in the US which functions in a very transparent and open manner.

“Over a period of time our green campus will save us lot of money, as we use much less energy, much less water.

Merely by working in this campus and getting their education here, the young people are imbibing knowledge�

At TERI, all our students get internships in several organisations, including some in TERI itself. This gives students exposure to whole range of problems and situations that they will otherwise

40

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never encounter, if they were just doing the classroom based programme of instructions. So we greatly emphasise this relationship and may I say that the TERI itself gets a large number of projects,

Highlight the projects of the TERI University.

TERI has more than 200 Projects at any point of time. These projects range from very sophisticated research in the field of bio-technology, to those that have to do with policy analysis. Many are focussed on the subjects of sustainable growth and managing the environment. We have a lot of activity in the forest area. TERI has a multitude of research going on in the area of climate change. We have a Super Computer in TERI which allows us to run sophisticated global models on climate change by which we are able to study the impacts of climate change in different parts of India.

Announcing Guest Editor

June 2012 Issue In-depth coverage of Best technologies & Practices in schools and higher education institutes

student

processes

technology

learning colleagues

virtual

digital students legal

current

content

model promote

school global

innovative

collaborative

demonstrating

creativity

peers

research

emerging knowledgethinking

modelsupport

issue focus

diverse

digital-age parents

develop

ethical

exhibit effective

community teaching improve

Interview Smt Vibha Puri Das, Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development School Software to address CCE challenges Sports education in schools eContent for Schools Online examination and assessment in schools Higher Education Featuring Engineering Colleges (Technology and Skills focus) Virtualisation of Technical Education Wireless Campus (WiFi and its security) Vocational and Skills Project Udaan - A special Industry Initiative (SII) for Jammu & Kashmir by NSDC Open and Distance Learning Technology adoption at State Open universities

information

innovation design

practice

Policy Matter SPDs - Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan

leadership skills

teachers resources tools use professional local

experiences creative environments engaging evaluate

Prof S S Mantha Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)

learning

understanding relevant

Don’t miss the opportunity to get featured in this MEGA EDITION

Book your space today!

For editorial queries, contact Pragya Gupta pragya@elets.in, +91 8860651648 For sponsorship queries contact Fahim Ul Haque fahim@elets.in, +91-9873277808

www.digitalLEARNING.in

Tech Focus Industry Speak

Higher Education is in Preliminary Stage of Automation efficiency into the labour intensive task of finance collection, and various other management related tasks of tracking attendance, scheduling time table, generating transcripts, and much else. A user-friendly ERP saves valuable time, frees the administrator, faculty and office staff to focus all their attention on the most important task of imparting education.

Shaji Thomas, Executive Director (Business Development), Entab Infotech Pvt Ltd, provides his insight on the possibilities for automation with ERPs, in an interview with Pragya Gupta. He also dwells on the challenges and opportunities that are inherent in the sector How does automation through ERP make the system of education more efficient?

Efficient management through disciplined action is one of the factors that set good schools apart from those that are mediocre. ERP is the secret behind the success of most modern educational establishments. A comprehensive campus ERP enables the institution to bring

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Tell us about your ERP offerings for higher education. In what ways are your products different from that of other ERP vendors?

We believe in the dictum that “well began is half done.” The first step in any ERP implementation should consist of a thorough analysis of the customer’s needs and the various automation processes. We are providing comprehensive ERP solutions for academic, administrative, and financial areas of an institution. In the academic environment, we provide solutions for the complete student life cycle. From student and staff database management to hostel to transport management are covered. Similarly, in the finance department, the areas of fee collection, asset management, and procurement cycles are covered by our solutions.

What is your opinion of the innovations and trends in ERP for higher education.

In India higher education is in the preliminary stage of automation. There is hardly any higher education institute in India, which is fully automated so far.

But things are now changing.

Online admissions, online digital contents, online examination, online result processing, smart payments, online verification of university certificates for authenticity, etc. are gaining popularity.

There is demand for MIS (Management Information System), which provides overall information to institutions as per

their choice, and assists them in taking wise decisions. The student and parent portal ensures restricted information flow to various stakeholders.

What is the rate of Growth of ERP in the higher education sector?

Among new generation universities, professional and vocational institutions automation process are in the fast track, whereas in government sector and traditional institutions the rate of growth is quite slow. In terms of market size, the ERP segment is much bigger than what we have in Europe. Awareness campaign is required to educate Indian institutions about the right products and utility.

What are the opportunities in the ERP market?

India is a big market for ERP because of volume of business. Under AICTE there are more than 10,000 institutions, another 1000 universities and a good number of parallel institutions.

What are the challenges do you face while implementing ERP solutions?

The major challenge is the attitude of the staff. There will always be those who keep saying, “We have always done it that way.” Such attitudes force us to develop some customisations, which hardly serve any genuine purpose. Lack of knowledge about the requirements of the institution and functionality of the system may also lead to wrong customisation. Lack of initiative by different department heads and their staffs in implementing the technology at the right time is also one of the important issues.

Capturing of old data could be difficult for many companies. Maintenance and support of customised software for future is again a herculean task. The trained manpower for ERP implementation is always on high demand. There is very high attrition rate.

7 - 9 November 2012 | KTPO Trade Centre, Bengaluru

India’s Silicon Valley Plays Host to the Nation’s Premier ICT Event

Join us at

eINDIA 2012 Awards Expo For program details, contact Manjushree, manjushree@elets.in, +91-8860011088 Sunil Kumar, sunil@elets.in, +91-8860635837 For sponsorship/expo, contact Fahim Haque, fahim@elets.in, +91-8860651632 (India) Amit Pundir, amit@elets.in, +91-8860635835 (Delhi, NCR) Ragini Shrivastav, ragini@elets.in, +91-8860651650 (Delhi, NCR) Puneet Kathait, puneet@elets.in, +91-7829055833 (Bengaluru) Shankar, shankar@elets.in, +91-9773007143 (Mumbai)

Conferences and Workshops

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Tech Focus Industry Speak

There are Tremendous Opportunities in ERP Space Tell us about your views on how ERP solutions bring efficiency in management institutions?

Traditionally the higher education institutes have had processes that are manual and their data to a large extent is paper-based. The data is often resident to any single department and other departments might find it difficult to access and use the same data. That is why electronic data is important, as it facilitates the flow of information from one department to another. The adoption of ERP systems brings all the departments on the same platform, leading to the creation of more efficient campus. For instance, in admissions by adopting a simple online application processing solution, the institution can receive application forms on-line, collect payments on-line, and it can bring efficiency to the process of short-listing and selection of students.

How does ERP help the institutions in complying with regulations?

The Indian higher education sector is very diverse and one of the largest in the world. Hence, the ecosystem of regulators and governing authorities is also equally vast. The institutes are under constant surveillance from regulatory bodies for conforming to regulatory

“The adoption of ERP systems brings all the departments on the same platform, leading to the creation of more efficient campus,” says Rajendra CM, Managing Director, Asia Pacific & EMEA, Talisma Corporation, in conversation with Pragya Gupta compliance. This calls for mandatory disclosures from the institutes to the regulators. Institutes today spend significant amount of time preparing for regulatory reports. Institutes can definitely look up to an ERP system for generating of accurate reports. Therefore, for a good ERP system it is necessary to have

Talisma’s Offerings in ERP The integrated CampusVue Ecosystem comprises of the following components: • CampusVue Student: Student Information System for integrating departments and workflows • Self-Service Web Portals: For students, faculty, administrators, advisors, and employers • LMS: Moodle-based e-Learning for online and blended academic

44

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delivery • Decision Support and Performance Analytics: For a 360° view of multi-campus, distance and continuing education • CRM Solutions: For communications, recruiting, admissions, retention, advising, and alumni relations • Finance, HR & Payroll • Enterprise Document Management System

• Scholarships Management System • Social Media Solutions Placements Career Advancement Solution • Transportation and Facilities Management Solutions • Virtual Learning Platform • Library Management System • Regulatory Compliance System • RTI System

a comprehensive out-of-the-box regulatory compliance module that can bring ease to the creation of statutory reports.

How challenging is it to convince institutions about the value you bring in?

Historically, adoption of technology in the Indian higher education system has been slow. Therefore, in general it is quite a challenge to convenience the value of an ERP for a traditional institute as against a forwarding looking school.

However, the good news is that in the recent past, the sector has shown high appetite for technology adoption as a result of globalisation and strong influence of global trends. This is definitely complimented by other factors such as call by the government to improve the performance, efficiency and transparency in the operational governance.

Tech Focus Industry Speak

AICTE should Make ERP Mandatory for Institutions

Karan Garg, MD, IFW Techno Creations Pvt Ltd, shares his insights with Pragya Gupta on the latest trends in implementation of ERP solutions in Indian institutions

46

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Inefficiency of Manual, PaperBased Processes generates the demand of ERP in education. How does ERP make the processes more efficient?

Data Duplication, removal of human errors, and automation of routine tasks are some of the main areas in which ERP solutions are a big help to educational institutions. ERPs save a lot of time by helping us safeguard the integrity of the data.

A lot of time is wasted in making the reports and data sheets related to attendance, exams, etc. for submitting to affiliating state Universities and to AICTE like approving bodies. ERPs like IFW College ERP provide readymade interfaces for all such records. Old models used by colleges for attendance, exam evaluation, leave management timetable settings, etc. have traditionally required a lot of paperwork. With the advent of ERP solutions these tasks have gone online and can be finished quickly and efficiently. There is also more transparency in the system.

Since, AICTE has made ERP solutions desirable for all technical colleges, there is renewed interest in these solutions.

But, the rate of progress will be slow till the time AICTE makes it mandatory for institutions to have such solutions. The established colleges are eagerly implementing ERPs, but the new colleges are not showing similar enthusiasm.

What is the market size of the ERP vertical for higher education in India? What rate of growth are you expecting in times to come?

With approximately 1000 Universities and more than 10,000 technical and management colleges operating in the country, the market size is tremendous.

New institutions are coming up every year, and as all of them must implement ERP at some point of time, the future

looks very bright and exciting for this market. The day ERP solutions are made mandatory by State Universities and AICTE like bodies, this market will see a huge jump.

It has been noticed that not all the ERP implementation are success.

What are the reasons for these failures of ERP implementation?

The following are some of the reasons due to which ERPs sometimes fail in colleges due to reasons like lack of adequately trained staff, lack of proper infrastructure, or lack of adequate research on the exact needs of the institution. There can be various other reasons for failure also.

The thing is that Rome was not built in a single day. Many organisations feel that they can create their own ERP solutions by deploying a team of developers.

It’s not impossible. These organisations end up creating solutions that can only serve the purpose of hampering the process of standardisation. There can also be problems if the organisation makes wrong choice when it comes to ERP. For instance, if you are a University, you should not be going for a solution that has been developed with a School or College in mind.

Have you faced situations where institutions are unable to make proper usage of ERP solutions?

ERP Implementation is a race where everyone’s legs are tied up with each other.

If one department fails it will necessarily create problems for other departments.

ERP brings centralisation so that information can flow between different departments easily. If some of the departments do not work properly it becomes problem for the others. It is the prerogative of the ERP Manager to ensure that all departments are working in tandem with each other on the ERP front.

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peedy advancements in ICT and the advent of the new age media have led to great advancements in the education sector. Research has proven that an ICT-rich educational platform encourages a child’s natural tendency to explore, experiment and experience.

Based on the core-beliefs of teaching and learning through ICT, IL&FS Education and Technology Services Limited, a pioneer in technology based education solutions in India has launched K-Class (Knowledge Class), an innovative ICT based solution for schools. This unique product has been invented with aim to excite the minds of children through education and unleash their creative potential.

K-Class has been conceived for such a generation of teachers and students who have experienced the technology revolution in India in the past 15 years and are keen to change the way they learn and consume education. K-Class focuses on traditional methodologies of learning delivered through futuristic technologies but with a clear focus on learning outcomes. This initiative has been launched to strengthen the foundation of student performance and teacher capability through innovative interventions in technology infrastructure and curriculum mapped content.

The K-Class Programme comprises of the K-YAN (Knowledge Vehicle) and the K-Class Content Bank.

K-Yan Designed at the Industrial Design Centre, IIT Bombay, the K-Yan combines a hitech projector with a PC, a DVD writer, a TV Tuner, in-built speakers, 3G-Internet and a wireless keyboard and mouse – all in one box. K-YAN has a high projection unit which helps the students to view content easily even in an open and bright classroom. It also has an attached computer which can be used to view pre-

sentation, videos and movies and thus make leaning environs enlightening, enriching and interesting.

K-YAN can be also used as a television to view educational programmes with the help of a DTH connection. It also has a high quality sound and can store up to 320 GB DD content. K-YAN has an inbuilt DVD player and a USB Port through which external content can also easily viewed.

K-YAN also offers broadband connectivity option, which essentially allows the teacher to access the best practices available on the web. K-YAN is highly interactive with multi-touch features. This light weight magic box can be used both indoors and outdoors as it comes along with a trolley. Even with all these hi-tech innovations built into one box, at heart, the K-YAN remains a compact teaching aid designed to enable a teacher to focus on teaching rather than technology.

In 2004, the K-YAN was awarded with the Maharashtra IT Award for the best community learning technology and in 2005 it won the Indian Innovation Award. The Outlook Magazine has also rated the K-YAN as one of the top innovations. Over the past 7 years, over 200,000 teachers in 8000 Government and Private schools have been using the K-YAN to change the way their students learn in classrooms.

K-Class Content Bank The K-Class Content Bank is a wonderful mix of over 10,000 digital content units stored inside the K-Yan. These include, State Board curriculum mapped multimedia lessons in Science, Math, Social

Sciences and English, as well as assessments, mind maps, practice sheets, science experiment videos and interactive Exploriments in science and math. The content for the programme has been built in conjunction with academic experts from IIT, IIM, NCST, IDC, TISS, Harvard University, SNDT, University of Wisconsin and Marathi Vidnyan Parishad.

In addition to this off-the-rack content, K-Class also offers MYOL - Make Your Own Lesson through which a teacher to make her own lessons and lesson plans.

Exploriments, one of the most innovative modules that K-Class content are a great tool for enhancing conceptual understanding in Science in an experiential manner and provide a highly interactive, exploratory, and engaging experience.

K-Class is a 3-year programme. The programme is cost effective and does not require investment of expensive electronic white boards for every class as one K-YAN can be easily used across 5 classrooms. The programme easily allows schools to address challenges of technology obsolescence and undue hardware interest payments.

The K-Class programme has been launched in select States of India and over 500 schools have signed in for the programme. digitalLEARNING / may 2012

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corporate diary

We are Targeting large Institutes Like IITs and IIMs Vinod P John, Senior Director (Sales), Ellucian, talks to Pragya Gupta about the merger of Sungard Higher Education with Datatel and the coming into being of a new entity called Ellucian.

He also talks about the company’s roadmap for the higher education segment one of the top five players in the market.

Ellucian focuses purely on higher education technologies. We are the world’s largest niche player in higher education technology.

Was it challenging change the identity from Sungard to Ellucian?

At an international level, it was not difficult to change the identity as our customers know Sungard Higher Education and Datatel. We had announced the merger in a conference with audience of 6,200 clients. The company celebrated the new Ellucian name again April 1-4 with 2,000 additional clients at the DUG user conference. Therefore, the name has spread in the. Customers across the world are very happy about the merger of these two companies. However, in India it is a challenge. People don’t know us that well in India and so we had to work hard to create a new brand identity here. We have big customers like Symbiosis group and IIM Bangalore in India.

Tell us about how Ellucian came into being?

A private equity company, Hellman & Friedman LLC, has acquired Sungard Higher Education (SGHE) for 1.8 billion dollars. They acquired Sungard and merged it with another company called Datatel, leading to the creation of Ellucian. Sungard is the leader in ERP in the higher education space. Datatel is also

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Tell us about your business plans for the Indian market?

We have very clear target segment. We are targeting big institutes in India especially institutes of national importance like IITs and IIMs. We are talking to the large private universities like Symbiosis, and others. We would like to participate in various forums where we can connect with our customers directly.

Please share your expansion plan for the Indian market?

In India for the first one and a half year we have been focusing on building key customers like Symbiosis and IIM Bangalore. So now things are coming into good shape, this is the time to move for-

ward. We will be adding two to three more clients this year. Next year will be a quantum jump in terms of market share in the Indian market. However, we are not focusing on capturing 50 percent or 100 percent market share, but we want to acquire clients, which understands and aligned with what higher education vision is. They should appreciate technology in higher education.

Ellucian has solution centric approach since it entered the Indian market. Please throw some light on your offerings for the Indian market.

We have a whole suite of business solutions. Our business solutions include student services like registration, admission, financial aid, student retention, dropout rates, etc.

Then we have the finance and HR part. This is actually created for higher education keeping their requirements in mind. We also have Alumni Relationship module, which is very well accepted worldwide and in India it is growing. We also have the enterprise solutions which includes community management. We connect different communities with this tool. We have relationship management tool. Today there is big challenge in front of private institutes; they need to grow by finding new students.

For that we have relationship tool, which connect various communities within the institute. The business intelligence tools also provide complete analytics of student behaviour. We make a thorough analysis of our customers’ needs before pitching our product. This ensures that our customers get the kind of product that they deserve.

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Policy Matters Debate

On its Second Anniversary, RTE Inspires a New Round of Debates Financial and psychological aspects are being cited as the prime causes for non adherence to RTE norms by many schools. So what is the explanation from the point of view of the School administrators and leaders...

By Pragya Gupta, Elets News Network (ENN)

S

econd Anniversary of Right to Education (RTE) has been celebrated with another high decibel message. The message is one that has come in the form of a verdict passed by the Supreme Court. With the intent of offering equal opportunities to millions of children who cannot access quality education because they are economically unpowered, the court has passed the verdict stating that schools must reserve 25 precent seats for economically weaker sections.

Government introduced Right to Education Act in April 2010. The Act envisages that all poor children aged between 6-14 years should be given free and compulsory education within their neighbourhood. This included unaided minority institutions, but these institutes have been removed from the ambit of the RTE Act by the Supreme Court verdict. The Act is

Shantanu Prakash

CMD, Educomp Solutions Ltd

“We welcome the Supreme Court judgment as this will pave the way for millions of our children to access good quality education. At Educomp, our mandate has always been to promote quality and access across the education spectrum. We sincerely hope that the RTE Act will be implemented in its correct form and spirit, in coordination with all important stakeholders, and this will hold the key to its success.”

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Rita Kaul

Principal, The Millennium School, Noida

“There will be challenges in implementation and there are still some areas that need greater clarity, but all stakeholders must come together and clear all doubts and allay fears so as to create a workable implementation plan. We have created scientific teaching systems that provide an opportunity to all children to shine. We will also be counting on the support of all like-minded parents to ensure that transition and eventual integration is smooth” operational in 32 states. The Central outlays for implementing the RTE-SSA programme have practically doubled since 200910 (Rs 13,100 crore in 2009-10 to Rs 25,555 crore in 201213). The government will reimburse private schools for admitting poor students, but only to the extent of the expenditure made by the government schools.

Mixed response from schools The judgment has got mixed response from the education community. The decision has been opposed by many schools throughout the country; in addition to financial issues, some educationists have also highlighted psychological impacts of this decision.

Policy Matters Debate

“A New Beginning will have its Teething Problems“

Dr Vandana Lulla, Director and Principal, Podar International School, Mumbai

On Supreme court’s verdict on RTE I personally feel that the Supreme Court’s verdict on RTE will be a welcome change to a society that has a great economic and social divide. More than deliberations, we need to focus on how to smoothen the process for the children and teachers at large. This social initiative by the Supreme Court is definitely good but I only hope that this integration does not make the disadvantaged section of society more aware of the divide.

Impact of the Judgment on Schools The judgment by the Supreme Court will impact schools to a certain extent. In the sense, schools now have to think about ways and means on how to implement

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the RTE successfully. Definitely, any new beginning will have its teething problems but schools will have to work out a way of making this process as problem free as possible. The only impact from the school point of view will be working out the finances, once the school takes in 25 percent of children from the weaker sections. The concern that probably will arise is funding the gap between government subsidy and actual cost.

needs to appoint counsellor to handle such children.

Any psychological impact on the children Children might develop an inferiority complex studying alongside children from better homes. They may try to ape their life styles. Thus, to tackle this problem that could arise, the school

Expectations from the government The only expectation from the government is to improve the environment in state run schools. Education can surely be used as a tool to break down social barriers and thus the government should build more schools.

What are your plans to cover the expense on these 25percent students? Will it shift this financial burden on those 75 percent by hiking fees?

AGPS is a Charitable Trust and has been providing education free of cost to students from disadvantaged section.

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School Administrators obtain critical data to document and monitor the progress of all children.

Teachers receive specific information to support instructional planning for individual students and the class as well as to improve their teaching.

Parents better understand their child’s achievement level and get direction for home involvement.

Features of Stanford 10: India norms available from schools across India l Comprehensive assessment of achievement from students tested on English, Mathematics and Science l Wide age range covered through eight test levels, from classes 3 to 10 l Detailed reports result in accurate measurement of a student’s progress and growth l Full-colour testing materials & Easy-to-navigate test documents l

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Policy Matters Debate

“Why do States Decide how Much they Pay us” receive from the state government. Private schools are also concerned whether they will get timely reimbursement of the tuition fee from the state government. The RTE implications might prove to be a setback for those who wish to start their own schools, to enter and expand in the field of education.

Psychological impact on the children Those schools who do not handle social integration will probably see fall out of students. The schools are required to bridge the gap between the have’s and have not’s, to avoid any bias on the grounds of social class. The schools should instill in students a sense of mutual respect and acceptance for each other irrespective of the diversity in the backgrounds. To lessen this psychological impact, the schools are required to handle the situation sensibly.

Amol Arora, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Shemrock & Shemford Group of Schools

On Supreme Court’s verdict on RTE Since education is the basic Constitutional right for every child, it will now be exercised and will give equal opportunities for all. However, the unfortunate aspect of RTE’s implications on private schools is that education at such institutions might turn out to be more expensive, which may be beyond the reach for people who can still afford private school education for their children. How can the government pay us only what they spend on the child when private schools spend much more per child – on better infrastructure, better www.digitalLEARNING.in 54 www.digitalLEARNING.in

curriculum, better teachers ,invest in teacher training?

Impact of the judgment on Schools Unfortunately, the Judgment will have a direct impact on the fee structure of private schools. As there is uncertainty for finances, the private schools will have no other alternative, but to increase the fees for the rest 75 percent of students, to make space for the 25 percent of students they are liable to take as per RTE provisions. It is still unclear about how much grants will the private schools

What are your plans to cover the expense on these 25 percent students? Will it shift this financial burden on those 75 percent by hiking fees?

Since there is no other alternative but to follow the RTE provisions, we are most likely to hike the fees for those 75 percent of students, to accommodate the expenses on the reserved category of 25 percent of students.

Do you have any further expectations from the government?

We would like less disparity in the amounts that the government is providing the private schools. Since we have the same book sets and uniforms across the country, have to pay teachers the sixth pay commission then why do states decide how much they pay us. The government should be encouraging private players to setup quality institutions and create a conducive environment for them rather than stifling the private school sector.

TM

Policy Matters Debate

“RTE Can Also be a Tool of Harassment”

Sujit Bhattacharya, Director, Indus World School

On Supreme Court’s verdict on RTE As a private school operator we see great merit in the role of RTE to create a more inclusive educational climate in our country. The government has to now play the role being a true facilitator of this act by creating transparent and robust norms of implementation, especially on reimbursement of costs to private schools. RTE must not become a tool in the hands of officials to harass private schools. We at Indus World Schools have already implemented RTE in our classes and we are very happy to partner the government in nation building. I hope the government also reciprocates by implementing clean and open processes and creating prompt payment systems so that the entire society promotes the idea of RTE rather than to find faults with it.

Expectations from the government If the government gives the reasonable compensation for that 25 percent then private schools can do a wonderful. The current norms, which have been spoken about have to be looked at more seri-

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ously because the cost of education in a government schools are many times cheaper as they offer basic form of education whereas cost of education in any private school which is aspiring to a quality is different. By using the simple benchmark of saying that whatever government schools are charging will be paid to the private schools will be paid the same it way rob the opportunity from private school to provide the quality education. This is what government needs to look at.

RTE can also be a tool of harassment in the hands of some lower level government officers. That is something government should think on very seriously. The education affects so many people and it can easily be misused. The kind of power has been given to district level officer can be misused in terms of approving the payment, in terms of approving the eligibility, payments, reimbursements, etc. There should be very clear norms, which are transparent, robust and easy to compliance. I do not want my school admin person to follow up with government official

20 times for payments. That should not happen as we are not a construction company who know how to deal with babus and clerks.

The second aspect is about how the economically weaker children will be intermingled with children of other section.

There are psychology and social issues. In my opinion, at the younger ages like Nursery and KG children by enlarge do not understand these differences. If Schools are sensitive to this and train teachers and it can happen in a smooth way. Schools have to be sensitive about dealing with it in terms of training the teachers and sending the right messages to the parents so that as a society we will learn how to cooperate. However, RTE impacts on higher education grades. If suddenly student from a very different background enter into the school it can have ramification on the psychological well being of children of both side. Both will find difficult to cooperate with each other. If happens gradually they can settle down very well. Government should not rush to implement the RTE in higher grades.

www.digitallearning.in is the oldest and leading source of information on ICT in education

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Skills Development and Education in India:

A Model Higher Education Scenario: In the 21st Century world, India is poised to assume the centre stage of economic activity. The country’s targets are clear as daylight- according to the MHRD, by 2022, India aims to 500 million skilled people. For a country which, as World Bank says, has only 25 percent of its graduates employment-ready, it is a worrisome scenario. While countries like Australia, Germany, South Korea have robust system of skills development and vocational training, India has yet to wake up to the dire situation at hand in terms of the skills deficit. On its way to becoming economic super power, India faces skills development as a major challenge. If we tackle it with astute policy decisions and effective implementation, we would sail through the troubled waters. But if we fail to address this issue as we should, we have only ourselves to blame to lose out on the much-talkedabout ‘demographic dividend’ and the rightful place in the world.

Unfortunately though, Higher Education is yet to take cognizance of skills development as an educationally significant concept. Policy papers from MHRD, UGC and AICTE do mention, refer and discuss skills development, but we have a long way to go before we integrate it into the core practices of mainstream education. Skills development has remained on the periphery for some time now, while Higher Education grapples for its bid for relevance to the actual operations of the world. If education has to serve the country and if

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Dr Haresh Tank Director, Station-e Language Lab

“On its way to becoming economic super power, India faces skills development as a major challenge”

economic development is to materialize the way we have envisioned, skills development will have to be given a respectable place in the curricula and day-to-day learning of students across the spectrum of education, particularly Higher Education.

Station-e: A Model for Skills Development Based on these crucial reflections, Station-

e was conceptualised as a training corporation catering to a wide variety of training requirements of scores of youths in the country. It offers a technology-aided learning experience of various skills to individual learner, academic institutions and corporate world. As a company with a growing national recognition in domain of skills development and enhancement, it has emerged as the complete solution provider for the salient skills required to

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Dr Haresh Tank is Director, Station-e Language Lab. In the capacity of Director, he is in charge of conceptualizing and operationalizing initiatives with a special focus on Skills Development. He holds a doctorate in Statistics and is a noted Statistical Analyst. He was also nominated for Young Scientist Award. With a passion for teaching and contributing to the society, he continues to serve as Associate Professor in Statistics. As a Director, Station-e Language Lab, he has initiated several projects in the realm of Skills Development with Government and private companies

operate in the contemporary scenario.

Customised training programmes for life and soft skills, innovative training methodologies, sophisticated blend of advanced technological equipments and creativity of human mind in conducting the courses, commendable infrastructure and a vision of collective excellence are the factors which make Station-e the first among equals in the arena of training in India.

With the concerns of Skills Development in view, Station-e envisaged the concept of Skills Development Centre (SDC). It is a unique construct, aiming at upskilling the youth of the country. We have established several SDCs at various educational institutions – college campuses across the country. SDC serves as the training wing of the university/college/organisation, operated in a digital learning lab and powered by highly sophisticated technology. SDC comes with in-built training programs on soft and life skills, integral to the theme of skills development and empowering the youth. Customised to the core, these modules have astonishing transformation value as they produce remarkable results in virtually no time. The youth across the country have benefitted by the innovative Skills Development Centres and carved a niche for themselves in their chosen area of endeavour. What it means for a university/college is that it proves its worth, demonstrates its relevance through the skills training that the youth passing out of the system will be equipped with the best of skills and competencies required to operate in today’s world.

Skills Development Centre is a turnkey project and a vision product of Station-e.

We wish to see an economically empowered India for which skills development of its youth is the key. For this, SDC is a small but significant endeavour at making a humble contribution for taking India to its rightful place in the 21st century world. digitalLEARNING / may 2012

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perspective

Social Media in Education In today’s hyper-connected world, where life is chronicled on timelines and status updates, where klout is becoming more important than clout, and where a tumblr is not a student using bad spelling, will social media give a Second Life to education?

By Anand Agarwal and Ishvinder Singh, Elets News Network (ENN)

I

t might seem hard to believe, but the Merriam Webster dictionary (the online version, of course) says that the first known use of the phrase ‘social media’ occurred as recently as 2004.

The importance this innocuous phrase has come to occupy in our social discourse, not only shows how rapidly life is evolving in the Information Age, it also shows the disruptive power of this umbrella term, which, to quote the Online Merriam Webster, comprises of all “forms of electronic communication… through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content. Social media has had a profound impact on politics – ask Barack Obama who raised millions of dollars in campaign funding through twitter, or ask some rather less fortunate politicians closer home, who lost their jobs in the aftermath of seemingly innocuous tweets. Social media has had a great impact on governance – ask the India Against Corruption geeks who mobilised huge crowds online. Social media has similarly impacted almost all areas of human endeavour, be it business, popular culture, sports, entertainment, cutting edge research (more on that later), fashion and what have you. In this light, it is hardly surprising to see social media tools playing an ever more important role in the field of education, and at all levels.

Social Learning Albert Bandura, a Canadian-born Professor of Psychology at the Stanford University is one of the world’s most influential psychologists. Bandura has put forth a Theory of Social Learning, which says that the most learning takes place due to observation and imitation. This ‘observational learning’ was em-

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perspective

pirically confirmed in Bandura’s famous Bobo doll experiment of 1961, wherein children who watched adults being violent towards dolls later replicated the same behaviour without any inducement or provocation.

While it would be a stretch to link the observational models of learning (that rely more on physical proximity and observations) to this the social media tools of this day and age, it would be difficult to totally disregard the important role social media plays in helping discover and connect with people or follow conversations that one might never have come across in the physical world. By enlarging and enriching the universe from which one can draw upon for experiences and acquaintances, social media is indeed doing yeoman’s service in expanding learning.

Cutting-edge Research, on a Social Network So social media is only for the young and frivolous, right? Wrong! The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has created a social network to help researchers working on cures for a number of deadly diseases collaborate better.

The Open Source Drug Discovery (OSDD) project has its social network at http://sysborg2.osdd.net and it is a platform where experts from a number of disciplines related to the biological and chemical sciences interact, discuss ideas and forge alliances for collaborative work.

Developing new drugs is perhaps one of the most expensive industrial research activities, with very low success rates and long gestation periods.

The OSDD project ‘crowdsources’ the process, inviting everyone to contribute ideas and approaches towards solving problems that are otherwise handled in state-of-the-art, billion dollar labs funded by cash rich multinationals. By taking the open source approach, everyone’s ideas are open to the rest of the world to be improved upon. By facilitating interactions among interested parties – not merely microbiology or chem-

istry experts, mind you – the OSDD project aims to tap into a pool of ideas for solving (for now) the increasingly perplexing problem of developing a drug for Tuberculosis (TB) that does not induce drug-resistance in the patient. The project has already mapped the entire TB genome successfully, and colleges across India, scientists and researchers from institutions and companies in India and abroad, retired professionals and educated women who preferred to become housewives rather than take up a career post-marriage, have all collaborated and contributed to the project.

The government is often flayed for its outdated approach. This is one instance where it deserves accolades by the truckload. There is nothing not to ‘like’ in this initiative, which is bound to throw up more successes in the time to come.

Second Life, not Nirvana The virtual reality platform Second Life, which allows you to create ‘avatars’, buy ‘property’, ‘settle down’ in a community of your choice, and interact with other ‘residents’ is one of the more popular virtual reality worlds in the cyberspace.

A number of communities around education have sprung up on the platform, and some of the major educational institutes are present on Second Life. The Stockholm School of Economics has a ‘campus’ in Second Life, so have Indiana State University and Arkansas State University (ASU), among many others.

A number of ASU’s ‘real world’ courses make significant use of Second Life.

Instructors develop simulations in the virtual world that aid experiential and immersive learning. For example, history courses have Second Life tours of the places and events being taught and a geography class is brought alive with simulated tours of locations across the world.

Engineering students can build simulated versions of buildings, tools and what not, and see for themselves how the theory plays out in reality. Virtual meeting halls allow student and faculty avatars to interact and plan out the schedule. Second Life

is one of the most popular platforms being used by universities across the world, and adds a dimension to education that classroom-confined teaching could perhaps never be able to. It is free to universities and students.

Microlearning The popular microblogging site Twitter is not just empty blabber. It is also a gateway into the world of interesting, often astounding information. Hashtags – twitterspeak for identifying the topic a tweet is related to – can be quirky, inane or meaningless, but quite often also the key that unlocks doors to discussions one might have easily missed otherwise.

Apps developed around twitter allow users to add value to tweets. For example, apps allow segregating tweets emanating from a particular location, draw analytics out of tweets, develop word clouds to identify which are the most active topics being discussed and so on.

Tools such as Twitter allow classrooms to transcend limitations imposed by physical space, costs involved in increasing capacity and challenges of holding attention of a large audience.

With increasing smartphone and tablet penetration, Twitter integration with classroom teaching has become feasible.

A study at the Purdue University established that use of Twitter in the classroom helped students overcome the shyness barrier, by allowing them to answer questions without having to raise hands to identify themselves in a big lecture hall.

Increased participation, in turn, has been linked to better academic performance overall. Increased communication also opens up perspectives and allows one to appreciate different points of view. digitalLEARNING / may 2012

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Another experiment conducted at one of the leading American universities divided a group of 125 students into a set of 70 who used Twitter for educational purposes, and 55 who relied on traditional communication only. The

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two groups were monitored throughout a semester and it was found that the Twitter-using group was almost twice as engaged as the group relying solely on traditional communication. The Twitter user group’s average Grade Point Aver-

age (GPA) was 0.51 higher than that for the other group. Twitter had helped improve scores by taking engagement beyond the classroom boundaries and encouraging students to explore the subjects in greater depth!

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perspective

A Book Everyone Loves Facebook – the world’s largest social network – was first started as a way to help Harvard students stay in touch and interact. It soon became so successful that its gates to the rest of the world shortly thereafter. With more than 900 million active users, Facebook is, for many, synonymous with social networks, or rather, it might well be the other way round.

Schools and educational institutes have for long had profiles on Facebook, but it recently unveiled an initiative called Groups for Schools that, as the name says, is meant exclusively for schools. The feature is available only to students and faculty with an active school email address. The feature would allow users to share un-copyrighted files within the group, but subject to a limit of 25 MB per file. The feature is currently restricted to education institutions within the US and to users with an active .edu address, but it is hoped that further rollouts would cover the rest of the countries as well.

A rich ecosystem of apps that integrate with the Facebook Application Programming Interface (API) has evolved, allowing users to further enrich their experience. There are apps that help users create flashcards for easy revision, share info about the books they read with their Facebook friends, tag books, loan books, create presentations, create to-do lists... the list is endless.

Learning comes Alive With improving internet speeds and increasing penetration of technologies such as 3G, Broadband Wireless Access

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(BWA), 4G-LTE (Long Term Evolution) etc., high speed internet on the go would become increasingly common in the country. Already, sites such as YouTube host virtual classrooms of a number of universities where video lectures from eminent professors are available free of cost. The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) also has a YouTube channel and a number of lectures are available online. Yale offers over 100 courses online for free, with tight integration around YouTube. Similar content is available from a number of other globally-renowned universities, and also on other video-sharing platforms such as Vimeo or Dailymotion.

Other Tools It is almost impossible to chronicle all available social media platforms in a short article such as this, and a lot many have been left untouched. Social bookmarking tools such as delicious, stumbleupon, reddit, digg, etc. make it ridiculously easy to discover topics of interest on the Web and also share it with friends. All of these are available as browser plugins that install with minimal fuss and make discovering and sharing interesting content as easy as snapping your fingers. A multitude of blogs and wikis have sprung up around specific topics, allowing users to interact with varying degrees of control over content. Wikipedia is the world’s defacto go-to place for information on any topic, has been built almost entire by volunteers, and heavily relies on users for maintaining accuracy and concurrency of the articles. Photo sharing sites

such as Flickr and Picasa, ‘visual’ social networks such as Pinterest, apps such as the billion-dollar Instagram etc., are all being used for educational purposes to varying degrees.

Finally, the community radio – an ‘offline’ platform – is a vital social media variant that is often precluded from such discussions. A number of universities in India have started community radio services, and this fosters a vibrant interaction amongst the student and faculty in campuses. With all phones coming equipped with FM receivers, and a phone in every hand, the power of this social media platform is immense, and is yet to be tapped properly.

Challenges of Social Media As with almost everything in life, social media comes with a caveat attached – handle with care. Too much of a good thing is also not good, after all. Social media poses a variety of technical and social challenges to users. Most social media platforms are hosted and developed outside of India (and mostly in the US), and would have their maintenance or otherwise scheduled downtimes in alignment with the geographical location of their servers and data centres.

Scheduling classes or interactions might then be a little tricky, though given how rare the downtimes are, this is not a significant risk.

Use of data without authorisation is a challenge most social media platforms have not been able to fully resolve yet, and the threat to privacy would seem to be the biggest challenge in tightly integrating these tools with education, particularly where children or young adults are involved. In addition, given the fact the most of the data is stored outside Indian jurisdiction, it would be a challenge to seek legal recourse in case of any breach of privacy, harm or other injury arising out of the misuse of such data. The differences in cultural orientations across geographies pose another set of complex challenges. Finally, comfort of the teachers and students with technology and the cost of devices and bandwidth to make optimal use of the social media platforms present another set of challenges.

Welcome to Agile Campus Today, campuses need to be more integrated, student friendly and responsive than ever before. But to evolve into a truly agile campus that is as close to students, as it is to every constituent in the student ecosystem, campuses need to do more. They need to develop strategy and proposition to competitively differentiate through technology, and promote this consistently to relevant target audiences.

Welcome to technology that enables campuses to communicate, deliberate, analyse, report and gain strategic insights across the system, the campus and beyond.

Welcome to the world of Campus Management solutions.

Student-Centric Solutions for Higher Education Campus Management’s software and services are in step with Higher Education’s demands for better service and accountability.

From student admissions to alumni relations, our offerings are built around the entire student lifecycle. They help campuses extend and improve services, enhance academics and advising, build and sustain relationships strategically, and ensure greater visibility of campus operations for regulatory compliance and reporting.

Campus Management helps universities turn into Agile Campuses by: • Managing prospect campaigns Our solution helps campuses reach out to target audience groups by running multiple campaigns across channels such as email, sms, text, phones or even social media.

• Improving decision making With CampusVue Performance Analytics, campuses can perform instant comparative analysis for making strategic decisions in real-time on a wide range of issues.

• Managing student interaction Our application CampusVue® Ecosystem helps institutions create personalized Web portals for students for on-demand services and interaction with faculty and staff.

• Increase efficiency

Our solutions help faculty and administrators leverage centralized data and automated workflows, resulting in less time with paperwork and more time helping students.

• Consolidate academic environment

With CampusVue e-Learning Solutions, students enjoy Web-based access to course materials and knowledge resources. Instructors are liberated from manual course administration, and administrators have a consolidated view of student and institutional performance across traditional, flexible, and distance education programs.

• Aiding in reporting and compliance

Enables campus-wide reporting for regulatory compliance and making decisions based on real-time data with comprehensive dashboards, and predefined Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) developed specifically for Indian higher education institutions.

• Student lifecycle management

We have solutions covering prospect engagement, recruitment and retention, help desk (knowledgebase), e-advising, fundraising and alumni relations management.

• Helping manage multi-channel communication

Our solution can help institutions communicate over phone, social media, email, chat, SMS texting messaging, Web portals with students and prospects while offering an integrated view of all communication initiatives. With our solutions, your institution can even run prospect campaigns to attract new students.

• Managing alumni relationships

Alumni and Advancement enables development, alumni relations, and public affairs staff to improve communications and drive activities necessary to build personal, one-to-one relationships and meet funding goals.

To learn how your institution can transform into an ‘Agile Campus’ write to marketing@talisma.com, visit www.talisma.com or speak to us at +91-80-4039 4400

news corporate

NEC Appoints Angira Agrawal as Head for its Cloud Business NEC India has announced the appointment of Angira Agrawal as Head & Associate Vice President for its Cloud business in India. Angira will be responsible for heading the Cloud initiative for NEC India, defining the overall strategy, including cloud offering partners, the GoTo-Market (GTM) partners and the Platform capabilities.

Datatel and SunGard Announce Merger Datatel and SunGard Higher Education, two education technology companies, have announced merger. The combination has a new name Ellucian.

John F. Speer, President and CEO, Ellucian announced the new Ellucian name to an energetic audience of 6,200 clients at Summit 2012, an annual user conference.

InfoPro Launches Collaborative Learning Platform GNOSIS InfoPro Learning, Inc, a learning solutions company, has announced the release of Gnosis, an online collaborative learning platform that empowers learners by helping organisations tap into the in-depth, tacit knowledge and experience of their experts.

With Gnosis, people can share knowledge, experience, and expertise in real time.

Pearson Launches Stanford Achievement Test Series Pearson has launched Stanford Achievement Test Series, Tenth Edition (India) – Stanford 10 India. This is the Indian adaptation and standardisation of the gold standard for achievement testing.

Devised to suit the needs of the Indian education system, this is a valid and a reliable tool needed for objective assessment of achievement.

Stanford 10 India enters India at an interesting juncture, when the country is slowly realising that application of learning is more valuable than getting good marks

Mercury Launches 3G Voice Tablet, mTab Neo2 Kobian has announced the launch of mTab Neo2, 3G Voice model, which will support Android 4.0. The Samsung chipset provides excellent picture quality. With a long battery backup of 6 hours and multi-touch capacitive screen, one can enjoy richer experience at both work and play.

Mumbai-Angels Funded CarveNiche Rolls out WisdomLeap Platform Bangalore-based, Mumbai Angels funded, CarveNiche Technologies, has launched their flagship product WisdomLeap in India. The multi-dimensional Wisdom Leap addresses the needs of all the stakeholders, including the students, their teachers, parents and the school management on a single platform. WisdomLeap, developed with over 100,000 man hours is customised, interactive-content that can be used for teachingstudents across Class 1 to 10 across all key subjects.

by rote-learning. Stanford 10 India gives parents, teachers and the students a glimpse of where a child stands on a national percentile scale, unlike normal exams where the child is tested against her classmates alone. This test series measures student’s progress towards high academic standards. It includes a range of user friendly scorereports, designed with the inputs from administrators and teachers across the country and also supports teaching, learning and accountability requirements.

Pearson Launches Teacher Certification Programme

Pearson Education Services has launched a ‘Teacher Certification’ Programme. The programme certifies the proficiency of teachers in using technology in their classroom sessions. The programme is a model developed to produce technologically-competent teachers, who can facilitate an effective learning process.

The assessment can be taken by the teachers online with two levels of certification.

Educomp bags Rs 209 crores ICT@Schools Project from Government of Assam

CL Educate to Train Youth under Swarn Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojna

Educomp has announced that its ICT Division Edureach has won an order worth Rs 209 crores from the Government of Assam under the prestigious ICT@Schools Project.

Educomp signed the agreement with the Assam Electronics Development Corporation Limited, Government of Assam, on 23rd March, 2012 for the implementation of Rajiv Gandhi Computer Education Program (RGCEP) under the GOI Revised ICT@Schools Scheme in 1,054 Government High and Higher Secondary schools of the state. Over 650,000 students are expected to benefit from this program every year.

CL Educate Ltd and NIRD (National Institute of Rural Development) has signed an MOU through which CL Educate will be training 7800 rural BPL youth under the Rural Development Scheme of MORD (Ministry of Rural Development) GoI, New Delhi. CL educate will impart training to the youth of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bundelkhand Districts of MP and UP in various trades so as to make them employable. CL Educate will bear 25 percent of the total cost of this project. CL Educate will be training the youth in various trades viz- Electrician, AC and Refrigeration Repair, Diesel Engine Repair, Beautician, Mobile repairing, etc.

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