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Explore, Analyse and Assess in Education

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-

SK KakProf S K Kak, Vice Chancellor, Mahamaya Technical University, believes that education is beyond bookish knowledge

In today’s knowledge centric environment the future of any country is dependent on how educated and well trained the workforce is. We need to ensure that every individual has access to all the opportunities for getting the best possible training, so that he or she can be a productive and inspiring member of the society.
In India, our educational system has remained stagnant, moribund and fossilised due to the total lack of academic and intellectual leadership from those within and outside the institutions of learning. Most of our education is bookish, and stylised without any connection to the real world of social and economic activity. This need to change, requiring complete and total overhaul of our schools, colleges and universities and the way teaching and learning is happening in these places. We need to focus more on knowledge than on information and explain to the students the difference between the two, we need to have active learning pedagogy, we need to teach application and use of knowledge rather than simply test the ability to memorise information.
Most of the higher education institutions have been working with very poor funds and even poorer utilisation of these. The institutions do not operate with well defined administrative and operational processes and if some of them have these, they are seldom revised based on feedback and problems faced by the institution. Thus the self corrective mechanisms are nonexistent making the processes archaic and very inefficient as they have no agility to meet the requirements of today’s explosive knowledge world. Many of the best institutions do not have any learning and academic outcome related metrics for evaluating the efficacy of education happening in these centres and no effort is thus possible to record the outcomes that are achievable vis-a-vis what is achieved. Most of the models of excellence that are used even in the best of educational institutions are those that have been evolved for the industrial world and they fail to assess the quality of education and thus make educational institutions focus more on administrative and managerial aspects rather than academic and intellectual ones. This is creating a very sad situation where the academics is sacrificed or seconded to administrative or managerial controls and requirements.

Many of the best institutions do not have any learning and academic outcome related metrics for evaluating the efficacy of education being imparted in these centres”

Education is not simply a way of knowing from the books or classrooms but it must bring about an ability to explore, analyse and assess everything around oneself. The structured knowledge must be tested on the field to validate it for oneself and then apply it to situations that confront us as individuals or as social beings. We academicians in India have failed to create any connection between what is learnt in the classrooms to what, how and why it is applied in the world outside, this is the main failure of education, and this leads to educated persons being misfit for the world they are to live, work and succeed in.
The huge advantage we have of having a large part of our population of these young and eager persons who need to learn to earn and need to realise the dreams that they have for themselves and the world around can be lost if our education system fails to meet their basic aspirations’ due to deficit skills that are demanded from them in the workplace. This is the challenge that can be converted into a great opportunity by the combined efforts of the teachers, educationists, and academicians by transforming the education system that tunes to the need of the times. The consequences in failing to do so can be disastrous for the nation and hence we have very little choice.

Technology Enabled Assessment Management Solution

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-

VSN Raju,
CEO, Globarena Technologies Pvt Ltd

“The USP of our assessment / examination management solutions is that they have been calibrated in Indian examination context after taking inputs from the industry, tech-gurus and leading academicians,” says VSN Raju, CEO, Globarena Technologies Pvt Ltd

How do you see the role of technology in assessment?
Technology is being widely used in the assessment space by important stakeholders of India like the government departments, corporate enterprises,industry associations, universities and educational institutions. These stakeholders are breathing with ease as they are able to effortlessly replace their traditional human dependent assessment systems with efficient and robust technology enabled assessment systems. These assessment systems are empowering them to save cost, adapt best practices, processes and prevent malpractices while conducting assessments.
Making technology enabled assessment engines or systems easily available are more relevant today as:
• Firstly, the traditional assessment systems are slowly but surely ceasing to be effective as the number of assessment takers, be it students, job-seekers, employees is growing and the sheer number of assessments conducted every year is increasing tremendously with the passage of time.
• Secondly, the availability of ICT tools like the biometric devices, high-end cameras, display units have enhanced  remote monitoring possibilities at assessment centers. They have also enabled possibility of stringent authentication of personnel and test takers at the test centre with absolute ease which can curb malpractices like favoritism and impersonation during assessments/ examinations.

What are the assessment tool available for educators?
Currently test organisers and/or developers have the option to choose from a gamut of assessment tools for their requirements. These tools are available online through open source or proprietary tools that come with inbuilt security features which can be used to conduct differed assessments/ examinations be it online delivery model, Web- LAN delivery model or can be used for end-to-end Assessment Management.
Over the last decade Globarena Technologies have grown at a steady pace embracing technology in the assessment conduction and management space by churning out solutions ranging from basic computer adaptive test engines to developing major examination solutions (both conduction and management applications) using highend technology with possibility of integrating with modern-day ICT tools. Our examination management solutions are currently being delivered to renowned universities like Anna University,Shri Venkateshwara University, Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Acharya Nagarjuna University, JNTUK-Kakinada. NASSCOM, and IEG, AP to name a few.
The USP of our assessment/ examination management solutions is that they have been calibrated in Indian examination context after taking inputs from industry, tech-gurus and leading academicians. The examination solutions are designed to work efficiently with minimal human interference both in the rural and urban segments with absolute ease and with maximum accuracy.

Please throw some light on your solutions for the education sector
With over a decade of experience in learning and assessment currently we are offering the following solutions to different needs for examination conduction and management:
• OnMark – end-to-end Examination Management Solution
• OneX – Examination Solutions (online and LAN)
OnMark is designed to enable Universities adopt transparent examination management system through online evaluation/ marking of answer scripts, digital storage of answer scripts and result processing which is the need of the hour in the changing times and judicial framework.
OneX–Examination solution has been designed to empower the corporate enterprises and government departments in their Human Resource Development activities like recruitment test, employee succession and VSN Raju training plans.

 

 

 

In Maldives, Parents Promote ICT in Education

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-

Dr Asim Ahmed,
Minister of Education, Maldives

Acceptance to the new technologies is so high among the people in Maldives that Internet based learning is promoted by the parents in most of the schools. With their own funding, parents have provided TV, smart board, computer, etc to schools, says Dr Asim Ahmed, Minister of Education, Maldives. In conversation with Mohd Ujaley.

Majority of South Asian countries are yet to address the problem of literacy, electricity and acceptance to new technologies, in such a scenario where do you see ICT in education stands?
It is very important to use information technology to enhance the quality of education. Many countries, including Maldives have introduced information technology as a subject in the classroom. I agree, there are many challenges related to infrastructure, however, we are fortunate that Maldives has electricity  available in all the areas. We have robust internet connectivity. People’s acceptance to the new technologies is so high in Maldives that in most of the schools here internet based learning is promoted by the parents, with their own funding, they have provided TV, Smart-board, Computer, etc to schools.
Government does not have the capacity to provide all the modern facilities to all the schools. Government provides the minimum basic facilities to all the schools such as good infrastructure, quality teachers, text book, and other essential elements. It is the parents who have taken the lead in promoting ICT based education in schools.

In the last few years, gross enrolment ratio across South Asia has improved but not the quality. How do you look at Maldives in that context?
In Maldives we have 100 percent enrolment, so all the kids who are supposed to be in the school, are in the school. However, we prepare students for Cambridge O level examination and Edexcel A level examination; hence our syllabus is geared towards English medium of education.
Quality of education crucially depends on quality of teachers. We have developed many teachers development programme for both in service teachers and also for the one who wants to enter into the profession. So now universities and colleges are offering degree level training for education professionals. This will improve the quality and will reflect upon the performance of the students.
In Maldives, most of the teachers at the primary level are Maldivians now, at secondary level, we still depend on expatriate teachers. Government has improved the infrastructure in last couple of years to enhance the capacity of the schools. Most of the schools are one session school now; this has greatly improved the quality of the education as now students have time for various other educational activities as well.

[colored_box color=”yellow”]“Vocational education is the area that we want to promote within the general education system”[/colored_box]

In 2000, Government introduced Maldives Accreditation Board (MAB) to standardise the quality of education across the board, are you happy with the outcome of MAB? 
So far, we are happy with the outcome. The main purpose of the MAB was to improve the standard of education especially at post-secondary level. In Maldives, higher education is largely dominated by private sector. Government is not investing very heavily in higher education. Government has a National University apart from that much of the higher education is provided by private organisations. MAB has helped us in monitoring and providing uniform standard to all these organisations. MAB has set various parameters for the private organisations to get accredited. Getting accreditation  is also important for our certificate to get accepted internationally.

Traditionally, most of the Maldivians have gone abroad for higher education, what is the present scenario of higher education in Maldives?
It is true, but with the establishment of the higher education institutes, many students are able to obtain higher education in the country itself, that too for the fraction of the cost they pay abroad. However, many of the courses are still not available in Maldives, hence people go abroad. But now the private sector is competing with regional centre, suchas Malaysia where majority of Maldivians  go for higher education.
Maldives National University has grown up and now it is a fully independent university, they provide education and training in all areas of social science. In science education, we still have to work very hard.
Centre for Continuing Education and Education Development Centre have been merged to become the National Institute of Education, it will continue to provide curriculum, research and other activities and most importantly now they will provide the diploma level courses to the teachers who are in the services. We have teacher resource centre, some of them will now act as training centre for NIE. So there is a lot of development happening in case of higher education in Maldives.

Fishing is considered as the lifeblood of Maldives. Do you have any plan or roadmap to educate and train the local fishermen?
Vocational education is the area that we want to promote within the general education system. Right now we are focusing on O level and A level education. Some schools in the rural areas have vocational streams but we do not have enough infrastructure. Recently, I had the discussion with the Fisheries and Agriculture minister on this very issue. We want to develop vocational courses both in fisheries and agriculture. Our schools will introduce these courses and Department of Fisheries and Agriculture would provide the assistance in teaching these subjects. We will plan the syllabus together and then decide a certificate standard; this is one development which we hope to see yielding good results.

Right now, there seems to be little strain in relationship between India and Maldives. What is your sense of India’s relationship with Maldives?
India is not only the close friend of the Maldives; it is like a close relative and brother of Maldives. Historically, culturally, diplomatically and socially we have had strong relationship with India so we cannot afford to have relation strained with India. A lot of Maldivians come to India to get medical treatment, to obtain education, and a lot of them are settled in India to get education for their children, so these are very important relations and we cannot really afford to have anything which disrupts this tie.
I hope that we will be able to work out any difference that we have. I believe India is a matured democracy and similarly Maldives is very old country. I personally feel these relationships will not be disrupted because of the issue we face that have some immediate impact. There will be long and strong relationship between the two countries. I believe foundation is still very strong, and I hope these good relations will bring good for both India and Maldives.

Institution of National Importance status is needed

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-

Prof Parvin Sinclair“NCERT is in the process of becoming the Institution of National Importance, which will empower it to be more flexible and offer degree courses,” says Prof Parvin Sinclair, Director, National Council of Educational Research & Training (NCERT).

How successful has NCERT been in reflecting the pluralist character of India?
NCERT was formed in 1961 by merging seven bodies that already existed, so our agenda was determined largely by the objectives of those seven bodies.Initially, we were called the research and training body. Our job from the beginning was to look at all aspects of school education,from inside activity of classrooms to outside implicationsof it. So there have been four curriculum frameworks formed over the years as part of meeting these objectives.
Over the years we were supporting the government in providing the universal education which was always there as universalised elementary education scheme but without it being formalised or pushed through like in RTE. However, the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and before that DPE, we were all working towards this.
Jawaharlal Nehru’s vision was that everyone should have a scientific tempo.So accordingly all curriculars were meant for bringing everybody to classroom. However, we agree that ground realities are different. Since we are National Advisory Body under Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), the centralbody can only advice the state government as educationis the concurrent subject. So what we proposed can be taken with a complete spirit or partly ormay be not at all by states, that is why the RTE came into being and you can see the great changes it has brought in the last three years. Moreover, now under the act, everyone has to deliver,although we havenot reached 100 percent access,but we are much nearer there than three years ago and a short way to go still in terms of access.

Creation of climate of acceptance is important. Does that also get reflected in the NCERT vision?
The National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2005 absolutely ensures that each individual level is going to each child which is given opportunity to grow based on her experience. That is what, it is about and that is why it is difficult to bring to the classroom because each has a different back ground. Curriculum is not about reading writing and assessment that is an old colonial view. It’s about rowing as a person, how to care about others and bringing values to people,building the health mental as well as physical, allowing them to ork on cultural and social front, making people learn how to share with others and being included and including others. Be it a girl child or the boy child, they should get equal opportunities and should be confident about it and that is my NCF 2005 vision, so definitely diversity gets reflected in our vision.

What should be the role of ICT in education?
Precisely, what you have mentioned that it should be enabler. ICT is not just power point presentation, it is beyond that. We have started a project called NROER (The National Repository of Open Education Resources)and the idea is to allow children to see from the repository of NROER.People can add to these resources which will be review before being put to NROER, so by that way teachers are enabled to create what is actually needed.That is what the role of ICT should be.

What NCERT is doing currently and what are the future plans?
At present we are in the process of becoming the Institution of National Importance which requires the Parliament clearance so we are in the process of getting that bill drafted. The reason for that there are so many plans that requires flexibility. NCERT is a club of eight big institutes like National Institute of Education,Central Institute of Education and Technology and apart from these wehave five regional institute of education plus we have the Central Institute of Vocational Education so totally we are eight.NCERT is the council overarching body which looks after these institutes. So if this conglomerate becomes the intuition of national importance, you can imagine the kind of empowerment which all the regions will get. So this is one plan we are working on right and there are other areas also where we are focusing and hope to do bring good results.

Education needs both – Teachers & Technology

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-

The government has sanctioned 19.82 lakh posts for teachers to various states and union territories under theDr Ravi Gupta Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan programme. Under the 12th Five Year Plan, the Central Government has sanctioned Rupees 6300crore to strengthen teacher education. Despite the massive efforts towards digitisation that are being undertaken, the education system in the country is being stymied due to the lack of properly trained teachers. The Central government’sinitiative to recruit 19.82 new teachers will help in bridging the gap toa significant extent.
ICTs have a major role to play in education. The ICT revolution has providedus with a means for taking teaching and learning out of the confines of theexisting schools and colleges, but students still need access to quality teachersin order to make progress in their learning. The teaching cannot be completelydissociated form the teachers; it must not become insensitive to human relationshipsthat exists between the teacher and the taught. We no longer have achoice in either area. It is no longer an “if ” but “how” to deploy the technologiesoptimally and recruit more teachers to meet the demand-supply gap.
These are just some of the fundamental issues in education that digitalLEARNING has been raising over the years. It is time for us to raise it once again,not only in the magazine, but also in our popular summit on educational issues,the World Education Summit (WES), which is scheduled for 23-24 April,2013, at Le Meridian Hotel, New Delhi. Since its inception, three years ago, theWES has been taking a holistic look at promoting ICT in education. This is thethird edition of the WES. By the time the issue reaches your hands, the magazinewill already be out. In fact, the magazine is being launched at the WES.
Some of the main challenges that the World Education Summit seeks to addressare access, inclusion and quality. This issue of digitalLEARNING is designed toserve as a precursor to the WES. The magazine seeks to set the agenda thatwill be further pursued at the WES with hope that new ideas for improving thestate of our education will emerge. With this objective in mind, while framingthis issue of digitalLEARNING, we have interacted with a host of stakeholdersfrom the education space.
We have the interviews of the education minister of Rajasthan, and also of countries like Maldives and Nepal. There are interactions with senior officials from MHRD. Then there are the enlightening perspectives from industry and the academic community. The range of views that have been expressed are evocative of the passion that education arouses in the modern world. We hope that you will enjoy this issue. Do write back to us with your feedback on this issue of digitalLEARNING and on the World Education Summit.

 

473 Punjab schools fail to meet RTE standard

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-

punjab govt473 private schools in the state of Punjab might face closure due to non-implementation of the provisions of Right to Education Act, as instructed by Punjab education minister Sikander Singh Maluka. Maluka has instructed immediate closure of such schools in the state.

Approximately 37,813 students will be affected due to this decision and could get admissions in the government schools. The decision followed the failure to abide by the deadline of March 31 to fulfil all the norms.

A fine of Rs 1 lakh would be imposed on the schools for not following the government order and if they continue their operations. Director General School Education will be ensuring the closure of such schools in the state.

The district education officers will ensure that the affected students get admission in the nearest government schools in their locality.

Nagaland government to give laptop to toppers

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-

Nagaland_EmblemThe government of Nagaland has announced distribution of laptops and Rs 10,000 each to all the students securing top ten positions in Class 12 across streams conducted by Nagaland Board of School Education in 2012-13.

According to the Annual Administrative Report of the Higher Education Department for 2012-13, all students who secured first top ten positions in college examinations will also be awarded in a similar manner.

Proposal sent by the state The Higher Education Department for Rs 24.32 crore for giving post matric scholarships to 37,861 Scheduled Tribe (ST) students has also been sanctioned by the The union government. The scheme would be implemented by the department when the process of scrutinisation of scholarship application forms is completed.

SIMMTRONICS ties up with HCL Infosystems Digilife Distribution and Marketing Services

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-

SIMMTRONICS-XPAD-Wi-Fi-HotsSemiconductors Ltd. has joined hands with Digilife Distribution and Marketing Services Ltd (DDMS), a 100% subsidiary of HCL Infosystems Ltd. and one of the leading distribution house in India. This partnership will foster a relationship between the two superpowers and further the distribution of Simmtronics Tablets in India.
DDMS will distribute Simmtronics Tablets products in South and East India. Not only will it enhance their reach beyond tier-1 cities but will also focus on the targeted mid-market customers with open, affordable and easy to deploy solutions.  Digilife will be responsible for Distribution of the Simmtronics Tablets to all LFR’s, Regional Organized Trade accounts,Teleshopping Channels  and Chain Stores across India. Orders from the government will also be targeted and addressed. Through this tie-up Simmtronics is looking forward to an additional turnover of Rs. 300 crores and 6 lakh tablets in the year 2013.
Mr. Indrajit Sabharwal -Managing Director, Simmtronics Semiconductors Ltd said: “India is the focus market for Simmtronics and this tie-up with Digilife will help us in expanding strong distribution networks along with broadened products and solutions that will further our presence in the cities across India.”
Further, as a part of this tie up, Digilife and Simmtronics will work together on technical, marketing & sales and overall go-to market activities. Digilife will promote their sales through its retail network.
Sanjay David, CEO, Digilife Distribution and Marketing Servicessaid, “This partnership strengthens our overall position in providing the widest array of offerings for the Telecom and Consumer Electronic Channel and will enable us to be the No.1 distributor for Tablets in India.Today Tablets is showing huge growth as a market and is expected to drive our growth in this segment along with Mobile devices.

Biometric face recognition system in Karnataka Govt Colleges

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-

bioThe Biometric face recognition system that was put in place as a pilot project in five government first grade colleges in Bangalore in February to ensure better accountability of lecturers’ attendance, will be extended to all the 360-odd government degree colleges in the State from the next academic year, despite opposition from lecturers.

The Department of Collegiate Education (DCE) tied up with Ipomo, a Bangalore-based company that specialises mainly in mobile learning and introduced the system on a pilot basis between February 25 and March 25 in Maharani’s Arts College, Maharani’s Science College, Government Arts College, Government Science College and VHD Home Science College in Bangalore. Following good reviews from principals of these colleges about the system, the department has decided to extend it to colleges across the State.

COIPL launches online summer courses for corporates and students

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-

Corporate Infocom Pvt Ltd(COIPL), an online professional training platform provider, has introduced new advanced certified courses for students and corporate during these summers.

Students can look at this option as a resourceful investment especially during the summer vacations and many creative courses can be learned during this time. While professionals from esteemed corporate can also improve their skill set by undertaking such online courses.

Rahul Walia, CEO, Corporate Infocom says, “Career Enhancement has become an important tool in today’s rat race and both professionals and students must try and engage themselves with various online courses in order to stand competent and worthy and one level up in knowledge. Companies too prefer candidates who are well informed and updated in their desired field of specialisation. At Corporate Infocom, we wish to bridge the gap between organisations and candidates by giving them an opportunity to upgrade their existing skills.”

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