EDITORIAL
The Changing Dynamics of Education

FEATURE
ROBOTICS LAB – Robo Calling!

K – 12 SPEAK: ROBOTICS LAB

Boosting Creativity, Imagination with Robotics
Fr Magi Murzello, Principal, St Andrews High School

Hands-on Approach to Education with Robotics

FEATURE – ENGLISH LAB
English Vinglish

INDUSTRY SPEAK – ENGLISH LAB
Language Labs Empowering Teachers

Difficulty in Learning English is a Myth
Jasvinder Singh, Chief Executive Officer, Words Worth

PERSPECTIVE – LABS
Online Labs for Schools on Low Cost Tablets
Prof Raghu Raman, Director, Center for Research in Advanced Technologies for Education (CREATE), Amrita University

Blended Objects in Math Labs can Increase Application Areas Immensely
Sindu Aven, Head – Academic, Design & Content, Zee Learn

Reanimating the Humble School Laboratory
Anil Goyal, Director, Mexus Education

Skilled Youth for Services Sector: Addressing Skills Deficit through English Labs
Dr Haresh Tank, Director, Station-e Language Lab

SPECIAL FEATURE
MathsLab for Next Generation Teaching-Learning

Bridging the Digital Divide

Interactivity in Education Led by Technology
Jaivardhan Varshney

Promoting Collaborative Learning
VSN RAJU,CEO, Globarena Technologies, Hyderabad

Edtech-based programmes Enhances Learning effectiveness and overall learning experience
Manish Upadhyay, Preetika Gupta & Nitin Mehra

FEATURE – LABS
Traversing the Digital Divide

CASE STUDY – MATH LAB
Math Lab at Kovai Public School, Karumathampatti
Principal: S Harihara Sudhan

CASE STUDY – LABS
Refining Learning, Experimentation
Prof SD Agashe, Principal Investigator, V-Labs Project, College of Engineering Pune (COEP)

Triggering Students’ Creativity, Curiosity
Prof Seema Shah, Principal, Labs, Vidyalankar Institute of Technology, Mumbai

INDUSTRY SPEAK – MATH LAB
Digital labs can help bring about consistency in the teaching process
Bharathy Bharadwaj, Founder & CEO of Concept Learning Technologies Pvt Ltd/Math Buddy LLC

K – 12 SPEAK – MATH LAB
Math is Our Buddy Now
Sreenarayanan PC, Principal, Podar International School, Ahmedabad

Dispelling the Fear of Math Among Children
Principal: Deepashree

INDUSTRY SPEAK – LABS
Building a Comprehensive Learning Foundation
Pranab K Bose, Managing Director, Waterford Institute India

ACADEMIA SPEAK – LABS
Access to Quality Lab Experimentation
Prof Sandeep Sancheti, President, Manipal University, Jaipur

PROJECT SHOWCASE
Virtual Labs Changing the Future

Labs at Jagran Institute of Communication and Management, Bhopal
Dr (Prof) Vivek Khare, Principal

Learning Independent of Place, Time and Pace
Prof Ratnajit Bhattacharjee, Head of Department, Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, IIT Guwahati

PERSPECTIVE – INDUSTRY-ACADEMIA GAP
Linking Industry-Academia
Prof (Dr) Louis Vernal

Integrate Skill Labs in the various district level colleges to include the rural and semi-urban youth in the Skills Movement
Bikram Dasgupta, Founder & Executive Chairman, Globsyn Group

CORPORATE DIARY
The Digital Teacher
Rajeev Pathak, CEO, eDreamEdusoft

Aiding Teachers Digitally
Casper Grathwohl, Senior Vice President, Group Strategy, Oxford University Press

ACADEMIA SPEAK
Bringing Industry-Academia Closer
Prashant Bhalla, Chairman, Manav Rachna Educational Institutions

EVENT REPORT
Punjab State Education Summit Inspires Teachers to Use Technology

ICTACT BRIDGE Concludes its Chennai Edition

Dr (Prof) Vivek Khare, Principal
Type of labs deployed at the institute: Computer Lab and Language Lab
Lab solution provider: Learnsoft Language Lab

The objective of lab deployment is to help improve the language skills of students. It provides students with a high-tech learning environment and a knowledgeable tutoring staff to guidethem with any aspect of language and learning: from speaking, listening and pronunciation to reading, writing, grammar or punctuation.

Higher academic standards

It will lead to higher academic standards as students will have more opportunities for language learning, even though in a virtual environment, which definitely nevertheless provides them with substantial exposure.

Student evaluation

Students can be evaluated by assigning various projects where they are requiredto practice their target language in a real life situation. The teachers monitor the situation and provide the required feedback. Based on this feedback, the students rework their areas of weakness.

Smoothening the teaching learning process

Language teachers have been using technological aids for many years, some of which have been around from the beginning of the 20th century and so, even today, language teaching utilisesvarious forms of technology to enhance  learning in the classroom. In a language
lab, students listen to, and/or watch, multimedia materials in which native speakers talk in authentic contexts. They can also record themselves and listen to these recordings and compare their speaking skills in the target language with the original material. Audio, video and multimedia provide culturally appropriate resources with which students can interact.

Salient features

A language lab is a vital tool for enhancement of learning among students. Following are some of the features that would enable a language lab to work successfully. To begin with, it should have an auditory orientation, that is direct sound transmission should give a
step-by-step guidance from the teacher to the heads of students with crystal clarity, and it should be able to engage students with individual systems. It should also be able to increase the pace of comprehension of the students and be able to provide foreign language practise in a focussed setting that eliminates feelings of self-consciousness. Finally, it should use text, audio and video and easily integrate them with actual everyday situations.

Objective

• To help improve the language skills of students
• Labs provide students with a high-tech learning environment and a knowledgeable tutoring staff to guide them with any aspect of language and learning

Students’ feedback

Students appreciate the opportunity to learn through multimedia. With every session, they become more conscious of the fact and the simulations of authentic learning context can immensely help them in imbibing the target language.

Teachers’ training

Labs can be successfully implemented by giving proper training and orientation to teachers who can then help in facilitating an adequate learning environment. The students can also be made aware of the benefits they will get by using such modern facilities. Regular workshops can be conducted on the useof technology required in these setups.  A thorough check of the equipment should also be done on a regular basis which will ensure smooth functioning of the lab on any given point of time. Taking feedback from students can also contribute towards enhancement of the overall teaching learning process through these labs.

‘CALL’ for cooperative learning

Teacher-centric instruction is out and student-centred approaches are definitely in. Learner autonomy is being recognised more and it is time for cooperative learning where individualised instruction is becoming the norm. Student participation in their own learning is on the rise and will continue to be so. Along with CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning), MALL (Mobile Assisted Language Learning) would also gain much buzz. The challenge would be to allow them to do that and find the relevant technology and technology related projects to facilitate that.

Virtual labs are a key for the establishment of virtual universities of the future, says Prof (Dr) Sandeep Sancheti, President, Manipal University, Jaipur

How virtual labs are reinventing the pedagogy?

A large number of courses offered by professional institutions lack in terms of laboratory work and hands-on experience of a laboratory environment due to a variety of reasons. Even if such facilities are available, their efficacy is poor due to the quality of equipment, general instructions and readiness to challenge the standard conventions. Availability of virtual laboratories will bridge that important gap by providing access to quality laboratory experimentation with a feature of anytime, anywhere and by anyone. In my opinion, virtual labs are a key for the establishment of virtual universities of the future.

Innovation in virtual laboratories

Virtual laboratories are expected to provide complete and correct experimentation principles and details as they can always expose students to the involved aspects by videos, animations, demonstrations and support through scientific blogs. They can help induce a great deal of interest as well as confidence in the students in performing experiments independently. Virtual labs can also make students undertake quiz tests or Q&A sessions before they are allowed to perform the experiment virtually. Such a step is very essential to check the pre-requisite knowledge and preparedness of a student.

Finally, in parallel to experimentation, the learning can be fully supported through linked CAD tools, supported on a remote server to   perform related simulations and make exercise complete in all respects, which one can refer as 360-degree learning.

Benefits to students and teachers

It can be a very safe and secure learning environment which can operate on a 24×7 basis. The student can perform exercises without fear as built-in checks and balance can be implemented through interfacing and controlling software. Online and real-time help can be made available through variety of interventions and general IT-based tools.

All these aspects can be attained at a very low cost with better clarity and learning experience to the potential learner.

Learning outcomes and evaluation

Since virtual mode can be a self-regulated mode, students can be allowed to perform higher levels of experimentation based on the performances attained. Hence, it can satisfy the learning appetite of student in a much better way. Similarly, as access to costly and well-calibrated equipment is generally very limited in the current scenario, the same can also be easily taken care of through virtual experimentation. As far as evaluation is concerned, the online process can easily record every step performed or omitted by the candidate and hence, it can be conforming to a more rigorous as well as uniform evaluation. However, a lot of work needs to be undertaken for proper development of online evaluation processes for laboratory examinations.

By Manish Upadhyay, Preetika Gupta & Nitin Mehra

Computers have significantly changed the face of education over the past decade. They have not just revolutionised learning methodologies, but have also changed the outlook of traditionalists. The classic learning methods of using blackboard, pen and paper, and books, have given way to an innovative pedagogical approachthat makes learning more effective and interactive.

Our research team has worked extensively in drawing a comparative study between digitised and non-digitised courses. The team found that the technology-driven (Edtech) programmes create a more conducive learning environment for learners with the help of unique and innovative learning tools such as student presentations, personality development training sessions, English-speaking sessions, games, quizzes and lab practicals. Learners get to participate in discussions and group activities rather than being mere passive listeners. The Edtech programme helps learners gain confidence and hone their technical skills by not just imparting quality education but also by conducting periodic assessments as a performance check.

Let us understand through this case study, and the ramifications of using the Edtech programme for increasing overall learning effectiveness.

Need of the Edtech programme

Though the non-digitised programme is well received and accepted, it has multiple constraining factors and variables such as quality of the trainers, standardisation of programme delivery (course coverage and abilities of different trainers), student motivation levels, and better performance. The new Edtech programme is designed to control and manage these variables in order to improve educational outcomes for all learners.

Methodology of the Edtech programme

The research was based onseven session out of the overall course content of 150 sessions. This particular course prepares students in technical subjects like networking and information technology as well as soft skills like spoken English and selfgrooming. After completing the course students get placed in various organisations as Technical Support Executives. To test the hypothesis, the research looked at four major areas of study namely:

• Process
• Attitude
• Knowledge
• Skill (Technical skills)

Key Hypothesis to be tested:

Intervention of educational technology in the new Edtech course is resulting in increased learning effectiveness/student performance.

Two different groups were formed –

• Control Group (running the nondigitised course)
• Experimental Group (running the new Edtech course)

Student batches for the two groups were created on the basis of –

• Educational qualification
• Number of students
• Geographic location
• Family background

Other tools that were implemented –

• Same trainer conducted both the control group and the experimental group sessions.
• Each session duration data was gathered through centralised LMS by Liqvid.
• To measure student performance, knowledge and skill-based assessments were carried out at the end of each session and after all seven sessions for both the groups. Each assessment carried 10 objective questions. The questions were a mix of multiple choice and fill in the blanks.
• Learner and trainer feedback were also captured by means of a questionnaire.

Key findings of the Edtech programme

The key findings of the programme were based on four main output indicators:

Process indicators:

• Indicator 1 (Improvement in course coverage by the trainer):
o 88 percent of the learners in the experimental group perceived that most of the sessions were covered end-to-end in comparison to a mere 33 percent in the control group. The trainer agreed that the study methodology in experimental group was more structured with use of timer in interactive activities.

• Indicator 2 (Clearer and effective presentation by the trainer):
o 88 percent of the learners in the experimental group said that use of audio and video in the sessions helped them comprehend much better and retained their interest in the course.
o 50 percent of the learners in the control group perceived that they were equipped to answer questions on at least 80 percent of each session taught whereas the same proportion of learners in the experimental group perceived it to be 88 percent.

Attitude indicators
• Indicator 3 (Trainer more interested and focused to teach):
o While the trainer took greater interest in teaching, 94 percent of the control group and 78 percent of the experimental group perceived that not all the topics could be covered in detail due to delay in starting sessions.The reason for delay wasscheduling of back-toback batches and finalising of labs to conduct practicals.

• Indicator 4 (Increase in student participation in the class):
o According to the trainer; the motivation level of the experimental group was 90-95 percent while that of the control group was 85 percent. Both the batches stated knowledge as the key source of motivation.Other sources cited were ambition and quest for learning something new.
o 94 percent of the experimental group preferred group discussion activity over individual presentations in comparison to 72 percent of the control group.This indicates that learners in the experimental group were more participative.

• Indicator 5 (Regularity in student attendance):
o No major inference could be drawn from the attendance data.

Outcomes: Knowledge (K) and Skill (S)

• Indicator 6 (Increase in student performance per session):
o The average score at the end of knowledge-based session assessments was 53 percent for the experimental group and 42 percent for the control group.
o The average score at the end of skills-based session assessments was 77 percent for the experimental group and 65 percent for the control group.

• Indicator 7 (Increase in student performance in the final assessment):
o The average score at the end of all knowledge-based sessionswas 71 percent for the experimental group and 32 percent for the control group, which is more than the double.
o The average score at the end of all skill-basedsessions was 75 percent for the experimental group and 71 percent for the control group. There is only a marginal improvement in the skill factor.

Smart Learning Techniques of the Edtech programme:

• The trainer asks three learners to come forward and give a presentation on the previous day’s topic. This is to know how much they have understood. The duration of the activity varies between 3-5 minutes.
• After the presentation is over, the trainer rates each student (on a scale of 5) based on five parameters: Knowledge (KN), Grooming (GR), Presentation (PR), Confidence (CF) and Language (LN).
• The trainer uses whiteboard as a primary teaching aid, but wherever needed, displays relevant procedures on a computer, which is projected through a TV in the classroom. The trainer also carries relevant hardware like motherboard for hands-on feel.
• Each session has one or more group discussion activity wherein each group discusses a topic. A group leader is appointed for each group who answers the questions asked by the trainer. The duration of the activity varies between 3-5 minutes.
• Depending on the content of the sessions, the practical/LAB sessions happen after every couple of sessions. Two learners share a terminal to do the practical.
• Learners attempt quizzes and assignments for each session in their books. It is either done either as homework or discussed in the class depending on the practical nature of the content.

Conclusion

Our education system is in a constant flux and those associated with it, whether learners or practitioners, should reap benefits from technology-enabled learning methodologies that give excellent performance support solutions. The Edtech product creates a motivating environment for both learners and trainers in the most effective way. Learners exposed to innovative approaches of study and practice will have better career opportunities as compared to those who simply reproduce what is given in their books.

The inability to provide a continuous talent pipeline to meet industry requirements is forcing companies to move jobs out of India

By VSN RAJU

The privatisation of education in India a decade ago was welcomed as it was aimed at enhancing the size and availability of skilled talent pool that India Inc could showcase to establish India as the most preferred destination for business and trade in the globalisation and IT & ITeS boom phases. According to the University Grants Commission (UGC), India has added nearly 20,000 colleges in a decade that had increased from 12,806 in 2000-01 to 33,023 in 2010-11 which translates into an over 150 percent growth. The number of degree-granting universities more than doubled from 256 to 564, primarily due to deemed and private universities. This growth in the education space has had a positive impact on the Indian economy not only by bringing in the much needed foreign investments, but also by generating diverse and progressive employment opportunities for the graduating youth of our country.

But lately, this growth is losing its sheen as colleges are struggling to overcome challenges like scarcity of competent teachers, rising infrastructure costs and the growing discord between the industry and academia; which is forcing them to adapt to unscientific and lowcost means for imparting education to students, thus affecting the quality of the talent pool. The inability to provide a continuous talent pipeline to meet industry requirements is forcing companies to move jobs out of India.

Empowering the colleges with best practices in teaching-learning and facilitating active collaboration at all levels, be it fellow-students, fellow-institutions, industry experts and leading academicians, will address the challenges faced by colleges to a great extent.

Established in the year 2000, Globarena Technologies is an education service provider and has been providing scientific and technology-enabled teaching and learning solutions. For the past 13 years, our teaching, learning and assessment solutions have benefitted many institutions, universities and government education departments in their skill development and capacity building efforts. All our solutions are technology-enabled and are designed to suit the changing teaching-learning processes and impact a wide spectrum of colleges operating in the urban, semi-rural and rural regions of India.

Our solutions have evolved from just being PC-compatible to being a scalable 24*7 or 365-days accessible solutions compatible with the latest gizmo’s and come with a multi-mode delivery possibility. The analytics incorporated to our solution in the form of usage statistics, and validated assessment (pre-during-post) gives a 360-degree feedback to teacher and learners in their respective endeavours.

Globarena Technologies, in consultation with universities, industry bodies and renowned academicians from across India, has recently rolled-out the Centre of Excellence (CoE) solution and OnMark – Examination Management Solution which has been tested in realtime environments with encouraging results that have been endorsed and accepted by all consulting parties as very helpful solutions to empower colleges/ universities to overcome the present day challenges they face in teaching, learning and assessments.

CoE follows the Teacher-Learner Delivery Mode (TLDM) that enables colleges practice collaborative teaching-learning using two-way HD virtual classroom with an option to record and archive lectures, e-Resources for teachers and students (both on LAN and/or online) in line with the university curriculum and knowledge management tools to impart education; the framework of CoE enables colleges/universities to run Industry Strength Programmes (ISP) to prepare the students on the industry required competencies while at college.

The OnMark – Examination Management Solution addresses the challenges that universities face to ensure transparent and error-free examination conduction, answer-script scanning, on-screen evaluation and preservation of answerscript. It has been designed with our experience of conducting assessments for national industry bodies like NASSCOM and online examinations for over eight state universities and comes with built-in student, colleges and university modules.

Globarena Technologies, in its 13th year of operation in the education services space, wishes to be a change agent and redefine the way the universities look at teaching, learning and assessment during knowledge dissemination and evaluation. To expedite our efforts to reach out to universities, institutions and government, we have successfully delivered many pilots in live environments involving government education departments and universities which have been well received and appreciated by all. We are hopeful that our solutions will enable Indian universities to promote collaborative learning and conduct transparent and error-free examinations. (The author is CEO of Globarena Technologies, Hyderabad)

Strengthening the Indian services sector is the one way of sustaining the Indian economy

Dr Haresh Tank
Director, Station-e Language Lab

For a country that ranks number one on the Global Services Location Index year-after-year, it is natural to assume that the world with all its MNCs will make a path to this place. This ranking translated into a number of corporate giants coming to India and establishing outlets that threw open possibilities that even a Shakespeare would not have the imagination for. The other thing that has been in India’s favour is that in spite of the global economic slump, India has seen considerable economic stability. However, for sustained growth, India needs skilled labour in sectors that make the Indian economy go around sectors such as the services sector. It is this sector that makes more than 60 percent of the GDP and which absorbs the youth for its various sub-segments.

“With sectors that require a highly skilled workforce – financial services, IT/ITeS, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals – set to expand briskly over the next decade, India’s transition to a knowledge-based economy would require a new generation of educated and skilled workforce.” (Skilling India: One Billion Challenge, 2010, page 16)

Favourable demographics position India to fill the void created by countries with an ageing population, and become a major player in global business. The manner in which India uses this opportunity will determine whether it will reap its demographic dividend. Apart from tackling spatial challenges arising from a remarkable disparity in the demographics of its states, India will have to address the critical issues of creating jobs and preparing its youth to participate in its economic growth.

India will need to alter its policy framework and give incentives for creating sufficient jobs and alleviating workforce skill-mismatch. If status quo persists in India’s policy frameworks for education and training, and workforce management, economic growth will soon hit a speed breaker. If labour and industrial policies are not reformed, people with different education and skill levels, or from different states, would have unequal economic prospects. India’s industrial sector may not be able to scale up to absorb the excess workforce in agriculture. This could, in turn, block efforts to reduce income inequality in India. (20-21)

While the services sector requires so many of the skilled youth, the mind numbing stat that paints the whole thing in black is that only 10 percent of nontechnical graduates are readily employable. It is this sort of unpreparedness that will pull India back from the gates of glory and the aggression with which countries like China are skilling their youth will take them to the top. It must be borne in mind that if we do not do enough, China is right on our heels on the Global Services Location Index. The Indian economy rests heavily on the services sector and hence, the efforts not only to sustain it but to strengthen it further are required on war footing. These efforts would involve up-skilling of the youth.

The services sector depends on the soft skills of the youth who would carry out the various processes of the transactions that make the business today. In the olden times, the business processes were simple enough to be carried out by anyone willing to put in the hard work with or without education, but today, the bar for the skills has been raised very high in the services sector and it has led to a sort of emergency of skills and employment. Sample this, the services sector requires highly skilled youth even for the simplest of its business processes and the situation is so dire that we do not have enough skilled youth – not more than the celebrated figure of 10 percent. This has the makings of a breakout of economic slump because the services sector will never be able to find the skilled youth it wants, and on the other hand, there would be an unprecedented rise in unemployment as today the market requires highly skilled youth as the workforce. It is sheer indifference of the policy makers due to which we are sitting on this volcano and playing the fiddle while the Rome is about to go to ashes, in spite of all the prospects of economic superpowerdom.

If we realise that our economy rests heavily on services sector, which relies heavily on skilled youth, particularly communication proficiency, we have to ensure that firefighting and symptomatic treatment of wherever there is dire situation will not work. If we want to save the services sector, the backbone of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), we will have to inject the skills in the system through drastic measures of up-skilling, and if we want to inject the remedy that can heal the communication incompetency of the youth, the 21st century English lab addressing this skills deficit is the only way out. This would also mean that the labs have to be high-tech and innovative, and not a stockpile of computers fed with old-fashioned audio files. It has to be a model that uses the most advanced technology coupled with innovative training modules prepared with Activity Based Learning (ABL) as the central tenet of training.

Station-e model of English Lab

Higher education

In all, higher education faces the issue of accountability today. To address the issue of skills deficit, particularly communication proficiency in general graduates, Station-e envisaged the concept of Digital English Lab. It is a unique construct, aiming at up-skilling the youth of the country. We have established several Digital English Labs at various educational institutions across the country. The lab serves as the training wing of the university/college, operated in a digital learning lab and powered by highly sophisticated technology. It comes with in-built training programmes on soft and life skills. 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 Digital English Labs 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, and demonstrates its relevance through the skills training that the youth passing out of the system will be equipped with to operate in today’s world.

Engineering colleges

Digital English Lab at engineering colleges can ensure that students receive the skills training where they are studying. The lab has a rich array of courses pertaining to skills enhancement with special focus on engineering education. All the modules are run through highly advanced technological tools. The lab would work in close coordination with the engineering education and cater to the diverse skills development needs that the engineering education faces today.

Management institutes

Digital English Labs at management institutes aim at impart skills training to the students. The lab has the provision for a variety of courses related to skills development with an emphasis on management education. All the training programmes are conducted in a technology- defined fashion and environs.

All things considered, the equations of the situation are quite clear. The Indian economy has stood its ground in spite of  all the economic gloom and doom across the world. The backbone of this economy is not exports as it is in the case of China, but the service sector which constitutes the lion’s share of our GDP. Sustaining it in the era of global competitiveness calls for a highly skilled workforce that we are not likely to get from our universities and colleges. We need to inject it as add-on from the level of policy and granting it a special status and special funds as a mass skilling drive. Producing skilled youth for the services sector is not only the goal butalso a challenge and the way to achieving economic prosperity, and eradicating unemployment and inequality.

Prof SD Agashe, Principal Investigator, V-Labs Project, College of Engineering Pune (COEP), talks about the virtual labs at the institute and how they help in increasing the effectiveness of scientific research

Laboratory practice plays a crucial role in understanding a subject in engineering education. It has been observed that engineering students in many colleges lack hands-on experience. The reasons for this include nonavailability of adequate laboratory facility or equipment, non-functional equipment, lack of teaching/technical support, reduced hours for experimentation, and lack of expert support for correcting mistakes during experimentation etc.

In many engineering disciplines, the cost of the equipment/instruments is very high which prohibits the institutes from buying these facilities. The innovation in  laboratories comes only with freedom of failure, and analysis of experimental data. In today’s context, both the things are missing, resulting in fear of experimentation and failure instiin professional life. Another dimension to the dismal performance of students in the laboratories is fixed hours of experimentation and non-functioning of instruments. The number of teachers who have adequate knowledge of the technology and competency to pose challenges to students is another reason for reduced laboratory component and quality of experiments.

The innovation in laboratories comes only with freedom of failure and analysis of experimental data

In contrast to this, many reputed institutes have good teachers with stateof- the-art laboratory facilities, good bandwidth, continuous support for up-gradation and maintenance of lab equipment, opportunities for applied research and consultancy, and industrial tie-ups. The utilisation of costly laboratory equipment is a concern for these institutes. The teachers are ready to support the weak students from other institutes, but physical distance prohibits this readiness.

The solution to this long pending problem is technology. Web-based experiments and online lectures will emerge as a lucrative solution. At the College of Engineering Pune, ICT Virtual Laboratories have been developed through the MHRD’s National Mission on Education. The pilot plants developed at the institute are industry standard and due care is taken for their safety. All the data related to the experiment is stored in the database and is shared with the student after the completion of the experiment. This ensures the post analysis of the results and helps in identifying weak areas  of learning. The support is available through webinars and a camera is attached along with a live mimic to view the status of the plant online. A dedicated line of National Knowledge Network (NKN) which guarantees a high speed of communication.