IT@School

Implementing Agency
 Department of General Education, Government of Kerala

Website
www.itschool.gov.in

Government of Kerala rolled out the IT@School Project in year 2001, to augment IT education in schools and also to enhance the quality of IT education for a complete ICT enabled educational system. Designed to improve the intellectual ability of the teachers and comprehension ability of the students (learner), the ICT based system also enhances the quality of service (QoS) parameters in education service delivery in the state. Intelligent content design for enabling faster and effective learning with National Curriculum Framework (NCF) has been done to explore and exploit satellite technology and create a synergistic atmosphere of edutainment in schools in the state.

Objective
• Connect IT education and State school curriculum
• Create a complete ICT enabled educational ecosystem

Achievements
• One of world’s largest simultaneous deployment of FOSS based ICT education
• Estimated 4 million students and 0.2 million teachers beneficiaries annually

Target Group
The entire teaching and learning population in Kerala

Challenges
It was a major challenge to create awareness among people and other stakeholders and this was overcome through campaigns and workshops. Then there was the issue of lack of funds. There were also issues related to usage of proprietary software, and this issue got resolved when we moved on to free software platform. The lack of ICT hardware in schools was also the cause for some complications.

ICT@School

 Implementing Agency
 State Educational Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd

Website
www.bseidc.in

Under School Education Department of Bihar, a society was started to curb discrepancy in implementation. The objective is to reach out to the school children in the state where electricity and theft are two of the major roadblocks for computerisation in schools. The SSA ICT@School scheme is one of the flagship programmes of the MHRD. The core objective is to reach out to the children of Bihar and also take care of major road blocks and failure points in education.

Objective
Implement SSA ICT@School in shortest possible time

Achievements
• Unbiased RFP with open specification towards technology
• Keenness to discuss with all stakeholders
• Sharing of data with Stakeholders at all times
• Maintaining timeline for fulfillment of objectives

Target Group
School Children of Bihar

Challenges
The major challenge was related to the high cost of procurement. A cartel got formed and started quoting very high prices. As the trainers were on low salary, their performance was below par. There was no PF facility for employees. Other challenges were related to major breakdown of hardware and theft.

Online Data Query Application

 Implementing Agency
 Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics BANBEIS,
Govt of Bangladesh

Website
www.banbeis.gov.bd

In 1999 BANBEIS established EMIS with Oracle database and developed client server base application with oracle developer tools. BANBEIS gets data requests from individuals and organisations every day. Sometime it gets the same request form different individuals or organisations. After analysing the different requests and identifying the common trends and patterns, we decided to develop an online and interactive application to address the multifarious data requirements. Developed in PHP, Java and MySql, it has the option of viewing and printing data (in excel form) by location/gender/type/category and is integrated with BANBEIS website.

Objective
To build knowledge base society through internet

Achievements
•BANBEIS is branding Bangladesh in the world with its education data
• A cost effective and quick access to education data
• Integrated data exchange among different educational organisations.

Target Group
Government and non-government agencies, development partners and international organisations, education researchers, teachers, students and all other education workers.

Challenges
It was a challenge to develop the online application for education. High data volume and poor internet connectivity posed its own set of challenges. The connectivity issue was overcome by acquiring of an 8 Mbps dedicated leased line. Addition funds had to be mobilised to fulfil the agenda of the initiative.

Community Mobilisation

 Implementing Agency
Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty

Website
www.serp.ap.gov.in/EDU

Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) is implementing Indira Kranthi Patham (IKP) in rural districts of Andhra Pradesh. SERP facilitated community mobilisation to create an enabling atmosphere for appropriate child care practices and empowerment of the local community. Community governed and community managed centre’s have been established to improve the physical, mental and cognitive development of the children. With target group of children being between age group 3-5 years, the project is active in 55 Blocks in 11 districts in Andhra Pradesh. The project is providing the platform to address the education needs of early childhood and is fully managed and run by the community based organisations (SHG federations).

Objective
• Create an enabling atmosphere for appropriate child care practices
• Empowerment of the local community

Achievements
• 21,718 children enrolled in about 1186 ECE centres across the state
• Created social capital, 2372 teachers and Ayahs and 118 Cluster coordinators

Target Group
Children between age group 3-5 years

Challenges
Migration was the biggest challenge when the organisation started the initiative. However, as ECE centres are considered to be a safer place, the parents started keeping their wards in them.

Online Labs for Schools

 Implementing Agency
 CREATE@Amrita,CDAC-Mumbai

Website
www.amrita.edu/create

The Online Labs (OLabs) is an innovative, interactive simulation providing online practical science experiments for students in Classes 9 and 10. It includes interactive simulations based on mathematical models, videos and rich animations for Physics and Chemistry. Initially 30 labs for Physics and Chemistry Experiments have been developed under this research initiative. Through OLabs, students with no access to physical labs can be taught experiments over the web and on low cost mobile devices like the Aakash tablets.

Objective
• Extend, improve, integrate, refine, and assist the learning and experimentation process of subjects in physical sciences
• Use of cloud, web and low end mobile devices

Achievements
• Launched at five schools in Kerala and Karnataka
• Over 3000 Students from Class 9 and Class 10 use online labs

Restructuring Higher Education

 Implementing Agency
Ministry of Higher Education, Sri Lanka

Website
www.mohe.gov.lk

The project aims to develop the leadership qualities and positive attitudes of all the new entrants to state universities for developing. It brought about a student loan scheme to purchase a Laptop Computer and promote an IT culture in the universities. A Quality Assurance system has been brought-in for covering the entire higher education sector, with the aim of providing assurance to government and the public at large.

Objective
• Enhance the quality of the higher education
• Enhance the quality of the graduates
• Increasing the employability of graduates
• Creating “world class” universities

Achievements
• World rank of selected universities has been upgraded
• Excellence in promoting talents of students

Target Group
Students involve higher education

Challenges
The negative attitude of the general public towards the leadership and positive attitudes programme was a major challenge faced while implementation, but with the commencement of the programme, the Ministry was able to bring up the favourable attitude up by 88 percent. Facilitating online service for 15,000 students for the Pre-orientation Programme was also a challenge and this was overcome by the extensive commitment of NODES staff and through collaborations with the Ministry of Education.

Rural Development

 Implementing Agency
AMR-Andhra Pradesh Academy of Rural Development

Website
www.apard.gov.in

AMR APARD is the apex training institute for building the capacities of Rural Development Officials and Panchayat Raj Elected Representatives in the State of Andhra Pradesh. The institute caters to the capacity building and training requirements of around 2.61 Lac elected representatives of Panchayat Raj Institutions and about 50 thousand officials from Panchayat Raj, Rural Development and other development departments. The e-learning project was initiated as a part of implementation of capacity building and training programmes under BRGF and MGNREGS sponsored by Ministry of Panchayat Raj and Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India.

Objective
Provide life-long learning opportunity and self paced learning opportunities on Rural Development

Achievement
Help grassroots level functionaries to keep abreast of the latest developments in the field of Rural Development and other allied sectors

Target Group
Elected Representatives of Panchayat Raj Institutions, officials of Panchayat Raj, Rural Development Departments, Bharat Nirman Volunteers (BNVS)

Challenges
For establishing virtual class room facility, obtaining necessary permissions from NIC was a major challenge. Only after lot of correspondence, NIC realised that this project deserves encouragement.

Finance India

 Implementing Agency
Finance India

Website
www.financeindia.org

The primary aim of the journal is to promote research by disseminating the results of such research in finance,  accounting, financial economics and related areas. The journal is intended to provide scholars a major forum for inter and intra disciplinary study of various aspects of finance.

Objective
Promote research by disseminating the results of such research in finance

Achievements
• Published more than 100 volumes of this research Journal
• Updates on research articles, bibliography, abstracts of doctoral dissertations, statistics, book reviews, annotated listings etc

Target Group
Researchers and Policy Makers

Regulating meals with Cloud Telephony

 Implementing Agency
Mid Day Meal Authority, UP

Website
www.upmdm.org

Daily Monitoring System is a unique innovation, through which real time, grass-root level data is collected  systematically from over 1,50,000 schools spread throughout UP on a daily basis for monitoring Mid-day Meal scheme. The data becomes automatically available on a website and helps in monitoring the progress efficiently through customised MIS/DSS. It marks a paradigm shift in the process of data collection for many huge/decentralised government projects.
The UP Government has replicated the project for monitoring book distribution under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and for daily monitoring of imple mentation of ICDS programme.

Objective
• Tracks number of schools that served mid day meal
• Tracks number of children that have had lunch in the school on working days

Achievements
• Better implementation of the Mid Day Meal Scheme
• Various inferences on efficacy of MDM implementation available on the portal 24×7

Target Group
About 1.35 crore children studying and availing government subsidised meals on daily basis in Uttar Pradesh.

Online Scholarship Management

 Implementing Agency
Andhra Pradesh State Minorities Finance Corporation Ltd

Website
www.apsmfc.com

The Online Scholarship Management System (OSMS) for Minority students was taken up in the year 2008-09 to cater to the needs of the students studying in cases ranging from Class XI to PhD.. Through this system Students have the facility of tracking their application online. This is a foolproof, user friendly and transparent system. Every year about 4 to 5 Lakh Students are getting benefit and continuing their studies otherwise large number might have dropped out.

Objective
Create awareness among the minority students about scholarship and fee reimbursement initiatives from Govt of India and State Government

Achievements
• Online Scholarship System is being used by more than five lakh students every year
• Drop-out rate among the minority students has been reduced

Target Group
Minorities of different religious backgrounds

Challenges
Handling the voluminous work was a major challenge. Serving more than five lakh students in time bound manner is not an easy task. Avoiding middle men and keeping the system transparent was also a challenge. Streamlining the fee structure of large number of universities having affiliated colleges with different fee structures was also difficult. We had to instil confidence in the miniorities that their fees will be paid on time and they would not have to face any botheration on this issue.

Developing Capacity Against Risk

 Implementing Agency
Department of Disaster Management, Institute of Land & Disaster Management, Kerala

Website
www.ildm.kerala.gov.in

The project has been designed with the objective of developing efficient disaster management ideas in society. Institute of Land and Disaster Management is an autonomous body constituted under the Revenue Department, Government of Kerala. It aims to impart professional training, including induction training, in-service training and refresher training to personnel of the Land Revenue and Survey Department of Kerala State.

Objectives
• To impart professional training
• To undertake research and study projects with a view of introducing new techniques

Achievements
Books targeting children from the level of LKG to Class 5 was developed and  distributed on the  subjects of disasters and its risk reduction strategies

Target Group
Children up to the age 10

Enhancing Teaching-Learning

 Implementing Agency
Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education and Intel Technology Pvt Ltd (Joint initiative)

Website
www.apsche.org

The APSCHE is the first body of its kind in the country, set up as per the recommendations of National Education Policy, 1986, with focus on coordinating and determining standards in institutions of Higher Education or Research. Intel® Teach programme is an innovative professional development programme for teachers to develop student-centred learning through technology integration and project-based approaches. The project has helped institutions to discover how the power of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can be turned into teaching strategies that captivates the students, motivates them, and ultimately moves them towards effective learning.

Objective
Help the Teacher Educators (TEs) and Student Teachers  (STs) learn how best to use Technology to enhance teaching and learning

Achievements
Integrating Intel Teach pre-service curriculum as part of computer education paper in colleges of education across 17 Universities in the state.

Target Group
Teachers, Educators and Student teachers from Colleges of Education under APSCHE umbrella

Challenges
The challenge we faced was because of the strong opposition from some people, who questioned the need of integrating technology. This problem was solved by the support of others who were strongly in favour of new technology. We also need to work towards ensuring the quality of this endeavour across more than 600 colleges. Extensive training programme for teachers was undertaken.

Amit Gupta, CEO, S Chand, speaks to Pragya Gupta, on the subject of the role that tablets can play in education space

What is your view of the role that tablets can play in Education?

There is an uncalled hype around tablets in education. Tablets are nothing more than a device, which occupy the space between a smart phone and a laptop computer. There is no denial about the importance of technology in education. But  hat is most important is to establish a context and definition about learning and type of learning. The tablet can be a  strong tool if used properly. At the same time, it can be a major deterrent to effective learning. This goes back again to establishing a context, if a tablet is used for refreshing and carrying out an assessment of learning, it can be a great device. But if tablet is used as a substitute for a computing device, a laptop or as a substitute to a book or teacher in a classroom or formal environment, it can be disastrous. In that case, it would encourage casual ‘need to know’ learning and would be more focused on examination success. My apprehension is if not used properly, tablets can be the digital answer for rote learning. Access to information, affordability and flexibility are major positives, but the technology has to be properly mentored and developed in order to bring maximum benefits to the learners.

What is your take on the content availability?

Content in any medium, from books to computers, to web to smart devices and now for tablets, is the most critical and relevant part of the learning process. Unfortunately, world over, the content is being given the least priority. Developing good content based on pedagogy, sound instruction design, at the same time keeping learner engagements is not only expensive, it is also time consuming and it calls for specialisation. It is also important to understand that the content should bring real-life experience into the learning process.

Unfortunately, there are no benchmarks for quality content and everyone is engaged in developing content. In my opinion, content would be available for tablets in every form standalone (stored alone on the device), in a network or through the web. There will be vendors converting existing content, organisations developing new content and the state providing budget outlays and investing money in development of content.

In my opinion, more than worrying about customisation of content, while advocating and distributing tablets, it is also important to define what would be the contribution of content on the tablet to overall learning process. It is also important to research and debate the issue of tablets being promoted in educational institutions merely because of their affordability. Distribution of tablets in a country like India where there continue to be gaps in the learning infrastructure tantamounts to an overemphasis being placed on devices and new technologies. If the tablets have to enter the education stream, they have to come through a natural process.

Please share with us S Chand’s plans for using tablets in education space?

S Chand primarily is ‘Knowledge Corporation’ with an unmatched legacy of content creation and delivery. As a content company, we feel responsible to the education community as a whole. The content provided by us is unmatched in the  -12 and technology space in the country. Our simple belief is that in a classroom, content should be delivered in a manner where all aspects of learning processes are covered. That’s why our content is not merely multimedia rich animation and videos; it is also based on the context of establishing an interactive learning process in the classroom.

Similarly, when we look at tablets, we relate to them as an individual learning device. We need to differentiate between academic learning, information gathering, application, skill development, and assessment. Considering the strength of tablets and also looking at low impact learning aspects of a tablet, we should be coming up with content that fills the gap between the classroom and after classroom studies and provides the learner with simple and engrossing content.

Pearson Clinical and Talent Assessment is engaged in publication and distribution of assessment related tools and therapy resources. Sushil Eapen, Managing Director, Pearson Clinical and Talent Assessment, in a candid conversation with Pragya Gupta, provides his views on emergence of new psychological assessment techniques

Please share the genesis of Pearson Clinical and Talent Assessment in India? What benefits does it offer to students and teachers?

Pearson owns some of the best known brands in assessments and remediation worldwide. Pearson Clinical and Talent Assessment (PCTA) office was established in India in 2009. The company has been engaged in publishing and distributing the most comprehensive and locally adaptable standardised assessment solutions. PCTA has recently published the standardised Dyslexia Screening Test – Junior, India Edition (DST-J India) to determine if students are at risk of dyslexia. The DST-J India is unique, as it empowers school teachers to assess children for the risk of Dyslexia, after they get trained by our experts in the administration of the test.

How do you see the acceptance of new assessment techniques by students and teachers? Please share with us the details of your tie-ups with schools in India.

Already large numbers of schools have bought the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), Raven’s Progressive Matrices, Wechsler Individual Achievement Tests (WIAT) and the Dyslexia Screening Test Series from us. These tests are typically used by school psychologists for assessment of IQ, achievement or to determine if students are at risk of mental health problems.

We also offer workshops for training and certifying school teachers on the subject of Learning Disability with a special focus on Dyslexia and Working Memory. Hundreds of school teachers across India have attended our popular teachers training programme. Almost all of them have given feedback about the high level of quality of the tests from our company and our teacher training programmes.

How do the use of new techniques and technology offers better learning delivery outcomes?

Our company is progressively going digital in our offering of our tests to our customers. We now offer a remediation programme to improve working memory in children by using a patented and online program called Cogmed. Working memory problems account for many of the difficulties children face during learning. Cogmed is the only evidence-based remediation programme for improving working memory. It is now being offered in India and there is widespread acceptance of this programme, which has changed the lives of many children.

Please shed some light on the importance of psychological assessment and its acceptance in India

While psychological assessments have been used for many years in India, most of the instruments used in our country have outdated test items and norms. Pearson has made a commitment to set up its own office in India to adapt, translate and standardise many of these flagship instruments in India. There are a large number of children in our country who suffer from problems such as dyslexia, autism, depression, anxiety, working memory deficit and related problems. Our assessments help to identify these problems and in many cases we offer remediation for the identified children. It is very important to assess for these problems so that students can be identified early and that would allow opportunities for remediation. More and more schools in India are employing special education teachers and school psychologists who can identify these problems at the school settings and offer solutions. We are helping to train these professionals through development of high quality assessment and interpreting the results.

Please share your future plans for the Indian education segment. 

We are committed to improving the quality of assessments being used in the Indian educational settings. In many ways, we are agents of change – we offer application level tests that discourage rote-learning. For instance, there is our solution called Stanford Achievement Test Series, Tenth Edition, India (Stanford 10 India). In future we expect technology to play a big role in the process of assessments and interventions. We will be introducing many such assessments for our customers in India, both in clinical and educational settings

Projectors feature high LED brightness with 30,000 hours of long life

ViewSonic Corp, a leading global provider of computing, consumer electronics and communications solutions has launched the ultraportable and energy-efficient LED projectors. Featuring diminutive form factors and 30,000-hour, long-life LED lamps, the PLED-W500 and PLED-W200 usher in a new category of ViewSonic projectors. They support 3D technology with 120Hz frame rates for exciting 3D visuals, and can project 33-40 inch screens from a 1 m distance. They also feature versatile USB connectivity, while the built-in Microsoft Office/PDF viewer and SD/SDHC card reader can display documents and play multimedia files without needing a PC. The projectors of PLED-W500 and PLED-W200 are priced at Rs 61,000 and Rs 44,000

“The ultraportable LED projector transforms the projector from a cumbersome gadget to an incredibly lightweight, compact device that can be carried anywhere to meet all your projection needs,” said Kuldeep Ramaiya, Country Manager, India. “With their high-brightness, long-life lamps, the ultraportable LED projectors are superior to others in the same class” he added.

PLED-W500

The PLED-W500 shines with its innovative, stylish new look. The piano-black mirrored surface and geometric inset buttons make the projector modern, sleek and elegant, ideal for business presentations and multimedia entertainment. With dimensions of 214 x 164 x 42 mm, the PLED-W500 is compact and weighs only 1.18 kg. 500 ANSI lumens, superior in the LED pocket projector category, provide 20,000 hours of brightness for energy and cost savings. The 1.4:1 short throw ratio projects a 33” screen from a 1 m distance with high native WXGA resolution. 2GB of onboard memory allows you to store documents and multimedia files, enhancing presentation efficiency. With HDMI 1.3 support, simply connect the PLED-W500 with a PC, tablet or other device to enjoy a widescreen gaming or home theater experience. You can also view smooth 3D video with a 120Hz refresh rate using active shutter glasses. PLED-W500 has versatile USB connectivity, built-in Microsoft Office/PDF viewer and SD/SDHC card reader which can display documents and play multimedia files without needing a PC.

PLED-W200

The pocket-sized PLED-W200 offers ultimate mobility. Measuring 130 x 126 x 32 mm and weighing only 420 g, the PLED-W200 is ultrathin and easily carried in a briefcase. Its LED light source with 250 ANSI lumens lasts 30,000 hours while producing brilliant color. With a built-in 32 GB SD/SDHC card reader, Microsoft Office/PDF viewer and dual integrated 2W speakers, display Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF and other multimedia files without needing a PC. The PLED-W200 also features 1.16:1 short throw ratio that can project a 40” screen from a 1 m distance with high native WXGA resolution.

ViewSonic’s ultraportable LED projectors are thin, compact and lightweight for easy mobility between meeting rooms and on the go. Innovative new look and energy-efficient LED lamps with 20000 hours ( PLED-W500) 30,000-hour lifespan (PLED-W200) makes PLED series the best choice for the professional usage. 0-second poweron and power-off makes presentation immediately, and no need to wait for the projector to cool down. The PLEDW500 and PLED-W200 provide 500 and 250 lumens of brightness, respectively – superior to others in the pocket projector category.

Developed with Texas Instruments’ high performance DPP6401 image processing chip, the projectors support 3D graphics with 120Hz frame rates for exciting 3D gaming and movies using active shutter glasses. With the built-in 32 GB SD/SDHC card reader and Microsoft Office/PDF viewer, the projectors can play Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF and other multimedia files directly

Vineet Mahajan
Head-Display Products,
Panasonic India Pvt Ltd

Vineet Mahajan, Head-Display Products, Panasonic India Pvt Ltd, shares with digitalLEARNING his views on the nitty-gritty’s of projector market in India

Tell us about the models that you have launched.

This year, Panasonic launched 28 new models, so now our total number of models is 53. We launched specific models for the price sensitive market, short throw and Ultra short throw catering to education vertical. We also launched 9 new models in between 6000 lumens to 20,000 lumens catering to E-cinema, large venue and Digital signage market. The portfolio of 53 models is capable enough to satisfy the dynamic needs of the market ranging from 2200 Lumens to 20000 Lumens. From user-inspired design to advanced engineering, innovation is what sets Panasonic projectors apart from the competition. We have focus on education, government, event management, auditoriums, cinema, home cinema and corporate verticals.

Provide us with your views on the factors that are driving the projectors market in India.

The demand for projectors is on a rising curve due to strong buying in education, government, Cinema, IT/ITES segments, corporate etc. On technology front, both LCD and DLP projectors are in demand, and gradually the market witnesses a trend in LED Lamp technology. With IT infrastructure spending becoming essential part of every business budget, projectors are on their way to becoming integral to any organisation. With the advent of growing technologies, education today has moved out of the realm of conventional methods of teaching to a smarter and digitised form of imparting knowledge to give real life experience of learning. Education has clearly emerged as the major sector for projectors. It contributes to more than 30 percent approximately of the total projector market in India.

What are the emerging technologies in this segment?

The LED lamp based projectors are getting in fashion nowadays, but price will be a challenge. In the current scenario we don’t see drastic emergence of Pico projectors. However, we believe it will witness high demand in years to come. Further, these projectors have the capability to overcome screen size limitations that exist in mobile electronics devices. Hence, they are capable of projecting large images, irrespective of their size. Thus, the usage of such projectors is best suited in an environment with small space.

What are the opportunities and challenges in the Projector market?

The opportunities are immense as more and more organisations in India are upgrading their IT infra structure. Moreover, with the rapid increase in the demand for video-conferencing facility, the requirement for large display /projector is a must. Market is and will witness a high demand of projectors from Education and government segments. Only challenge can be that the demand of a projector can be substituted by LCD / Plasma Displays. Channel partners have the liberty of selling both forms of displays either Projector or FPD (Flat Panel display (LCD / Plasma).

What kind of growth are you expecting in the projector market in India?

Panasonic has been in the projector market for last 35 years. The market size for projectors in India in 2011 was around 240,000 units and it is likely to cross 275,000 units in 2012. The Indian projector market is expected to grow by 18 percent annually in the next three years from its current level in 2012. Panasonic has always been the leader in innovative technologies and aims at providing its customers nothing but the best. The year 2012 witnessed a huge jump in the sales of Panasonic range of projectors. With Sanyo projectors coming under the Panasonic Brand name, we witnessed a jump of 180 percent versus last year in the same month. Sanyo brand of projectors was withdrawn on April’2012.

Secondly, with the shift for better viewing experience by the user’s third dimension (3D) technology in projectors is catching up very fast in India. These projectors actually aim at bringing pictures which are life-like and might just be conned into thinking that the images of people that on the screen are actually real.