‘Nagaland Conservatory of Music’ would be established in Dimapur by July 2012, which is first ever music degree college in the North-East region. Whilst studying abroad, Lipokmar Tzudir and James Shikiye Swu felt the need to start a music college in the north-east region of India realising the hardships, difficulties, challenges with limited financial backup that comes with studying abroad.

‘Nagaland Conservatory of Music’ would be providing specialised music education and professional training at the highest international level which would enable students to develop musical skills, knowledge, understanding and resourcefulness so that they could significantly contribute to the musical life in the country as well as abroad.

‘Nagaland Conservatory of Music’ claims to provide international standard curriculum which would also focus on one area of concentration in voice, piano, research, composition or conducting.

IIJT to Offer Certified Financial Programme to 30 Srinivas College Students

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digitalLEARNING Network

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November 11, 2011

Indian Institute of Job Training (IIJT) has announced Certified Financial Programme to 30 students of Srinivas Institute of Management Studies.
A total number of 120 students will be offered training at a subsidised fee in a phased manner. IIJT Education is the authorised Education Providers of FPSB India, which is the regulatory body for CFP certification programs in India.
Speaking on the occasion Shajan Samuel, Divisional Head IIJT said ‘there is a potential for around 50,000 financial planners in the market. According to the recent Purchasing Index prepared by Business Intelligent Unit (BIU), Mangalore city has shown growth in its purchasing power, currently at a relative index between 0.65-0.80 and considering this as well as the tremendous growth witnessed in the market, it augurs well that Srinivas Institute of Management has made Certified Financial Program a compulsory program for their MBA Students”.

While speaking to the students about the value of Certified Financial Planner in a growing economy, Shajan Samuel expressed happiness in delivering the program at Srinivas Institute of Management Studies as IIJT is one of the authorized education provider of FPSB India.

Delivering the key note address, Ranjeet S. Mudholkar, vice chairman and CEO, Financial Planning Standards Board of India (FPSB) said “With the growing income levels, Indians need qualified money managers to take care of their finances.

The Certified Financial Plannercm certification equips a professional to develop technical skills and be able to identify client needs, quantitatively and accurately, and satisfy them through a comprehensive solution, rather than a product sale. Further, to the consumers, the title of CFPCM professional instantly reflects the skill sets and the commitment levels of the title holder to the profession and the compliance to strong code of ethics.”
Highlighting the need to have qualified financial planners Dr. P.S Aithal, Principal – Srinivas Institute of Management Studies said that “Certified Financial Programme enjoys worldwide recognition and a certification with a global touch in Financial Planning is almost becoming a necessity in a growing economy like India and we are glad to associate ourselves with IIJT Education to give our students a competitive edge when they graduate out of college”.
P S Karanth Regional Head (FPWM) SBI Bank said financial Planning companies and industries which are in to financial Planning are giving preference to candidates with CFP certification while hiring , he also said SBI has a scheme which encourages employees to take up CFP Program and provides relief both on tuition fees as well as registration and exam fees.
Vyas Nagpal, regional head FPSBI, Joseph Manickaraj, Senior Manager, Partner Operations- IIJT Education and A Srinivas Rao, vice president, Srinivas Group of Colleges were the Guests of Honour for the event.

Way to Digi-Literate India?

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digitalLEARNING Network

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November 9, 2011

By Pragya Gupta

India’s demographic diversity has always been a challenge for access to education. The concept of low cost tablet gives a ray of hope to impart education access and opportunities to all, thereby bringing about an inclusive education system

Information and Communication technologies have been recognised as revolutionary tools that can leverage India’s demographic advantage and turn the country into a knowledge powerhouse by nurturing and honing the knowledge base. Various policies have been launched to improve access, equity and enhance quality of education across the country. National Mission on Education through ICT (NME-ICT), launched by Ministry of Human Resource Development in February 2009 is one of them. The Mission has a budget of INR 4612 crore. The National Mission on Education – Sakshat comprises of 48 components structured broadly around building content, enabling access and developing low cost access cum computing devices.

Despite having content available on cloud and accessible to all, India still lags behind in making content available. One of the major reasons for this is the unavailability of devices in terms of affordability for all.

Tablet Driven Education

More than 70,000 ebooks are used now in 1500 colleges, a fact that highlights the increasing adoption and acceptability for e-content. With ever-increasing numbers, there is a need for a device which can offer content in a user-friendly and innovative manner. Tablets fulfil these criteria to a large degree, a fact reflected in the increasing acceptability of the devices in the education segment. A large variety of customised tablets are now available, with big vendors like Samsung, HCL, Dell, Motorola, etc., coming out with their offerings. Starting at a low price of INR 10,000 the market now offers sufficient choices that suit a variety of pockets and needs.

The tablet, initially considered more of lifestyle device, is steadily evolving over time and is increasingly being looked at as a potential device for enhancing accessibility of education, if available at lower price points. Starting with the vision of the OLPC project – that of making laptops available for a measly $100 – technological innovation is resulting into affordable devices that can drive growth in developing countries.

Low cost, technology-enabled education is the need of the hour and is perhaps the only feasible manner in which the ocean of knowledge can be accessed by anyone, anywhere and at anytime, even without access to teachers or other traditional infrastructure needed for education. It creates a pull of information for those who really want to learn by eroding the issues like unavailability of resources and inaccessibility of schools and college. Even the best e-content cannot have significant impact unless it reaches the vast majority of learners with ease, as and when they demand it. The low cost access and computing devices enable knowledge and students to access one another, and also enable collaborative learning. Although there are low cost options such as desktop virtualisation, low cost PCs etc., but their reach and affordability to a larger section is still a challenge.

The ultra low cost tablet Aakash recently launched by Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Human Resourced development is a $ 35 dollar access cum computing device. Datawind is manufacturing and supplying Aakash tablets in India. While the subsidised version would be restricted to students only, the tablets will be made available to general consumers with the name of Ubislate.

A Digital Dawn

Aakash tablet is targeted at secondary and higher education. The Government is eyeing children across the world to make education accessible to all. The Indian Institute of Technology Rajasthan has played an important role in the project, completed under the NME-ICT.

Questions had been asked over the economic feasibility of the devices at the cost of USD 35 announced by Kapil Sibal. The lowest bidder quoted an ex-factory price of US$ 37.98 which was close to the cost mentioned by HRM. The cost comprised of the costs of components, material as well as those of manufacturing expenses. The final landed price of $49.98/unit (which translated to INR 2276 at the exchange rate at the time of the order) included taxes, levies, and charges like freight, insurance, servicing and documentation, etc. The landed price also includes one-year free replacement warranty from the manufacturer.

The development of this device has been done in India plant at Hyderabad by a private vendor DataWind. Suneet Singh Tuli,CEO, DataWind said, “Our goal was to break the price barrier for computing and Internet access. Working with IIT Rajasthan, and NME-ICT, we have created a product that will finally bring affordable computing and Internet access to the masses. This is not only a concept that applies to India, but has ignited the imagination of governments around the world. The Aakash is proudly made in India, and is destined to revolutionise computing and Internet access for the world.”

Reality Check

Using this device, learners will be able to access all the thousands of items of content available on the Sakshat portal and other educational web-sites. But initially each state will get 3300 devices and these devices will be given to identified state coordinators for testing. These state coordinators will be asked to submit their report on these devices and according to these reports, government will take further action. This device was also distributed amongst 500 children at the launch itself. Sibal underlined that Aakash would help in eliminating digital illiteracy. For this he also emphasised the need for having high quality study content to be made accessible to students. He also called for support and partnership from all the stakeholders so that the device could cost even less, while praising the team which had worked towards the creation and production of this device.

Dr Prem Kalra, Director of IIT Rajasthan quoted in a website said that Aakash was an inspiration and encourages entrepreneurship in a big manner. “It’s true, there are glitches. This (the event) too is a field test. The state coordinators will take the tablets for field testing all around the country.”

With the launch of the tablet, criticism from competitors have also started. Satish Jha, OLPC criticising the product said that the tablet is for colleges and urban areas, it doesn’t address the constituency OLPC India Foundation targets – the underprivileged kids. It has no ambition to give education at all. It is just a cheap device, an access device. It is a consumption device, not an educational, creative or production device.

“Our goal was to break the price barrier for computing and Internet access”

Suneet Singh
CEO, DataWind

On the price front, Jha claims they can produce a sub-$100 version of the OLPC. “We can produce an OLPC for less than $100 if we just remove the swivel and a few features. But we don’t do that because a child needs a complete environment to learn, it is a school in a box. The $35 device meets the expectation of somebody who wants to manufacture the device but not the needs of the users,” he complained.

While the market may have many tablets with better configuration but even then their performance comes down as soon as they are fully loaded with applications. In urban areas, students prefer laptops more than tablet for education as they are multipurpose devices at the same price point. Tablet is more of handheld device, which, with its limited performance, is a craze among students as a lifestyle device.

However, low cost device make sense in rural areas but connectivity is the challenge there. Devices can be made available but connectivity incurs charges, which should also be taken care of by the government and private sector.

Enhancing Employability in Technical Education System

Magazine

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digitalLEARNING Network

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November 8, 2011

The case study provides information on the existing scenario of technical education at under graduate level with specific reference to expansion of technical education and teaching-learning process in majority of the engineering colleges. A matrix of teaching-learning process is presented to draw attention of teachers for providing varied learning experiences which are generally not given the desired seriousness by the teachers while imparting instructions. It highlights the need for promoting entrepreneurship as a career and details out strategies for making the system vibrant for greater employability of students

By Professor (Dr.) L.N. Mittal
Director-QIP, Geeta Institute of Management & Technology

There has been a phenomenal expansion of technical education at under graduate level throughout the length and breadth of the country. If one tries to find out the number of engineering colleges and the intake capacity at this level at a given point of time, it may be difficult to quantify the information. From the data available online, in the year 2010-11, the number of engineering colleges are 3241 with an intake capacity of 13,24,000 students in the country (www.aicte-india.org). Today the scenario is such that, any student passing out with 50 percent marks (in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics) at 10+2 level is able to secure a seat in an engineering college.

Though the admission in the Engineering Colleges has become quite easy but the curriculum of various courses at under graduate level requires considerable amount of ‘cognitive abilities’ for comprehension of concepts, principles and practices at the part of students. A good percentage of students are not able to cope up with their studies, with the result that 35-40 percent of the students are placed in compartments in the very first year.

It has also been experienced that majority of industrial or field organisations do not consider students to appear for placement interviews who have less than 60-65 percent marks right from 10+ to 10+2 and up to graduation without having any compartment (s). There are many students who do not qualify the above stipulation. Further, due to worldwide recession, the employment market is having an adverse affect due to which the wage employment opportunities are shrinking.

In the context of above background, some expectations of the corporate world from the engineering students in terms of their employability are given below.

Expections of Corporate World from Budding Engineers

Engineers are basically cognitive workers. They plan activities and resources at macro and micro levels such as physical, human and financial for achieving desired results at minimal cost. Interaction with number of corporate executives reveals that industry or corporate world expects engineers to possess the following skills

Acquisitive capabilities: the capability to acquire knowledge/technologies for effective functioning in various functional areas.
Adaptive capabilities: the flexibility of adopting new methods and techniques.
Operative capabilities: the know-how of production/ fabrication/installation practices, codes and standards, production engineering, diagnostic and managerial skills.
Innovative capabilities: ability to anticipate future demands and to develop new design, processes, technologies and systems.

It can be seen that most of the aspects of learning can be developed by paying greater attention to practical work in laboratories and workshop and even more through industrial training and project work. This matrix is highly relevant for the faculty working in the engineering colleges should who can implement the same in spirit of the benefit for the students and sustenance of the system as a whole. Further, good practical training and providing need based project assignments are also vital to enhance the employability of students as well as promote entrepreneurship.

Matrix of Teaching-Learning Process There is a matrix of teaching-learning process, which indicates various aspect of learning viz: cognitive, psychomotor and affective and highlights the type of learning experiences to be given to students for developing what is required from the students in the corporate world.
Sr. No	Aspects of Learning	Learning Experiences
		Lecture Class	Tutorial Class	Laboratories Workshops	Seminars	Industrial Training	Project Work
1.	Knowledge	Ö	—	—	Ö	Ö	Ö
2.	Comprehension	Partly	Ö	Ö	—	Ö	Ö
3.	Application	Partly	Ö	Ö	—	Ö	Ö
4.	Analysis	Partly	Ö	Ö	—	—	Ö
5.	Synthesis	—	Ö	—	—	—	Ö
6.	Evaluation	—	—	Ö	—	—	Ö
7.	Learning to Learn	—	—	—	Ö	Ö	Ö
8.	Report Writing	—	—	—	Ö	Ö	Ö
9.	Communication Skills	—	—	—	Ö	Ö	Ö
10.	Interpersonal Skills	—	—	—	—	Ö	Ö
11.	Psychomotor Skills	—	—	Ö	—	Ö	Ö
12.	Attitudes & Values	Partly		Ö	—	Ö	Ö

Entrepreneurship as a Career

An entrepreneur is a person who has possession of a new enterprise, venture or idea and is accountable for the inherent risks and the outcome. Entrepreneurs emerge from the population on demand and become leaders because they perceive opportunities available and are well positioned to take advantage of these.

Necessity is the mother of invention
Motivational factors of an individual such as need to excel
Knowledge/understanding of socio-economic environment
Managerial capabilities of an individual
Understanding ones strength and weaknesses
Dignity of labour

Good practical training and providing need based project assignments are vital to enhance the employability of students as well as promote entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship thus may be defined as a career in one’s own business that produces job creators and not job seekers which play a vital role in changing the stereo typed environment in the engineering colleges. This also enables in developing innovative capabilities, learning-to-learn skills, thinking and problem solving skills and a research culture in the Institutions. This can be made possible by properly utilizing the current slots of practical training of 4-6 weeks after 4th and 6th semesters respectively and minor and major project periods to transform at least 20-30% students as “Cognitive Entrepreneurs”.
“Cognitive Entrepreneurs” are perceived as persons who provide solution alternatives to different type of problems of the Industrial/Commercial world. These Entrepreneurs utilize their cognitive abilities like analysis, synthesis and evaluation or in other words thinking capabilities to find solution to problem faced by client organizations.

Strategies to Enhance Employability of Students:

Role of Students

Seriousness in studies. An engineering student requires 12-14 hours of study per day, around 7 hours sleep and 4 hours a day for his/her personal self
Seriousness about practical work in laboratories and workshops
Developing the habit of reading from books and online Journals
Undertaking industrial training seriously by involving themselves in to task oriented or problem-solving oriented workbench involvements
Taking as far as possible live project assignments to develop learning-to-learn skills, transfer skills, thinking skills and innovative skills
Taking part in debates and declamation contests for developing confidence in written and verbal communication
Undergoing programmes leading to development of soft skills
Always asking one ‘what is that I am proud of’

Role of Teachers

Clearly understand the concepts and principles involved in teaching a subject.
Convert teaching into learning by providing varied learning experiences like: tutorials, laboratory and workshop sessions, seminars etc on a planned basis.
Establish linkages with the world of work for making Teaching-Learning Process involving ‘Concept of Use’ i.e. applied learning.
Provide live project assignments to the students.
Play a role model before the students to inculcate right attitudes and values.

Development of appropriate communication skills also has a high priority in the world of business. Various strategies like organising seminars, paper reading / declamation contests and organising group discussion sessions can help a great deal to develop communication skills

Role of Engineering Colleges

It is essential to establish symbiotic relationship with the world of work for which initiative will have to be taken by the technical institutions.
Each technical Institute will have to identify its strengths for providing its services to the industrial world as per their needs.
Practical training of students is an important component of curriculum. This needs proper planning and implementation. This will be helpful to produce good professionals as well as good entrepreneurs. Involvement of teachers is most essential for making practical training more meaningful and effective.
Greater emphasis is required to be given to practical work in laboratories and workshops as well as on project work. A good percentage of students should be diverted to undertake such project assignments which help them to start their own enterprises.
Development of appropriate communication skills also has a high priority in the world of business. Various strategies like organizing seminars, paper reading / declamation contexts and organising group discussion sessions can help a great deal to develop communication skills. Establishment of language laboratory can also be helpful in this direction.
Efforts should be made to develop reading and writing habits in the students through guided library studies. This will promote learning-to-learn skills in the students.
There is need to revise the curricula of different courses to make these more industry oriented and practice based rather than theoretical in nature.
Promotion of entrepreneurship in the system is the need of the day. It is important to provide entrepreneurial awareness to all students by organizing camps, identification of potential entrepreneurs and grooming them through practical training and project work phases to promote an entrepreneurial culture in the technical institutions.
Teaching should be converted in to learning and learning should be converted in to innovations and developments which is the essential foundation for wage employment as well as becoming an entrepreneur.

Human Resource Development is a serious business. Institutions are required to plan activities at macro and micro levels. Teachers are the kingpin in planning all the above aspects of instructional processes. Establishing close relationship with the industrial world will go a long way in training, development and placement of students. Faculty has great responsibility in making teaching-learning process more meaningful and a rewarding experience. Further, promotion of entrepreneurship is also essential for economic development of the country.

Author

Professor (Dr.) L.N. Mittal

Director-QIP
Geeta Institute of Management & Technology
Kanipla, Kurukshetra-136 118 (Haryana)

NIIT Empowers 10 Million Students Across India

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digitalLEARNING Network

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November 8, 2011

NIIT School Learning Solutions celebrated monumental milestone at NIIT University
in Neemrana

After successfully empowering over 10 million school children across the nation through computer training and having delivered IT-assisted education to the doorsteps of over 16,600 schools, NIIT Ltd.’s Schools Learning Solutions (SLS) business, celebrated its accomplishments, on 7th October 2011, at its campus in Delhi’s satellite city – Neemarana.

Inaugurated by chief guest, Kapil Sibal, the Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Communications and Information Technology, the event received congratulations from the honourable minister for touching the lives of people who have never seen a computer—the marginalised and the have nots. Praising the SLS, Sibal went on to declare, that “for just one institution to provide computer learning to 10 million students was a monumental task and not possible without passion.”

In his keynote, the Minister talked about the transformation taking place within education over the centuries, where teachers were no longer the sole repositories of knowledge. “The 21st century has changed all that, and in this environment, the role of students, teachers, content, and delivery has also altered,” Sibal stated.

According to the Minister, there was new energy in imparting knowledge to learners. Computers had placed the world in the grasp of their hands.

“We want to reach knowledge to the disadvantaged, so that they can access it by just a touch of their fingers. That is India’s journey for tomorrow. The question is how we can take this journey forward,” Sibal said.

The Minister added that the 21st century was all about collaboration, not just between the teacher and the student, but between the community, the neighbourhood, the private sector and governments. In order to empower children, it was important for the entire eco-system, and all stakeholders to engage and redefine their relationships.

“This needs a paradigm shift—in the way the role of teachers and students—is reinvented. We will have to reinvent the way learners interact with nature, and the world beyond. Education is not just about cold print. In the 20th century, text books were the key. Today, there is a need to break through the walls of the classroom. Technology is the enabler that will help students go beyond the classroom, grasp the world, traverse the information highway and relate to the environment around them. Teachers will have to help students enter the doorways they want to go through, to choose the paths they want,” he shared.

“Open your minds, break barriers,” the Minister exhorted the students.

Under the aegis of SLS, NIIT launched its ‘NIIT@Schools’ programme in 1999 with the prestigious BOOT project, targeting 371 government schools in Tamil Nadu. It now reaches 16,600 schools in 18 Indian states. From Keylong (Himachal Pradesh) in the North, to Rameswaram (Tamil Nadu) in the South, and from Vandh (Gujarat) in the West, to Agartala (Tripura) in the East, the programme spans the length and breadth of the country, connecting with students in the farthest and remotest corners of India.

The minister recognised the exemplary performances of Mahasweta Kumar from the Mangaldoi Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Darrang, Assam, the national winner of the MCA 2011. Anirudh Iyengar from Pune, was also acknowledged as the first candidate to successfully complete the innovative IGNOU certificate programme in chess as a mind booster.

Sibal also presented plaques and citations to four principals, who had received National Awards for introducing computer based learning in their institutions.

During its historic journey, SLS has created 23,936 hours of content, set up 1,07,209 computer based learning nodes, and selected, trained and certified nearly four lakh computer teachers in India’s schools. NIIT has indirectly contributed to the development of several villages in the country where basic urban facilities like electricity, telephone and internet connectivity was missing. Children in these villages now receive computer learning. Located in the nooks and crannies of India, these villages now have schools with regular power supply, and telephone and Internet connectivity.

NIIT flag-bearers including Rajendra Pawar, Chairman and Managing Director, NIIT, Hemant Sethi, President, School Learning Solutions, Rajeev Shorey, NU President and Kapil Sibal, the Union minister for Human Resource Development who set the ceremony in motion with the traditional lighting of the lamp, against the backdrop of an invocation.

Talking in detail about SLS and its evolution, its President,. Hemant Sethi highlighted the key signposts in its timeline. These, he said, included the launch of HIWEL (the well known Hole in the Wall project) that aimed to take ‘minimally invasive’ computer learning to underprivileged children; the NIIT MindChampions Academy (MCA), set up jointly with World Chess Champion, Viswanathan Anand to promote chess in schools; and NIIT’s innovations in the area of education such as the Interactive Classroom, the Mobile Science Lab and Math Lab. Sethi spoke about how the MCA, guided by Anand, had set a new Guinness World Records in 2010, enabling 20,430 participants to play Chess simultaneously, as part of the Swarnim Gujarat initiative. He also shared the news about NABET, an accreditation programme for schools, introduced in 2011.

Sethi’s introduction to SLS was followed by a special film on NIIT’s tryst with India’s children, and how it had evoked a spirit of curiosity and the love for computers in them.

The event was brought to a close by Rajeev Shorey, who thanked the Minister for joining NIIT in its historic celebration, and encouraging both learners and teachers to look to the future.

The Future Belongs to Cloud Campus

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digitalLEARNING Network

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November 8, 2011

Campus Management Solutions

As thousands of students swarm the gates of colleges and institutes during admissions and declaration of results, the need for a method to madness has been much felt by universities and colleges for long. As a step towards faster and hassle-free campus-based activities, many colleges are now using a comprehensive campus management solution – this offers features to allow students to access all the campus-related info easily and manage key administrative activities especially the executive and operational processes for college seamlessly across many locations

The wait for exam results is now much shorter than what it used to be earlier; today all you need to do is type an SMS sitting your study room or click on the college website. Welcome to the world of e-campus – a virtual environment that gives you access to all the college related activities, admission, assessment, examinations, e-learning, faculty interaction, fee submissions and much more all available online. The many benefits that this technology offers to students, parents, faculty, staff has led to an increasing number of colleges and educational institutes adopting campus management solutions. However the transformation has been a long and gradual process.

It is not an easy decision for any higher education varsity to host all their operations and activities online, as even today a large volume of data processed in higher education is still done manually in paper and the staff at most of the colleges is yet to get tech savvy in their day-to-day activities. A pro-active and committed management leadership that can steer the e-culture and make a campus almost paperless has been an important key to the success of the many e-campus initiatives. With more and more institutions realising the long-term benefits and cost savings of using a campus management solution (CMS) – the transition to ‘e’-culture has taken a jump-start. The CMS software offers a simple and structured solution that has created to turnaround the overall efficiency and accuracy metrics for many manual processes that are now automated in the colleges. “It’s a huge and potential-packed market of CMS in India. With the trend and need of campus management software in India increasing, in next five years the market size will be more than ten thousand crore,” says Abhay Panjiyar, CEO, CEON Solutions.

“The future clearly demands for popularising cloud service in India for CMS Applications in schools, universities, colleges and training institutes as it has emerged as a technology that can eliminate the up-front investment costs for academic Institutes in a competitive environment”

Leena Periyasamy
Project Manager , Ecole Solutions

e-Campus on the Rise

Currently there is only a small percentage of the entire higher education community that is using this technology on their campus – but numbers are on the rise. “ CMS has promising growth in India as the education system is already blended with eLearning technology. Stakeholders of education industry look for a massive change in teaching pedagogy, content delivery and value of education,” says Leena Periyasamy, Project Manager , Ecole Solutions. This demand has opened up the educational technology market and today many players operating in the large, medium and small scale business segments offer innovative and easy-to-use software platforms for education institutions. “As campuses are growing fast and more and more students are joining in while campuses are offering more and more courses, it is imperative for many of them to immediately adopt CMS to enable efficient delivery of quality education. The growing maturity of the market and the increasing number of universities and bodies of higher education will be the driving forces for the market,” says Dr Jaijit Bhattacharya, Director, Government Affairs, Hewlett Packard India.

Campus Management Software not only automates the process but also saves on resources. This also provides the convenience for the management team to extract the reports and understands the performance of their institute anytime anywhere. Enhanced admission mechanisms, flexible course registrations, advanced grading systems are well designed and customised in the CMS which accommodates the institutes’ and teachers’ requirements. “There are numerous technology platforms that are being used. Most of the market appears to be using bespoke developed solutions, but increasingly, educational bodies are moving towards off-the-shelf solutions. Some are also adopting Open Source solutions. There are even attempts to have an e-cash system integrated into the solution, to enable cashless transactions on the campus,” says Dr Jaijit Bhattacharya.

Arrival of Smart Cards

The use of smart cards is a new technology wave that is poised to enter into the campus technology segment. The future might witness a transformation of the ID Card that can be available in an all new avatar to give the user access to many more facilities and functions in campus and would assist in smoother and more efficient transactions and increased security. “A CMS platform can be easily operated with full compatibility using mobile, IVRS, smart cards, etc., as it is built on flexible, well-designed and multi-layered architecture. Capturing data from bar code system, RFID Tags, etc, pushing the data into CMS and generating MIS Reports for different user levels are some highlights of CMS for the users. Moreover, CMS can also be integrated with any Learning Management System [LMS], Digital Library System to unite all facilities on a single platform,” avers Leena Periyasamy.

“Most of the market appears to be using bespoke developed solutions, but increasingly, educational bodies are moving towards off-the-shelf solutions. Some are also adopting Open Source solutions”

Dr Jaijit Bhattacharya
Director, Government Affairs, Hewlett Packard India

A Campus on the Cloud

The common route of organic growth of any institution is to open new branches across many locations. However to manage and monitor the same requires intense manpower and filling systems. It is also an investment to install the software at all the branches followed by continuous maintenance needs. Here, a cloud-based CMS application empowers you to stay connected, access and execute all the features of the software seamlessly at any location at any branch office. The cloud hosting of applications accelerates the Institutes’ growth capabilities and provides limitless scalability as they branch out to new locations in any part of India or worldwide. The cloud-based CMS platform has hence caught the eye of many technology providers to ease the burden of such challenges experienced by the educational institutes. The future clearly demands for popularising cloud service in India for CMS Applications in schools, universities, colleges and training institutes as it has emerged as a technology that can eliminate the up-front investment costs for academic Institutes in a competitive environment as present today,” says Leena Periyasamy.

CMS implementation through Cloud Technology brings cost efficiency, improves customer satisfaction, drives revenue growth and fosters innovation. As a fierce competition has created a race amongst the educational institutes to attract the best students and offer world-class campus environment, an e-campus surely offers the tech savvy students an e-friendly learning environment and introduces the faculty and staff to interactive tools that can ensure careful planning, systematic approach and accurate control of administrative processes to accelerate performance and maintain a competitive edge.

IGNOU conducts workshop to train French translators

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digitalLEARNING Network

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November 8, 2011

The Indira Gandhi National Open University’s (IGNOU’s) School of Foreign Language (SOFL) is organising four days (from 7^th November 2011 to 10^th November 2011) International Translation Workshop 2011 with the help of the book office of the French Embassy focusing on literary translation from French to various Indian languages and vice-versa.

Experts from France and various universities from India are participating in the ongoing workshop along with 40 participants who are being trained for translation theories and issues related to literary translation from French.

“This workshop is a unique opportunity for discussion on various issues related to translation from French to Hindi, Tamil, Bangla, Marathi, Malayalam, Bhojpuri, Kannada, Mythili, Assamese, Oriya, Gujarati and Santhali. It is the third workshop we are conducting since the year 2009,” said Prof. Sushant Kumar Mishra, Reader (French), SOFL, IGNOU.

Judith Oriol, Book Attachee at the French Embassy in India will be discussing on the ‘Editorial and Book Publishing cooperation between India and France related to the area of translation’. She will be discussing on the issues related to acquiring publishing rights in India from French publications, copyright laws in India and French and the role of the book office as a bridge between the two countries on the last day.

Another eminent expert from France, Prof. Dominique Vitalyos will explore through texts by Le Clezio, Rene Char and others about the choices available to the translator with respect to the author and reader in order to produce a text of literary quality. She will focus on how is it possible to be faithful to the writer and the reader at the same time.

“Research Needs Proper Attention in Our Educational Culture”

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digitalLEARNING Network

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November 8, 2011

Dr KK Talwar, Chairman, Medical Council of India is working towards strengthening and providing high quality medical education, which is meaningful to the growth of medical services in the country. In an interaction with Dhirendra Pratap Singh, he shares insights about the medical education scenario in India

What is the role of MCI in enhancing and streamlining medical education in India?

The Medical Council of India was established in 1934 under the Indian Medical Council Act, 1933, now repealed, with the main function of establishing uniform standards of higher qualifications in medicine and recognition of medical qualifications in India and abroad. The objectives of the Council are maintenance of uniform standards of medical education, both undergraduate and postgraduate, recommendation for recognition/de-recognition of medical qualifications of medical institutions of India or foreign countries and permanent registration or provisional registration of doctors with recognised medical qualifications.

The number of medical colleges had increased steadily during the years after Independence. It was felt that the provisions of Indian Medical Council Act were not adequate to meet with the challenges posed by the very fast development and the progress of medical education in the country. Hence, the Medical Council of India came into being for streamlining medical education in the country.

According to you, what should be done to improve the quality of medical education in our country?

There is a lot of work to be done to ensure that the quality of medical education being provided in the country maintains the highest standards.

Our team is working at understanding the problems and challenges at hand and ensuring that we have a solution that is not just workable but also brings in good results. The need to streamline medical education was an urgent one. Besides basic medical education there is also an urgent need to look at higher medical research programmes and the education provided by private players in the field of medicine.

The Medical Council of India had already issued a notification announcing nationwide common entrance examination for admissions to medical colleges in the country which the Centre promptly withdrew following protests by southern states. The Central government is also considering for inclusion in the 12th plan a major programme to support high-focus states to set up or expand medical colleges.

In the modern age of technology, faculty training is also an important part of medical education. What steps has been taken for faculty development in medical colleges?

We have Faculty Development Programmes to improve the quality of medical training by training the teachers. The aim of these programmes is to sensitise teachers about new concepts in teaching and assessment methods, to develop knowledge and clinical skills required for performing the role of competent and effective teacher, administrator, researcher and mentor, to assist clinicians to acquire competency in communication and behavioral skills and update knowledge using modern information and research methodology tools.

The Medical Council of India has made it mandatory for all medical colleges to establish Medical Education Units (MEUs) or departments in order to enable faculty members to avail modern education technology for teaching. In order to boost this activity, MCI has been conducting Faculty Development Programmes through selected Regional Centres, since July 2009. These Centres are located at institutions which have trained manpower in Medical Education Technologies (MET).

The Central government is also considering for inclusion in the 12th plan a major programme to support high-focus states to set up or expand medical colleges

MCI has restructured itself, so what are your plans to bring reforms in the regulatory process for better medical education in India?

We want to make regulatory and assessment processes more objective. They should be more transparent and in public domain. We have constituted an academic council to look into this which consists former dean of AIIMS and heads of medical education wings. This is one thing that MCI has done. Secondly, we want to improve quality of education in medical colleges. The quality of medical education in medical colleges is deteriorating and MCI is public eye. So, we have tried to create such centres for training of teachers of colleges in the emerging fields such as tele medicine. We are making the profession attractive again. Bright students are not coming into medicine. Earlier, medicine was one of the top professions but now, due to various reason students don’t find medicine course charming.Under graduate seats have increased. Today society needs specialties. Every student who enters into medicine wants to do post graduate. Student is asking himself that why I should invest my career in medicine. Post graduates seats need to be increased. Of course private colleges, capitation fees are the issues and younger students from poor families can’t afford high college fees. Our system is such that students are scared to take loan from banks. We cannot change the system overnight. Most of the brightest students still live in rural areas. We have to create options for them.We cannot afford to send them cities for these academics. We should come into the government sector so they may more affordable rather than private sector. Also, we are looking that how can we increase teacher pool.

What needs to be done with medical education to bridge the rural-urban healthcare divide?

This is a serious issue that how we can send doctors in peripheral areas. Our rural healthcare system should be addressed on priority. The rural health infrastructure should be improved.

The Milind Deora Youth Employability Initiative

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

November 8, 2011

The Milind Deora Youth Employability Initiative, is a unique partnership initiative in which Sri Milind Deora, Member of Parliament for South Mumbai constituency, IndiaSkills – a joint venture in vocational training between Manipal Education and City & Guilds, which came together to provide employment opportunities for the youth in a sustainable manner

By Hari Menon, CEO, India Skills

The Background

The youth of South Mumbai have been eager, enterprising and energetic in their endeavours but due to their low level of job-oriented skills, many of them have been unemployed. Shri MIlind Deora, Member of Parliament of the constituency understood that the youth had potential but severely lacked direction and access to opportunities. He realized that providing employability to these youth would transform their lives. The sentiment found support in stakeholders like IndiaSkills and Manipal Foundation. It was a common realization that the potential of Indian youth can be immense and providing employability will be the ideal way to harness it for development of the society and economy, that lead to the launch of Milind Deora Youth Employability Initiative.

One of the objectives of the initiative has been to provide job-oriented skills for the economically challenged youth, by ensuring that they are up-skilled to meet the industry requirements and provide them with jobs that would guarantee a secure future. The project is first of its kind in India, bringingtogether stakeholders of varied interests and unique advantages to successfully deliver the project. High-quality content of world class standards from City and Guilds that was adapted to Indian retail industry requirements by IndiaSkills. The content is delivered through Speakwell, one of Mumbai’s leading Spoken English chains and India Skills. Assessment and training is provided by IndiaSkills Placement opportunities have been provided for students by partnership with India’s leading retailers. Unique evaluation programme was developed to map the skill levels of candidates to the available job opportunities – candidates were provided training to close the necessary skills gap.

One of the objectives of the initiative has been to provide job-oriented skills for the economically challenged youth, by ensuring that they are up-skilled to meet the industry requirements and provide them with jobs that would guarantee a secure future

The Project

IndiaSkills offered industry relevant courses and training methodology that helped a learner get all required skills irrespective of his educational background. Speakwell, one of Mumbai’s leading spoken english chains, ensured quality training infrastructure and faculty. Irize, a dedicated employment wing of Manipal Education ensured that the successful learners had multiple job options across locations.

The evaluation programme was designed on various factors including knowledge, behavioural aspects and biometric data. The data collected from pre and post training assessment was further used to provide insights into bridging the demand-supply gap in the industry. Skill levels of candidates were mapped to pertinent job opportunities and students were trained accordingly. Employer feedback suggested need of more similar initiatives to source skilled entry level employee. Quantified increase in skill level of candidates before and after training was also designed.

In order to map the skills of candidates, a unique programme was designed to ascertain the skill level of candidates by including essential criteria including their knowledge and behavioural aspects

Skills Mapping

In order to map the skills of candidates so as to check their training needs , a unique programme was designed to ascertain the skill level of candidates by including essential criteria of their knowledge, behavioral aspects etc. This was implemented in pre and post assessment of candidates for ensuring optimal placement.

In order to map industry requirements to generate exact training content for target group, IndiaSkills conducted an exhaustive study of current industry requirements and developed course content with valuable inputs from City and Guilds international qualifications. The challenge in placement was meeting region-specific demands of candidates as most candidates were not willing to relocate. Irize did a two-prong strategy in simultaneously procuring job mandates from Mumbai branches of leading retail partners and sourcing the required candidates. The confluence of the right stakeholders resulted in successful adaptation in any region and any industry sector across India.

Author

Hari Menon

CEO, IndiaSkills which has been set up with the aim of redefining skills trainingand certification delivery in India

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