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The Future Belongs to Cloud Campus

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

News

digitalLEARNING Network

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”

Magazine

digitalLEARNING Network

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

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.

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

Internet as a Catalyst for Change

digitalLEARNING Network

November 8, 2011

Key outcomes of the sixth Internet Governance Forum focusing on Internet access, development, freedom and innovations

By Divya Chawla, digitalLEARNING Bureau

The Sixth Annual IGF Meeting was held from 27-30 September 2011 at the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON), Kenya. The theme of the meeting was: ‘Internet as a catalyst for change: access, development, freedoms and innovation’.

Accessibility and Diversity of Broadband Internet Access

The Internet is increasingly being recognised as one of the key enablers of growth and development. The growing recognition that the Internet is a public good is evident from the fact that a number of countries, starting with Finland in 2009, have made access to broadband Internet a fundamental right. As connectivity becomes an ever-more important determinant of access to development, and as calls for, and concern towards, inclusiveness in the development process grow stronger, it is pertinent to identify and address the key issues affecting connectivity. It is equally important to then address the issue of access and ability to use information – which is currently handicapped in large measure due to literacy and language-related factors. With this objective the Centre for Science Development and Media Studies (CSDMS) organised a workshop on ‘Accessibility and Diversity of Broadband Internet Access’ at the sixth IGF meeting.

Chaired by Sh N Ravi Shanker Additional Secretary, Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Government of India; the prominent panel members of the workshop included Graciela Saleimi, instituto NUPEF, Brazil; Klaus Stoll, Acting Executive Director, Global Knowledge Partnership Foundation; Venkatesh Hariharan, Head of Public Policy and Government Relations, Google India; Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, The Centre for Internet and Society; and Abhishek Singh, Director, Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Information Technology, Government of India.

Discussions

Dr Rajeshree Dutta Kumar, Sr Programme Specialist, CSDMS introduced the session theme by highlighting the importance of broadband Internet access. She stated certain key issues that constrain use of broadband including high cost, connectivity and broadband in rural areas, language in which Internet is organised, access issues for illiterates and visually challenged, control of Internet and root servers, net neutrality and compatibility IPv6.

Graciela Saleimi put forth issues related to broadband internet access in Brazil. She said, “Brazil has 12.8 million broadband connections with an average monthly cost of USD 93. This accounts for 4.5 percent of the monthly per capita income of a Brazilian citizen, which is much higher as compared to the developing countries which have an average monthly spend of 0.5 percent of the per capita income. Half of Brazilian municipalities do not have access to broadband connections, which is a critical issue that the government needs to address.”

Klaus Stoll was of the view that digital divide does not exist as the unavailability of broadband mainly exists in areas where there is no awareness and demand. He highlighted the importance of strategic use of Internet across the world.

Talking about policy related issues, which are critical for Internet access, Venkatesh Hariharan said, “There are investments and networks in pipeline which is good news but the governance of those networks, the rule of law, the processes of law that manage these networks is also very important.”

Another critical issue that hampers the accessibility of internet is copyright laws. Focussing on this, Sunil Abraham said, “A technology solution must be made a legitimate solution, barring all copyright issues, if it offers enough value. We must also look into the patent issues to make it easier for compliance. Free and open source licenses must also be considered for enhancing access.”

Bringing forward the Indian context, Abhishek Singh said, “The government in India is setting up 100,000 kiosks in villages and rural areas, which can provide Internet connectivity in these regions. More than 60 percent of the rural community can access Internet via these kiosks.”

Sh N Ravi Shanker concluded the workshop by highlighting the need for having public investments in making broadband accessible to everyone. “While it is important to drive public investment, it is equally important for the private sector participation to join in the government in the endeavour”, he said.

Open Data: Challenges and Solutions

Over 60 UN Member States around the world have now adopted and are actively engaged in implementing public sector information policy frameworks that were first developed by economic regions such as the European Union and the OECD. The workshop, jointly organsied by CSDMS and Retired Sole, addressed the approaches that could lead to the formulation of a global public sector information policy framework for consideration and adoption by the United Nations Member States.

Chaired by Christopher Corbin, Independent Researher, Brighton; the eminent panel included Anne Fitzgerald, Queensland University of Technology from Australia; Wey Ward, Consultant from Hong Kong; Abhishek Singh and Dr Rajeshree Dutta Kumar from India. The panelists debated upon the need for a global policy on public sector information.

The growing recognition that the Internet is a public good is evident from the fact that a number of countries have made access to broadband Internet a fundamental right

Discussions

Anne Fitzgerald opined that the World is not ready yet for such a policy. “Looking at the map of e?readiness or information policy readiness of the UN Member States, I think there are less than half the Governments that have some e?Government policy in place. Unless you have these basics in place, I believe it will be very difficult to come up with PSI.”

On the other hand Abhishek Singh said that there can be no arguments with regard to the need for an open Government policy across the world. He however added that, “But at the same time we have to work out the roadmap towards reaching that goal. We also have to see the individual situations in various countries.” Reflecting similar thoughts, Dr Rajeshree Dutta Kumar added, “Although, there is a strong need for open data, I believe that we should also have a provision for a globally consistent framework”.

So while there were mixed thoughts, the need for an open data policy framework emerged a crucial outcome of the workshopt.

Teaching with Portals can Give You an Edge

Magazine

digitalLEARNING Network

November 8, 2011

Teachers of today often grapple with too much of paperwork while also handling crowded classrooms and students with emotional hitches. In the process, they become over-stressed owing to increased pressures in classroom management styles and practices in effective teaching. However, the scenario has been effectively addressed with the help of internet education tools – one of them can be quoted as “education portals”

By Inder Kumar, digital LEARNING Bureau

Though the concept of digital learning is new to the Indian environment of autocratic classroom structures, but the 24×7 portals are rewarding to the teachers as well as to those who are in the domain of public policy and planning functions.

Working on a lesson, an assignment, preparing a multiple choice questionnaire or a case study has never been so easy today with the introduction of these websites. Aiming to suit the fast growing complications in education system, the system of plugged-in education also includes resolving classroom management issues, promoting an effective learning management for schools, colleges, universities and organisations. The so called wired system of education also motivates students, especially those dealing with individual differences and emotional problems.

The interactive portals are quite accommodating for a teacher-led classroom learning process. Through rich media presentations, the websites facilitate preparation of online tests with free multimedia resources. Besides catering to content sharing for online K-12 community, the search engine helps students for self-paced learning. Moreover, the portals also serve as an online virtual school where parents and students can interact with teachers, get assignments and share educational material.

The portals provide numerous lesson materials for K-12 teachers and their students. They are designed to be delivered in a variety of formats and classroom settings. The lessons are Internet-based and mostly are free to everyone. Each lesson contains a teacher’s version as well as a student’s version which can be used in a variety of ways. Teachers can use as many of the lessons as they would like and can pass on the same to their students, in the way they wish to.

While talking to Vasundhara Vyas , Marketing Head of Education Initiatives (a group that runs education institutions), it was found that the learning tools available online, i.e. Mind Spark, aid teachers in preparing tests, vis-a-vis creating a real life application based questions so that students can relate to their practical life and learn easily. The online software also eases the burden of result preparation, it comes out with diagnostic reports, simplifies the assessment process and also notifies where a student is lacking and what should be done.

Although, online education system is new to mindset of teachers in India, it is being openly welcomed by many in the education sector. Sudhir Kumar, Assistant Professor at Delhi University’s Ramjas College has found the concept very advantageous for learning. “If students learn online prior to attending their regular class , they become clear with the basics, and this, in turn, makes it easy for the teachers to help students understand the complexities,” he says.

Enabling the transfer of skills via computer and network, the concept of internet education encourages web-based learning, virtual education opportunities and gaining knowledge with digital collaboration. The content is delivered via the internet, intranet or extranet, audio or video tapes, satellite TV, and CD-ROM. The content is made approachable with the support of media in the form of text, image, animation, and streaming video and audio.

“e- Learning offers coaching at a convenient time, at the comfort of home and is unlike private tuition centres”

R S Rawat
General Secretary, ASSOCHAM

Chitra Bhatia, VP, Sanako Corporation is of the opinion that with the help of online learning, teachers can adapt to the needs of students, changing curriculum, content and most importantly, maintaining class motivation. “I do not see e-tutorial as a threat to teachers but a teaching aid that helps both teachers and the students learn faster and better. Most of the successful e-learning content in the market today is driven by teachers and customers are ready to pay higher for the same.” She added that the teacher driven content has various advantages over self driven learning as teachers can adapt learning to the students, they can help the students to manage learning better by helping them in the process of learning which includes – Remembering, Understanding, Applying, Analysing, Evaluating and Creating.

With regard to the future prospects of online learning in India, Bhatia says that online learning is the best option today and for the future as well. It is bound to grow rapidly as we are facing acute shortage of good teachers, physical infrastructure and quality education.

The system of internet education aids in maintaining classroom discipline, motivating work and keeping up relationships with parents. It also helps organise class work, padding insufficient or inadequate teaching materials with supplies and to some extent, rallies around dealing with problems of individual students as well. According to R. S. Rawat, Secretary General of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), online learning program offering a comprehensive one-stop-shop for education search, the online education system is an upcoming tool for mobilising online learning through education portals. The technology-based course development and management system is increasingly becoming the pick of the litter of many academicians and students. The concept does not aim to replace teacher-based classrooms but only propagates the idea that learning can be advanced with technological development and can be fun as well.

ERP Mission Workshop at JMI Taking Technology Closer to Education

digitalLEARNING Network

November 8, 2011

17-18 September 2011

A two-day Workshop on ‘ERP Mission’ was organised by the FTK-Centre for Information Technology, Jamia Millia Islamia on September 17-18, 2011. The objective of the workshop was to increase the awareness amongst the higher educational institutions about the development of various Open Source ERP modules for better administrative functioning of the institutions

By Z H Khan, Director, FTK-CIT, Jamia Millia Islamia

A two-day Workshop on ‘ERP Mission’ was organised by the FTK-Centre for Information Technology, Jamia Millia Islamia on September 17-18, 2011. Prof. Zahid H Khan, Honorary Director, FTK-Centre for Information Technology delivered the welcome address and introduced the participants to the objectives of the workshop. In his welcome address, Prof. Khan emphasised the importance of active participation of the developers, administrators and end-users for successful implementation of ERP systems in educational institutions. The workshop was inaugurated by Mr. T.A. Khan, Deputy Director General, National Informatics Centre in the presence of the University Pro-Vice-Chancellor Prof. S.M. Rashid. Mr. Khan appreciated the timely initiative of the NMEICT and the collaborative model for ERP system development. Drawing upon his rich technical experiences Mr. Khan asked the academic and technical communities to be ready for addressing the iterative evolution challenges thrown by the ERP system. Dr Ravi Gupta, CEO, Elets Technomedia Pvt. Ltd was the Guest of Honour. While applauding the Open Source methodology chosen for development, Dr Gupta emphasised the need for educational institutions to adapt to the changing technological environment to satisfy the requirements of the 21st century generation. Prof. SM Rashid, the Pro Vice-Chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia while referring to the ‘Best ICT Enabled institution of Higher Learning’ award bagged by the FTK-Centre For Information Technology applauded the efforts of Prof. ZH Khan, Director CIT for making it amongst one of the most progressive IT centres in the Universities.

Objective

The objective of the workshop was to increase the awareness amongst the higher educational institutions about the development of various Open Source ERP modules under the INR 19.36 crores ERP Mission project sanctioned by the National Mission on Higher Education through ICT, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. The event provided a useful platform to the developers, university administrators, faculty members and ICT professionals for sharing their ideas on development and implementation of ERP modules in universities and educational institutions.

The Workshop Proceedings

During the technical sessions of the workshop, teams from Aligarh Muslim University, Amrita University, Dayalbagh Educational Institute, IGNOU, Jamia Millia Islamia and SMVDU Jammu demonstrated their respective ERP modules. Dr. S. Kazim Naqvi, Workshop Convener, introduced the delegates to the “ERP Mission” project, its objectives, methodology and possibilities of participation of other institutions.

FAQs on the ERP MISSIONWhat is ERP?

ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. It is a software that helps organisations automate their processes in an integrated manner.

What is ERP Mission Project?

ERP Mission is a 19-crore project sanctioned by the National Mission on Education through ICT, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. The chief coordinating agency is IIT Kanpur along with the following other partners:

Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh
Amritha Vishwavidya Peetham, Coimbatore
Dayabagh Educational Institute, Agra
IIT Roorkee
Indira Gandhi National Open University, Delhi
Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi
NIT Hamirpur
SMVDU, Jammu

What are the objectives of the ERP Mission Project? The objectives of ERP Mission project are as follows:

To develop an Open Source ERP System for educational institutions
To help educational and research institutions implement ERP systems in a cost effective way
To promote collaborative development efforts

Why ERP needs to be developed?

To automate routine transactions in the organisation. This would help achive efficiency, economy and transparency in the organisation
To enable support for data backed decision making
To force standards in process implementation across the University. For example: Admissions rule may be enforced uniformly across the University

Raghu Raman, the Principal Investigator (PI) from Amrita Vishwa Vidyapetham, Coimbatore demonstrated the Grants Management System and Faculty Expertise System developed by their team. The team from Jamia Millia Islamia made presentation on the ‘Purchase and Inventory Control Module (PICO)’ module. Prof. Uma Kanjilal from IGNOU showcased the aspects of E-Portfolio. The module will be useful for students as well as faculty members to maintain an online archive of their academic, research and other types work. The team from Dayalbagh Educational Institute demonstrated the features of ‘Course Management’, ‘Online Admissions’, ‘Online OMR Evaluation System’, ‘Project Management’ and ‘Ondemad Examination’ modules developed by their team. Summet Gupta from SMVDU demonstrated the ‘Payroll and Tax Management System’. The AMU team demonstrated the ‘Library Management System (LibMS)’. Throughout all the sessions, the participants provided useful inputs on improving the utility of the modules.

On the second day of the programme, the National Coordinator of the ERP Mission project Prof. YN Singh, from IIT Kanpur, also addressed the participants and explained the overall architecture of the system and future work. His team also demonstrated the Brihaspati-3 LMS and BrihasptiSync which is a facility for conducting online classes. He urged the entire academic and technical fraternity working for educational institutions to come forward and volunteer in meeting out the challenges thrown by this important project.

The two- day workshop session concluded with an incredible amount of knowledge sharing exercise and provided useful insights into the working of ERP modules for higher education administrators.

Author

Prof Z H Khan

Director, FTK-Centre for Information Technology, Jamia Millia Islamia (A Central University), New Delhi

Pearson Education launches Active Teach for Schools

digitalLEARNING Network

November 8, 2011

Pearson Education has taken a proactive approach in spreading this digital revolution in India and has put technology to its rightful use by launching ‘ActiveTeach’ – the most comprehensive digital learning solution for Indian Schools. The digital learning solution for schools was launched during a workshop “Innovation in Education” conducted by N.C. Sridharan, Educationist and NLP Master Practitioner.

“ActiveTeach” is a digital solution which goes in sync with the printed books and will bridge the gap between text books and digital learning in the classroom environment. Pearson has tied up with BBC Motion Gallery and has acquired lots of priceless education videos which are included throughout the “ActiveTeach” series for a real life experience. ActiveTeach takes a novel approach to teaching and offers a host of features and conveniences to enable the educator to make every lesson easier and engaging. ActiveTeach is designed to be a supportive and empowering teaching experience for teachers and a rich and enlightening experience for students.

“ActiveTeach” will currently be available for students of classes 3 to 8 and for English and Science subjects only, although other subjects will be available from next year onwards. This solution has 2 separate versions – one for Teachers and another for the students. “ActiveTeach” comes with a comprehensive guide manual both for teachers and parents separately. A large team of eminent educationists, teachers, in house editors, reputed software companies and numerous numbers of animators have worked day long and night to make this dream come true.

Speaking on the launch, Naveen Rajlani, Head of School Division, Pearson Education said, “Education in India has witnessed a paradigm shift in the last decade. Technology has empowered students who now have an access to an enormous repository of knowledge at the click of a button. Thus, there is a growing and a compulsive need to break away from the traditional way of pedagogy. Pearson Education’s “ActiveTeach” is a unique digital learning resource which combines pedagogically sound text books with innovative teaching and learning materials and it seamlessly integrates technology with the syllabus to ensure the best possible learning environment.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. G. Balasubramanian, former Director Academics, CBSE, said,” This Digital solution is not mere change but brings a transformation for effective classroom transaction!

Sharing her views on ActiveTeach, Annie Koshy, Principal, St. Mary’s School, Delhi said,” I am excited about the fact that we are coming to a point where a publisher is incorporating traditional ideas of English language teaching with modern technology. This should go a long way in ensuring that our children learn about the four skills of a language, along with grammar and vocabulary, in a more engaging and exciting way.”

The facilitator for the workshop, N.C. Sridharan, Educationist and NLP Master Practitioner, spoke about the importance of interactive participation of students in the education system. He skillfully explained how three modes of learning; visual, auditory and kinesthetic can be applied to make teaching more effective.

XLRI holds Private Equity Conclave in Mumbai

digitalLEARNING Network

November 8, 2011

XLRI Jamshedpur played host to some of the biggest names in corporate India at its second edition of the annual Finance Conclave, Gnosis 2011 in Mumbai. This year the Conclave focused on the role that Private Equity has to play in our country’s growing economy and was titled ‘Investing in India’s Future – The Role of Private Equity’. The Conclave was also aimed at addressing existing dilemmas and even perhaps pre-empting new challenges that would impact the future evolution of the sector and its influence on the Indian economy. The conclave more than lived up to its billing.

The Private Equity sector is tipped to grow tremendously in India in the coming years and even the fundamentals look encouraging for PE in India to continue to grow and evolve much beyond 2011. Speaking about these exciting possibilities at the conclave were some of the most experienced stalwarts of the industry like Shankar Narayan, MD, Carlyle India; Ms. Rupa Vora, CFO, IDFC; Subir Nag, Director, ICICI Venure; Mr. Nainesh Jaisingh, Standard Chartered PE; Mr. Siva Shankar, Director, Citibank VC; Jacob Mathew, MD, Mape Advisory; Mr. Pramod Ahuja, Partner, Tata Capital; Srinivasan Bharatam, Managing Partner, Milestone Religare Investment Advisors. Each of these experts shared their ideas and opinions, formed over years of consistent achievement in their fields, with professionals from the industry, Investors, Media, the student community, and the public at large.
Speaking at the Conclave, Shankar Narayan, MD, Carlyle India, explained how the PE firm create value for its investee company, by giving it an access to global network, better corporate governance, risk management etc. Ms. Rupa Vora, CFO, IDFC presented how the value is created and derived in PE.

Nainesh Jaisingh, MD, Standard Chartered PE, stressed on the growing significance of India as a target market for investors over the last decade, with perceptions about the country among investors having changed at a rapid pace.

Prof. Uday Damodaran, XLRI Faculty- Finance said that “With India looking to lurch forward into the next phase of growth, large financial investments as well as domain-specific management expertise becomes inevitable. It is here that alternative investments such as Private Equity Funds become very important. In addition, Private Equity will emerge as a very important source of capital for firms at all stages of existence, of all sizes and across all sectors”.
Adding about PE’s significance in management courses he said ” No course of study in Finance can be complete without an understanding of Private Equity, and XLRI has already integrated PE into its introductory and elective courses in Finance and will be further strengthening its offerings in PE taking the help of the PE Industry”

The Finance Association at XLRI (FINAX) also took the opportunity to outline its plans to further nurture the sustained student interest in the Finance domain at XLRI. After the speaker series a panel discussion on the topic ‘The Outlook for Private Equity in India’ was held bringing forth various insights about the current scenario of the PE industry in India. The panelists also discussed the opportunities and challenges of dealing with varied stakeholders, ranging from promoter groups to retail investors.

External Review of IIMS to be Undertaken

digitalLEARNING Network

November 8, 2011

Every three years there should be an external review of each IIM, which could be discussed in the IIM-Council. This was decided in a meeting of the IIM council chaired by Kapil Sibal, Union Minister of HRD. The meeting was attended by Dr. D.Purandeshwari, Secretary Higher Education, Chairpersons and Directors of the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) besides senior officials from the Ministry of HRD.

The meeting reviewed the progress in the establishment of the new IIMs. It was mentioned that land issues in respect of all new IIMs had been resolved. Directors of all new IIMs except IIM-Kashipur are in place and process for selection of Director IIM-Kashipur is at an advanced stage. A Standing Committee had been constituted under Damodaran for co-coordinating matters between the new IIMs.

Reviewing the process of investing greater autonomy on IIMs, the Council noted that the revised Memoranda of Association and Rules of Ahmedabad and Indore have been finalised. The process of revision of MoAs of Bangalore, Lucknow and Kozhikode are underway.

Directors of IIMs Calcutta, Lucknow, Kozhikode indicated that the annual work plan system and teaching requirements along with faculty peer review has been put in place in different ways. Director IIM Bangalore mentioned that the process of devising a faculty review system after consultations.

The Council was informed that the Government had approved a scheme for enhancing research in IIMs and increase the output of Ph.Ds from each of the existing IIMs. A sum of Rs 95 crore has been approved for an additional 100 Ph.Ds from the IIMs. It was decided to upgrade facilities in hostels and make residential facilities of a world-class level for which a scheme may be prepared by existing IIMs jointly.

Director IIM-Bangalore offered to lead the discussion on bringing out a quarterly journal of IIMs showcasing the research in the IIMs. IIMs Calcutta & Kozhikode jointly offered to organize an international conference bringing together the foremost management thinkers on a platform and learning from global experiences.

On the issue of a common admission policy, it was felt that the admission policy of each IIM was sacrosanct. In order to ease pressure on students and assist the new IIMs in their admission processes it was decided that the IIMs would share their admission information and co-ordinate their counselling systems.

In order to build diversity on campus and attract international students without affecting the national intake, it was decided that IIMs could jointly organize an international road-show pooling their resources for the purpose.

In order to expand the search for management solutions in problems of relevance to the nation and society, it was felt that IIMs have to take the lead in conducting programmes and organise curricula in areas such as energy management, academic institution management, health management, agriculture management etc. It was decided to set up a Task Force for establishing the contours of such programmes.

It was informed that the Government is in the process of providing connectivity to every knowledge institutions through the National Knowledge Network and NMEICT besides providing fibre connectivity to each village through the National Optical Fibre Network. It was decided that a network of institutions can be constructed using technology as the platform for delivering inter-disciplinary courses cutting across knowledge streams.

The IIMs offered their assistance in using technology being created under the two programmes for development of faculty in private management institutions. It was decided to organize a meeting with private management institutions and IIMs to co-ordinate efforts in faculty development of private educational institutions. IIM-Lucknow offered the use of its facility in Noida for the establishment of a Management Academy for the purpose.

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