Business News: September 2011

Magazine

By

-

September 1, 2011

Sterlite Technologies to Enhance Connectivity in Higher Education

Sterlite, a leading global provider of connectivity solutions for the power and telecom industries, announced that it has been chosen by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) to enhance its network for promotion of Higher Education in India.

The scope of the project includes establishment of world-class connectivity for 120 universities across the country. This infrastructure would act as an information backbone, enabling every university in the network to function as an E-university. This platform would facilitate high bandwidth data transmission that is essential for e-learning and video- based learning. Sterlite would connect 30 universities to this backbone during FY12, would connect the remaining 90 universities by FY14 and would manage the network for five years thereafter. Sterlite has streamlined its efforts to implement the network well within the required project schedule. This project is part of the ‘National Mission on Education through Information and Communication and Technology (ICT)’ undertaken by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India. The Mission has been envisaged to leverage the potential of ICT, in teaching and learning process for the benefit of all the learners in Higher Education Institutions in any time anywhere mode.

NIIT Tech acquires Spanish firm Proyecta Sistemas for $7m, stock gains 3%

NIIT Technologies acquired Spainish software services firm Proyecta
Sistemas de Informacion SA for for USD 7 million. “We will end up paying 70%
of the revenue (for acquisition) which is USD 7 million,” Arvind Thakur, CEO,
NIIT Technologies, said.

He said the company had revenue of USD 10 million in last financial year and has EBIDTA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation) of 10%.

“From today we will start consolidating revenue of Proyecta with NIIT Technologies,” Thakur added. The acquisition enables NIIT Technologies to enhance its European footprint with Proyecta’s experience in travel and financial services segments.

NIIT Technologies’ Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) operations contribute 35% to its global revenues.

Headquartered in Madrid, Proyecta, with over 100 consultants that industry players in business intelligence, web and mobility applications.

Shares of NIIT Technologies closed at Rs 196.25 on 16 August

National News: September 2011

Magazine

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

September 1, 2011

NCERT, NIOS submit proposal for 24X7 TV channel

National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) have submitted a proposal for launching 24X7 television channel to cater to the needs of school education and adult literacy.

The Central Institute of Educational Technology, National Council of Educational Research and Training, New Delhi and the National Institute of Open Schooling, NOIDA, Uttar Pradesh will be the lead partners. The Department of Adult Education and its sister agencies in the States, State Institutes of Educational Technology, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sanghatan, Novodaya Vidyalaya Samiti and other educational agencies in the Centre and the States will be invited to participate and contribute.

Kerala’s IT@School project imparts massive ICT training to parents

Kerala’s IT@School Project imparted massive ICT (Information Communication Technology) training to parents, as part of 100 days programme of the Government. The programme has been undertaken at all the High Schools of the State. As part of the programme, a One-day ICT awareness session was conducted first in a campaign mode wherein parents got a bird’s eye view on the new outlook of the classrooms along with the upgraded educational systems, ICT facilities made available in schools, ICT enabled education, functioning of school IT Clubs, IT Mela, various ICT trainings for students, more about IT@School ViCTERS channel, prevention of Cyber crimes.

In continuation to the ICT awareness programme and as part of ‘Software Freedom Day’ celebrations on 17th September 2011, specific ICT training would commence in all High Schools for those parents who are keen to learn more on ICT. The training would be conducted in batches without affecting the normal functioning of schools. A new training module has been developed for the programme, which comprises of usage of Free Software, Operating System, Word Processing, Malayalam Computing, and Internet. With the acquisition of these skills, the parents would be able to equip with functional knowledge on day-to-day IT activities like working of storage devices, CD-writing, Emails, Malayalam Typing, Cyber security.

Vocational Education in North East

The IGNOU Institute for Vocational Education & Training (IIVET), Shillong – which forms a part of the Education Development of the North East Unit (EDNERU) – has tied up with Aircel Ltd. for a vocational training and Computer Literacy Programme for poor school children from classes 6 – 12. The six months’ programme began on 25th July, 2011, with 240 students attending the first batch. The other partners in this project include Empower Pragati and Microsoft.

Govt identifies Special Focus Districts under SSA

The Department of School Education and Literacy has identified 389 Special Focus Districts (SFD) under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) for the year 2011-12 on the basis of (a) Programme category gaps,(i) districts with a classroom gap exceeding 3000 classrooms, (ii) districts with more than 20,000 out-of-school children, (iii) gender gap in enrollment exceeding 10 percent at primary and 20 percent at upper primary level, and (iv) retention rate lower than 60 percent and (b) Social category gaps, districts with more than 25 percent Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe population, 20 percent Muslim minority population, as well as districts affected by Left Wing Extremism and Border Area Districts. Several districts have been classified as SFDs under one or more of the above categories.

Districts have been categorised as per the above criteria to enable them to make focused interventions for overcoming specific gaps in their overall endeavor to achieve universal elementary education. The categorisation of districts as SFDs helps the states to plan and implement interventions in a need based manner, with the flexibility of changing these districts from year to year as the parameters change.

IGNOU trains teachers to develop online courses

IGNOU has organised three-day conference to bring about a change in the way lessons are imparted to the students who are occupied by the teaching materials in one corner, huge chunk of registers on other; supplementary materials on one shelf and their library routine on the other.

The Inter University Consortium (IUC) of the university organised a workshop to train the trainers who were invited from various universities in order to address the change, which has struck the 21st century teachers and learners. The change is the online learning/ teaching experience that has made easily accessible learning/ teaching material just a click away. Many open universities in the world and other traditional universities are developing online courses to enhance the reach of their university’s study materials through videos, web content, internet, satellite or CDROM. Private institutions are also offering online courses. Online education is becoming popular day-by-day, but adapting face-to-face courses for online instruction presents many challenges and IGNOU took the initiatives to address them.

The training programme was attended by twenty one faculty members from State Open Universities, Private Universities offering courses through Distance Mode and Faculty of Distance Education Institutes in Formal Universities like Jamia Hamdard , NIMS University , Anna University , Karpagam University, Dr C V Raman University, Institute of Advanced Studies in Education University, Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth , Lovely School of Open and Distance Learning , Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University, Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan and UP Rajarshi Tandon Open University.

This training workshop was imparted for awareness and Capacity Building programme to the faculty of universities (Open, Private

The National Knowledge Network

Magazine

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

September 1, 2011

The Union Budget of the year 2011-12 specified the intention of the Government to connect major educational institutions across India with a high speed network that will enable the transmission and sharing of knowledge resources. The National Knowledge Network (NKN) will play a major role in taking quality education to distant and remote areas. The article highlights some key elements of NKN and its role in creating a knowledge society

By Sheena Joseph

Higher education in India has figured in the priority list of the Government's development agenda over the last few years. The ever increasing demand for quality education and the burgeoning youth population has necessitated the need to make educational resources available and accessible to all learners, irrespective of geographical barriers. Here is where the National Knowledge Network (NKN) will act as a major factor in dissemination of education to the masses.

The efforts progressively highlights the considerable measures being taken by the government to integrate technology into education and the acceptance of ICT as a tool for change. The technology enhanced network is envisaged as a channel that will take knowledge resource to all, thereby breaking the barriers in education outreach. N K Sinha, Additional Secretary (TEL), Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Higher Education, Government of India is emphatic in pointing out the importance of technology, and says, “Technology is playing a very major role in providing the multiplier effect and in improving the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) in education. It has helped in quality enhancement efforts, ameliorating teacher shortage, taking care of the needs of the working population by providing access to education anytime, anywhere and teacher empowerment.” The NKN project will see massive use of technology to connect institutions of learning across India, and thereby putting to use the immense potential of ICT in education.

“

Tracking SSA in Goa

Magazine

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

September 1, 2011

The efforts of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA) are aimed at providing useful and relevant elementary education for all children in the age group of 6 to 14 years and to bridge social, regional and gender gaps, with the active participation of the community in the management of schools. In this article we focus on the educational efforts of Goa and explore the diverse range of activities being undertaken in the State under SSA

By Pragya Gupta

The mission statement of the Goa Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan emphasises on an urgent requirement for the appointment of trained teachers and provision of remedial teaching, improvement of school infrastructure, out of school children, children with special needs, and community mobilisation. The focus has been on increasing access, enrolment and bridging gender and social gaps. Retention, quality education and bringing back out of school children have been the key thrust areas. Activities of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan in the state has been working towards this direction.

TRAINING ACTIVITIES IN CCE

Carrying forward the steps towards implementation of the Right to Education Act in Goa, the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) designed a scheme of Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) to be enforced in all the primary and upper primary schools in the State from the academic year 2011-12. “Goa SSA has shouldered responsibility of imparting training to the heads of the upper primary and secondary schools in the state to actualise the step towards implementation of CCE in their schools. 400 heads of these schools were imparted one day training in CCE between June 20 and 28, 2011”, says Madhav Joshi, State Programme Coordinator, Goa SSA.

Joshi further elaborates that presently, the Goa SSA has launched programmes through the Taluka Level School Complex Committees (TLSCCs). About 3500 teachers teaching in the upper primary schools will receive training. Following these programmes, authorities of the Goa SSA programme have planned to take up training programmes for the primary teachers in the State. Around 3000 teachers will be trained in near future. The senior teachers, experts and the headmasters who have already been trained contribute to the teacher training programme as resource persons.

TEACHER TRAINING IN E-LEARNING PROGRAMMES

The Sesa Goa

International News: September 2011

Magazine

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

September 1, 2011

Speech-language, special education teachers in big demand due to retirements

Trained teachers for helping students with Speech and Language disability are now in short supply due to retirements in Schools in La Crosse, USA. The school authorities have been finding it more and more complicated to locate trained teachers to assist students, more than 32,000 other Wisconsin children, who have a primary speech-language disability. There are about 1,900 speech-language pathologistsare working in Wisconsin schools, about one for every 16 children with a speech disability.

A mass exodus of retiring teachers in the spring created 19 openings in the district's special education programme, five in the speech and language department alone. With days approaching for a new school year, the district is yet to fill all the openings. Teachers trained in speech-language pathology must have a master's degree in order to be certified by the state. They are the only class of special education teacher that must meet such a demand.

Former education chief of Florida says state's schools going backward

Test results show Florida is going backward in preparing students for college, yet high schools keep getting high grades from the state, a former education commissioner told a higher education study panel recently. That disconnect is holding back efforts to improve schools, said John Winn, who was commissioner under Gov. Jeb Bush. Winn urged the state Higher Education Coordinating Council to take a look at Florida's high school grading formula, which is heavily based on Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) scores, and recommend changes for reducing grade inflation. Students' scores on standardized exams such as the FCAT steadily fall as they move from elementary school to middle and high school, Winn said. The ACT scores which was released showed Florida increased its composite score only slightly, from 19.5 to 19.6. Only Tennessee and Mississippi had lower scores.

Major literacy drive in Iraq

A literacy and life skills training programme for 6,000 unemployed youth and women in Iraq has been launched by UNESCO. The grant programme, funded by the Office of Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, First Lady of Qatar, UNESCO's special Envoy for Basic and Higher Education, is part of the Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE) project in Iraq which aims to achieve the Education for All (EFA) goal of reducing illiteracy by 50 per cent by 2015. The programme will help 25 local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the Iraqi education ministry to establish community learning centres throughout the country.

Arizona lawmakers cut $30 million from vocational programme

Thousands of high-school students will have one less year to study business, biotech, engineering, multimedia, refrigeration repair and dozens of other career and technical-education subjects after state lawmakers cut $30 million from a statewide program. The classes are part of the Joint Technological Education District, which offers vocational education through central and satellite programs in the state.

Legislators passed a budget in the spring that eliminates funding for ninth-graders in vocation-education programs such as culinary arts, automotive repair and engineering. The cut costs 13 districts statewide, including the East Valley Institute of Technology and Western Maricopa Education, or West-Mec, almost $30 million. Authorities estimate that the cuts affect 20,000 to 25,000 students who will lose a year to explore whether a career- and technical-education track is right for them.

Texas Early childhood education programme sees increase in applications

Many of Midland ISD's early childhood classes won't be complete when classes start for the coming semester, although registration for early childhood programs began in April. The district has received more than 200 applications for the program since Aug. 1 and has been unable to complete processing.

The district did not anticipate so many late enrollments, and although it has been overwhelming. One reason applications May be up is because early childhood classes are being offered on elementary campuses instead of at early childhood centers. In April, the board of trustees voted to close Bunche and West Early Childhood centers to save money and begin the district's reconfiguration process.

Fall in number of Welsh students in UK universities

Education experts called for scrutiny of this year's A-level results as figures revealed the number of Welsh students being accepted into university has fallen. Figures released by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) to the Western Mail showed there were 159 fewer Welsh students accepted into university this year than at the same time last year.

Fears that fewer top grades could lead to more talented students from Wales missing out on higher education were felt with successful applicants down by 1.4%. This was despite the number of applicants rising by 289 to 24,284

"Learning Can not be Confined to Class Rooms" : Dr Nikhil Sinha, Vice Chancellor, Shiv Nadar University

Interviews

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

September 1, 2011

The Shiv Nadar University aims to create a centre of excellence in higher education, which will be at par with premier education institutions across the world. Dr Nikhil Sinha, Founding Vice Chancellor, Shiv Nadar University, in an interaction with Dr Rajeshree Dutta Kumar and Pragya Gupta, shared his perspective on higher education in India. Excerpts:

http://snu.edu.in/

Can you give us details about the genesis of Shiv Nadar University?

From the very beginning, our thought process has been into understanding the kind of education that can ‘deliver’ in 21st century in India. Till 2010, we were focusing on the type of university that we could build. Therefore, we visited the top educational institute of the world, not to duplicate their efforts, but to amalgamate best practices from global universities and to avoid pitfalls.

Our University seeks to be a world-class institute, which would compete on merit with premier institutions of the world. The country needs many such institutes to cater to the large base of graduates and students passing out of school each year. Although India can be justifiably proud of having a robust education infrastructure, it has not uniformly kept in tune with the current Indian and global needs in higher education. Students who join Shiv Nadar University would not be the ones who are trying to win a rat race. We will not be churning out white collared workers for corporate houses. Students who come here will have a quest for knowledge, research and training.

How does the University plan its outreach in the coming years?

We are going to set up a research-led multidisciplinary university in Uttar Pradesh, which will offer courses in engineering, social sciences, natural sciences, schools of business and other professional courses in due time. We will start admissions from this academic session itself and the total intake this year would be around 200-300 students. At the Shiv Nadar foundation, we have already brought social transformation into education.

In addition, we have another emerging project of open school targeting a large number of urban students. We have a number of universities in India at every stretch but most of them do not meet global standards, which is a crucial requirement in today’s higher education scenario. Many institutes have come up in Noida, which offers good education, and where students can hope to be placed in good jobs after their studies. Several institutions like Amity and the India Institute of Planning and Management have now started establishing branches in tier-II cities, thereby providing good faculty and placements, which is helpful in meeting the increasing demand among students for quality education.

Shiv Nadar University treats knowledge in a holistic manner and creates opportunities for different kinds of interface between diverse disciplines. Could you tell us how this will be made effective?

Everybody is talking about interdisciplinary education, but we find that hardly anybody is replicating it in their teaching and learning methods, because in most of the Universities, their faculty is established and you can’t force them in to this practice. There are issues, which we have already seen and we are trying to implement it in our universities. Bringing research in under graduate curriculum is another important focus for us. Early this year, we had two workshops in India with participation from eminent people from academia and industry from all over the world.

According to you, what are the essential pillars in education? What partnerships are there in your agenda?

We think there are three essential pillars in education. First is research focus encompassing all- engineering and humanities subjects. We believe that research should be focused in all frontiers of knowledge. Secondly, academics being multi disciplinary and inter disciplinary is another important element for us. Delhi University is the best example of this. The design of curriculum must be interdisciplinary. We are going to launch our partnership with Mathematical Foundation. It is based on Mathematics in Information Technology.

This reiterates our commitment to transform the way education is delivered in the country. Education should be participatory and engaging and also help ignite young minds by linking it to research and innovation and also to the needs of society. Similarly, nano technology is an essential part of all streams of science and technology. We are going to establish an institute in nano technology. Similarly, in psychology, the same concept is equally significant.

The third pillar is new for India which revolves around the undergraduate programmes but globally it is already implemented. It is based on innovative under graduate programmes. We believe that there is a core set of knowledge, i.e., every student graduating from Shiv Nadar University must have core competency knowledge and it will cover basic concepts of all streams. There is a core common set of knowledge that covers social science, mathematics and other core curriculum.

We feel that 17 and 18 year old students must be given an opportunity to energise and should be allowed to test their ability in different disciplines and they should not be forced into taking up any particular discipline. Another element that they must have are interdisciplinary skills.

How has globalisation affected the scenario of education? Is there any need of interaction with global academia for the students in the changing scenario?

In a globalised world, nobody can afford to ignore global developments. We are building partnerships with the leading universities of the world. In today’s world, learning cannot be confined to the class room teachings, therefore, students should take up internships. They have to go out in the field and interact. It will enable engineering students to dabble in communication studies when they wish to, and Business Management graduates to discover the joys of liberal arts. It’s the sort of eclectic, egalitarian mix which you would find only in educational institutes abroad. The Shiv Nadar University brings those choices, right up to your doorstep.

Finding the right faculty is a big challenge. We are looking for people who want to do things differently

What are the micro and macro challenges in terms of faculty hiring?

Finding the right faculty is a big challenge. We are looking for people who want to do things differently. We have already begun the process of recruiting top class talents for both faculty and administration of the University. Our goal is to recruit exceptional faculty, from India and around the world, by offering them competitive benefits, opportunities and resources for research, option to the best and brightest students to teach and a commitment to academic freedom. Students will have the opportunity to be taught by outstanding faculty, to participate in research and experiential learning programs, to enhance their degree programs with international educational experiences and live and learn in a campus with world class infrastructure and facilities.

Providing End-to-End Education Solutions for K-12 sector : Meena Ganesh, CEO and MD, Pearson Education Services

Interviews

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

September 1, 2011

Meena Ganesh
CEO and MD
Pearson Education Services

Educating 100 million people worldwide, Pearson Education is among the world’s biggest global education companies. In conversation with Meena Ganesh, CEO and MD, Pearson Education Services, Sheena Joseph finds out more about the extensive range of products and services being offered by Pearson and the latest trends in the education sector

Pearson Education Services has three main players including: Pearson, Tutor Vista and Edurite. Could you give us a brief background of the company?

Pearson Education Services is part of Pearson, a global education, media and publishing group, represented by market-leading businesses such as the Pearson Education, Financial Times and Penguin. Pearson is the world’s leading education company that helps educate more than 100 million people worldwide – more than any other private enterprise. Pearson Education Services (PES) provides end-to-end education solutions in the K-12 segment, with a focus on technological innovations. Being a part of Pearson, PES aims to seamlessly combine content and technology and offer customised solutions of international standards to audiences not just in India but worldwide.

TutorVista is a leading global online tutoring company set up with the aim of making education accessible and affordable to the masses. In a short time, it has grown to over 20,000 students in 27 countries, mostly in the US. In India, it offers a wide range of solutions and services in the K-12 segment, including ICT solutions for schools and colleges, e-content for supplemental education, learning centres for test preparation and vocational trainingall through the Edurite brand, and school management services.
What are the diverse range ofsolutions being offered by Pearson in the school education sector?
Pearson Education Services (PES) provides end-to-end education solutions in the K-12 segment, with a focus on technological innovations. Being a part of Pearson, PES aims to
seamlessly combine content and technologyand offer customised solutions of international
standards to audiences not just in India but worldwide. PES’s current market offerings include: School management services, by way of which they manage, operate and build high
quality schools across the country that leverage Pearson’s global knowledge and expertise
in the school space; on-line tutoring, that offers quality online tuitions to students across the world at very affordable prices; ICT solutions known as DigiClass, for both schools and higher education institutions by employing the DigitALly application; technology aided coaching classes and test preparation services for various Entrance (CET, AIEEE, IITJEE, AIPMT) and School/Board exams (State, CBSE, ICSE).
Could you elaborate on the EduriteONE, VSAT based Engineering and Medical Prep Programme, recently launched by Pearson?
The EduriteONE, VSAT based programme is an initiative of Pearson Education Services. This is a two-way audio/video interaction that uses the latest technology to enable remote live classrooms, and incorporates comprehensive study materials with the aim of maximising students’ performance in State and ational level entrance examinations. The live sessions are beamed from studios in Bangalore and other major cities which are equipped with the latest audio-video equipment for high quality video broadcast. The VSAT infrastructure, set up in various school premises at various locations, receives the signal and broadcasts it in classrooms in real time. Thus, it allows the students to receive answers to their queries from the subject matter experts immediately. An academic coordinator is also present in case the students have any doubtsThis programme breaks the barriers of location and affordability, making available world-class entrance exam coaching to students across all areas in the country.
Pearson Education Services has partnered with Government schools in Rajasthan forprovision of ICTs in education. What aret he other ventures of Pearson in the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode?
School education is the biggest thrust area identified by the Ministry f Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India and with Right to Education (RTE) becoming a fundamental right. We are also contributing our bit in this by engaging with the government in addressing school education needs. We provide end to end solutions in the school education space by deploying state of the art educational content and associated services. The domains that we are focusing within this space are primarily ICT Projects, SSA (Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan) Projects, RMSA (Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyaan) Projects, multimedia educational content deployment and teachers’ training projects in governmentschools. We have closely worked with the Government of Karnataka in the prestigious Mahiti Sindhu Project where in we provided our services in 1238 government schools and have also engaged with the Government of Punjab and Sikkim in school intervention programmes with educational content deployment & investigative studies in order to improve enrollments in government schools. We are presently executing ICT BOOT project in 450 secondary schools and Computer Aided Learning Project (CALP) under SSA (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan) in 1672 schools spread across 22 districts in the state of Rajasthan. Pearson Education Services has provided education solutions to well known corporate houses as well. We have successfully implemented their CSR initiatives in the Education space especially in rural India and have, through these projects, impacted over 12000 schools and over 1 million students. Yes, PPP is important in the current educational context because while the government has access, the private players can add a lot of value through their expertise and infrastructure.

What are your views on the extent of ICT integration on schools across India. Do you think that the government of India gives adequate importance to ICTs in Education?
The K-12 sector is exhibiting a lot of promise andis expanding at a very good rate. Thus, this is the right time to invest. However, the rate of ICT integration across India is still a little slow and what we need right now is a combined effort along with the government.An intervention from the government, in terms of setting up government assisted schools would go a long way in reaching out to potential students through ICT in classrooms. Perhaps the 40% dependency on private institutions would also decrease, making way for the emergence of revered and respected government institutions.

How important is faculty training in the use of ICTs? Do you think that teachers’ in India re adequately trained in the use of ICTs?
Faculty training is most important in the use of ICTs because these tools have been made to assist the teachers in the classrooms and not replace them. It is essential for them to be well versed in its use to ensure that the students benefit the most from it. Pearson Education Services provides complete training to teachers through the Teacher Training and Certification programme. With the objective of maximising benefits of the DigiClass solution to the school, we provide a comprehensive teacher training, assessment and certification programme, which leverages Pearson’s global education standards and techniques. Teachers can take the assessment exams online as well through the link that is provided. All those who complete the programme successfully are awarded with a Pearson certificate.

Does Pearson also provide services to theHigher Education sector? If so, could you elaborate further on this?
Yes, Pearson Education Services does provide services to the Higher Education sector through our product DigiClass Pro. Right now, we are present in the Engineering field with plans to expand to Medical soon. Over 50 Engineering colleges are currently using this solution. DigiClass Pro is a multimedia enabled teaching tool that empowers Lecturers / Professors to teach Subjects with multiple interactive aids, which in turn engages the students and creates interest thereby improving their understanding and retention which results in improved results. It is complete with omprehensive training to Lecturers/Professors on using ICT Tools and support services to guide the college in the introduction of ICT and adaptation of newer ways of Classroom teaching and learning.
With skills development being undertaken by the India government on mission mode, does Pearson have any plans of entering the skill development sector?
Yes, Pearson Education Services is already actively contributing to the skill development sector by way of our Teacher Training and Certification Programme. While we are currently working with teachers who are part of schools that use our multimedia based ICT solution DigiClass, there are plans of furthering this initiative to a bigger scale, where we will extend this training to all teachers pan India. While this will benefit the teachers, empowering
them to make concepts clearer and more memorable to students, the end benefit will be reaped by students.

"Techonlogy can and will always supplement, a teacher" : Dr K Ramnarayan, Vice-Chancellor, Manipal University

Interviews

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

September 1, 2011

Dr K Ramnarayan took charge as the fifth Vice-Chancellor of Manipal University last year. He has been with the Manipal Group for over three decades in different academic and leadership positions.In conversation with Pragya Gupta, he shares his views on higher education scenario in India

How do you see higher education evolving in India with respect to the global scenario?

The evolution of higher education occurs in three stages: informative learning (to prepare experts), formative learning (socialising the learners) and transformative learning (to provide professionals and change agents). The Indian education sector should be able to generate more avenues for transformative learning. There is an increased awareness about the globalisation of education and world class universities. The need to adopt the right systems, policies, ideals and methods to attract international faculty and students has led Indian universities to introspect about incorporating newer initiatives in higher education.

According to you, what role does ICT play in universalising education?

At present, the gulf between technology and basic educational system is really large. Given the limited resources available in the educational systems in the developing world, newer technology options could offer a paradigm shift in educational efficiencies. It is essential that better teacher training is offered on the use of ICT in the classroom. Universities and research institutions, providing dedicated high speed networks that enable access to online resources for students and teachers is usually available now. We need to build on this foundation.

Kindly mark your initiatives in education and for the university?

Teachers are the primary agents of good formal education, providing motivation through inspiration, encouragement and challenge. We plan to pay more attention to the process of encouraging, training, and mentoring teachers. To achieve this, Manipal University has set up the Manipal Centre for Professional & Personal Development (MCPD).This centre has a vision and commitment to empower the academic faculty, students and non-academic faculty of all institutions of MU. It conducts programs designed for enhancing academic skills, nurturing professional growth and imparting team building and leadership skills.

Manipal University provides each student with a laptop and has wi-fi enabled campuses.

What are the key challenges in front of higher education?

Higher Education enrolments in India have been growing steadily and there are expected to be 40 million students by 2020. India has a demographic dividend (70 percent below the age of 35 years), which means we have a very large number of youngsters actively seeking higher education in the coming years. Capacity utilisation is a key concern, the shortage of faculty (we need about 45,000 PhDs and an equal number of M. Phils.) and poor infrastructure are also challenges that need to be tackled.

As more and more universities make fully online degree programs available, the way students access higher education has changed significantly. We need to address issues about the manner in which online education has impacted and changed student learning.

Please add your suggestions?

Technology can be created fast, cheaply and constantly, but it cannot be a remedy for all the ills of the education system. The difficulty of creating a good teacher especially in developing countries has relation to various social problems. We need to invest both in teachers, and technology to take higher education forward.

Having been a teacher for almost four decades, I passionately believe that teaching is caring, being creative and ultimately about nurturing students. ICT can help by making things easier for them. Techology can and will always supplement, not supplant, a teacher. A great teacher inspires first, influences next and third and only third, informs. Technology can help teachers teach more, reach more, touch more but can never totally replace the living, loving teacher.

Dr K Ramnarayan,Vice-Chancellor,Manipal University

Prior to his appointment as Vice Chancellor, he had a brief stint as the Pro Vice Chancellor before which he was the Dean of the Melaka Manipal Medical College (Manipal Campus).
Dr K Ramnarayan joined Kasturba Medical College, Manipal in 1977 after completing his MBBS from Stanley Medical College, Chennai. After acquiring an MD in Pathology, he continued in the service of KMC, Manipal in different faculty designations from Lecturer to Professor of Pathology. Additionally, he was Dean of Student Affairs and Associate Dean (Curriculum) in Kasturba Medical College, Manipal. In 1994, he moved to the International Centre for Health Sciences, Manipal, as Associate Dean, to provide academic leadership for the MBBS Twinning Program with the University of the West Indies. Meanwhile, he became the first Dean of the unique Melaka Manipal MBBS twin campus program with Malaysia. As the first Dean of Melaka Manipal Medical College (Manipal Campus), he spearheaded the curricular reforms and under his leadership in the Manipal Campus, this program went through three successful accreditations, culminating in the most recent, creditable five year accreditation.
Dr Ramnarayan was one of the early recipients of the ECFMG Foreign Faculty Fellowship in Basic Sciences, which initiated him into medical education in the US. He was subsequently awarded the Short Term Exchange Fellowship in academic leadership by the Foundation for the Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER), USA.
He has conducted over 300 faculty development workshops, nationally and internationally, for health professionals, over the past 25 years. He also has a Post Graduate Diploma in Higher Education from the IGNOU.

IGNOU to start UID enrolment for students and residents

News

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

September 1, 2011

As a part of Unique Identification Authority of India's (UIDAI's) association with the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), all students, alumni and residents would be invited to get enrolled for Aadhaar. The process of enrolment would tentatively begin in the month of September this year,” said Prof V N Rajasekharan Pillai, VC, IGNOU, while finalising the preparations along with all the regional directors of the university in a meeting.

IGNOU plans to link the UID number (Aadhaar) scheme to its student universe after creating a centralized database where all the students' information would be collated hence, simplifying to make the student identification process and service delivery more efficient. The University for this purpose has appointed Ernst & Young (EY) as the program management consultant where IGNOU will act as a registrar.

The role of the regional centers of IGNOU is to ensure that all the students and alumni are informed about the enrolment schedule. The regional centers will also provide dedicated space for setting up the enrolment centers within their premises, facilitate the set-up of enrolment centers by the selected enrolment agency, participate in the presentation of a work plan for enrolment by the EA and ensure that general residents (outside the IGNOU's student group) who walk in for enrolment are offered the enrolment facilities.

With the implementation of Aadhaar, IGNOU will be able to authenticate student and his/her records which can help reduce frauds and duplication through improved verification process. Aadhaar can be very effectively used for macro level integration of IGNOU's student information with other universities, national skill repositories, etc. It offers the potential for improvement in the internal process of the university throughout the student life cycle. For example, it can be used for identification of target population to offer new courses by IGNOU related to skill development, etc.

IGNOU will select a third party Enrolment Agency (EA) through a tendering process. UIDAI has empanelled agencies to help the registrars to carry out the enrollment. The university will provide space with normal electricity connection for enrolment centers at the respective locations. However, all the infrastructure requirements would be the responsibility of EA.

The publicity of the enrolment activities will be done by the university while the EA will conduct enrolment of students and other residents at these centers and will also set-up mobile camp stations at specific locations (study centers) for the students.

For residents, the enrolment procedure will begin with the residents visiting the enrolment center at locations provisioned by IGNOU. The EA on-boarded by IGNOU will capture the resident details and will transfer the data to UIDAI. The authority will then generate or reject Aadhaar and communicate the development in this regard back to the residents.

IGNOU implements ERP

News

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

September 1, 2011

The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) became the first central university in the country to integrate all its business process in back office automation by implementing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) successfully at its headquarters in New Delhi, said Pro Vice Chancellor, IGNOU, Dr. Latha Pillai.

To recognize the efforts put in extensively by the staff members of the university, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. V. N. Rajasekharan Pillai, felicitated the Directors of Schools, Finance Officer, Head of Computer Division and Registrar (Admin) by distributing certificates of recognition.

The awardees were selected through an Award Committee. The selection was done based on some parameters decided by the committee. Based on those parameters, 30 IGNOU users, five Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) consultants and 12 Schools/Division/Sections were selected for the recognition for their significant contribution.

The ERP

LATEST NEWS

Top Trending News

Top Trending Categories