Britannica Digital Learning, a leading educational publisher, has published hundreds of new, highly illustrated non-fiction e-book titles for K12 schools, universities, and public libraries. All of these e-books are accessible from Britannica's new easy-to-use e-book portal, www.ebooks.eb.com, designed specifically for the institutions served. Britannica's new e-book site already offers access to hundreds of circulating titles and they will be working to release more than 100 new e-book titles every year, ensuring an expanding selection of high-quality resources. Britannica Digital Learning (BDL) experts produce curriculum-correlated products for all ages from preschool to college that make creative of use of classroom technologies — such as interactive whiteboards and student-response devices — making it easier for teachers to teach and for students to learn. The new Britannica e-book platform was developed in cooperation with Impelsys, a global leader in providing electronic content delivery solutions, with the use of the iPublishCentral software that is used by publishers and professional associations worldwide. IPublishCentral is a full-service electronic publishing solution that allows publishers to market their content as e-books, online journals and other electronic products. The platform gives publishers all the tools they need to manage and monetize their digital assets without making significant development investments on their own.
K-12 next on agenda for Microsoft after college scholarships
After making a $25 million donation to a Washington state scholarship program this week, Microsoft said K-12 education is next on the agenda. Brad Smith, Microsoft's chief legal counsel and the head of Washington state policy issues for the company, sat down to talk about public policy, a day after announcing that Microsoft would donate the money to launch a state-wide endowment for college scholarships. Boeing also stepped forward with $25 million. The donations came as the state gave universities the power to raise tuition rates, which financial aid may not keep pace with. Smith said dialogue around K-12 reminds him of the conversations on higher education. “It is reminiscent of the conversation the governor had last June to have a task force on higher education. It was a year ago to the day that the prevailing notion was nothing could get done in higher education” in Olympia, he said. Microsoft's money will become part of an endowment for college scholarships. Smith said he has and will personally make calls to get more corporations and individual donors to contribute. He said the big goal is to raise a $1 billion endowment. Smith said Microsoft decided it needed to step up as a leader on state policy issues after Boeing moved its corporate headquarter to Chicago.
YGen launches undergraduate and postgraduate programs of Gulbarga University
YGen Management Consulting has announced the launch of undergraduate and post graduate degree/diploma/certificate programs of Gulbarga University in the outreach mode across India. One of the key features of these “Outreach” programs is that it ensures students are provided with an opportunity to study for specialised courses in full time mode at academic institutions approved by the Gulbarga University. It is important to note here that certain technical courses like MBA, MCA pre vetted by various regulatory bodies when offered under this scheme.
Gulbarga University can conduct courses through external mode of instruction within India and abroad as per Section 5, Section 29(2)(t), Section 40(1) and Section 66 of the KSU Act 2000 and as per the Statute of the University. The mode of instruction will be full time and the nature of the degree will be in regular mode as per the Statute and the approval of Syndicate of the University. Students successfully completing the program shall be awarded degree/diploma/certificate as the case may be and will also be eligible for any higher studies as well as State and Central services as per norms.
The students enrolled through approved 'Authorised Partner Institution' as per Statute of the University will undergo their courses in full time or as the case may be subjected to fulfilment of credit hours prescribed by University and will be granted a degree certificate at par with regular students of Gulbarga University. YGen is in the process of identifying Outreach Partner Institutions in India and abroad for the current academic year. So far over 25 institutions of National repute have signed up with University, identified by YGen and will be rolling out over 5000 students.
According to Dipankar Choudhury, CEO and Managing Director, YGen, “We are glad that YGen is the official exclusive partner of Gulbarga University for providing and promoting its Outreach Programs in India and beyond. YGen currently manages more than 80 management institutions and over 200 Career Development Centres in more than 18 states and 73 cities of India. The Outreach programs will definitely provide access to millions of students who are deprived of Quality Regular University degrees due to capacity constraints in Colleges in India and thereby contributing to the GER (Gross Enrolment Ratio) and Employable Talent Pool for the Global Market. YGen have undertaken various initiatives with Industry bodies and Institutions of repute to roll out programs to produce employable talent for the Domestic and Global market.
IE Concepts unveil low cost multiple multimedia classrooms
Today, schools are opting for the Multimedia Classrooms so as to introduce animated and interactive content in classrooms for various subjects and make teaching more innovative. But the question remains, how many technology companies provide this solution to schools where the schools can have the ownership of the complete setup and have the freedom to choose any content and have the liberty to download free online content which is out there in plenty. With this approach Innovative Education Concepts (IE concepts) launches low cost multiple multimedia classrooms with very purpose of playing content in classrooms is to help the student get better understanding of certain topics and develop an interest in the subject. Teachers can explore the subject in depth and enhance their methods of teaching with this tool.
IE concept low cost classroom tools include:
EduPC: This is a low cost computing solution which replaces the regular computer in every classroom and uses virtualization technology to access the main computer contents located in the school. Thus reducing the total investment by 40% and also reducing the operational cost, as there is no hardware upgrades or maintenance that has to be done in the future on the EduPC devices.
Display Unit: The interactive boards are an expensive option when compared to the use of LCD TV or Projectors which can make any wall or regular white board, a display screen and the use of the conventional board can continue to be there. Thus we are introducing technology in classroom and not replacing the teacher who plays a vital role in teaching and interacting with children.
K-12 Content: Our High Definition K12 Content for CBSE has been developed keeping in view the ancient Indian education system which is classified into three stages in order for a complete comprehension of the knowledge gained.
SRAVANA: the stage where the teacher delivers an oral teaching (shrutis) to the student.
MANANA: this stage, the student has to think for one's self about what they have heard, have to make their own inferences and assimilate the lesson taught by their teacher into day to day life.
NIDHYASANA: means a complete comprehension of truth an its use in life. The pupil would gain enough knowledge to start implementing it.
IE Classroom is digital classroom software, equipped with multimedia videos (no audio) of the course curriculum. The videos are embedded into our software, which has a very simple user interface, helping the teacher in finding the required video within seconds. Each and every video is embedded with subtitles, so that the teacher can maintain pace with the video without using the black board and the student can also use the subtitles as reference.
IE concept does not provide any voice over for the video because it has been proven by research that teachers tend to lose their teaching skills and there is a reduction in the concentration of the student because the machine would be doing the teachers job. Therefore by disabling the voice we expect to achieve a higher involvement of teacher during the subject delivery and towards the lecture.
Setup cost for multiple multimedia classrooms starts from Rs.50,0000(for 10 Classrooms) onwards.
Kapil Sibal explores idea of Meta
The Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Shri Kapil Sibal discussed with his German counterpart, a consortia approach of twinning between universities of the two countries where two to three Indian Universities could partner with two to three German Universities for conducing degree level courses. The Minister was speaking on the occasion of his meeting with the German Federal Minister of Education and Research, Dr. Annettee Schavan in New Delhi.
The Minister said that setting up of such Meta
LG launches new monitors
LG Electronics India Pvt. Ltd. (LGEIL) has broadened its portfolio in the IT segment with the introduction of 3D Cinema Monitor, its slimmest LED Monitors and IPS Monitor.
Anticipating future business trends, LG uses innovative technologies to provide integrated, customized, and cost-efficient solutions that fit the requirements of all its partners and customers. Already a leader in the monitor market, these new age products will surely further strengthen LG's market share..
Introducing new technologies and innovative concepts have been the benchmark of LG Electronics and keeping up with the same, the brand once again brings the best in technology products in India
Nissan launches
Nissan Motor India Pvt. Ltd. (NMIPL) announced the 'Nissan Student Brand Manager' (NSBM) Program 2011, an initiative to promote its brand in India.
In the second year of the initiative, this program will invite applications from 150 colleges spanning across 15 cities in India. The company aims to target 1,200 entries for appointing 20 NSBM's and the tenure of the program will be for a period of a six months starting from July to December 2011.
The 20-selected Student Brand Managers will play a key role in bringing brand Nissan closer to both – the student community and the public in general through innovative marketing initiatives. After undergoing training, the students will work closely with company officials on a variety of initiatives.
Besides an array of key initiatives, it will include creating unique events to create buzz about brand Nissan among the student community. Some of the short-listed colleges for selecting students include K.J. Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research, S.P. Jain MIR- Mumbai, IIFT – Delhi, University Business School – Chandigarh, IIM – Kolkata, IIM – Ahmedabad, Loyola Institute of Business Administration- Chennai, Department of Business Studies, Christ University – Bangalore amongst others.
Addressing students of K.J. Somaiya, Dinesh Jain, CEO, Hover Automotive India (HAI) said, “The Brand Manager program presents a unique challenge to the students to create a niche for them and raise the standards of excellence for their future. The idea of this program is to channelize the creative minds of the youth in the best possible manner. It also presents them an opportunity to learn various real life tasks with some of the best minds of our own. Going by the response to the program last year, we are expecting the feedback to be even better this year.”
The Nissan Student Brand Manager is an honorary position with the company and does not guarantee employment with Nissan. During their tenure, each student brand manager will get INR 30,000 as stipend and INR 20,000 as marketing budget to implement their initiatives for the full program. Apart from that each NSBM will be trained by the Nissan Corporate trainer and get a NSBM Kit, which equips them to conduct their initiatives in a professional manner.
Also each NSBM can get a “Nissan Micra” based on their requirements which further help them to understand marketing activities of an automobile brand.
IGNOU to conduct academic programmes with FSSAI
The Indira Gandhi National Open University's (IGNOU's) Centre for Corporate Education Training & Consultancy (CCETC) and School Of Agriculture (SOA) has signed a Memorandum Of Understanding (MoU) with Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to develop training module on food safety and hygiene for housewives in their pursuit to learning and acquiring certain skills in respect of food safety.
The MoU was signed by the Registrar of IGNOU, U.S. Tolia and the Director of FSSAI, Asim Choudhary.
According to the MoU, IGNOU shall develop training module on food safety for housewives/ young girls by constituting a group to develop training module which will have book form with questions and self assessment format. A separate CD shall also be developed containing the study materials and questions for use by the students along with an online platform for easy access to reading material.
AMU Develops New method for detection of multi-drug resistant NDM-Super bug
Interdisciplinary Biotechnology Lab at Aligarh Muslim University has developed easy method for the detection of multi-drug resistant NDM-Super bug, said,Dr. Asad Ullah Khan, Associate Professor, Interdisciplinary Biotechnology Unit, AMU.
Dr. Khan said that the major cause of developing drug resistance against different classes of antibiotics is widespread antibiotic usage which may provide a selective force for antibiotic resistant bacteria. Recently, clinical isolates from different sites have been screened for the presence of NDM-1 in the laboratory. Dr. Khan's group has already identified NDM-1 by PCR based detection method in many clinical isolates of different sites and he has established easy detection method in his laboratory. The work on NDM-1 and its other 3 variants has already been started in Dr Khan's laboratory. Dr. Khan has already sequenced the gene and working on the genetics of this gene.
He said that the emergence of NDM-1 in India heralded a new era of multi drug resistance. The NDM-1 carrying bugs are resistant against all antibiotics apart from tigecyclin and colistin and therefore it is difficult to fight with infection caused by NDM-superbug.
According to Dr Khan NDM-1 was first identified in December 2009 in New Delhi, India. New Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamase, commonly known as “NDM-1”, is a gene that makes bacteria resistant to beta-lactam antibiotics. Beta-lactam antibiotics are utilized to treat antibiotic resistant bacteria. Bacteria that are resistant to drug treatment are referred to as “Superbugs”. Superbugs may create dangerous infections which are nearly impossible to treat, and resistant to antibiotics. The antibiotic resistance of the NDM1 gene may exponentially accelerate the spread of bacteria that carry it through humans. NDM1 has been detected in bacteria in India, Pakistan, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Currently, NDM1 has been hosted by E.coli bacterium and Klebsiella pneumonia.
DU likely to lack room for OBC Quota
Delhi University will have nearly 5,000 more seats for the OBC students in the new session starting July. But the colleges are hardly ready to take the extra load. The expansion plans are ready, but only on paper. Colleges say the construction of more classrooms and laboratories cannot start before getting approval from various agencies which is unlikely to happen before the freshers come in. The number of applications from OBC students had been dismal last year. However, if sufficient number of OBC students turn up in the second phase of reservation this year, DU V-C Deepak Pental agreed that the infrastructure in the colleges would fall short. 'The grants have been sanctioned, but the maps are not getting cleared. The regulatory authorities are taking long to complete the process. (When the new batch starts) the infrastructure won't be sufficient, it never was,' said Pental. The university had released INR 4-6 crore to individual colleges late last year to augment their infrastructure. He added that new teachers will also have to be appointed, but the process of recruitment is still to take off. 'We will hire teachers as we go along and till then, we will manage with the current strength,' Pental said. With this, the new students might have to sit in cramped classrooms, teachers may have to hold lectures of the same batch by turns, laboratory equipment may have to be shared and the non-teaching staff would have to be asked to work on Saturdays.
Meera Ramachandran, principal, Gargi College, agreed, 'Our college building is protected by ASI. Once they give a clearance to our plan, we will approach the DDA. The government should cut the red-tape so that expansion can start.' She added that besides the classrooms and laboratories, the college has to make its campus disabled-friendly, install lifts and widen the roads. In addition she said, 'We will need extra electricity so we have to make a sub-station also. All this won't be ready by the start of the next session. The class strength will be larger and there will be tremendous pressure on the staff.' Bhim Sen, principal, Kirorimal College, says his college will also have to wait for MCD's clearance before expansion work gets off the ground. 'We have applied for the clearance to build more rooms. But it may take at least two to three more months,' said Sen. However, Hans Raj College and Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) are among a few colleges that have already renovated their buildings. P C Jain, principal, SRCC, said, 'We are ready to accommodate more number of students this year. Getting the infrastructure ready depends on how seriously one takes up the matter with the agencies.' The college had received a grant of INR 4.46 crore besides the contribution from its alumni.
