First list witnesses mixed bag reactions in nursery admission

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February 2, 2011

The first lists for nursery admissions to most of the capital's private schools were out on Tuesday and while some parents were overjoyed at their child making it, others were disappointed. “We had applied to eight different schools in central and south Delhi. It was good to see our child qualifying for admission to three of them,” said Meenakshi Kathuria, who is seeking admission for her four-year-old son. “We thank the neighborhood point-concept for all the three schools where he got selected,” added Kathuria, a resident of Rajinder Nagar. According to the point system this year, students were selected on the basis of points scored by them and their parents. Parameters decided by the school included proximity of their home to the school, siblings studying in the institution, single parents, and girl child, among others. “We have tried to be just and fair in our admission procedure. The point system was balanced and very much in accordance with the directorate of education (DoE) guidelines,” Vandana Puri, principal of Salwan Public School in central Delhi's Rajinder Nagar, told the sources. But some parents were disheartened. “Our child's name was not there in the DPS (Delhi Public School) Vasant Kunj list. We are hoping for some more schools to come up with their list where we can secure a place,” said Ashima Grover, mother of four-year-old Saurabh. Chirag Goyal was among those whose child got admission but not in the school that was their first choice. “Our child figured in Bal Bharati's list but we wanted her to get admission in Springdales school at Pusa Road where her elder brother also studies,” said Goyal, father of three-year-old Nitya and resident of Gole Market. “We will wait for the second list to see if our child makes it to the school of our choice,” he added. Most parents have applied to over 25 schools to be on the safe side. The schools now move ahead with the admission procedure where parents would be completing formalities like the child's details and depositing the fees.

RTE to follow Gandhian policy

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digitalLEARNING Network

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February 2, 2011

The Right to Education Act which promises free and compulsory education to children between the age of six and 14, is in tune with the Gandhian philosophy, speakers at a conference on Child Rights from the Gandhian Perspective said on Monday. Organized by the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) in association with the NGO Aashiana, the conference was held to mark the martyrdom day of Mahatma Gandhi which was on January 30. Oscar Fernandes, MP and chairman of the parliament's standing committee on the human resource development ministry, said, “One of the core ideas of Mahatma Gandhi was that every child should get education, therefore the Right to Education is based on his philosophy”. “Gandhi had said that if a child gets education then he or she will have the access to anything in life,” he added. Reiterating the point, Amod Kanth, chairperson of DCPCR quoted various examples when Gandhi interacted with children and listened to their views on different issues.

Corporate News: February 2011

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February 1, 2011

Microsoft Shares Cloud Technology with Top Australian Research Organisations

Microsoft Corp has announced new partnerships with three of Australia's top research organizations as part of the company's Global Cloud Research Engagement Initiative launched earlier this year. Representatives from National ICT Australia (NICTA), The Australian National University (ANU), and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) attended a launch event today in Sydney to show their years of free access to Microsoft's Windows Azure cloud computing platform, as well as access to technical support and support for the program that will provide scientific researchers across the continent with access to advanced client plus cloud computing resources and technical support. Each grant will provide researchers supported by these organisations with three client tools being developed by Microsoft. This will enable researchers to easily access the power of the cloud from their desktops. The supported projects will explore an array of topics, including the analysis of online social networks, a cloud-based geophysical imaging platform, computational chemistry and other e-science applications.

Accenture & Godrej jointly wins AIMA's 11th National Management Quiz Competition 2010

The independent two member team of Rohan Khanna from Accenture and Kumar Vaibhav from Godrej has won the Grand Finale of 11th National Management Quiz (NMQ) Competition 2010 organised by All India Management Association (AIMA) recently at the IILM campus of Lodhi Road. The champion team received cash prize of INR 1 Lac, along with the winner's trophy and gift hampers. The first runners-up team from Rourkela Steel Plant – Debajit Rabha and Ravi Banjare wrapped up cash prize of INR 75, 000 and the second runners-up team of Abhijit Bhattacharya and TanMay Prusty from ITC Ltd. were awarded cash prize of Rs. 50,000 along with trophies and gift hampers.

Kidzee launches its Micro site with a customised design

Kidzee, a noble endeavour of Zee Learn, has revolutionised the preschool segment of Indian education industry. Within almost a decade of its existence, Kidzee has nurtured more than 1,00,000 children throughout India. Being a pioneer and a leader in ECCE (Early Childhood Care & Education), it has set unparalleled standards in the CDE

(Child Development & Education) space. With over 750 centres in more than 315 cities, Kidzee is the largest preschool chain in Asia. Kidzee operates through a dedicated network of business partners throughout India. It strives to set standard of excellence when it comes to customer service. Achieving customer and consumer delight is the prime objective which Kidzee is trying to reach through its continuous initiatives. There was a need to provide a consistent look and feel of all Kidzees across India in online space. Through its Partner Connect Program, Kidzee is proud to launch Kidzee Microsite for all its business partners. Along with the new Kidzee website, Kidzee is launching the Kidzee Micro-site in each of the four zones. This micro-site will enable each and every Kidzee to customize its information and details.

HP collaborated with MITA, University of Malta and MCAST

HP, the Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA), the University of Malta, and the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) have collaborated with one another by signing a Memoranda of Understanding to come-up with two educational centres in Malta within 2011. The objective of this partnership is to facilitate students studying ICT with access to the latest information technologies and knowledge databases. University of Malta has been selected to join the 'HP International Institute of Technology' (HP IIT) programme. Within the framework of the HP IIT programme, the University will be provided with the newest HP technologies (both hardware and software) for the creation of a new research and education centre.

Monitoring Mid-day Meal Scheme through Cloud Telephony

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February 1, 2011

Amod Kumar, an Indian Administrative Services officer of the 1995 batch, belongs to UP Cadre. He has held several positions at UP government, including Special Secretary, Basic Education & Director Mid-day-Meal, Special Secretary, Revenue, Special Secretary, I.T. (Information Technology). On a few years leave, currently, he is working on the capacity of Project Director, Maternal and Newborn Health Project -Manthan Project-IntraHealth. Pratap Vikram Singh finds out details of the project.

Can you throw light on the ICT systems deployed for monitoring of mid-day meal scheme in UP, while your association with the state Mid-Day Meal Authority?

During my association with the mid-day meal authority, we developed a system to monitor the mid day meal scheme with the help of cloud telephony. For its monitoring in all the 1.5 lakh schools in the state of Uttar Pradesh, the department gives IVRS calls to all the teachers through which the teachers are asked for the number of students who took meals on that particular day. Almost1800 calls are made parallely. By evening the dept gets data for all the schools.

Initially, the teachers are informed that the call is being made on behalf of the mid-day meal authority. It asks the teacher to punch in the number of students who were served the meal that day. If the teacher punches in zero, he is given four reasons and told to punch in the appropriate number. The reasons are: 1.Cook was absent; 2. Non availability of raw material for cooking; 3. Transportation problems; and 4. Other reason. The responses are simultaneously recorded on the website of the mid-day meal authority.

The BSAs can go to website, choose respective blocks/district and check the daily meal reports. All this is done in Hindi language. Now, the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development is deliberating on scaling up the monitoring project across all states and UTs.

Could you please elaborate on the work being done in the health sector in the state of Uttar Pradesh by IntraHealth?

Manthan Project is a $4 million initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It aims to improve the health of mothers and newborns in northern India. Among other Indian states, Uttar Pradesh has the highest percentage of maternal and neonatal deaths in India. With a duration of four-years, this project will work with the Uttar Pradesh state government to identify proven, effective mother and neonatal health (MNH) interventions, advocate at district, state, and national levels to promote the adoption and scale-up of these interventions, and expand health care services to more mothers and newborns.

We see ICT as a vital tool for efficient delivery of health care services. Although leveraging ICT is still at a conceptual stage, we would be using ICT in three

TRS: delivering innovative technology Solutions

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February 1, 2011

TRS recently announced the introduction of two of their highly advanced solutions for the first time in India that would address vital issues of subjective exam valuation and difficulties in the assessment process extensively prevalent in the education sector

Established in 1999, TRS Forms and Services Pvt. Ltd stands today as the pioneer in delivering leading edge technology solutions in the educational sector, enhancing customer competitiveness by balancing year-long expertise with innovation. Over the years of expansion and growth that TRS has been through, it has crossed countless milestones and paved many record breaking examples for itself. In the last 20 years, TRS has been the leader of most of the technology solutions in examination process which are in use all over India today. The first company to introduce barcode system for dummy numbering and 2D barcodes as the ultimate security feature for universities way back in early 90s, it also holds patent in designing and developing FireEye scanner that could for the first time combine numbering, scanning and data capture in a single pass.
As an integrated solution specialist, the company has a strong resident IP with a completely indigenously developed multifarious product portfolio consisting of products ranging from creation of OMR, ICR, OCR used image processing systems to provision of exclusive biometric security feature enabled systems for university certificates in the form of 2D Barcodes. Providing end to end solutions for any objective exam type or providing complete range of services from subjective examinations data processing up to result preparation, TRS specialises in all.

Proving its expertise with innovative and advanced technological development, TRS recently announced the introduction of two of their highly advanced solutions for the first time in India that would address vital issues of subjective exam valuation and difficulties in the assessment process extensively prevalent in the education sector. These solutions have been developed post extensive research and keeping in mind the systems followed in the education sector in India. In institutions abroad, the process of imparting education and procurement of degree/ certificate differs from that of India. Indian educational system requires the adaptation of advanced technology available in the market for easing out certain drawbacks present otherwise.

Talking about the solution that caters to the issues of answer sheet valuation, Mr. N, Subramanian, Founder, TRS Forms and Services Pvt. Ltd. said that every year the volume of students appearing for exams is swelling and 20 per cent of them ask for re-evaluation. TRS' 'e-Valuator' is cost effective and helps in easing this process. It saves time for the institutions in completing their process of evaluation and re-valuation with declaring results faster. This is web-based online evaluation software in which scanning, indexing and evaluation modules are integrated together that helps to correct subjective-type answer sheets with acute precision.

TRS implemented e-Numbering system in Bangalore University for the examination process. In Bangalore University, TRS has done e-Numbering system for around 20 lakhs answer sheets. This helps in establishing great level of confidentiality and transparency in the process, including answer book digitization, which helps in automatic archiving of the booklets, option of sending a copy of the answer booklet to the students through email for high-level transparency and automatic suppression of student identity for high-level of confidentiality.

Talking of the subsequent solution, Mr. R. Ramkumar, Strategic Partner, TRS Forms & Services Pvt. Ltd. said that 'e -Assess' is an innovative and interactive solution for test creation and assessment. It is a useful tool for online testing for both objective and subjective with a user-friendly and unique platform to the individuals and institutions for creating, publishing and evaluating examinations, both online and offline using state-of-the-art advanced interactive software. Daily, weekly assignments and projects can be sent out to students and the later post logging in through a unique user id can take the test and submit the answers online. Security features available to detect and prevent any unethical means of taking the test. Collection, Display and Management of test results are all integrated here. There are immense issues waiting to be addressed. Solutions have been developed as well. The change will be for the betterment of the system and for the future of our country.

TutorVista Acquired by Pearson for Rs 577 Crore

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February 1, 2011

By Sheena Joseph

“India, China and Brazil are the focus now. We are spending hundreds of millions of dollars in these markets.”

John Makinson
Chairman, Pearson

As a part of a crucial business agreement of about Rs 577 crore, Pearson, the leader in the worldwide publishing industry and the owner of the Financial Times newspaper has acquired Tutor Vista, the leading online tutoring company. With this, Pearson has gained control of over 76% stake in TutorVista. The deal has been touted as the biggest business deal in the history of India's education segment. “This acquisition – which we believe is the largest transaction in education in India by any company – signals our excitement about the vitality of India's education sector,” said Pearson's chief executive Marjorie Scardino.

The acquisition will further expand Pearson's business in the education services in India and in global online tutoring. Pearson has rapid expansion plans in Asia and Latin America, as expressed by John Makinson, chairman of Pearson, “India, China and Brazil are the focus now. We are spending hundreds of millions of dollars in these markets.” The transformation of Pearson from a purely paper based book publishing sector towards becoming a leading education technology provider has proved greatly advantageous and enabled them to gain markets in North America and expand rapidly.

Tutor Vista was founded in 2005 by Krishnan Ganesh and is a leading online tutoring company in the world, providing affordable and high quality education to thousands of students globally. Pearson had earlier held approximately 17% stake in TutorVista. “TutorVista was started to provide affordable education services and content globally. Together with Pearson, the world's leading education company, we can make this happen even faster and enable millions of students to achieve their educational goals. TutorVista already has presence as the largest consumer online tutoring company and with the help of Pearson, we will now have an opportunity to take our high quality tutoring to schools and colleges directly,” said Krishnan Ganesh.

The education sector in India is garnering renewed attention from foreign companies and huge investments are being attracted in education services, technology and infrastructure.

Tutor Vista has more than 800 employees and a roster of 2000 tutors. Its main activities have included providing online tutoring services to about 10,000 students principally in North America. It uses Voice-Over-Internet-Protocol and online whitebards to connect instructors in India with school and college students abroad. In the K12 segment, it provides a full suite of services including curriculum design, teacher training, technology solutions and school administration services to several schools in India. Additionally, it also provides test preparation and tutoring services to a network of 60 centres across southern India. TutorVista reaches out to the Indian market through Manipal K12 education, formerly known as Edurite Technologies. Founded in 2000, Edurite provides digital content for school curriculum to teachers, students, parents and administrators. Edurite has been leading the field of technology enabled education in India. It is currently functional in 60 centres in southern India and provides tutorial services in English language meant for higher education entrance examinations and additional tutorial services for students in the K12 sector. Edurite provides ICT enabled content to several schools across southern India and also manages administration of 19 schools.

The acquisition would imply that TutorVista's online tutoring services will be amalgamated into Pearson's education and digital services, and will be sold to schools and higher education institutions globally. For Edurite, it implies that Pearson's educational content would be promoted and used by schools managed by Edurite in India.

Redefining trends in education

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February 1, 2011

Redefining trends in education

The current trend in education has seen a leaning towards upgrading and updating knowledge and ideas to face increasingly demanding job requirements. Technology enabled centres have helped in taking forward university level education to working professionals as well. Many working professionals are pursuing one-year executive MBA courses in correspondence with a variety of top universities understanding the growing demands of the market today. We, in this issue, have highlighted some of those modern trends and technologies that would enable the workforce to enhance their business and managerial skills.

Simultaneously, the education technology world is seeing incredible opportunities in the K12 and higher education sector. Technology enabled learning has now drawn nearly 200 players in the online tutoring space in India. Further, huge potentials are also foreseen in the online test preparation sector.

Besides, numerous institutions are taking up new age teaching techniques through the implementation of m-Learning in their courses. m-Learning, as the name suggests, is about learning from mobiles and it takes place at any place devoid of the absence of the traditional pen and paper style. Although it has gained a steady momentum outside India, but our nation is no longer behind them. Various institutions across India have gradually taken up this upgraded technology and showing enough progress in education. With mobile penetration spreading to innumerable geographical areas, it only needs to be seen how m-Learning is going to be used to transform education and reach in India.

On the policy front, the government of India has unequivocally emphasised on measures to drastically improve the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) in higher education and promoting innovations in the sector. As a corollary, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has given a go ahead to corporate agencies to set up engineering and management institutes. This is a welcome move and would help meet the higher education needs of the growing youth population and thereby increase the GER. Some related trends have also been the setting up of an independent statutory council for distance teaching and learning that has been recommended by the MHRD. The steps seem relevant in wake of the mushrooming number of higher education institutes and resultant takers for the same. The regulation will help create and maintain certain quality standards in the sector.

With the growing concerns and involvement of the government in the Higher education sector, we are proud to bring together a comprehensive platform for deliberating on key issues in the sector. The digitalLEARNING Higher Education Summit will witness participation from key education stakeholders and leaders to provide realistic recommendations for implementing various best practices drawn from the participating higher education institutions. We look forward to seeing you there!

Virtual Instrument to Enhance Computer Networking Course

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February 1, 2011

Today's test environment is more challenging than ever as pressure on increasing quality and meeting time-to-market continue to increase. Therefore, a sound foundation in computer networking is critical for success in many kinds of computer-based work and universities must produce graduates with solid foundation in computers and their applications. One way to achieve this is through interactive learning and teaching through the use of software packages like LabVIEW (Virtual Instruments) and Java/Visual Basic (Object Oriented Programming). This will also allow the student to have greater interaction with the subject matter and improve his/her skills in the use of number of applied engineering software packages.

By Nikunja K Swain and Raghu Korrapati

The students' over reliance upon formulas and routine use of technique in problem solving too often lead to poor performance in advanced courses and a high attrition rate in the engineering, technology, and science programmes. The students' lack of comprehension of mathematical concepts results in wastage of time during laboratory experiments, misinterpretations of lab data and underachievement in standardised science and engineering tests that stress the fundamentals. This problem can be effectively addressed by improving the student's conceptual understanding and comprehension of the topics covered in introductory science and technology courses. One way to achieve this is through interactive learning and teaching and upgrading the existing laboratories with modern equipment. This will require increased funding and resources. But in recent years there is a decrease in resource allocation making it increasingly difficult to modernise the laboratories to provide adequate levels of laboratory and course work and universities are under pressure to look for alternative cost effective methods. One way to achieve this is through interactive learning and teaching through the use of software packages like LabVIEW (Virtual Instruments) and Java/Visual Basic (Object Oriented Programming).

LabVIEW and Java/Visual Basic are currently used in a number of engineering schools and industries for simulation and analysis. By introducing virtual instrumentation (LabVIEW) and object oriented programming (Java/Visual Basic) to the existing laboratory facilities and course(s) the students can be well trained with the latest design techniques and computer aided instrumentation, design and process control used throughout industry. This will also allow the students greater interaction with the subject matter and improve his/her skills in the use of number of applied engineering software packages.

LabVIEW is based on graphical programming and easy to use. It is an interactive problem-solving environment, where the students can analyse, visualise, and document real-world science and engineering problems. LabVIEW programmes are called Virtual Instruments (VI), and is different from text-based programming languages(such as Fortran, C++, Java and Visual Basic) in that LabVIEW uses a graphical programming languages, known as the G programming language, to create programmes relying on graphics symbols to describe programming actions. LabVIEW also provides an extensive library of virtual instruments and functions to help in programming. It also contains application specific libraries for data acquisition, GPIB and serial instrument control, data analysis, and file input/output with conventional programme debugging tools that can be used to set breakpoints, single-step through the programme, and animate the execution so that the flow of data can be observed.

LabVIEW has the potential of revolutionising engineering education. It is a graphical programming environment and is based on the concept of data flow programming. Data flow programming concept is different from the sequential nature of traditional programming languages, and it cuts down the design and development time of an application. It is widely accepted by industry, academia, and research laboratories around the world as a standard for data acquisition and instrument control software. Since LabVIEW is based on graphical programming, users can build VIs using software objects. With proper hardware these virtual instruments can be used for remote data acquisition, analysis, design and distributed control. The built-in library of LabVIEW has number of VIs that can be used to design and develop any system. LabVIEW can be used to address the needs of various courses in engineering, technology and science curriculum.

At South Carolina State University (SCSU), the PC and VI based system concept is used to design and develop a laboratory called Computer Based Virtual Engineering Laboratory (CBVEL). The CBVEL consists of IBM compatible computers with appropriate software and hardware from National Instruments (NI), Simulation software such as C++, Visual Basic, Java, PSPICE, etc., and is connected to School of Engineering Technology and Sciences (SETS) network and existing equipment. Virtual Instrument (VI) and Object Oriented Programming modules for different courses and research areas are currently developed and used to teach various courses. Examples of some of these VIs are Circuit Analysis, Electronics, Communications, Digital Signal processing, Networking, and Digital Filters.

The built-in library of LabVIEW has number of VIs that can be used to design and develop any system. LabVIEW can be used to address the needs of various courses in engineering, technology and science curriculum

Virtual laboratory or Virtual Instruments (VI) is software driven and does not require dedicated facility. It does not require instruments and there is no need for laboratory technicians. Problems of varying degree and complexity can be easily modeled and simulated using virtual instruments/laboratory concept.

Also, Virtual laboratory is cost effective and flexible. It is suitable for addressing student and faculty needs at a distance and as a result, more and more institutions are adding virtual laboratories to their curriculum.

Number System Conversion VI

The students of Information Technology (IT) deal with different computer application areas and frequently encounter binary, octal, and hexadecimal numbers. At times they have to convert a number in one system into another which requires not just the understanding of the principles behind number system conversions nut also, interactive modules to practice different conversions. A number of principles exist behind number system conversion and the interactive module using LabVIEW.

Outcomes of Using VI

The LabVIEW VI and Visual Basic modules, used by the authors under different situations, are user friendly and performed satisfactorily under various input conditions. It helped the students to understand items relating to IP Addressing in more detail. It also introduced the students to programme development using Visual Basic and Virtual Instruments. Therefore, it is believed that this introduction to Visual Basic and Virtual Instrument will help the students to design modules for other courses. These modules can be used in conjunction with other teaching aids to enhance student learning of Networking and the Internet.

The use of technology has been instrumental for student and faculty success. It has helped the faculty in instruction and has helped in students' understanding of concepts. The use of face-book, twitter and others has helped in peer based learning and social networks. It has enhanced the quality of engineers and revitalised education as whole and engineering education in particular. Academia needs inputs from industry for effective design of curriculum and laboratory. Academia also needs help from industry for student internships and student placement. Industrial Advisory Councils (IAC) are becoming part and parcel of every academic and accreditation bodies are making it a requirement to have IAC inputs in formulating programme objectives and outcomes.

Note: This work was funded in part by a grant from Bellcore.

Maharashtra Setting the Trend in Inclusive Education

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February 1, 2011

The Sarva Shikhsha Abhiyaan (SSA) has marked varied trends in different states. We put our focus on Maharashtra and find out the diverse range of initiatives that have been implemented and are in the pipeline from Shri Nanda Kumar (IAS), the State Project Director of Maharashtra

by Sheena Joseph

The Right to Education Act has brought about great changes in the education sector, and its implications have been felt by all States. Several related activities have being undertaken with full force in order to ensure universalisation of elementary education. The Maharashtra government has been making efforts for increasing the number of teachers in each school, since currently the number of students per teacher is quite high. “We are aiming for 25,000-30,000 extra teachers in schools”, says, Nanda Kumar, State Project Director of Maharashtra. Privately aided schools where the number of students is large, efforts are being made to improve the student -teacher ratio.

Under the additional plans which the Centre has asked the Maharashtra government to submit, a proposal has been accepted where recruitment of 12000 new primary school teachers and 11000 head teachers have been sanctioned. The process of recruitment of these teachers is currently under way. “These efforts are being made at the ground level to ensure that there is adequate availability of school teachers in all schools.” adds Kumar.

Geographical Mapping for Universal Access to Education

Under SSA, in Maharashtra, throughout the last 8 years about 60000 additional classrooms have been constructed. Also, 8000 additional new primary schools and several more upper primary schools have been set up. Massive efforts are being made to guarantee infrastructure facilities for children and to retain children in schools. “After the advent of RTE Act, we have started the school mapping exercise all over the state. The aim is to geographically map all areas and to locate habitations where there are no schools, and take steps to ensure that each habitation has at least one school in one kilometer radius. We are using the Geographical Information System (GIS) for this. The mapping system helps us keep a track of these geographical requirements.”

Secondly, in order to monitor children's attendance in schools, computer programmes have been developed as a part of the child tracking process. The initiative had been piloted in some districts of Maharashtra and is now being applied in every district.

Household surveys have been initiated by in order to keep track of children. “We have 22 Municipal Corporations in the state. We are carrying out this survey in all Municipal Corporation and wards. The objective of this initiative is to identify children who are not attending schools regularly and take corrective steps to bring them back to mainstream education.”

“To monitor the children under child tracking system and special training education, we have identified 40 NGO's in Vidarbha region. Their task is to identify children who have not attended school for several years and provide informal education. “

Nanda Kumar (IAS)
State Project Director, Maharashtra

“We have formed the School Management Committees all over the state and massive training efforts for training of trainers and teachers have already begun. We can proudly say that we have very effective training modules which are truly revolutionary. In this we have actually set the trend and other states can also emulate and replicate our modules. The training modules are excellent and the process involved in the creation of these has been intricate and elaborate. The recent Joint Review Mission has been very pleased with this,”says Kumar.

The training modules are excellent and the process involved in the creation of these has been intricate and elaborate. The recent Joint Review Mission has been very pleased with IT

The Trend Setter in Special Needs Education

Maharashtra has been among the best performing states as far as education for children with special needs are concerned. Kumar highlights that under this initiative, about 4,10,000children have been identified, out of which 55000 children have already been covered under the special needs treatment and education in the previous year. The remaining number will be accommodated in this year. A sizeable number of mobile resource teachers have been identified and trained and several therapeutic centres have been set up to cater to their requirements. The achievement of the State in this regard can easily be set as an example for other states to follow suit.

In aspects related to education for girl children, it needs to be pointed out that Maharashtra's sex ratio is lower than the national average. While the national average is 933 girls per 1000 males, Maharashtra's average is 922 girls per 1000males. “In order to address these issues, we have been able to prepare separate team of 200 people who have been trained in different aspects of gender issues and these are highlighted to the public. Several NGOs have been roped in for this and continuous training is being imparted to them. State trainers have been sensitising parents and teacher and have helped tackle the issues without creating any rift in the society. Programmes for minority education are also among the priority areas in Maharashtra.”

Partnering with Civil Societies

The State has roped in several civil society organisations to implement RTE and SSA and serve the needs of the under privileged. Jeevansaaya, the NGO spearheaded by social activist Medha Patkar, was operational for many years, and several residential schools for poor children have been set up. Other NGOs have been running residential schools for children of migrant parents and construction workers. “To monitor the children under child tracking system and special training education, we have identified 40 NGO's in Vidarbha region. Their task is to identify children who have not attended school for several years and provide informal education and special training in order to enable them to enroll in age appropriate classes and thereby come back to mainstream education. Similar initiatives have been taken in the Marathwada region.

A comprehensive quality improvement programme has been started “which we call the 'People of Mahrashtra' initiative”, says Kumar. In this, teachers, parents, civil society representatives and like-minded people have joined in order to ensure the education that is provided to children maintains a certain degree of quality. “All academic inputs that have been received under this initiative have been incorporated in the RTE Act. We intend to set up a Steering Committee for Academic Authority, which will be a permanent body, so that people of Maharashtra will be involved in initiatives for monitoring quality on a continuous basis,” concludes Kumar.

Arsenal of Education Produces New Age Weapon, m-Learning

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February 1, 2011

After a dip-search in the ocean of technological development that has of late created a deluge in the educational sector, every shore of academics has been noticeably found to be swept away by the tide of m-Learning and its takeover on the modern day teaching techniques.

Astudent, if caught using a mobile phone inside a classroom, can easily set the teacher's blood pressure high and make parents take rounds of the principal's room a couple of times. But what if the teacher himself asks the student to do his lessons on mobile phones while playing and award marks instead of canes? Although sounds weird, but a situation like this can soon be a reality with the onset of m-Learning. The chalk-and-talk learning process in no time can be a history with the implications of the latest technologies in the field of education.

Your device can vary from simple mobiles to smart phones to PDAs to iPODS to mini notebooks to net books or whatever comes to one's mind. Mobile learning involves connectivity for downloading, uploading and/or online working via wireless networks, mobile phone networks or both, and linking to institutional systems.

m-Learning is convenient in that it is accessible from virtually anywhere. m-Learning, like other forms of e-Learning, is also collaborative; sharing is almost instantaneous among everyone using the same content, which leads to the reception of instant feedback and tips. m-Learning also brings strong portability by replacing books and notes with small RAMs, filled with tailored learning contents.

In addition, it is simple to utilize mobile learning for a more effective and entertaining experience.

the first instance of mobile learning goes back as far as 1901 when Linguaphone released a series of language lessons on wax cylinders

Arguably, the first instance of mobile learning goes back as far as 1901 when Linguaphone released a series of language lessons on wax cylinders. This was followed up in later years, as technology improved, to cover compact cassette tapes, Eight Track Tapes and CDs.

In May 1991, Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT), in partnership with Orange Grove Middle School of Tucson, Arizona, used mobile computers connected by wireless networks for the 'Wireless Coyote' project. Universities in Europe and Asia developed and evaluated mobile learning for students.

In 2000, companies were upgraded with specialised equipment in three core areas of mobile learning— authoring and publishing, delivery and tracking and content development.

On the other hand, tutors commented that it was important to bring new technology into the classroom through m-Learning. Being a more light weight device compared to books and PCs, it is easy and user friendly. But m-Learning needs to be used appropriately, according to the groups of students involved.

Mobile learning can be a useful add-on tool for students with special needs. It can be used as a 'hook' to re-engage disaffected youth. But this idea May include many technical challenges such as connectivity and battery life, screen and key size, possibilities to meet required bandwidth for nonstop/fast streaming, number of file/asset formats supported by a specific device, content security or copyright issue from authoring group and multiple operating systems. Social and educational challenges include content security or pirating issues, frequent changes in device models/technologies/functionality.

“IL&FS Education has now launched Sparsh – Sex Education on Mobile Phones to huge subscriber demand. Already 40,000 users have signed up in the first 10 days of launch. There is a revolution waiting to happen”

Ninad Vengurlekar
Vice President, IL&FS Education and Technology Services Ltd

Growth

Since the mobile learning space is still evolving, there is no industry estimate on the size of the market, as it is too small.

Ninad Vengurlekar, Vice President, IL&FS Education and Technology Services Ltd said, “The future of m-Learning is bright and shining. IL&FS Education's English Seekho program is generating over 300000 subscriptions per month within one year of launch. Visually impaired users, office goers, small town girls from traditional families, first generation learners are logging on to the phone because they have no access to formal institutional mechanism.”

Present Scenario

m-Learning currently is more about filling information gaps than aid learning. This is because of the lack of affordable high speed smart phones for common man. Once they are in place, there would be little difference between m-Learning and e-Learning. In fact, m-Learning can be an easier and cheaper option than e-Learning because it costs fewer infrastructures, less money and it is more convenient.

In today's fast paced life, information needs to be to-the-point or precise. People want to know facts not the entire background and theory. m-Learning by design allows information to be put together in a short yet effective and user friendly formats. This aids learning without having the user spend too much time or money. Atul Deshpande, a telecom blogger says, “Entire ecosystem needs to be in place right from learning system provider, channel provider to users. Future of m-Learning is quite bright in India where infrastructure is lacking like school and teachers. Mobiles do provide quite exciting opportunity in this scenario.”

m-Learning in India

As per the current scenario, the telecom sector overall is in trouble financially. Right now, private players are more focussed towards rolling out network (3G/BWA) and upgrading activities. Apart from that, due to Mobile Network Portability (MNP), there is issue with keeping quality of existing network. “So when we look at m-Learning for masses, Government will be the key player in promoting the technology for some more time. Telecom operators will then opt out for m-Learning to gain the advantage, but putting onus on private players only and to promote m-Learning at this stage isn't advised” says Deshpande. “May be in 3-5 years, we could look for Public-Private partnership to promote m-Learning” adds he. While Sanjay Vyomkare of Texcelinfotech feels that Govt will take its own sweet time to implement, instead the Private Players should be encouraged and PPP model would help, this would be win-win situation. For m-Learning, apart from tools as mobile one basically needs content which are user need oriented. m-Learning can be useful not only to urbanites but also to farmers in remote villages for various issues like weather updates, education of schools, alerts, health updates etc. Nokia has already tried something similar to educate farmer in India via 'Nokia Life Tool' (NLT) project. This NLT concept provides weather, crop prices and other advices to farmer about their queries.

Entire ecosystem needs to be in place, right from learning system provider, channel provider to users. Future of m-Learning is quite bright in India, where infrastructure is lacking, but Mobiles do provide quite exciting opportunity in this scenario

Information Overload

According to the Cellular Operators Association of India, the number of mobile users in India has topped 110 million. Also for its ease of accessibility and lesser cost of establishment, many feel that this can result in information overload.

Sanjay Vomkarey of Texcelinfotech feels that information overload is bound to happen. While VP IL&FS Education and Technology Services Ltd says that information overload is everywhere, not just mobile phones. In fact, mobile phones allow one to select information at one's own convenience. Users have the freedom to have access to the kind of information they want. The service differs from one telecom company to the other. There are various kinds of services available like english learning, astrology, weather updates, business tips, stock market etc.

The world is moving at such a fast pace that no one has the time to stand back. In that case market leaders and experts feel that m-Learning has a great future, especially India, which in course of time, has emerged as a big market with almost 60 per cent young population. m-Learning can help in socio-economic development. All information gaps that prevent the poor from enjoying a good life can be bridged through mobile phones, including the sectors of crop management, government schemes information, financial literacy, job alerts, dial a job, career info and health issues.

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