30 Students of one institute crack IIT entrance test

Higher Education

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January 14, 2010

The Super 30 coaching institute in Bihar has witnessed complete success for the second consecutive year with all 30 of its students clearing the highly competitive Indian Institute of Technology-Joint Entrance Examination (IIT-JEE), the institute announced on Monday. 'Everyone is in a celebratory mood. We distributed lots of sweets,' said Nagendra Ram, a Super 30 student. The institute selects talented students from poor families and provides them with free coaching, food and accommodation so that they can focus on passing the IIT-JEE exam. 'Hard work, proper guidance and supervision are the secrets of our success,' Anand Kumar, director of Super 30, told sources.

Santosh Kumar, another Super 30 student, said the facilities and encouragement from the faculty made it possible for him to crack the tough exam. In 2003, the first year of the institute, 18 students made it to the prestigious IITs. The number rose to 22 in 2004 and 26 in 2005. In 2007 and 2006, 28 students made it through ITT-JEE. 'We were sure of positive results as we teach them to eat, sleep, walk and talk only IIT,' reiterated Anand. He told that the institute is supported by the income generated from his Ramanujam School of Mathematics, which has students who can afford to pay fees. Super 30 was started by Anand along with Bihar's Additional Director General of Police Abhyanand. But last year Abhyanand dissociated himself from the institute. The success story of Super 30 was telecast by the Discovery Channel in March this year. 'Super 30 is an amazing initiative and it needs to be taken to maximum people around the globe,' said Christopher Mitchell, whose film for Discovery also bagged the Audience Choice Award at the sixth Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles.

eLearning projects in Nigeria to get a dedicated committee

Policy Matters

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digitalLEARNING Network

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January 13, 2010

Sam Egwu, the Minister of Education mentioned, while inaugurating the committees to drive e-learning initiative in Nigeria, that in order to bring Nigeria amongst the 20 economies of the world by 2020 feasible, access to information and communication technologies at all level of the education sector should be accorded priority.

He emphasised that a committee needs to come up without delay to ensure immediate diffusion of e-learning into our education system. The programme is expected to start by the end of first quarter of 2010. The minister also said the committee will do basic work on infrastructure. He noted that communications equipment manufacturers must be involved. He also said that the deployment of e-learning will be carried out through public private partnership.

New Functional Skills courses in England Schools

K-12

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digitalLEARNING Network

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January 13, 2010

Schools in England are to see the new Functional Skills courses, due to be rolled out in 2010 as part of the 14-19 reform, are practical skills in English, ICT and mathematics. The same are a part of the four qualification routes of education including GCSEs, Diplomas, Apprenticeships and Foundation Learning. Now experts can be contacted from Creating Careers about developing personalised learning using vocational courses and online and blended study. From 2010, Functional Skills are to be included in the curriculum, ensuring that learners can develop key skills to solve problems at school and in the workplace.

Functional Skills can also be taken as stand-alone qualifications. Additionally, schools and colleges are being given incentives by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) to encourage this among young people, particularly through the proposed new School Report Card, which will be introduced from 2011. The School Report Card will provide the Government's key statement on the outcomes expected from schools, reporting on school outcomes such as pupil attainment, progress, and wellbeing. Online courses from vision2learn for schools enable students to learn at their own pace on computers, completing units and submitting work through the online environment. This will enable students to choose units from a broad selection of modules to build a flexible, personal course of study, which meets their individual needs, which teachers can monitor and mark online.

Tasmanian Rural Education to get a boost from $16.35m

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digitalLEARNING Network

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January 13, 2010

Premier David Bartlett told that the rural, regional and disadvantaged communities across the State is to benefit from an increased presence of the Tasmanian Polytechnic and Academy through a $16.35 million boost to rural education. According to him, the funding will make sure that the new Trade Training Centres will be able to bring skills training out of city centres and into regional areas for the benefit of both school students and adult learners.

He added that the State Government is to provide a further $6.9 million to the Academy and Polytechnic over the next six years, starting from 2010. This is to ensure that enrollment of regional students and students from disadvantaged areas takes place and that all these students complete the educational and training programs. This funding he explained would support young people to continue with education and training in their local communities.

RTI-CIC to govern deemed Universities

Higher Education

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digitalLEARNING Network

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January 13, 2010

The Right to Information (RTI) Act to encompass deemed universities, decided by the Central Information Commission (CIC). The decision by CIC will lead to transparency in management of the universities. This will include their accounting books to the faculty members they hire, the process in which they admit students to the fees being charged by them, everything will then be under the public scrutiny.

According to the academics, this decision will lead to a sense of relief and will also bring in the much-needed transparency in the working style of deemed universities. This judgment is a result of a case, that was put in front of the CIC, where Shaily Bhashnajla, a faculty of Delhi's Western International University (WIU), wanted information on the recruitment and promotion rules. However, WIU refused to divulge the information, stating that it is a deemed university and not a public authority.

Admissions open for MBA in Media and Entertainment at Manipal University

Higher Education

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digitalLEARNING Network

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January 13, 2010

Admissions for India's first and only MBA in Media & Entertainment are now open for the August 2009 batch! Manipal University, the pioneering force in higher education in India, offers this course in association with Whistling Woods International. The first year of the program will be conducted at the Manipal University Off -Campus in Bangalore covering all General Management subjects and Media case studies. The second year of the program will consist of hands on training at the Whistling Woods premises in Mumbai. The course is new, exciting and truly industry focused, combining managerial tools and frameworks with an in-depth understanding of the creative processes that are involved in the media and entertainment industry. The programme prepares the students to be well rounded media professionals and opens up avenues for exciting and successful careers in one of the fastest growing sectors – the media & entertainment industry.

Admissions for the 2 yr MBA program in Media and Entertainment at Manipal University is currently open. The last date for application is 30th June 2009. The program commencing January 2009, is open to those who have completed any undergraduate degree, are excited by acquiring a combination of creativity & business rigour and aspire to be media professionals. To download the information brochure/application kit, log onto http://www.manipal.edu/manipalsite/Users/colpage.aspx?collegeid=30&Id=1 or call 099020 25870 or write to mbame@manipalu.com for further queries. The Indian Media & Entertainment industry is expected to grow at a 19% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) to reach an overall value of Rs. 1.15 trillion by 2012 from its present size of Rs. 513 billion, according to a report published by PWC for the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). This represents a huge growth opportunity for highly qualified and trained professionals in this field.

Digital Knowledge Centre

News

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digitalLEARNING Network

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January 13, 2010

Anna University, Chennai (Tamil Nadu) have joined hands with its alumni group to set up a new state-of-the-art 'Digital Knowledge Centre' costing Rs 70 lakh at the University Library building.

The Digital Knowledge Centre, for which the alumni donated Rs 25 lakh for basic infrastructure and the University gave Rs 45 lakh for purchasing the computers, has a browsing centre with provisions for around 46 users. The Centre's content section has a server room, UPS room, and a content development room with scanners, digitisers and computer systems. This facility will helps the students, researchers and faculty to keep themselves updated with the latest developments and providing them an access to the Internet. The University will also be able to upload the research done by the University to its servers. This will go a long way to make the research accessible to peer researchers around the world. The centre would be inaugurated on August 15.

Few IGNOU courses get UESCO recognition

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digitalLEARNING Network

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January 13, 2010

In an attempt to boost quality education and training, come courses offered by Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) will be recognised by UNESCO. An agreement of Cooperation (AoC) was signed between IGNOU and UNESCO for co-branding certain identified courses. The AoC was signed during the visit of UNESCO Director General Irina G Bokova to IGNOU. The university reported that both IGNOU and UNESCO are to develop cooperation between each other through academic exchange and collaboration for advancement of quality education and training. As per the AoC, IGNOU and UNESCO will collaborate in promoting a system of research and training in the fields of journalism and media studies, science education, teacher training and ICT-enhanced distance learning.

An IGNOU Silver Jubilee Special Lecture on 'Building Inclusive Knowledge Societies in a Globalised World: Opportunities and Risks' was delivered by Bokova. It is expected that the interdisciplinary research, along with local and indigenous knowledge will be enhanced through this cooperation. It would also be supportive in developing methods for evaluating and applying science and technology with a view to the development of sustainable practices for human resource development.

New twist in the single board system

News

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digitalLEARNING Network

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January 13, 2010

The Human Resource Department (HRD) Minister, Kapil Sibal weeks after announcing for a single school board system across states, has now said that the ministry had no intentions of destroying diversity through a uniform school board. In fact, he has suggested that state education boards should offer a 'uniformity of excellence' and base curriculum on the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2005.

The HRD Minister also focuses on the need for retaining children in school, ensuring quality education, recruiting good teachers and helping develop a successful education programme. He also asked the states to not wait for the five-year window period of Right to Education Bill's provision, but to implement them with a year or so.

Study reveals computer associated health complaints among Finnish adolescents

News

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digitalLEARNING Network

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January 12, 2010

It has been reported that the use of computers has increased among adolescents 'musculoskeletal symptoms.' Evidence supports that these symptoms can be reduced through an ergonomics approach and through education. The aim of the study was to examine where adolescents had received ergonomic instructions related to computer use. Additionally, it aimed to find whether receiving these instructions was associated with a reduced prevalence of computer-associated health complaints. The method included mailed survey and a national representative sample of 12 to 18-year-old Finns in 2001. In total, 6961 youths reported using a computer.

The results indicated that to avoid computer-associated complaints, 61.2% reported were instructed to arrange their desk/chair/screen in the right position, 71.5% to take rest breaks. The older age group (16-18 years) reported receiving instructions or being self-instructed more often than the 12- to 14-year-olds. Among both age groups the sources of instructions included school (33.1%), family (28.6%), self (self-instructed) (12.5%), ICT-related (8.6%), friends (1.5%) and health professionals (0.8%). Receiving instructions was not related to lower prevalence of computer-associated health complaints. The conclusion indicated that the ergonomic instructions on how to prevent computer-related musculoskeletal problems fail to reach a substantial number of children.

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