Intel Corporation and the government of Macedonia have signed two new documents to help advance the 1:1 e-learning model in the country's schools, raising the bar for educational technology in the Balkan region. The joint initiative was unveiled today by John E. Davies, Intel vice president and general manager of the Intel World Ahead Program; Nikola Todorov, minister of Education and Science; and Ivo Ivanovski, minister of Information Society. Intel's contribution will include training 1,000 teachers to integrate technology into the curriculum, localizing and licensing teacher training materials, providing teacher guides, and qualifying master trainers for scaling the program throughout Macedonia. Intel will also donate licensing that lets schools use content and software available through Intel
2011 to see 600 Online Courses from IITs
For creating course contents in engineering and science, seven Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institute of Science (IISC), Bangalore are preparing to launch 600 more online courses in 2011. This comes up following the good response from the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) – phase I, which is an initiative by seven IITs (IIT Bombay, Delhi, Guwahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras and Roorkee) and IISc, for creating course contents in engineering and science, creating web and video-based contents for courses. This mission is being funded under National ICT mission. The Programme Implementation Committee, headed by Prof. M. S. Ananth, Director IIT Madras told that the NPTEL site was visited by 1.5 billion people so far.
Pointing out that in the first phase of the programme, about 350 faculty members in all partner institutions worked together to deliver lecture contents, Prof. Ananth said that this was likely to increase to well over 1000 faculty in the next phase. Other Institutions such as NITs and major University faculty are also likely to participate. In the phase – I, which was completed recently, course materials have been developed for approximately 125 web courses and are accessible freely through the website. Lecture contents are also being made available for 110 video courses. Both the web and video courses cover five major engineering disciplines.
SMART announces SMART Response CE
SMART Technologies announces SMART Response CE, interactive response software that allows flexible, automated assessment in 1:1, computer-enabled classrooms. SMART Response CE is the latest in the company's line of interactive response systems. Instead of handheld remotes (clickers), students can use their computers and SMART Notebook SE (Student Edition) software to answer questions. SMART Response CE enables teachers to easily and quickly add various types of assessments to lesson content designed for individual, small-group or whole-class environments. Answers are tallied and graded automatically, and feedback is generated instantly so teachers can easily assess student comprehension and adjust their lessons accordingly. SMART Response CE is an integral part of the SMART solution and includes SMART Notebook and SMART Notebook SE (Student Edition) software. SMART Response CE can be used alone or as part of SMART Classroom Suite interactive learning software.
With support for short answer, numeric response, yes or no, true or false, multiple answer and multiple choice questions, teachers can design assessments that suit the needs of their students and the material being taught. To deliver an assessment, the teacher presses a button within SMART Notebook. The question with all accompanying digital content is then delivered to student computers where students can respond. Once tallied, the results can be tabulated in a variety of ways for versatile reporting options and trend analysis. 'Spontaneous, instant assessments during lessons provide teachers with valuable information about areas on which they need to spend more time as well as individual student strengths and weaknesses,' says Nancy Knowlton, SMART's CEO. 'SMART Response CE enables assessment without remotes in computer-enabled classrooms, which reduces costs and increases the teacher's understanding of student learning.'
Feb 14 UPSC to conduct CDS I Exam 2010
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will conduct the Combined Defence Services (I) Examination 2010 on February 14, 2010 for admission to the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Naval Academy and Air Force Academy for the courses commencing in January 2011 and Officers Training Academy, Chennai for the courses (Men and Women) commencing in April 2011. Candidates must apply in the Common Application Form devised by the Commission for its examinations, which can be purchased from the designated Head Post Offices/Post Offices throughout the country. In case of any difficulty in obtaining application forms from the designated HPOs/Pos, the candidates should contact the concerned Post Master or UPSC's 'FORMS SUPPLY MONITORING CELL' over Telephone no.011-23389366/Fax No.011-23387310. The last date for all applications to reach the UPSC is October 26, 2009. However, in respect of candidates residing abroad or in certain remote areas specified in the Notice, the last date for receipt of application by post/speed post only (not by hand or by courier) is November 3, 2009. In case of any guidance/information/clarification regarding their application, candidature etc. candidates can contact UPSC's Facilitation Counter in person or over Telephone No.011-23385271/011-23381125/011-23098543 during working hours.
IIT students stay as focused as ever despite Faculty bitterness
Across country students in IIT campuses are mature enough to understand the bitterness of their faculty over their pay package, and the issue is not stopping them from keeping their academic focus and adding dynamism to campus life. Students of IIT Kharagpur, for instance are gung-ho about their upcoming techno-management fest that they claim is going to be the largest of its kind in Asia with a participation of over 30,000 from across the country and guest speakers from across the world. The prize money alone is well over INR 45 lakh, and the fest, titled Kshitij, is expecting participation from over 350 engineering, management and law schools across the country that includes IITs, IIMs and NITs, among others.
According to students, far more than winning prizes the participants are keen on winning international certifications that mean a lot to aspiring engineers and managers as they launch their careers. Among the certifications that can be picked up during the techno-management fest include those from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the UK-based Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE). Guest lectures for the event last year included those by Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Donal Wales, chemistry Nobel winner Kurt Wurthrich and former ISRO chairman K Kasturirangan, and a matching global bouquet of speakers is planned for the upcoming event. The events for the fest include coding contests, case studies, B-Plan competition, mechanical events, industrial design problems, aeromodelling events and robotics, among others. Manohar said an added attraction for participants was the possibility of participating in the final rounds of some competitions at venues abroad, giving them an opportunity to match their skills against the best in the world.
Moroccan schools avail the Broadband Services
The Moroccan Ministry for Education and the national telecommunications regulatory authority has selected Nortis Cimecom, a leading VSAT operator and a longstanding partner of Eutelsat, to deliver satellite- based broadband services to Moroccan schools that are situated beyond the range of terrestrial networks. The deployment program is part of a far-reaching national project, launched and run by the prime minister's office, named 'G
Upgradation of 100 ITIs to Centres of Excellence
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today approved the proposal for reckoning the period of Centrally Sponsored Plan Scheme, 'Upgradation of 100 ITIs into Centres of Excellence' with effect from 2005-06 to 2009-10 on the same terms and conditions without any change in the cost and scope. The total cost of the scheme of upgradation of 100 ITIs into Centres of Excellence is INR 160 crore (on cost sharing basis of 75:25 between Centre and State Governments). 22 States (except for North Eastern States, J&K, Sikkim and 4 UTs – Lakshadweep, A&N Islands, Daman & Diu, D&N Haveli) are covered under the scheme. The proposal will enable completion of residual activities of the scheme by 2009-10.
It aims at empowerment of ITIs, greater flexibility, better linkages with the world of work and conducting training programmes in the emerging areas. The scheme was approved for implementation during March, 2005. However, actual implementation was started from the Financial Year 2005-06. The ITIs were identified in consultation with the State Governments. The new multi-skilling courses for the sectors selected by States were developed in consultation with the stakeholders during 2005-06 and the first batch of ITIs started training programme from the academic session of August, 2005. Presently, all the ITIs are organizing training in the multiskilling courses in the identified sectors. An amount of INR 103.68 crore has been released to the States. Balance amount of Rs.16.32 crore is proposed to be released during the current financial Year 2009-10 which will complete the process of upgradation of 100 ITIs in different States.
Lancashire County Council embraces new content management system
Lancashire County Council has selected the Jadu Galaxies content management system to power both its new 'What Now' website and an e-Learning portal for Youth and Community Services. < ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Jadu Galaxies provides Lancashire County Council with the tools to create the websites themselves, with no technical skills required, reducing web development costs and enabling rapid implementation. Lancashire County Council has decided to replace the existing websites to increase functionality and make it more relevant to its youth audience. Jadu Galaxies will be used to implement feature-rich microsites that comply with Government technical requirements, such as latest IPSV (Integrated Public Sector Vocabulary) taxonomy and WAI (Web Access Initiative) standards. Janet Wilkinson, e-Government Officer for the Directorate for Children and Young people at Lancashire County Council, is impressed with the simplicity, yet powerful functionality, of Jadu Galaxies.
Anna University inked MoU with Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation India Pvt Ltd clinched a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Anna University in Chennai, India, aiming at providing easy access to Microsoft technology to faculty and four lakh students of the 235 colleges affiliated to Anna University. < ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
The MoU states that over the next 12-16 months, the university would bring about modifications in its engineering and MCA courses to bring a balance between Microsoft and non-Microsoft technologies being taught as part of the curriculum. The arrangement would create better placement opportunities, reveal talents of the students by enabling them to develop newer software and programmes, he said, adding that this was the first time that Microsoft was entering into such an arrangement with an educational institution.
Basic computer literacy for Namibian teachers
Namibia intends having 12 000 teachers trained in basic computer literacy and 350 000 learners using computers for half an hour a week by 2010, according to goals set down by the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) steering committee. < ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
The Namibia Education Technology Alliance (Neta) comprising the Ministry of Education, the American Federation of Teachers, Discovery Channel, SchoolNet, World Teach, the United States Peace Corps and Microsoft, started the project in 2002 with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The US government has supported education and training in Namibia since Independence and is looking forward to continue co-operation in improving education and transforming Namibia into a knowledge-based society. The Associate Director of the American Teachers Federation, Joe Davis, said evidence using the ICT approach showed there was a significant improvement in the quality of learning during the pilot project.
