Civica and Luton Borough Council have reached an agreement to be the prime ICT contractor for the town's
eLearning is the focus at Zakir Hussain College
In an effort to keep the college and students well versed with the online exams system and study modules provided by Delhi University (DU), Zakir Hussain College (morning) has updated its technology infrastructure like intranet, online access of internal assessment and attendance records for students and faculty. It has updated its computer labs and multimedia library as well. From the forthcoming academic session, e-learning facilities will be provided to students and 80 new state-of-the-art computers have been added to the library and various online resources have been made available.
A senior lecturer of the college Dr Shruti Gupta told, 'We are trying to make teaching and learning experience more interesting. The online web-cast of lectures by faculties in some of the renowned Indian and foreign universities would be made available to students through the newly built auditorium. It would use a wide spectrum of technologies, mainly Internet or computer-based, to reach learners.' e-learning would also be made available to students through educational websites such as those offering learning scenarios, worksheets and interactive exercises for students.
Delhi Primary schools to see 35,000 new seats
On Monday the Delhi Government announced addition of nearly 35,000 more seats in primary sections of Sarvodaya Vidyalayas in the national capital. 'We have increased the intake of students from 40 to 50 in every class of the primary sections of the Sarvodaya schools of the Delhi government following good results of our schools,' said Delhi Education Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely.
Lovely told that the decision would result in admission of nearly 35,000 more students in government schools and it would be implemented from this session only. In Delhi, there are 375 Sarvodaya schools with primary sections.
IIM-B opts for SunGard’s global solution
SunGard Higher Education's Banner Unified Digital Campus (UDC) solution has been chosen by the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM-B), one of the top-ranked business schools in India, to help increase efficiencies in course administration, improve student services, and enhance capabilities for collaboration with institutions in India and worldwide. IIMB is among the top management education institutions in the world. Along with a transformative and innovative education, we want to provide our students and faculty with quality services, global collaboration opportunities and tools, and a rich academic experience that reflects our reputation for excellence. SunGard Higher Education's student and faculty-centric solution approach aligns perfectly with our vision.
IIMB's choice of the Banner UDC heralds SunGard Higher Education's aggressive expansion plans in India. Having operated in India since 1993, SunGard's global solution centers in Bangalore and Pune function as knowledge and operation hubs, combining deep domain expertise and product knowledge with specialized technical capabilities that help to cost-effectively serve SunGard's vast portfolio of solutions and customers in the region and worldwide.
Kerala State Audio-Visual and Reprographics Centre
The Kerala State Audio-Visual and Reprographics Centre has entered the multi-media space with plans to have operations across the state. Officials said the global outsourcing market and strong domestic entertainment market provided good opportunities for quality professionals in the multi-media space. KSAVRC Multimedia Academy centers will operate under the franchisee model, offering courses with duration ranging from 3 months to 1 year. The courses are primarily targeted at aspirants with a basic qualification equivalent to higher secondary and experienced professionals looking for skill upgradation. Officials said the course fees were kept at affordable levels to facilitate aspirants with financial constraints to pursue the course. KSAVRC managing director Rajshree Ajith said the academy was expected to appeal to a wide base of aspirants, considering the competitive fee structure and advanced course curriculum.
Cisco inks deal with 9 institutions for ICT education
Cisco, an international networking organisation, has tied up with the State's nine institutions for enhancement of ICT education. These institutes are the Jagannath Institute for Technology and Management, Parlakhemundi that is part of the Centurion Group of Institutes, National Institute of Science and Technology, Berhampur and the Orissa Computer Application Centre, Bhubaneswar.
Over 450 students are currently enrolled at the Cisco academies marking an increase of 37 % over last year. This year, it has tied up with the Sambalpur University at Burla and the Dhabaleswar Institute in Cuttack. Cisco's South-Asian regional manager Lokesh Mehra explained that ICT is key to development of any society. It acts as a catalyst and is important for developing knowledge pool in Orissa.
Manipal to offer ICAS twinning programme
An announcement was made by the Manipal University regarding admissions to their International Centre for Applied Sciences (ICAS) Twinning Program, a collaborative arrangement with foreign universities. For students the course provides a great platform, to pursue engineering programs overseas, at a fraction of the cost. The last date for admissions is 30th July 2009; spot admissions are open on 18th & 19th July'09 in Delhi at Manipal Universal Learning Pvt Ltd, No. 256, Okhla Industrial Estate Phase 3, Opposite Post office, New Delhi
New Learning tool for parents
The market-leading Learning Platform provider, UniServity, announced the imminent release of an exciting new product for Parents which will transform how they access, engage and support their child's learning process. A dynamic online 'window' into student's attendance, attainment, behaviour and progression at school provides parents and carers with access to actively engage with their child's learning and create a dialogue with teachers, other parents and the whole school community. UniServity's Parental Engagement and Reporting Product will empower parents by dynamically engaging them in their child's progression at school, whilst creating new opportunities to communicate with teachers, other parents and the whole school learning community beyond the traditional constraints of the school day. A personalised and familiar 'social networking' style experience will provide parents with safe, anytime anyplace access to valuable information about their child including attendance, attainment, behaviour and progression data. Parents will benefit from being able to take a more proactive role in supporting their child's learning, and will have the ability to easily access and comment on examples of their child's school work and 'ePortfolio' learning journal.
Schools will benefit from a comprehensive suite of fully customisable tools and features to support teaching, streamlined reporting and administration, with the ability to create an online dialogue with parents and other key stakeholders. The Parent Product is fully integrated with the UniServity cLc (connected Learning communities) Learning Platform to further provide schools with a comprehensive 21st Century Teaching and Learning toolkit. Wirral Local Authority (LA) has become the first Local Authority to announce they will be providing the Parent Product for their schools. The Parent Product will be available from October 2009, with a premium version scheduled for launch at the BETT Show in London (UniServity Stand E125) in January 2010.
Free digital libraries at Kerala schools
In Kerala, the government is to set up 'Free Digital Libraries' in all schools in Kerala, Education Minister M.A. Baby told on Monday. Under the scheme, 4,071 schools will be provided hardware equipment including 7,300 computers, 3,740 laptops, 6,510 UPS units, 1,291 printers, 785 scanners, 1,160 multimedia projectors and 430 LCD Televisions (32″) before March 31.
The minister said the above during the state-level inauguration of hardware distribution to 4,071 schools under 'ICT in School Scheme.' K. Anvar Sadath, executive director of IT@School Project, mentioned that the 'Free Digital Libraries' will be supported with materials on a regular basis. IT@School Project, through its various initiatives, has enabled the educational system to make a paradigm shift to ICT enabled education from the conventional IT education.
Students advised not to seal seats in haste during online admissions
While online admissions will do away with long queues and unnecessary paperwork, it comes with a whole new set of problems, one that has students on edge. The key issue yet to be addressed is whether a student hoping to get a seat in junior college will be allowed 'betterment', the process where a child who has made it to the first merit list of a college that's not his first choice, is allowed to reserve a seat in that institute, while still being considered for the second and third merit lists in other places. While the state says that every Std X pass-out will be given one chance for bettering his or her choice of college, the Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Limited (MKCL), the company providing technical support to the state in the online admission process, is refuting this claim.
Betterment of choice is nothing but moving up the list of college preferences submitted by each student as and when a vacancy erupts. This is the age-old system we are leaving behind: In the offline system let's assume you applied to five science colleges A, B, C, D and E and got into college D on the basis of your scores in the first merit list. You would naturally book a seat in college D by paying the fees, but wait for the entry cut-off scores to drop in the other colleges of your preference, A, B etc. As and when cut-offs drop, you would cancel your admission in college D and move to a better college of your choice, say college C or B, and again wait to see if you can get a spot in college A if entry scores for that institute falls. But that would not be possible online. A top official in MKCL said that the admission season would go on endlessly if every student was given a chance for betterment. According to him, once a student is allotted a college and pays up the fees, the candidate's admission would be sealed. Experts, however, question the efficacy of the betterment formula online. In the offline system, students apply to more than one college and hence after the first merit list, there are several students whose names come up in more than one college. When they pay the fees in the institute of their choice, a vacancy arises in the other college, which also shortlisted them.
