Vellor University student to participate in US innovation camp

Higher Education

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May 1, 2009

Rachit Gupta, studying in B.Tech. third year Computer science and engineering at VIT University has been selected to participate in the First Annual International Innovation Camp to be held in Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, the U.S., from July 10 to August 3. Rachit Gupta is one of the 10 students from India, who has been selected for the innovation camp. The selection process is coordinated by the Department of Science and Technology, which is one of the sponsors of the programme.

'Rachit has been selected for his project 'Economic and portable water purifier,' which was developed for IIT's L-RAMP (Lemelson Recognition and Mentoring Programme) and the 'My Idea Programme' of VIT-Technology Business Incubator (TBI),' said G. Viswanathan, Chancellor of VIT University.

Chinese website to teach Chinese language

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digitalLEARNING Network

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April 30, 2009

Eyeing at the growing interest of people to learn Chinese as a foreign language, China launched a website offering free Chinese lessons and materials to promote the study and use of the language abroad.< ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

The Ministry of Education of China says that more than 30 million people are now learning Chinese as a foreign language and more than 2,500 universities in 100 countries offer Chinese courses. The site (www.linese.com) includes audio-visual presentations, interactive exercises and advice for teachers of Mandarin Chinese, with photographs and descriptions of cultural icons such as the Great Wall, kung fu actor Jackie Chan and basketball star Yao Ming. Many of the exercises touch on China's mythical and imperial past. China is keen to expand its cultural influence along with its growing economic power, and is also setting up a network of 'Confucius Institutes' around the world to promote its culture. The website is only in Chinese and English, but versions in Japanese and Korean are being developed.

MCD recognized schools asked not to hike fees

K-12

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digitalLEARNING Network

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April 30, 2009

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi on Wednesday informed the Delhi High Court that it had asked the managers of all recognised schools under it not to increase the tuition fees and other charges for school children without prior permission of the Director (Primary Education). The civic body further informed the Court that it had also asked these schools and the societies running them to provide details of their balance sheets, profit and loss, and receipt and payment accounts. The MCD provided this information to the Court in reply to a petition by three non-government organisations of the Capital challenging the Delhi Government's decision to allow the city's private schools to raise the tuition fees.

Meanwhile, one of the judges of the Division Bench hearing the matter has recused himself from the case saying that there was a conflict of interest as he had earlier represented a private school in the matter when he was a lawyer. Earlier, another judge of a different Division Bench of the Court had refused to hear the matter. A different Bench will now take it up for hearing on Thursday. The petitioners

Apple to sell iMac for $899

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digitalLEARNING Network

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April 30, 2009

Apple Computer Inc. will start selling a version of its iMac personal computer for $899 for the education market.< ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

iMac pc is a configuration of 17-inch liquid crystal display and will be powered by Intel Corp.'s latest-generation chip, known as the Core Duo. The computer replaces Apple's eMac, which had a bulkier display using older technology. It comes with multimedia applications for creating websites with weblogs and photos and has the latest Macintosh operating system. The new iMac helps save space — both in the classroom and the dorm room — with the entire computer built right into a two-inch thin display. Featuring a 17-inch widescreen LCD display, the iMac for education includes a combo drive for burning CDs and reading DVDs. It also includes a built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing out-of-the-box using Apple's iChat AV, or recording a video podcast, or iMovie using iLife '06. It also comes bundled with the latest release of the operating system, Mac OS X version 10.4.6 `Tiger' including Safari, Mail, iCal, iChat AV, Front Row and Photo Booth, running natively on the Intel-based desktop.

‘Excellence in education’ workshop at IIT-D

Higher Education

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digitalLEARNING Network

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April 30, 2009

A workshop on 'Excellence in education' was conducted at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in the last week. The workshop was inaugurated by Ashok Thakur, Additional Secretary in the Union Human Resource Development Ministry.

The workshop was attended by the Principals of over 100 schools in the city.

Manipal Education Launches EduNxt

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digitalLEARNING Network

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April 30, 2009

Manipal Education, a pioneering force in Higher Education, has recently launched its next generation learning system, 'EduNxt' a new Technology infused Learning System that will transform Distributed Learning in India. Affordable and easy to use, EduNxt enables a collaborative and interactive environment for learning and includes small group mentoring, virtual classrooms, simulation and other interactive content, self-study content, recorded presentations and shared browsing. This innovation from Manipal Education thus shifts the Education paradigm from being 'faculty-centric' to a 'learner-centric' environment. Infusing technology into both teaching delivery and learning enablement, EduNxt empowers students with anywhere, anytime access. Students will now experience a 'portable campus', 'carry along mentors' and will have access to over one million online books and journals, all at their fingertips.

EduNxt has been introduced first for Sikkim Manipal University's Distance Education (SMU – DE) students in July 2009. EduNxt combines academic rigor and a personalised learning environment with SMU

New Course launched by IIM C in Delhi

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digitalLEARNING Network

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April 30, 2009

The Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM-C) on Monday announced a year-long executive course in international business in Delhi. The course is specifically designed to help students acquire knowledge and skill to work in international companies. 'The executive programme in international business is a course which helps keep pace with today's requirement where globalisation, Internet and hyper competition has dramatically re-shaped the markets and has changed the way business is being done. Today, one has to keep pace with the customers requirement and has to bring in services and products as per global standards,' said an IIM-C official.

Unlike the grilling tests which one has to go through to get admission into an IIM, the eligibility criterion for this programme is 50 % marks in graduation and three-years work experience. The programme will see maximum use of technology. It will consist of a judicious blend of lectures by two senior faculty members of IIM-C, Anjan Raichaudhary and Prafulla Agnihotri, real life access to case studies, live corporate examples, general discussions and assignments. 'There will also be regular evaluation processes and at the end of the 12-month course, the students will get a certificate from IIM-C,' added the official. The last date for application to this course is May 15 and the course fee is INR 206,000.

Sam Egwu: ICT to play crucial role in education sector

Policy Matters

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digitalLEARNING Network

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April 30, 2009

The Minister of Education, Sam Egwu, has said that Information and Communication Technology would play a critical role in the repositioning the nation's education sector. Egwu stated this on Thursday at the unveiling of eight and 10-inch Smartbook computers for schools by Omatek Ventures Limited. The minister said a new education roadmap was inaugurated in the country recently to ensure that new thinking and ideas were brought to bear on the management of the education sector and to improve the quality of education in the country. He said, 'Undoubtedly, ICT will play critical roles towards the realisation of these noble objectives. Our current roadmap took consideration of the advantages ICT will bring in the academia and we are making efforts towards engaging with stakeholders to ensure these opportunities do not elude us for too long.'

The minister added, 'We are determined that graduates of our institutions, in the not too distant future, are indeed equipped with the capability to practice their trade in any society in the world without a feeling of disadvantage.' Egwu said the unveiling of the new range of computers for schools by Omatek was a testimony to the role the private sector can continue to play in actualising the hope of the country for a brighter future for education in the country. The Chairman of Omatek, Tim Farinre, told that the company' s e-learning initiative 'is one-stop shop which provides a platform to ensure that ICT tools are deployed to schools and classrooms under a carefully structured environment.'

Next Academic session to see 15 new Central Universities

Policy Matters

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digitalLEARNING Network

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April 30, 2009

At least 15 more central universities, in addition to the existing 20, will be set up and start functioning from next year, the government said on Thursday. The decision was taken at a two-day conference here during which vice-chancellors of the 15 new central universities presented their plans before the University Grants Commission (UGC) – the regulator of these institutions. The conference ended on Thursday. The government appointed the vice-chancellors in February. The VCs met here for the first time to prepare a roadmap for making the 15 new central universities functional from the 2010-11 session.

Of the 15 institutions, 12 are new central universities in as many states, while three state universities have been upgraded. The new universities are in Jharkhand, Karnataka, Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Orissa, Kerala, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu. The new VCs have assured UGC that they would be able to start courses in their institutions. 'Most of them have been given land. They are expected to start certain courses from the coming session,' said a UGC official. The universities would offer under-graduate, post-graduate, M.Phil and Ph.D programmes, besides courses on regional issues, said the UGC official. The UGC has already sanctioned nearly INR 2 crore to each of these universities to meet their operational expenditure. Most of the universities are expected to start with a temporary campus. Some already have temporary campuses, said the UGC official.

India

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digitalLEARNING Network

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April 30, 2009

In a bid to undertake online virtual programmes in Chinese language, the Indira Gandhi National Open University's (IGNOU's) School of Foreign Langauge (SOFL) has recently inked a pact with two educational institutes viz, Chinese Institute of Chennai, Chennai and Shri Mahavira Jaina Vidyalaya Education Foundation, Gujarat.

“This is for the first time in India that an online virtual classroom programme to learn Chinese language is offered by IGNOU. One of the main features of this programme is to reach learners to any part of India through its mode. The e-Gyankosh of IGNOU will be the conduit to offer this virtual classroom programme which is different from the online programmes of IGNOU. Through this mode, learners and teachers will be able to talk to each other and learn virtually as is done within the four walls of traditional teaching/ learning method,” said Prof. G. Chaudhuri, programme coordinator and Director of SOFL, IGNOU.

According to the pact, both the institutes have agreed to work with IGNOU in offering six and twelve month certificate and diploma respectively in Online Chinese language and culture. These programmes will be launched through online virtual class method and also face to face at both of these institutes under the supervision of SOFL, IGNOU.

One of the main objectives of this programme is to reach learners all over India through internet. Through this method, a virtual classroom will be created by which learners can interact with teachers and vice-versa.

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