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Oracle trains teachers on database curriculum

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-
Oracle has completed training of twelve Egyptian teachers as part of its educational program to boost IT skills in the country.

The twelve have been trained in Oracle Academy's Database Design and Programming with SQL curriculum, through the ongoing initiatives between the Egyptian Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Information Technology and Communication and Oracle.

The teachers will now train another 250 teachers in the course, who will then be able to deliver it to 5,000 students across Egypt.

Hussein El Gueretly, country manager, Egypt, Oracle commented: “Oracle is committed to advancing education for young Egyptians and helping prepare them for success in a global economy,” said “Our professional development programs for teachers will help strengthen the education system to ensure a bright future for our students.

“The Oracle Academy's approach to training is geared toward instructor and student success. Participants exit the training with a level of understanding that is rarely acquired at teacher professional development events,” he added.

Gates offers free software to Indonesian students

By
digitalLEARNING Network
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Microsoft founder Bill Gates has said he would help Indonesian students obtain free software and inexpensive personal computers to gain greater access to the Internet.

During a meeting here with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Gates, one of the world's richest men, expressed his commitment to supporting the government's efforts to improve education quality by providing Internet-based national education.

“He (Gates) told the President that Microsoft will continue to train teachers and students throughout Indonesia in software, computer and information and communication technology,” Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie told a press briefing after the meeting.

Yudhoyono told Gates that Indonesia and Microsoft should continue to work together as the cooperation would mutually benefit both parties.

The government is seeking to obtain software from Microsoft for a million computers for educational purposes in an effort to cut the ratio of computers to students from the current 1:1000 to 1:20, Aburizal said.

Gates said he was ready to help Indonesia get high-quality personal computers for a price of less than US$200 per unit, plus free software if Indonesia could make a deal with Intel chairman Craig Barrett, who will meet Yudhoyono in Jakarta next week.

“We will make a deal with Barrett to acquire cheap or even free processors for the computers to be distributed to the students. As a result, we will get a much lower price than $200,” minister of communication and information Muhammad Nuh said.

He expressed optimism that Indonesia could strike a deal with Barrett, who is known as a leading advocate for education improvement in the United States and around the world, and a vocal spokesman for the value of technology.

Gates also praised Indonesia's progress in fighting software piracy, pointing to fact the country had moved out from a priority ranking on a world piracy watch list.

“Gates' visit shows that he trusts we are making progress in fighting piracy. We are now checking government offices and big businesses to make sure they don't use pirated software. We want to get out from the watch list as soon as possible,” Nuh said.

Indonesia ranks as the fourth-worst offender of software piracy in the Asia Pacific after Vietnam, Pakistan and China.

Gates also expressed commitment to expanding the Microsoft Innovation Center program, which now runs at the University of Indonesia, the Bandung Institute of Technology, Gadjah Mada University and the Surabaya Institute of Technology. The center helps students conduct research in the information technology field.

Gates was in Indonesia as a key speaker at the presidential lecture to be held as part of Microsoft's annual Government Leadership Forum. 

Educomp launches ‘MagiKeys’ at Goa IT Conclave

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-
Educomp, India's largest Education company, has launched a unique software application that will allow millions of Government school students to communicate on the web, email, chat and write documents in their mother tongue.

'MagiKeys' has been developed by Israel based software company FTK Technologies Ltd and will be introduced to government schools in the country in collaboration with Educomp.

This initiative is being supported by Intel's World Ahead Education Program. In India Intel and Educomp are involved in a number of initiatives aimed at bringing the benefits of technology to students and teachers.

MagiKeys was launched by Goa Minister for Information Technology Dayanand Narvekar at the inaugural session of Goa IT Conclave held at the Marriot Hotel in Panjim.

Speaking on the launch of MagiKeys, Soumya Kanti, President-ICT, Educomp Solutions Ltd said, “We perceived a great need for this technology over the years while implementing computer-aided learning in Government schools across the country since most children speak and write in their mother tongue. While we provide curriculum content in local languages, it is difficult for these children to write emails, chat online or prepare documents on the computer since they are not proficient in English.”

He added, “These children will now be able to enjoy computers in their own language. Using Educomp MagiKeys online, they will be able to e-mail, communicate on the web, create blogs, chat, all in their mother's tongue, exposing them to new friends and new experiences. In addition, it will also empower teachers to communicate effectively and make presentations for teaching and learning purposes in regional languages”.

India is a multilingual country with 18 formal languages. These 18 languages use 10 different scripts and include hundreds of different characters. It is virtually impossible to arrange Indian languages characters over regular keyboards (too many characters). As a consequence, Indian languages keyboards are not widely available. According to a market research conducted by Frost & Sullivan, less than 10% of Indians can read or write English, therefore the vast majority are prevented from using computers. Lack of Indian languages keyboards have therefore prevented majority of Indians from using the Internet, sending emails, chatting, online shopping and basic word processing.

Director, FTK Technologies, Shlomo Ariel said, “Our vision is to provide hundreds of millions of Indian languages speakers a tailor-made Online Word Processor. We are happy to collaborate with Educomp to bring our revolutionary software application which act as a substitute for Indian languages keyboards to millions of government schoolchildren across India”.

He added, “MagiKeys' USP is its ease of use. Unlike some other regional language keyboards that require extensive training to be able to use, MagiKeys requires no training and moreover it has an intelligent and intuitive software that predicts the next letter to be typed making it not just easy but also the fastest system for typing in regional languages.”

Based on a technology developed by FTK Technologies, Educomp MagiKeys provides a user-friendly, Indian language Online Word Processor, with virtual keyboard. The dynamic virtual keyboard provides the first comprehensive Indian languages data entry tool. It includes features like a Web Based Editor, quick e-mail creator, over 3000 different letters and combinations in 11 Indian languages (Hindi, Marathi, Gujarathi, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, Punjabi, Urdu, Telugu, Bengali and Konkani), making Educomp MagiKeys a holistic solution for the educational needs of children in India.

Supreme Court reinstates Venugopal as AIIMS Director

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-
The Supreme Court has put the brakes on attempts by the UPA government to tinker with the autonomy of premier institutions by striking down the AIIMS Amendment Act and reinstated eminent cardiac surgeon Dr P Venugopal as the institute's director.

The government, under pressure from health minister Anbumani Ramadoss, had rewritten the law for ousting Dr Venugopal from the institute. Even the die-hard admirers of the ruling coalition said that the law was not in the public interest. Given this backdrop, the judgement of the Supreme Court is seen as a welcome intervention to check the functioning of a wilfully wayward executive.

Dr Venugopal had challenged the Bill in court saying it was introduced by the government specifically with the intention of removing him from the post. A bench of Justices Tarun Chatterjee and H S Bedi upheld the appeal filed by Dr Venugopal challenging the impugned law as being discriminatory. The counsels for Dr Venugopal had argued that the Act was an “extremely hostile and discriminatory law, singularly made to publicly humiliate an eminent doctor”.

Senior counsel and former law minister Arun Jaitley had contended on behalf of Dr Venugopal that the Act was illegal as the Delhi High Court had in March last year upheld his continuation in the post and the matter was pending in the apex court. But the Centre in the meantime brought the amendment in Parliament, he said. The law was enacted after a no-holds barred confrontation between Dr Venugopal and the health minister over the control of the prestigious institute.

Within hours the court striking down the order, Dr Venugopal went to the director's office at AIIMS and assumed charge. He described the verdict as a “victory for AIIMS”.

The Union health minister, however, was unrepentant and said the decision to remove the director was a collective decision of the Union cabinet. “This was endorsed by Parliament. We will study the verdict of the court,” he said.

The court had on December 3 last year

AMU to help link madrassas to mainstream education

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-
In an attempt to open up mainstream higher education in India to madrassa students, the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has decided to accredit several Islamic seminaries across the country.

“The move intends to provide better opportunities to madrassa students to pursue higher education,” Rahat Abrar, an AMU spokesperson, told IANS on telephone from Aligarh.

The effort will begin with Uttar Pradesh, where AMU is located and which has over 1,900 madrassas recognised by the state Madrassa Education Board. Around 170,000 students study in these seminaries – the figure being highest among all Indian states.

“For granting accreditation to madrassas, a committee has already been constituted. Our move will help raise the number of madrassa graduates considerably.”

The committee will review the syllabi of madrassas and recommend changes in the education system. It has been directed to expedite its effort in Uttar Pradesh.

At present, there are only about 42 AMU-accredited madrassas in different states, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

“Students of accredited madrassas will get lateral entry into bachelor courses offered by AMU. Thereafter, these students can also pursue master's courses offered by the varsity,” said Abrar.

An AMU source said: “Initially, we will focus on reviewing the syllabi of madrassas in Uttar Pradesh, which have the highest number of madrassa students. Later, the same exercise will be adopted for seminaries in other parts of the country.”

Initially, the committee will review and accredit the madrassas in Mau, Basti, Siddharthnagar and Azamgarh – all in Uttar Pradesh.

The state Madrassa Education Board has welcomed the move by AMU, but said a separate university should be set up to for their students due to their high numbers.

Board registrar Shoaib Ahmad told IANS, “Taking into account the number of students presently enrolled in different madrassas of the state, the government needs to set up a university to ensure higher education for such students.”

He said a proposal to set up an independent university for madrassa education has already been submitted to the state government. Officials at the madrassa education board said that AMU's move will help madrassa students join mainstream education and many avenues would open up for them.


 

The Government Leaders Forum

    By
    digitalLEARNING Network
    -

    Education, Healthcare and Sustainable Development comes under the spotlight during this years' Government Leaders Forum (GLF) at Jakarta, Indonesia. The forum focuses on 'Serving the citizen: The transformative power of information technology in delivering government services'.

    More than 100 delegates and guest speakers from Asian countries and around the world, including the UK, the Middle East, Denmark, the US, Austria, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Turkey and Nigeria will attend the two-day event scheduled between 8th and 9th May 2008

    Infosys Foundation jury to be lead by Amartya Sen for social sciences

    By
    digitalLEARNING Network
    -

    Nobel laureate Amartya Sen is to chair a five-member jury of the Infosys Science Foundation, set up by IT bellwether Infosys Technologies Ltd, to select winners for its awards in five science disciplines, the company said on Wednesday. Infosys mentioned that, 'Sen will chair the jury for social sciences. The jury consists of five members who will hold the position for three years. The other four members of each jury will have a renewable tenure of a year.' The 76-year-old Sen is a professor of economics and philosophy at Harvard University. The jury will evaluate nominations keeping in view international research on par with the finest minds in research the world over.

    The Foundation will award five prizes of INR 5 million in each discipline – social sciences, physical sciences, engineering and computer science, mathematical sciences and life sciences. Shrinivas Kulkarni, John D. & Catherine T. McArthur professor of astronomy & planetary science at the California Institute of Technology, will chair the jury for physical sciences. Subra Suresh, dean of the school of engineering and Ford professor of engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), will head the jury for engineering and computer sciences. Srinivasa Varadhan, professor of mathematics and Frank J. Gould professor of science at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, and 2007 Abel Prize winner, will head the jury for mathematical sciences. Inder Verma, head of American Cancer Society and Laboratory of Genetics-Salk Institute for biological studies, will be head of the jury for Life Sciences. The Foundation was set up in February, with a corpus amount of INR 21.5 crore (INR 215 million), contributed by Infosys' executive board members and an annual grant by the tech major to honour outstanding contributions and achievements by Indians in various streams of scientific research.

    Adobe announces Acrobat Connect Pro

    By
    digitalLEARNING Network
    -
    Adobe has announced a new version of Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro, the company's comprehensive Web conferencing and eLearning solution. The version includes new functionality that enriches online communication and collaboration, enabling organizations and schools to offer more engaging rapid training, interactive virtual classes and dynamic online meetings.

    Acrobat Connect Pro includes many new features for Web conferencing such as options for archiving and editing recorded online meetings; new presence capabilities that can allow federation with popular instant messaging (IM) clients; and powerful compliance and usage reporting tools.

    eLearning enhancements include break-out rooms to let students in virtual classes initiate separate conversations online; rapid authoring of video-based content; integration with Learning Management Systems (LMS) from Blackboard and SumTotal; and tools that track and organize online classes. Users also can easily tailor training sessions or meetings that help capture participants' attention and increase knowledge retention, resulting in an online learning experience remarkably similar to an in-person class.

    Combined with the new version of Adobe Presenter, Acrobat Connect Pro can enable users to hold engaging online meetings that incorporate high-impact Adobe Flash Player compatible presentations. Adobe Presenter can give virtually anyone the power to easily turn Microsoft PowerPoint presentations in to multimedia experiences that include video, narration, animations, interactivity and advanced quizzes.

    New capabilities in this release include question pooling and randomization, easy-to-work-with video, and the ability to publish presentations to mobile devices or within PDF files.

    Deployed using the Adobe Flash Player, already installed on more than 98 percent of Internet connected PCs worldwide; Acrobat Connect Pro lets virtually anyone connect to an online meeting or classroom instantly using a simple Web address, regardless of operating system or browser version, and without the need to download additional software.

    Apollo, government tie-up for certificate course in clinical research

    By
    digitalLEARNING Network
    -
    A growing demand for clinical trial professionals has led to an increasing number of institutions offering academic programmes in the same. Delhi, at present, has over 15 hospitals, medical colleges and institutions conducting clinical trials.

    According to the Planning Commission, India gets 139 clinical trials as against 98 for China. The market value of clinical trials outsourced to India was estimated at nearly US$ 300 million in 2006. Besides, according to a McKinsey report, by 2010 global pharma majors would spend around US$ 1-1.5 billion just for drug trials in India. The report further estimates that the profession will create a demand for nearly 5,00,000 professionals in India.

    To meet this demand, Apollo Hospitals Research and Education Foundation (AHERF), Delhi, has initiated a joint venture with the government regulatory body and drug industry to launch a certificate course in clinical research. The course would highlight all aspects of drug development from discovery to human use to post marketing surveillance.

    According to Ranjit Roy Chaudhury, Chairman (management), Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, Delhi: “India would be the hub for clinical trials of new drugs and many companies would be investing here. At present, we lack specialised people in this area and if we don't act now we would miss a valuable opportunity.”

    The foundation will offer an 18-month course from Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai, offering 20 seats in each city. It would launch the course in Delhi's Apollo Hospital from July this year, and from January 2009 in Hyderabad and Chennai. The first six months of the programme will revolve around full-time classroom teaching and will be followed by a 12-month internship at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital.

    Initially, AHERF will offer a certificate programme and then look to upgrade the same to a diploma. “We are discussing our case with the University of Cincinnati, US. We aim to train at least 300 experts in clinical trials within the next five years,” said Chaudhury.

    Meanwhile, Vidyasagar Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (VIMHANS), Delhi, and RNIS College of Clinical Research and Allied Sciences recently entered into an understanding to provide practical training to students of clinical research programmes. VIMHANS Hospital has been conducting clinical trials approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), US, since the last four years.

    According to Dr Shamsher Dwivedee, senior consultant, VIMHANS: “The tie-up would offer students of clinical trials a global exposure. At present we have eight projects from which students can benefit.” Clinical research involves both classroom teaching and hands-on training. The students of RNIS would, now, receive hands-on training at VIMHANS.

    New education website Bloust goes into the classroom

    By
    digitalLEARNING Network
    -
    A Florida-based mother of three has launched an education-based internet business that enables teachers to create personalized websites, at absolutely no cost.

    BLOUST.COM, the brainchild of Debbie Popkin, is a social network developed to bridge the gap between home and school by allowing teachers, students and parents to share information and create an interactive environment that promotes student success.

    “As a mom of three boys in the public school system, I was looking for a way to set my sons up for success and was frustrated at how difficult it was to get information from them on what was happening in their classrooms,” said Popkin. “I took my frustration and turned it into an opportunity to provide teachers the ability to create their own websites.”

    Popkin's very easy to use Bloust system takes teachers, step-by-step, through the process of creating their own sites and offers endless possibilities on what they can post or even how they can communicate with parents and students.

    “I've tried to put myself in both the mind of the teacher and the student; thinking like a parent is a piece of cake,” said Popkin. “But in doing this I've been able to create categories where teachers can post information on classroom activities as well as receive feedback from parents and students. I've also been able to provide all the information in a variety of languages so that no parent or child ever feels left out of the process.”

    Bloust has even incorporated a way for teachers to offer homework help on the site or set up virtual parent-teacher meetings. Popkin feels that in today's fast-paced world many parents want to be involved in their children's education process, but often their work schedules prohibit this from happening.

    “I created Bloust as a bridge in the communication between home and school. It's an efficient platform that provides all the tools to help our children succeed, keep parents more informed and assist teachers in utilizing the parental support that is often lacking often due to poor information. What I've tried to do with Bloust is create a community where everyone who participates is a beneficiary,” said Popkin.

    Some of Bloust's many features that teacher's may access from their website include, a comprehensive dynamic calendar that automatically sends e-mail alerts to those registered, Podcasting capabilities, photo gallery of classroom highlights and Teacher Talk, which facilitates dialogue between teachers and students on important classroom issues. Content can also be translated into eight languages, empowering non-English speaking parents to become more involved in their children's education.

    From a student standpoint, Bloust is an experience they are already very familiar with–social networking. They can create profiles, put their clubs online, share videos and keep in touch with their friends, all in a classroom-like environment.
       
    “It's important to reach students at their level,” said Popkin. “Bloust does this by connecting two very important things in a young person's life

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