Easy Does TeamBoard

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October 1, 2007

Combining state of the art infrared technology with award winning EVS projection and dry-erase surface, TeamBoard is one of the world’s largest touchscreen interactive whiteboard.Created for true ease of use, TeamBoard ‘Whiteboard Mode’ captures whatever one draws the instant one touches the writing surface. Notes and drawings are captured to PC, saved in popular cross-platform formats (PDF, JPEG, etc.), and shared electronically, emailed, or printed.

The TeamBoard ActionBar and TeamBoard Draw touchscreen tools provide an easy-to-use interface designed to accommodate content preparation and lesson development.

TeamBoard Interactive Touchscreen Mode

In ‘Interactive Mode’, TeamBoard Draw turns on the real power of computer-based presenting and training. Its latest software includes all the features one need, in a simplified format. The innovative TeamBoard AccessBar brings all the tools into one handy palette. Save favorite, frequently-used programmes into the AccessBar. Drive any of the PC applications – like Microsoft Excel, AutoCad, a web browser, everything right at the board, with a simple touch of the finger.

Freedom to teach

TeamBoard sets the teachers free to use any third-party software on their PC (Windows or Macintosh). Intuitive annotation tools work seamlessly with their software as they highlight, draw, capture, and export to universal file types (i.e. JPEG, PDF).

RM Easiteach

RM Easiteach features a variety of teaching tools including Resource Banks, Word Libraries, Multimedia Bank with 1000’s of graphics, video and flash animations, Spotlight feature focuses attention on image details, Handwriting Recognition, Calculator, Spreadsheet and Database tools, Animation tools – Objects move and appear on command, Speech Tool reads on-screen text out loud, Easiteach tools for drawings and shapes. RM Easiteach Studio software (for Windows only) combines with TeamBoard to make lessons more exciting and fun to share, and easy to reuse. Suitable for use across the entire curriculum, Easiteach Studio and optional ‘plug-in’ content packs provide tools and content for specific subject and topic areas.

TeamBoard is:

An outstanding projection surface
A guaranteed-to-clean, dry-erase whiteboard
An intelligent whiteboard captures notes
An interactive touchscreen works with any application
Fingertip-driven
Compatible, works with any third-party PC software
TeamBoard Draw upgrades are free of
charge

TeamBoard Draw

Whiteboard mode captures everything that is drawn on the TeamBoard, without using a data projector, directly into a digital file. This data can be printed, shared electronically, or saved for later use. A great tool for distance learning, one can freely download TeamBoard Draw to virtually any computer. Remote sites can easily share ideas and modify content.

TeamBoard Draw – ‘Interactive Mode’ TeamBoard Draw, the industry’s smartest interface, provides outstanding functionality.

TeamBoard Draw is an extremely powerful interface that captures screens into a workbook where one can save, print, email, import images, rearrange pages, create new screens. One-touch features, such as pen colors, print and erase are always available on the TeamBoard ActionBar that is printed along the bottom of the TeamBoard. TeamBoard Draw’s powerful annotation and drawing tools that enables one to capture ideas and communicate them instantly. TeamBoard Draw provides a permanent record of all notes, drawings, and lesson plans.

TeamBoard 8060

Designed to reach larger audiences, the TeamBoard 8060 is an 100″-diagonal (254cm), 80″w x 60″h full-screen display with a fixed aspect ratio. This precisely-calibrated, interactive touchscreen is 60% larger than 60″w x 48″h boards. A slim center moulding offers a clean finish to the framing, creating a single-board effect and the design ensures simple installation.

asia

Magazine

By

digitalLEARNING Network

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October 1, 2007

Microsoft Corporation to help train 10,000 teachers in Sri Lanka

The Microsoft Corporation is to upgrade the Information Technology and computer related sector in Sri Lanka. Under this programme, Microsoft will train around 10, 000 school teachers.

Apart from providing training programme, Microsoft will also launch the e-Village programme of the Ministry of Education and assist the Teachers Computer Training Scholarship Programme to provide funds and technical assistance to establish a Software Development and Research Institute in Sri Lanka. The firm is already assisting Sri Lanka’s education sector through its partners in learning and unlimited potential grant Programmes for improvement of Information Technology Education, Content Development and Research activities for teacher training.

Asia Foundation launches Mobile Library in Sri-Lanka

The San Francisco-based, Asia Foundation has launched Mobile library Sri Lanka with support from the AIG Disaster Relief Fund and Give2Asia.

The new mobile library is designed to serve an estimated eighty thousand families and children living in southern and eastern Sri Lanka. The mobile libraries will be stationed in the communities of Hambantota, Hikkaduwa, Kattankudy, and Thirukkovil, all of which were affected by the Indian Ocean tsunami of December, 2004. The Foundation has retrofitted buses as mobile libraries stocked with books selected by local authorities and available in Sinhala, Tamil, and English, as well as a laptop computer, multimedia projector, and educational DVDs.

UK and China sign e-Learning deal

An online educational initiative between the UK and China has been launched, with plans to provide e-Learning for 20 million Chinese students.

The deal, which is a partnership between the UK group and the Chinese media company Sun Media, will provide online teaching materials to pupils in 20 major Chinese cities. The content, across a range of subjects, will be provided by the Chinese partners – with the first students using the materials in spring 2008. British Universities are already offering UK degree courses to Chinese students – including the University of Nottingham setting up a campus in Ningbo. And this latest project will see the UK’s experience of educational technology being introduced to Chinese secondary school pupils.

Mindanao school in Philippines awaiting cyber education

The teachers from Minando schools of Philippines are waiting for the implementation of the Cyber Education Project (CEP) of the Department of Education to improve the quality of education, especially in remote areas.

The school has already started to venture into ICT through the Project Alert without the help of Cyber-Education. But CEP will really help in addressing the problem of the lack of education facilities in the country. Schools are already launching the e-Library project. Cyber education would be the best alternative to the perennial shortage of books and classrooms in the poverty-stricken region.

Human capital impact of CSR in China

In a recent survey, 41% of American Chamber of Commerce in China member companies and 48% of the Chamber’s manufacturers indicate they are negatively affected by increased salary expenses. A major impediment to corporate effectiveness in China is retaining top talent in a market of scarcity. A significant reason for this obstacle to effectiveness is the systemic problems within the Chinese educational system.

Understanding the impact of labor scarcity on corporate effectiveness, IBM launched their Reinventing Education programme in China in March of 2004 with a USD700,000 grant. The significant impact of the programme is its impact on students and teachers outlined in an independent report released in 2006. At the time of the report, not only had over 700 teachers fully adopted the programme’s innovative instructional methods and an additional 500 teachers were in the training process, but staff at the 12 pilot schools also developed opportunities to train teachers in other schools, bringing the total number of teachers trained to 4,000 – more than three times the initial project goal. In addition, more than 13,000 teachers participated in various training and outreach activities for further replication and expansion. This programme addresses the long-term aspect of the same problem through working with local educational institutions to change the broader environment within which its future employees will be educated.

Whether it is contributing to the ecosystem of “learning organisations” or bridging the employee engagement gap, IBM’s reinventing education initiative addresses fundamental issues in the Chinese IT labor market. What is critical in the long-term, however, is these issues are addressed through improving the underlying education system that has created the talent shortage in the first place.

Bookshelf

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digitalLEARNING Network

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October 1, 2007

Sceptical Essays on Children, Computers and the Future of Learning

Author : Utpal Mallik
Publisher : Frank Bros. & Co. (Publishers) Ltd.
Price : Rs. 190.00/-

Sceptical Essays on Children, Computers and the Future of Learning focuses on the vital issues pertaining to ICT in education. This small book is an indispensable piece of reading material in the domain of ICT in education for policymakers, teachers, students and the general public and would help decision makers to make better investment and take innovative decisions on ICT in education. The book traces the genesis of educational computing, highlights critical educational issues associated with ICT use and takes a futuristic stance. The author's understanding of the subject, style of narration and wry humour makes the collection an enjoyable reading and a valuable source book for the non-expert.

Sceptical Essays on Children, Computers and the Future of Learning is perhaps the first attempt to put an earnest issue as that of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in education in the genre of essay. Laced with a tinge of wit, the author never seems to read unpleasant, yet he is convincing and forceful in his assertions.

The book is divided into four sections. The first section is about the relationship between computers and school education in India over the past quarter of a century or thereabout. The author emphasises on the vagueness of assumptions by educators and experts upon which ICT in education programmes have been based and ambiguous policies adapted and projects implemented in synergising computer and school education. The author claims that efforts to make all school computing programmes necessarily literacy programmes has not been a wise one. He further makes the point that changing tools and technology would not solve problems in the educational system; a change in attitude of educators is indispensable in bringing about efficient and practical teaching-learning processes and highlights the need to shift the focus from “teaching the tools” to “tools to teach”.

“Literacy,” says the author, “is a strong metaphor and one that in the context of computer education is totally confusing. … There is no consensus on what everyone needs to know. Universally required IT skills must change with the fast changing technology.”

The second section of the book puts stress on ICT tools and their relevance in education system. The author encourages innovative uses of ICT tools to promote individual learning styles and makes a strong case for spontaneous and diverse uses of the tools to encourage learning processes that an individual adopts. The author expresses his disagreement with the idea that educational games are a threat to education. On the contrary, he argues, the educational games provide an important package of cognitive skills, containing hypothesis-creation, data gathering, hypothesis testing, evaluation of alternative strategies and tactics, classificaion of novel situations and objects, development of new concepts and generalisations and development of vocabulary.

Various courseware issues, including trends in courseware development, evaluation of courseware and teachers' readiness to use learning resources, and other similar themes are addressed in Section three. The author speaks of teachers', students' and educators' lack of preparedness to use computer courseware, many of whom are under the impression that courseware is simply a part of the computing programme that has nothing to do with teaching a school subject. This poor understanding, together with unwillingness among teachers to use these programs, unreal expectations from them, and, above all traditional teaching practices stand in the way of children reaping any benefit out of such programs.

Section four of the book throws light on the basic educational use of the Internet and emphasises the imminent need for teaching-learning community to organise itself into online community. The author highlights the significance of active online collaborations between students and between students and teachers or experts. The author also comments on the emerging vocabulary and syntax in our online communications, as we socialise on the Internet. Finally, the author cautions on the question of intellectual property rights (or their rampant violation) and ethical issues associated with the question as we prepare for the distance learning mode that the global network so eminently supports.

Sceptical Essays on Children, Computers and the Future of Learning is a must read for both the toughest sceptic and the most enthusiastic proponent of ICT for education.

Stimulating Learning

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By

digitalLEARNING Network

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October 1, 2007

mimio is an industry pioneer and a market leader in digitally enabling the interactive potential of any ordinary whiteboard. mimio headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, currently sells and distributes products in over 45 countries around the world.

mimio provides a perfect solution for presenting engaging interactive content by connecting directly to the PC/Mac. With mimio Interactive and a projector, mimio allows one to control the desktop applications and documents directly from the board. With mimio Capture, it enables one to digitally capture notes or drawings that can be saved, shared, and/or integrated into other materials. With mimio Interactive one can convert the existing whiteboard into a powerful interactive teaching tool, by controlling PowerPoint slides, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, annotating, mark-up, and edit slides or screens directly at the board, browsing educational websites on the Internet, and helping in navigate interactive instructional CDs.

Jaemes Shanley, Director of Sales & Marketing for Sanford Brands, mimio opens up more on mimio’s interactivity in education.

What is the product?

mimio Interactive transforms existing standard “dumb” whiteboards into full functioning interactive whiteboards that enable innovative interactive curriculum delivery and can stimulate new enthusiasm for learning in students. The system comprises a capture device that clips into easily attached and removed mounting brackets on the board. Once in place the device activates a projection surface area up to 2m x 2.4m for touch sensitive interaction with a mimio Mouse stylus pen, included with the system. The device interface to the computer is a 5m USB cable but the system can be easily and affordably upgraded to a wireless connection with 10m range. Mimio Interactive is sold as a complete system ready to go “out of the box”.

The versatility and affordability of mimio technology enables significantly more teachers to have that experience.

How does it work?

mimio technology uses high precision signal tracking technology to locate and track the stylus pen interaction on the board surface. Digital signal processing on the mimio capture device renders high resolution pen positioning at resolution greater than 4,800 lines on a 1.2m high board.

What else can the product do?

The mimio Interactive + Capture product configuration add to the rich features of mimio Interactive, the ability to “digitize” a whiteboard surface up to 1.2m x 2.4m so that ordinary dry erase marker notes and diagrams can be captured digitally on the computer (no projector required) and subsequently printed, emailed to student, posted to class web pages (with teacher annotated notes or assignments) or simply copied into other applications. The rich tools of the mimio Studio software included in all mimio systems supports handwriting recognition that converts handwritten notes to text or permits direct entry of text into any application from handwritten input.

Why this product; What are the differences between tools, a brief market analysis while comparing the product features and USP with the market competitors?

The salient user benefit of mimio Interactive and Ink Capture solutions compared to conventional Interactive or Digital/Copy board systems is the easy portability and dramatically lower cost.

The mimio technology is housed in the durable mimio Xi capture bar housing, not embedded in the board surface, thereby making it less susceptible to damage.

The compact product configuration and easy set up results in delivery and installation costs that are a small fraction of the cost to transport and install conventional board.

Teachers using mimio Interactive do not have to sacrifice their traditional whiteboard techniques and can still use their whiteboards for dry-erase note-taking.

What result or significant changes the product can bring in the gamut of e-Learning?

A multitude of studies of the impact of Interactive Whiteboards on student learning in the classroom have shown a repeated pattern of increased student engagement and interest in curriculum delivered interactively with a consequential positive impact on retention. A typical response from a teacher who has used an interactive whiteboard to teach for any length of time is “I’d never again teach without one.” The versatility and affordability of mimio technology enables significantly more teachers to have that experience.

One in Every Two Students Drops Out by Class Eight in India

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digitalLEARNING Network

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October 1, 2007

Even as the country observes International Literacy Day, a study has found that one out of every two students enrolled in schools drop out before reaching ninth standard. According to the study carried out by the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry, Government of India, one out of every four students does not go beyond class five. By class eight, the dropout rate gets worse at 50.8 per cent. HRD Minister Arjun Singh also recently said that the government was striving to achieve universalisation of elementary education by 2010 and confessed that one out of five teachers at the primary level was not attending class.

The government is implementing the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (Education for All) programme for universalisation of elementary education by 2010, by augmenting availability of school infrastructure and improving the quality of education in elementary schools. But Ministry's own survey conducted this year shows that 20% of teachers were not attending schools at the primary stage.

An independent survey was commissioned by the Government of India and conducted by Social and Research Institute, a unit of International Marketing Research Bureau (SRI-IMRB) in July-August, 2005 with the aim of assessing the number of out-of-school children across the country.

As per the findings of the survey, the number of out of school children in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh was 31.77 lakhs and 29.95 lakhs respectively.

This number has now reduced to 21.20 lakhs in Bihar and 7.86 lakhs in Uttar Pradesh as per State Reports as of March, 2007.

Context specific interventions for children who are “hard to reach” such as bridge courses, learning centres with flexible timings, seasonal hostels, home based education, mobile schools, have been taken up under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Programme. The Government of India has undertaken 19 orientation and capacity building workshops with States/UTs with illustrative case studies of good practices, to encourage State/Districts to do such context specific interventions.

The Madhya Pradesh state government has achieved considerably success in this regard over last four years. There were 700,74 out-of-school children in the year 2003 in the state. Now their number has been reduced to 65,000 following concerted efforts made in the state for enrolment of such children. Besides, the dropout rate has also come down during the period. The dropout rate at primary level was 25.6 per cent in year 2003 which has come down to 17.6 per cent in the year 2007. At middle level the dropout rate has come down from 26.6 percent in 2003 to 16.3 percent in the year 2007.

The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GNR) was 101.7 percent at primary level in the year 2003, which has increased to 104.6 per cent in the year 2007. At middle level this ratio was 56.6 per cent, which has increased to 95.3 per cent in the year 2007.

Similarly, the Net Enrolment Ratio (NER), which was 82 per cent in 2003, has increased to 95.9 per cent at primary level and in case of middle level it has gone up from 66 per cent to 88.2 per cent during the period. A joint review mission sent by Government of India for review of implementation of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) early this year lauded the achievements in Madhya Pradesh. The review mission praised the efforts of state government for enrolment of out-of-school children and to bring down the dropout rate.

The credit of these achievements has been given to “School Chalen Ham” drive, residential bridge course, non-residential bridge course, human development centres and other innovative programmes.

Meanwhile, a new funding pattern for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) was cleared by the Union Cabinet. The new pattern will be a compromise between the state governments' demand and the union government and finance ministry's proposal. The revised Centre-state funding pattern for the SSA would be 65:35 for the current and the next financial year. For 2009-10, it would be 60:40 and in 2010-11 it would be 55:45. By the end of the present plan period (2011-2012), the equation would be 50:50. The 50:50 pattern would be continued thereafter.

The revision is with retrospective effect from the beginning of the financial year. In view of stiff resistance from the States to the funding scheme that envisaged a withdrawal of the Centre from SSA funding with every Five Year Plan, the Union Human Resource Development Ministry suggested a staggered reduction in the Central assistance in the XIth Plan period.

A further concession has been granted to the eight North-Eastern States. Right through the Plan, they will have to cough up only 10 per cent of the expenditure in their respective States.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave its nod for extending the mid-day meal scheme to children in the upper primary stage in government and government-aided schools, besides the education guarantee scheme and alternative and innovative education centres in two phases.

The SSA structure in Gujarat May be replicable in other states

Meena Bhatt, State Project Director, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Government of Gujarat

In emerging trends of learning where do you place Gujarat school education system? What are the innovative learning solutions, best practices or policies specific to the state, that make it a glorified or a successful teaching/ learning system? Do you think what you have been able to do in this project or in this state's education sector is replicable in other states or in other educational contexts?

In Gujarat, we have started Computer Aided Education (CAE) in 2003-04 with 517 schools as an innovative activity. The idea is to make the students able to learn themselves the difficult topics of the syllabus with the help of Multimedia based Education Contents. Most of the states are implementing the same project but of course, the structure what Gujarat has created May be replicable in other states. In Gujarat, the computer labs established are having minimum 6 computers. Also the bigger schools have10 computers.

What role does the Public Private Partnerships (PPP) plays in the context of the state's school education system, especially in relation to the SSA project. How will the public-private partnership be built self-propelled or centrally guided?

In the initial phase of Computer-aided Learning (CAL), Gujarat has tied up with Azim Premji Foundation for the multimedia based contents on Hard spots. The Public Private Partnership plays a vital role in school education system. In Gujarat, the PPP is being built self-propelled.

What are the key areas where ICT can upgrade human resource development? What are the key skill requirements for Educators, Pedagogical/ Technical?

ICT can upgrade Human Resource Development in many areas, like Decision Making Systems, Analysis of data, Presentation of the difficult areas etc. Both technical as well as pedagogical skills are required for Educators.

Interactive @ Classroom

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

October 1, 2007

A universal truth for all schools is that engaging students in learning is a constant challenge. In India, the task becomes even more daunting due to the advanced accountability and student achievement requirements that Education for All mandates. India still has a big share in the world drop-out league, we still strive to bring in effective measures in teachers’ skill building and in inclusive and special needs in education. It’s no small wonder if we turned to technology as a solution for meeting such stringent accountability demands, if we engage the student community including those from K-12 segment and the students in the higher education and in special sector, the deaf or hard of hearing.

The need is for the learning tools that these students could connect with – something that drives them beyond their limits and stretches their educational experience, that provides more interesting, interactive, visually stimulating and technologically advanced lessons to them.

No wonder that the electronic whiteboard system has made a huge difference in how the teachers teach today and how motivated the students have become about learning. Using an electronic pen or pointer, a teacher or student can interact with the images there, highlight or write notes on the screen, and incorporate graphics, sound, and video, the same way a desktop computer can. This visually engaging and user-friendly group-teaching system has clearly captivated the attention of teachers and students alike. We have been impressed with the seamless integration of this teaching solution, the whiteboard with interactivity, into every aspect of classroom instruction. The possibilities are still infinite.

The interactive-whiteboard industry is expected to reach sales of USD1 billion worldwide by 2008, according to Decision Tree Consulting, a London-based market-research company. The company, which tracks whiteboard sales in 66 countries, predicts that one of every seven classrooms in the world will feature an interactive whiteboard by 2011.

In the United Kingdom, about 60 percent of classrooms have interactive whiteboards, which leaves a mark for inspiration back in our homeland. It’s a bit harder for interactive whiteboard companies to make significant headway in India, where education spending is much more localised than in many other countries. There’s a lot of opportunity though in the Indian market. Market is growing rapidly, in part because technology prices are dropping.

Companies are also making their interactive whiteboards more attractive by developing libraries of ready-made lessons to pair with their products, organised by subject and age-group and even aligned with individual country standards.

But the need should not be felt only in the science or mathemeatics class; for science, the whiteboards May not be the priority; the social studies teacher May opt for smaller electronic tablets, similar to whiteboards but more portable. There should be rather the question on their ubiquitous application in schools, colleges, and other academic institutions. There is need to look at this technology and ask whether it should blanket the institution!

Transforming Teaching and Learning

Magazine

By

digitalLEARNING Network

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October 1, 2007

Nancy Knowlton

CEO
SMART Technologies Inc., Canada
nancyk@smarttech.com
It has often been said that if someone had fallen asleep 100 years ago and awoke today, the only thing that might be recognized is what takes place in a classroom. While that may be true in some locales, a transformation is quietly taking place in hundreds of thousands of classrooms around the world. Over the last 15 years, schools all over the world have een introducing interactive whiteboards into classrooms with varying degrees of success. As with any new tool, educators experienced an early learning curve with regard to how best to implement it. For them, imagining how interactive whiteboards could be used was the first step in creating a compelling vision about transforming teaching and learning. Many of their early experiments with interactive whiteboards helped us identify what needs to be considered when creating a vision for this remarkable tool.

An Interactive Whiteboard in Every Classroom

For teachers to commit to technology, it needs to be consistently available. Permanently mounting the interactive whiteboard on the wall ensures that it is there, ready to go, for every class.

Adventuresome Teachers First

When funds are limited and not every teacher can have all of the technology tools, put the products in the hands of teachers who like to experiment and explore. Not only will they delight in the opportunity, but their colleagues will be eager to have the same opportunity when they see the success of the technology adventurers.

Every Subject, Every Grade

Not only mathematics and science classes can benefit from interactive whiteboards. Literally every subject at every grade level can benefit from a focal point for those parts of the lesson that involve whole-class teaching and learning.

For Teachers and Students

Interactive whiteboards encourage a very participatory model of instruction. In fact, many educators would argue that students should use the interactive whiteboards more than the teacher, particularly in the lower grade levels.

Just-in-Time Training

Ensuring that teachers learn at a comfortable pace can really make a difference. Spread professional development out over a reasonable period. Start with the simplest functions first, such as writing, saving and printing. Then move on to the more elaborate functions, such as importing Macromedia® Flash® files into Notebook™ whiteboarding software.

Time for Sharing

Teachers learn and grow when they can spend time with their colleagues, sharing ideas about what works and what does not. Coupled with appropriate amounts of professional development, this practice can ensure that a teacher’s technology use grows effectively.

Infrastructure

Having a connection to the Internet in the classroom and digital content for each subject are often-cited elements that make for successful implementation.

Technology in Its Place

As important as technology can be in the teaching and learning process, it is not an end in itself. It is there to serve the needs of students and teachers, and aid the learning process.

A Comfortable Transition

Like no other technology before it, interactive whiteboards have the power to transform teaching and learning. While many teachers are comfortable with the sage-on-the-stage model, many more believe that a guide-on-the-side model leads to deeper understanding and true learning. Interactive whiteboards are providing teachers with a comfortable transition between these two teaching styles. Guiding pupils to take charge of their own learning through greater in-class participation is just the start. Opening the universe of learning to them and making them eager to reach out and grab it is our responsibility as members of a civil society. In taking this responsibility to heart, we all help to ensure that a well-educated, competitive workforce is prepared for the challenges of the 21st century.

world

Magazine

By

digitalLEARNING Network

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October 1, 2007

Books go digital in the British Library

It is said that approximately 30 terabytes of storage will be required to accommodate the project's output. The first 25 million pages are expected to take two years to complete.

Texts which are hard to get hold of will particularly benefit from the digitisation. The new category of digitised titles will supplement other early historic printed books which the British Library has already made available for viewing online through previous projects. Digitised publications will be accessible in two ways -initially through Microsoft's Live Search Books and then via the Library's website. More than 100,000 old books which were earlier unavailable to the public, will be available online soon because of a mass digitisation programme at the British Library.

Vodafone supplies 5000 laptops for e-School programmes in Portgual

Vodafone will soon supply the first 5000 laptops for the e-School programmes in Portugal .

In the first phase, Vodafone has selected the Satellite L40 Notebook that has just been launched by Toshiba, and which incorporates the latest Intel chip that offers advantages in terms of performance and energy consumption. The laptop includes the latest version of the Windows Vista operating system and Microsoft Office or equivalent. The first subscribers to this Vodafone offer will also receive a practical carrier case for their laptop. Vodafone has assumed a pioneering role in promoting and developing broadband services in Portugal, contributing significantly to the development of the Information Society.

Kenyan Government expands access to education

The Kenyan Government has taken bold steps to expand access to education at all levels in the country.

The Government is providing free primary education and support to vulnerable groups such as learners with special needs and regions that have lagged behind in education. These initiatives have increased primary school enrollment by over 2 million in the last four years. Kenya is now spending 220 per cent higher on education in the last 4 years. Secondary school sub-sector enrollment has increased from 778,000 to 1,030,000, while enrollment at university level has grown from 80,000 to 112,200 over the last four years.

S&T Ministry designs software for science education in Nigeria

The Ministry of Science and Technology of Nigeria has designed an ICT programme, which packages science curricula in software for school children.

The government is planning to expand the scope of its computer for all Nigerian programme by subsidizing the cost of computer for making it affordable to all Nigerians. The Edo state government has appealed the Ministry to support the state's pilot scheme for the setting up of computer laboratories in designated secondary schools in the state. The Ministry is also procuring laboratory equipment from Science Equipment Development Institute in Minna for secondary schools and tertiary institutions in the state.

Nigerian firm Zinox partners Intel, Microsoft

Nigerian ICT company Zinox Technologies Limited, is partnering with Intel Corp and Microsoft Corp, to empower 100,000 students in the country through a new initiative called the Zinox Students' Computer Ownership Project (Z-SCOP).

The project is aimed at promoting the use of computers by Nigerian students at all levels. From primary to postgraduate level, including graduates serving in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.The initiative enhances knowledge acquisition at all levels of the nation's education system. Z-SCOP was targeting in the first phase to empower, at least 100,000 students before the end of 2007. Providing them with laptops or desktops at greatly discounted prices and zero interest rate with full warranty. Zinox is ready to roll out 70,000 laptops and 30,000 desktops within the initiative that would grow to 500,000 students in the next one year. The initiative is expected to turn 1 million Nigerian students into computer literate.

Education ministry to survey state of New Zealand's early childhood ICT

The Ministry of Education is seeking a provider to conduct an environmental scan of ICT trends and influences on the Early Childhood Education sector.

The environmental scan will identify changes and trends impacting the infrastructure workstream as outlined in the Early Childhood Education (ECE) ICT Framework Implementation Programme. The scan, or survey, will include the technical, political and institutional, and socio-cultural influences on the New Zealand early childhood education sector. The report should be completed by March 31, 2008.

The report will also comment on how technologies are being applied within the sector, what is driving uptake of particular types of technology and the levels of technology that the sector wants and is appropriate

Mark Your Calendar

Magazine

By

digitalLEARNING Network

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October 1, 2007

october

2nd Athens International Conference on University Assessment: Assessing Quality
12 -14 October, 2007
Athens, Greece
http://quality.hau.gr/

Institutional Research and Accountability in Higher Education
17 – 19 October, 2007
Reno, NV, United States
http://www.rmair.org/page.asp?page=1246

International Conference on Research in Higher Education Institutions
24 – 27 October, 2007
Cebu City, Philippines
http://ched.mozcom.com

Student Achievement in Higher Education
30 – 31 October, 2007
Madinah Munawwarah
Saudi Arabia
http://educonference.info

november

Safe Schools Conference 2007
4 – 6 November, 2007
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
http://www.aasro.com

13th Annual Sloan-C International Conference on Online Learning
7 – 9 November, 2007
Orlando, Florida, United States
http://www.aln.ucf.edu

International Conference on Teaching and Learning (ICTL 2007)
15 – 16 November, 2007
Putrajaya, Malaysia, Malaysia
http://ictl.intimal.edu.my

International Education Summit
16 – 17 November, 2007
cincinnati, OHIO, United States
http://www.globalcincinnati.org

Teaching in Public – The Future of HE
21 – 23 November, 2007
Cardiff, Wales
United Kingdom
http://c-sap.bham.ac.uk

ICODL 2007 – 4th International
Conference on Open and Distance Learning
23 – 25 November, 2007
Athens, Attiki, Greece
http://artemis.eap.gr/icodl2007/

december

Regional Conference on Quality in Higher Education
10 – 11 December, 2007
Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
http://qamu.um.edu.my/conf2007/

11th UNESCO-APEID International Conference: Reinventing Higher Education: Toward Participatory and Sustainable Development
12 – 14 December, 2007
Bangkok, Thailand
http://www.unescobkk.org/index.php?id=6257

School Education, Pluralism and Marginality: Comparative Perspectives
14 – 16 December, 2007
India International Centre
New Delhi, India
http://deshkalindia.com

january

e-Learning Excellence in the Middle East 2008: Define. Design. Deliver

14 – 17 January, 2008
dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
http://elexforum.etqm.ae/

Responding to Change – Flexibility in the Delivery of Language
Programmes 7 – 11 January 2008
Hong Kong, PRC and Chiang Mai, Thailand
http://lc.ust.hk/~centre/conf2008

Call for Suggestions/ Recommendations/ Position Papers on National Policy on ict in Education, India

The Department of Education, Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD), Government of India is currently developing a National Policy on ICT in Education. Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative (GeSCI) and Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies (CSDMS) will provide strategic support in this process. This process consists of drafting policy objectives, guidelines, practices and knowledge tools to support the implementation of the policy across all states and union territories of India.

The Department of Education, MHRD solicits inputs from leaders and visionaries in international agencies, industry, academia, NGOs and government to identify the needs, gaps, challenges, and issues of ICTs in Education sector in India and to contribute to the goal of defining a road map for building a National Policy on ICT in Education and invites to submit the recommendations/ suggestions/ position papers, to assist the Ministry to formulate a National Policy on ICT in Education.

How to submit

Articulate a progressive vision, objectives, guidelines and promising directions for building the ICT in Education Policy Framework.

Last date of submission October 25, 2007.

Submissions May be sent to: Rachita Jha(rachita@csdms.in), Research Associate, CSDMS, G-4 Sector 39, NOIDA 201301. Tel: +91-120-2502180-85

The Revolution of Interactive Whiteboards in Indian School

Magazine

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

October 1, 2007

One of the oldest and prestigious Education Trust in Mumbai was looking at completely overhauling the teaching methodology by using latest ICT in the classrooms. This school which is having branches all over Maharashtra and now in AP and other states follow different curriculum, like State Government Board ,CBSE, ICSE, CIE, and IB, at different schools. They started by having six units of touch sensitive interactive whiteboards in the year 2005. But this experiment was not that successful because of the inherent problems with this membrane technology boards. The surface is very delicate to handle and more so because of the environment in which they are used in the Indian schools , they are more susceptible for damages. Also any accidental touch on the board would create annotations on the surface. The school also faced some problems in the after sales support. The school also wanted some world class interactive content which can be used on these interactive whiteboards.

Foundation e-Learning, proposed a complete solution- FX-77 to the school, encompassing the sturdiest of the interactive whiteboards and one of the best curriculum software for interactive whiteboard

Foundatione -Learning (http://www.cambridgeindia.org/fbelearning. asp) , the fully owned company of Cambridge University Press India and marketing partners of Hitachi StarBoards in South Asia approached this school and proposed a complete solution encompassing the sturdiest of the interactive whiteboards and one of the best curriculum software for interactive whiteboard. They suggested the school FX-77 (Ultrasound , Bluetooth) StarBoards of Hitachi and range of curriculum software from Cambridge-Hitachi (a Joint Venture between Cambridge University Press and Hitachi). The school’s management involved all the concerned during the evaluation process – the teachers, the Principals of schools and the IT team. They found StarBoards as the most sturdiest of the boards as there is no electronic mesh in the surface; so even if the surface gets damaged the board still works.

Manish Amte
General Manager, Foundation
e-Learning Pvt Ltd

The StarBoard software is very intuitive and user friendly, which was immensely liked by the teachers. The teachers also appreciated the depth and features of Cambridge-Hitachi curriculum software. As the contents are from Cambridge University Press and the technology from Hitachi, the quality of the end product was never in doubt. The school finally decided to award this project for StarBoards after critically evaluating all the major vendors of Interactive whiteboards in the market.

Features of FX-Series board

Use a variety of pens, papers, backgrounds and effects
Switch effortlessly from pen to mouse
Customise the toolbar, from a wide selection of tools to meet the individual classroom needs
Add notes, and highlight or add emphasis to the images
Move and resize objects
Scroll, so one never run out of space
Convert hand-drawn shapes into geometrical objects
Save time with drag-and-drop applications
Convert free form to text using handwriting recognition software
Hide-and-reveal questions
Save favourites for tried-and-tested lessons
Keyboard shortcut for lesson creation away from the board
The cursor can be hovered over an icon to reveal the icon’s function
‘Spotlight’ or magnify a specific area
Record the live sessions (audio-visual) to replay later

The company installed 58 units of FX-77 StarBoards in May 2006 and also supplied all the softwares of Cambridge-Hitachi. An extensive training was organised for their 300 teachers for a week with specialist trainers coming down from Cambridge (UK), Singapore and Tokyo. The teachers just loved it! The school management took a bold step in involving students as well in their day-to-day learning. This made the teacher’s job lot easier and brought in a revolutionary and refreshing change in the entire teaching and learning process. It was all interactive, interesting and fun to learn and teach now. The school was so delighted with all this that they placed another order of 80 units of FX-77 Starboards in February this year. In between 13 units of FX-77 were installed in their other schools. As of now the company has installed 151 units of FX-77 StarBoards in this group of Schools. The school management plans to install one interactive whiteboard in each classroom! The revolution has just started!!

Foundation e-Learning Pvt Ltd, a division of Cambridge University Press India Pvt Ltd, can be contacted at cup@cupind.com

A Total Solution in Teaching and Learning

Tarun Jain, Country Head, Hitachi Home Electronics Asia (S) Pvt Ltd

What are the different models of whiteboards available to keep classrooms engaged? How to use an interactive whiteboard in the classroom, across the curriculum, and how to use effectively?

There are several models fit for the type of classrooms. Front projection model (StarBoard FX Series) is almost the same appearance as whiteboard and it can be wall-mounted. The available sizes are 63″, 77″ and 82″; and the 77″ size is for normal classrooms where it can have 20-30 students. For larger rooms that can engage over 100 students, interactive panels (StarBoard T Series) are appropriate. This allows users to operate the PC by using a pen on the LCD display and the PC image is projected on a large screen as required.

We also have Bluetooth tablets (BT-1 and BT-2) and Voting systems (VerdICT) which are add-on products to our StarBoards, and when connected to each other completes a digital classroom solution.

How does an interactive whiteboard benefit learners, teachers and presenters? Why use it? What are the essential features of interactivity, and how can their use be promoted and then sustained?

The several benefits for learners, teachers and presenters are like-
(1) Annotation: Different from presentations using PowerPoint, Hitachi StarBoard allows users to annotate presentations. Also, it is possible to insert blank background and use as a substitute of whiteboard.
(2) Using multiple pages: Normal whiteboards allow users to use only one page, and if they erase the whiteboard, the handwritten notes will be gone. On the other hand, StarBoard allows users to use multiple pages electronically and it is possible to move forward/back pages as desired.
(3) All notes are stored as electronic data, StarBoard Software allows teachers to review and reuse lessons afterwards. Teachers do not need to create lesson plans for the same subject and curriculum every year anymore. Also, teachers can email lesson plans to the learners who could not attend the lesson. StarBoard Software supports PDF, HTML, Images (jpg, png) output.
(4) No chalk dust, No marker smell -This is beneficial from the health and safety angles.

How can the use of an interactive whiteboard enhance the nature of teaching and learning, in a more subject and language specific way?

Let me answer this with an example. Science teachers can use movies and videos easily on StarBoard. This makes learners understand things more effectively than just looking at static diagrams in textbooks.
Another example is Math tools like protractor or a ruler, is available in StarBoard Software. Teachers can move, resize, or rotate the tools and show values (angle/length) as desired.

What should one look for in commercial available whiteboard materials to maximise any benefits of its use?

Hitachi provides the pre-prepared contents that work on StarBoard Software. Teachers can download contents as desired and use them for their lessons. The URL is: http://starboard.hitachi-software.co.uk/ResourceCentre/en/

The use of the website is free of charge and StarBoard users can access anytime they want.

Does the teacher need operational training of the tool? What type of materials should teachers be producing for themselves, given the varied designs of such tools with which they are working?

Training is not mandatory to use any interactive whiteboard, as StarBoard Software is very intuitive. However, to utilise the full capability such as movies/videos, animation, math tools and handwriting recognition, training will be helpful.

We have installed more than 160 StarBoards in schools in India and along with our partners Cambridge-Hitachi (www.cambridge-hitachi.com) and Foundation e-Learning (http://www.cambridgeindia.org/fbelearning.asp) we have given extensive training to their teachers and students.

Which model of whiteboards best supports the growth in the effective use in the classroom?

As StarBoard Software works on all the available models (Front Projection: FX Series, Interactive Panel: T Series), it depends on how natural the installation is. Considering this, front projection is the best choice for classrooms because the appearance is almost the same as a whiteboard as mentioned.

What are the softwares to use on whiteboards?

Other than StarBoard Software which is bundled with StarBoard products, curriculum specific contents are available from Cambridge-Hitachi (a joint venture company established by Cambridge University Press and Hitachi). Cambridge-Hitachi provides wide-range of products on Maths, Science, English Literacy and ELT (English Language Teaching) for Primary, Secondary, Higher Education and lifelong learning. As mentioned earlier we provide training on all these softwares with our South Asia partner Foundation e-Learning.

What are the ways forward, in terms of technology, innovation and potential to enhance the teaching learning process?

Interactive whiteboards make teaching and learning more effective. We think that this effectiveness will spread to assignment and assessment, and Hitachi would like to provide a total solution in conjunction with other parties such as Cambridge-Hitachi for all teachers and learners in the future.

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