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OLPC machine comes at US$175

    The founder of the ambitious “US$100 laptop” project, Nicholas Negroponte announced that the machine is now available at US$175 and it would be able to run Windows in addition to its homegrown, open-source interface.

    He announced that now the OLPC machine will be able to run Windows as well as Linux. Seven nations, including Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Pakistan, Thailand, Nigeria and Libya have expressed their interest to buy the little green-and-white “XO” computers. Quanta Computer Inc., the world's leading manufacturer of portable computers will develop the XO machines. Quanta agreed to take a profit of about US$3 per machine, less than what it gets from mainstream PC companies. Citigroup Inc.'s Citibank division has agreed to facilitate a payment system on a pro bono basis. The machine , which boasts extremely low electricity consumption, a pulley for hand-generated power, built-in wireless networking and a screen with indoor and outdoor reading modes is now available at US$175.

    Top UK schools to license institutes in India, China

    There is good news for Indians who are seeking higher education but can not afford to go abroad. Some top UK independent schools, are planning to license their institutions in India and China.

    The Harrow school has considered five schools in India, China and other South East Asian countries to license and fund up to 200 free and subsidised places at its schools here. Wellington college, Dulwich college and Oxford high school for girls are among the other independents planning to cash in on the high reputation of British private education to open chains of franchises. Harrow International school is already operating in Thailand and China. Oxford High School, a girls' school, is planning to open its two offshoots in Shanghai in collaboration with a Chinese partner by 2009. One will teach the Chinese curriculum to Chinese pupils, and the other will be an international school.

    Infotech companies enter in educational sector

    Many infotech companies like Microsoft, HP, Zensar and Cadence are working with NGOs to provide better infrastructural facilities to schools, teaching them the use of computers in their education.

    Companies like Intel, Cisco, and Yahoo and have been involved more directly in education programmes. Recently, Intel has donated INR 1.5 million to the Karnataka state government, India. Intel employees had invested 13,500 voluntary hours in educational institutes. While Yahoo! India employees have been working Parikrma Humanitarian Foundation to empower underprivileged children by providing them quality education. Recently, Yahoo! has inaugurated new school for slum children. Cisco Systems has partnered with educators, businesses, governments and community organizations to launch the networking academy programme, NetAcad. Cisco employee volunteers explain technical updates like VoIP to students.

    Brunei’s Education Ministry offers one click access service to teachers

    The Ministry of Education, Brunei will allow teachers, students and other public members to access various services through new ICT project `MoE Enterprise Service Portal.'

    The Education Ministry of Brunei has signed an agreement with local firm TechnoNet Sdn Bhd on the provision of the Enterprise Service Portal, which will set up all enterprise information management (EIM) systems in scale and functionality. The project is result of an e-Government initiative, government will implement several state-of-the-art systems. The MoE Enterprise Service Portal is one of the projects under the flagship of e-Education, which is categoried into five programmes, namely Edunet, e-Learning, Education Information System, Digital Library and Human Capacity Building. The web portal will provide all services of Education Ministry into one framework, which would be accessed by administrative staff, teachers, students, and the public, according to their respective permissions. Users can access secure areas of the system without any flaws. The application will run on Singapore-based solutions provider specialising in learning management systems, Dnium's e-learning engines and written in Sun Microsystem's Java Enterprise Edition. The system will boast extensive interface customisability, usability and interactivity, which allows the processing of server requests and responses without needing to navigate to a different webpage for each action. The MoE Portal will provide registered users access to the MoE applications through a personalised and individualised web interface.

    Intel grants US one billion dollars for education programmes

    The world leader in silicon innovation, Intel has embarked US one billion dollar for education programmes in developing countries.

    Intel has funded INR 15 million to 17 government schools of India. India is second country to receive huge fund under Intel's programme. The VMGP creates a two-fold impact on education, first through employee engagement with schools and then by funding schools to enable better infrastructure and learning aid. The company has also invested INR 15.5 million directly in organising event, programmmes and activities for schools.

    Liberia University receives US$2.5 million fund from World Bank

    The World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have funded US$2.5 million Liberia University to set up ICT centre.

    The American Internet giant, CISCO has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Liberian government to provide hardware to ICT centre. This ICT centre, which has over 250 computers at the main campus of the university in central Monrovia. The American Internet giant, CISCO has provided the hardware for the new center to be used by over 12,000 students at the state-run University of Liberia. The government will set up ICT facilities in rural areas to enhance learning in schools and promote development in other sector.

    SHBIE, Brunei offers e-resources, database at its expo

    The University of Brunei, Darussalam Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Education (SHBIE) held an exhibition, which provides e-Resources and database for two month trail period to teachers.

    The Education Ministry is currently working on a project on Multimedia Courseware Development is collaboration with the Curriculum Development Department. The project a curriculum resource for interactive teaching and learning material, which can be used at both primary and secondary levels. Teachers are using the Kids Infobits and Pro Quest K12 software, which allows them variety of multi-media effects like videos, animations, videos to incorporate into their modules and make their lessons interactive.

    Intel brings ICT skills for Malaysian students

    Intel Malaysia and the Ministry of education have signed an agreement to make the country more competitive in the knowledge-based global economy by helping students develop digital skills.

    Both parties are agreed to implement a 1:1 e-Learning model under which students can access and use their personal computer in the classroom. Malaysia is the leading country in the Asia-Pacific region for implementing the ICT Education initiative. The company will donate around 200 units of Classmate PCs in the span of three years. The Classmate PC would be fully equipped with Microsoft XP Professional Edition, Microsoft Office 2003 and Learning Essentials. The 1 :1 e-Learning initiative offers both teachers and students continuous access to a wide range of software, Internet and all other digital resources for teaching and learning.

     

    Singapore Education Ministry sets aside $20.7 million for schools

    The Education Ministry of Singapore has set aside $20.7 million for three years to help schools get more Information and Communication Technology (ICT) support staff. .

    These staff members will manage the implementation of ICT projects and help the Head of Department (Information Technology) in IT planning and introduce new ICT solutions that support teaching and learning. This will free up the IT HOD to work with other HODs and teachers in integrating ICT with the curriculum. This will create an engaging learning environment for the students, as they are exposed to technology and communication tools in their lessons to access and manage knowledge.

    P&G launches education project for underprivileged children of India

    Procter & Gamble (P&G) has launched the Siksha project for underprivileged children of India in collaboration with Child Rights and You (CRY) and Sony.

    Project Shiksha, a part of P&Gs global philanthropy programme P&G Live, Learn and Thrive, which focuses on the development of children. P&G has contributed INR 26.9 million to support the education of 33,052 children in 435 communities. The Shiksha projects are working with the State Education Departments to re look at existing education policies; are creating awareness to build more schools with better infrastructure, and more basic amenities like water, electricity, health; enrolling more children into formal schools and promotion of retention in schools; and building all round development of children.

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