December 1, 2006

Nancy Knowlton is responsible for the day-to-day direction of SMART. Recognised as one of Canada’s top businesswomen, Nancy was the 1999 Canadian Woman Entrepreneur of the Year in the Export category, awarded by the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and the Bank of Montreal. She and SMART co-founder David Martin were awarded the 1999 Prairies Region Technology Entrepreneur of the Year Award, sponsored by Ernst and Young, and a Manning Innovation Award in 2002.

Why did SMART choose to work in education?
We have to be fair and say that education chose our product. We were showing our new products at several trade shows and it soon became apparent to us that the people who really got it, who could see the need for the product, were all from education. Several educators went on at some length to tell us how they could use our product, and it was that clarity of thinking that caused us to orient our plan to engage more systematically with educators at all levels. Of course, there was very little money in education at that time for technology, but that didn’t discourage us. The people who really saw the benefit of our product somehow found the money and became rabid fans.

Will SMART always focus on the urban sector in education?
We don’t think that we focus on the urban sector of education now. We want our products to be equally relevant to children in all locations. My husband and I both come from modest backgrounds. In fact, I grew up on a farm. We believe in the equal opportunity that education can provide because of our personal experiences. Perhaps we have to do more for a rural education product, but we will keep at the issue until we get it right.

How did you succeed in establishing a place for SMART in this global niche market of e-Learning? What has been your forte in this sector?
We have established SMART one customer at a time. We have become insiders by listening and delivering products of value to our customers. We have focussed on our customers and their needs and desires and not a sense of corporate importance, as we have grown larger. We have done many things right, because we are always trying to think about the customer. We do not follow fads and trends in business. Back in the dot.com era we didn’t focus on “eyeballs” and “burn rates” even though everyone was saying that this was the new way of doing business. We thought for ourselves and decided to run a business that was solid and here for the long run. Jim Collins refers to this approach in his book “Built to Last” and we still believe that this is the right.

way to run a business. How do you see the global market for e-learning?
Which sector of the market (K-12, higher education, corporate learning, etc.) you think will see the maximum growth in the next few years? The global market for e-learning is exploding. People everywhere see the opportunity that technology tools can provide to really engage children in a way that pen and paper never could. Whether it is a teacher shortage in certain subjects (such as maths and science) or a classroom teacher looking for novel ways to explain everyday topics, technology is being used the world over to effect change. I don’t think that it is a case of saying that K-12 will grow faster than higher education. There are different ways of using technology in the various levels of education. What I have seen, and what frankly excites me the most, is the great opportunity that education presents to allow people who have been on the outside looking in as the world has moved into the 21 st century to fully participate in the global economy. There are young children literally on every corner of the earth who have the brainpower, and maybe more importantly, the desire to be something special. Adding these children to the world’s workforce with all of the energy and creativity that encompasses is what will be the biggest boost to the world. What are the potentials for SMART’s products for developing countries market, especially in rural areas? The best things that SMART products can do are really threefold: • They can provide access to engaging learning experiences for children regardless of their location and the quality of the teachers in the local communities. With digital content accessible to all, there is no reason that these rural children cannot succeed to the same degree at their peers who live in urban areas. • They can make children confident. Children can recognize that they can learn and that develops a sense of pride and self-worth. A lot can be accomplished when these two elements are in place. • They can open the door to a world that many rural children have never imagined. These children can visit a zoo, see a man land on the moon and understand how waves work – and all this before lunch time. The world is open to them like it has never been before. We think that our products should be in all classrooms around the world.

What has been SMART’s experience in working with governments across the world?
Do you believe a high-end product like smartboards can become a viable option for the rural areas in developing countries? Governments around the world have been very open to working with SMART Technologies Inc. They know that we have a product to offer, but they also can tell that we are not here to sell them on products that won’t meet their needs. We have sold substantial numbers of our products to: • Mexico through the Enciclomedia project. This project is changing the educational experience in Mexican classrooms and engaging students in rich multimedia experiences. The teachers are feeling comfortable with the way in which technology is being brought into their classrooms. • The UK through the BECTA project for interactive whiteboards. This GBP50 million initiative drove adoption of technology to a critical mass. The momentum has continued and there are exciting pockets of innovation beyond the interactive whiteboard as well. It is clear that governments are looking at the opportunity that technology can provide. There are demands for lower process throughout the world. Volume drives a lot of efficiencies for with our hardware product, so we can meet the financial needs of our customers. Our customers also appreciate the superior quality of our product and know that this has to be factored in to total cost of ownership considerations. As the Co-CEO, where do you see

SMART five years from now?
We want to fulfill our dream which is to change the way that the world works and learns. Our products will be in classrooms literally around the world. We will have our SMART Board interactive whiteboards in many, many more classrooms. We may reach a billion dollars of annual revenue but we’ll still be hard at work for our customers .

Improving Learning Levels Qualitatively

Magazine

digitalLEARNING Network

December 1, 2006

Himachal Pradesh, once considered as a backward state in North India, has already achieved near universal enrolment up-to the elementary level in the State, which is the first and foremost goal of Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan and has been able to bring down the drop out rate below 1.5 percent. Various programmes under universalisation of education are being implemented to achieve the objective. An ambitious INR 5320 million Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is being implemented in the Sate for improving the performance of school system and provide community owned quality elementary education in the mission mode.

Computer literacy programme has been started in 282 schools of the State. Not only the children are being given elementary knowledge of computers in the programme but the teaching of mainstream subject through computers has also been undertaken. The teachers are being provided training for the purpose. Science Labs are being set up at selected cluster levels.

Himachal is the only state in the country to spend INR 1.03 per capita on education, against Kerala’s 68 paise and neighbouring Punjab’s 58 paise. Significantly, its per capita expenditure on education is almost

Interview: Focus Need to Shift from Excess to Quality

What are the major interventions under the SSA project in the state so far?

Under SSA we have been working under the mission statement that all children should come to school; there should be no gender gap; children with special needs should be covered, and they are brought into mainstream of education as far as possible. We have achieved a mark for out of school children in the state at just 0.5% of the total children in this age group and the drop out rates are just 15 among both boys and girls at primary level and 2-3% at upper primary level. The only concern we have is that the learning level should be improved.

What are the strategies you follow for teachers’- training?

First is, there is compulsory training for every teacher for a period of 10 days. Now the question is on the effectiveness of the training. For that we try getting the needs assessed by the teachers and through the teachers right from school level. After scientifically identifying their problems and issues that needs to be addressed through training and the competencies (that need to be developed), those are discussed at various levels in the state. By doing this we come to a position to form a view as to on which areas we should be focusing on. It’s a continuous process, and always keeps on changing. Through that we develop various modules, which are shared by teachers, piloted, and also tested. There is always scope of change and improvement by this.

Do you get any kind of support from Panchayati Raj Institutions in terms of their participation?

In Himachal, their participation in education is quite good. People are coming forward; they are concerned about the education of their children. That is why we have so little gap in gender, and invisible drop out rate. It is all because of peoples participation. The local bodies have been involved in the implementation process. Public participation has been just great in some districts. People have even been contributing in terms of money, time, and their sources to boost education initiatives in the primary as well as upper primary level.

What is the level of integration of information and communication technologies in school education under SSA?

It is an integral part of education in our state. We don’t see it as a separate entity or intervention. Various interventions have been planned and implemented under ICT to have it integrated in mainstream education. We have computer education in 280 schools, out of nearly 4000 schools in the state. At the secondary level, we have computer education in all the schools. At primary level we do not have computers though, but we want to focus the upper primary level first. For that we are entering into a MoU with Azim Premji Foundation which is already been done. We are talking to Intel for teacher training programme and orientation. In addition, we are partnering to various government, semi-government, and private organisations to develop various tools, so that we will be in a position to take care of this area.

What are the challenges you come across at all levels of planning and implementing the education programme?

Motivation and participation at community level is the biggest challenge.

Second, the focus now has to shift from excess enrollment retention to quality in learning levels. We in our state have already addressed the excess part, and enrollment part. We have primary schools within every 1- 1.5 km radius. We have a sizeable number of children who are disabled and out of mainstream education system. Though the number is not high, but as a percentage of population, Himachal has a higher disabled population than the national average. We have nearly 2200 children in the focus group (6-14 years).

The other challenge is with a very hard group of children like the migrant labour, very poor and marginalised or scattered in small habitations, who are not going to schools. Last year we had 4301 children who are out of school in the focus group. This year we have 5000 such children who migrate and so remain out of school. So we have a mobile school for them, which keeps on moving. We are also working out other strategies to handle this small but difficult group. twice the national average. The teacher-child ratio is also higher, about twice as high in HP compared to India as a whole. For the year 2006- 07, the Government of India has earmarked INR 91 crore as its share for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in Himachal Pradesh.

On Digital Learning magazine-

We have been getting this magazine regularly. This gives us updates on SSA, about school insides. They tell us what is happening inside and outside the country, the various ICT initiatives. We keep on reading those and discuss about what we can implement. In government sector, we have nearly 11,000 primary schools and 4000 upper primary schools. For us this is even quite a high number. Nearly 10 Lakh students are ruled in the schools. Anything to be ruled at the state level requires lot of fund. That is the main constraint. But still, the ray of hope comes from ideas like distance education, e-learning or e-education. These are the areas, which are quite important for us, and we are getting regular inputs on such things through this magazine.

The State Government has introduced IT education in most of the senior secondary schools in the State. The subject of IT education is introduced as an additional optional subject to the students of class IX to Class XII of these schools from the academic year 2001-02. Reputed private training institutions impart the education. Hundreds of middle, high and senior secondary schools have already been computerised and computer aided learning is being provided besides imparting basic skills in operating computers.

News World

Magazine

digitalLEARNING Network

December 1, 2006

1,500 ICT graduates every year by 2009

News Asia

Magazine

digitalLEARNING Network

December 1, 2006

Malaysia and India to initiate regional IPR institute

Malaysia and India will initiate the establishment of an India-Asean Institute for Intellectual Property Rights to build human resource capacities and training to serve the region.

The regional institute would also help protect IPR of products produced by both regions, said the Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology, Datuk Seri Dr Jamaludin Jarjis.

This was agreed to at the bilateral meeting between Malaysia and India on Science & Technology (S&T) Cooperation and now it is at the midst of discussions for the mechanism to set up the institute which will be located in Malaysia. Both countries have also agreed to pursue the idea of harmonising the regulatory framework for Biopharmaceutical sector in the East Asia region. In the field of research & development (R&D), India and Malaysia have agreed to undertake collaborative R&D on a sharing basis in three areas – Biotechnology, Information Technology and Space Technology.

More schools getting Smart with ICT

Seven years after the Education Ministry in Malaysia introduced the Smart School computer programme project at 88 schools, a total of 4,495 more are now equipped with computer labs, in line with the ministry's Making Schools Smart programme.

An evolution of the pilot smart school project, the Making Schools Smart programme is built on the various ICT initiatives from the smart school project to educational television broadcast service. Early this year, 10 pilot schools in the Kalabakan area of Sabah were equipped with Internetready “Access Centres.” to give students and teachers more ICT exposure. The success of this programme has led to the setting up of Access Centres in 74 other primary and secondary schools in the rural areas of Sabah and Johor. The Access Centres are similar to cybercafes but they focus on learning and enabling students to work on their assignments. This is different from the existing computer labs, which are used to conduct lessons for certain subjects and will be housed in a separate room.

Recently, Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein announced that up to 1,500 schools will be equipped with the Access Centres receiving 15,000 personal computers, 1,500 printers as well as the necessary furniture. Next year, another 1,290 schools will receive 10 computers each.

Malaysian state to provide free surfing in all big towns

Free wireless broadband Internet service will be provided in all major towns in Perak by April next year, according to Malaysian Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Tajol Rosli Ghazali. He said the service would be available at all 15 district council areas in Perak. Ipoh is the first town in the country to offer such a facility which is available at the three rest and recreation areas along the North-South Highway in Perak since last March. The facility will be provided in stages. He said the state government allocated RM20 million ($8.7 million) annually for the development of information and communication technology (ICT) of which RM19 million was for infrastructure cost and the remaining for training.

Alliance to Promote ICT Education

Raman International Institute of Information Technology (RiiiT), an ICT solution provider for the education sector, has announced its tie-up with the Cambridge University Press for promoting ICT education for the K-12 segment catering to the entire South Asian market.

RiiiT has conceptualised an innovative end-to-end curriculum for ICT Education for K-12, named “IT Kids”. “IT Kids” is a special package of teaching material, to assist students and teachers in honing ICT Skills. In stage 1, the child and teacher are supported with conventional books; in stage 2, digital aid is provided, wherein the teacher is supported with classroom presentation, workshops/seminars, orientation programs, session plans; in stage 3, computers-based tutorial and online crossword puzzles, quizzes, memory games, animations, etc are provided. Whereas in stage 4, e-learning content is provided more through images, audio, simulation, and multimedia.

Be the change!

digitalLEARNING Network

December 1, 2006

Blessed with a vibrant culture and diverse languages, cultures and backgrounds, South East Asia has many exciting experiments in adopting ICTs for learning, education, and training. While hard-core software and collaborative learning tools have mostly been written in the global North, the number of innovative adaptations of these tools and technologies to embrace technologies in countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, etc. comes with a strong national policy making and master plan approach. Learning Management Systems (LMS) and Instructional Design are the most new of these concepts. Whether it was an early adoption of digital technologies like television, video or computer aided learning, the emphasis has been on teacher training, focus on basic proficiency and core IT skills, as well as appropriate infrastructure and hardware acquisitions to create a conducive environment for schools and learning institutions to adopt technologies and go smart.

In this issue we are presenting how Malaysia has rapidly incorporated smart learning in schools with the government drawing up visionary plans for Education through Smart School initiative. The plan to make all schools smart by 2010 follows the Pilot Project from 1999 to 2002 and the post pilot phase from 2002 to 2005 and now the focus is on students making effective use of ICT for active learning, teachers focus on use of ICT for professional and personal growth; ICT is used for building connections between curriculum, instruction and assessment, and for school improvement.

The government of Singapore’s IT Master Plan for Education, now in its second phase (2003-2007), is also discussed, along with some inside pages of Smart School experiences of Philippines and some smart talks with the founder of SMART Technologies, Nancy Knowlton.

The level achieved by all these countries is what other countries strive for. Interesting projects and programmes launched in other countries are also able to provide lessons for countries preparing to draw up smart plans and visions.

Digital Learning Asia 2007 conference being held as a part of the eAsia 2007 summit in Putrajaya International Convention Centre in Putrajaya, Malaysia from February 6-8, 2007 is aiming to take stock of the scenario in Asia. Mark your calendars and join the most exciting event and exhibition on ICT for Development.

News School

Magazine

digitalLEARNING Network

December 1, 2006

Two wonder kids who build own computers

New Horizon, a Lagos based ICT training centre, discovered two junior secondary school students under the age of twelve who have the ability to assemble a computer in 15 minutes and have actually built their own computer with a trade mark DASH.

The kids, Davidson Oseremen and Shittu Rilwan are two of a kind who met at a private secondary school, Doregos Academy in Ipaja. The former hails from Edo state while the later is from Kwara state in the South-South and South West regions of Nigeria, respectively. DASH is actually formed from the first two letters of DAVIDSON and the first two letters from SHITTU.

ICT Empowerment Project organised by New Horizons at secondary schools in Nigeria which discovered the wonder kids is such that the students of participating schools are being trained in all areas of IT from Junior Secondary School to Senior Secondary School.

Wakrah school pilots e-learning class project

Around 188 students of Al Wakra Independent School for Girls in Qatar will soon begin studying through their Tablet PCs as ictQATAR's 'eSchoolbag' project took off. eSchoolbag, that proposes to ease the burden of the traditional schoolbags through students access to multi featured Tablet PCs, is presently being piloted at this school.

Launched as a collaboration between ictQATAR and Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) last September, the project will allow students to carry their 'eSchoolbags' home. So far the Tablet PCs were being used only within the school's premises.

iCELL will be responsible for eSchoolbag rollout and training. Eight teachers have gone through iCELL's rigorous training scheme that equips them with the knowledge to employ tablet computers in class and to encourage inquiry based learning.

Video links learning

From a large TV at the back of a Norfolk classroom in southern England an extra pupil is joining in a lesson – from about 300 miles away in the Channel Islands ( a group of British dependent islands). It is 15-year-old David Brehaut, who without the video the link to maths and ICT classes at Sheringham High School would not be able to gain any qualifications at the only school on his home island of Sark. His only other option is to move to the mainland away from his family.

He has been given a chance to study at a Norfolk school from his own because of recent government investment in ICT in Norfolk schools which means more and more can be done through computer networks, the Internet and video conferencing.

Mark Your Calendar

Magazine

digitalLEARNING Network

December 1, 2006

december

Belief
14-15 December, 2006
New Delhi, India
http://www.beliefproject.org/intconf001

e-Learning International Conference 2006
14 – 17 December, 2006
Bangkok, Thailand
http://ru.ac.th/elearning_conference/

january

The 5th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Education
6-9 January, 2007
Honolulu
USA
http://www.hiceducation.com

BETT 2007
10 – 13 January, 2007
Olympia, London
http://www.bettshow.com/bett/show_ home1.asp

linux.conf.au
15 – 19 January, 2007
Sydney, Australia
http://lca2007.linux.org.au/

iLearn Paris Forum 2007
30

M-Learn

Magazine

digitalLEARNING Network

December 1, 2006

Intuition launches m-learning course for banks

Intuition, the tech-enabled learning expert has announced the installment of the world’s first mobile e-Learning course for smartphones and PDAs.

The course has been developed for financial services institutions, which will allow banks to track and automatically record users’ progress. Financial services institutions are working with Intuition to launch training programme through BlackBerry phone for business need of remote access for learning through converged devices.

mGBL – mobile Game-Based Learning

mGBL – mobile Game Based Learning is a research project with the aim of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of learning and guidance in the target group of young people through the development of innovative learning and guidance models based on mobile games.

The project, which began on 1 October 2005, is a STREP (Specific Targeted Research Project), funded for three years by European Community through the 6th Framework Programme, addressing the Strategic Objective of “Strengthening the Integration of the ICT Research Effort in an Enlarged Europe”.

The project idea is based on the fact that mobile devices are currently increasingly widespread, and mobile phones in particular represent what young adults, with different levels of education and culture, have in common. Moreover, several research projects have shown the potential of game-based learning, and the project seeks to further exploit that potential by means of the pervasiveness of mobile technologies, by developing a new paradigm of m-learning usage and interaction with regard to the classic e-learning models.

The project aims to develop a platform that can be used to efficiently design and develop games for m-learning and m-guidance, seeking to support decision-making in critical situations and user choice in transition moments. Moreover, based on that platform, two game prototypes will also be developed during the project, and their contents will be based on e-health, e-commerce and e-guidance.

The project is based on a bottom-up approach, which means that end users of the mobile games and experts have been directly involved from the very beginning through specific interviews and focus groups carried out in the three fields of analysis: e-guidance, e-health and e-commerce.

Mobile subscribers to reach 2.6bn this year

The number of mobile phone subscribers worldwide will rise to 2.6 billion this year and 4 billion by 2010, thanks to the development of ultra-low-cost handsets, market researcher iSuppli says.

New subscribers in developing nations such as India and China are behind the rapid increase in mobile phone users, the researcher said, while the mobile industry has rallied to the cause with ultra-low-cost handsets.

Africa and the Middle East are also playing a key role in driving new subscriber growth. The ultra-low-cost mobile phone initiative started early last year as a way to connect people to existing mobile networks. The GSM Association (GSMA) challenged handset makers to design a phone that would cost under USD30.

iSuppli believes India will drive growth for ultra-low-cost handsets next year. The nation will be home to 405 million mobile phone subscribers by 2010, up from 140 million by the end of this year, the market researcher says. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India reports that as of the end of September, there were 129.5 million mobile phone users in the country, a huge increase from 75.9 million at the end of last year. In China, the figure climbed to 443.2 million at the end of September, up from 393 million at the end of last year, according to the Ministry of Information Industry, that country’s telecom industry regulator.

Power School

Magazine

digitalLEARNING Network

December 1, 2006

SPRINGDALES, Pusa Pioneering
Change with Technology

Good teaching can be defined as that which supports effective learning. It must create opportunities for the development of both tacit and theoretical knowledge. Good teaching means analysing theories in ways that are meaningful, and providing the learner with the opportunity to relate these theories to practical experience. It involves providing students for implicit knowledge acquisition. So, can these principles be applied to teaching through Information and Communication Technology (ICT)? Yes, technology enhances learning by making it more exciting and eliminating repetitive tasks. In acknowledging different learning styles, the multimedia experience like sound, text, pictures, music and video that modern technology provides, is invaluable. And Springdales School in Pusa, New Delhi, India proves it all. Simmi Kher (simmikher@gmail.com), IT Coordinator, Springdales answers all the ‘How’s and ‘What’s.

The effective use of ICT is integral to the wider strategy of bringing about improvements to teaching and learning in the classroom. Why? Because technology is an important part of Springdales’ everyday life, and children love to use it to play and learn. ICT in the classroom has been linked with positive improvements in attainment and motivation. The school Principal Ameeta Mulla Wattal’s vision towards Information Technology resulted in Springdales School, Pusa, being honoured with the Intel Technology Award for the ‘Best Integration of Computers in Curriculum -2003’

Change in any context is difficult; to change one needs to be prepared to take risks, make mistakes and be committed to the purpose of the change. This school has always been a pioneer of any change, hence, the novel idea of starting a Computer Resource Centre, which was built with the vision of empowering the faculty with the knowledge of incorporating technology into their daily teaching and learning process.

Infrastructure

The school has two Computer Labs for the classes 2-8 and a Senior Computer Lab for the classes 9-12 and a Computer Resource Centre for the teachers. Apart from this computers are provided to each class supervisor for the teachers to use. The school staff rooms, all the science labs, the art rooms, the social work department, the maths lab, the library, the school office, junior school are all equipped with computers. The school has an infrastructure of 150 computers.

Preparation for the integration of technology

In order to prepare the school for the technology integration in to the school curriculum, the following steps were taken in the year 2000:

The computer wing was renovated with many changes.
The teachers were trained under INTEL Teach To The Future Programme.
The Computer Resource Centre was designed.
The Audio Visual Room was designed in such a manner, that the teachers making computerised presentations could take their classes in this room. The room has a white screen, a computer and LCD projector so that the children can see the presentation on a bigger screen.
100% of teachers are today computer literate and are using the technology effectively.

Actual implementation of technology aided learning

Initially to motivate teachers towards Technology aided teaching, multimedia-based, computer-aided teaching software was brought into the school and at the same time the teachers were encouraged to make their own presentations too and a knowledge bank was created in the Computer Resource centre. Various Educational CDS catering to different subjects were also bought.

Over a period of time we realised that the presentations that were being made were mostly for the middle and senior school, where as the multimedia teaching is really enjoyed by the junior school students. On investigating on this issue, we found out the junior teachers were not getting enough time to work on the computer to make presentations though they were effectively using computers to make their worksheets, mark sheets and class lists. To solve this problem the school came out with a pilot project called Digitisation of Junior School Syllabus, where the senior school students were involved to make technology aided lessons for the junior school. The teachers designed their lessons on paper and the students transformed it into a multimedia presentation, using Flash, sound files, animated gifs and movies and the result was astonishing. The presentations made by the students are being used by the teachers and a data bank is being maintained in the Computer Resource Centre.

The Maths Lab is making an extensive use of computers to conduct their activities and a dry subject like mathematics is made interesting.

ICT for special need

Special needs children can shine using ICT, and their self-esteem and self-confidence soars, especially when they become ‘the class expert’. We know if dyslexic learners are to make progress, they must have a multi-sensory approach where they can look, listen and touch. So what could be a better medium than a computer? We have been teaching Information Technology to the dyslexic children for the last 3 years and they do so well securing marks above 90% in their board exams in this particular subject.

Designing

The school makes abundant use of technology in designing. Newsletters, handouts, programme cover, Invitation cards, etc. are all designed in-house. Each art room is equipped with a multimedia computer, colour printer and scanner. Starting from the annual day invitation cards, the handout brochure, to the ballet, everything has computer graphics supporting it and the complete show is computerised with light and laser effects.

Computerised library

The school library has been computerised by a Library Management Software along with a barcode reader. This performs automated library tasks from catalogue maintenance to issue, re-issue and returns. Quick searches are possible by author, title, and subject. Two computers are kept in the library so that the students can surf the catalogue for the books they want and know the availability status of the books.

Administration with ICT

The school office is fully computerised using software packages for Accounts, Provident for the last 3 years and they do so Funds, Salary, School Fees, School
Transport, and Income Tax.

QUEST Kicks off First National Instructional Design Workshop

Magazine

digitalLEARNING Network

December 1, 2006

One of the biggest challenges facing the Indian education system today is ensuring that the 5.5 million teachers in 1.2 million elementary schools have the support they need to improve the quality of classroom instruction. Technologybased tools which integrate interactive multimedia into the instructional process have the potential to do so. The use of these tools, such as computer software, video and radio programs to promote student learning, while limited, is growing. Many state governments, for example, are beginning to make large investments in technology hardware for schools. However, there is an overall lack of policy on the use of educational technology tools, and the quality of these tools varies widely. With this realization, The QUEST Alliance, hosted a three day National Instructional Design Workshop in Bangalore, India from November 2-4, 2006.

As QUEST’s first official event, the workshop successfully brought together 120 leading education experts, content creators and state government officials to share lessons and explore ideas on how to enhance the quality of content development for educational technology tools in Indian government schools. The workshop was a collaborative effort of QUEST partners Azim Premji Foundation (APF), the International Youth Foundation and Education Development Center (EDC) India.

Douglas Bell from EDC and Punam Medh from Idesignskills leading the important session on design & development at the ID workshop.

The aim of the Instructional Design workshop was two-fold: 1) to present a systematic methodology for the design and development of quality econtent, and 2) to develop a set of policy recommendations to help guide practitioners and policy makers in developing and investing in technology-based education tools.

The importance of developing educational technologies that encourage student-centered learning and help teachers facilitate interactive instruction was discussed in depth. Speakers deliberated openly with participants about the many challenges quality teaching is related to, including the prominence of multi-grade teaching, the low ratio of computers to students, and the need for teacher training in areas such as computer instruction. QUEST partners APF and EDC have responded to this reality by designing interactive software that allows multiple students to work together on single computers, with instruction facilitated by the teachers.

In the words of Punam Medh, instructional design expert and workshop speaker, “The need for instructional design training for pre-service and in-service teachers who are beginning to deal with technology in the classroom is acute for two reasons: First, teachers trained in instructional design methods will be empowered to make systematic daily lesson plans that include the use of technology resources. Second, moving ahead, instructional design can provide a framework for teachers to make informed decisions about the subject matter, resources and media that are required.”

Noted e-content thought leader Badrul Khan with Tiffany Kozalka, Professor of Instructional Design in Syracuse University, USA at the ID workshop organised by QUEST Alliance

Some of the most active and engaging sessions at the workshop were those on Needs Assessment, Design & Development and Evaluation, reflecting a strong need for technical training in proven instructional design methodologies.

Another recurring theme of the workshop and a critical ingredient to the successful implementation of educational technology is the need to engage relevant stakeholders in the instructional design decision-making process. Incorporating good instructional design methodologies into the development of technology tools cannot be done in isolation – input from all major stakeholders at the policy and practitioner level needs to be considered. During several policy sessions, government officials worked with participants to identify key stakeholders, including the government, NGOS, researchers, content creators, administrators and teachers.

Workshop Group

The QUEST Alliance views the 3-day workshop as a first step in stimulating a dialogue around instructional design for educational technology as a serious discipline in India. More work is needed, including further research and development in the field, the need for communication and sharing of lessons, and capacity building in the area of teacher training. As a follow up to the workshop, QUEST is drafting a policy framework, which can inform decision-makers at all levels of the education system, particularly state government officials. This framework is intended to serve as a guide for the development and implementation of educational technologies and is expected to be completed this December. To learn more about the Instructional Design workshop and to view workshop materials, go to www.eeaonline.org/questresources.asp.

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