In the larger context of an emerging global knowledge society and economy, education policies around the world have stressed the increasing importance of both ICT and ‘active’ models of lifelong learning. Similarly, aid for development has often focused on local capacity-building in terms which increasingly refer in various ways to a perceived digital as well as economic divide between developed and developing social or community contexts. Common to both formal learning and development is an alternately theoretical and informal assumption of “knowledgebuilding” which is often contradicted or frustrated in practice because of the difficulty in effectively reconciling or connecting topdown imperatives and bottom-up aspects of local context. This article investigates how ICT is integral to new, changing, and characteristically ‘21 century’ models of knowledge in the inevitably connected contexts of both learning and community development (e.g. Weigel & Waldberger, 2004; Bracey & Culver, 2005). Indeed it argues that recognizing this connection is an important basis for encouraging both dialogue and action to overcome related missing links which often frustrate related policy, project and general imperatives for the integration of ICT in schooling for deep or active models of learning, and the similar goal of local autonomy in ICT-focused community capacity-building projects. Thus the paper focuses on identifying and refining a convergent 21st century model of knowledge-building (also, life-long learning) grounded in the local contexts and typical processes of the human condition in retreat from topdown, fixed and privileged models of knowledge and education. Such a notion of knowledge-building to encourage active, innovative and open-ended learning and capacity development thus represents a convergent link between the alternately informal and formal aspects of digital learning on one hand (e.g. Jonassen et al, 2003; Weigel, 2003), and the alternately community-based and institutionallyorganised notions of social capacity development (e.g. Blumenthal 2003; World Bank Knowledge and Learning Group, 2005). Why new educational theories/ fail to be connected to local contexts of learning and practice “Without sufficient training and support, ICT equipment put in schools [and in ICT centres generally in developing countries] is often under utilised, and in some cases entirely redundant. Any meaningful roll-out of ICT hardware must be accompanied by training to have any impact” – K. Woods, Digital Links quoted in C. Witchalls (2005), ‘Bridging the Digital Divide’, The Guardian, February 17 2005. It is increasingly clear that in the 21st Century ICTs are tied closely to the emerging requirements and opportunities of a global economy and networked knowledge society – also, that a related emerging digital divide may represent the very survival of many local communities and even regional societies around the world. Thus, there is growing awareness of: (a) the related ‘community development’ and ‘educational implications’ of ICTs, and (b) the importance of assisting remote or rural areas in developing countries (Papert & Calvallo, 2002). Many initiatives aimed at tackling both global and regional notions of a digital divide are being funded, supported and investigated by both governmental and NGO agencies in rural and developing contexts of the Asia-Pacific region (Weigel & Waldburger, 2004). Our previous investigations into (and dialogues with others about) both the possibilities and issues of sustainability related to community ICT learning centres in the Asia Pacific region have realised that the key to an effective as well a sustainable approach lies in (a) the connections between education and community development; (b) agenuinely dialogically or interactive partnership model that allows for the examination of external or ‘top-down’ influences on one hand, and local interests or ‘bottom-up’ contexts on the other, and (c) recognizing and addressing both the sufficient conditions of ICT development(including designing and training for locally relevant models of authentic use) as well as the necessary conditions including ICT infrastructure and general accessissues (Richards, 2005a).ICTs represent a dilemma for schools, universities and other educational institutions everywhere in terms of
the challenge to transform the rhetoric of new ideas and models into actual practice and an appropriate  organisational context (Richards 2004). In other words, it is not always  easy to see through the short-term frustrations of ICT integration to  understand how this can productively transform education in the long-run.  The resulting gap or missing link between innovative rhetoric and
policy on one hand, and actual implementation and practices on the  other, is often the source of much frustration for both teachers and their  students. This is especially the case where (e.g. even in wired societies  such as Singapore and Hong Kong)  the residual effects of traditional values and an examination-oriented  curriculum often make it difficult to translate new and innovative policies  into institutional practice – unless teachers redefine their role and authority in the learning process in  other ways. Towards positive prophecies of life-long learning Promising capacity development  project models indicate that ICT community learning centres do  represent potentially viable and transformatory agencies for  connecting up local communities and schools in less developed regions.  Such projects exemplify how a  strategic approach can do a great deal  with limited resources and that the key is promoting a similarly proactive  attitude which links into a local community sense of ‘where there is
the will there is a way’. In other  words, the digital divide in learning is much more an issue of attitude and  cultural context than technical capacity or access. We have thus  identified three related focus questions that have to be considered  together or integrally rather than in isolation as is often the case: 1. What are the infrastructural, requirements for ensuring  ongoing access to computer systems whilst avoiding  unnecessary costs?  2. How can school-based education and community development be  linked to promote the engagement of community members?  3. What are the appropriate training  and educational design needs for effective learning?  Figure 1: Global dilemmas  about educational ‘cultural change’    Learners often want more hands-on, learner-centered and outcomesoriented approaches by their teachers, but also  till want the ‘right answers’  bypass the learning process (pedagogical) • Educational institutions have generally embraced the rhetoric, policy and theory of ‘new learning’, but are not often prepared to productively change  actual practices  • ‘Societies’ today want their young to be somehow innovative  nd become  successful in a future knowledge society or global economy, yet at  the same  time retain acquiescence to traditional values of the past Adapted from Richards 2004 Figure 2 depicts how ICT-CLCs  represent or at least exemplify a convergent future vision of learning,  community centers, and new ICTs linked together for integrated  educational and social purposes.  The key to such a vision is a complementary or dialogical  rather than oppositional view of
how learning for personal and/or social purposes provides a  sufficient or motivating basis for social and economic progress  grounded in an ethos of community  development. In short, learning is more effective when it goes beyond basic information or skill  acquisition to also focus on relevance, process and authentic  applications. In terms of the so-called digital divide of rich and poor or centre and margins,  such a perspective on the  potential role of ICT-CLCs is  one of recasting a defensive strategy of mere survival into one a more positive one of potential ‘thriving’.
Convergently, many of the educational policy initiatives promoting ICTs in schools and higher education are premised on new  learner-centred and constructivist theories of learning which project the  goal of more active and innovative learners harnessing the educational  possibilities of ICTs. Constructivist  models of learning (e.g. Jonassen et al, 2003; Weigel, 2003) are  typically  contrasted with models of teaching and learning which emphasise a hierarchical and linear “transmission”  of content or skills from authoritative teacher to passive learner. Such  influential concepts as ‘anchored instruction’ and ‘situated learning’ outlined how novice learners develop  better applied understanding and generic skills in terms of specific  examples, problems and authentic learning contexts – a framework for  linking ICTs, problem-solving, and  content-specific teaching or learning. In this way ‘knowledgeable’ teachers
and/or experts should be able to  better transmit their knowledge. Practical concepts such as problembased learning, collaborative learning,  project work, authentic assessment and inquiry-based activities all  represent alternatives to the linear  and hierarchical assumptions of formal lesson-planning and course
design. Such approaches emphasize  how effective learning should rather be understood as a process, cycle  and/or set of stages proceeding from  nitial skill or information acquisition to more applied and reflective  understanding, knowledge and even  innovation. It may be argued that general notions of constructivist  learning tend to mix up and sometimes confuse or oppose the alternate cognitive and social  aspects of knowledge building. Whilst in one sense they do  converge in ‘active’ modes of learning some of these models arguably either directly or indirectly  privilege the social and critical thinking over individual and local contexts of practice as well as  theory over practice. Towards a convergent notion  of the knowledge-building  process  Although ‘knowledge-building’ is a central concept in new ICT-focused  learning theory it has been  influentially defined as the process by  which ‘expert groups’ construct knowledge as a social process of   collaborative discussion and synthesis of ideas (Scardamalia and  Bereiter, 1999). Such a definition exemplifies a common dilemmas of  much new learning theory to remain inherently conceptual, top-down and  elitist, and thus at odds with the grounded and potentially innovative  practice and active learning of ‘every learner’. Just as  As indicated above a common ‘communities of practice’ model informs various notions of digital learning and capacity-building for  either institutional or community  development. General organizational learning models such as articulated by  Wenger (1998) have especially articulated with social constructivist  models of digital learning. Weigel (2003) for instance directly connects  various general notions of a ‘community of practice’ with specific  learning ‘communities of inquiry’ in constructivist classrooms and related  lifelong and virtual modes of learning. A ‘communities of practice’ model is indeed most helpful for engaging  with the challenge of ICT integration in particular educational and  social contexts. As McNabb & McCombs (2002) point out, professional learning  communities (of practice) involve  three levels of interaction – community, institutional and  individual – which inform two key collaborative approaches to ICT   professional development: (a) thecollegial sharing of resources; and (b)  particular ICT professional development projects. McNabb & McCombs article makes special mention of the e-learning facility of  networked learning communities and e-learning professional  development – extending from the collaborative use of intranets through to the use of learning management programmes.  ICTs have made possible new modes  of formal as well as informal ‘lifelong learning’ that are as applicable to  communities and institutions as well as individual learners. Á bottom line  is that the kind of active experimentation needed to build and transform any kind of personal  knowledge can be initiated through partnerships and dialogue but  ultimately requires self-organisation and self-learning. A convergent  notion of 21st century knowledgebuilding which harnesses the learning  possibilities of ICTs serves to overcome the paradox identified in the Knowledge Management literature as  Figure 3: Towards a convergent framework of 21st Century Knowledge-Build  ng ‘if only we knew what we know

Audio Visual + Print: a new medium for broadcast
Television is often attributed with the facility to grab attention, while print is often associated with being more persistent. This ability to synchronously deliver audio visual and print will not only impact the  effectiveness and the reach of these distance education programmes, but  will also impact how content is created and developed for this  new medium.
The PrinTV field trials – the experimental setup
In order to understand the user experience and the impact of this new method of delivering content to the viewers the PrinTV System was  integrated into an ongoing training programme. PrinTV was integrated  into the SatCom based Gram Panchayat Member training  programme conducted by the, State  Institute of Rural Development. Abdul Nazir Sab-State Institute of  Rural Development (ANSSIRD),

HP Labs India has developved PrinTV that will augment the TV  viewing experience with a print artifact that can be printed, stored, retrieved and referred to when required. PrinTV uses the existing broadband network and delevers documents in sync with the audio visual content. PrinTV will enhance the   instructional/informational value of using TV viewing for distance education

Development Communication Channel) network for over five years. The TDCC network is set up by the Development and Educational Communication Unit (DECU), ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) to promote the use of space
technology for developmental purposes. The Primary objective of this institute is to organise training programs for elected  members of Panchayat Raj Institutions, officers of various  development departments, representatives of voluntary  organisations and Bank officials. One of the major training programmes conducted by ANSSIRD is for the elected representatives of the
Panchayat Raj Institution (PR) of Karnataka. Karnataka has approximately 90,000 elected Gram Panchayat members. One of the major responsibilities of the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department is in the realm of implementing the provisions of the  Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act, 1993 toachieve democratic decentralisation in the governance of the State’s rural
areas. The 3-tier structure of Panchayat Raj Institutions of Karnataka consists of • 27 Zilla Panchayats  • 175 Taluk Panchayats • 5659 Gram Panchayats The Satellite based Interactive Communication System is an integral system of providing training and communication support for the developmental activities. The trials were aimed at testing the effectiveness of the PrinTV through Training and Development and Communication Channel (TDCC) network of ANSSIRD, Karnataka. The trial also attempts to validate the end user experience, and to understand how the presence of a new medium impacts the teaching and information and dissemination through the TV  medium. We also attempted to understand the impact of this  mediums ability to deliver Audio,
Video and Print in sync on the effectiveness of the training  programme.

Trial location
A comparative study between experimental locations (with PrinTV) and control locations (without PrinTV) was carried out to measure  the extent of utilisation and effectiveness of PrinTV. The  experimental locations for field trial of PrinTV technology are located in the  taluks of Tumkur district. The control sites are in Mandya district.  Tumkur district comprises 10 taluks and 321 Gram Panchayats. PrinTV was installed at seven of the 10  taluks. Mandya district comprised 7 taluks and 232 Gram Panchayats.  Four of these taluks were designated control sites for the study.

End users groups as identified
The main end user groups identified are as follows:  • Faculty: The role of the faculty is to impart training on the  Panchayat Raj System to the elected representatives of the Panchayat Raj Institution and  decide the content of the program. • Facilitators / Resource persons:  They stand in for the faculty, and help the faculty communicate with the recipients of information  and help the recipients understand, absorb and retain the  information given to them. • Recipients: The recipients in this case are the elected  representatives of Panchayat Raj Institution. The training program  aims at educating and informing the PR representatives at  knowing their rights, responsibilities and duties as an elected representative.

Program content
This specific module of the training program aimed at educating and enabling the Gram Panchayat Members to carry out a detailed  planning process towards
generating a five year plan for their gram panchayats, resource  mobilisation to meet the plan expenditure and also to tackle  issues like the pending electricity
bills issue. The PrinTV system was used to send  documents relevant to the specific AV being transmit. Most print documents  send through the PrinTV system pertained to government orders, gazette notifications and circulars
pertaining to the course content.

Trial objectives and trial duration
One of the major aims of the study is to understand the impact of this new media, AV+P on the training  programme. • Does the PrinTV experience
generate excitement? • Do they perceive the learning  experience as complete?
• Does learning become more interactive –hence enjoyable?  • Does sharing information become easier and more  informative? • Do they perceive that they are able to retain more of the  information they have received? The trials were conducted for a period of 3 months during which over 2000  Gram Panchayat member trainees experienced the benefits of PrinTV.  The trials were conducted during January to March 2006.

Indicative observations
Since the study has just concluded  and data analysis is in process, it is possible to only share indicative qualitative trends based on extensive  observations conducting using a variety of ethnographic methodology  including participant and nonparticipant methods.

Does the PrinTV experience generate excitement?
The simulcast print documents increased the involvement of the  participants, as they are keen to receive the print documents. Most participants encouraged their neighbours to attend the training  programme to get documents that were
otherwise inaccessible. These documents created a lot of discussion.

Do they perceive the learning experience as richer and more  complete?
The faculty was of the opinion that they were able to not only appraise the trainees on the various topics but was also able to send them relevant documents that substantiated the  nformation. The ability to send these documents along with the broadcast  AV content enabled them to concretize the information shared. The resource persons perceived that their role and efforts were further authenticated due the delivery of  relevant documents along with the AV that they used as a background to initiate learning and discussion. For the trainees the ability to receive  printed documents along with the AV content was a major incentive.  These documents became tools and weapons of information that strengthened their efforts at grappling with the systems of governance.

Does learning become more  interactive–hence more enjoyable?
The delivery of printable documents in sync with the audio video perceivably brought about a lot more active interaction within the group.  The printed document that arrived with the AV was a point for discussion  that gave them more insight into the information provided on TV. The level of interactivity within the group was also observed to increase.

Does sharing information become easier and more informative?
The participants said that they would make a file of the prints and share it with their colleagues. They would carry these prints during the gram  Panchayat meetings. It is also interesting to note that while the  system is installed at only 7 of Karnataka’s 175 taluks, the documents  delivered through PrinTV have
traveled across the state. Gram  Panchayat members and Resource persons from across the state have called their counterparts in Tumkur to  request copies of documents.

Do they perceive that they are  able to retain more of the information?
Most of the trainees opined that these documents sent via the new medium PrinTV would act as trigger to the  information provided to them during the training programme. Those with no or little literacy looked to this method of synchronous delivery as a means by which they could take these  documents away to be read to them by a literate family member to understand  what was required of them.

Other application spaces for PrinTV
Some of the applications envisage in the developmental space are: • Education
• TV based Educational programs – Augmenting lecturer’s broadcast with printable lecture notes, reference materials & tests • Public Information Dissemination • Epidemic prevention – Printable practical guidelines on preventing AIDS etc • Benefit schemes – Forms/ procedure for applying for them • Community information  • Edutainment • Agriculture – Information about farming techniques, how to and how much to use pesticides, technology support. • Epidemics – Information on symptoms, measures and precautions on avian flue • Travel – Tourist information,  travel tips, history of places. • Health programs – Advisories • Spiritual programs – Sermons  The following issues need to be addressed in future as they will impact the way the new medium of simulcasting data along with audio – visual communication will impact choice of media, content creation and affordance of the media over time. Content for mixed media Simulcast with PrinTV opens up the arena for messaging that is complementary and completed by each other and can be deliveredsynchronously.

Impact of mixed media
The impact of this form of mixed  complementary media needs to bestudied to understand the full significance of having the message being added to and supported through different media that complement each other and deliver
synchronously, some thing not possible till now.

Affordance of mixed media:
The affordance of such mixed media needs to be further explored. How do audio-visual and print media when delivered synchronously change the affordance of the various media? Do the affordances of these media get extended and flow into one another.

Impact of behavior change communication augmented by PrinTV:
Also of interest is the long-term impact of the PrinTV experience on the community served by these representatives. It is essential to  understand how the community benefits from the PrinTV medium.

American India  Foundation, through its
flagship “Digital  Equaliser (DE)” programme has been working in  underprivileged schools
to integrate technology as a pedagogical tool into the classrooms. The  philosophy of the DE programme is that  teachers are the pivots to
the school system and by creating an enabling environment the  teachers would be empowered to make a choice on the use of technology as an additional tool in the teaching-learning process

Changing the traditional teaching-learning process is easier said than done, as
school systems which have been using the chalk-talk method find it  very difficult to adopt newer systems. E-mail facilities are beginning to be  used more in many schools as a management and administrative  resource and also in limited cases as a teaching and learning resource.  Internet access is becoming more common, but the use of the Internet  for teaching and learning purposes is
very limited, due to high connectivity and telecommunication costs, lack of  local content and examples, and inadequate technical and pedagogical support at local levels. Hence introducing an ICT program in a  school means a lot more than just providing relevant content or  technology training. Given the magnitude of the task, public-private-partnership is called for  to ensure that children receive highquality learning and teaching.  American India Foundation Digital  Eqaliser (AIF-DE) programme leverages on these partnerships so that the program is implemented in a  holistic and meaningful way and help the schools to build capacity within  the school system to handle teaching learning through ICT.

Digital Equaliser programme
Digital Equalizer (DE) programme is a  Computer Aided Learning initiative,which has been designed to bridge  the digital divide with a vision- “An India where ALL children have  access to resources and information that prepares them for participation in the digital age.”  At the macro-level the DE programme has two elements with different  phases. One is a pilot initiative where innovations on technology leading to  reduced cost and improved quality in terms of programme design will be  experimented on a continuous basis. The second is large-scale programme  implementation through partnerships with governments where learning from  the pilots would be adopted, adapted and appropriated for  replication and scale.

Why AIF is involved in implementing the DE Program A. Bridging the Digital Divide
AIF believes that there is a need to  prioritise access to ICT resources to the more underserved population, which is being left behind on a digital  divide. Through its DE Programme AIF is providing opportunities to  underserved children to enhance their learning through the use of digital  technology and thereby bridging the divide and creating a level  playing field. B. Quality learning AIF sees a direct convergence of  technology and education where the
DE programme addresses the quality issue in the following ways.
1. Schools revising the present   to create more effective learning environments and improving lifelong learning skills and habits in their students
2. In the process the teacher’s own learning abilities getting improved The DE methodology involves
• Enhancing basic literacy and critical thinking skills
• Enriching and improving the quality of education by enabling teachers to use technology in the teaching-learning process
• Inspire curiosity, confidence, and teamwork by actively engaging children in interactive, collaborative learning using technology and the Internet

DE programme implementation
• School selection is done based on availability of basic infrastructure, target group (Classes 6 to 10), teacher motivation to adopt the new system and management consent to support this activity.
• A Teacher trainer titled as “DE Co-ordinator” who is an AIF resource handles professional development and training for all  subject teachers on ICT skills.
The trainer is allotted 5 to 10 schools in a cluster. If the  teachers are not computer literate they are put through a computer  literacy course before this phase.
• A Student Trainer titled as “DE Facilitator” placed in each school, handles student training on basic computer skills.
• ICT skills for teachers include  creating multimedia lessons, using project based learning methods, use of Internet and leading tele-collaborative projects.
• Regular meetings are organised by the co-ordinators so that the  schools get together and evaluate projects on an ongoing basis using feedback into the
system.
• From year 2, each school is encouraged to  develop a school  technology plan,
which will be tracked by the DE co-ordinator.
• Commencing from  the third year the schools are expected to implement the
technology plan with minimal supervision from AIF to ensure sustainability beyond the DE Phase. By the end of 3 years the schools will be equipped to use
ICT in their day-to-day teachinglearning process.

Lessons from the learning
programmes implemented
1. AIF started with only a few dozen schools in 2001 and grew to 178in the following 4-5 years. A program of 100 schools will prove radically different from the one with 1,000 schools which is the stage in which the programme
currently is in.
2. Few schools tagged as test-beds  where experiments on the technology– hardware, software and connectivity, cost  effectiveness, user-friendliness,
acceptability from the target audience, perceived value  addition in terms of programme delivery are carried out.
3. It is found that teacher  motivation is a key factor in the programme implementation and there are 3 categories of teachers  to be handled: perfomers or  innovators, semi-performers, nonperformers or resistant teachers.
4. Monitoring and reporting on the progress of the programme  implementation are critical for ensuring that program is on track.  In our experience programmatic design improvement happens  through qualitative discussions
with schoolteachers and principals and not on the basis of  the monitoring reports.
5. While there is enough anecdotal evidence to indicate that the programme has largely been effective, and some empirical  studies have also been done, a
concrete model to assess the impact of the DE program is yet to emerge. The studies done could be classified as  “satisfaction surveys” which provided the necessary comfort level for the management to  continue with the programme approach.

DE growth path-the way forward
The DE program is in a stage where the programme will be implemented in partnerships with state governments  t a scale where the magnitude will be of the order of 500 to 1000 schools. This will be the first year of the programme where learnings from the pilots will be adopted, adapted and  appropriated for up-scaling. The programme management team is  gearing up with this arduous task of collaborating with other stakeholders,  chalking out clear roles and
responsibilities for each of the players. The DE programme will  complement and supplement the existing state government’s ICT  school initiatives through a collaborative effort rather than  creating a parallel system, which would breed competition. We are in the process of conducting impact  assessment for the existing DE centres and would come up with a  model to assess large-scale programs as we recognise that this aspect  needs to be prioritised.

Despite real improvements in access to, and use of,  information and communication technology around the world, there is a wealth of evidence to suggest that the digital divide between and within countries is growing. In response to the significant challenge microsoft had launched its global initiatives called the Partners-in- Learning Programme. Vincent Quah, Regional Academic  Programs Manager, Asia Pacific Public Sector, Microsoft, gives an Asia pacific overview of this programme and Microsoft’s visions in a  conversation with Rumi Mallick of Digital Learning.

? Can Public-Private Partnership as a framework address the   challenges in education in Asia?
If you look at a lot of government and the kind of investment they are putting into education it can be pre-daunting and can be  unsustainable. For example, in a populous country like India, how do  you try to address the education
divide in India, will the country be able to put the necessary investment  to support and ensure that many children can access quality education  and technology? Therefore, the whole notion of Public Private Partnership as  a possible framework for sustainable manpower development, is now even  of more important consideration than before. And so Microsoft is one such  example of Public Private Partnership to work with government to  understand the major, more important priorities of countries so as to help  them to begin addressing the challenges in education. 

? What are the other challenges to education in the Asia Pacific?
The same challenges faced by Asia pacific is also faced by Europe, faced by Africa, in Latin America, in US. The challenge is that people have not problem has to be addressed from the core. Not only the teachers, the  school leaders and the policy makers as well need to be digitally literate.  You have to ensure maximum results out of implementation. 

? When you refer to ICT enabled education, what kind of innovation will you highlight?
We need to start changing our terminology here, putting emphasis on  ICT-enabled education, not ICT integrated. It is an assumption that it  is the foundation. May be we should not think about the kid. ICT one day will become like a calculator, like a pen and paper, where we should really  focus in the innovation, and the change in the pedagogy and  curriculum, the change in the
assessment system, the change of learning and relearning and applying  lessons learned into the system.

? What are your future visions for  the rural area?
The future is like envisioning what the school can be like. That picture, that vision could be different for different schools and different regions. The  future of a rural school can be, how am I going to be relevant to the rural  been able to benefit from the impact and the investment the government is  making in technology. We keep learning the good practices, great  examples how teachers and students really blossom as a result of  technology, though we have not seen the widespread, cyspanic, embracing use of technology and  how technology has impacted, that is one challenge. The other  challenge is having something at
the country level that will enable to become comparative work force,  enable them to have digital literacy and helping them with an improved  quality of life.

? Why Microsoft has been focusing on teachers’ in most of the  programmes?
Teachers are very keen in the education sector. With technology,  teachers are no longer going to be relevant, but on the contrary teachers  are becoming more important, have very different role, of an expert, a  manager and a facilitator. Teachers are the key for students. So it will be a much easier approach to make the students learn and understand if the  teachers are properly trained. Students are digitally literate where as  the teachers are digitally illiterate. The   children to ensure that they can have a good career in future and so they can design the school around that  vision. Important is what is a great, mighty or important thing in one  country need not necessarily be
applicable in your own context.

? What is your experience so far in  working with the Asian countries?
I think the governments in Asia Pacific are in a real high demand stage. It is not actually a question of over-supply; it is a question of overdemand.  So much that has to be done at the country level; they embrace  different programmes including Microsoft into part and parcel of their  overall national strategy. And our experience working with governments  is very very positive. The  partnership  learning initiative has been the most successful programme of Microsoft. We never had so many partnerships;  as of today we have 101 countries on this programme.

? You might have faced some challenges working with Asian governments. Can you relate a few? 
Working with Government is all about establishing trust during relationship. When we started in some countries, government was little concerned and skeptical as organisations like Microsoft want to make partnership with them. But I think when they see that we meant what we say, we meet  the  commitments, we do the things we are going to say, that is where the  change, the trust begins to grow, that is when they become more prepared  to have more in-depth discussion about some of the things that are  working and some of the things that are not working in the country. 

? What is the Microsoft vision of education worldwide?
Microsoft vision of education worldwide, not just for Asia is that we believe technology can play very important role in the whole business  of education, in the teaching and learning area as well as meeting the  lifestyle of the students and teachers. We believe the technology can help  them fulfill their potentials, that is Microsoft’s ultimate vision.

? What do you think has been your major achivement?
If I can see a sparkle in the eyes of the students, in the eyes of the teachers, in the eyes of policy makers with whom we work. At the end of the day  it should be about creating better opportunities for them, it’s about  impacting positively.

? Any specific achievement in last  few years?
Wherever I travel I always meet up schools and teachers, educators, senior level officers, ministers. We run a conference for senior government people in the ministry so that we can understand their problems, at the  same time we help them realise that this is how the world is moving,  technological advances are happening, they need to be aware of  some of these things as well. So we
make the relationship and make it grow and I think this is one big area that I can count as my achievement in helping develop this trust and this  relationship between government and Microsoft.

? How do you see Asia in ten years   from now?
Asia will experience very explosive growth. Hopefully in ten years time we will be looking to new challenges rather than focusing on old challenges which we would have overcome by then. The people  who are involved in the education
sector would be much more savvy  with what the current fence of the world. The students we are teaching are going to experience  very different lifestyles after 20 years from now.