The Nasdaq-listed Red Hat, an open source software provider, has announced its partnership with the southrn Indian city Hyderabad-based Lotus Learning Systems Society to promote open source education in schools.
This initiative is part of Red Hat's commitment to modernise the Indian education systems by promoting learning through IT and usage of open source technology as a platform for learning.
A new Discovery Channel homework Web site aims to remind parents whose math and history knowledge has gotten rusty how to help their children with the very things they have forgotten.
Cosmeo, a new online subscription site from Discovery Communications, offers a range of tools from a WebMath equation solver to educational videos and subject-specific Brain Games. Launched recently, the site targets Web-savvy children from kindergarten through 12th grade. It also gives parents and other caretakers a way to be more involved in the learning process while refreshing their own knowledge.
Cosmeo costs $9.95 per month or $99 per year. Other features include interactive quizzes, a digital encyclopedia and a digital photo library. The service is built on Discovery's united streaming, an educational video streaming service used in more than 70,000 schools. Cosmeo's search functions serve up age- or grade-appropriate content, which is also tailored to match state curriculum requirements.
Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies (CSDMS), India in association with Ministry of Information and Communication Technology and Ministry of Education, Royal Thai Government, recently organised the 'Curtain Raiser Ceremony and First Meeting of the Program Advisory Board' of the forthcoming digital LEARNING Asia 2006 along with the two other parallel conferences
On 16 March, a ceremony at the Kala Kakoli school launched a fifteen center project bringing computers and Internet to schools and their communities in the Chittagong area. The project is part of a nationwide project by an international NGO, Relief International – Schools Online (RI-SOL) which has partnered in Chittagong with the Mahmudunnabi Chowdhury Foundation, a philanthropic organization promoting technology, education and youth development in the Chittagong area.
The RI-SOL project is funded by the US Department of State's Educational and Cultural Affairs Bureau, the Hewlett Foundation, the Global Catalyst Foundation and other private donations. The project promotes use and integration of information and communication technologies into secondary education. The opening took place as part of America week in Chittagong and was attended by USAID Deputy Director, Beth Paige.
The ceremony began with remarks from the headmaster of the Kala Kakoli school, Ahmedul Haq, who expressed his hopes that the center would serve as a lasting resource for the students of his school and the surrounding community. Dr. Jack Welch, the Country Director of RI-SOL discussed the need to match school and community resources with educational objectives. He also discussed RI-SOL's role in teacher and student training, and in assisting schools to develop their own solutions to the integration of technology and education.
Beth Paige, Deputy Director of USAID discussed the Global Connections and Exchange Program which will be implemented at these and other schools as part of the programming. This project is running in many countries around the world and promotes intercultural education. Through the internet, students can learn about the world around them without limitation by distance, and can show others their culture. A website developed for this project was also announced: www.connect-bangladesh.org
HP Labs India has introduced its pen-based keyboard for Indian languages, including Devanagari (Hindi), Kannada and Tamil.
Priced at Rs 2,000, the gesture-based keyboard helps solve the phonetic language entry problem by allowing users to input text and data with a pen. The innovative technology also allows any Indian script to be recorded and stored directly on the computer. The hi-tech keyboard makes it easier for even non-English speaking people and those who can't type to communicate with others effortlessly. Designed and developed at HP Labs India, the keyboard is currently available in Hindi and Kannada scripts along with English fonts.
Keyboards in Tamil and other scripts, which are being developed, will be rolled out in the coming months. The product is aimed at benefiting over 1.5 billion non-English speaking people in South Asia, including Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka besides other phonetic script users. The technology will be licensed to a third party for manufacturing and distribution. In addition to text, the keyboard allows the capturing of signatures, pictures and visuals. It also has the potential to create and store notes and images in any language as bitmaps.
Teacher absence ranges from 20% to over 50% in different states of India, and makes a mockery of free and universal education. In such circumstances, the government's plan to double spending on education will simply double the waste. One possible solution comes from Sewa Mandir, an NGO, whose experiment has been analysed in a research paper by two American scholars (Monitoring Works: Getting Teachers to Come to School, by Esther Duflo of MIT and Rema Hagner of New York University) Sewa Mandir runs non-formal schools in hilly, scattered villages of Udaipur district.
As an experiment in 2003, it equipped 60 schools with cameras having a tamper-proof time-and-date function. Each teacher had to ask a student to take a photo of himself/herself along with at least eight other students at the start and end of school, which had to be at least five hours apart. The teaching record of these camera schools was then compared with that of 60 other normal schools in the neighbourhood.
In normal schools, teachers earned a flat INR 1,000/month. In camera schools, teachers got a base salary of INR 1,000 for 21 days a month; a bonus of INR 50 for every extra day worked; and a fine of INR 50 for every day absent (maximum fine INR 500). So, salaries in camera schools ranged from INR 500 to INR 1,300/month. Over 18 months, the camera schools recorded teacher absence of 22%, against 42% for normal schools (and 44% for all schools before the experiment). Hence, cameras almost halved teacher absence. Teachers were present over 90% of the time in 35% of camera schools, against just 1% of normal schools. Best of all, random checks suggested that teacher presence remained high in the camera schools even after the experiment ended: the mindset had changed. Teachers were not hostile. On feedback forms, many said the programme had instilled a new sense of discipline that they liked, apart from linking performance to pay.
Teachers said that the cameras enabled them to better resist pressures from local elites to do tasks other than teaching. But some complained that kids might arrive too late for the morning photo. Children in camera schools received 10% more teaching time (or 34 more days per year) than in normal schools. Tests before and one year after the programme started showed that children in camera schools scored significantly higher (0.17 standard deviations) than in normal schools, and were 40% more likely to be admitted later into regular government schools. The sharpest improvement was recorded by children with higher initial scores: the impact was negligible for the bottom half of students.
Asia is facing a booming economy. With rapid growth rates, thrust on improving infrastructure, rapid strides in the field of telecommunications, be it wired phones or mobile telephony and information and communications technologies, Asia is positioned to usher in a knowledge revolution. The ambience is absolutely ripe to bring in not only appropriate technologies but also the private sector players and solution providers at level playing field to contribute to this positive growth phase. Digital Learning plans to review the progress made, and will focus on Asia in the coming two months. While reviewing how the governments have envisioned policies and programmes, the attempt is to bring to the readers a first hand coverage of the different ecosystem players. In Thailand, for example, we found that the thrust has been to develop systems that will apply across the country and follow rigorous online learning standards, conforming to internationally accepted practices. This dream can be realised by emphasizing shifts in the learning- paradigms, as well as by creating appropriate technological environment. Whether using television for learning, or building a sophisticated content and learning management system, the Ministry of Education, Government of Thailand, has been pioneering innovations and collaborating with multi-stakeholder partners to realise their vision. The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of ICT are working hand-in-hand to provide the appropriate policy environment, and promoting the establishment of the standards. The tools and technologies have been identified, and as a forward-looking developing country, Thailand is looking for innovative options. Exciting experiments are on. We are planning to cover a series of focussed articles in the coming issues of Digital Learning from Thailand in particular, and Asia in general, beginning with the March issue. An Asian perspective of e-Learning can be built by reviewing these efforts by the ecosystem players closely and bringing in a partnership of the many stakeholders. In order to obtain a better understanding and showcasing the ongoing efforts in the Asian emerging e-Learning scenario, Digital Learning will be organising the Conference on Digital Learning Asia from April 26-28, 2006. Thailand’s Ministry of Education is supporting organisation for this event. The Ministry of ICT is hosting the conference. With their leadership, as well as an eminent panel of Advisors, this conference is emerging as a key platform for sharing and showcasing. The special pull out in this edition of the Digital Learning magazine profiles these events. We look forward to many of the readers of Digital Learning marking their calendars and making this their destination for this event.
India to foray into China with languages software
Accounting software company Tally India, which has launched its concurrent multi-lingual business accounting and inventory management software, Tally 8.1 in ten Indian languages, is all set to take the product to China where it will offer the same in some of the dialects. The company is also working at launching it in other Indian languages, including Urdu, and will launch the products in Arabic for West Asia and other foreign languages, including for markets in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
President of India calls for joint design and development of tablet PC
Citing the successful joint venture of India and Russia to harness the core competencies of the two nations for the benefit of the humanity, President of ndia A P J Abdul Kalam called for a joint design, development and manufacturing of handheld tablet PC with multilingual capability. According to the President, missions of world knowledge platform should include the convergeance of bio, nano and the Information and Communication echnology. Areas such as electronics, ICT and Automobile sectors should be
focussed in the areas of design, development leading to productionisation for meeting the market demands of the respective countries and also for the world
market. Development and manufacturing of handheld tablet PC should be done with a cost effective factor and open source operating system and software configured for the school students and common citizen who wanted to benefit from the e-Governance initiatives to meet requirements of Asia Pacific and African countries. This PC would have wireless connectivity so that it could take care of communication needs and possibly even the telephone besides sufficient video capability to act as an entertainment platform. For young
students it should serve as a boon in ensuring substantial reduction of carrying heavy books and note books.
One Laptop per Child initiative finds Red Hat as India partner
While streams of IT vendors are talking about low-cost PC solutions for the Indian market, the US$100 laptop being designed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for the world’s poorest children, is already getting express backup from India. News
Illiterate parents in India can go to school!
This is the mother of all programmeseducating illiterate parents for free. The Mass Education department along with Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) in India will conduct classes for illiterate parents of out-of-school children during the Chinnara Angala programme. Chinnara Angala, a two-month bridge course held twice a year, aims at bringing drop-outs back to the mainstream. Since Chinnara Angala is mostly held in government schools, a decision has been taken to educate parents along with their children. While SSA teachers will
concentrate on students, mass education volunteers will cater to adults. As the bridge course extends up to 100 days in areas where dropout rate is high, accommodation will be provided to students and their parents in government schools. There are two incentives: A common venue for the entire family to get
educated and no fixed timing for classes. As per the March 2005 Child Census, there are 1.05 lakh out-of-school children in the state. Every bridge course will have at least two volunteers —preraks and upa preraks — to hold classes for adults. The department is also conducting short 18-day literacy and livelihood camps in slums, where semi employed parents can not only become literate but also enhance their skill American software maker Red Hat Inc signed up as ‘founding corporate member’’ of One Laptop per Child (OLPC), the MIT initiative that is driving the US$100 laptop. As a result, Mumbai-based Red Hat India is now one of the global foundries where software to run the most ffordable laptop is being written. A sizeable nugget of the software at the core of
the laptop, now named ‘‘Fedora Core,’’ will be designed in India. With the world’s largest under-25 population, the government in India may just have to give the MIT initiative a push. MIT will sell the laptops only directly to developing country governments, which are then meant to issue them to children in schools on a basis of ‘‘one laptop per child.’’
University of Toronto selectsBlackboard for e-Learning
Blackboard Inc., a leading provider of technology to educational institutions and corporate and government agencies, announces the University of Toronto, a leading teaching and research university in Canada, has licensed the lackboard Academic Suite(TM), a suite of three integrated software products which support a Networked Learning Environment(TM). A Networked earning Environment enables students and teachers to learn, connect and share educational aterials and resources from practically any location and at any time. The Blackboard Academic Suite fosters Web-based and Webenhanced
learning and is used by hundreds of universities, colleges and K-12 schools in North America and abroad. The university plans to utilize the system immediately to enhance the student experience by providing improved integration of digital resources, better communication and collaboration utilities and a consistent, web-based interface across courses. Instructors will
benefit from possibilities for new methods of instruction and more effective and efficient class administration.
University research group in Thailand bring out utility-bill payments system through CAT kiosk
Customers in the near future will be able to make their utility purchases and payments with CAT cards using a one-stop service called a CAT Kiosk – doing away with their visits to convenience stores – thanks to something the corpion Research Group of Kasetsart University in Thailand has come up with. It is for consumers wishing to make their utility-bill payments through a kiosk. It upports both English and Thai versions and the team plans Russian, Korean and Japanese versions as well. It will also reduce imports of equipment, which is costlier. The kiosks will be equipped with a high-end computer, printer, barcode scanner and a wireless modem sending information into a central system. Customers will be asked by a 17-inch display monitor to make their payments; they can also have the payment scanned. After that, the computer will show the amount to be paid and calculate the service charge. Customers will be able to pay more than one bill at one go. Users will then pay through their credit cards. The computer system will then verify the credit card at
headquarters. Once that is done, customers get their printed receipts
Teen ICT trains younger people
To make the country a knowledgebased society where people have equal access to information and communication technology (ICT), the Information and Communications Technology Ministry in Bangkok has rolled out a project called “Teen ICT”, encouraging young people to be trained in the use of technology. The concept is to allow students from Teen ICT Project to study game development in depth as well as the development of education media. The target is for 40-50 students to join Teen ICT Workshop in the first year.
Teen ICT Project ran from August to December last year with around 700 students from over 100 schools in more than 10 provinces nationwide being trained in the use of the Internet and multimedia applications. In the project 50 leadership students were created in Bangkok, selected from 150 students chosen by the Basic Education Commission. Those 50 then trained the other students.
Auditor to monitor ICT usagein Malaysian schools
The Education Ministry in Malaysia will soon appoint an independent auditor to monitor the effectiveness of the use of ICT in all schools. This was necessary as almost 87% of schools in the country have either desktop computers or otebooks. It is important to know whether teachers are using the facilities effectively in the learning and teaching process and whether there are enough computers. Also is important to know whether the computers are lying idle or whether they have been supplied to schools, which don’t have power supply. The ministry had initially short-listed five companies for the auditor role,
however three companies pulled out after he laid down stringent conditions
Cisco Networking Academy in India
Networking major Cisco Systems and Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) in India have teamed up to provide the Cisco Networking
Academy Programme in about 250 non-profit educational institutions across the state Andhra Pradesh. The JNTU Colleges of Engineering in Hyderabad, Anantapur and Kakinada will be accredited as Regional Academies. These academies will identify and accredit 250 non-profit educational institutions as local academies under them within a period of two years. The academies will
impart networking education to around 25,000 students every year.
WORLD
Privacy fears hit Google search A leading US digital rights campaign
group has warned against using Google software which lets people organise and find information on their computers. The Electronic Frontier Foundation said the latest version of Google Desktop posed a risk to privacy. This is because a feature in the software lets Google keep personal data on its servers for up to 30 days. Google says it plans to encrypt all data transferred from users’ hard drives and restrict access. The new version of its desktop search software comes as Google is battling efforts by the US Department of Justice to force it to
hand over data about what people are looking for. Google Desktop 3 is currently only available for Windows P or Windows 2000.
Reinventing High School education infused with technologyHigh Tech High, in this innovative charter school, in a converted warehouse, students don’t take tests or write apers. Instead, they use the latest technology to produce documentaries, books and presentations. The brainchild of lawyer-turnededucator Larry Rosenstock, High Tech High is one of many attempts in America to reinvent high schools. The movement is fueled by growing alarm over dropout rates – especially among blacks and Hispanics – disengaged students, and a decline in American competitiveness in science and math. High Tech’s model is to locate small schools with no more than 450 students each on the same campus. It is “high tech” not because it trains students to fix computers and write software, although some do, but because technology is infused throughout the curriculum. Students work on networked laptops and maintain digital portfolios. There are plans to open more school campuses in California as well as Texas.
UK college to get its radio online
A WELSH further education college in UK is to become the first to launch an online radio station through an innovative website. Dozens of schools have set up their own stations using award-winning website www.radiowaves.co.uk, but Coleg Gwent will become the first further education college to join their ranks. The college, the largest further education provider in Wales, will launch its presence on Radio Waves under a name picked by a student. Radio Waves allows schools and colleges to set up online radio stations where they can upload clips of up to 30 minutes sharing their news and views with the nation. College staff hope students will begin adding clips to the website, and that working on the radio station will boost their IT and communications skills. Getting involved in the Radio Waves project should help students to improve their self-confidence, build relationships and enhance their ICT skills.
SAC US’s largest online-degree provider
United States News and World Report ranked San Antonio College as the sixth largest online degree-granting program in the United States, according to the magazine’s e- Learning Guide. The University of Phoenix, which maintains a campus in San Antonio, based in Arizona; Park University in Parkville; St. Leo University in Saint Leo; the University of Maryland, University College in Adelphi; and Central Texas College in Killeen, Texas, were listed as the top five schools. According to the publication, students were enrolled in 19,000 online classes at San Antonio College during the 2004-2005 academic year. Classes include a combination of content on CD-ROM, video and some on-campus meetings. San Antonio College offers 195 distance- ducation courses toward the completion of an associate in arts and science degree, and an associate in applied science degree. The school also offers online associate’s degrees in mathematics and criminal justice. More bytes for girls in IT and multimedia in Australia Responding to the decreasing participation of girls in IT subjects, Swinburne University in Australia is running a program to motivate girls into using IT and multimedia in schools.
The programme More bytes:
Girls in IT is part of the Australian School nnovation in Science Technology and Mathematics (ASISTM). The unique program aims to engage a diverse group of girls from Year 8 to 10 in IT and multimedia by giving them the chance to network and build their story of girls’ culture using technology. The project brings together a diverse mix of high school girls from different backgrounds, and increases their opportunities to think creatively, to share ideas and resources, and inspires them to consider IT and multimedia as
possible careers.
Google unveils Web page creator
Google launched a service that lets people create their own Web pages hosted by the Internet giant. Google Page Creator, which is in beta, has sample layouts and lets people type in content, upload images and publish their pages, without knowing HTML. People can create multiple linked pages and are allowed 100MB of storage on the service. The free service requires a Gmail account and
supports either Internet Explorer 6.0 or Firefox 1.0, or higher. With Page Creator, the company has drawn a distinction between Web sites and Web pages, saying that a page is a “single document with its own Web address,” whereas a site is a “collection of pages with a common subdomain,” or the “xxxxxxx.com” portion of the URL. “During this initial testing period,” Google said, people can create only pages, not sites.
ICT course aims to change lives in New Zealand
The Unlimited Potential course aims to give computer skills to people in New Zealand who may never have ad the chance before. The course sponsors – the Government and Microsoft – hopes that local communities will be revitalised as a result. Minister for the Community, Winnie Laban says new skills can lead to new jobs and creative alternatives to deadend employment. Microsoft NZ Managing Director Ross Peat says the examples of countries like Ireland and Singapore have already shown what happens when a population has crossed the digital divide. Some of the pilot schemes have been very solidly based in the local communities, with Microsoft providing network equipment, PCs and software to enable the training to be carried out actually in the community rather than lsewhere. The technology and the software provide opportunities for people to realise their potential, and can transform lives.
Open source software for educational ICT
Up-to-date advice for all colleges and universities in the UK about open source software is now available. The Joint Information Systems Committee realises that almost every further and higher education institution in the UK is making
using of open source software. With the European Commission and the UK Government giving its support to its development and deployment, it has become a central issue for institutional management of IT systems and services in education. ‘Open source’ refers to software whose source code is openly available to be modified by end-users, in contrast to proprietary software. While such software is already in use in colleges and universities, it is rarely yet part of institutional policies and strategies and there are still a great many misunderstandings concerning it. In this latest publication, JISC – supported by its advisory service OSS Watch – advocates the use of open source as the default for software development as well as providing guidelines on copyright, licensing, trademarks, patents and development practice
In this era of globalisation youth must be availed a platform to find inspiration and expression, get involved and take action in their local and global communities. ‘Takingitglobal.org’ does just that. It is an online community with the membership of over one hundred thousand motivated youth. TIG’s nteractive website provides a platform for expression, connection to opportunities, and support for action. It is now one of the world’s most popular online community for young people interested in making a difference. The motto of this portal is: “Inspire Inform Involve”. TakingITGlobal works with global partners – from UN agencies, to major companies, and especially outh organizations – to build the capacity of youth for development, artistic and media expression, make education more engaging, and involve young people in global decision-making. TakingITGlobal is a new type of international organization, developed within the context of several emerging trends such as global challenges demanding global solutions, a revolution in information and communications technologies, young people – the world’s greatest untapped resource, an idea whose time has come etc.This portal informs the visitor about its history and the objectives TIG has set for to achieve by the year 2010. This portal introduces and facilitates various online programmes such as online community engagement, thematic engagement around major global challenges, student and educational engagement, organisational engagement and local engagement. In its publications section young visitors can access “Guide to Action”. This educational booklet provides a step-by-step process where young people reflect upon their community, identify key issues, get informed, plan and implement action projects and evaluate their success. In its Media section one can access the news related global issues and young people as well as the insights and research articles which are very useful and these study materials are available in pdf files and fully downloadable. On its home page there are various options like “Make Connections” which contains iscussion boards, groups, member search, newsletters and TIG blog etc , “Take Action” contains work forum, project and workshop kit etc, Understand Issues contains issues like cultural diversity, equity, education, employment, environment, health and wellness, information communication technologies (ICTs), media, peace and conflict, Poverty and globalisation, social ustice and human rights. This portal provides free online membership to the visitor. A member of TIG can have online chat with other members of TIG community through using this portal and articles can be submitted for the publications in TIG’s Panorama section. The home page avails global online gallery of artwork and also provides database of organizations related to youth and their actions. Rinalia Abdul Rahim of Global Knowledge Partnership writes “I have watched TakingITGlobal grow from a compelling idea to a compelling reality. With their global network of young people, powerful technology, and organizational avvy, TIG is a driving force in collaborative efforts to reach and mobilize youth to create digital opportunities for all.”The Time Magazine has written about the TIG “At the heart of the new generation’s approach is a collabora-tive style that is getting smart young minds together. This is a central tenet of TakingITGlobal which helps young people around the world network and find out about worthy projects.” ?
“Knowledge Maps: ICTsin Education”prepared by MichaelTrucano for infoDevPublication: InfoDev,2005
infoDev’s series of Knowledge Maps on ICTs in education is intended to provide a sanpshots and summary of research literatures related to ICT and ducation.This book is an attempt to limn the general shapes of a very large body of knowledge and highlight certain issues in a format quickly is accessible to busy policymakers.It meant to point out key general assertions and gaps in the knowledge base of what is known about the use of information and ommunication technologies (ICTs) in education, which especially as such knowledge may relate to the education-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The “Knowledge Maps” presents a clear picture of what is known and what isn’t about information and communication technology (ICT) use in education. Inspite of large investment in ICTs to benefit education and increasing use of ICTs in education in developing countries, important gaps remain in the current knowledge base. This book has been divided into ten topics (impact of ICTs on learning and achievement; monitoring and evaluation; equity issues; costs; current projects and practices, specific ICT tools, teaching and ICTs, content & curriculum; policy issues, and school-level issues) grouped into four major themes (Knowledge Maps: Impact, Knowledge Maps: Costs, Knowledge Maps: Current implementations of ICTs in education, Theme: Planning). These “Knowledge Maps” attempt to outline where important gaps in received knowledge exist, and were utilized in the formulation of recommendations in support of a series of related research projects and workshops at infoDev.The knowledge mapping exercise relies totally on existing research and literature. A full listing of useful resources consulted during the knowledge mapping exercise is also presented in a bibliography. infoDev’s series of Knowledge Maps on ICTs in Education are a work in progress. The Knowledge Maps will be updated on a regular basis to reflect new developments and research. The impact of ICT use on learning outcomes is unclear, and open to much debate(Topic1 and 2). There is an absence of widely accepted standard ethodologies and indicators to assess impact of ICTs in education. There is a disconnect between the rationales most often put forward to advance the use of ICTs in education (to introduce new learning practices and to foster 21st century thinking and learning skills) and their actual implementation (predominantly for use in computer literacy and dissemination of learning materials). There is very little useful data on the cost of ICT in education initiatives, especially those attempting to assess total cost of ownership, nor guidance on how to conduct cost assessments. ICTs are being increasingly introduced in education, and interest in their use appears to be growing, even in the most challenging environments in developing countries(Topic 4). There are emerging best practices and lessons learned in a number of areas, but with a few exceptions (notably on ‘schoolnet’ development and general lessons learned), they have not been widely disseminated nor packaged into formats easily accessible to policy makers in developing countries, and have not been explicitly examined in the context of the education related MDGs(Topic 10) . While much of the rhetoric (and rationale) for using ICTs to benefit education has focused on ICTs’ potential for bringing about changes in the teaching-learning paradigm, in practice, ICTs are most often used in education in LDCs to support existing teaching and learning practices with new tools. While impact on student achievement is still a matter of reasonable debate, a consensus seems to argue that the ntroduction and use of ICTs in education can be a useful tool to help promote and enable educational reform, and that ICTs are both important motivational tools for learning and can promote greater efficiencies in education systems and practices.
