Enough has been written about the importance of having a sound education
system in country and all the social benefits that accrue once we have one. We
also understand why the government is charging a cess on taxes to fuel
education. But do you know that Education which is currently a $40 billion worth
sector, is all set to grow three-folds to $120 billion in ten years time? And
it's not just the managements of the private institutes that are going to
benefit from this opportunity; there's a share to be grabbed by everyone, more
prominently the ICT industry. Roughly 20% of a middle-class family's money is
spent on educating kids, with parents jostling with each other to get their ward
admitted to a top-notch private school than risking their child's future in
950,000 odd government run schools. The widening rich and poor divide in the
society is clearly reflected in the stark contrast between our educational
facilities in cities and villages. A lot of private funding at both school and
college level has ensured world-class institutions mushrooming across urban
India; on the contrary the state of elementary education in villages is
reflected in the satire doing rounds in electronic media these days (the Idea
commercial for the uninitiated!). No buildings for students, no electricity,
forget even potable drinking water or proper sanitation facilities.
Clearly, the potential for investments in this sector is immense. Most of the
schools and colleges still use primitive means for teaching: blackboards, desks,
chalks and dusters, slates and registers. While, the government's focus is on
educating masses in rural areas, urban schools and colleges are witnessing
private funding in a big way. The more reputed institutions have the luxury of
state-of-the-art facilities within their premises and the comfort of money
should they need to invest more; however, it's the primary and high schools in
rural areas that are really short of funds even for the basic infrastructure,
forget investing in the latest technologies. We see customized solutions
available for all institutions. The institutions that need to develop students
to compete globally and the ones that charge the heftiest of fees, are the ones
most amenable to adopting the latest and the costliest technologies. Let's look
at the levels of IT penetration, the new technologies available and their
benefits.
World-class education in your neighborhood
A trip to some of the world-class educational institutes across India shows how
teaching and admin facilities have changed over the years. And it's not a mere
coincidence that this change has occurred simultaneously with the progress of
ICT. Actually you see a complete facelift in the way institutes function these
days. Right from the start of the admission process, to daily classes, admin
chores, to conducting exams and declaring results; you see a lot of technology
being used.
Most of the schools and colleges have websites in place that act as a single
source of interaction for the students. Admission processes are notified online
and students have the flexibility to fill and submit forms there itself. These
forms are stored on a central server where customized software let you do all
sorts of administrative fiddling with the data. You can evaluate candidates,
declare admission results and roll out list of successful and wait-listed
candidates online. The fees deposited by successful candidates is directly
credited to the accounts department, saving time on moving files and folders.
Likewise the transportation needs of students is also taken care of. The maps
for different routes can be prepared and stored in the system and be accessed
easily when deciding upon a suitable bus route. In fact, the entire
transportation system can be automated, right from storing info on students,
drivers, bus details, etc to even tracking their movement using GPS navigation
devices. The authorities can keep a tab on the speed at which a driver is moving
and also locate a bus whenever required. Regular instructions can be handed over
to the driver and his route diverted in case there's some blockade or disruption
in traffic on the way.
IT@UPES: Stoking the Flames of Knowledge The first Indian Energy University Set up by eminent petroleum professionals in 2003, UPES offers over 33
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The University was the first in Uttarakhand to implement Wi-Fi across The University has also adopted server virtualization to rationalize For each campus there's an L3 based LAN with fibre connectivity amongst |
Most of the institutes are fast moving toward having parts of their
examinations online. The benefits are enormous and software developers are fast
pushing solutions for the same. It speeds up the evaluation of answer sheets and
also eliminates leakage of question papers besides connecting various exam
centers and students simultaneously. Students even have the flexibility of
choosing their day and time and appear from a center nearest to their place. A
potent benefit of having exams online is for rural areas where we don't have
much of infrastructure either. A lot of ERP solutions are available that provide
all the above functionality and even more.
Why e-Learning?
A lot of e-learning courses are being used these days for all kinds of subjects
and for students of all age groups. These facilitate ease of learning,
especially when you have branches at multiple locations and want to standardize
the education material that is taught across each branch. The medium of
instruction could vary from a CBT (PC based courses on CDs), a WBT (where
students read information in the form of PDFs, HTML files and fill responses
online) to interactive audio/video sessions. The possibilities are endless and
nearly as good as the quality and scale of your network. The concept of high-def
video conferencing used by corporates has taken the shape of virtual classrooms
in institutes where a professor sitting in one of the cities can deliver a
lecture to dozen other locations at the same time. The success of these courses
depends on the strength of the campus networks and the number of students that
can be connected. As it is not possible to provide wired connections at each and
every location, wireless connectivity through the use of WiFi and WiMAX
technologies is fast becoming popular.
Classrooms go hi-tech
The IT revolution is not just restricted to the admin and infrastructure,
there's lot of action happening inside classrooms as well. If an institute has
the money and the desire to provide best-of-class facilities inside its
premises, then sky is the limit. Everything, right from blackboards to student's
books and registers and slates have been e-enabled. A teacher can simply walk
into the classroom with his notebook (or stay away from the classroom and still
be able to deliver lectures!) and connect it to an electronic whiteboard. The
board itself consumes very less power and could even be powered through the USB.
Short throw projectors are mounted on top of such boards to ensure that the
teacher can move around freely without his shadow being projected on the board.
He can control his slides on the whiteboard through a stylus or a digital pen
and even draw objects on it. There are interactive presentation panels available
that let you achieve the same functionality standing on the podium facing the
audience. Whatever is marked on these touch screen panels gets automatically
reflected on the board. Needless to add, the entire set of changes gets
incorporated on the notebook app. The teacher can even move around the classroom
interacting with students for which he has another gizmo available-a digital
slate-that is connected with the whiteboard through WiFi and works in the same
manner as the interactive panel, but provides mobility in addition.
For their part, students would only be too happy to have notebooks that are
connected to the whiteboard or the teacher's notebook so that they can save the
day's proceedings. The concentration levels would only increase with the added
benefit of revisiting a lecture again and again at one's own pace. There are
also interactive response systems available for students to poll their responses
to questions posed by teachers during a lecture. These are similar to the
popular 'polling devices' used by various television game shows, where audiences
poll responses to queries put forth by the host. The small, portable devices
work on either IR or ultrasonic waves. The responses can be compiled to generate
reports.
Another trend that's catching up is the use of low-cost ultraportable mobile
PCs for young kids. What can at best be described as bare-bones machines by
today's standards, these UMPCs bundle together cost savings with simplicity.
Using Intel's Celeron and the latest Atom processors, coupled with the now
cheaper Windows XP, these UMPCs come for as low as Rs 15k. They only require
additional e-learning software and you have a kind of client-server mechanism
established amongst the teacher and students.
Toys for the Next-gen Classroom
While the list is pretty huge and the possibilities endless, we present some of
the most intuitive gadgets that are being adopted by the 'high-on-budget'
institutes
It's the electronic version of the old classroom boards, we've all grown up
being taught in classrooms, that has redefined the way students are taught in
classes. Alongwith the ultra short throw projector, this whiteboard can be used
by the teacher to transform a lecture into an audio-visual presentation with
informative slides, right there on the whiteboard. There's a software installed
on the teacher's notebook that controls the interaction of the teacher's
notebook with the whiteboard and is also used to save changes that he makes on
the board. The teacher can fiddle around with images, text, calculations on the
screen using a stylus, an electronic pen or even a finger, depending on the
model being used. These whiteboards can also be used to remotely conference
across different locations, thus adding a new dimension to video conferencing.
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There are several short throw projectors such as this CP —A100, available for
use with interactive whiteboards in classrooms. The benefit of deploying such
devices over the traditional projectors is that they reduce or nearly eliminate
the presenter's shadow on the board, while in motion from one end to the other.
They are quick and easier to install and can be mounted on the wall above the
board. However, you need to be very precise about placement, to produce the
right sized image to fill the board and one that is completely focused on the
surface of the board.
If you hate showing your back to the audience while presenting, then this
dual touch-screen device from SMART Technologies is the perfect solution. This
device takes the input from your notebook via a USB 2.0 port and delivers the
output to a projector. You can control and modify your presentations in Word,
PowerPoint and Excel by writing notes, drawing figures, etc. You can work on the
screen using a tethered, battery-free pen and navigate through menus using the
pen or the finger. The 17” SXGA screen has the right resolution to view the most
intricate detail on screen and the best part is that you can even save the
changes made on screen to several software applications such as the Microsoft
apps mentioned above and even AutoCAD.
The digital cousin of the good old slate, this device offers the freedom to
deliver lessons from anywhere in the classroom. You can interact wirelessly with
your whiteboard from up to 16 m by controlling software applications, writing
notes and highlighting information using the battery-free tethered pen. It is
designed to add mobility to the whiteboard experience in a classroom. Students
can also use them to explore topics on their own and deliver presentations to
the rest of the class directly from their desks.
If you remember Kaun Banega Crorepati, you'll probably also remember the
'fastest finger first.' You guessed it right, this Interactive Response system
is similar in concept and only builds on to the teacher-student interaction in
classroom. The system includes a remote for each student (shown in the image), a
central receiver and a software to quiz, survey and prepare reports. The remote
interacts with the receiver using radio frequency technology with a range of up
to 30 m. The central receiver hooks up through USB and is compatible with both
Windows and Mac.
The AVerVision300AF+ is used to scan hard copies and provides a direct output
to the projector. It has a 3.2 mega pixel sensor and the auto focus can adjust
to produce sharp images whether at standard zoom and pan, or the full 16x
magnification. It can store upto 80 images which can be viewed by connecting the
camera to a PC or MAC. It can be integrated with most classroom whiteboards and
the 360 degree access full function remote control allows presenters to control
the device from anywhere in the room.
This is a complete classroom teaching solution that comprises a low-cost,
ultraportable mobile PC (UMPC) with the simplest of hardware, and e-learning and
management software for connected notebooks. The solution works as a typical
client-server mechanism with the teacher acting as the administrator in the
classroom. Each student is handed over the UMPC shown in the picture, connected
to the teacher's notebook, which acts as the master PC. A big LCD in front acts
as the blackboard for the class and outputs the notes from the teacher's
notebook. The teacher can send notes and messages and broadcast courseware to
all students, who can save those for revision.
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Grooming the Rural Kids
Quality education in India remains the preserve of a select few. There's no
Harry Potter wand that could help rectify the situation overnight but sustained
efforts from everyone: government, corporates and technologists, can help infuse
some momentum to the sector that has a direct impact on India's future. We can't
ignore the need to educate 70% of our children who stay in villages and can't
afford to pay for their education. This is where we need innovation from
technologists to make use of the best that technology has to offer to ensure we
can spread education amongst masses. What this doesn't mean is that we only
invest in fancy electronic gadgets; the solution could be as simple as a
discarded PC from a large enterprise with minimal hardware. Such a system can be
loaded with a simple e-learning software and put to maximum use amongst
children. This would not only reduce the burden of transporting men and material
(teachers, books, stationery, etc) but also allow schools to make the best
courses available. So, the challenge in rural areas is not about teaching
professional courses or motivating children to study. It's about providing the
most effective teaching solutions at the least cost. Let's look at the different
ways in which IT is coming to the rescue:
1. As a substitute to teachers: Finding qualified teachers for all
subjects in rural areas has always been a challenge as most of the educated
people move away from villages to towns upon completion of their education. IT
helps fill in this void to a great extent. There are a lot of e-learning
software available that help design customized courses. These are generally very
simple to use and invoke the thought process in students' minds through a vivid
range of tutorials and assignments. The hardware requirements for running these
courses are pretty simple and they can be loaded on top of any barebones
machine. And if the IT infrastructure in the area is good enough then the same
courseware could even be hosted on the Web. The students receive inputs from
teachers in real time and can submit assignments and post queries. As part of
Corporate-Social Responsibility (CSR) most corporates are actively engaged in
setting up IT infrastructure in community schools and even provide training in
using it.
2. Online Exams: This is perhaps one of the most potent e-learning
application. Conducting exams online not only reduces man & material costs but
also saves on logistics. Most of the professional institutes have started
conducting exams online but the real potential of such a system can be realized
in rural areas, where reaching out to students is the most difficult challenge.
You don't need to purchase any complex software, there are many free Linux based
distros available that are par for the course. Read our story 'Empowering
India's Future Through IT' at pcquest.com to find out how Kerala's high schools
are benefiting from it. Each student needs to log on to the exam portal at a
specified time and place. The exam papers are available as a set of Web pages
where students can fill their responses. Once the student is through with his
test, the information gets stored on a central server. The beauty of conducting
exams online is that there's no scope for question paper leaks nor is there any
chance for students or the exam center as a whole to indulge in malpractices.
3. Playing on students' curiosity: There is always a craze around
learning computers amongst people across all age groups. To satiate this
curiosity the use of computers needs to be blended with the regular course
material for students. This acts as a strong catalyst for students to learn
their subjects and also makes them familiar with computers. Not only subjects
there could be whole lot of games and exercises that students could play around
in-between classes. They could be exposed to a lot of useful information around
their surroundings, that would only transform them into more informed citizens.
4. Promoting Adult Literacy: One-thirds of India's population still
remains illiterate and removing illiteracy remains one of the biggest challenges
for the society, primarily because convincing adults to learn is far more
difficult than young kids! A lot of initiatives are already in action from
various state governments with each state having a Literacy Mission in place.
However, the vast expanse of the country coupled with a lack of trainers and
infrastructure hinders their work. The rise of India's ICT industry has brought
about a complete turnaround in the way adult literacy is tackled. Most
corporates have donated their older PCs to such missions and with software
companies developing adult literacy software, there has been a complete makeover
on how courses are delivered. Apart from playing up the curiosity and interest,
the use of computers also ensures standardization of courseware. Moreover, the
same teaching center can be used to teach separate batches of people throughout
the day.
5. Promoting literacy through kiosks: We have seen choupals in villages
and also seen how the same places have been converted to e-choupals through the
use of interactive kiosks. These have been widely used to facilitate
e-governance schemes related to agriculture, banking, insurance, laws and
legislation, etc. The same kiosks can also host educational software and be used
for teaching children and adults. They provide the same functionality as a
standard PC in schools in addition to delivering e-governance schemes.