Directorate of Mass Education, Govt. of Karnataka : Adult Literacy using ICT

The Mass education dept of Govt. of Karnataka has embarked on a mission to use ICT to 'literate' the rural youth who have dropped out of school

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Audio visual based learning, no manpower cost, self-learning information kiosk business model-the Directorate of Mass Education, Govt. of Karnataka has amalgamated these three aspects of technology and business to formulate what it calls an Adult Literacy project using ICT. Aimed at the huge population of technology-resistant rural youth, most of who have dropped out of school, the project promotes 'self-learning at will, at your pace'.

The 1000 odd kiosks that have found their way to remote villages in Karnataka feature learning 'modules' that are highly image intensive, and are based on the traditional 'see and hear' model of learning. This means most of the content is not text heavy, but pictorially represented along with voice-overs. After considering an array of hardware technologies ranging from use of the digital pen to touch screens, the project decided to zero in on the good old mouse to trace and an electronic 'slate' to 'write' the input. The project heads claim that this computerized model has brought down the average learning time among the rural youth by a third, after having carefully monitored the rate at which they browsed across lessons. The dept also plans to incorporate touch screens and update course content more regularly in the months to come.

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