Move Over Chalk and Duster, it's Time to Go Digital

Continued from page: 1

Saturday, September 06, 2008

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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.

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.

Starboard FX Series Whiteboards from Hitach	Hitachi's Ultra Short Throw Projector	Sympodium DT770 Interactive Panel
SMS Buy 130921 to 56677*	SMS Buy 130922 to 56677	SMS Buy 130923 to 56677*

AirLiner Wireless Slate	Senteo Interactive Response System	Intel's Classmate PC	AVerVision 300AF Plus Portable Document Camera
SMS Buy 130924 to 56677	SMS Buy 130925 to 56677	SMS Buy 130926 to 56677	SMS Buy 130927 to 56677

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.

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