In DigitalIndia; Student will get All CBSE Books online without any charge

There is a big news for the more than 14 lacs students of class 10th and 12th lakh, as they are going to get their books without any charge. Some of the books are already available and now with the #DigitalIndia mission all books will now be available in coming days.

As per theAccording to Human Resource Development (HRD) minister Smriti Irani, NCERT has already made some of its books available online through its mobile app and e-books, and will look to add CBSE books, videos and other learning material. and All CBSE textbooks and other learning material will be made available online by the NCERT.

“We made NCERT books available online for free through e-books and mobile applications a month-and-a-half ago. We are similarly going to make CBSE books available online along with additional learning material and videos as part of our good governance efforts,” Irani said at the inauguration of a new building of the school in Khichripur.

This is a really big decision as digitalizations in the education field is really important as this may impact large number of people In rural India.

Government is also taking more people online with the partnership of state owned BSNL with Facebook to offer free WiFi

How you can get these Books ?

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) currently offers copyrighted textbooks online for classes I to XII in Hindi, English and Urdu.

• The online textbooks can be accessed from here
• After that you need to select Class and Subject
• The Title list is populated after selection of class and subject
• When Title is selected the respective books is made available.

Digital India For Education

There are many updates in the field of education. These includes

• HRD ministry has set up National Institutional Ranking Framework all educational institutes and universities will get rankings by April 2016
• Government launches GIAN a government project to boost the higher education in India
• In the month of November, Smriti Irani had announced  ‘e-Pathshala’ program. Besides desktop, these books would be now available on mobile based apps as well.
• Khan Academy has also launched their India-centric website in Hindi, and made the content available in Hindi.

Source | http://www.bumblebeehub.com/2015/12/in-digitalindia-student-will-get-all-cbse-books-online-without-any-charge/

Even in the Internet age, good research needs a good library

When the foundation stone for the Prince of Wales Museum, now the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), was laid on November 11, 1905, by the Prince of Wales (later King George V), it also marked the beginnings of the library that became an integral part when the museum was thrown open on January 10, 1922.

One of the oldest reference libraries in the country, the library at CSMVS has managed to remain the primary source of information for archaeologists, historians, artists, heritage conservationists and students, despite the onslaught of the Internet and social media, say officials at the museum.

“This is a reference library where researchers and scholars can find all important reference books and latest publications on art, history, archeology, heritage and culture,” said S Mukherjee, director, CSMVS.

“Since we are a reference library, noted scholars and researchers access the library for primary information. We also get students from various colleges, including our own students of Post Graduate Diploma in Museology,” he added.

What started off as a modest library with around 5,000 books has now grown into a rich collection of over 30,000 books and 5000 periodicals and journals.

There is a massive collection of 200 rare books and manuscripts and these can be accessed only with special permission. The oldest among these include ‘Travels in India During the Years 1760, 1781, 1782, 1783’ by William Hodges and ‘Jataka, Volume 4,5 6’ by V Fassball among others. While the pages in some of these books are worn out, the process of restoring them is currently underway.

The library, is divided into two primary sections.

The first floor stores journals, which includes Marg, Artibus Asia, Annals of Bhandarkar, Journal of Bombay Asiatic Society, Islamic Culture, Journal of Indian Museums, Indian Journal of History of Science, Epigraphia Indica, The Indian Antiquary, Rooplekha, Rupam, National Geographic and Oriental Art.

The floor also houses the rare books that are stored carefully.

The ground floor, which includes computer facilities and reading tables, has books segregated into dedicated sections covering paintings, Ancient History, Archaeology, Geography, Sanskrit literature, Indian Civilisation, Zoology, Mahabharata and Ramayana, Mughal period, British period, customs, language and folklore, Sociology, Economics, Hinduism, Vedic religion, Buddhism, Jainism, Mythology, Religion and Philosophy, Library Science, Textiles and Handicrafts, pottery, terracotta and jewellery, coins, sculptures, temple architecture, Indian, Western and Mughal Art.

While the library was refurbished in 2013 with the help of funds from the Kala Ghoda Association, it is currently engaged in digitisation of its collection.

“I started using the library since I was studying for my BA in history in 2012. I am currently pursuing my masters in history and I am simultaneously pursuing my PG diploma from the museum. I am working on my dissertation on museum exhibition and this library is a one-stop information platform,”said Ajay Salunkhe, a student.

Sofiya Karanjia, who teaches art and design at Rachana Sansad, is another regular. “It is not an ordinary library and has a huge resource in art and culture from the beginning of the 20th century.”

The museum staff consider the library as “a robust back-end resource”. The curatorial staff consult the source material for writing books, catalogues, guide books and research papers. “

“It is an integral part of the museum as we need research and references for our collections. We need to refer to the books here constantly so that we can effectively communicate about the collection to our visitor”,” said Bilwa Kulkarni, education officer, CSMVS.

Even in the Internet age when information is readily available by entering the correct terms in a search engine, the library is quite popular among its users.

“The Internet and social media revolution has a discernible impact on physically accessing books, youngsters want to take shortcuts which is definitely a cause for concern. However, it is heartening to see that people still do come to the library,” said Mukherjee.

Source | Indian Express | 11 March 2015

Indian students spending big on foreign education

New Delhi: Indian students are spending between $6-7 billion annually on foreign universities due to dearth of quality higher education institutions in the country, a survey said on Tuesday.

'Realigning Skilling towards Make in India' - conducted jointly by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) and Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) - noted that in the absence of quality higher education and none of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) making it to the world's top research institutions, more and more Indian students are heading abroad.

Furthermore, only a miniscule number of them choose to return home, said the survey.

"Indians spend about $6-7 billion every year in sending their children abroad for higher education. It is not just the elite but the middle class families as well who spend their life time savings to educate their children abroad," Assocham secretary general D.S. Rawat said.

While the much touted IITs have an annual enrolment of 10,000-15,000, focused only on the brightest students, they have neither produced a single worldwide patent nor a Nobel laureate.

"We still do not have a single equivalent of a Google, Facebook, Microsoft or Walmart or a Nike. Even a small country like Italy or Finland fare better (than India)," the survey said.

The study blamed "lack of commitment and resources for research" as one of the culprits.

"Ninety percent of the state and central funding goes into payment of salaries and overhead costs and building of new physical infrastructure which leaves almost no money for research and innovation," the study said.

"Political interference and using universities as hubs for political activities only compounds the problems. Outdated curriculums, teachers and student unions ensure that status quo is preserved," it added.

Source | http://week.manoramaonline.com/

5 Big ways Education will Change by 2020

In the next five years, we'll start to rethink a lot about education, from what's in school lunches to what a college degree really means.

We asked the world’s most innovative companies in education to school us on the future of the classroom, with predictions for the next five years.

Here's what we found out:

Students Will Interact With Others Remotely

Why do classrooms today look nearly identical to those 30 years ago—minus a few upgrades to the modern chalkboard, and sneaking texts in class instead of notes?

"With some exciting exceptions, public schools are one of the few institutions in modern life that have not seen radical changes spurred by technology," says Joe Williams, executive director of Democrats for Education Reform. "I’m not talking about having computers in classrooms, but rather a lack of any seismic shift in the way things are done because technology is making the work easier or more efficient."

Williams predicts that education tech will continue the push towards individualized instruction for students. Hadley Ferguson, executive director of theEdcamp Foundation, agrees: Kids can "reach out beyond the walls of their classrooms to interact with other students, other teachers, and renowned authors, scientists, and experts to enhance their learning," she says. Some of those digital-native kids will grow up to become teachers, who will continue to build and use their own communities of learning online.

The Success Of Tech Will Still Rely On Skilled Teachers

We might be sending kids to school in self-driving cars by 2020, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be taught by teacher-avatars and given tests via drone.

"Education needs will drive technology use, rather than the ‘coolness’ oftechnology trumping education," predicts Shannon May, cofounder of Bridge International Academies. Instead of simply finding ways to put more tablets in kids’ hands, education technology will find new ways to supplement the best learning possible—regardless of the "coolness" of new tech.

Jake Schwartz, CEO and cofounder of General Assembly, predicts that astechnology advances, its limits will become clear. "‘Online’ is not a cure-all for education issues in this country, but it can help provide greater access to new skills training," he says. "This is powerful when combined with curricula and programming created and led by practitioner educators. The human factor is always important."

We’ll Think Differently About The Diploma

The growing amount of the population living with crippling student debt combined with the pressure to keep tuition costs down threaten the sustainability of tuition-dependent institutions, says Schwartz.

"This will help to force an innovation drive with an unbundling of degree offerings," he says. "The sector will see a shift towards more relevant competency-based programs and aggressive competition for students." The education-employment gap will force higher educators to think creatively about how to offer the training students need for a workforce that desperately needs them.

Traditional education is very top-down, heavy-handed—sit down and read, be quiet, don’t ask questions—there’s still a lot of room for innovation.

May agrees: "Today, diplomas granted by years in school are the dominant certification of ‘learning.’ Yet, in almost all cases, these diplomas certify nothing other than the fact that the person in question spent x years in school. Competency-based certifications testing specific skills, and bundling individual skills into professional groupings will become a global currency for both employers and job seekers."

The possibilities offered in technology feed into this shift as well. "A new curriculum is going to be created that builds on these possibilities," says Ferguson, "allowing students to move away from rote learning and tackle real-world challenges and develop solutions for them."

Students Will Have A Voice

Kirsten Saenz Tobey, cofounder of Revolution Foods, sat down in a school cafeteria to do a little research. When she asked the kids how they felt about their meal options, one turned to her and said, "Does this look like it was prepared by someone who respects me?"

Students are ultimately their customers, Tobey says; if they don’t feel respected or listened to, they’ll never buy in to the healthier options her company is dishing out. But it’s not all chocolate cake and gummy worms: They’re launching a mobile app to give kids nutrition info, see the day’s menu, and give feedback on what they’re served.

Engaging and respecting students and families as wellness partners will become a new focus in ways we haven’t seen before, she says. "Traditional education is very top-down, heavy-handed—sit down and read, be quiet, don’t ask questions—there’s still a lot of room for innovation."

Educators And Institutions Will Be Forced To Adapt

As the above four factors change—a wider global reach, students who need to feel respected, and a workforce demanding skilled scholars—the roots of education will need to find ways to adapt.

To May, that means paying attention to our condensing, shifting world. By 2100, more than half the world’s population will live in India, China, or Africa. "Global policy leadership and sales of education goods and services will be shaped less by issues and needs in the U.S., and more by the issues and needs of Africa, South Asia, and China," May says. "Market demand, and pressing policy issues related to urbanization and population growth, will shift the center of gravity of education provision."

Put more simply, Tobey says, "We’re not quite stacking up to where the rest of the world is. [The U.S.] is feeling the pressure to be the world leader we think we are . . . particularly in math and science."

"For schools of all types, content or curriculum will not be the core differentiator, but rather they will be judged on how well they coordinate complex offerings into a useful package for their students and graduates," Schwartz says.

"Most professions can point to dramatic changes in the way they work, thanks to technological innovations, but teaching still looks and feels an awful lot like it did when today’s teachers were themselves students," says Williams. "It is starting to change, but it has been incredibly slow."

Source | http://www.fastcompany.com/

IIT Bombay launches mass open online courses

The programme, offered free, will give access to high quality, IIT-style education to Indian students in Indian languages.

In a step that could significantly push the bar for quality online education in the country, IIT Bombay has embarked on a commendable mass online education programme that will provide free online courses and give access to high quality, IIT-style education to Indian students in Indian languages. 

On the Republic Day, Prof Devang Khakhar, Director of IIT Bombay, launched three Mass Open Online Courses (MOOC) in computer programming, thermodynamics, and signals and systems from the institute’s IITBombayX platform developed in collaboration with edX, a not-for-profit initiative by MIT and Harvard. 

Describing the initiative as “pathbreaking”, Prof. Khakhar credited Prof. Deepak Phatak of the Computer Science and Engineering Department for bringing it to IIT Bombay. “The rapid evolution of technology makes it imperative for students and teachers to incorporate the various offerings of technology in their learning process,” he said, launching the first three courses. 

The Introduction to Computer Programming will be 16-week course in two parts aimed at computer programming students. The course on Thermodynamics, designed for mechanical engineering students, will last 12 weeks. Signals and Systems will be a 16-week course in two parts designed for electrical engineering students. The students will get an honour certificate of achievement certifying successful completion of the course after they have qualified in the tests. 

Simultaneously, IIT Bombay will also offer training workshops for invited teachers on effective teaching and mentoring students in online courses for each of these three subjects under the Train 10,000 Teachers or T10KT programme of the institute. 

Mass Open Online Courses or MOOCs have emerged as the most inexpensive mechanism for offering quality education online to a very large number of learners and in addition to traditional course materials like videos, readings and problem sets, it incorporates aspects of active learning, collaborative discussions on forum, online quizzes etc. 

Global educational institutions are increasingly adopting MOOCs and given India’s need for reaching out to largest possible number of learners, MOOCs are seen as the best way forward to ensure quality in education and vocational training. 

“We have about 3500 colleges, but the academic infrastructure is not up to the expected levels and quality of education suffers. In other institutes, computer programming students may be given 10, 20, or 30 line programmes to write, but in IIT Bombay, students write 200 to 250 line programmes. So, simply put IITBombayX stands for extended online educational services from IIT Bombay and IIT-style learning,” Prof Phatak told The Hindu on Thursday. 

He said the IITBombayX courses will be initially offered in English and Hindi, but eventually in all Indian languages as the project expands nationally. “The courses will also be important for collecting data on student behaviour and their approach in online education which we could share with other educational institutions,” Prof Phatak said, adding that anyone from 15 year-old to 75-year-olds can register for the courses, and there is no limit on how many can enrol at a time. 

Prof Phatak said the IITBombayX platform will soon offer other courses like a course in agriculture designed by Hyderabad-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (Icrisat), and a course by Tata Institute of Social Science on open source animation tools. “A chemistry course by Dr. Mangala Sunder of IIT Madras is also being planned,” he said. 

Source | http://www.thehindu.com/

Pvt sector must be encouraged to broaden role in scientific research

Modern India has had a strong rhetorical focus on science and technology, considering it a key element of economic growth and the development of a rational and critical worldview. This rhetoric, while uplifting, failed to impact on poverty reduction and development. Careers in science no longer provide enough remuneration or prestige to draw top-level talent. Our translation of R&D into actual production has been weak. Technological imports, whether in electronics or fighter engines, have grown rapidly. Our scientific manpower was built on a small, educated pool of scientists, most of whom chose to leave for distant shores. Despite the dawn of the computing age, India missed out on semiconductors and silicon chips. We chose to adopt and purchase, instead of innovating. 

A new science policy: India lies in the lowest quartile on R&D, both in terms of spending (<1% of GDP) and researcher count (<100 per million population). Our R&D allocation is dominated by the public sector (>80%), with universities left with a paltry 3%. In most countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, it’s the opposite — the private sector contributes the majority, with universities coming at around 20%. 

We need to address our limited scientific base. This will require a three-pronged approach focused on knowledge creation and commercialisation, inclusive innovation and subsequent knowledge diffusion and absorption. This needs to be supported by a focus on higher education, information infrastructure and innovation financing. The private sector needs to be encouraged to take greater risks in innovation, bolstered by an encouraging policy and regulatory framework. 

Public policy has its role to play. With a stronger Intellectual Property Regime (IPR), matching grants and tax subsidies, knowledge creation can be boosted. A simplified technology licensing policy, combined with good infrastructure and a stable macroeconomic environment, can work wonders. 

More physicists, fewer managers: Gross enrolments in higher education continue to remain below 20%. Just 16% of Indian manufacturing firms offer in-house training. Basic skill deficits need to be addressed by investments in primary, secondary and vocational education, and by building manager and worker skills. The quality of India’s engineers and researchers needs to be improved substantially through investment in ITIs. Financial support for early stage technology development should be addressed by regulatory efforts to deepen the pool of early stage venture capital and a promotion of pro-poor inclusive banking. Micro, small and medium enterprises should be offered viability gap funding through existing government innovation programmes. 

Expanding our technological base: Political prestige seems to drive our scientific allocation. Defence research and space are considered paramount, while our IITs are announced grandly and located in politically vital constituencies, with little consideration to their faculty and catchment area. Less than 20% of public research spending is allocated for civilian applications; 8% to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and 4% to the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR). Our public civilian research spending needs to go up. The CSIR, along with the ICAR and the Department of Science’s laboratories, needs to be restructured and refocused on the market, along with more fiscal and managerial autonomy. University R&D should be supported by competitive grants, along the lines of the US National Science Foundation, along with greater academic partnerships and researcher exchange programmes. The Sponsored Research and Development Programme and Small Business Innovation Research Initiative need to be expanded. 

Indian Patent Offices should be upgraded to cater to individuals and organisations. A special Court of Appeals for intellectual property rights should be set up, along with a policy think tank. Links between industry, universities and public laboratories should be strengthened by providing support for technology transfer. 

Private and inclusive innovation: Private firms need to be encouraged to spend on R&D, by expanding early stage technology development programmes and utilising public procurement to promote innovation. Tax regimes should encourage a favourable treatment of R&D. Technology parks and incubators should be expanded through fiscal incentives. Inclusive innovation is also necessary. Formal R&D efforts for the poor should be scaled up and focused on informal enterprises. The CSIR’s technology applications, like e-Choupal, should be scaled up across the country’s villages. The National Innovation Foundation’s grassroots innovation repository (>50,000 products) should be commercialised, with benefits flowing down to local communities. The Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network should be expanded to serve as an incubator for local innovation. 

Grand challenges still matter. Cleaning up the Ganga or making India clean should be showcases for innovative products and practices. By making local communities and officials compete, we could solve our budding congestion and water crisis. A simple light-touch oversight mechanism that links such local initiatives with innovation hubs and provides viability gap funding will help provide appropriate monitoring to achieve realistic targets. ‘Make in India’ can mean high technology as well.

Source | Hindustan Times | 6 November 2014

Children in State can now claim right to education

The State government has finally notified the rules under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.

While the notification was published in the Government gazette dated November 12, the rules were displayed in the public domain (www.tn.gov.in) on Tuesday evening.

With this, the State has taken an important milestone in ensuring education for all children between six and 14 years of age. Education activists and civil society were worried about the long delay in notifying the rules, and Tuesday's announcement was a cause for celebration as key provisions of the landmark legislation can now be implemented.

Notifying the rules meant a lot for every stakeholder responsible for a child's education. “It means action will follow on all important points in the Act, something we have been urging for quite some time. It also means filling gaps in the original Act,” said K. Shanmugavelayutham, convener, Tamil Nadu Forum for Creche and Childcare Services (TN-FORCES).

The publication of the rules also means that all children can now claim their right to education. “Without the State notifying the rules, though the Act was in place, the rights could not be claimed by a child,” said Aruna Rathnam, Education Specialist, UNICEF.

After the draft rules of the State government were published, activists, non-government organisations and members of the civil society came forward with suggestions, some of which have been incorporated in the notification.

These include giving more teeth to the School Management Committee and local bodies, defining ‘children belonging to disadvantaged groups and weaker sections' and providing clarity on school mapping, which is essential to identify neighbourhood schools where children can be admitted.

There was some disappointment, however, that the rules do not specify the manner in which schools ought to select students from the disadvantaged groups and weaker sections in their neighbourhood, to the extent of 25 per cent of the strength of their Class I or pre-school, as required under Section 12 of the Act.

At least 20 States have already notified their draft rules, including Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan and Delhi.

The notification of the rules would mean that there would be more control over private schools, feel educationists.

LOCAL AUTHORITY EMPOWERED

In the draft rules, responsibilities such as ensuring that children attend school and establishing neighbourhood schools were vested with the ‘Local Education Authority' and the State government. But the rules notified empower the local authority to do so. “This would mean that the power would shift from bureaucrats to local bodies,” said education activist S.S. Rajagopalan.