COMPUTERS AND COMMUNICATION FOR RURAL EDUCATION

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COMPUTERS AND COMMUNICATION FOR RURAL EDUCATION

• PRAMOD KALE
• DIRECTOR
• GLOBAL INFORMATION
• TECHNOLOGY ACADEMY
• PUNE, JUNE 2001

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COMMUNITY AID AND SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM - CASP

• THE COMMUNITY AID AND SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM ( CASP
  ) IS A VERY ACTIVE NON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
  FUNCTIONING FOR OVER TWENTY FIVE YEARS NOW.
• THE CASP AND CASP PLAN ORGANIZATIONS ARE ACTIVE
  IN BOTH THE RURAL AS WELL AS URBAN AREAS.
• THEY HAVE SELECTED THE MAVAL TALUKA OR THE RURAL
  AREA AROUND THE TOWN TALEGAON, ABOUT THIRTY
  KILOMETERS NORTH OF PUNE AS AN AREA WHERE THE
  CONCENTRATION OF EFFORTS CAN BE CARRIED OUT.
• THIS IS AN ECONOMICALLY BACKWARD AREA WITH FAR
  FLUNG VILLAGES IN A RUGGED TERRAIN
• CASP PLAN PROJECT IS OPERATIONALISED IN
  COLLABORATION WITH CENTRE FOR RESEARCH AND
  DEVELOPMENT.

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EFFORTS OF CASP AND CASP PLAN

• MULTIPURPOSE HEALTH WORKERS TRAINING
• GROWTH MONITORING OF CHILDREN
• MEDICAL ASSISTANCE
• HEALTH CHECKUP
• MOBILE CLINICS
• REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND CHILD SURVIVAL IN
  COLLABORATION WITH KEM HOSPITAL, PUNE
• AGRICULTURE AND LAND DEVELOPMENT
• CHECK DAM CONSTRUCTION IRRIGATION SCHEME

• REMEDIAL TEACHING FOR SCHOLASTICALLY BACKWARD
  CHILDREN
• SCHOOL BAG, NOTEBOOKS BICYCLE PROVISION IN
  SUPPORT OF EDUCATION
• ASSISTANCE TO COLLEGE GOING GIRL STUDENTS
• SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION
• PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
• DISTANCE EDUCATION INVOLVING COMPUTERS TO BE
  ESTABLISHED IN VILLAGE SCHOOLS

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DISTANCE EDUCATION EFFORTS

• CONSIDERING THE WORSENING STUDENT / TEACHER RATIO
  AND THE LACK OF TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR
  TEACHERS IT WAS DECIDED TO PROVIDE COMPUTERS IN
  SCHOOLS WITH A SUPPORT CENTRE IN PUNE.
• TEACHERS IN THE VILLAGE SCHOOLS CAN BE PROVIDED
  HELP THROUGH MODERN ICT SYSTEMS
• A COMPUTER IN A VILLAGE SCHOOL CAN FUNCTION AS AN
  EFFECTIVE TEACHING AID FOR THE TEACHER
• THIS IS NOT MEANT FOR REPLACING THE TEACHER BUT
  IT IS MEANT TO SUPPLEMENT THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE
  TEACHER
• AVAILABILITY OF A COMPUTER IN THE VILLAGE SCHOOL
  WITH INTERNET CONNECTION CAN ALSO HELP THE ADULT
  POPULATION IN THE COMMUNITY
• A PLAN TO PROVIDE COMPUTERS TO EIGHT VILLAGES
  AROUND TALEGAON AND ESTABLISH A CENTRAL FACILITY
  IN PUNE WAS CONCEIVED EARLY LAST YEAR AS A PILOT
  PROJECT AND HAS SINCE THEN BEEN OPERATIONALISED.

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WINDOW ON THE WORLD

• AT ONE TIME WE USED TO SAY THAT TELEVISION SET IN
  A SCHOOL WILL BECOME A WINDOW ON THE WORLD. THE
  PROGRAM AND ITS TIMING WAS NOT BEING CONTROLLED
  BY THE TEACHER. THIS AND ONE WAY BROADCASTING
  NATURE OF TV WAS CONSIDERED TO BE A MAJOR
  DISADVANTAGE IN USING TV AS A MEDIUM FOR
  EDUCATION.
• AFTER THE COMMUNICATION REVOLUTION NOW IS THE
  TIME OF THE INFORMATION REVOLUTION
• THE COMPUTER IN THE VILLAGE SCHOOL WILL BE THE
  NEW WINDOW ON THE WORLD AS WELL AS IT WILL BE A
  PORTAL FOR EDUCATION. IT WILL BE EXTREMELY USEFUL
  NOT ONLY FOR THE CHILDREN IN THE SCHOOL BUT ALSO
  FOR THE GENERAL POPULATION IN THE VILLAGE.
• USE OF A COMPUTER FOR EDUCATION WILL BRING THE
  CONTROL OF THE CONTENT AND THE TIMING FOR ITS USE
  IN THE HAND OF THE TEACHER AND THUS IT WILL BE A
  REAL EMPOWERING TOOL.
• A COMPUTER WITH A COMMUNICATION LINE WILL PROVIDE
  THE NECESSARY TWO WAY INTERACTION CAPABILITY.

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INFORMATION ACCESS

• EACH YEAR SCHOOL CHILDREN CAN BRING OUT A
  MAGAZINE THAT CAN BE DISTRIBUTED TO OTHER SCHOOLS
  ON E MAIL.
• CHILDREN FROM ONE SCHOOL CAN GET IN TOUCH WITH
  CHILDREN FROM OTHER SCHOOLS THROUGH E MAIL AND
  ESTABLISH INTERACTIVE CONTACTS WHICH CAN PROMOTE
  CHILD TO CHILD COMMUNICATION.
• AT THE CENTRAL FACILITY EXPERIENCED TEACHERS WILL
  BE AVAILABLE WHO CAN ANSWER THE QUESTIONS RAISED
  BY CHILDREN AS WELL AS TEACHERS.
• TEACHERS CAN MAKE USE OF THE COMPUTERS FOR
  LEARNING THEMSELVES AND REFRESHING THEIR
  KNOWLEDGE.
• THE SCHOOL AUTHORITIES CAN ALSO USE THE COMPUTER
  AND TELEPHONE FOR THEIR ADMINISTRATIVE AND
  ACADEMIC WORK
• SCHOOL AUTHORITIES CAN DEVELOP A PROPER ACADEMIC,
  SPORTS AND HEALTH RELATED DATA BASE FOR THE
  STUDENTS AND MONITOR DEVELOPMENT OF THE STUDENTS.

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BASIC INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ELEMENTS
COMPUTER LOUD SPEAKER
PERSONAL MULTIMEDIA COMPUTER WITH A MOUSE
PRINTER SCANNER
TELEPHONE
LOCAL AREA NETWORK
TELEPHONE LINE MODEM
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CLASSROOM EDUCATIONAL FACILITY
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CENTRAL EDUCATIONAL MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT FACILITY
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• WITH THE HELP OF SOME EXPERIENCED TEACHERS
  LESSONS AND LECTURES WILL BE PREPARED ON SUBJECTS
  SUCH AS SCIENCE, MATHEMATICS, GEOMETRY,
  TRIGONOMETRY, HISTORY OR GEOGRAPHY
• VOICE OR SPEECH WILL BE RECORDED ALONGWITH
  PICTURES IN POWERPOINT PRESENTATION. THIS WILL
  BRING QUALITY GRAPHICS AND IMAGES TO THE STUDENTS
• PRESENTATIONS CAN BE SENT TO SCHOOLS ON TELEPHONE
  LINES OR FLOPPY DISKETTES

FLOPPY DISKETTE
SCANNER
VOICE
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FACILITIES TO BE PROVIDED IN THE VILLAGE HIGH
SCHOOL

• MULTIMEDIA PERSONAL COMPUTER, HARD DISK, FLOPPY
  DISKETTES, CD ROM, MOUSE PAD, KEYBOARD
• COLOUR VIDEO DISPLAY 15 OR 17 INCH MONITOR
• PRINTER
• MICROPHONE, LOUD SPEAKERS
• PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEM OF 10 WATT CAPACITY AND
  SPEAKERS (OPTIONAL )

• ADAPTIVE LINE MODEM
• UPS OF FOUR HOUR CAPACITY
• 220 VOLTS AC ELECTRICAL CONNECTION
• TELEPHONE AND
• INTERNET CONNECTION
• TABLE, CHAIR AND STORAGE FACILITY
• INSTRUCTION
• MANUALS

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FACILITIES TO BE PROVIDED AT THE CENTRAL LOCATION

• INDIAN LANGUAGE SOFTWARE
• SCANNER FOR SCANNING MARATHI MATERIAL
• SCANNER TO BE USED FOR CREATING A LARGE PICTURE
  LIBRARY
• BITMAP IMAGES OF INDIAN ORIGINS

• FOUR PERSONAL COMPUTERS WITH ACCESSORIES
• LOCAL AREA NETWORK
• SOFTWARE AND MANUALS
• UPS AND ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
• AIR CONDITIONERS
• FURNITURE
• AMC
• ACCESS TO INTERNET FOR DOWNLOADING ADDITIONAL
  INFORMATION

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EDUCATIONAL MATERIAL

• MATERIAL DOWN LOADED FROM INTERNET
• CDs PREPARED BY SCHOOLNET
• BOOKS AND MAGAZINE MATERIAL IN MARATHI SCANNED
  AND MADE AVAILABLE
• VIDEO CLIPS
• AUDIO CLIPS
• QUESTION BANKS

• ENCARTA ENCYCLOPAEDIA IN ENGLISH AVAILABLE ON CD
• NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE BACK ISSUES
  AVAILABLE ON CD
• CDs FOR DIFFERENT SUBJECTS SUCH AS PHYSICS,
  CHEMISTRY, MATHEMATICS
• CDs PREPARED BY PROF V.G. BHIDE AND EXPLORATORY

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SUBJECTS WHICH COULD BE TAUGHT USING COMPUTERS

• PHYSICS
• CHEMISTRY
• BIOLOGY
• SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS
• MATHEMATICS
• UNIVERSE
• ASTRONOMY
• ENGLISH LANGUAGE
• ENGLISH SPELLING
• GEOGRAPHY
• HISTORY
• GENERAL SCIENCE
• HUMAN BODY
• ENVIRONMENT
• COMPUTERS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS

• GENERAL KNOWLEDGE
• CURRENT AFFAIRS
• TYPING
• PAINTING
• MAINTENANCE OF SIMPLE MACHINES
• NATURE
• UNDERSEA WORLD
• MARINE SCIENCES
• GEOLOGY
• INTERNET SURFING
• LITERATURE
• LOOKING UP THE ENCYCLOPAEDIA

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INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL TO BE USED AFTER SCHOOL
HOURS

• IMMUNISATION
• HEALTH, HYGIENE AND SANITATION
• NUTRITION
• FIRST AID
• ANIMAL CARE / DAIRY
• AGRICULTURE
• SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION
• USE OF PESTICIDES
• COMPOST AND FERTILISER APPLICATION
• FOOD PRESERVATION
• HANDICRAFTS
• BASIC LEAGAL RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• SOCIAL FORESTRY
• SOLAR ENERGY
• ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS
• MEDICINAL PLANTS AND HERBS
• FLORICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE
• CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT
• BANKING, LOANS
• INSURANCE
• MARKETING
• LAND DEVELOPMENT
• EMPLOYMENT
• NATIONAL CALENDAR, PANCHANG

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ADDITIONAL USES

• THE AVAILABILITY OF THE COMPUTER, TELEPHONE AND
  INTERNET CONNECTION IN THE VILLAGE SCHOOL WILL
  OPEN UP TOTALLY NEW OPPORTUNITIES NOT ONLY FOR
  THE STUDENTS BUT ALSO FOR THE GENERAL POPULATION
  OF THE VILLAGE
• TELEMEDICINE IS ONE SUCH USE
• INTERNET ACCESS CAN PROVIDE A LARGE AMOUNT OF
  INFORMATION ON A VARIETY OF SUBJECTS

• ACCESS TO CURRENT ISSUES OF VARIOUS MAGAZINES AND
  NEWSPAPERS CAN ALSO BE FACILITATED
• ACCESS TO SITES SUCH AS naukari.com or jobs.com
  CAN PROVIDE EMPLOYMENT NEWS