On 07/01/2011 09:20 AM, Binand Sethumadhavan wrote:
2011/6/30 Rony gnulinuxist@gmail.com:
It is still young and what happened in the US is now happening here with the same players amongst the rest. What I feel individually is that these are high end presentation products meant for corporate offices and not for schools, that too in every classroom. Simply calling them teaching aids does not change things. We don't even have the entire syllabus of every class and subject available fully in professional and electronic format. If schools want to go digital then a simple projector and computer in every class or in a special room is sufficient. Schools must invest in professional grade content not gadgets.
In another place, another day I'll take offense on the suggestion that the US leads, and we follow.
What I meant was that after they had their fill in the US, they are now tapping the emerging markets in India. Schools are buying these gizmos because others have done it too.
As JTD explained, these "high end presentation products" allow the students to be part of the learning experience, as opposed to being detached observers. I mentioned in a previous email that I sat through a class where an IWB was in use - the kids were having fun with it, while also learning about seasons and seasonal changes around the world. It was an eye-opening experience. I suggest you too try to sit in a class where an IWB is used properly.
I am not sure who JTD was replying to and what equipment is used in Khalapur and how. I don't know about other places but in Mumbai there are about 40 to 50 students in one class and approx. half an hour per lecture. There is not enough time to complete the portion itself, where will they get time to play with these expensive gizmos?
As far as electronic syllabus goes, a simple Google search throws these links up:
CBSE: http://cbse.nic.in/currisyllabus.htm ICSE: http://www.cisce.org/SyllabusFor_ICSE2011.html Maharashtra: http://msbshse.ac.in/newsite/newhome.html
so I don't really understand what you meant when you said syllabi are not available in electronic format.
My mistake. I was referring to course material like all text books and study material professionally made and in electronic format. What is happening is that there is a mad rush to market and buy this hardware for which even the software is not ready. That is why I say that it is an expensive corporate level presentation product that is being pushed into schools as a teaching aid through smooth talking marketing people. Schools are buying these white elephants that are of no use to them and to make them usable, the teachers are being asked to make power point presentations on them. When a school invests half to one crore Rupees or more in this system, shouldn't it be fully ready with proper professional level course material libraries first? Shouldn't the management demand this as a pre-sale condition from those companies who sell these products? How does it justify using a system costing a couple of lakhs each to run small home made slide shows? It is like investing lakhs of Rupees in electronic book readers and then asking teachers to create short notes that can be compiled together into a book.
A simple projector and computer becomes the original problem - that teachers then will have to create presentations. An IWB combines a lot of things: a regular blackboard with the capability to remember, a vast library including wikipedia, an arts room and so on.
Keeping aside the capacity to remember which is hardly used, an IWB is finally just an electronic black board with a projector screen that can show multi-media content. Why are teachers being trained and asked to make power point presentations on these IWBs? And how do you make a power point presentation interactive? It is a slide show anyway. Isn't it obvious that you need professionally made content to make use of and justify the 'interactive' feature of these boards over the conventional projector and computer?
The teachers should not be making slide shows or any content unless they feel inclined to. Professional grade slides, videos etc. should be purchased by the school and that is where money should be invested. The level of the content material should be like those in National Geographic or Discovery channel.