Category: E-EDUCATION & LEARNING, Finalist 2011

SAHAJ E-SIKSHA

Sahaj e-Siksha container is a desktop based software application developed by Srei Sahaj e-Village Ltd. (Sahaj) exclusively by the Sahaj elearning team. In authentication the container authenticates the user with the help of the login credentials provided at the time of registration. Once logged in, the container gives a list of courses that the user as registered for. In the second major category of container i.e. content display, the container acts as a sequential and interactive player for the learning content. The content gets displayed chapter by chapter depending upon the teaching methodology and the intelligent logic embedded into it. The container auto-decrypts the encrypted content only to authentic users, ensuring data security. The container once completing the authentication of the user no more requires the internet connectivity to run the course. During this offline mode if the user proceeds to another chapter or takes up an examination, the container intelligently remembers the relevant data and updates the same to the Sahaj central server whenever it goes online again. When the user logs in the next time, he starts from where he finished last. In case there is constant connectivity, the data is stored directly into the Sahaj server.

ICT IN WOMEN CONCILIATION CENTER

The project, started by VIDIYAL, an NGO in the Theni District, Tamil Nadu, India, aims at strengthening the role of ICT in providing the legal, constitutional and human right awareness among women and enables them to interact with appropriate institutional mechanism.The objectives of this project are, promoting Self-Directed Learning in legal, constitutional and human rights among poor women using mobile phones, orienting the present Women Conciliation Centre with ICTs and enabling large scale interactions with less transaction cost. This would be done with the establishment of Village Knowledge Centres; helping the women members identifying their eligibility in various development programmes of state and central government using Indian Citizen Eligibility Identification System (ICLIS) and strengthening the horizontal transfer of knowledge in legal, constitutional and human rights through structured mobile phone conversations among women. The project partnered with Arul Anandar College, Karumathur, Madurai who helped to develop ICLIS software package. . The other partners in the project are Legal Aid Cell, Government of Tamil Nadu, Commonwealth of Learning (COL), M. S. Swaminathan research Foundation (MSSRF) and AIRTEL-IFFCO.

SOCIETY FOR CREATION OF OPPORTUNITY THROUGH PROFICIENCY IN ENGLISH

Society for Creation of Opportunity through Proficiency of English (SCOPE) has been setup by the Government of Gujarat to build English language proficiency in the youth of Gujarat and thereby provide employment opportunities for the youth.The project runs into PPP model and has more than 450 training centres across state. SCOPE is conducting online exam of international standard (Cambridge University) at such a mass scale which is unique in the world. SCOPE team goes to every nook and corner of the state with laptops and internet dongles to conduct the exam in villages, schools, colleges and tribal belt. There is no eligibility criterion for age, gender, and qualification to appear in the examination conducted by SCOPE. Any member of public can appear in the test at a very nominal cost.

SPARSH

Sparsh, designed and developed by IL&FS Education and Technology services Ltd., provides a complete on the go learning solution that focuses on sexual and reproductive health for teens and adults that is divided into 12 modules. Each module of Sparsh has a FAQ section and a list of myths with facts related to that area. SMSs containing any module’s information can be sent to the users upon subscription. The services provided are transferable from one user to another i.e. the service can be purchased and “gifted” to someone else. The users will soon have the access to become the qualified counsellors to discuss complex problems. The service is available in 12 different languages.The service can be activated by dialling the dedicated short codes assigned on the particular network and following the IVR. The service can be activated on any mobile device.

Unnati, an initiative of SGBS Trust, was started in Oct 2003 in Karnataka, with the purpose of enabling underprivileged and unemployed youth to get employed. The program is aimed not only to enable people to become employable and get engaged in a gainful job, but also to transform them in to responsible citizens for the country. This is done through a vocational training and social transformation program for 70 days to help them to go above the poverty line forever. The Project focuses on enablement of rural youth to learn computers, to communicate using latest technologies, to get employed and help their families move above the poverty line. Unnati admits youth, school drop outs even one not having any formal education aged above 18 years from BPL families.