e-Education, 2009
EMPOWERING UNPRIVILEDGED YOUTHS IN BANGLADESH THROUGH COMPUTER LITERACY (CLP)

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

CLP_Bangladesh_AwardVolunteer Association for Bangladesh, New Jersey (VAB-NJ) has undertaken a project titled “Empowering Underprivileged Youth in Bangladesh through Computer Literacy” (EUYB-CLP) in rural areas, an initiative in collaboration with D.Net, based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The project is intended to facilitate access to knowledge of ICT by the rural disadvantaged people, particularly the youth to help them able face global challenges. The project started in 2004 and till July 2009 over 18,000 students successfully completed the basic course on computing “Esho Computer Shekhi”. Since inception 107 Computer Literacy Centres (CLCs) have been setup in rural educational institutions, having a significant impact on the society. Over 19,000 students have successfully completed the course and 252 teachers have received training on IT skills.

JUROR’S EVALUATION

In developing countries like Bangladesh, with very low GDP, poor ICT infrastructure and with majority of the population living in remote areas, education has an intergenerational impact on schooling. The future generations will be affected by the link between poverty and education. In this era of globalization ICT based education is very important for students. The aim of Empowering Underprivileged Youths in Bangladesh through Computer Literacy Program (CLP) is to explore the growth potentials of underprivileged youths in rural Bangladesh by providing them with first basics of computer knowhow and then computer aided education. The initiative incorporates computer and ICT in mainstream Education in High School level of Bangladesh for the underprivileged youths.

To watch other Manthan Award South Asia 2009 Winners’ Films, Kindly log on to – http://youtube.com/manthanawardtv


WIKIGOVIA

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

Wikigovia_AwardThe latest ICT initiative of Cyber Agriculture Wikipedia alias Wikigoviya is a participatory and interactive web tool for agriculture development in Sri Lanka through the participation of Agriculture Community (AC). The project provides information related to agriculture as a web based solution to reach rural population. It has learning materials on agriculture technology supported with high end multimedia technology; the discussion forum is open for collaborative  documentation with entertainment features such as blog post, forum posting, photo and video uploading with user comments, online chatting and friends. Wikigoviya is an ideal tool to meet the needs of the farming community as a whole and especially to the Northern and Eastern province isolated due to the 30 years of civil unrest.

JUROR’S EVALUATION

Wikigovia is an online discussion forum which was started in Sri Lanka. After the end of civil war, large tracks of land were available in the northern and eastern parts of the island nation. There is a huge debate in Sri Lanka on how to use this ‘organic land’. Since face to face ground extension is not effectively operating in the field as an immediate need, an alternative approach is needed to disperse Department of  agriculture knowledge (DOA) pool to farmers. Therefore, DOA found that theWikigoviya is an appropriate tool to meet the need of the farming community as whole and especially to the Northern and Eastern province isolated due to the deadly war. Wikigovia takes help of the latest ICT tools like blogs, discussion forums, agri-experts’ opinions on the methods needed to use this naturally fertile land. This effort is adding a ray of hope in this war ravaged country.

 

To watch other Manthan Award South Asia 2009 Winners’ Films, Kindly log on to – http://youtube.com/manthanawardtv


E-BUDHANI – Special Mention

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

E-Budhani_AwardE-Budhani of Rohini Science Club, Ranchi is an effort in making learning elementary science concepts easy and more fun. The content of the CD/DVD is rich in graphics and visual aids. The approach is simple and is available at the click of a button. Human anatomy is a subject of great curiosity for high school students. The chapter on ‘digestive system’ drew maximum interest from the students. All the chapters have been designed after a great deal of research by the e-Budhani experts and hence they are easy to teach and learn.

JUROR’S EVALUATION

Digital access is improving day by day. Digital content has opened vast knowledge resource before everyone today. If content is simple and designed keeping local context and language in mind, there will be more takers for it. People, especially children are more interested in video and graphics than words, hence making digital content with minimum text or no text to make it reachable and usable for them is a challenge. E-Budhani from Jharkhand, an eastern state in India, has taken upon itself to popularize science, a subject found most difficult by children. It is an effort towards the spread of teaching science through the ubiquitous method of CD/DVD. The content of the CD makes it easy to learn science for the students.

 

To watch other Manthan Award South Asia 2009 Winners’ Films, Kindly log on to – http://youtube.com/manthanawardtv

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