e-Education, Learning & Employment, Winner 2013
SkillTrain is a technology-enabled blended vocational training social enterprise that offers online and mobile based training programmes to cater to prospective vocational skill learners anywhere in India. Skill Train has a dedicated You Tube channel with video enabled learning content available free of cost.
SkillTrain provides vocational training to the rural unemployed youth through a technology en-abled blended learning model with the objective of preparing them for employment or entre-preneurship. SkillTrain offers online vocational training programmes to prospective vocational skill learners. This web-based and mobile-based resource offers audio, video and simulation based learn-ing material for learners to understand and practice vocational skills. In locations where there is no internet accessibility, the content is made available pre-loaded on to low cost mobile phones enabling learners to access the content truly anytime, anywhere. The content is made available completely in regional languages. Currently, SkillTrain offers basic courses on electronics, mobile repairing, computer software & computer hardware. It also aims to provide content for all the vocational courses listed out in the
Government of India Modular Employability Skills Scheme. SkillTrain partners with local vocational training centres and independent workshops to offer practical training to SkillTrain students. Skill-Train also enables learners to appear for the Government of India modular employability skills ex-amination on completion of each course, thereby enabling them to secure a recognized certification.
The course material, tool kits, certification and hands-on training at a SkillTrain certified work-shop can be availed on additional nominal payments. If the learner wishes to take it on a mobile phone, he/she can send an SMS to the SkillTrain Exam Helpline along with the course code and unit code. Accordingly, multiple choice questions will be sent by SMS to the learner.
iMobile Lab is an educational vehicle that is equipped with digital equipments such as laptops, wi-fi, 3G data cards, projectors and UPS. The uniqueness of the iMobile program is the science/digital media integrated mini project, which blends science learning and ICT learning into a single session. The iMobile Lab also facilitates mini-science fairs in each school and reaches door steps of learners in remote areas.
I-Mobile addresses the lack of science and computer labs through an integrated digital curricu-lum to be used along with hands-on science lessons. The lab uses innovative sessions of ICT based learning through face-to-face classroom methods, enhanced student-teacher interaction models and computer mediated activities. Adding to the mobile hands-on learning sessions, the lab also facilitates children-teach-children science fairs, to improve science learning outcomes. This is ideal for 7th and 8th grade students. Each science lesson/model-based lesson is chosen according to a topic appropriate for that grade according to the state syllabus. During these fairs, students participate as teachers. The peer-to-peer learning model engages many more students attracting them to the wonders of science.
Advantages:
| • Hands-on science and technology opportunities achieve high learner engagement; |
| • Program is effective for the demographic with digital gap |
| • Those learners/teachers with additional access to computing devices (internet cafes, school labs, family owned PCs) can continue learning without installing special software etc. |
| • Single set of equipment is shared between all participant schools, making the program cost-effective. |
| • Program makes effective use of scarcity of skilled teachers by rotating them between parti-ipant schools. |
In 2012, the program was launched in 2 locations. The program is projected to launch in 6 ad-ditional locations in 2013
Let Me Know is a web based portal for youth opportunities. Start-ups, universities, associations, and student bodies are currently using this platform to advertise theirn competitions, conferences, events, internships and jobs. It has received over 550,000 unique visitors from more than 150 Indian cities, since its inception in 2007.
Let Me Know was started in 2007 when Nitin Rao, a B.Tech student at NIT, Suratkal, first blogged (www.letmeknow.wordpress.com) about Tie-ISB’s Connect forum. Armed with more than 425 posts, 268,000+ hits and a nine-member all-student team, the blog migrated to a full-fledged web-site in December 2008, with a little design and tech help from Grayscale, a design studio floated. It is a time-efficient portal for companies, start-ups, universities, associations, and student bodies to advertise their competitions, conferences, events, internships, jobs or their organisation alto-gether, thereby quickly gaining access to a diverse pipeline of self-selected talent. It also provides information about opportunities like- internships, conferences, competitions, fests, etc.
Students earlier were not aware of the things going around them. Its social media team tweets all opportunities two or three times a day and updates Letmeknow’s Facebook and LinkedIn pages. Festival managers constantly liaison with campus ambassadors to make their presence felt during events, while the campus outreach teams scout for new campuses and opportunities. Let Me Know has succeeded in connecting young students and professionals to exciting oppor-tunities in India and from around the world.
Their focus market segment is:
| • UG/PG university and college students enrolled in any stream/discipline |
| • Fresh graduates and young professionals |
Touchable Earth is an integrated online platform inclusive of mobile app for children. Children learn key facts and develop an insight into life around the world by visiting families, schools, seeing the games kids play, and being introduced to other cultures. It utilizes online and mobile based training programs to prospective vocational skill learners anywhere.
With the help of this app, children learn from other children in engaging ways. Most videos are in English and all videos have a transcript and translation for read along or hearing impaired Students. Chapters are available from the Apple App store in Nepal, India, China, South Africa, Iraq, Kurdistan and Romania. The app has been downloaded by individual users across the world.
The app aims to create a chapter on every place in the world. As a social enterprise, the Touchable Earth project develops a sustainable program for putting connected tablets in the hands of children, with the tools to engage with other children from all over the world. It connects the classrooms using the donated tablets so that each child can collaborate with the other from any place in the world creating a true ‘global classroom’. In its donation program, Touchable Earth is providing technology and learning resources to kids from disadvantaged groups. This includes donating tablets and internet connections and promoting collaborative projects with other schools across the world.
Touchable Earth is an integrated online platform inclusive of mobile app for children. Children learn key facts and develop an insight into life around the world by visiting families, schools, seeing the games kids play, and being introduced to other cultures. It utilizes online and mobile based training programs to prospective vocational skill learners anywhere in India.