feb-04

Information for development

w w w . i 4 d o n l i n e . n e t

The first monthly magazine on ICT4D

ISSN

097

2 - 8

04X

EuroIndia2004 Co-operation Forum onInformation & Communication TechnologiesNew Delhi, 24th – 26th March, 2004

EuroIndia2004, the first Euro-Indian ICT cooperation Forum organised by theEuopean Commission with the support of the Confederation of Indian Industry(CII) and the participation of the Government of India (Ministry of InformationTechnology & Communications and the Department of Science & Technology),Nasscom and MAIT, this unique three-day international event will bring youcloser to the European ICT player as never before.

Indian RTD and Academia will encounter European Enterprises, Research &Academia to discuss co-operation and develop joint RTD projects for Research& Technology Development that are now eligible for institutional funding by theEuropean Union.

India is presently a key partner for Europe and this event can contribute effec-tively to your organisation’s business strategy with a diverse programme ofnumerous opportunities for participants featuring:

• Exhibition presenting Products and Technologies from Europe,showcasing organisations, accessible to all delegates and visitors

• Conference and Technical Workshops to create strategic alliances• One to one meetings with prospective partners• Presentation opportunities for individual organisations

Participation is FREE of charge. But places are limited so register today atwww.euroindia2004.org, and explore all the benefits that this Forum brings to yourdoorstep.

We look forward to seeing you in Delhi, 24th – 26th March 2004.

www.euroindia2004.org

IT EducationInitiatives amongMumbai Muslims

Integrating therole of teachersICT in higher education

Mapping theNeighbourhoodAn alternate learningexperience

Vol. II No. 2 February 2004

VOLUME II NUMBER 2, FEBRUARY 2004

Contents

Published and printed by Ravi Gupta on behalf of Centre for Spatial Database Management and Solutions (CSDMS) G-4 Sector 39, NOIDA, UP, 201 301, India. © CSDMS, 2003. All rights reserved.

Rendezvous

Map India 2004................................................................... 39

Columns

News ..................................................................................... 6

Book Review

Transforming e-Knowledge: A revolution in the sharing ofknowledge ........................................................................... 37Madan Mohan Rao

What’s on ............................................................................ 41

Et Cetera

Games people play ............................................................... 42

Features

IT Education

Initiatives among Mumbai Muslims ...................................... 8Rehana Ghadially and Farida Umrani

Mapping the Neighbourhood

An alternate learning experience .......................................... 14Rumi Mallick, Anuradha Dhar and Dr.Satyaprakash

Changing Paradigms

Exam results through the Internet ....................................... 18Neeta Verma, Sonal Kalra

Insight

The hole-in-the-wall ............................................................ 22Sugata Mitra

Integrating role of teachers

Geo-informatics in higher education ................................... 25Seema M Parihar

Perspective

Information for development .............................................. 29Karl Harmsen

February 2004 | www.i4donline.net 5

ICT in education – a paradigm shiftA recent advertisement of a new line of computer proc-essors caught my attention. The bottomline of the ad-vertisement illustrated how the processor could help achild do better at school. For a while, I wondered as towhy a company, which had spent billions of dollars indeveloping the processor, would find something as triv-ial as school homework to promote the product, whenit had corporate entities to sell it to.

And then it came in a flash. As of this day, no one would refer toliteracy as the three R’s (Reading, wRiting and aRithmatic) anymore –there is a fourth element that is probably as trivial as the pencil and theeraser. It is the computeR – so very much taken for granted that it wouldbe hard to imagine a system of education without it. But then again,computers and the Internet do not alone comprise ICT – and the factthat the majority of students and teachers in developing nations are be-reft of these ICTs raises doubts towards as to what actually ICT does.

The media has played a significant role in imparting non-normativeeducation, right from the days of Captain Kangaroo in the West to ourown Gyan Darshan in India. But like most media, it follows the one-size-fits-all approach – specially packaged and customized content is difficultand expensive to produce. This is where the Internet comes in as the bigequalizer – the interchange for both content and ideas, and scalable tothe level of its user. While Internet based learning has been the onus ofmost emergent educational establishments, lower end educational sys-tems are also using repackaged content from the Internet – a first of sorts.

The proliferation of the Internet in the education system has also re-sulted in new experiments being conducted in the art of communicatingknowledge. Research on school students aged between 10 and 15, hasestablished that a pure verbal medium could ensure only about 40% re-tention of knowledge a week after imparting the same. However, whenthe same content was imparted using verbal and illustrative combination,and then using ICT, retention levels rose to 63% and 85% respectively!

The teaching segment of society is almost unanimous that ICT willnever quite replace the teacher. Normative methods still rule the roost onaccount of social acceptability – an online degree is still not at par withone that comes from contact-based and classroom based courseware.However, be it instructional methodology, educational administration orvalue addition by skill impartment, ICT has made its presence felt – andit is hoped that it will soon be accepted as a tool for effective instruction.

Ravi Gupta

[email protected]

Editorial

Advisory BoardM P Narayanan, Chairmani4dAmitabha PandeDepartment of Science and Technology,Government of IndiaChin Saik YoonSouthbound Publications, MalaysiaIchiro TamboOECD, FranceKarl HarmsenCentre for Space Science and TechnologyEducation in Asia and the Pacific, IndiaKenneth KenistonMassachusetts Institute of Technology, USAMohammed YunusGrameen Bank BangladeshWalter FustSwiss Agency for Development and Cooperation,SwitzerlandWijayananda JayaweeraUNESCO, France

Editorial BoardAkhtar Badshah, Digital PartnersFredrick Noronha, BytesforallMadan Mohan Rao, ConsultantEditor Ravi GuptaAssistant Editor Digbijoy BhowmikSenior Research Associate Manish KumarResearch Associate Anuradha Dhar, GautamNavin

Group DirectorsManeesh Prasad, Sanjay Kumar

i4dG-4 Sector 39, NOIDA, UP, 201 301, India.Phone +91 120 250 2180-87Fax +91 120 250 0060Email [email protected] www.i4donline.netSingapore Office25 International Business Park, #4-103F, GermanCentre, Singapore - 609916Phone +65-65627983Fax +65-656227984

Printed at Yashi Media Works Pvt. Ltd. NewDelhi, IndiaDesigned by TSA GraphicFX www.tsafx.com

i4d does not necessarily subscribe to the viewsexpressed in this publication. All views expressedin this magazine are those of the contributors. i4dis not responsible or accountable for any lossincurred directly or indirectly as a result of theinformation provided.

© Centre for Spatial Database Management andSolutions, 2003



i4d | February 20046

News

Microsoft in human rights rowTechnology sold by Micro-soft to the Chinese govern-ment has been used byBeijing to censor the inter-net, and resulted in the jail-

ing of its political opponents. An AmnestyInternational report has cited Microsoftamong a clutch of leading computer firmsheavily criticised for helping to fuel 'a dra-matic rise in the number of people de-tained or sentenced for internet-relatedoffences'. The human rights group has slat-ed Bill Gates's company for an 'inadequateresponse' to escalating abuses in China.'We don't believe this is appropriate orresponsible,' said Mark Allison, an Am-nesty International researcher who wrotethe report. '[Microsoft] should be moreconcerned about human rights abuses andshould be using its influence to lift restric-tions on freedom of expression and get peo-ple out of prison. It is worrying that theydon't seem to have raised these issues.

highly welcomed. Bridging the digital di-vide in developing countries is highly de-sirable, but in order to be effective muchmore is needed than setting up computercenters in remote areas. For the amountof money to be spent, simply setting upICT centers will require high capital costsand would have insignificant long term ef-fects. Costs will include real estate purchaseor rental, equipment purchase and recur-ring administrative costs for technical andadministrative staff. There is little proofthat such centers can lead to a significantrise in computer or internet literacy or thatthey can ever become sustainable. Insteada major annual cost will have to be bornby the host countries long after UNDPand Mr. Gate's company leave town.

Kufuor inaugurates BurmaCamp Computer CentrePresident John Agyekum Kufuor of Gha-na called for collaboration between theBurma Camp Computer Centre and theKofi Annan Centre of Excellence in In-formation and Communication Technol-ogy to explore new ways of designingtraining programmes. President Kufuormade the call when he unveiled the plagueto inaugurate the three point three (3.3)billion cedis Ghana Armed Forces (GAF)Burma Camp Computer centre at BurmaCamp in Accra. The Ministry of Defenceinitiated the Computer Centre in June2001 to promote computer literacy andeducation in the Ghana Armed Forces.The Centre will house 135 computers withresource persons to train the soldiers. TheCentre also has an Internet café and pro-vides a convenient environment for ancil-lary services, such as the Burma Campbranches of the Ghana Commercial Bankand the State Insurance Company, a phar-macy, a bookshop and a cafeteria.

Mobiles in BaghdadDenied many modern luxuries underSaddam Hussein, Baghdad's consumerswelcomed the arrival of cell phone serviceamidst grumbles about the high feescharged by the city's new cell phone mo-nopoly. Iraqna began distributing cellphones to consumers Saturday. Many hadput their names on the company's wait-ing list two months ago after the U.S.-ledcoalition gave the Egyptian-backed com-

Thirteen languages speakwith one voice at WSFThe Media Center at World Social Forum 2004, equipped with a com-plete network lab of 120 computers and 40 lap-top connections wasmaintained open and functional 24 hrs for the entire forum with freesoftweare. This is the first time in WSF history, that media members wereallowed access to the facilities at the Center 24 hrs a day. The challengeswere present every day of this world forum, although no official com-plaints: the dedicated effort of fifty Free Software Foundation (FSF) vol-unteers and members, with great enthusiasm and considerable knowledgehelped in all technical aspects to make this first-time event a reality. Keepin mind this is a youth revolution, since most of the FSF volunteers areyounger than 21. They all showed the world that we do not need restric-tions and privatization of systems of information, that knowledge andhuman communications are truly free and democratic.

SchoolNet in South East AsiaThe South East Asian ICT Advocacy andPlanning Workshop for Policy Makers andNational ICT Coordinators (15 Decem-ber 2003) provided the foundation forimplementing the launching of the project.It is through the commitment and sup-port of officials from the Ministries of Ed-ucation that successful achievement of thegoals and objectives set forth in the projectwill be possible. Indonesia, Philippines,Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Lao PDRand Viet Nam committed to pilot testingthe project for three years. The project fo-cuses on south-south cooperation, usingthe full range of ICTs and partnerships toenhance education. National SchoolNetswill also be developed to support the spe-cific educational needs of each country.

Microsoft, UNDP join handsComputer giant Microsoft has signed aone billion dollar agreement with UNDP.This five-year plan is aimed at bridgingthe digital divide in developing countries,starting with Egypt, Morocco and Mozam-bique. While long overdue, the move is


pany a two-year contract to run a cellphone network in central Iraq. The capi-tal has limited fixed-line phone service. Butbecause demand far outstripped the avail-able lines, many residents have relied onexpensive and finicky satellite phones.Cellphones appear ready to join once-for-bidden satellite dishes as new symbols offreedom and affluence in post-SaddamIraq. In the dictator's day, cell phones were"only for the police," said architect Qus-say Riyad, 43, as he picked up a phone.

India, an emerging Linux hubAt the Linux Asia 2004 conference, whichthe organisers claim is the first of its kindin Asia, the focus is on use of Linux inenterprises, e-governance, education andsociety. "Our software developers will havea great opportunity in the area of embed-ded software, where Linux is emerging asthe software platform of choice," said MrInder Singh, CEO of LynuxWorks Inc.Experts say that Linux would be the soft-ware that would help bridge the digitaldivide while offering a huge opportunityfor Indian software developers.

Tunisia pledges openness forsecond WSISThe government of Tunisia has assuredcivil society organisations that they will beallowed to participate in the second phaseof the World Summit on the InformationSociety, to take place next year. Accordingto Habib Mansour, Tunisia’s representativeto the WSIS, accredited groups will bewelcome to participate, including “thosethat enjoy criticising” the government ofPresident Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. Thesestatements removed doubts among non-governmental organisations and othermembers of civil society about the atmos-phere of freedom that will prevail at theUN sponsored Summit, slated for Novem-ber 16-18, 2005. At that second-phasegathering, delegates are to continue delib-erations on fair access to information andcommunications technology, which hadstarted in December 2003 at Geneva.

China curbing freedom onthe Net?There has been a dramatic rise in thenumber of people detained or sentencedfor Internet-related offences in China, ac-

For daily news on ICT4D log on towww.i4donline.net

cording to the London based rights groupAmnesty International. There are now atleast 54 people who have been imprisonedfor emailing, setting up websites or ex-changing pro-democracy messages online– a 60% increase from a year ago, the groupsaid in its latest report on the repressionof Internet users by the Chinese authori-ties. In addition, an unknown number ofpeople remained in detention for dissem-inating information over the Internetabout the spread of the SARS virus. Manyof the individuals cited in the report havebeen denied due process of law and somehave been tortured or ill treated in custo-dy, says Amnesty. The report detailed a25% expansion in Internet access in Chi-na with the number of users rising from59 million in December 2002, to almost80 million by the end of 2003.

Rickshaws to connect India'spoor

Shyam Telecom,which operates inthe state of Rajas-than, has opted totake its phones to

the people rather than wait for them tocome to it. The company has equipped afleet of rickshaws with a mobile phone.Drivers pedal these mobile payphones

Open Source to aid ailing doctorsOpen source software could revolution-ize medical care in developing coun-tries. A group of open source evangelistsare looking to share Veterans Health In-formation Systems and Technology Ar-chitecture (Vista), created by the USDepartment of Veterans Affairs, withdeveloping countries. The Veterans sys-tem is used in 170 hospitals and 600clinics to keep track of thousands of

Vietnam vets. Open source software could help hospitals save money as well asprovide better treatment for patients. "You could have a complete hospital infor-mation system available for free," said Joseph Dal Molin, a director of WorldVis-ta, a non-profit corporation that aims to make affordable healthcare informationtechnology available worldwide. Within medical care, a unified computer sys-tem is optimal, but for developing countries the cost of such a system can bedraining. Open source software can be tricky to implement and few in develop-ing countries have the expertise in this area. "I admit that turning Vista into areliable computer system that could easily be used in different cultures and lan-guages was a challenge," says Molin.

throughout the state capital, Jaipur, andthe surrounding countryside. The rick-shaw drivers, numbering around 200, arelargely drawn from those at the marginsof society - the disabled and women.

Pakistan’s ICT for socialinitiativesThe Islamic Educational, Scientific andCultural Organization (ISESCO)launched an ambitious three-year programto build a modern, knowledge-based soci-ety promoting cooperation in scientificresearch among Islamic member states,with a special thrust on promoting toler-ance. The ISESCO was set up by the Or-ganization of the Islamic Conference(OIC) in Morocco in May 1980 as an in-ternational organization specializing in thefields of education, science and culture.The ISESCO has 51 member states fromthe Islamic world. The ambitious three-year action plan for 2004-2006, adoptedby the Eighth General Conference in Iran’scapital, Teheran last month, will focus onthe development of systems of scientific,technological and vocational educationand training.


The role of new technologies and their po-tential to contribute to economic growthand human development has been debat-ed at various national and international fo-rums. Speaking of equity and socialtransformation, the marginalization of theMuslim minority from the mainstreamdevelopment is well known. As IT and itsrole in growth and globalization are estab-lished, this may not only further margin-alize Muslims from the nationalmainstream but also threaten their placein world development.

Like the ‘digital divide’, the North-South divide has been widely discussed inacademic circles. In recent times, the di-

vide within a society, especially across geographic location (ru-ral/urban), class, and gender have received inordinate media andacademic attention. A society is far more heterogeneous and char-acterized by divides besides these three. In India, other socialstructural dimensions worth a mention are caste, ethnicity, reli-gion, language and state. These digital divides deserve our atten-tion and await documentation. Another lacuna in the IT anddevelopment literature is the lack of focus on computer accessand learning in urban areas. It is assumed that things are wellthere with the result attention directed to making IT available tovillagers. This is not to say that IT development in rural areas isunimportant – it is to illustrate that the urban centres warrantscrutiny as well. Studies document government initiatives – stateand centre – and NGOs thrust in IT education; what is left un-documented are the community cum government initiatives.

Ethnic groups within the Muslim community have respond-ed to modern technology in diverse ways. The religious

leadership of the Daudi Bohra has harnessed information andcommunication technologies to serve traditional purposes andset itself as a role model for embracing ICT for its people. Theownership of personal computers among the rich of this sect is14.5% on par with Japan. The Memons on the other hand donot have a single computer in their jamatkhana. Secondly, in thebustling city of Mumbai, Muslim sects such as the Aga Khanis,Ishana Asharis, the Bohras, Memons, Konkani, etc, populate thearea from Crawford Market to Byculla Station. This heterogene-ity is compounded by diversity in education, class and language.In this stretch of seven bus stops there are no world-class com-puter training institutions such as APTECH, NIIT, or SSI.

The assumption that all is well in urban centres was chal-lenged through a survey of women trainees enrolled for a “Wom-en’s Special” basic course at a world class IT educationalinstitution. Results from Mumbai city showed that only 3% wereMuslim women. Given this state of affairs, the role of other play-ers, in this field, if any, needs to be brought to light. The paperhighlights some community and government cum communityIT education initiatives addressed to the Muslims and describesthe nature of the beneficiaries. Besides, it critically reviews theseinitiatives, share some observations and provide policy recom-mendations. For this purpose the senior author surveyed the ge-ographical locality mentioned above and spent approximatelytwenty-two hours at various places where education was impart-ed. She collected pamphlets, brochures and spoke to the centreheads. In addition, information about the current batch ofthe beneficiaries was gathered from the application forms toprovide a demographic profile of the beneficiaries. This entireactivity has been described in three sections – the first de-scribes the initiatives; the second discusses the nature of thebeneficiaries and the third section offers critique and makes pol-icy recommendations.

IT EDUCATION

Initiatives amongMumbai MuslimsThe marginalization of the Muslim minority from the mainstreamdevelopment is well known. As IT and its role in growth andglobalization are established, this may not only further marginalizeMuslims from the national mainstream but also threaten their place inworld development.

Rehana Ghadially

Professor

[email protected]

Farida Umrani

PhD Scholar

[email protected]

IIT, Mumbai


Nature of initiativesA total of four initiatives were identified. These include a minor-ity related Union Government scheme, efforts of a Muslim edu-cational trust, a local mohalla committee and a cyber cafe.Information, wherever available, on their location, academic pro-gram, infrastructure, personnel, services offered and future plansis also provided.

National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language(NCPUL)The NCPUL was constituted as an autonomous organizationon 1st April, 1996 under the Ministry of Human Resource De-velopment, Government of India. It was set up with the objec-tive of promoting the Urdu language. Secondly, it aims to makeavailable in the Urdu language knowledge of scientific and tech-nological development and ideas evolved in the modern context.Three schemes in operation are a one-year course titled Diplomain Computer Applications and Multilingual DTP, Arabic-UrduCalligraphy Training and Madrasa Modernization Scheme. Thefirst scheme is describe in detail. The computerized Arabic-UrduCalligraphy Training Scheme is implemented at more than hun-dred calligraphy and graphic design training centres set up in 20states and 59 districts, with a centre each in Ranchi and Banga-lore exclusively for girls. The objective is to equip students withthe latest methodologies and these centres have produced morethan 5000 experts to date. In Mumbai there is one calligraphycenter located in the premises of the Anjuman Islam High Schooland two more are in the pipeline – one of which is at Ballard Pierand the other at Kandivali. The Madrasa Modernization Schemehas enabled approximately 11,000 poor Muslim students fromvarious parts of the country to obtain diplomas. This scheme hasyet to take off in Mumbai.

The one-year course “Diploma in Computer Applications andMultilingual DTP” is designed to promote of computer educa-tion at the grass root level of the Urdu speaking population. Atpar with the Department of Electronics Accredition of Compu-ter Courses (DOEACC) ‘O’ level basic course, the content isenriched with programming techniques, database applications;accounting packages, web designing, Urdu and Hindi desktoppublishing. The objective of this course is to produce mediumlevel IT employable professionals such as DTP, data entry andaccounting operators and visual designers. Reference material isprovided in English language for each of these modules. In all,there are more than 150 computer centres across 22 states ofwhich 16 are accredited. Of the 9,000 students who have en-rolled for the courses from different parts of the country, almost50% are girls.

While this course is targetted at high school pass individualsbetween 17 to 35 years preference is given to those with higherqualifications in science subjects. They have to pass a writtentest followed by an interview conducted by a selection commit-tee. Working knowledge of Urdu language and script is neces-sary as they have to work on Urdu software. The trainees areexpected to complete a NCPUL offered one-year diploma inUrdu language through distance education. For the computercourse, they are required to pay a monthly fee of Rs. 500 if they

are residing in a state capital and Rs. 250 for those in other plac-es. Besides, an additional amount of Rs. 300 is charged for thelanguage diploma.

In Mumbai, there are five NCPUL centres of which fourare located in Muslim concentrated areas, one borders on aMuslim mohalla and one is in a suburb densely populated byMuslims. The Madni Computer Academy located in Bycullanear the mohalla and which the senior author visited is thefirst centre of its kind and has been in operation since pastfive years. The centre has 15 computers out of which 12 werein operating condition. The ambience is pleasant with an air-conditioner and cushioned chairs for the students. There isalso a white board to be used for theory classes. Internet ac-cess is limited to the teaching of the module. The centre has aprescribed 80 seats for the course, but has only 51 students inthe July 2003- June 2004 batch. The centre head commentedthat the enrolment has gone down in recent years due to theopening of private centres, which do not require knowledgeof Urdu language. At present, there are two male and twofemale trainers and one male system administrator. The cen-tre offers a variety of services to its trainees. The toppers ofthe batch are absorbed as trainers at the centre and a few oth-ers are assisted in finding placement at community-managedschools/ training centres. The centre started English languageclasses this year to increase the competitiveness of its students.During and after completion of course, on a prior bookingbasis students are encouraged to come to the centre for prac-tice. The centre plans to introduce advanced courses like webdesigning and hardware to cater to the demand of the com-

It is assumed that things are wellin the cities, with attention

directed to making IT available tovillagers. However, urban centres

warrant scrutiny as well


puter savvy. It has also provisioned funds to purchase addi-tional infrastructure.

Anjuman-I-Islam Computer Training Centres (AI)The Muslims of Mumbai established the Anjuman-I-Islam onFebruary 21, 1874 with the objective of equipping Muslims withmodern education while safeguarding their cultural values. It isthe largest minority educational institute in the country and hasmore than seventy educational institutions under its fold. Thevarious institutions include engineering and medical degree col-leges, science, commerce and liberal arts colleges, junior colleg-es, polytechnics, vocational training centres, research institutesand hostels. Of the 70,000 students studying under Anjumaninstitutions about 20,000 are girls.

The trust runs three computer-training centres housed in thepremises of Anjuman-I-Islam managed colleges. Two are in SouthMumbai while the third is in a central suburb at Vashi. The HomaiPeerbhoy centre located in Anjuman-I-Islam campus was estab-lished in the year 2000 under the extension and continuing ed-ucation program scheme of M.H. Saboo Siddik Polytechnic. Thecentre offers ten certificate courses of between one to three monthsduration with fees ranging from Rs. 1,500 to Rs. 4,500. It alsooffers six diploma courses with duration between six months andtwo years and fees ranging between Rs.6, 000 to Rs.20, 000.Reference material in English is provided for each of these courses.The medium of instruction is English, though Urdu is used forexplanation to facilitate better understanding. The centre is air-conditioned with a pleasant ambience and well cushioned chairs.Besides the nine computers all in operating condition, there is ascanner and two printers- DeskJet and laser. The ratio of twostudents to one computer is the norm and for practical sessions,the trainer gives demonstration to group of four or five studentson one personal computer. The personnel include 15 trainers, apublic relation personnel and a centre head; all of them are males.The centre offers its students services similar to that extended byNCPUL. The added advantage here is that the coordinator ofthe scheme and the centre head maintains networking with com-panies run by members of the community and others to facili-tate student placement.

Mohalla Committee (MC)After the 1992-’93 riots following demolition of Babri Masjid,the former police commissioner of Mumbai Julio Rebeiro alongwith activist Sushobha Barve started the Mohalla Ekta Commit-tee Movement. The objective was confidence building among theminorities and computer classes were set up to bring the peopleand police together. Initially, there were two centres, one at Don-gri, which is active and another at Nagpada, which has beenconverted to a career centre. The Imamwada MohallaCommittee Computer Centre at Dongri offers a two month longbasic computer skills course which includes MS Office 2000,Word, Excel, Power Point, Internet and E-mail. Initially, thiseducation was offered free of cost, later a sum of Rs. 300/- ofwhich Rs. 150/- was refunded at the conclusion of the coursewas introduced. At present, a non-refundable fee of Rs. 300 ischarged. The classes are held between 8.00 a.m. and 8.00 p.m.

with girls preferring the afternoon period. Flyers are distributedto give popularity to the course. The personnel from the policestations frequent the center, to learn computer skills and interactwith the trainees. Discussions on communal harmony are heldafter the classes or during the felicitation of students who havesuccessfully completed the course.

There are 15 computers of which 11 are operational and onedeskjet printer. The centre is on the ground floor of an Urdumedium municipal school. At present, there are two male train-ers and there has been no demand for a female trainer from thestudents or their guardians. The medium of instruction is Eng-lish, though Urdu and Hindi are used while explaining conceptsto the students. No reference material is provided to the stu-dents. The centre does not offer assistance in securing placementsfor its trainees or any other service comparable to the NCPULand AI centres.

Cybercafes cum trainingCybercafes have mushroomed across India. In the Muslim mo-hallas of Mumbai too, one sees a smattering of these cafes. Thereis variation across the different ethnic enclaves, with only oneCybercafe in the Memon mohalla, a dozen in the Bohra mohallaand the Khoja populated Pala Gali. These centres often doubleas training centres to impart basic education. The Al-BurhaniCybercafe at Nagpada, owned and managed by an individualfrom the Bohra community, offers a course, which includes Win-dows, Excel, Power Point and Internet at a cost of Rs. 250/-.Besides this, training in the Tally accounting package costs Rs.750/-. The centre houses eight computers, placed in cubicles.The café as a training centre operates like private tutorials. Usu-ally a single student is taught, but if there are more students theyare taught together. The medium of instruction is attuned to thedemand of the student, so also are the timings. The cafe employsa trainer to teach these computer skills. No attempt is made topopularize training at the café, as it is not its core activity.

Profile of the beneficiariesIn the following paragraphs is described the demographic pro-file—gender, age, educational qualification, occupational statusand proximity to the centre— of the beneficiaries at three insti-tutions. The intake forms of the applicants enrolled in theNCPUL run one-year diploma course (n*= 50) along with those


enrolled in the basic skills program at An-juman-Islam (n=61) and Mohalla Com-mittee (n=56) were studied for thepurpose. Of a total sample of 167, 48.50%(n= 81) were males and 51.50% (n=86)were females. The equal representation ofMuslim girls in the sample challenges so-ciety’s stereotype of Muslim women. Thiscan be explained by two reasons; one,Muslim families prefer to send theirdaughters to community managed insti-tutions. Second, women seek certificatecourses that cover basic operating skills,web designing and desktop publishingwhereas males prefer diplomas that equipthem with higher skills like hardware andnetworking. These explanations are drawnfrom comments of the centre heads. It isinteresting to note that lack of female train-ers at two of the centers has not deterredfemale enrolment. Young women are ea-ger to familiarize themselves with the lat-est technology and join the modern sectorof the economy. They see in it a possibili-ty of working from home. This comes asno surprise as a survey showed that thetop work aspiration of Muslim mothersfor their daughters was computer related.It would be worth studying female repre-sentation at advanced courses and howthey see themselves placed in the IT worldof work.

As far as age and occupational statusare concerned, the majority of the benefi-ciaries were young students. Their aver-age age was 22.64 years (range = 41; 14-55)with 89.83% (n=150) in the age group 29and below. A small percentage were in their30s (2.99%, n=5), 40s (4.19%, n=7) or50s (2.99%, n=5). The majority were stu-dents (80.24%, n=134), followed by theemployed (16.77%, n=28) and homemak-ers (2.99%, n=5). The overrepresentationof students comes as no surprise as IT isidentified with the young and educated.Secondly, it can be partly explained by

location of one centre in the vicinity ofcommunity-managed colleges and specialarrangements to adjust centre class tim-ings to the college schedule. This makes itconvenient for students to pursue compu-ter education along with their regular stud-ies. For the employed and homemakers,cybercafes offer more flexibility in termsof timing and course content. As one cy-bercafe owner remarked, “Not many stu-dents come to us for training. Instead wehave more shop-keepers and homemak-ers.”

The educational qualification of thetrainees ranged from senior secondary(31.14%; n= 52) and higher secondary(41.32%, n= 69), to graduation (23.95%,n=40) and post graduation (3.59%, n=6).Data about medium of instruction wasavailable for 106 beneficiaries. Of these45.28% (n=48) are educated in Englishmedium and the rest are drawn from ver-nacular medium, mainly Urdu. Despitethe additional demand on them, lack ofcompetency in English is not perceived asa deterrent to acquiring computer skills.Besides, the centres’ attempt to improvethe beneficiaries command over the Eng-lish acts as a boost to face this challenge.

As far as the socio-economic back-ground of the beneficiaries is concerned,data from 84 forms were available. Of

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)Pie charts (right)

Profile of sampled students/beneficiaries

(a) Distribution by gender

(b) Distribution by age

(c) Distribution by occupation

(d) Distribution by educational qualifications

(e) Time spent per session training


A quick assessment of impacts

Initiatives in the sub-urban/ still-urbanising/ non-urban realms

The National Council for promotion of Urdu language (NCPUL) has 30 (28.57%) out of 105 centersin rural and semi-urban areas example Koshambi in Varanasi, Kamptee in Maharashtra. As far asAnjuman Islam and Mohalla Committee run computer centers are concerned, these are operative onlyin Mumbai.

Social and economic multiplier(s) generated by the programs

Having a computer literate member encourages others in the family to learn computers (Umrani &Ghadially, 2003). Similar results were echoed by our present survey of forty- three beneficiaries (twenty-one who had completed the course and twenty-two who were enrolled in the course) where amajority of them (91%) had encouraged their family/ friends/ neighbors to become computer literateThis facilitates penetration of computer education in the community. Three-fourths of the trainees(70%) were keen on taking an advance level computer course.

As far as the economic multipliers are concerned, assistance is offered in job placement by thecenters. For example, the center head at the Anjuman Islam center coordinates with the Muslim busi-ness houses for this purpose. He remarked, “Our students have found jobs at Allana House in India andsome found work in Dubai. Aamir was working as a peon in Anjuman Islam school, the head of theAnjuman-I-Islam Trust extended him financial assistance to complete our course in Networking. Today heis working in a multi national firm.” Our survey reveals that, from amongst the beneficiaries whocompleted the computer course, the males were involved in jobs like computer operator (18%) or havejoined family business (27%). For the female beneficiaries, the major economic empowerment comesmainly from employment in education related fields. Few (18%) are absorbed as trainers with salariesranging from 2,500 to 6,000. 36% give computer tuitions to schools students. For both male andfemale students, simultaneous pursuit of two kinds of education, college and IT, assists them in jobsearch and boosts their confidence when approaching the job market.

Center heads are aware of the job market related to BPOs/ITES. But no systematic effort is made totap or prepare students to enter this sector. However, they are making a beginning in this area. Forexample, the Anjuman Islam Center had organized a seminar on Jobs in Medical Transcription andplan to conduct similar seminar on jobs at call centers. This center is also running English languageand personality development classes- one session each week. No such effort has been made by otherinstitutes/ centers. As far as students’ views on these are concerned, half of them (21/ 43; 49%) wereaware of jobs in BPO/ ITES but a very small percentage (12%) had applied in this sector. It may benoted that most of the beneficiaries were still pursuing their college studies; hence a clear picture willemerge later.

Development of sustainable translingual software/ICT practices

NCPUL offers Urdu DTP as a part of the one-year diploma course. At present, they are using theUrdu language software developed by a private firm – Concept software based in Delhi. However,NCPUL has given a project to Center for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), Pune todevelop this software which is more advanced, customized to the needs of the council and economicalin the long run. At other institutes, the usual English software is used.

Increase in PC ownership/ SME development

The survey revealed that one-fourth (10/43; 23%) owned a computer at home while another half ( 25/43; 58%) plan to purchase one.There were a few instances where individuals applied their computerknowledge to improve their business. For example, Shazia Khan, a LIC agent said “Now I maintain allthe policy record of my clients on computer”. Another beneficiary, Sameer Malwakar said “I have joinedmy uncle’s office and help him maintain accounts on the computer”.



these 72.62% (n=61) belonged to lower income group, 23.81%(n=20) to the middle-income group and 3.57% (n=3) to theupper income group. The sample is drawn predominantly fromthe weaker sections of the community because of subsidized rates.For example, a subsidized basic computer skills course at leadingIT education institution costs anywhere from Rs. 500 to 800whereas a similar course at the Mohalla Committee centre costsRs. 300. Similarly, a one-year diploma course costs Rs.30, 000/-at NIIT while a comparable course at the Anjuman Islam centrecosts Rs. 12,000 though the former assures job placement. Evenworld-class institutions run subsidized courses and offer schol-arships. Their location in the geographical area mentioned abovecould attract and benefit the economically weak to get a brand-ed education. Besides the middle and upper class youth wouldbenefit if these institutes were more conveniently located. Re-garding proximity of the centre, 39.52% (n=66) of the traineeswere located within a 30 minute walk from the centre. For theeconomically disadvantaged, cost and convenient location aretwo major attractions to these community-based institutes. It isthe established reputation of Anjuman Islam as an educationaltrust that attracts trainees from relatively distant places.

Critique and observationsLooking at the initiatives and profile of the beneficiaries the fol-lowing observations and critique are offered:• The initiatives do not promote IT for IT sake, but link it with

other considerations like promotion of Urdu, communal har-mony or part of a wider educational initiative. This may un-dermine the importance of computer education in its ownright.

• These courses are not sufficiently publicized. In cases wherenewspaper advertisements are inserted, they are in Urdu pa-pers, thus limiting awareness to the Urdu speaking popula-tion. This overlooks Muslims with no Urdu language skills.

• The centres equate basic computer education with skills inMicrosoft-Windows. Open software like Linux that are likelyto be more beneficial in the long run due to low cost andhigher security is not considered.

• The initiatives cater to the young students. The divide acrossage/education/occupation is bound to get worse and needs tobe addressed. For instance, the various sects of Mumbai Mus-lims are petty traders and shop-keepers and by one count 53.4% of urban Muslims are self-employed. Training them be-comes relevant as Patrick Dixon, Chairman of Global ChangeLtd. speaking of the future scenario at the ‘The Spirit of Suc-cess’ a seminar organized by the Economic Times’ CorporateDossier and Federal Express, said that small businesses andmultinationals will be driving the economy of the future. Ifsmall businessmen in India harness the Internet’s potential, infive years the country would see the birth of a million entre-preneurs selling their wares to the global market through theInternet.

• The three initiatives enjoy national or local recognition but lackthe prestige of world-class institutions. One center head said “theseare charitable endeavours and not managed professionally. Thishas implications for the beneficiaries’ employment”.

References• Blank, J. (2001) “Mullahs on the Mainframe”, The University of

Chicago Press, Chicago

• Ghadially, R. (1996) “On their Own Initiative: Changing Lives of

Bohra Muslim Women”, Manushi, No.96.

• Jaju, S. (2003) “Administration in the Digital Age”, i4d, 1 (2),

27-30.

• Mitra, S. (2000) “Minimally Invasive Education for Mass

Computer Literacy” at http://www.niitholeinthewall.com/

status.htm

• Noronha, F. (2003) “Computers to Schools”, I4d, 1 (2), 31-32.

• Razaack, A. and Gomber (2003) “No White Collar Jobs For Me”

from A Case Study of Empowerment of Muslims (Report). National

Council of Applied Economic Research. (cited in The Indian Express,

September, 14 )

• Siddiqi, M. N. (1997) “Muslim Minorities in the Twenty First

Century: A Case Study of the Indian Muslims”, 3 (2), Encounter’s

Magazine, Leicester, UK at http://islamic-finance.net/islamic-

economics/eco4/eco4-5.html

8. Times News Network (2003) “Futurist Uncorks Spirit of Success”,

The Times of India, December, 15.

• Umrani, F. and Ghadially, R. (2003) “Empowering Women

through ICT Education: Facilitating Computer Education”,

Gender, Technology and Development, 7(3), 359-377.

• To increase their competitiveness in the IT job market thebeneficiaries have requested comprehensive package that in-cludes English proficiency and personality development.

RecommendationsWe make the following recommendations to facilitate penetra-tion of computer education among urban Muslims of India:• Government, NGOs, community and private initiatives are

needed to promote computer education among the poor andthe marginalized in the urban centres. One fifth of Indiansare extremely poor, and about half of them are Muslims.

• Systematic surveys are needed on the state of IT educationamong minority groups to get insight into the nature of thedigital divide in all its complexity.

• The urban scenario favours students bypassing other sectionsof the community. Young adults, the middle aged, the illiter-ate and less educated, homemakers, petty shopkeepers andthe employed need to be integrated in the information age.

What barriers operate on this section of the urban popula-tion and what factors facilitate adoption is worthy of scholarlyattention. Increased access and hands on exposure would en-courage them to become computer literate. One way of achiev-ing this is to set up computers in places frequented by them suchas mosques, madrasas, jamatkhanas, shrines, etc. This is drawnfrom the unsupervised approach to promote mass computer lit-eracy, which emphasizes access through open, public internetkiosks to target disadvantaged learners.

n = sample size


The major goal of education is the acqui-sition of basic academic and social skills,which would permit progression to furthereducation, training or employment. Todayeducation is limited to fixed syllabus, rigidtimetables and permanent classroom exer-cises. The instructor instructs and the stu-dent passively listens. Where as mostchildren have a fresh and magic ways ofseeing the world, the present formal edu-cation system provides no scope for the stu-dents to express their creative self or venttheir imaginative spirit. Students are sim-ply passive recipients of handed downknowledge with absolutely no participationin knowledge creation. Again educationaloutcomes, measuredsolely by the perform-ance of students in

tests, have quite often remained the same.While many schools specify high perform-ance goals for all students, unfortunately,measured performance often falls short ofexpectations.

A characteristic of the present educationsystem is that it has very little public involve-ment or support. The present system pro-vides no scope for the community to supportand be involved in the education process oraddress issues of common interest. There isvery little interaction or dialogue betweenthe schools and the community at large. Asa result, school goals rarely interpret into theeducational goals of the community. Aca-demic skills learned in schools are not ableto meet the community needs.

Education should help citizens feel more

MAPPING THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

An alternate learningexperienceExcept the lone community kiosk in rural India there are very fewinstances of knowledge dissemination through IT. Knowledge creationby the community through IT is still a dream.

connected to their community, particularly to their school.Knowledge gained through education should foster in each in-dividual a stronger sense of responsibility and increase awarenessin each individual of the world around her/him. Education shouldnot only improve attitudes toward learning and improve basicacademic skills but also encourage the development of better,more productive social skills; so as to improve communicationwith peers and adults.

Hence, a productive ongoing relationship is required betweenthe community and the schools, which will not only strengthenthe communities but also benefit policymakers, educators, andthe general public who seek to improve the education system.

Educational technologyEducational technology is widely recognized as an essential partof education in the 21st century. Technology plays a key role in

Students mapping with PDA and GPS

Rumi Mallick

Sr Research Associate

[email protected]

Anuradha Dhar

Research Associate

[email protected]

Satyaprakash, PhD

Project Manager

[email protected]

CSDMS


helping student achieve higher quality education in order to meetthe challenges of a rapidly changing world. Today technology isbeing used as a tool to level the educational playing field.

Blaise Pascal, philosopher and mathematician said, “Wordsdifferently arranged have different meanings, and meanings dif-ferently arranged have a different effect.” This expression todaystands true for technology. Technologies differently used havediverse effects. With so many technologies to choose from, it isthe usage, which makes a difference. The way a technology isput to use gives it a new dimension, and unique perspective.And therefore, technology is not only technology but has moreimportantly become a ‘tool’-specifically those concerning withinformation and communication i.e. ‘ICT’.

In India, computers have entered the classrooms. The impactof computers is getting more and more noticed especially insmaller and remote parts of India. However the use of computerin most of the schools is still limited to the fixed syllabus andrigid timelines. Again, there is an overwhelming digital gap inthe education segment. The urban schools have adopted newerparaphernalia like the Internet but, the rural schools have justbeen introduced to computers.

Except the lone community kiosk in rural India, there arevery few instances of knowledge dissemination through IT.Knowledge creation by the community through IT is still a dream.

However all is not lost. There is a great potential and the‘ICT have-nots’ can transform into ‘ICT-haves’, where the com-munity with school children as the torchbearers can change frompassive helpless recipients to active information and knowledgecreators. Use of ICT for education can not only increase thestudents fluency with technology but also give them new roles toin information process, hence providing leadership for the com-munity.

Community mappingMapping helps in relating to the territories and terrain, the spac-es and places of our lives. Maps have immense spatial power asthey reflect the culture and links personal knowledge to commu-nity learning and planning. Community mapping has been usedas a tool for community learning and planning for sustainability.

The approach is community centric and the emphasis is on com-munity driven knowledge production as the essence of sustaina-ble development. In fact, community mapping has today becomea central part of the emerging paradigm of participatory learn-ing, community empowerment and sustainable planning.

Community mapping initially helps to identify the differentspaces used and occupied by the community, and then providesa visual representation of those spaces (a most effective way ofcommunicating/interpreting those spaces to/for the others) andin the process links information to place. Thus, understandingwhat is happening in the communities (through the communitymaps) can help in decision making and consensus building whichcan translate into policy design for community development.

Mapping the Neighbourhood: A case studyin AlmoraOne such community mapping initiative involving school chil-dren is a project called ‘Mapping the Neighbourhood’, spon-sored by the Department of Science and Technology, Governmentof India. The Hawalbag development block has been selectedwithin the Almora district of Uttaranchal state for the imple-mentation of the project. The project has attempted to facilitatecommunity learning through neighbourhood maps that aregrounded in ecological and social narrative with school childrenas the spearhead of knowledge creation.

The project has aimed at bringing high-end technology tothe rudimentary level of the village community. School childrenfrom rural and urban areas have been initiated to use indige-nously developed geographic information systems (GIS) soft-ware running on a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) coupled withGlobal Positioning System (GPS).

The project has excited the students in scientific and techno-logical innovations. They have become channels for the dissem-ination of scientific and technological knowledge. The focus isnot just technology but also its innovative use for mapping theneighbourhood and its resources. This would build their profes-sional capacity. The maps prepared through community-friend-ly-technology by the school children can then be fed into theongoing planning and development process.

Students learning to use PDA and GPS Villagers participating in mapping


The students learn by doing and since the process is a not apart of the general classroom exercise, they learn to contribute inan innovative manner. Thus knowledge gained through ‘doing’and practical experience is not only more exciting and memora-ble but also more valuable with long-term impact. Through thispractical experience of creating maps of their neighbourhood,students would not only experience learning in a different envi-ronment but would also contribute positively to the communityby generating database for the community which can be used fordevelopmental purposes. They learn about the relationship be-tween the community and the environment and also learn toconserve resources and improve the quality of life.

This neighbourhood mapping process not only involves gen-erating community maps but also involves deliberative discus-sions as a framework for solving problems. With enhancedawareness about the community, the students are provided aground where they can• understand the complexities of issues their community faces;• openly share their diverse perspectives and concerns; and• identify solutions to problems

Discussion forums are an integral part of neighbourhood map-ping. The students discuss, from their personal experiences, is-sues that concern their locality and community. They proceedto examine multiple views and perspectives. In the end they un-derstand the complexities of the issue and come to an informedopinion. Rather than responding to presentations or proposals

by experts and advocates, the students exchange ideas on issuesof common concern.

In the same way, ordinary citizen from all sections of the com-munity has been involved in open discussions about an issue ofimportance to them. After the conclusion of the discussion orstudy, results can be shared with the community, and action ide-as may be considered and developed in an “action forum.” Theresults of the forums can then be shared with local leaders. Inaddition, community members who have attended a forum mayoften decide to continue to work together to try to solve prob-lems in their community. Thus neighbourhood maps created bythe students with community assistance can help the communi-

ty to make informed decisions aboutthe best policies and most appropriateprograms for the areas.

ExperiencesThe students of most of the govern-ment schools in rural areas were foundnon-responsive and hesitant in thebeginning of the project. However asthe project proceeded and technologywas introduced, the students becamevery inquisitive and excited. Most ofthe rural students involved in ourproject knew very little about the com-puters. Urban school students weremore open and had in fact far moreknowledge about the computers thantheir rural counterparts. The best partof it all was that they were all ready tolearn. This was enough for us to startand introduce the new technology.

The students, who were exposed tonew technologies, which they had nei-

ther heard nor used before, received the exercise enthusiastically.They were thrilled to see their own school and its surroundingson maps in a computer. The use of ICT brought a new facet inthe learning process.

ConclusionThe use of ICT as an alternate form of education in rural andurban areas has demonstrated that this form of education canhave a positive affect on the community at large, leading to-wards community development. Innovative use of technolo-gy can change the way development takes place and ensuresthat the issues of the general public are addressed. Taking thechildren as the ‘agents of change’, this project has tried toevolve an alternate form of education as well as developmen-tal process.

Read this article online at

www.i4donline.net

The process of Neighbourhood Mapping being followed in Almora

Students and teachers

Interactionwith all

local bodies

Problemidentification

withcommunity

Neighbourhood Information System

Invaluable local information repository

Discussions

Technology demonstration

Data collection and mapping

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In the decades spanning 60’s and 70’s inthe 20th century, exam results, especiallythose of the State School Boards meant,students and parents spending sleeplessnights waiting for the early morning arriv-al of the ‘Gazette’ carrying the result. Withthe change in the pattern of EducationBoards all over the country, the conceptsof +2 results and significant increase in theentrance exams for various professionalcourses came into fore, not only enhanc-ing the number and magnitude of exami-nations but also bringing toughcompetition in the academic scenario. Tilla few years back, it was a common sight tosee the students thronging notice boardstrying to find their roll number in the listof successful candidates. The emergence of

Internet has seemed to transform the above scenario as it hasmade it possible for students to check their Exam Result in thecomfort and safety of their own homes with the ‘moment’, just amouse click away…

The practice of using the World Wide Web as a medium topublish examination results is not new, especially in countrieswith a high rate of Internet usage. The concept picked up inIndia during the past 4-5 years with the increased proliferationof Web and its reach into the Indian homes and Cyber cafes.The organization behind the vast exercise of publishing the var-ious exam results on the Internet in India is National Informat-ics Centre (NIC), a part of the Ministry of Communications &Information Technology. Through its nationwide infrastructurepresent in all States, Union Territories (UTs) and Districts ofIndia, NIC has been publishing and disseminating the results ofseveral academic and recruitment examinations through theInternet every year.

Current scenarioIn the education system currently prevailing in India, there areState Education Boards in various States /UTs apart from theCentral Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the IndianCouncil of School Education (ICSE) at the All India Level. TheseEducation Boards conduct examinations at the level of matricu-lation (class 10th) and + 2 (class 12th). Some state boards alsoconduct exams at the level of class 8th. Millions of students ap-

pear for these examinations every year and wait for the resultswith baited breath. The results of the examinations are prepared,compiled and declared by the respective boards by sending thedetailed mark lists of the students to the respective schools. Forthe past four to five years, these school results and many othersincluding entrance examinations for professional courses are be-ing simultaneously released on the Internet as soon as it is readyon the exam results web portal (http://results.nic.in) developedfor this purpose by NIC.

The processThe entire process of publishing results on the World WideWeb comprises a number of steps and stages. Based on a thor-ough research and its IT expertise, NIC has acquired the req-uisite know-how and prepared a generic software forpublishing results which has been made available to all theNIC centres across India with appropriate guidelines to use/customise the software as per varying requirements of differ-ent examination agencies.

Exam Results being a sensitive issue on which the future andcareer of millions hinges, it is imperative to ensure that the in-formation is absolutely accurate and reaches the intended targetaudience with minimum effort and delay. As a first step, theNIC centres in various states and UTs, in consultation with theconcerned State Education Board, customise the software in termsof information requirement, lay-out, number/type of reports tobe generated, etc. The result data, once prepared in the digitalform by the respective Board is then transported in the appro-priate format on to the results servers being maintained by NIC.All this invariably involves a sound infrastructure set-up gearedto meet the huge anticipated traffic, especially during peak hoursand also having appropriate back-up and contingency measures.NIC has established ICT infrastructure comprising a series ofstate-of-the-art dedicated web and database servers along withlatest applications and performance tuned network devices forthis purpose.

Important announcements, both prior to the declaration ofthe result and upon its launch on the Internet, are posted on theweb portal informing students, who can then access their resultsusing a simple browser based interface by entering their rollnumber at the requisite place. The seemingly simple exercise takesa lot of hard work, technical co-ordination and seamless plan-ning in the background to meet the ever increasing expectationsof the examination boards as well as aspiring candidates.

CHANGING PARADIGMS

Exam results throughthe Internet

Neeta Verma

Senior Technical

Director

[email protected]

Sonal Kalra

Editor, Informatics

[email protected]

National Informatics

Centre


Exam results web portal: www.results.nic.in

Additional delivery channelsRealising the present status of Internet access in India and theneed to make this information reach even the remotest cornersof the Country, the exam results are being disseminated usingmultiple channels so that more and more students can accessthem with minimal time and effort. Therefore, besides the WorldWide Web, the results are also being made available throughIVRS, SMS and Email.• IVRS (Interactive Voice Response System) In IVRS, the call-

er dials a given telephone number and the computer plays thepart of an operator giving out the information requested, inrecorded or synthesized voice. The server is configured to ac-cept calls with the help of dedicated CTI (computer telepho-ny interface) software and hardware. The calls can be placedfrom any standard telephone instrument. A large number ofstudents access their results using this channel.

• Short Message Service The Short Message Service (SMS) isthe technology to send and receive short text messages fromone mobile phone to another mobile phone. SMS based tech-nology is not only cost effective but extremely efficient too.Considering the high density of cell phone users in India,

various results are now being provided to the students throughthe SMS on the mobile phones. The users have to type a speci-fied message code followed by the Roll Number and send themessage to a designated number to obtain the results.• E-mail The anxious students are also able to receive their re-

sults in their individual mailboxes, for which they had to pre-register with the Results web portal. Apart from this, completeschool wise results are also being sent to the various schoolsthrough email on pre registration.

Success IndicatorsThe examination results declared by NIC on its various serversover the past few years have received a large number of hits fromanxious students, teachers, parents, school authorities and otherinterested stakeholders. In 2003 itself, a whooping 26.7 millionhits were received on the website hosting the Central Board ofSecondary Education Results. While 3,30,000 marksheets wereemailed into the individual students’ mailboxes, 3,80,000 and2,10,000 results were disseminated through IVRS and SMS re-spectively.

Within a few moments of the declarations of Results, hitswere seen flowing in from all over the country (including theremotest corners through the cyber cafes/ community centres)as well as from other parts of the world.

ImpactThe Technological advancements and progress in the field ofInformation and Communication Technologies has come tochange the very way we lead our lives. The whole concept of

declaring Exam Results over the Net has done more to promotethe Internet awareness and usage than most other conventionalpromotion strategies. The sensitivity of the issue and the anxie-ty factor associated with the very concept of Exam Results madethe exercise popular even in areas known to be having very lowInternet penetration. Even in the case of North Eastern Statesmarred by adverse terrain and climatic conditions, students wereseen thronging the CIC Centres set-up by the Department ofInformation Technology (http://www.cic.nic.in) anxiously await-ing their marksheet to appear on the computer screen.

Reports from States like Uttar Pradesh indicated that studentswere ecstatic on receiving the marksheets at the same time asdeclaration of the Results, something which took many days ear-lier since the marksheets used to arrive by Post. This also meantthat the students did not have to wait any longer to apply foradmissions into Colleges for further studies.

Indirect beneficiaries of the whole exercise turned out to bethe Cyber Café owners as their business got a tremendous boostwhenever the Results were declared on the Net. Considering thefact that average ownership of Home PCs in India is still quitelow, students were seen waiting at the cyber cafes for their turnto check their results. This has again resulted in a sharp increasein Internet usage as Cyber Café Managers report that many stu-dents who had visited a cyber café for the first time to checktheir exam results eventually ended up becoming regular net surf-ers.

Encouraged by the success of this initiative, many Institu-tions/Universities/Boards have enhanced the level and type ofusage of ICT in the ambit of their total operations and at thesame time, the familiarity and trust level of various stakeholders(officials, students, teachers, parents etc) in technology has sig-nificantly gone up. Some of the Boards are now delivering theAdmit Cards to the students through the Net. The Counsellingfor admissions after the AIEEE-2003 (All India Engineering/Pharmacy/Architecture Entrance Exam) was carried out onlineand students can also submit the application forms for the nextyear through the website. With a large number of exam relatedactivities coming into the online arena, we are witnessing a par-adigm shift and the future is likely to herald a wider utilizationof ICT applications in the education sector.


The experiments were initiated at Kalka-ji, New Delhi, by NIIT Limited, Indiansoftware and training multinational,through its Center for Research in Cog-nitive Systems (CRCS). They were latercontinued by CRCS and through a com-pany, Hole-in-the-Wall Education Lim-ited (HIWEL), set up in 2001 for thispurpose. HIWEL is a joint venture com-pany between NIIT Limited and the In-ternational Finance Corporation, theindustrial financing arm of the WorldBank.

Several projects have been initiated since then and includethe following:• The Shivpuri (1999) experiment- one computer in the state

of Madhya Pradesh, funded by NIIT Limited• The Madantusi experiment (2000)- one computer in the state

of Uttar Pradesh, funded by Dr. Urvashi Sahni and NIIT Lim-ited.

• The Madangir project (2000)- 30 computers in six locationsin Delhi funded by the Government of Delhi and NIIT Lim-ited.

• The Sindhudurg project (2001- 10 computers in five loca-tions in the state of Maharashtra, funded by the ICICI bankand NIIT Limited.

• The IFC project (2002)- a plan for 66 computers in 22 loca-tions spread throughout India, of which 33 computers in 11locations are currently functional, funded by the IFC and NIITLimited.

• The Alexandria project (2003)- a plan for 90 computers in 30locations spread throughout Alexandria, Egypt. The first ki-osk is scheduled to be opened on October 12, 2003. The

project is funded by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.• The Cambodia project (2003)- a plan for 10 computers in 5

locations in Cambodia. A gift from the Prime Minister ofIndia to the Cambodian government. The project is fundedby the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), Gov-ernment of India.

All projects, except in Shivpuri, are continuing (September, 2003).The 75 computers installed in India so far are used by an esti-mated 7,500 children.

Groups of 6 to 13 year old children do not need to be “taught”how to use computers. In experiments conducted in India since1999, as listed above, it has been shown that children can self-instruct themselves to operate computers. Their ability to do soseems to be independent of their:• Educational background• Literacy levels in the English language or any other language• Social or economic level• Ethnicity and place of origin, i.e., city, town or village• Gender• Genetic background• Geographic location• Intelligence

What do they learn?An estimated 100 children can learn to do most or all of thefollowing tasks in approximately three months, using the “hole-in-wall” arrangement with a single PC:• All windows operational functions, such as click, drag, open,

close, resize, minimize, menus, navigation etc.• Draw and paint pictures on the computer• Load and save files• Play games

INSIGHT

The hole-in-the-wall

Sugata Mitra

R&D Head

NIIT

[email protected]

Access to state-of-the-art PCs toseveral thousand children in urbanand rural India was provided. Thecomputers were placed outdoors,usually mounted on walls and,hence, often referred to as“hole-in-the-wall”.


• Run educational and other programs• Play music and video, view photos and pictures• Browse and surf the Internet, if a connection is available• Set up e-mail accounts• Send and receive e-mail• Chat on the Internet• Do simple troubleshooting, for example, if the speakers are

not working•· Download and play streaming media• Download games

In addition to the above task achievement, local teachers andfield observers often note that the children demonstrate improve-ments in:• School examinations, particularly in subjects that deal with

computing skills• English vocabulary and usage• Concentration, attention span and problem solving• Working together and self-regulation

However, it is not known yet, if these latter effects are universaland evident in all children.

A frequently voiced concernIt is important to mention here that no instances of pornograph-ic material access among these target groups, ie, children aged13 and below was observed. However, adults, if allowed to usethe facility are likely to access such material.

How does it work?Learning process in a Minimally Invasive Environment(MIE)Certain common observa-tions from the experimentsreported above, suggest thefollowing learning processwhen children self-instructeach other in computerusage:

• One child explores ran-domly in the user inter-face, others watch untilan accidental discoveryis made. For example,when they find that thecursor changes to ahand shape at certain places on the screen.

• Several children repeat the discovery for themselves by request-ing the first child to let them do so.

• While in step 2, one or more children make more accidentalor incidental discoveries.

• All the children repeat all the discoveries made and, in theprocess, make more discoveries and start to create a vocabu-lary to describe their experience.

• The vocabulary encourages them to perceive generalisations

(“when you right click on a hand shaped cursor, it changes tothe hourglass shape for a while and a new page comes up”).

• They memorise entire procedures for doing something, forexample, how to open a painting program and retrieve a savedpicture. They teach each other shorter procedures for doingthe same thing, whenever one of them finds a new, shorter,procedure.

• The group divides itself into the “knows” and the “know nots”,much as they did into “haves” and “have nots” in the past.However, they realise that a child that knows will part withthat knowledge in return for friendship and exchange as op-posed to ownership of physical things where they could useforce to get what they did not have.

• A stage is reached when no further discoveries are made and

Facing page

Kalkaji, New Delhi. The hole-in-the-wall, 1999.

Below

• Madangir, New Delhi, 2000

• Village Kalse, Sindhudurg, Maharashtra 2001

• Village Kalludevanahalli, Karnataka, 2002


the children occupy themselves with practising what they havealready learned. At this point intervention is required to in-troduce a new “seed” discovery (“did you know that comput-ers can play music? Here let me play a song for you”). Usually,a spiral of discoveries follow and another self-instructional cyclebegins.

In order for the above instructional objectives to be met, it isimportant that:• The computer should be in an outdoor, public, and safe loca-

tion. Children, and often their parents, are apprehensive ofenclosed spaces such as closed rooms or “clubs”. Locating com-puters indoors, even inside a school, is associated with regi-mentation, control, “studying” and other negatives associatedwith formal schooling. Locating a computer in a school play-ground, on the other hand, is ideal.

• Children should use the computer in heterogeneous groups.Since the MIE process depends on exploration and discovery,working in groups is essential. Collaborative constructivismis the main paradigm of MIE. Children teach each other veryeffectively and are also effective at self-regulating the process.That is how over 100 children are able to use one computer.

• There should be no adult intervention or supervision. Adultsshould not use the kiosk. All activity should be monitoredremotely to ensure that the kiosk is being used for the rightpurpose.

• PC functioning and Internet connectivity should be reliable.

Based on the above observations, a set of guidelines have beendeveloped that enables educators to set up their own MIE kioskfacilities. These include:• General instructions• Site selection• Architectural plans• Purchases required including

proprietary pointing and remotesensing hardware and software

• Electrical installation• A portal to help children navi-

gate to sites and applications• Downloadable utilities• Downloadable games• Educational tests and remote

sensing data analysis tools• Legal and safety related issues

Based on the experience and datagathered over the last four years, itcan be argued that such “play-ground” access points should be apart of every primary school.Where primary schools are notavailable, such facilities could pro-vide even more vital “emergency”educational inputs.

MIE for children through pub-

References• Children and the Internet: An experiment with minimally invasive

education in India, S. Mitra and V. Rana, CSI Communications,

pg. 12, June 1999, India (1999).

• Minimally Invasive Education For Mass Computer Literacy, Sugata

Mitra, presented at the CRIDALA 2000 conference in Hong Kong,

June 21-25, 2000.

• Children and the Internet: New Paradigms for Development in the

21st Century, Keynote address at the Asian Science and Technology

Conference in the year 2000, Tokyo, June 6, Japan (2000).

• Children and the Internet: Experiments with minimally invasive

education in India, Sugata Mitra and Vivek Rana, The British

Journal of Educational Technology, 32,2,pp 221-232 (2001)

• Minimally Invasive Education: A progress report on the “Hole-in-

the-wall” experiments, S. Mitra, The British Journal of Educational

Technology,34, 3, pp367-371 (2003)

• Minimally Invasive Education, pedagogy for development in a

connected world, S. Mitra, Invited talk at the International

conference on Science and Mathematics Education, Bibliotheca

Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt (2003)

• Improving English pronunciation – an automated instructional

approach, S. Mitra, J. Tooley, P. Inamdar and P. Dixon, Information

Technology and International Development, 1(1) pp741-83, MIT

Press (2003)

i4d | February 2004

Village Gadharwan, Jammu and Kashmir, 2003

lic Internet kiosks should form an integral part of primary edu-cation in the 21st century. It has the potential to not only closethe “digital divide” rapidly, but also to unlock the creativepotential for self-development of children that eminent educa-tionists have sought to do for over a century.


Education in Geo-informatics has under-gone remarkable development with theintroduction of a number of related cours-es at graduate and postgraduate level inIndia. By 2004 one may even find it beingnamed as at least one of the many papersin different undergraduate colleges teach-ing Geography, Geology, Planning or oth-er Geo-Sciences. However, the curriculumleaves something to be desired particularlyin the relatively non-professional colleges.In many cases, the lack of required infra-structure, combined with partially trainedteachers, indicates that the curriculum is

still at a nascent stage. Introduction of information and commu-nication technology (ICT) can provide solutions with inputs fromboth within and outside. Execution of ICT requires new compe-tencies of faculty members. The burden of integrating e-learn-ing lies mainly on the shoulders of the teachers, therefore, anyplanned process should take into account the capabilities andlimitations of the teachers and should be directed as steps andmanner that suit each teacher. Teachers can get more and morecreative in integrating all possible interaction as the experiencewith the course evolves and as the overall experience of the col-lege teacher evolves. Undoubtedly, digital learning resources havethe power, if developed and deployed appropriately, to signifi-cantly enhance the learning experience in Geo-informatics. Teach-ers will, however, always be needed.

ICT and teaching faculty in higher educationOn a college campus there are constant reminders that knowl-edge acquisition is the main focus. In that sense the campus ofan institution of higher education may be viewed as a “safe ha-ven”. Higher education focuses on how to maintain the “trust-ing environment” image where students can be stimulated toacquire knowledge on certain subjects, evaluate their level of learn-ing, and in the process enhance their own value propositionthrough existing faculty. Therefore, somewhere ICT have to cre-ate surrounding environment trustworthy enough to build con-fidence to fall in the category of ‘sure learning’. In ignoring this,the crevice between conflicting agendas of University and tech-no-industry will widen.

However, it may be basically assumed that a higher educationteacher already has a viewpoint on the subject matter s/he

teaches and an opinion on how it should be taught. A teacherusually has some teaching material he had already accumulated,prepared and used. Different branches have different terminolo-gy, different learning objectives, different emphasizes, etc. Forexample in remote sensing evaluating the patterns emerging fromspectral signature can be one learning objective, while in GIS –thematic linkages and query analysis is important learning ob-jectives. If dealt appropriately, these can be readily augmented indesigning reusable learning objects.

Nevertheless, ready availability of technology in institute ofhigher education may not necessarily propel ICT integration intraditional academic set-up. This is despite the fact that in June2001, Kirori Mal College became the first institute where suc-cessful on-line admissions process was completed in India. De-spite this the academic dimension is almost missing. Although itmade statements about the needs to promote the use of ICT ona fitness for purpose basis, it did not provide any clear directionor states how ICT should be used. For that matter, up to nowthe institutional teaching and learning strategy had said little indepth about the potential for exploitation of ICT. What emergesis a fact that, the solutions may target measures revolving aroundfaculty with Technology and Students integrated around it.

But in doing so, in traditional higher education there existscertain bottlenecks, which underlie even after the availability ofthe required technology. They are common for any discipline.The identified bottlenecks in the introduction of ICT in tradi-tional academic set-up are:• teachers have to make a move to new education, but they lack

time;• teachers fear that ICT will dislocate them;• teachers are unsure of the security provisions for their study

material, and• perceived unreliability of networked services and local com-

puting services.

The reasons to have a stated policy for on-line learning develop-ments revolving around teachers emerges from a fact that theyare the major spearhead of anchoring learning ships to the shores.The policy should therefore aim at:• making faculty more accessible to students with all types of

study needs,• increasing the potential for innovative forms of study, thus

improving the quality of our offering through geovisualiza-tion

INTEGRATING ROLE OF TEACHERS

Geo-informatics inhigher education

Seema M Parihar

Reader in Geography

Kirori Mal College

New Delhi

[email protected]


• providing flexibility of study mode and giving students of alltype an extra skill by increasing their exposure to the spatialdatasets which otherwise may not be readily available to them

• remaining competitive because increased exchange of studymaterial will nurture quick updates especially relevant in fastexpanding spatial data infrastructure

The sharing and dissemination of good practices is popular withstaff developers in western academic institutes. However, it isimportant to remember that what is a good practice in one situ-ation may not be for another. This is particularly true with re-spect to the use of ICT to support teaching and learning wherethe success of an approach can be very context specific. In dis-seminating ICT, the approach should shift from a complex tech-nology approach to simple technology approach. Theover-emphasis of service providers on the complex technology, isa turn off to most staff who want simple ideas and ideally, simpletechnologies to help them deliver the pedagogic model that theyare comfortable with. This is not to say that technology shoulddrive the pedagogic approach but rather, the technology devel-opers (who, maybe, are from outside India) should have faith inexisting faculty to use any new technological expertise sensibly,to facilitate and improve student learning.

Faculty’s reaction to ICTEvaluation data were collected from the faculty members withan open ended questionnaire and at times informal discussionsand chats. The sample comprises the lecturers, readers and pro-fessors teaching in University of Delhi. Based on the commentsand administrators experiences, following observations are worthmentioning:• For the most part, teachers possessed basic computer skills.

Unlike the scenario a few years ago, the initial resistance tocomputers had gone down.

• Initially, the teachers were primarily concerned with their owncomfort levels in adopting the new technology (self concern).Having acquired competence in this area, their focus shiftedto implementation (task concern). Having gone through thesetwo stages, their concern moved on to how the innovationscould help their students to learn.

• The negative impact of unreliable networked systems alsoemerges as a problem in effecting the integration of learningtechnology as depicted in previous writings.

• The faculty only wishes to be introduced to the platform andat least initially was not interested in further training. Theinterest is in the newness and not in real implementation.

• Faculty who have been introduced to the platform and whoare interested in training, are mainly concerned about theperformance or the instrumental use of the platform and aboutthe management of the platforms (students) they expected(task concerned).

• Even after crossing time hurdle, insufficient follow–up sup-port at local level defers use.

• Most faculty members seem to adhere to a teacher centeredvision on teaching and learning in an academic set-up.

• Many teachers feared that the ICT would dislocate them.

Thus, before actual adoption of e-learning the mindsetdeters its augmentation. However, history teaches us justthe opposite. The new forms tend to add to rather thandislocate: video or DVD has not replaced cinema, T.V hasnot displaced radio and neither books have been replacedby Internet.

• Over expectations deterred few teachers. This was conse-quent of sheer hype generated by new medium with toomany colorful demos, just as it happened in the burstingof nineties dot.com start ups which rapidly came to be seenas up-starts without a strong foundation. So slow and steadyushering of ICT through blending learning may increaseusers.

• Many teachers fear that the privacy of their study materialis at stake. Due to sharing proposition many of them fearits use. The incentives however may check this.

• Variation in success rate of colleges and schools in usher-ing ICT emerges from a fact that the approach of imple-mentation is different. Whereas in most schools and evenin private or trust run academic institutes of higher educa-tion, there is top-bottom approach with compulsory bind-ing for faculty to use it. In most autonomous colleges thereis a freedom for teachers to use it.

• With respect to the design of the learning environmentcreated in the modules, assignments and discussions amongparticipants created opportunities to express doubts anduncertainties. For many teachers it was a relief to observethat faculty members other than themselves share similarexperiences and questions.

Incremental processesFor an effective role of a teacher in a traditional educational set-up, one envisages a process that enables a teacher to stick to hisconceptions of the subject matter and to the way he believes thesubject matter should be taught. Following the basic guidelinesof digital learning, a teacher may be provided with open andflexible facilities to put his course on the web. In addition vari-ous facilities to share and negotiate possible tags with other teach-ers from same specialization and the technical team (may be fromoutside) be provided as an incentive. In digital learning, this isimportant to maintain the interest of a traditional teacher.

The incremental process includes three different processes:one for an individual teacher, a second for a group of teachersteaching similar topics such as teaching GIS to varied audiencesand a third the whole group of the college teachers or the facultyof or any other institute of higher education. A technical teamsupports all of these incremental processes. It is assumed that ateacher gradually improves his course by adding content, inter-action facilities by interaction with the learning material or in-teraction among students, etc., through reuse of his learningmaterials and maybe even learning materials of his colleagues.The group of teachers of similar courses incrementally, with thehelp of the technical group, establishes a dictionary of metadatatags that enable sharing and reuse of learning materials. The re-usable learning objects created by faculty members can thus be-come academic outputs just like printed books written by them.


As for the third process, the college gradually establishes normsand procedures for developing e-Learning within the college,which enables reusability, collaboration among teachers and somestandard interaction facilities for students with creation of Cen-tral Support System (CCS).

Creation of Central Support System has many advantages.The main advantages for the teachers, if they augment digitallearning in teaching geoinformatics through CCS are:• Teachers can concentrate on content without worrying about

style and formatting.• Teachers can reuse learning materials. These materials can be

their own before or during the processes creating an onlinecourse, and can also be learning materials of other teachers.

• Content modules can be used in other contexts as in relatedcourses for different skill levels.

• Automatic generation of Indexes, summaries and glossaries.• Evolvement of a community of practice.

Competencies requiredThe ultimate aim of augmenting ICT in traditional classroomsis to enable reliable teaching –learning environment. Such userequires faculty members to have two main competencies:• to be able to use the e-learning platform instrumentally, and• to be able to reflect systematically upon one’s own education-

al practice.The first competency requires that the faculty member be awareof the platform’s different functionalities. This implies that theuser can anticipate how the digital learning environment willappear to the learner and how it will change over time, depend-ing on how faculty can put limits on certain functionalities.

The second competency is more complicated mainly becausethe process encompasses several other competencies. Facultymembers need insight into the processes of teaching and learn-ing. These vary between institutions. The teacher must also beable to design different educational learning environment.

Changing faculty’s conceptionA fundamental gap between the initial and desired situations inthe teaching–learning environment emerges from faculty con-ceptions. To bridge this gap it is important to address the partic-ipant’s inherent teaching attitudes. Changing conceptionshowever is not an easy thing to do . There are four critical ele-ments in Ho’s model that can guide the conceptual change:• self awareness of one’s teaching conception• confrontation between one’s own conception and practices and

between one’s own conceptions and conception of the others.• exposure to better, alternative conceptions• commitment building and refreezing

Before faculty members will adopt a new conception, it has to beintelligible, plausible and fruitful. This would imply that there isan emotional element involved as well. The faculty’s interactionwith new technology illustrates that teachers only evolve fromone stage of concern to another only if the previous questions ordoubts regarding self or task are answered and visually demon-strated. Solutions to these concerns are necessary in order to

attain conceptual change.

Design principlesTo improve the functions and functionalities of the e-learningplatform, maybe indigenously developed or purchased from out-side like Blackboard and Web communication technology, de-sign principles must include two way solutions:• one to provoke conceptual change in the Faculty’s mind-set

during training• second to take into account the participant Faculty’s stages of

concern

In order to provoke conceptual change in the participants dur-ing implementation it is important to have planned training ses-sions, which may include:• digital learning environment in the form of model or e-learn-

ing platform offered to faculty users to distinguish differentcomponents of learning environment and their interdepend-ency. This will enable them to analyze their own teaching prac-tice with other participants and thus, will confront them withother conceptions and practices.

• Integrate the faculty’s teaching practice into the training bysharing it as a case study with related group. It will allow par-ticipants to confront their conceptions to their own actualpractice and hopefully creative actual practice will add to whatis learned during training session.

• Elaborate the global scenario in today’s education concept withemphasis on wide knowledge base accumulating daily andreadily available too crossing the borders. It offers the facultyan example of an alternative or even better teaching concep-tion than what they adhere to.

• Integrate first realizations of faculty’s learning to the trainingprogramme, thus enacting as stimulants to continue the useof e-learning platform.

In order to take into account the participants’ concern one canidentify next principles. The learning strategies should includethe teachers’ requirements to enable the success rate:• As teachers prefer to learn and receive support ‘just in time’,

the `just in time support’ becomes mandatory for the successin Higher education teaching faculty.

The sharing and dissemination ofgood practices is popular.

However, it is important toremember that what is a good

practice in one situation may notbe for another


• As teachers prefer to learn at their own speed and in their ownsurroundings, some flexible learning modules be prepared bythe experts for teaching faculty.

• In order to be able to respond ‘just in time’ when faculty mem-bers move from one stage of concern to another, individualsupport should be available at any time and on request.

• Also, some shared material and links be made available on theplatform to enable immediate support. This may be in theform of maps, imageries, graphs, tables, symbols, etc.

• As teachers are used to community feeling, creating and main-taining lively online communities becomes important.

ConclusionTeaching and learning is a process, not a problem. Therefore allsolutions in learning for higher education in Geoinformatics needto consider the teaching-learning process and not just prepara-tion of stand-alone reusable learning objects. A balanced andappropriate approach is required. One where there is no singleanswer, but a whole pack of them based on individual faculty’smind-set. Successful education of geo-informatics will involvemultiple forms of teaching and learning in order to engage, stim-ulate and extend the learner. Teaching-learning resources shouldbe created to support teaching and learning rather than replacethem. The e-learning resources need to be as generic and as reus-able as possible across the broad educational landscape and mustbe versatile enough to accomodate different levels and styles ofteaching and learning. Disability issues and technological con-straints must be considered. To achieve last aim, emergent meta-data and interoperability issues had to be addressed. Further,denying the right dose of faculty’s involvement with visual in-centives can slowdown the process. Certainly, for long-termintegration of ICT in enhancing GIS Instructional Approachespivotal role of teaching faculty cannot be ignored especially ifacademics enhancement is an agenda and not otherwise.

References

Parihar, S.M. (2001) Higher Education in Spatial Information

Industry: A Case for Promoting Mutual Interest, URL http://

www.gisdevelopment.net/education/papers/edpa0014pf.htm (Visited 7/5/

2003). pp 6-7

Butler, D.L. and M. Selbom., (2002), “Barriers to Adopting

Technology”, Educause Quarterly, 25, 2, 22-28.

Butler, J., (1997), Which is more Frustrating : achieving Institutional

Change or Herding Cats? Active Learning, 6, 1-3.

Hohnbaum, C., and S. Grasset (2002) Creating New Learning Model

to Avoid Skill Gaps and to Fulfill the Future Needs of the Knowledge

Society, the New Educational Benefits of ICT in Higher Education,

Rotterdam, 2-4 September 2002.

Tillema, H.H. (2000) “Belief Change towards self –directed learning in

student-teachers : Immersion in practice of reflection on action”, Teaching

and Teacher Education , 16 (5-6), 575-591.

Gilbert, S.W (2000) A New Vision Worth Working Toward –

Connected Education and Collaborative Change (WWW Document)

URL http://www.tiltgroup.org/gilbert / NewVwwt2000-2-14-00.htm

(Visited 2003, Feb,01)

Ho, A.S.P. (2000) A Conceptual Change Approach to Staff Development

: A model for programa design, The International Journal for Academic

Development, 5 (1) , 30-41.

Ibid.

Hangreaves, A.L. Earl & S. Moore (2001) Learning to Change : Teaching

Beyond Subjects and Standards, San Francisco : Jossey Bass.

Hammond, N., et.al (1992) Blocks to the Effective Use of IT in

Higher Education, Compuers and Education, 18,2, 155-162.

Bennett,R., (2001) “Lecturers’ Attitudes towards New Teaching Methods”,

The International Journal of Management Education, (LTSN Buisiness,

Management and Accountancy Centre) 2, 1,42-58.

Daniel, J.S. (1998) Mega Universities and Knowledge Media, London:

Kogan Page.

Laga, E.S. and J. Ellen (2001) Characterstics of Support Initiative to

Stimulate Professional Development on ICT in J. Price , et.al., eds.,

Proceedings of SITE 2001, Mar 5-10, 2001, 692-697, Norfolk, V.A.

:L Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education.

Bates, A.W.., (1997) Restructuring the University for Technological

Change, Paper presented to the Carnegie Foundation for the

Advancement of Teaching, 18-20 June, London. Available at: http://

bates.cstudies.ubc.ca/

Korthagen, F.A.J. & Kessels, J.P.A.M (1999) “Linking Theory and

Practice: Changing Pedagogy of Teacher Eduation”, Education

Researcher, 28 (4), 4-17.

Please submit articles to [email protected]. Editorial guidelines are available online at www.i4donline.net

Editorial calendar of i4dIssue Theme Submission of articles

March ICT and health 15 March, 2004

April Wireless communication 30 March, 2004

May ICT for the poor 30 April, 2004

June Local language content 15 May, 2004


When talking about information for de-velopment it may be useful to first outlinewhat we are talking about. The notion ‘in-formation’ has (at least) two aspects: thecontent of the information, that is, whatsort of information are we talking about,and the delivery mechanism, including the

target audience, the technology used and the sustainability ofthe operation. The notion ‘development’ has, of course, a rangeof aspects, including the development strategy, the policy andsocio-economic environment, the institutional environment andgovernance, and the delivery mechanism, including target sys-tems, target audience, and the actors and institutions involvedin the developmental process.

Strategic analysisIn order to produce a development strategy one needs to definethe system one is talking about, identify subsystems relevant tothe analysis, perform strength-weakness-opportunity-threat(SWOT) analyses for each of those subsystems (or ‘segments’)and environments, define the situation one would like to reachat some stage in the future, and then design a ‘road-map’ for implementing the strategy. Although it isnot the intention of this paper to elaborate exten-sively on the notion of ‘strategic analysis’, I will brieflydiscuss the stages of such an analysis, as it may berelevant to actors involved in the developmental proc-ess.

The first stage of a strategic analysis is to definewhat one is talking about. This may be an entire coun-try or region, in which case the analysis obviouslywould be very complex, or it may be a rural area some-where in South Asia, in which case the analysis maybe less complex, although not necessarily very muchso. In the case of a country or region, one wouldneed information on an aggregate or macro-economiclevel and one would probably address policy makersat the national level as the primary target audience.In the case of a rural area somewhere in South Asia,

PERSPECTIVE

Information fordevelopment

When talking about information for development it maybe useful to first outline what we are talking about

one would need information on natural resources and socio-eco-nomic parameters, such as income and income distribution, lan-guage, caste, class, and the role of gender, whereas the targetaudience may be district-level planning officers or extensionagents, or farmers organizations. It is important to note that oneshould not only define what comprises the system, but also whatis not part of it and how the system interacts with the environ-ment. In figure 1, the system is represented by a rectangle, andthe area outside the rectangle is the environment.

Once the field has been defined, one has to determine wherea particular system under consideration is located in the broadlydefined field. In the case of a country, one can make use of theWorld Bank Indicators, the UNDP Human Development Re-ports, reports of State Planning Commissions, or reports of oth-er organizations that work at the national level. In the case of aparticular rural area, one would need information on the statusof natural resources and agricultural systems, education andhealth, socio-economics, including physical and knowledge in-frastructure, access to input and output markets, availability ofrural credit, income distribution, class or caste, ethnic parame-ters, language, culture, the role of gender and many other pa-

Karl Harmsen

Director, CSSTE-AP

India

[email protected]


rameters. On the basis of a suitable segmentation, and an analy-sis by segment, one can determine where a particular subsystemis located in the broadly defined set of rural systems. In figure 2the subsystem under consideration is represented by an open

dot within the rele-vant set of systems.Of course, a dot ina rectangle is a rath-er poor representa-tion of the outcomeof a complex anal-ysis, but in analogywith the concept of‘phase space’ inphysics, N coordi-

nates would determine one point in a N-dimensional space. Forexample, 2 coordinates (x and y) determine one point in a 2-di-mensional space, and three coordinates (x, y and z) determine onepoint in a 3-dimensional space, and so on.

Once the position of a specific system in a set of systems hasbeen determined, one would have to define the developmentalobjectives: what does one want to achieve and when? In the case

of a country one ofsuch objectives maybe to reach ‘devel-oped country’ sta-tus by a certaintime (e.g., 2020).One measure forsuch a status is theper capita GrossNational Income(GNI per capita) of

a country, according to the methodology used by the World Bank.Although significant as a parameter, GNI per capita does notexplicitly measure literacy, access to health services and sanitaryfacilities, the role of gender, etc. One may wish to take the Hu-man Development Index, used by UNDP, as another parameter.Also, there may be country-specific national indicators one wouldwish to use. In the case of a particular rural area, one may definetargets of income and income distribution, agricultural productionand/or diversification, conservation of natural resources, literacy,health, infrastructure, or gender equality.

Essential elements in this process are the strategic segmenta-tion and the SWOT analysis by segment, that is, for each of thesegments one has to determine what the strengths and weak-nesses are of the segment under consideration, and, based onthis, what the opportunities and threats are that are posed by theenvironment. For example, in India one may feel that the ITsector is very strong, because of the availability of a highly qual-ified, skilled and low-cost labor force (strength) but that most ofthe activities in the IT sector are in the production and serviceareas, rather than in the design and development of software andsystems (weakness). The globalization and outsourcing of IT ac-tivities (including call centers, etc.) to achieve reduction in costby multinational corporations may be perceived as an opportu-

nity, but the increasing competition from other Asian countries,the state of the global economy and the ageing and overstretchedinfrastructure in the country may pose threats.

Similarly, a specific rural area may have good soils, ample waterresources and skilled labor (strengths), but may have limited ac-cess to rural credit facilities, and input and output markets (weak-nesses). There may be rural development schemes, which couldhelp the area to gain access to credit and markets (opportunity),but the area may be far away from urban centers and thus notable to compete with rural areas closer to such centers (threat).

The definition, by segment, of the developmental objectives,again defines one point in the N-dimensional space referred toearlier. This point is indicated in figure 3 by an open star.

The next stepwould be to devel-op a strategy toreach the specifiedgoals within a cer-tain timeframe.Such a strategyshould specify theroles of all actorsinvolved in theprocess, specify a

clear time path and contain quantifiable indicators (‘milestones’)against which the progress can be measured (figure 4). Unless wehave such a ‘roadmap’, we cannot implement our strategy. Un-fortunately, some development strategies do not come much fur-ther than colorful reports on the desks of the planning agencies.

An important step in the implementation of a developmentstrategy is the question of change. A country or a specific rural

area have an exist-ing infrastructureand are involved ina developmentalprocess, irrespectiveof the plans we puton the table. Thequestion thereforeis where we are go-ing if we keep do-ing what we aredoing. Do we reach

the objectives we (or the stakeholders involved in the process)have set within a given timeframe or not? That is, where do wego if we do not change course? This is indicated in figure 5 bythe solid arrow.

In this particular case we do not reach our target if we keepdoing what we are doing. This is not an unexpected outcome, asone would not normally go through an elaborate process of stra-tegic planning if one would be very pleased with the way thingsare going. Normally one embarks on a strategic planning if onefears that targets might not be reached, objectives are not clear,or if there is no explicit strategy at all. Hence, the implementa-tion of a development strategy will often require changes in theway people act and things are being done. As most people tend

Figure 1 What are we talking about?

Figure 2 Where are we? Segmentation. Analysis by

segment. Portfolio picture.

Figure 3 Where do we want to go? SWOT analysis

by segment. Portfolio picture.

Figure 4 How do we get there? Analysis by segment.

Implementation plan: actors, time path and

milestones. Portfolio picture.


to be reluctant with regard to change, the successful implemen-tation of a development strategy requires the involvement andcommitment of all actors and institutions involved in the proc-ess. This involvement should not start at the end of the process,

when the strategyhas already been de-fined, but at the be-ginning, when theposition of a sub-system or segmentin the wider field isexamined andwhen the develop-mental goals are

being defined. That is, the implementation of a strategy for de-velopment is (or should be) an iterative and participatory proc-ess. Often this is not the case and this may well be the singlemost important cause for the failure of many developmentprojects.

Hence, the important issue in the implementation of a devel-opment strategy is one of change, and in most cases actors orinstitutions involved would have to refocus their activities. Therefocusing of activities is an iterative process that continues until

the objectives arefully achieved (fig-ure 6). This is alsoan important point.In some develop-ment projects it ap-pears that once thecourse is set, thereis no regular moni-toring and feedbackon the achieve-

ments, and within a short time one may be off course. Hence,the implementation process requires the definition of ‘milestones’and the regular monitoring of progress made. Results should bediscussed regularly with all actors involved and corrective meas-ures should be taken if necessary. Another aspect is the fundingof a developmental process: in many cases funding dries up halfway the process, thus threatening the continuity of the effort.Development plans therefore need initial funding by governmentsor other donors and sound business plans to ensure the continu-ity of the operation.

In summary, the objective of a strategic analysis is to developand implement a sector-wise strategy for sustainable, integratedand equitable development of urban and rural areas, involvingthe private sector, the government, the academia and NGO’s.Specific aims could be sustained economic growth, poverty alle-viation, achieving social emancipation of women and backwardsectors of the society, conservation of natural resources and theenvironment, and others.

The issue of ‘information for development’ should be an in-tegral part of a strategic analysis. Without access to (or the pro-vision of ) relevant and adequate information, a developmentproject is unlikely to succeed. Hence, information is an essential

component of any developmental process and should be an inte-gral part of the planning of such processes. Information shouldbe needs driven, accessible to all social strata, in all relevant lan-guages, and in an economically sustainable fashion.

Strategic segmentation: An exampleStrategic segmentation is an important part of a strategic analy-sis. One has to differentiate between systems and identify theiressential components. If the object of analysis is a country or astate (province), four systems or segments may be distinguished:Urban Systems, Urban Fringe/Slum Systems, High-Input Agri-cultural Systems, and Low-Input Agricultural Systems (see fig-ure 7). Of course, one could think of other forms of segmentationand the four systems referred to are still defined at a fairly highlevel of abstraction, but they represent recognizable entities inthe geographical space and have some relevance with regard tothe provision of information for development.

Urban systems refer to the cities where most of the privatesector driven economic development takes place. Urban systemsare connected with each other and with the outside world (ar-row in figure 7). They interact strongly with high-input agricul-tural systems, as they depend on them for their food supply. Atthe same time, they provide inputs for these systems, including

knowledge and information.Urban systems have highly

developed informationinfrastructures: writtenmedia, telephones, ra-dio, TV, satellitecommunications andInternet connectivity.

Of course, ‘urban sys-tems’ could be further

differentiated, for exam-ple, in cities with more and

cities with less than, say, one million people. The informationneeds of these systems would include: e-governance, job oppor-tunities, availability of products, services and markets, includinghousing, health and education, global markets, travel, immigra-tion and visa procedures, global educational and job opportuni-ties, and access to Internet for information, chatting, music,fashion, movies, etc.

Urban fringe or slum systems are the areas surrounding citieswhere the urban poor assemble and where most of the rural poorthat migrate to the cities end up. Generally, infrastructure, andaccess to health, education, housing and sanitation are poor. In-teraction with the prosperous urban systems is largely limited tothe provision of cheap, unskilled labor. Interaction with the moreprosperous high-input agricultural systems is also quite limited,as the purchasing power of the peri-urban poor is limited. Manyof the people in the urban fringe systems depend on governmentschemes and subsidies for their livelihood. The information needsof these systems would include: e-governance, housing, sanita-tion, drinking water, health, education and other communityservices, subsidies, projects and schemes of the Government andNGO’s, and job opportunities.

Figure 6 Do we want that? No? Then change course!

Figure 5 Where do we go if we do not change course?

4

3

21

Figure 7


High-input agricultural systems are generally producing forrural or urban markets. They need access to credit, transporta-tion, and input and output markets. Farms are relatively largeand are often located on the better soils, have access to (irriga-tion) water, use improved crop varieties, fertilizers and biocides,as well as fossil fuels for their agricultural machinery. In addi-tion, they often use local labor during planting and harvest. Theyinteract strongly with urban systems, but their interaction withurban fringe systems and low-input agricultural systems is large-ly limited to the use of contractual or daily labor and the provi-sion of food at subsidized prices. The information needs of thesesystems would include: e-governance, agriculture and extensionservices, weather forecasts, input and output markets, transpor-tation, credit facilities, subsidies, prices, off-farm job opportuni-ties, education and health (tele-)services, and Internetconnectivity.

Low-input agricultural systems still make up the largest partof the rural space in most low-income countries in Asia. Theyare basically subsistence systems and often located on the moremarginal lands in relatively remote areas, have no access to irri-gation water, other than supplementary irrigation for vegetablecrops, and use little, if any, inputs in agriculture, other than lan-draces, organic manures and their own labor. Infrastructure isgenerally poor and access to health, education, information andother services is limited. Interaction with other systems is limit-ed to the provision of labor and some products, such as fruits,forest products, herbs, and products of home or cottage indus-tries, such as baskets, handlooms, and others. There is a need foroff-farm labor opportunities and there would be scope for estab-lishing small-scale industries, provided infrastructure, accessibil-ity and connectivity can be improved. The information needs ofthese systems would include: e-governance, agriculture, crops,varieties, control of pests and diseases, agro-forestry, rural devel-opment schemes, e.g., soil and water conservation, or in situbiodiversity conservation, off-farm job opportunities, education,health- and sanitation-services and access to safe drinking water,and disaster management: where to go, what to do.

The information needs are only given as examples, and arenot intended to be comprehensive nor necessarily listed in orderof priority. They are meant to illustrate that the information needsdiffer between systems: poor people do not need information onthe NY Stock Exchange or car loans, whereas the high-incomesections of the society would not be (or less) interested in ruraldevelopment schemes or community services.

Strategic segmentation: Trends in time andspaceIn order to identify threats and opportunities one should firsttry to assess the trends in the development of the system underconsideration. Two examples of such trends are given below: avail-able land resources and urbanization.

Per capita available arable land is low in South (SA) and EastAsia (EA), in the range of 0.11-0.16 hectares. This is much low-er than the available land resources in the high-income countries(H) and also well below the world average (W). The implicationis that there is an enormous pressure on the land, in order to feed

an increasing (urban) population. Increases in food productionhave to come from increases in productivity per unit arable landrather than from expansion of the arable land area. The problemof low availability of arable land is compounded by increasingland degradation, through salinization and/or alkalinization ofirrigated land, soil pollution, soil erosion and nutrient mining,and is further compounded by the loss of biodiversity, disrupt-ing natural ecosystems, and the exhaustion of groundwater re-sources and deterioration of their quality.

The trends in the availability of land resources are also ratherdisturbing. In India, arable land resources decreased from 0.35hectare per capita in 1960 to 0.16 hectare per capita in 2000. Ifthis trend continues, these numbers would be 0.108 hectare percapita in 2020 and 0.073 hectare per capita in 2040. Of course,

extrapolation of an historic trend is questionable, and popula-tion growth, the major factor in the declining per capita arableland resources may well decrease, thus slowing down the expect-ed decline. On the other hand, loss of arable land due to urbanexpansion, infra-structural needs and other factors may well in-crease. Therefore, the conclusion seems to be justified that percapita arable land resources will decline significantly over thenext decades, while the demand for food will be increasing. Thiswill put increasing pressure on the available land resources andIndia can only keep feeding its growing population if the pro-ductivity of the existing arable land is increased significantly. What


applies to India, applies to many other countries in the region,notably China, where arable land resources are already at a lowof about 0.11 hectare per capita.

Another trend is the increasing urbanization. At present, mostof the population in Asia is still living in the rural areas andurbanization is below the world average and far below the levelof urbanization in the high-income countries. However, urban-ization in Asia has increased significantly over the past two dec-ades and this trend may be expected to continue in the future,driven by rural poverty and the growth of urban economies. Thistrend will necessitate the creation of job opportunities in theurban centers and put further pressure on the land resources avail-able for agricultural production.

Socio-Economic and policy environmentThe Asian region is highly complex and Asian countries cov-er a wide range of developmental stages, ranging from verypoor to highly developed, and with widely different degreesof access to natural and human resources. Asia as a whole hasa tremendous potential and is likely to be the economic pow-erhouse of the future. However, in the present situation thereare still serious constraints to socio-economic development,which have to be overcome in order to realize the potential ofthe region. These constraints range from poverty and igno-rance, and unresolved conflicts that result in high militaryexpenditures in the region, to deterioration of limited naturalresources and regularly occurring natural disasters. A few ofthese constraints will be briefly discussed in the following sec-tions. However one should be clear that this listing is by nomeans complete nor does it even necessarily cover the mostimportant issues.

GNI per capita: PovertyOne issue that is no doubt important is the prevailing poverty inthe region. In a number of countries, tremendous economicprogress has been made over the past decades. However, in manycountries, poverty, illiteracy and ignorance still persist. SouthAsia alone has more absolute poor (people living on less than theequivalent of 1 US$ a day) than all of Africa.

When the GNI per capita of the high-income countries isplotted on the same scale as that of South and East Asia, South

Asia is not visible at all, and East Asia appears as a tiny little bar.Both regions are also below the world average. Poverty remainsthe main problem of the region and poverty alleviation shouldprobably be the major objective of government policies for dec-ades to come. Even though economic growth in many countriesin Asia is impressive, in the range of 5-10% per annum, the overalleffect of this on poverty may still be fairly limited. One reason

for this is that much of the economic growth is concentrated inthe larger urban areas and has little effect on the rural poor, andanother reason is the logic that 10 times a small number is still asmall number. For example, if India would double its GNI percapita in 10 years, this would result in a GNI per capita of theorder of 900 US$ per capita. No doubt, this would be a com-mendable achievement, and much needed by the country, but900 US$ is still a fairly low GNI per capita, also in view of thefact that other countries are also likely to increase their GNI percapita and their economic competitiveness during the same pe-riod. Hence, India would still be at the lower end of the eco-nomic spectrum, even though a doubling of the GNI per capitamay be expected to have a significant positive effect on the Indi-an society.

The problem of low GNI per capita in the region is furthercompounded by unequal income distributions in many Asiancountries. Although this phenomenon, of course, is not limitedto Asia, it appears that some of the poorer Asian countries havemore unequal distributions than, for example, high-income coun-


tries in Europe. This implies that the gap between rich and poortends to be higher, in relative terms, in some of the poorer Asiancountries than in the higher-income countries in the region (e.g.,Japan has a notably ‘flatter’ income distribution). This impliesthat the equitable distribution of economic growth (income)among the different strata of the population is a major issue.

It may be noted here that it is difficult to see how such differ-ences in GNI per capita in the world (and within countries) couldbe sustainable in the long run. It would seem that high-incomecountries would have to urgently address the issue of povertyand unequal distribution of wealth between countries. Similarly,developing countries would have to address the issue of unequalincome distributions. In my view it is unlikely that the persist-ence of such gross inequities in the world could, in the long run,generate a stable and peaceful world (free of ‘terrorism’).

Current revenue and government spendingOther issues relevant to development strategies are the revenuecollection by national governments, and the way governmentbudgets are spent. Current revenues are low (less than half ) inAsia as compared to the high-income countries and the worldaverage.

In other words, in the region with the highest number of ab-solute poor in the world, where poverty alleviation is (or shouldbe) the highest priority, government budgets are less than halfthe world average, in terms of % of Gross Domestic Product(GDP). The high payments for interest on domestic and inter-national loans, and the high military expenses, due to unresolvedethnic conflicts or disputes between countries, compound thisproblem.

In summary, low-income countries in Asia not only face pov-erty and unequal income distributions, but also low current rev-enues and high expenditures for servicing of debts and militaryexpenditures. As a result, government budgets for alleviatingpoverty are relatively low and probably much lower than requiredto solve the problem of poverty within a reasonable timeframe.Hence, alleviating poverty in the world is a global issue, and notjust a national concern

Purchasing power parityIt is a well-known fact that 1 US$ has a higher purchasing powerin low-income countries than in the USA. To account for this,

the World Bank uses the concept of Purchasing Power Parity(PPP) (e.g., The World Bank, 2002, 2003a). For example, in acountry like India, the purchasing power of 1 US$ is about 5.2times higher than in the USA. However, the PPP factor tends todecline quite steeply with increasing GNI per capita. This is il-lustrated in the figure below, where the PPP factors of Asiancountries are plotted against GNI per capita. The decrease in thePPP factor implies that the ‘advantage’ of a high PPP factor, thatis, a relatively high purchasing power of the US$ in a low-in-come country, is quickly dissipated if the per capita income in-creases, reflecting an increased cost of living as a corollary ofeconomic growth. The decrease in PPP does not only affect realeconomic growth in terms of purchasing power, it also posesproblems to sections of the society that are lagging in economicgrowth, such as low-input agricultural systems.

The notion of PPP implies that a country like India, with aGNI per capita of 450 US$ in 2000, would have a much higherper capita income in terms of purchasing power: 2340 PPP$ percapita. However, what applies to India also applies to other coun-tries. Hence, whereas India is no. 159/60 in the US$ ranking,between Zimbabwe and Guinea, it is no. 153 in the PPP$ rank-ing, still in between Zimbabwe (which has moved up a few plac-es) and Guinea. Of course, these data relate to the year 2000 anddo not, among others, reflect the recent economic problems be-ing faced by Zimbabwe, but they illustrate a trend.


Economic growthThere appears to be some mysticism regarding the issue of PPPwhen calculating economic growth. In some calculations, theGNI in PPP dollars is taken as the basis for calculating econom-ic growth. This logic would imply, however, that if a countryhad reached the same level of income as the USA, that the PPPfactor would still be, say, 5 or more. Unfortunately, this is un-likely to be the case. When the GNI per capita increases, thePPP factor decreases. For example, in a country like Japan, thePPP factor is actually smaller than 1, reflecting the fact that 1US$ has a lower purchasing power in Japan than in the USA.

If we take India as an example, and assume for simplicity thatthe rest of the world would be at zero GNI per capita growthduring the rest of this century, whereas India’s GNI per capitawould grow at 5% per year, then it would take some 62 years forIndia to reach high-income or developed country status, i.e., a

GNI per capita of 9,266 US$ in 1999 (The World Bank, 2002).The GNI per capita in PPP$ would then be 20,152 $ per capita.If India’s GNI per capita would grow at 10% per year under thesame conditions, then it would take about 32 years to reach thislevel. Unfortunately, even an assumption of a sustained growthin GNI per capita of 5% per year in real terms already seems tobe fairly optimistic, as the population keeps growing (currentlyat slightly less than 2% per year in India) and the economies ofthe high-income countries also keep growing. The figure belowillustrates that the PPP factor decreases when the GNI per capitaincreases: in relative terms the difference between US$ and PPP$is largest in the lower range, in absolute terms the difference islarger in the middle range.

Hence, it may be concluded that it is likely to take severaldecades before a country like India would have reached ‘devel-

oped-country’ status, defined in economic terms (i.e., high-in-come status). However, in terms of social and other parametersrelevant to the well-being of the population, much progress couldbe made if the development strategy is sharply focused on thoseparameters.

Institutions and governanceIt has been argued that developing countries need good govern-ance and appropriate institutions in order to realize balancedand sustained socio-economic development. ‘Good governance’refers to a situation of democracy, appropriate institutions, so-cial justice, transparent procedures, respect for human rights,the absence of corruption, and related factors.

The issue of corruption is yet another aspect that needs atten-tion. As there are few objective measures of ‘good governance’,the ‘Corruption Perceptions Index’ (CPI) may be taken as a proxyfor good governance. The CPI appears to be one of the few in-ternational measures for ‘good governance’ currently available.Clearly, this indicator is far from being perfect, as it is based on‘perceptions’, but it shows consistent trends over the years andallows for a comparison across countries. If the data are plottedagainst the logarithm of GNI per capita for the Asian countriesin the survey (in 2002), the following picture emerges.

The relation between CPI and GNI per capita suggeststhat real economic progress would not be possible withoutreforming the governance system and rooting out corruption.Although there may be no direct causal link between CPI andGNI per capita, the fact that all of the low-income countrieshave low CPI scores and that none of the high-income coun-tries have low CPI scores seems to point at a significant rela-tionship.

In this connection it may be noted that a global survey of30,487 people in 44 countries (Transparency International,2003) showed that people tend to be most concerned aboutcorruption in political parties (29.7%), followed by the judi-ciary (13.7%) and the police (11.5%). Another outcome wasthat 42.1% of the people believe that corruption will get worse,27.1% that it will remain the same, and 20% that it will de-crease (10.8% had no opinion). For India, these numbers were74.3% (worse), 13.6% (same), 7.9% (less) and 4.1% (no opin-


ion). These perceptions are not very encouraging and under-line that issues of corruption and good governance need ur-gent attention.

Information and technologyAs most of the larger urban centers in Asia seem to be well-connected, the scope for information technology might wellbe in the smaller urban centers and the high-input agricul-tural systems, where people would be able to pay forinformation services. In the urban fringe and the low-inputagricultural systems there, it is expected that there would beless scope for information technology, because of the prevail-ing poverty and other priorities, such as social equity andemancipation, education, health, housing, sanitation, drink-ing water, physical infrastructure and job opportunities. Also,the need here might be more for written media, telephone,radio or TV, rather than for Internet connectivity. Neverthe-less, information services such as e-governance (e.g., cadastralmaps linked to land records) could be important if they arepart of development schemes supported by long-term gov-ernment funding. In general, it will be a challenging task todevelop sustainable delivery mechanisms for information inremote rural areas, because of the prevailing poverty, illitera-cy, lack of infrastructure (e.g., electricity), high cost ofmaintenance of information technology, the need to provideinformation in local languages, problems of class, caste andgender, etc.

Also one may be required to overcome resistance to changein order to reach the poorest sections of the society, e.g., theruling sections of the rural society may not be very keen onempowering the poorer sections and provide them with in-formation and education aimed at improving their socio-eco-nomic conditions. In addition, providing information wouldonly be useful if such an effort would be linked to sustainedfunding and an appropriate institutional environment.

Finally it should be noted that any technology is only atool, which in itself does not have the capacity to solve anyproblem. IT will do nothing, unless people make intelligentuse of the technology as an integrated part of the implemen-tation of a strategy aimed at equitable, integrated and sus-tainable development, supported by appropriate institutions.Or, to quote Mark Malloch Brown: “Indeed, the belief thatthere is a technological silver bullet that can solve illiteracy,ill health or economic failure reflects scant understanding ofreal poverty”.

ConclusionsFor the successful implementation of IT one needs a clear andtransparent development strategy, implemented in a governance,institutional and policy environment conducive to change andsocio-economic development. Issues that require special consid-

eration include poverty alleviation and equitable income distri-bution, increasing government revenues and decreasing defensespending, and the establishment of good governance and appro-priate institutions. Poverty alleviation will require strong gov-ernment involvement and commitment, as well as collaborationand coordination between development agencies. Technology isnot the limiting factor in the developmental process. Lack ofdevelopment strategies, commitment of government agencies, anon-conducive policy environment, poor governance, lack of ap-propriate institutions or human factors are more likely to be lim-iting. IT can play an important role in the developmental process.To quote James D. Wolfensohn from the World Bank, 2002:“Eradicating poverty is the greatest challenge of our age, and thegreatest weapon we have to fight poverty is knowledge”.

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IMF and World Bank Reforms. Other India Press, Goa.

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and East Asia. GIS Development 7(2): 19-24.

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Ltd, New Delhi.

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Complete Documents. First Five Year Plan (1961-56) to Tenth Five Year

Plan (2002-2007). Academic Foundation, New Delhi.

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Bank, Washington.

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The World Bank, 2003b. World Development Report 2003. Sustainable De-

velopment in a Dynamic World. Transforming Institutions, Growth, and

Quality of Life. The World Bank, Washington.

The World Bank, 2003c. World Development Report 2004. Making Services

Work for Poor People. The World Bank, Washington.

Transparency International, 1995-2003. Corruption Perceptions Index.

Transparency International, 2003. Global Corruption Barometer Survey.

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Work for Human Development. UNDP, New York.

UNDP, 2002. Human Development Report 2002. Deepening Democracy

in a Fragmented World. UNDP, New York.

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By Donald Norris, Jon Mason andPaul Lefrere

2003 Society for College andUniversity Planning(www.scup.org), Michigan

164 pages

“Transforming e-Knowledge” is an in-formative analysis of the evolving stand-ards and cross-sectoral synergies ine-learning, digital content publishing andorganisational knowledge management,along with associated business models,capacity-building issues and leadershipimperatives.

The rich online companion(www.transformingeknowledge.info) in-cludes a searchable glossary, bibliogra-phy, case studies, and other resources.The book is sponsored by anEducation.au, SCT, WebCT, KnowledgeMedia and Mobilearn.

Donald Norris is the president of US-based Strategic Initiatives Inc., and alsoauthor of “Transforming Higher Educa-tion” and “E-business in Education.” JonMason is the assistant director of IMSAustralia. Paul Lefrere is director of net-working and partnerships at the Centre forEducational Technology InteroperabilityStandards at the University of Wales andBritish Open University.

The material is divided into seven chap-ters, covering issues like knowledge futures,evolution of e-learning modules and stand-ards, Web services infrastructure, profes-sional communities of practice, andrecommendations for policymakers.

New technology environments — par-ticularly the Internet, Intranet and wire-less media — are transforming the veryway knowledge is experienced and trans-formed, triggering off a cascading cycle ofreinvention of education (e.g. just-in-timelearning) and organisational collaboration(e.g. tradecraft knowledge mobilisation viahandheld devices).

As content and processes becomes un-bundled and new audiences of consum-ers, co-creators and validators emerge, newbusiness models and opportunities openup for content aggregators, professionalassociations, educational institutes andknowledge professionals.

Within enterprises, the original conceptof knowledge management has evolved tobroader notions of knowledge ecology,knowledge experiences, knowledge habi-tats and knowledge marketplaces. “Overtime, the strategic importance of fusinge-learning and knowledge managementwill become clear to policy makers andpractitioners alike,” the authors predict.

New information and communicationtechnologies have created much more thandigitised content — they are spawning newbusiness models and strategies for knowl-edge interchange in ways never before pos-sible, transforming value chains into “valuewebs,” and creating learning objects whichcan be unbundled from traditional envi-ronments. Visualisation tools, knowledgeblogs (“klogs”), P2P collaboration tools,and semantic searches are interesting de-velopments on this front.

Today’s vertical channels for e-contentinclude book publishers, learning manage-ment systems (e.g. WebCT, Blackboard,Click2Learn, Outstart), universities, tradeassociations and professional societies.These will be affected by the activities ofstandards and consortia like the IMS Glo-bal Learning Consortium, Dublin Core,ebXML and ODRL.

Pioneering examples of e-knowledge inaction include pervasive computing ap-proaches in healthcare for elder patients.Professional societies like the AmericanAssociation of Pharmaceutical Scientistshave a knowledge portal, which offers dig-itised journal content, email news alerts,and online communities of practice forlifelong learning. University alliances suchas e-Universities Worldwide are develop-ing a common technical platform fore-learning, course certification and brand-ing.

Industry-wide sharing is also emerging,as with the German manufacturing indus-try’s communities of practice partnershipwith the Fraunhofer Institute. Notablee-knowledge examples on the e-govern-ment front include Michigan.gov’s citizenportal and inter-departmental communi-ties, UK’s e-Envoy knowledge communi-ties and Australia’s National Office of theInformation Economy.

The University of Wisconsin offersportal-centric graduate learning, custom-ised forms of learning and assessment(“e-pedagogy”), personal intelligent agents,lifelong access to a body of knowledge,greater involvement in professional socie-ties, and fusion of internship experienceswith formal learning. The Monterrey TechSystem (ITESM) offers connected learn-ing services to ten different countries inLatin America. Blending learning centresleverage the clicks-and-bricks model for

Book review

Transforming e-Knowledge:

A revolution in the sharing of

knowledge


bringing educational services to de-veloping countries in Asia, withlocal ICT-enabled centres acting aslocal learning gateways.

Nippon Roche employees considerthemselves to be knowledge and learningactivists, have their compensation tied tosharing of insights, and sell non-proprie-tary knowledge to medical schools.

The Knowledge Content Exchange isa meta-marketplace of e-knowledge for allkinds of experts and learners. The IEEEComputer Society offers e-knowledgemarketplaces, blended learning, perpetu-al knowledge refreshment and certificationprograms.

“Most persons in knowledge-rich en-terprises will discover significant roles asboth providers and consumers of e-knowl-edge,” say the authors.

Organisations active in standards andmeta-data for e-content, learner objectsand workflow specification include MER-LOT, Open Knowledge Initiative, Learn-ing Federation, Learning ObjectsNetwork, Global Knowledge EconomicsCouncil, HR-XML Consortium, IMSGlobal Learning Consortium, OpenKnowledge Initiative, Workflow Manage-ment Coalition and the Web servicesmovement. The authors predict that hor-izontal e-knowledge marketplaces (e.g.SMETE, XanEdu) will achieve high mar-ket penetration by the end of the decade.

“Internet culture drives the e-knowl-edge industry,” according to the authors;this includes academic, entrepreneurial,communitarian and big-business cultures.“Communities of practice will becomereorganised as the predominant organisa-tional form in the e-Knowledge Economy.They will be the epicentre of autonomiclearning and the development of individ-ual and organisational capabilities,” theauthors predict.

Enterprise KM will be driven by “ex-perience gateways” which can bypassknowledge silos and legacy IT systems.Communities of practice will seamlesslylink to business processes. “The goal is toreinvent the conversational space of theenterprise,” the authors advise.

Enterprises will have to reinvent theirknowledge ecosystems, including infrastruc-ture and cultures. The challenge will be tomigrate from improvement to incremental

Madanmohan Rao

IT consultant

[email protected]

The book is also peppered with lots of interesting and useful quotes. Con-sider;

To attain knowledge, add things every day. To attain wisdom, removethings every day — Lao Tzu

The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave them-selves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it —Marc Weiser

It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but theones most responsive to change — Charles Darwin

Knowledge is experience. All else is information — Albert Einstein

It may make more sense to talk of a company’s distributed capabilities instead ofcore capabilities — Mohanbir Sawhney and Deval Parikh

Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I will remember. Involve me and I willunderstand — Confucius

Knowledge is not a thing that can be managed like physical assets, but a humanand organisational capacity produced by collaborative relationships that can benurtured and inspired — George Por

Education in the 21st century will be about who can DO what, not who KNOWSwhat — Roger Schank

Vision is the art of seeing things invisible — Jonathan Swift

The future is like heaven. Everybody exalts it, but nobody wants to go there now— James Baldwin

Any technology gradually creates a totally new human environment — MarshallMcLuhan

Changes in academic culture and university programs will be driven by the de-mand side (students, alums, employers, marketplace realities) and not from in-stitutional supply-siders (professors, administrators) — Martin Irvine

Companies spent the 20th century creating and managing efficiencies.They must spend the 21st century creating and managing experiences— C.K. Prahalad and V. Ramaswamy

“

”innovation to radical innovation.Challenges will arise in overcoming the

digital divide (e.g. between digital nativesand digital immigrants), moving beyonddigitising and Webifying, and creating newvocabularies and standards (technical, le-gal, financial).

“Competency and capacity develop-ment is a top enterprise priority. Majorhuman resource challenges arise in creat-ing enterprises that are e-knowledgesavvy,” the authors observe.

Towards the end, the authors’ recom-mend a mix of “revolutionary vision andexpeditionary action,” a blend of “struc-tured and autonomic learning,” a migra-tion towards “fused” (as opposed to

distinct from work) learning, and a shiftfrom “tinkering” towards active transfor-mation. The use of storytelling, bench-marking of e-knowledge practices,nurturing of knowledge flows, and infor-mation/collaboration models driven byportals will become important in the en-terprise context.


Rendezvous

28 - 30 JANUARY 2004, NEW DELHI

Map India 2004

The recently completed Map India 2004was the largest and the 7th Annual Inter-national Conference and Exhibition inIndia, in the field of geographic informa-tion technologies like GIS, GPS, AerialPhotography and Remote Sensing. Re-sponding to the needs of the industry, theresearch community and every individu-al’s right to geospatial information, MapIndia 2004 provided a platform for theconvergence, sharing and use of technol-ogies and experiences. The conferenceproved that people from India and the re-gion have come to realize the need of ge-ospatial technologies in their daily life. Thethree-day event, held on 28th – 30th Janu-ary 2004 at Taj Palace Hotel, Delhi, wasjointly organized by the Centre for Spa-tial Database Management and Solutions(CSDMS), GIS Development and Surveyof India, Government of India.

ThemeIn comprehension of the emerging truththat democracy in contemporary timesneed to acknowledge the concept of In-formation Democracy, Map India 2004had a vital and bold theme of ‘GeospatialDemocracy’.

Over 1,200 delegates attended the 3-day conference and were witness to im-portant deliberations and discourses on thetheme and many other seminars and tech-

nical sessions, each de-signed and conducted bydomain specialists and ex-perts. While most of themwere from India, severaloverseas delegates also par-ticipated, representing 46countries of the world.

Map India 2004 had alarge Canadian delegationwith government and in-dustry representation. It re-instated the emergingIndo-Canadian strong ties

in the domain of geospatial sciences andservices. The conference witnessed theaugust presence of His Excellency Ms Lu-cie Edwards the High Commissioner ofCanada and Mr Gar Knutson, the hon-ourable Canadian Minister of State forNew and Emerging Markets. As a tokensupport, the Canadian High Commissionhosted a warm reception for the delegates.

The inaugural session was presided overby Dr. M. P. Narayanan, President of Cen-tre for Spatial Database Management andSolutions (CSDMS), Dr Prithvish Nag,Surveyor General of India, Kiran Karnik,President, National Association of Soft-ware Companies (NASSCOM) and RaviGupta, Director, CSDMS. The surpriseof the session was a small film that openedthe occasion. The film depicted the ‘Map-ping the Neighbourhood’ project of theDepartment of Science and Technology(DST), Government of India, where chil-dren are mapping and addressing local is-sues and developing on their own databasefor decision-making.

Dr. Narayanan’s welcome addresstouched upon the significance of the con-ference. He emphasized ‘geospatial democ-racy’ and interpreted it to be not onlyabout the right to information but alsoabout the freedom of expression and dis-semination. This was followed by a note-worthy inaugural address by Kiran Karnik.

The NASSCOM president admitted thatgeospatial sciences in NASSCOM’s realmfall under ‘IT enabled services’ which maynot be the right connotation to the disci-pline. He said that about 100 billion USDexport is attributed to this industry. Hepointed out that government has been slowin many respects in the geospatial domain.Dr Nag followed with a keynote addressafter the lamp lighting ceremony. He dis-cussed the initiatives of the Survey of In-dia and the government in easing accessto data for general public. The occasionended with a vote of thanks by Ravi Gupta.

Plenary sessionsGeospatial DemocracyKiran Karnik chaired this plenary that hadthree important talks by Amitabha Pande,Joint Secretary, DST, Ms Preetha Pulusa-ni, President, Intergraph Mapping and Ge-ospatial Solutions and Xavier Lopez,Director, Spatial Technologies, Oracle Inc.

The speech by Mr. Pande went into thedepths of the words ‘democracy’ and ‘peo-ple’. It took up ‘state’ as an apparatus ofdominance that subverts or dominatesmany aspects of democracy. He delved intothe history of the development of an over-developed state in India. He went intovarious domains of putting democracy andthe state against each other and pointingtowards a situation where ‘market’ mightbe an emerging solution – ‘market’ thatrepresents the people, the users and thecommercial interests. The focus of hisspeech was his interpretation of the con-ference theme - “To strengthen the peopleby giving shape and life to facts about phys-ical space on this earth”. He ended withpointers that depict the status of NationalSpatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) in In-dia and the Map Policy on the anvil.

Preetha Pulusani talked with a widerrealm taking up cases from across the world.Cases of spatial data infrastructures (SDIs)being developed at various stages and levels.She mentioned cases of South Africa, UK,Philippines, India, Spain and New Zealand.

Xavier Lopez spoke on an alternativenote. He raised the question – what is ge-ospatial democracy not about? He elabo-rated that it is not about releasing secretdata and not about holding spatial dataassets hostage to cost recovery policies.Rather it is about the use of spatial data to


advance a nation’s academic, scientific, en-vironmental and economic policies. Hetook up to emerging market trends thatneed to be looked upon before understand-ing geospatial democracy.

He referred to US policies on informa-tion and also explained the case of Ord-nance Survey, UK. Mr. Karnik summedup the session interestingly. He put acrossthe ideas of Mr. Pande against Mr. Lopez,where the former hinted at enabling themarket to realise geospatial democracywhile the later talked of the government’scrucial role needed.

Changing Roles of NationalMapping OrganisationsThis plenary had an important backdropthat addressed organizations in their coreto relate to geospatial democracy. Fourimportant presentations were made byVanessa Lawrence, Director General andChief Executive, Ordnance Survey, UK;Dr. Prithvish Nag, KK Singh, Chairmanand Managing Director, Rolta India Ltd.;and Bob O’Neil, Acting Director Gener-al, Canada Center for Remote Sensing,Natural Resources, Canada. The sessionwas chaired by Madhukar Gupta, Addi-tional Secretary, Ministry of Mines, Gov-ernment of India.

The key pointers that emerged werethat geographic information producingorganizations in this region of the worldhave concentrated on data generation,storage and maintenance, often neglect-ing distribution aspects. Security concernsdefinitely work over data dissemination is-sues, but instances where organizationscurtail data dissemination to avoid dilu-tion of value of these datasets are not al-ien. There is a need to re-think the roles,mandates and mechanisms of functioningof every National Mapping Organisation.

The presentation by the Surveyor Gen-eral was well received and elaborated onvarious aspects of the premier mapping or-ganization’s present quest for change onevery front.

People FirstThis plenary was chaired by AmitabhaPande. It had two important presenta-tions by Dr RR Navalgund, Director ofthe National Remote Sensing Agency,India and Dr. David J. Maguire, Direc-

tor of Products, ESRI. Dr. Navalgundspoke on the evolution, growth and sta-tus of Indian Remote Sensing initiativesand programme that has altered overtime to be now more people-centric frombeing technology-centric. Dr Maguiretouched the basics and pointed out onaspects that people cannot be put firstwithout initiatives and dedicated efforts.He spoke on coordination, Spatial DataInfrastructures and aspects to providingpeople with the right tools that the sci-ence has to offer.

Keynote Session: TechnologyTrendsThe session was chaired by P Venkatram,Advisor, Jlets Technologies. The sessionwas well attended with stimulating dis-courses. The three speakers spoke ofemerging technologies. Brad Skelton, VicePresident, Leica Geosystems discussedphotogrammetry, aerial photography,LIDAR and Remote Sensing. He wentinto the basics of each first, putting oneagainst the other and also briefly touch-ing upon their evolution. He summed upwith the statements that imageries and anysurvey generates data. The amount of datagenerated has increased over the years. Theneed today is of centralised data warehous-es and systems that can handle massiveamount of data. John Allen, Director, BAESystems talked on technologies involvedwith photogrammetry and Remote Sens-ing. He emphasized the difference betweensatellite imagery and these subjects as tech-nologies. The last presentation by Mr.Dhirendra Khurana from HP India em-phasized on aspects of precision, exactness,durability and cost effective ways of pro-duction – all subject domains of HP.

Sessions and meetsEighteen technical sessions took place in sixhalls during the event. The sessions provid-ed speakers with the opportunity to presentpapers on varied fields of technical and so-cial applications. The event also coveredtwo seminars on Infrastructure Developmentand Educational and Curriculum Develop-ment. There were two user meets – one ofwhich was amongst the users of the Nation-al Resource Development and ManagementSystem, Government of India and anotheramongst the alumni of ITC Netherlands.

ExhibitionThe 750 sq m exhibition, was a huge suc-cess with 36 national and international or-ganizations representing the government,the academia and the commercial privatesectors displaying their services and prod-ucts. The exhibition was coupled withtechnology shows, sponsored dinners,events and networking time periods. Theexhibition attracted over 3000 visitors.

ValedictoryDr M P Narayanan, chaired the valedic-tory session. Other panellists includedProf. Y K Alagh, Former Union Ministerand Member of Parliament, Governmentof India, Dr. Milan Konecny, President,International Cartographic Association(ICA) and Mr Ravi Gupta.

The sessions raised crucial pointers forevery stakeholder present. Professor Alaghspoke on the economic significance of spa-tial and non-spatial data for the nation interms of its generation, maintenance anduse. He touched on the positive aspectsand existing strengths in the country inthis domain. He also spoke of the realitiesthat come forth as hindrances in the open-ing up and widening of information ac-cess. Dr Milan added an internationalperspective, drawing examples from hiscountry Czech Republic and ICA. He em-phasized expertise sharing, cooperation indata generation and defining the path torealization of geospatial democracy

The session ended with a brief and in-formative presentation by Ravi Gupta,about the basic statistics of Map India2004 in comparison to the earlier years.He also presided over the award givingceremony before inviting Dr Narayananto close the conference. Awards were pre-sented to best student and technical pa-pers presented during the sessions, inaddition to a best poster and exhibits.

Map India 2004 was able to provide aplatform to share the needs, the supply,the latest developments and the concernsin the field of Geo-informatics It initiateddiscussions on ‘geographic information’ asa policy issue as well as a subject and inthe process left significant pointers for itto evolve as mandated guidelines.

Ayon Tarafdar, Assistant Editor

GIS Development, [email protected]


Canada15-17 March, 2004International Conference onEducational MultimediaQuébec Citywww.icem2004.org

06-10 June,2004Sharing Indigenous WisdomWisconsinwww.sharingindigenouswisdom.org/default.asp

Egypt03-08 May, 2004ITU Telecom Africa 2004Cairowww.itu.int/AFRICA2004/index.html

Germany18-24 March,2004CeBITHannoverwww.cebit.de/

Ghana04-06 May,2004AITEC GhanaAccrawww.aitecafrica.com/events/events.html

Greece19-21 May, 2004World Congress on IT 2004Athenswww.worldcongress2004.org

India19-23 February, 2004Fourth Annual Baramati Initaitive onICT and DevelopmentBaramati, Maharastrawww.digitalpartners.org

24-26 February, 2004microfinance India 2008New Delhiwww.careindia.org:8080/index.jsp#

24-27 February, 2004International Conference on DigitalLibraries – Knowledge creation,preservation, access and managementNew Delhiwww.teriin.org/events/icdl/

26-27 February, 2004Workshop on ICT for Poverty Alleviationin [email protected]

11-12 March 20043rd Regional Meeting of One World SouthAsia PartnersNew Delhiwww.southasia.oneworld.net

16-17 March 2004Reaching the Unreached with ICTsA UNESCO and Datamation FoundationNational WorkshopNew Delhiwww.datamationfoundation.org

24-26 March, 2004EuroIndia2004New Delhiwww.euroindia2004.org/

Kenya16-18 March, 2004Kenya National ICT ConventionNairobiwww.aitecafrica.com/events/events.html

New Zealand04-08 July, 20043rd PAN Commonwealth Forum onOpen LearningDunedinwww.col.org/pcf3/

Thailand01 March, 2004Sixth Regional Interagency WorkingGroup on ICTBangkokwww.unescap.org/upcoming.asp

05 June - 05 August, 2004Education ICT 2004Bangkokwww.reedtradex.com/edict

01-03 July, 2004The 13th Annual AMIC conference, onMedia, ICTs and DevelopmentBangkokwww.amic.org.sg/conf2004.html

09-12 August, 2004Joint Conference: 4th InternationalConference of Asian Federation ofInformation Technology in AgricultureBangkokwww.afitaandwcca2004.net/

09-12 August, 2004World Congress on Computers inAgriculture and Natural ResourcesBangkokwww.afitaandwcca2004.net/

United Kingdom28-29 January,2004Learning Technologies 2004Olympia 2,Londonwww.learningtechnologies.co.uk/conference/

conference.cfm

05-07-April, 2004Networked Learning 2004Englandwww.shef.ac.uk/nlc2004/

United States29 February - 03 March, 2004Innovations 2004Californiawww.league.org/i2004/

23-26 May, 20042004 Information ResourcesManagement Association InternationalConferenceNew Orleans, Louisianawww.irma-international.org

06-10 June,2004Sharing Indigenous Wisdom: AnInternational Dialogue on SustainableDevelopmentWisconsinwww.sharingindigenouswisdom.org/default.asp

21-25 July,2004International Conference on Educationand Information Systems: Technologiesand Applications EISTA 2004Orlando, Florida, USAwww.confinf.org/eista04

What’s on

Get your event listed here.

www.i4donline.net/events

ET CETRA

Games people playCommunicating basic ICT skills to children requires considerable innovation andeffort on the part of the teacher. Here are a few examples of exercises that havebeen followed in several schools of UK. Contributed by several dedicatedteachers and educators, these exercises are both fun as well as easily replicableas non-normative and emulative teaching methods.

Source: http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/ict/contents.htm

i4d | February 200442 i4d | February 200442

Name of Activity Age DescriptionRange

Making Web Pages 5 - 11 Clear guidance and advice for those wishingto start making web sites. Particularly usefulfor anyone thinking about setting up a newschool web site.

Genre Net 5 - 11 Explains how to teach children aboutdifferent genre, while using computers (andparticularly the Internet). Contains loads ofideas and guidance relating to WordProcessing, Using Email, Searching theInternet and Making Web Pages.

Morris the Martian 5 - 11 Fun activity which lets children use aroamer or other similar control equipment

KS1 Colouring Activity 5 - 7 A simple ICT activity to use with youngerchildren at the start of the school year.Contributed by Pennie Coren.

Calligrams 7 - 11 A very useful worksheet giving instructionsand inspiration in relation to makingcalligrams using WordArt.

Tessellations 7 - 11 Use MS Publisher to develop children’sknowledge of tessellation of differentshapes. Also includes an excellentinteractive worksheet in Publisher format.

Make Your Own Postcards 7 - 11 Let children use computers to make lots ofgreat personalised postcards (real andelectronic).

Introducing a full-featured yeteasy to use GIS software thatintegrates image processing,

digitization and analysis

• Satellite image

processing

• Digital map data creation

• Data analysis using maps

• Statistical analysis

Jlets Technologies Pvt Ltd

G17 Sector 39Noida, UP 201303

India

Email [email protected] www.jtmaps.com

Phone +91 120 257 0715/716, 3092308Fax +91 120 257 0715

EuroIndia2004 Co-operation Forum onInformation & Communication TechnologiesNew Delhi, 24th – 26th March, 2004

EuroIndia2004, the first Euro-Indian ICT cooperation Forum organised by theEuopean Commission with the support of the Confederation of Indian Industry(CII) and the participation of the Government of India (Ministry of InformationTechnology & Communications and the Department of Science & Technology),Nasscom and MAIT, this unique three-day international event will bring youcloser to the European ICT player as never before.

Indian RTD and Academia will encounter European Enterprises, Research &Academia to discuss co-operation and develop joint RTD projects for Research& Technology Development that are now eligible for institutional funding by theEuropean Union.

India is presently a key partner for Europe and this event can contribute effec-tively to your organisation’s business strategy with a diverse programme ofnumerous opportunities for participants featuring:

• Exhibition presenting Products and Technologies from Europe,showcasing organisations, accessible to all delegates and visitors

• Conference and Technical Workshops to create strategic alliances• One to one meetings with prospective partners• Presentation opportunities for individual organisations

Participation is FREE of charge. But places are limited so register today atwww.euroindia2004.org, and explore all the benefits that this Forum brings to yourdoorstep.

We look forward to seeing you in Delhi, 24th – 26th March 2004.

www.euroindia2004.org

feb-04

Documents

technology education

higher education

system of education

education system

role of teachers ict

internet based learning

france karl harmsen

behalf of centre