Shared screen, separate mouse for classroom learning
By the next academic year, students of the citys municipal schools may have access to education on a novel, shared screen-separate mouse computer technology. Dr Amol Goje, the director of Vidya Pratishthans Institute of Information Technology (VIIT), Batramati and a man known for taking computer education to rural India is now revolutionising IT education in the country by partnering with Microsoft. He is trying to develop content for a multipoint platform, which will enable 20-30 students to simultaneously work on a single screen. The technology will enable them to access a particular area on the screen with their mice.
The platform, called Windows Multipoint Software Developer Kit (SDK), was launched by Microsoft (Unlimited Potential) in Mumbai on Wednesday, with an aim to increase IT access among municipal schools and rural children. In India, Gojes VIIT, Baramati, is developing an educational software for the platform on various subjects for students belonging to classes IV -VII.
Goje said VIIT was also in talks with several state governments and Mumbais civic authority to introduce the system from the next academic year. If they agree, schools will simply have to invest on a larger screen and several connected mice, he said. VIIT has already developed special contents – simplifying subjects like chemistry, maths, history, botany, zoology in Marathi and English, on this platform.
For the past nine years, Goje has been on a single-minded mission to enable rural India with computer. He has introduced wireless local loop (WLL)/Wi-Max at Baramati, to deliver broadband connection to the villages of Maharashtra. He also established mobile computer vans to offer computer education to more than 6,300 students in 40 villages in rural Maharashtra, designed computer labs in villages and established a community FM radio service in eight districts of the state.
The new SDK platform can be used to develop the contents of classroom syllabus, turning them into fun-filled application and easy -to-understand games. Goje said, The research has proved that showing of pictures and live videos elicit better understanding in students than just text book reading. Our idea is to develop several such applications which can be used in classes by teachers for interactive and community studies. The system will also allow every student to access the computer.
Microsofts corporate vice president (Unlimited Potential) Amit Mital said, the platform, which is only Windows-compatible and requires an operating system of XP and above, will be available for free to users and is downloadable from the Microsoft website. The idea is to improve economic circumstances in India. So, in case somebody wants to use the platform, he/she should buy only the mouse and the computer.