India Develops a Computer to be priced $35
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010
A low cost access-cum-computing device was unveiled by India’s Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal on July 22. The device is expected to cost Indian Rupee 1500 (around US $35) when it becomes available in 2011, and is meant primarily for students and teachers.
The device has a touch-screen and video-conferencing facility, and uses a memory card instead of hard disk to store data. Reports also mention that it will come with an unzip tool, multimedia content and a searchable PDF reader. Development work is now in progress to make the device work on solar power.
The computer has been developed using mostly parts available off-the-shelf though some new technology involved is being considered for patenting. The ultimate aim is to reduce the price to $10 and research will be continued at Indian Institutes of Technology and other technical institutions to achieve the price, and also quality, goals according to the minister.
The issues of distribution and connectivity are being worked out to reach 200 million children across the country. Nearly 8,500 colleges already connected under the National Mission on Education through Information and Technology (NMEICT) program. High quality e-content is being developed at these colleges and this content will become available to children through the low cost computing device.
For fuller details, read the news at The Hindu.
Tags: education delivery, information technology, low cost computing device
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Workshop on Cognitive Tutor Development
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
Cognitive Tutoring reportedly aligns student learning process to “best practices” of learning. It is particularly suitable for education delivery over the Web where the trainer and student will not have face-to-face interactions. A number of cognitive tutor authoring tools are available on the Web.
The workshop on “Hands-on introduction to creating intelligent tutoring systems without programming using the Cognitive Tutor Authoring Tools (CTAT)” is to be conducted during the 9th International Conference of the Learning Sciences,
at the Palmer House Hilton Hotel, Chicago and is scheduled for
June 29.
The conference will provide background on cognitive tutors and how Cognitive Tutor Authoring Tools (CTAT) work. Participants will get an overview of the process of CTAT development and extensive hands-on use of both basic and advanced CTAT features. These will be supplemented with illustrations and examples that provide specific insights into actual applications.
The course will prove of value to learning science researchers who will learn to create cognitive tutors even if they have no programming skill. The researchers will then be able to decide whether the tool will be of use to them.
Participants are expected to bring laptops with pre-installed CTAT software, which can be downloaded free from Carnegie Mellon.
Read more about the workshop at ICLS 2010 announcement.
Tags: cognitive science, cognitive tutor, education delivery, learning research
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Penn State University to Anchor a 1,700-mile Broadband Network
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
Under The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, funding was awarded to Keystone Initiative for Network-Based Education and Research. The $99 million federal stimulus grant is intended to create a 39-county broadhband network.
The funding will enable building a high-speed, fiber optic, 1,700 mile-long cable network, covering areas that have poor broadband access now.
Spokesman for Penn State, one of the anchor insitutions in the Keystone Inititative, said that the completed network will allow all their campuses to be connected at very high speeds. The network will support research and distance education at the universities, and enable connections with remote clinics for health care institutions.
The spokesman added that by working together with other institutions, it was possible to come up with a much stronger proposal for funding.
The network has been compared to a broadband highway with “exit ramps” where electronics systems will be based to serve as access points to the network. The proposal is to provide 13 core nodes and 45 to 50 local ones. It could reach more than 2 million households and 200,000 businesses.
Read the story about Funding for New Broadband Network.
Tags: broadband network, education delivery, health care delviery, information technology
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