On Wednesday 13 April 2011 02:25:16 Narendra Sisodiya wrote: > *HERE ARE MY COMMENTS - I AM UNABLE TO READ FULL 30 PAGE DOCUMENT > BUT HERE ARE THE MAIN COMMENTS* > > > Section 4.2 – Stage 1 Basic – Page 6 says > > > “*Connecting to the internet, using e-mail and web surfing, using > search engines, keeping the* > > *computer updated and virus free, operating and managing content > from external devices* > > *(sound recorders, digital cameras, scanners etc.); connect, > disconnect, operate and* > > *troubleshoot digital devices;*” > > The Term *Virus Free* is do not fit well, because for getting > virus one has to Install Windows Operating System. Problem of Virus > is almost zero in Linux based Operating System. BOSS is a Linux > based Operating System developed by CDAC. SchoolOS is supported by > NCERT. > > > > *PURCHASE OF SOFTWARE * > > ICT Policy should dictate about what kind of software should be > purchased > > > In table-furniture, the reproduction cost is not zero and every > department of government has to buy Table furniture again and > again. Software is not physical object like Table-Furniture. > Software can be copied again and again. Reproduction cost of a > software is zero. Software can be shared provided we have > Copyrighter's permission to do so. > > Almost all kind of software are available in FOSS. If Government > find that some software is not suitable or not available as FOSS > then Govt of India can develop or purchase a software and obtains > license to use and distribute it.
then Govt of India must develop such software using a FOSS licence like the GPL3. > This will save a huge amount of > money for repurchasing a piece of software again and again for same > vendor. This will save hughe amounts of money in unneccessarily releicensing the same software. Moreover this software can be shared and used by other states and departments. > > *D Implementation Strategies* > > > * * > > > Section 4.2.1 says - *“4.2.1 A programme of ICT literacy will be > implemented across all secondary schools in the* > > *States, both government and private within the XI plan period.”* > > > Every year Hardware Cost decrease and Technologies Changes are > very rapid. So Implementation should be done in one shot. We > suggest for partial implementation in every 5 year. ICT policy must > dictate for a feedback mechanism for better implementation keeping > track on rapid change of technology > > > Section 4.2.2 says - *“4.2.2 States will develop an ICT literacy > curriculum and appropriate course materials mapped to the stages > mentioned above for uniformity. These will be in the form of > self-instructional materials, enabling students and teachers to > process them on their own. The ICT literacy programme will > endeavour to provide a broad set of generic skills and* > > *conceptual knowledge and not focus on mastering the use of > specific software applications.”* > > > ICT literacy curriculum and appropriate course materials should be > developed at central node. This is a common task which can be done > at central place. > > > *5. ICT Infrastructure * > > * 5.1 Hardware Driver Specification must be available* > > > > ICT policy should dictate to use hardware for which Driver > Specifications is available. For example, Vendor A create a > hardware and it give driver B to run that hardware on a particular > Operating System platform example Windows XP. This will produce a > kind of Vendor Lock in of a Hardware. If After some year, you want > to install another OS then hardware may or may not work because > Vendor A has created driver B for only particular OS. Vendor A must > create driver for all Operating System also Vendor A must publish > driver specifications so that anyother vendor may provide a newer > version of driver. This is needed because Vendor A may disappear > from market from some day we will be having his “CLOSE” > vendor-locked hardware. > > > * Production of Hardware by Government* > > > Since India is very big, ICT implementation need to be done at > such a large scale. Let me give example for “Computer Mouse”. For > example, If Indian Government want to buy 100 Crore Computer mouse > and give to every citizen of India then I think it is much better > to produce “computer mouse” rather then by buying it from foreign > company. This is just a small example but scenario is same. > > > * Do NOT waste Money on SMART Whieboard* > > > Now a days you can find a good number of foreign companies selling > SMART Whiteboard. SMART Whiteboard is just a Multi-touch Projector. > Companies are charging 1+ lakh ruppe for such device. SMART > whiteboard is a fancy item and it do not add any value to > classroom. Even if you want to purchase SMART Whiteboard then you > can create SMART Whiteboard in Rupee 500 - > > Here is the Website - http://www.webcam-whiteboard.com/ One may note that this could be a first hands on study project for the school students, boosting their confidence and creativity. One may also note that numerous multitouch software in the FOSS domain is available. > > “*5.1.3 Each school will be equipped with at least one computer > laboratory with at least 10* > > *networked computers to begin with. Each laboratory will have a > maximum of 20 computers,* > > *accommodating 40 students at a time. A student computer ratio of > minimum 10: 1 is to be* > > *achieved progressively in all schools.”* > > > ICT Policy *MUST NOT *dictate the structure of Computer Lab. A > school may decide to go with Thin Client Computing Rather then > purchasing 200 Computers for maintaining 10 computer labs. > > > > “*5.1.8 ICT enabled education can be significantly enhanced and > the range of classroom* > > *practices expanded with the introduction of digital devices like > still and video cameras,* > > *music and audio devices, digital microscopes and telescopes, > digital probes for investigation* > > *of various physical parameters. These will also form a part of the > infrastructure. States will* > > *make appropriate choices and promote the use of such devices in > classrooms.”* > > > Digital Cameras Or any Other ICT device *MUST NOT* encode files > and PATENT Encumbered format. Department of EGOV has already > published set of OpenStandards to follow. > http://egovstandards.gov.in/policy/policy-on-open-standards-for-e-g >overnance/policy_doc_and_manual_used_in_printing__recd_on_Nov_12.pdf >/view > > > > *5.3 SOFTWARE* > > > “*5.3.1 A wide variety of software applications and tools, going > well beyond an office suite is* > > *required to meet the demands of a broad based ICT literacy and ICT > enabled teaching* > > *learning programme. Graphics and animation, desktop publishing, > web designing,* > > *databases, and programming tools have the potential of increasing > the range of skills and* > > *conceptual knowledge of the students and teachers. A judicious mix > of software will be* > > *introduced in schools to keep Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) to the > minimum.”* > > > > > Also Policy do not dictate about what kind of Software will be > considered. > > Right now there are 2 kind of software present on this world. > > > > 1. > > Proprietary Software {No Copyrights given to user, it may be a > free of cost or highly cost software too} > 2. > > *FOSS {Free (as in freedom) and Open Source Software}* – > {CopyRights are given to user so that he can use software for any > purpose, learn it, modify it and share it with other users (student > here) } > > > India is a country where the first thing you will learn is - > “*Knowledge will increase with Sharing*”. FOSS solutions fit best > to our education ideologies. So ICT policy must *ENFORCE* the use > of FOSS (Free and Open Source Software). > > > *Total Cost of Ownership should be criteria for National Policy. > Tomorrow some Vendor , Lets says Microsoft offer free of cost > training, software, and books to India in order to give the minimum > possible TCO, then will Indian Education System will handover > itself to Microsoft ?* > > > Rather then looking for Total cost of ownership, select what > should be best for our education. If something is available then > choose it otherwise we can create our own software which will be > best fit in our pedagogy. *If we use FOSS or create our software > then we will get ownership of Infinite time period.* > > > > > * 6.1 Digital Content and Resources* > > > Best example of Digital Content Collaboration is Wikipedia. It > maintains version history. I would like to suggest for having a > common wiki (mediawiki software) for whole India (Bharat). All > States will be able to collaborate. Communication for Collaboration > can be done by MailMan Software which is basically a mailing list > solution. > > Wikibooks is a website which help in creating Open and Free book > via online Collaboratation. Many universities are creating books on > Wikibooks.org website. So It is highly recommand to use existing > collaboration platform. > > > *6.2 Development of Content* > > > *HTML5 is best *suitable technology for Ebooks, Animations, > Lessons, exercises, interactive games, models and simulations, > videos,Presentation slides, plain text materials, graphics. HTML5 > is newer W3C web-standard which provide better web applications. > > You can visit to the fist website of the world which is still > viewable in any browser. Most of the Browser vendor are now > creating HTML5 Support in their Browser. So If we create any > application or any digital content in HTML5 then > > - > > The life of digital content become infinite. You can always view > a web application, if it is made using W3C recommended (or draft) > technologies. - > > Web Application become platform independent > - > > It is easy to host and share web-appications. > > > So it is highly recommended to use *HTML5 for creating Any Digital > Resource * > > > > W3C has SVG (since 2000 ) and CANVAS to create graphics in > webpage. SVG is vector graphics and CANVAS is pixel graphics. > Presentation Slides Or Audio Video Interaction can be made using > HTML5 and Sister Technologies. SVG has full capabilities of > animations. > > > > “*6.2.4 Teachers and students should be encouraged to develop > e-content collaboratively.”* > > > ICT policy should also tell for developing software by > collaboration and prefer the software which are developed using > collaboration. (ie FOSS) > > > > > * 7. Capacity Building* > > > * *Student learn very fast then teacher. Creating Training videos > and distributing directly to student/teacher will help a lot. -- Rgds JTD _______________________________________________ network mailing list [email protected] http://lists.fosscom.in/listinfo.cgi/network-fosscom.in
