education & ICT

30.09.2005 Nicholas Negroponte, chairman and founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Labs, has been outlining designs for a sub-$100 PC.

30.09.2005 A Village Knowledge Centre by name, Vivekanand Gramin Gyan Kendra was opened at the Dhandhar village near Pilani on Sunday 25th September 2005.

29.09.2005 The University Grants Commission (UGC) likely to release a draft of the Right to Information policy guideline for universities to follow as part of the implementation of the recently enacted Right to Information Act, 2005

29.09.2005 A seminar entitled “Towards the Incorporation of Vocational Technical Education in the Future Secondary School Curriculum” in Brunei Darussalam has highlighted the “vital role” of incorporating vocational and technological education in the school curriculum.

28.09.2005 From 24 October to 2 December 2005 the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) will hold an internet discussion forum on open course content. The forum will explore the concept of open course content, its context, current initiatives, and issues and implications of its use.

27.09.2005 A programme to boost information technology in schools will be launched by President Kibaki in Isiolo,Nairobi.

27.09.2005 The UNESCO “ICT in Education Toolkit Training Workshop”, held between 5 and 10 September 2005 in Chiang Mai, Thailand, successfully introduced a newly-developed policy-makers’ toolkit, which is designed to assist in improving decision-making with regard to the integration of ICT in education.

27.09.2005 At he Second International Conference on Innovations 2005 (IIT 05) in IT, Shaikh Nayhan,Minister of Education and Chancellor of the UAE University said the theme of this year’s conference will focus on the advance of Information Technology and that the region will invest heavily in this endeavour.

26.09.2005 Young people and childen in the U.K. are being encouraged to take on the role of internet trainer to help their grandparents get online.

26.09.2005 A new project managed by AfriAfya and supported by Exchange is using information and communication technologies (ICTs) to communicate about health and development.This health communication project engages the knowledge of marginalised people in Kenya. The main emphasis is on analysing what information can be exchanged to improve the communities' situations.

26.09.2005 Muslim institutions should offer education through distance learning as it is the most economical way to reach out to large segments of poor students and women, said Syed Iqbal Hasnain, Vice-Chancellor of Calicut University.

23.09.2005 On September 8, 2005, the EU/UNDP funded project “Enhancement of Living Standards in Karakalpakstan” organized a roundtable on micro financing and community participation.

23.09.2005 The drudging routine of learning is set to change for school children with Etisalat all set to launch a unique educational web site that promises to convert learning into a fun activity in the UAE.

23.09.2005 Microsoft Corporation India Private Limited today announced a strategy aimed at supporting the Ministry of Communications and IT, Government of India, in its efforts to address the issue of the digital divide in India.

22.09.2005 Elementary education in the country is set to go hi-tech. A pilot
project approved by the HRD Ministry today will link nearly 1,000 schools in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh through EDUSAT.

22.09.2005 A five-week workshop for African creators of animated cartoons was recently held in Durban, South Africa, as part of UNESCO’s Africa Animated! initiative for the production of children’s cartoons.

21.09.2005 Statistics show the global e-learning market in 2004 was worth more than US$18 billion. Madar Research Group, for instance, claims e-learning projects are expected to exceed a compound average growth rate (CAGR) of 32% by 2008, and the total spending on e-learning in UAE is forecast to increase from US$14 billion to US$56 billion by 2008.
While there may be some concerns about Middle East's readiness for an electronic approach to education, especially in terms of infrastructure, the concept is nonetheless being well received in many GCC nations and many organisations are willing to try the new method of learning.

20.09.2005 The new online admission policy of the State Education Department for primary level in Delhi Government schools has brought down the dropout rate from 15 per cent to 5 per cent this year.

19.09.2005 Som Datt Foundation, a registered charitable trust working for the under-privileged, has launched a mobile computer education bus with all necessary information technology facilities.

15.09.2005 Applications can now be submitted for online courses on “Creative Thinking / Writing and Design”, the first part of a “Masters Module on Art, Design and Technology in the Arab States”, offered by UNESCO with several partners in the Arab Region.