Rakesh Mishra, a 13-year-old student in Bherunda village in Nagaur district Rajasthan is just learning how a heart dissection of a toad

is to be done. But his hands are not messy nor does he feel disgusted watching the procedure. He is, in fact, watching the whole process on the screen using a digital classroom in his school. Mishra may be disappointed that he belongs to a lesser known village, but is delighted that he can avail of ICT enabled solutions in his village classroom similar to his urban peers. Digital classroom service providers including Educomp Solutions, Pearson Education Service, Tata Interactive Systems (TIS) and Birla Shloka Edutech have percolated into the non-metro regions of India to provide such services. "We have customers across Tier 1, Tier 2 and smaller towns also. Schools whether big or small have realised the power of getting multimedia based content to support the teaching in the class room," said Meena Ganesh, MD and CEO, Pearson Education Service. Ganesh also added that since they offered solutions to schools on a build operate transfer mode, the affordability is very high. The schools acquire the solution over a 3 or 5-year contract period through a monthly payment basis. This typically is in the range of Rs 100 to 150 per student per month.

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The total market size for digital classrooms was an estimated 3000 crores in 2011 and is expected to grow at over 25% this year, according to Abhinav Dhar, Director K 12, Educomp Solutions. He informed that there is still potential for digitizing over 800,000 classrooms among the smaller towns. This is not just restricted to private schools, but Smartclass pilots are also underway in some government schools. Educomp's Smartclass, the digital classroom solution has been adopted by over 10,000 schools across cities/small towns and rural areas spread across 560 districts in the country. Besides metros, large cities and towns, Smartclass is present in schools even in little known places like Bherunda (Rajasthan), Barot (Himachal Pradesh) and Samba (Jammu & Kashmir) among others. Today over 70% of Educomp Smartclass adoptions are taking place in schools in Tier 2/3/4 cities and deep rural countryside, said Dhar. The child centric concept in classrooms is what has prompted schools to adopt this technology believed N Srikrishna, Managing Director, Birla Shloka Edutech. The company which has offered ICT solutions to 542 tribal schools across Maharashtra and are present in 200 private schools in the state, now are looking to expand in the nearby regions of Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Pondicherry. The company gets 40% revenue from technology solutions. Birla Shloka Edutech, going a step further, is planning to build 100 plus schools across India enabled with digital classrooms. Srikrishna further added that to make the solutions affordable, the company has two different school solutions. One is the 'Open-Mind' schools for the affordable category and other is the Shloka schools for the affluent category. Both the schools would have hi-tech classroom solutions. The potential of the market is so high, that even big corporate players like TIS are aiming for deeper

penetration. Rajesh Shethia, Head-Sales & Marketing-Schools Division at TIS explained that they are looking to extend the solutions to each and every district in the coming years. They have even started getting 50% revenue from Tier 3 and Tier 4 regions. "It is a logical step. Availability of decent teachers in smaller towns has always been an issue. Therefore, it makes sense for teachers and parents to go for these solutions instead of shifting the child to a larger town for education," he explained. The content offered is customised to the needs of the particular school, to be able to meet their particular requirements. On an average, the cost per classroom is Rs 5,000 per month and if the whole school is to be digitised, it may cost about Rs 1 crore. Players see smaller towns going for overall digitisation, rather than single classroom digitisation. "This is, inspite of the fact that the costs for the solutions, in small towns and big cities being the same," added Shethia. Challenges are also present in these markets, said industry players. Internet connectivity, to enable cloud solutions has been a major challenge, according to Shethia of TIS. Getting the infrastructure down to these areas is another challenge cited by the players. But, the acceptance overshadows the challenge. "Three years back, schools in smaller towns were averse to the whole concept. Now atleast they are open to it," opined Shethia. The service providers, however, believe that this is not the end. "There are close to 15 lakhs government schools and 1 lakh private schools in the country. Out of this, only 7-10% of the private schools have tapped the potential of multimedia classroom teaching whereas in government schools, it has barely made any inroads," Dhar concluded.

http://smartinvestor.business-standard.com/market/story-117550-storydetDigital_classrooms_move_deeper_into_India.htm 25th june,2012.

Digital classrooms: The future of young India

Kalpana Pathak / Mumbai Feb 21, 2011, 00:47 IST
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google.com/+/learnmore/ Keeping pace with students who are becoming more tech-savvy, schools in India are taking to the concept of digital classrooms a new education technology that assists teachers with course-ware and maintenance support in digital format. When Mrinalini Kaura, the principal of Venkateshwar International School (VIS) in Dwarka, New Delhi, heard of this concept, she did not think twice before digitising 45 classrooms. Barely a few months into revamping the classrooms, Kaura was so impressed with the results that she plans to implement it in the remaining 23 classes of her school.

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- ICT will transform country's - Lenovo tablet launch in next Kaura says she sees digital classrooms as the way ahead for all schools because it makes both teaching and learning simple: Better assessment system, real-time paper evaluation and abstract concepts made easy to understand.
VIS is not the only success story with Educomp Solutions smartclass in its classrooms. Several schools in Ludhiana including Kundan Vidya Mandir, Satpaul School and BCM School too, have caught up with the trend and are experimenting with technology to impart knowledge to up to class VIII students. Educomp, till a few years ago, was the only player in the digital classroom segment, but today the market has over half-a-dozen players like Everonn Education, EdServe Softsystem, Core Projects and Technologies, NIIT and Manipal K-12 Education who have made learning easy through IT-enabled systems. Theres no denying the fact that schools and educational institutions are waking up to the opportunity of IT-based solutions and service providers are reckoning its potential. Chennai-based Everonn Education lists its growth plans for its iSchool. This segment will see huge growth in the days to come. At present, we are in 1,370 schools. We plan to take that number to 5,000 schools over the next three years, says P Kishore, founder and managing director of Everonn Education. Educomp has 5,534 schools including Delhi Public School and Bal Bharti in New Delhi and 3.9 million students using its Smartclass solution.

The digital classroom services include: setting up of infrastructure and technology in schools; providing digitised course-ware and maintenance support to teachers; educating teachers and the management on technology usage and conduct special interactive sessions, sometimes through VSAT. The market has evolved with the Central governments move to fund Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan for ICT@Schools programme with a Rs 15 lakh per district per year budget. Under the governments Technology in Education Initiative, out of a total 10,00,000 schools in the country, the programme will cover 6,42,600 schools at the primary, upper primary and secondary levels. Every school will have a server, five PCs, printer and internet connectivity. State governments will outsource installation andmaintenance of hardware, content and training to a private party. The information and communication technology (ICT) business is tender-based. It functions under the build/own/operate/transfer model. Many service providers are using the powerful channel of 3D animation videos to explain concepts like formation of block-mountains or volcanic formation. And, schools are using the available technology to explain and simplify concepts in subjects like Chemistry, Physics, History, Biology and Science. The key is to make learning as interactive as possible, says Kaura. According to analysts, visually improved presentation through use of graphics increases students interests in classrooms. With more and more companies realising the potential, analysts expect the market to grow ten times in the next five years. ICT inflows to private-sector players is pegged at around Rs 4,500 crore by March 2012. The service charges vary for each player. For instance, while Educomp charges between Rs 155 and Rs 160 per student per month (for an average class comprising 40 students), Everonn charges Rs 15,000 for one classroom. Everonn, however, provides a 50 per cent subsidy if it caters to the needs of more than five classrooms in a school. Industry experts believe that by March 2013 around 200,000 public schools will be able to offer computer training to their students. While Educomp did not divulge how much it spends on digitising an existing classroom, Everonn said renovating each classroom costs between Rs 60,000 and Rs 100,000.

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/digital-classroomsfutureyoung-india/425889/ 25th june 2012-06-25

BANGALORE: Children sitting with books open in front of them while the teacher scribbles on the board - that's a typical image of any classroom. For generations, schools have meant books - a lot of books. But that seems set to change. Loaded schoolbags and crammed library shelves are set to make way for laptopsand tablets. Some Bangalore schools are going digital, dispensing with textbooks and printed material. Among these is Indus International School. "All our content is online and digital. So when a student enters the classroom, instead of looking at the blackboard, she opens her teacher's webpage and goes to the day's lesson. She can also access the student activity guide, open a document on her desktop and start working from there," says Sarojini Rao, principal of Indus International School. Students are provided notebooks with all the course material uploaded. They can browse the web for additional information. "The traditional way of learning through textbooks no longer exists in our school. Children open laptops, not textbooks. We want to do away with textbooks. For this, the mindset of parents and teachers needs to change. We have provided textbooks to students for occasional reference, but they do not carry these to the classroom. We are slowly reaching that point. It's more like a homoeopathic dose of medicines rather than a surgical dose," says Rao. Information in books gets outdated, whereas online information is constantly updated, say school authorities. "While studying from a textbook, you cannot play videos or look at relevant pictures and reference material simultaneously. Going digital will enable kids to use such facilities," says Mansoor Ali Khan, member, board of management, Delhi Public School (DPS). All branches of DPS will completely do away with textbooks from the next academic year. "The process is on. We will distribute tablets with applications that will be used to upload the course material. Many publishers are working with us to digitize the content. Digitized textbooks will be available for

children from classes I to class VI," says Khan. The tablets will be available on installments. The school is replacing 5 lakh volumes in its library with an e-library. In Ebenezer International School, it's only the library books that are being digitized. "We are digitizing our library first. We may do away with textbooks in the future. Doing away with all printed stuff right now will be too early," says Indrani Sudarshan, the school's director, academics. Way forward The move is definitely a way forward. As far people's reaction to the shift is concerned, voices were raised even when we moved from palm leaves to textbooks. No doubt, that it will be more engaging and absorbing. But care should be taken to give more importance to the content, and not to the carrier (laptop or tablet). Moreover, now that we are back to LCD and LED screens, what worries me is the harmful effect it can have on the eyes of youngsters. S Sadagopan | Director, IIIT

The increasing use of digital technology in course curriculums has been instrumental in presenting different perspectives to students and widening the reach of education. In the mass communication course offered by St Xavier's College, we teach filmmaking and the changes that have occurred in this field will illustrate my viewpoint. The phasing out of celluloid and the advent of digital video has led to filmmaking becoming more affordable and open to experimentation. Previously the marginal groups who had no access to such a medium can now present and propagate their viewpoint. Handycams and mobile cameras have made it easier for people to film and represent their point of view by uploading it on social networking sites like Facebook and YouTube or post a link on blogs. Several groups ranging from alternate sexuality, women's groups and marginalised sections of society have been able to voice their ideas. It is important for students to learn this 'other' point of view which is opposed to the mainstream voice. The chalk and talk medium of teaching which might become obsolete in the next 20 years is now being complemented with digital technology. If the mode of delivering education used to be preachy, now it is interactive. This is the era of liquid information where information can no longer be rigidly structured. Many private colleges have virtual classrooms which use digital technology such as 3G connections to reach out to towns and rural villages where the teacher cannot be present physically. Though familiarity with digital media is a prerequisite for students of journalism and mass communication, it is advisable for students from other streams as well. At St Xavier's, the English, History and Sociology departments use digital films made by alternative groups as references. For example, a film made by Dalit groups can be screened for sociological studies. Digital technology has helped us to move forward, people are writing their copies on the computer then mailing it across it in no time. The

earlier concept of a layout room with artists from the paste-up department manually cutting and pasting copies is outdated. Nowadays, pages are made digitally by sub-editors making news faster and it is also possible to make changes at the last minute before the copy goes to print. We provide journalistic education with more emphasis on application than theory as students need to understand the dynamics of the market and do hands-on work. An important component of the course is pagemaking where they learn page-making on QuarkXPress along with Photoshop and Corel PaintShop Pro as the design element is crucial. We also teach them web-hosting where they learn how to work on a website as epapers as all newspapers have become digitised. It gives them a head start over others when they graduate. The scope of digital technology is immense in all fields and it also makes the subjects more interesting. The use of ICT in education has become an integral part of the academic curriculum and this phenomenon is here to stay.

JAIPUR: Instead of a teacher's monologue explaining the food-chain of animals, these daysclassrooms are abuzz with video clips streaming on YouTube. Students are more comfortable in giving power-point presentations and audio-visual techniques while teachers make most of the 3D images to explain the toughest of lessons. Welcome to the world of digital classrooms in schools which are slowly, but steadily replacing the traditional classrooms having chalks and blackboard. About a decade ago, one dreamt and talked of 'open-air classrooms' for better learning. The closed room teaching with teachers scribbling on black boards was much criticised. However, that was then. The rooms might be the same but the environment within the rooms has changed completely. The conventional blackboard has made way for digital equipment, making the learning process not just more colourful but also more interesting. Pearl Singh, a Class XII (commerce) student of Maharani Gayatri Devi School, observed that the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) system is good for students who are consistent in studies. "This system has partly put an end to mugging of lessons and jotting notes. It has more scope for students to sharpen their creativity and showcase skills in different spectrums. I found it far interesting and easy to understand the subjects than the earlier form of textbook learning,'' says Pearl. To make education more interactive and learning a fun experience, many schools are opting for Information and Communication Technology-enabled smart classes where digital black boards, audio-visual rooms and interactive sessions have replaced traditional blackboards and textbooks. The tech-savvy students not only enjoy their studies through these methodologies but keenly participate in the learning process. Audio-visual rooms, e-boards and knowledge centres are adding a new dimension to the teaching style. "Smart classes have changed the process of learning. These days it is happening more through screens -- be it television, laptop or films. Students are very quick in learning new technologies and if they are used to impart education, it enhances the understanding of the concepts. Also, students do not want to hear teacher all the time. There has to be a bit extra to keep them hook. Technology helps in that," said Seema Bhatnagar, principal, Delhi Public School. Use of technology is not restricted just to classrooms. Teachers are using social networking sites and emails to engage with their students and parents. The assignments are now accepted through emails. Groups are made on Facebook to keep the students updated about classes and school activities. Similarly, students are using it to upload interesting videos and articles about topics of their interest on the group page and share it with everyone.

"We allow our students to submit their assignments through emails. It saves paper and students also find it easy. We also encourage them do more research and find various dimensions of the particular topics on internet. In the periods at smart classes, the attention of the students is very high. Digital learning gives the exact reproduction of the concept," said Bela Joshi, principal, Subodh Public School. Viewing the change, the libraries in schools are also getting IT enabled. With every textbook, a CD version is also available for students. Smart cards have made inroads which keep track of books issued online. "Administration of books is done through software. This help us in making list of popular books and keep a tab on the reading trends among children. The ebooks are all available online," said Jayshree Periwal, director-principal of Step By Step group of schools. Educationists feel that teachers act more as facilitators, while ICT provides elementary and sometimes even detailed understanding of subjects. With a shift in learning process, it is not just students who are learning but teachers too often learn from their students. "With students quick in adapting to modern technology, very soon they will lead the classroom discussion and tell teachers what is happening around," added Bhatnagar.

Going out of tradition is hard-hitting and resistive on Indian mindsets. Developing human capability through education technologies is yet to catch up in India. digitalLearning brings out a comprehensive reportage of IWB market scenario in India. Equipped with perspective of service providers and education stake holders we bring out the emphasising on the status of IWB usage in India and level of acceptance among educators. Read on to get an in depth analysis of overall global trends and how IWBs have impacted the Indian education sector India's Education sector is likely to step up its IT spending to about USD 704 million in 2012, reflecting in a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 19 percent during 2007-2012 says the Springboard research report. Traditional education system has undergone a vast change moving out of the era of the blackboard, classroom and conventional methods of teaching to a more intelligent, digitised and smarter way of imparting knowledge. One of the major tools emerged in this changed education system is interactive whiteboard. According to Future Source Consulting, an independent global research company that tracks interactive whiteboard sales, about 7,500 (Rs 75 crore in value terms) IWBs were sold in India in 2009. The agency projects this to touch 28,000 units (Rs280 crore) this year and 70,000 (Rs 700 crore) in the next. The Indian education segment has realised the potential and effectiveness of imparting knowledge through technology, more and more institutes are adopting interactive whiteboards and various audio-visual techniques like projectors and LCDs. Interactive Whiteboards in the Indian education system has started playing instrumental in enhanced teaching experience. However, the market is still in the nascent stage but almost majority of schools and higher education are showing interest in Interactive Whiteboards into their classroom. Metro cities have grasped the IWB technology very well. Interactive Whiteboards help teachers to record sessions and share them with students. IWB have tools for presentation like spotlight, snapshot, reveal, sharing. Using the software, teacher can write, draw and annotate on its surface and navigates the computer functions from interactive whiteboard with finger or pen. This powerful versatile teaching tool allows electronic files to be used later for repeated sessions or mails to absent student as an attachment. The software has a built in library of images on different subjects which the teachers can use into their lessons.IWB enables the user to draw, write or making notes, drag and mark up onto the surface controlling the PC. Looking at the lurching market third party research has shown that students and teachers around the world are benefiting from the use of interactive whiteboards and are witness to increased student engagement, learner retention and motivation, improved test scores and attendance are among few of the results. There are various types of interactive whiteboards and devices available in the Indian market. Interactive white boards are boards which are truly interactive by nature and Devices help in converting normal LCD screens to interactive whiteboard. IR (Infra Red) interactive whiteboard uses infra red beam to make the board touch sensitive. A resistive membrane board consists of two resistive sheets separated by air gap. Electromagnetic Board is composed of grid of wires, operated with stylus. about 7,500 interactive whiteboard were sold in India in 2009. The agency projects this to touch 28,000 units (Rs280 crore) this year and 70,000 (Rs 700 crore) in the next Transforming Lessons into Experience: The Leading Players'

Whiteboard market in India is divided broadly into four categories: Branded boards, Chinese boards, and Indian boards and Devices players. eInstruction, Genee, Hitachi, Panasonic, Promethean, Samsung, SMART come under branded segment. In Chinese segment, Zoulong has been doing well in the Indian market. Globus Infocom is the Indian player predominantly catering to the government vertical. Mimio and eBeam offers devices to the market to convert LCDs into interactive boards.
Emerging Technologies for 21st Century Learning The future of the IWB is vivid. More and more players are coming in with innovative technology and solutions. Here are some latest solutions are about to hit the market. Cybernetyx: Cybernetyx plans to launch interactive, multi-touch 77 inches video wall for the education and government vertical at affordable prices significantly lower than generic video walls. Cybernetyx is planning to launch its interactive video wall ONFINIA Interactive Video Walls with rear projection and multi touch technology in the fourth week of April in India and Germany. However, the solution is deployed in some premium schools in the country. Mimio: It converts ordinary whiteboard into an interactive whiteboard instantly. The MimioTeach interactive system is a device in a compact bar shape which is to be placed on existing whiteboard. It connects computer to a standard projector. It makes everything accessible on a computer from a whiteboard. It also lets the teacher create engaging lessons with MimioStudio software. ScienTech: ScienTech has launched eBeam Engage. Their interactive whiteboard device combines more than ten multimedia and navigation tools in one sleek console to make lesson delivery effective and fun. Wireless keyboard eliminates need to toggle between computer and interactive surface combined with high fidelity JBL speakers. SMART: SMART plans to launch its latest interactive and intuitive product SB885 ix in July. It enhance the power of collaborative learning by enabling two users to instantly and easily work on its surface at the same time using their fingers or a pen. The integrated system combines an interactive whiteboard with an ultra-shortthrow projector that virtually eliminates shadows and glare, a multiuser Pen Tray and a control panel that enables teachers to manage all classroom technology products from the front of the classroom. Clarity : ONFINITY Portable Interactive Whiteboard System Model CM2 Max helps to convert whiteboard, projection screen, plasma or wall into an interactive whiteboard instantly with help of existing multimedia projector.

Leading Players (In an alphabetical Order) Aveco: Aveco offers include the most basic features to the most sophisticated technology which are for the customer's benefit and substantial value Clarity: Clarity India Learning Solutions is a subsidiary of Young India Films, and focuses on Primary, Montessori and Secondary Education. They offer activity based learning offering high quality teaching learning material.

Cybernetyx: Cybernetyx's approach is to introduce further newer devices, and disruptive technology in the learning space. The rapid benchmarks established by our EyeRIS interactive systems in such a small time, in terms of the user acceptance, and technological breakthroughs, would be made incrementally progressive in the other parallel devices and technologies from Cybernetyx. One of the major fundamentals of the Natural User Interface paradigm of Cybernetyx's Visual Touch technology is creation through collaboration enabling collaborative and distance learning through the cloud, informed Nishant S. Rajawat, Director-Technology (APAC), Cybernetyx India Disprovisual: DISPRO interactive boards are made with latest American E-Beam technology, needs multimedia DLP or LCD projector and a USB port to convert in to interactive whiteboard. eBeam: The ebeam is a dongle that converts any flat surface into IWB. It's at the centre of many IWBs on the market and uses IR signals for input. It accepts input from a battery powered pen. It needs calibration of the board. Genee: Genee have comparatively low price complete classroom solutions including visualises and slates. Globus: It is an Indian manufacturer and their IWBs are reasonably priced. Hitachi: Hitachi Starboard offers good quality in terms of robustness, accuracy and warranty; it allows interaction from finger and pen. It allows two handed interaction allowing up to nine people to use the board simultaneously. It can use dry wipe marker on the board. Mimio: Mimio offers devices that convert normal LCD into IWB. It accepts input from a batterypowered pen along with handwriting recognition. Promethean: Promethean ActivBoards offer interactive whiteboard solutions. Interactive whiteboards are a key component to Promethean's all-in-one 21st century classroom solution: The ActivClassroom. Promethean offers a range of interactive whiteboard solutions to meet needs of today's classroom. Samsung: Samsung India Electronics (P) Ltd recently unveiled its solutions for the education segment with latest display solutions and customised applications on the Galaxy tab making the classroom room experience more interactive.

Teachers the world over are respected because of their ability to mould students and prepare them for the future. Students are a big part of society, as they hold the key to the future. It is, therefore, very important that they are molded into individuals that will contribute to the advancement of society. This can be a difficult task, as students have a mind of their own, and are constantly trying to exercise their free will. It can also be difficult for them to follow instructions, as at this age, almost everyone does not see the importance of school and gaining an education. Sometimes teachers have to get some help from teaching tools and devices such as interactive whiteboards, Internet. The use of whiteboards resources, such as Dell interactive whiteboard, help to effectively teach children, and prepare them for the future. The first thing that will become obvious after the adoption of an interactive whiteboard is how much simpler the presentation process will become. Presentations need to be clear and precise in order for them to be effective, and an interactive whiteboard will help the teacher achieve exactly this. Interactive whiteboards also save valuable time. There are programs and softwares that allow the teacher to get to notes instantly. Many modern whiteboards allow the user to capture notes and save them on to a hard drive and can be accessed simply by the click of a mouse. This gives the teacher the ability to access notes faster, thus leaving more time for teaching. The use of interactive whiteboards in schools also saves money in the long term. The interactive whiteboards can easily pay for themselves in a considerably short period of time. Productivity in schools is increased due to the advantages of using these whiteboards, and more emphasis can be added to the learning process. Using interactive whiteboard resources make learning fun for students. Many students, especially those in their teens, do not feel that they need to be in school in the first place, and so it is essential that teachers effectively capture their attention. Because interactive whiteboards incorporate the use of images, the students' attention is drawn to the topic being discussed. Images are also much easier to remember than words, and this puts students in a better position when it comes to exams. There are many more advantages attached to the use of interactive whiteboard resources. It is important that schools take advantage of these tools, to ensure more effective learning. The whiteboards are readily available and relatively cheap, and their use is a good addition to any learning institution.

Rajeev Singh, Country Head & GM, BenQ India talks about the role of Projectors in enhancing teaching-learning outcomes

Rajeev Country Head & GM, BenQ India

Singh

Please give an overview of projector for education market in India? What part of your projector business comes from education? Technology adaptation in India is happening at a very rapid pace, BenQ is leading the charge with its futuristic technologies and products customized for the Indian market. Projectors are used in India in a big way in the education sector for schools & professional institute. Our education system is evolving with digitization of content which makes it simpler for students to learn new things with high level of retention. In the education industry the trend started with SVGA projectors. However due to advances in Short throw technology and our constant promotion of the same, the trend has now started to favour Short Throw projectors due to inherent advantages in a classroom environment. The projector market in India is growing at an annual rate of 75 percent over the last three years. Our market share under the projector category business in India is more that 20 percent, we have more than more than 35 percent market share in education segment and are clear leaders. Education is contributing to 50percent of our total projector business, hence is the most important vertical. In the year 2011 we installed projectors in more than 20000 class rooms which in itself tells that BenQ has been the choice of educationists. Please comment on the factors driving the Projector market in Education. The market size for digital classrooms is likely to touch almost 1,00,000 classrooms with a phenomenal growth rate of more than 100 percent in the recent years. This trend is expected to continue for the next several years. While private schools and colleges are going for a digital classroom concept for each of their classrooms, in government schools, trend is to make atleast one classroom digital. However, it will still take few years to reach a high level of adoption as sheer number of schools itself is very high, with government school number touching 15 lacs while private schools are almost 1 lac. The way education is delivered and the importance it has in developing modern India is driving the changes in the educational set up. Also, globalisation is effective in bringing the latest teaching methodologies and tools to Indian market. The latest teaching delivery mechanism

includes the student having a networked computer at his disposal, fully networked classrooms, multimedia method of delivery and study content in soft form. The class rooms are becoming connected in real time and interactive in nature What is the role of BenQ in this space? BenQ is the worldwide leader in the education projector business. We have the largest product portfolio with more than 40 different types of projectors for Indian market for every requirement set in the education segment, be it short throw, interactive, auditorium or network. We have pan- India sales and service team, working towards technology implementation in education, not simply as a seller but as a technology advisor and consultants to education institute. We regularly participate in various education forums and summits across India in order to reach for direct consumer interaction. We are also working closely with the government of India in its reforms and efforts in the education segment.

There's an old saying in business: if you don't know who the sucker in a room is, it's probably you. A similar adage can be applied to technology: if you don't know how to control the systems you're using, these systems are probably controlling you. As John Naughton argues in his special report for this week's New Review, Britain is in danger of producing a generation of technological suckers: people who know how to word process a letter, buy apps for their iPhones and to search in Google, but have no understanding of the inner workings of these services. This is, above all, an issue of education and training. For more than a decade, the teaching of information technology in schools has focused on using software rather than understanding systems; and on treating computers more like magical boxes than tools to be programmed and critiqued. With the government's recent decision to throw away this old syllabus and replace it with something better fit for 21st-century purpose, we have an opportunity to rectify a dangerous imbalance and set a new standard. It's an opportunity we can ill afford to miss and that touches on some of the most fundamental questions surrounding what role computer technologies can, and should, play in 21st-century life. Understanding modern computing means far more than typing at a desktop machine or picking up mail on a smartphone. Whether we're meeting friends, reading books, checking our bank balances or going shopping, computer systems increasingly mediate every aspect of our lives and shape the ways in which we both see and are seen by the world. Opting out is no longer a serious option, while ignorance risks simply handing over control to those, from corporations to fellow citizens, who may not have our best interests at heart. Digital technologies are becoming an unprecedented force economically as well as socially. According to a recent report from the Boston Consulting Group, the UK economy already owes more to the internet than that of any other industrialised nation: a contribution of more than 8%, set to rise to above 12% by 2016. Creatively, we have long been at the cutting edge of online innovation not least in the form of Sir Tim Berners-Lee's invention of the world wide web itself. Yet in terms of both education and achievement, Britain is increasingly trailing in the wake not only of America and Japan, but of nations from China and Korea to Brazil and India, where tremendous resources are being poured into digital skills. Keeping up is one of the most vital economic issues this country faces. Manufacturing will never return in bulk to Britain. Financial services are a double-edged sword. It's information technological expertise that offers perhaps the best safeguard of our future as an economy and that offers citizens skills fit for a globalised century.

This isn't just a pipe dream, either. London's "Silicon Roundabout" is pulling in some of the world's biggest tech hitters, while homegrown names such as Mind Candy continue to make British digital innovation a global presence. From Bath and Brighton to Cambridge and Newcastle, regional tech hubs are thriving relative to other sectors in the recession. Far more, however, still needs to be done. A new syllabus truly fit for 21st-century purpose won't necessarily look like education of old something the government has acknowledged in the openness of its consultation process, and talk of "wiki-style" content. But good intentions alone don't constitute policy, and there's as yet no robust intellectual or organisational framework for what precisely the future of information technology teaching should constitute. Paradoxically, there's a particular hazard here in cleaving too closely to current corporate needs, for the skills required to serve the market leaders of the present are not the same as those needed to build the market leaders of the future. Training a workforce fit to tread the corridors of Facebook and Google is all very well. The ultimate test, though, will be whether we can give the next generation the tools and understanding with which they'll build the Googles and Facebooks of the future. Achieving this means embracing the unique properties of an interactive medium within classrooms: software systems that can precisely measure and personalise pupils' progress, and that encourage both collaboration and competition; shared ownership of progress and objectives between teachers and pupils, with course materials themselves available for all to access and debate online. Building a convincing 21st-century approach also means not being afraid to learn lessons from other fields: incorporating and building upon social media services rather than excluding them, and bridging the divide between the perceived fun and relevance of leisure technologies and socalled "educational" tools. Recent initiatives such as the websiteCodecademy with free interactive coding lessons online have started to show the way, but little as yet has been done within formal education. It's not all about newness, though. The faster a field moves, the more vital a strong grasp of first principles becomes. As John Naughton argues, this makes a proper intellectual grasp of computing fundamentals from algorithms and heuristics to coding and computational problem-solving especially important. Such terms may sound abstracted, but they are principles with practical implications across almost every walk of life. Digital technologies offer increasingly

the foundations for building in areas as diverse as scientific research and musical, visual and even literary creation. Modern film-makers, performers and artists have just as urgent a need to understand the systems they're using as accountants or administrators. Similarly, as phenomena from WikiLeaks to the Arab Spring have shown, digital technologies are also the medium through which new political and social forces are making themselves felt. From political engagement and activism to shifting notions of civic participation, networked technologies are the vehicle for an increasing proportion of public life. Better education about the nature of digital tools, here, is more than an economic or even a political necessity: it is a basic social good. Ultimately, as anyone who has worked in education knows, fine intentions count for little without the human resources to back them. In this sense, bringing technological innovation and best practice to the classroom is much like the art of building a successful syllabus: the result should set good teachers free to teach, and enable the best possible use to be made of their time and attention. This is where the government has most to prove. All the goodwill and gadgets in the world can't inspire a class to learn if the person running the lesson doesn't know or doesn't care what they're talking about. Getting this right will require considerable resources, vision, rigour, and the acknowledgement that the most important factors in securing our digital future remain all too human.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/mar/31/observer-editorial-education-technology