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OSI Nepal is a project that aims to digitize the lower secondary school course materials in an effort to
make education much more accessible as well as collaborative. The course materials developed through
the project will be wiki-based and open ± meaning that students will be to edit and contribute to the
content.

According to the present educational system in Nepal, the grade 10 exams (School Leaving Certificate ±
SLC) are considered to be extremely important and the scores are given much emphasis by national
colleges as well as employers. Hence, we have tried to encompass this particular examination first. Also,
since most schools offer classes only up to grade ten, orienting the project to SLC would ensure a much
more wide-spread implementation.

In brief, the project will consist of online as well as offline course content that can either be accessed via
the website or ordered through CD-ROMs or any other suitable media. The online portal of the project
will be wiki-based and will hence be open to all collaborators (students and teachers) to edit and
contribute to. The project aims at developing a dynamic course supplement that is easily accessible and is
shaped according to the students' needs. Other materials will consist of video lectures, animated learning
aids, video experiments, and so on.

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Currently, the project is in the process of implementation. We are looking for collaborators, volunteers
and sponsors. At present, we have been able to gain support of some organizations that have appreciated
our idea and have shown interest in aiding us in different ways. We have had informal discussions with
representatives from the following organizations:

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c ± The representative from this technology related organization has shown
interest in collaborating to develop the website, video content as well as translating the entire
content from English to Nepali.

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c ± The representative from this
government body dedicated to IT has shown willingness to allow us to utilize government
telecommunication centers around Nepal to enable distribution of online content. The
representative from the organization is also allowing us to utilize the Commission¶s facilities and
office for work.

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± The representative from this tuition center focusing on secondary and higher-
secondary education has shown interest in providing private tutors of different subjects to allow
us to shoot video footage.

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 ± Representatives from this organization, which initiates and
participates in youth-oriented activities, have agreed to provide us with volunteers for different
works, especially in developing the written content.
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c  ± Representatives from this organization, which deals with design based work,
are willing to collaborate with us to develop the website and manage the content.

‡c - c  ± Representatives from this organization, which deals with youth-oriented activities,
have agreed to provide volunteer assistance in different activities, mainly shooting the videos.

 

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For some time now, there have been many indications, though not formal, that the education structure of
Nepal may be changing in the near future. The SLC exams may be removed completely and schools may
start following an educational system with no board exams in grade 10, but only after grade 12. Because
of this information, we, as well as many of our collaborators, have been hesitant in starting the project
right away. As the project is currently aimed solely at the SLC examination, removal of the exam
altogether may render all the work done fruitless. We are corresponding with government officials to find
out the details, so that if the high school system does change, we can orient our project accordingly

 
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‡c ·uality over ·uantity - The number of schools throughout Nepal has been rising rapidly in the
past few years. The profitability of these institutions has attracted people to build schools with
minimum facilities - educational as well as infrastructural.

‡c Political Instability affecting the educational sector ± The many political insurgencies in the past
have caused schools to remain shut for days, even months. Apart from national politics, the
schools have also been affected much by school politics ± protests from teachers¶ associations
and parents¶ associations have also forced schools to shut down indefinitely in the past. Even with
so many unanticipated school closures, the SLC exams continue on pre-defined dates, forcing
schools to put greater pressure on students to finish the course.

‡c Lack of Infrastructure ± Many schools are not provided with equipped science laboratories,
computer laboratories as well as other infrastructure to enable extra-curricular activities including
theatre, school excursions, and so on.

‡c Divide between Government and Non-Government Schools ± There has been much public outcry
regarding the topic of government schools not being at par with the standards of private schools.
The divide has resulted due to lack of exposure to quality resources and educational techniques in
government schools.

‡c Inflation of school prices ± The price of quality education has increased extensively in the past
few years. Parents are being forced to look for cheaper alternatives, compromising on quality. In
rural areas, a hike in prices could even lead to parents not sending children to school at all.
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‡c Rote learning promoted in education ± Due to repetitive nature of the SLC exams as well as the
straightforward design of the textbooks, education has become focused on rote learning. The
students have started to interpret the course as something that can be memorized within a few
months before the exam, rather than something that is to be learnt and understood.

 
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The proposed content will be present in two different formats ± written and visual. The content will also
have collaborative features to improve student involvement and interest in the materials.

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‡c The written content will consist of course materials, teachers¶ notes, practice exam papers and
so on. It will be developed by OSI volunteers along with teachers of the relevant subjects.

‡c The content, once written, will be submitted for approval from the Nepal Curriculum
Development Committee.

‡c The content will be presented in a simplified manner which is easy enough for students weak
in English to understand.

‡c The content will be translated into Nepali, as most rural schools teach subjects in Nepali.

‡c The first batch of written content will be provided by OSI. Later, students will be able to vote
on and edit the articles to develop a course supplement tailored to their needs.

‡c The website will provide links to access many other freely available OCW and other educational
materials.c

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‡c Video lectures from classrooms as well as from individual teachers will be available for
different topics.

‡c Short documentaries will be created focusing on certain topics to develop student interest in
them

‡c Extra-curricular videos will be posted to compensate for a lack of infrastructure ± for

example, videos of science experiments, video tours of important sites, and so on.

‡c Flash-based animations will be provided as visual learning aids to the course material

‡c Students will be able to post relevant videos supplementing the available content.

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‡c Voting ± Students and teachers will be able to sign in to the website and vote on the content
available. They will also be able to post alternative content, either written by them or from a
different source. When an alternative material gains the required amount of votes, it will be
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made the primary content of the website. Curriculum experts and volunteers will monitor the
website periodically to ensure that the changes made are in line with the required curriculum

‡c Forum ± The forum will allow students and teachers to open threads and create relevant
discussions. Students will be able to ask questions to teachers and fellow students through the
forum.

‡c Blogs ± Members and teachers will be able to open up their blogs to post relevant topics of
interest.

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c± The project can provide a supplement to the conventional course
material to improve the quality of educational resources available. The quality will be
improved through the following ways:

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 ± The project will allow any student to access free, high
quality educational resources ± lectures from teachers who are considered best in their
fields, course content voted upon by a large student community and so on.

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 ± While viewing course content, students will have the
opportunity to browse through extra-information if they wish. This helps foster an
intuitive method of learning where students will have access to links to connect them to
new ideas and information while they are learning about them.

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    ± The quality of an educational resource is as good as the
knowledge students can gain out of it. Apart from a dedicated classroom experience,
there are not many resources that tend to the needs of the students rather than just provide
facts and figures. Through OSI, it may be possible to provide an educational resource that
is shaped according to the votes of the students.

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     - The content will consist of extra related information
which the students will be able to access. This will not limit the content available to them
and will make it easy to access related information.

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 ± Schools will be able to utilize the resources to improve
the classroom experience through videos, documentaries, video-experiments and so on.

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c ± One of the most important impacts of the OSI
project will be to develop a collaborative element to the learning process in the following
ways:

‡c å      Students will be able to vote on the course materials and decide
whether or not they find them useful. This will enable students to take a more active role
in developing this educational resource and will help develop student-tailored educational
resources, which are continuously updated.
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feel is better than the ones
alternate content and will
alternative content receives
content status.
are open to provide any form of alternative content that they
available on OSI. Students will be able to navigate through
be able to choose the ones they find most useful. If an
the required amount of votes, it will be promoted to primary

‡c    Students will be able to ask questions to the teachers and experts.
Depending upon the number of teachers willing to collaborate, the students will receive
answers to their questions from many of the best teachers in the country.

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  Aside from consulting with teachers, students will be able to consult with one
another on different topics using the forum. 

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    Students will be able to upload related content like videos,
project works, research and so on. 

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The OSI project will make quality education content more accessible to students in the following
ways:

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 - All content will be freely available and students with enough
resources to obtain them will be able to access all content materials.

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 - The content will available in different formats including
internet based content, video content available in CDs and DVDs, written content
available in printed format and so on. The students will be able to download content for
free from the website or can contact OSI to get the materials in any form they require.
They will not be charged for the content expect for necessary charges like mailing costs,
CD costs and so on.

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- The course content will be available in English and
translated in Nepali. So students will be able use content materials in the language they
are most used to. Also, the English used will be made as simple and easy to understand as
possible.

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If the project receives participation from many students and collaborators, some of the other
projects can include many other things like:

‡c Virtual Science Fairs

‡c Short Documentary Competitions

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‡c Project Writing Competitions

‡c Online math problem solving competition\

‡c Online debate competitions and so on

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: Computer as well as internet services are not available in many of the rural areas of
Nepal. Hence, many schools may not be able to access the OSI content.


: Though most schools may not be equipped with their own computers and internet
connection, the government has established telecommunication centers at different rural
areas. These centers are provided with computers as well as decent internet facilities.
According to the High Commission for Information Technology, these centers will be
sufficient to provide the type of service OSI is aiming at. Furthermore, these centers are not
currently being used because the locals do not have much use for these computers. A project
like OSI could actually increase the traffic of people visiting these centers.

Also, in the latest Government Budget Announcement, the government has declared that it
will increase its expenditure to increasing computer facilities in schools across the country.

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: Even the fastest public internet connections do not provide speeds beyond 512
kbps. The internet connections, in rural as well as urban areas, are not fast enough to
conveniently load OSI content.


: By collaborating with internet service provider, the streaming speed can be made
quite convenient. Currently, Nepali websites, including cybersansar.com, which have
collaborated with their ISP, provide a streaming speed that allows users to stream videos at a
decent enough speed without much streaming time.

Also, all of the content will also be available offline. Students will be able to order the course
content from OSI free of cost. They will only need to provide or pay for the medium (CD,
DVD, flash drives, etc.) and transport costs. In rural areas, students will be able to access free
copies of the OSI content provided in the telecommunication centers. In urban areas, students
will be able to freely copy OSI content from libraries and schools.

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: Currently, the project has not been implemented because the government has been
indicating that the curriculum and the entire high school system may be changed in the recent
future.
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: We have been corresponding with government officials regarding this issue and
will work according to the information that we receive. If the high school system changes, the
content may need to redirected towards incorporating the 11th and the 12th grades as well.