Applications for Rural Areas(Educational content and Information dissemination)

Sridhar Iyer

Department of Computer Science and Engineering

TTSL – IITBombay Initiative

Project Team

Project InvestigatorsProf. Sridhar Iyer

Prof. Krithi Ramamritham

Project ManagersC. Vijaya Lakshmi

Malati Baru

Research AssociatesFarida Umrani (Impact assessment)

Sameer Sahasrabuddhe (Interface design)

Saraswathi Krithivasan (Networking)

Do Rural areas need information access?

Yes! Information related to News Weather Prices Government policies Agricultural practices Basic health and hygiene Microfinance Education Jobs Insurance ………………….

How do they access information today ?

Word of mouth Radio Telephone TV channels News papers Tele-centers Information kiosks Local Government organisations

Through what platforms?

Personal visits Telephones Kiosk centers Desktop PCs Community learning centers Mobiles Mobile Vans Call centers ……..

Problems faced during information access

Cost factors Literacy Language issues Power problems Connectivity problems Travel [ go to an information kiosk ] Resistance to adapt to new technology

Hurdles/Challenges for solution providers Lack of social entrepreneurs Seed Funding Scaling up Sustainability Business model Steep Learning curve Human resources Access to data Infrastructure Coordination with Government bodies Lack of technical expertise What after successful Pilots?

Proposal Overview/Scope

K-12 students

Semi literate adults

Farmers

Target users

Application Domain

Delivery Mode

Education Agriculture

Kiosk/Tele-center

Mobile Computer lab

Hand held devices

Information Dissemination

Solution approach

Develop requirement specific tools which :

Are easy to use Are easy to learn Involve minimal or no cost to user Do not require special devices Will impact their daily lives Make a difference to their earning capability Improve their literacy Open up new opportunities

Solution approach contd.

Deploy tools developed:

Identify major stakeholders Tie up with existing domain experts Tie up with existing NGOs, research labs Replicate successful models Extend existing ideas of research labs Expand/scale up operations across geographic locations

Solution development approach

Need assessment – • Primary survey – Conduct extensive initial field studies to

understand requirements

• Create SRS

Develop strategic partnerships• Identify and tie up with major stakeholders and partners for

collaboration and deployment

• Tie up with domain experts for content development Develop appropriate content Evolve successful models

• Collaborate with local NGOs and community based organisations for successful implementation of the program - deployment, awareness campaigns training.

• Expand/scale up operations across geographic locations

Solution development criteria

Rural context sensitive content and applications for :

Usefulness and ease of use Minimally invasive learning Edutainment Internet literacy Involve minimal or no cost

Project Dimension Classification

Target Users K-12 students Semi literate adults Farmers Domain Experts (Agricultural/Education)

Application Domain Education Agriculture

Delivery mode Hand held devices Mobile computer lab Kiosks/Tele-centers

Differentiators: Open source, Rural sensitive, special consideration for women's needs

GOAL

Kiosk/Tele-center

Mobile computer

lab

Hand helddevice

IIT Bombay

TTSL

NGO/Partners

Agriculture

Education

Applications

Delivery Mode Users

K-12 Students

Semi literate adults

Farmer

Expert

InformationDissemination

System

Classify content and tag it according to user group and deployment channel

Select content for given user group

Transform content for given platform (desktop, hand held devices) – using automatic engines

Deployment channel

-Desktop-hand held devices

User Requirement

Parameters Type of content required

Mobile usage Computer and Internet literacy English language Math skills Computer science for K-12 General information

Age group Adult, K-12

Gender

Content Repository

DeliveryContent Appropriate to Platform & User

Content Workflow

What does IITB bring to the table?

Successful pilots/prototypes

Agricultural live web portal Capture tools on Mobiles Education content developed for desktops Deployment and study of Computer Science curriculum in

School Virtual Classroom Rural wireless connectivity WiFiRe:

Broadband wireless for rural areas

Projects/Tools developed at DIL IIT Bombay

aAQUA forum: Multilingual Agricultural portal for rural farmers

Statistics: Members: 4107, Posts:12,650

Date : 2003-2007

Funded by : MLAsia, DGF, PanAsia,

Supported by: KVK Baramati; Vigyan Ashram,Pabal

Status: Completed

Projects/Tools developed at DIL IIT Bombay………

Photo Capture application on the Mobile, Remote trigger of application: Farmers can capture photos of crops, Tag the photos, upload to the server.

Date : 2007 – 2008

Tested on : GSM networks , High end phones with GPRS connectivity

Funded by : Nokia Research , Finland

Status: Will be completed by August, 2008

Capture Photo tool:

Projects/Tools developed at DILIIT Bombay

Remote trigger of Capture photo application through SMS

Enable a user to remotely take a picture snapshot of the problem area on site and send it to the expert.

A series of photos can be taken without human presence by activating application remotely with a simple SMS command.

The photos are organized by tags set by the user at the time of uploading the captured image.

Remote trigger of application through SMS

Phone with user

Phone at remote site

SMS

Captures photo at intervals

AcK

Server

UPLOADS

Education content developed for desktops

Project OSCAR: create a large repository of web-based, interactive animations for teaching various concepts and technologies.

Statistics: Animations-133, Downloads- 6023

Date : 2004 onwards

Funded by : DGF, Ekalavya

Supported by: Students, Project team, Technical consultants

Status: Ongoing

Computer Science curriculum for primary schools using open source [EdUbuntu]

1. Detailed week-wise curriculum for elementary school level

2. Teacher's handbook for classes I - IV.

3. Pilot tested the curriculum for Standards I – IV at a private school in Mumbai (July, 07 – April, 08)

4. Computer-based activities interest the students and can be used for developing skills in other subjects.

Need to adapt content to rural areas

Computer Science for Primary Schools in Text Book format

The salient features of this book are as follows:● It can be downloaded for free, from the Website http://www.cse.iitb.ac.in/~sri/ssrvm/● Based on a highly detailed computer science syllabus, reviewed by experts.●The Lessons and Activities based on free and open source software. ● Each lesson has a Teacher’s Corner section, which gives a lesson plan, some do’s and don’ts, and other tips.● The books are evolving out of contributions from many authors, bringing together a variety of creative ideas. •The books to be released under a Creative Commons License (See the Copyright Statement).

Virtual Class Room

Integrated eLearning environment on an intranet Concurrent video streaming (8-12

computers) 8-10 seconds response time for

video streaming of lectures Supports max. 30 connected

nodes Instructor, student, admin

functionalities

Virtual Web – Information CD

Gather web content that can be packaged and distributed on CD for offline browsing.

Targeted for institutions with limited or no web access.

Tejas – Support system for distance education program

Provides centralized support over the web to the instructors, participants, administrators, finance managers, and decision makers of a distance education program.

Drona

eGURU – Provides eguidance and mentorship to students of BE, MCA, MSC (CS/IT/electronics) for their final year projects.

eOutreach – creates high quality text, audio, video and html contents of educational value for knowledge dissemination.

eContent – Attempts to create and translate web content of educational value to Indian languages.

Ekalavya

Other Inhouse Applications

Online payment system for IITB International conference

managment portal with online registration and payment.

JMET, GATE – Online registration and payment systems

Rural Wireless ConnectivityExperiment

Use off-the-shelf VoIP and WiFi equipment to establish low-cost internal connectivity

1. Communication within Timbaktu (rLAN)

2. Interfacing with the landline

Later generalize to other rural scenarios

Rural Wireless ConnectivityExperiment - Conclusion

VoIP over WiFi seems to be a viable alternative for providing internal communication within a village

Next phase of experiment will involve interfacing the rLAN to the external world through appropriate adapters

PSTN line Cellular WiFiRe

Cost of equipment is not the main factor for low cost solutions. Availability of power and terrain are main issues

Need to adapt devices for low-power (D.C) also

WiFiRe: Broadband wireless for rural areas

What is WiFiRe? One liner: A WiMAX-like MAC over a WiFi PHY.

Key Differentiators: WiFi PHY extended for long range (15-20 Km) using sectorized and

directional antennas.

Single WiFi channel shared among all the sectors.

Multi-sector co-ordination by the scheduler.

WiFiRe architecture

• Sectorized antennas at BS.• Single fixed ST in each village.• Directional antenna at each ST.• Voice and data terminals in the village connected by a LAN.

• 40 m tower at the base station (BS).• 10-12 m poles at the subscriber

terminals (ST).• system gain 150 dB.• Network configuration is star topology.

– 15 km radius

How can we leverage/take advantage of TTSL’s core competency?

Use existing customer database– To push services

Use Network Infrastructure services– To deploy content and applications

Use customer care centers to reach across Bundle tools with existing services Suggest locations where new applications could

be deployed (may need additional infrastructure)

Education: Need for education in rural areas

All India figures for computers in school Rural - 6.66 per cent, Urban - 26.41

Source: Mehta, A. Elementary education in rural areas: Analytic tables 2005, NIEPA

Computer Penetration in Schools in Rural and Urban Areas

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

below 5 5-10 10-20 20-40 40-60 above 60

Number of States having computers in Schools

%

Rural

Urban

Education – Project ideas - 1

Mobile computer lab

What: Moving vehicle equipped with systems and connectivity

Why: Reach out to the user, widened access and sharing of resources, outreach at various locations (like schools in the vicinity, market place, anganwadis), multiple purpose usage (education, edutainment, internet access, communication, online transactions etc.)

How: Hardware setup, OS and application installation, customization, internet, CD/server based content/information dissemination, train facilitators.

End user : Rural population

Education – Project ideas - 5

Basic computer science

What: Computer science curriculum built for resource constrained areas

Why: Lack of well thought out, context-sensitive curriculum for the intended users.

Delivery mode and device choice: Text, multimedia teaching aids (video, audio, cd), educational games multimedia programming on PC/hand held device

End user : K-12

Education – Project ideas - 2

Computer literacy

What: Basic computer usage, internet usage, communication tools, transactions like buying tickets, banking, creating local content, using google maps

Why: Empower end user with technology benefits Delivery mode and device choice: Video, audio (local

language), games and animations on Desktop/hand held device

End user : Adults (men and women)

Education – Project ideas - 3

English literacy

What: Basic English reading and writing skills Why: Overcome the language barrier for comprehension of

information available, better opportunities, interaction with various entities.

Delivery mode and device choice: Video, audio (local language), games and animations on Desktop/hand held device

End user : Adults (men and women)

Education – Project ideas - 4

Arithmetic skills

What: Basic maths skills Why: Managing resources, transactions, day to day

activities efficiently Delivery mode and device choice: Animations, Educational

games on desktop/mobile

End user : Students/Adults

Education – Project ideas - 6

How to use a mobile

What: Functionalities of the mobile Why: The full potential of the mobile is rarely used due to lack

of literacy, awareness. Delivery mode and device choice: Video, audio, animations

(English and local language on Desktop/Mobile) End user : Semi literate

Education – Project ideas - 7

Mock tests for exams on mobile

What: Tool for mock tests Why: 3As – learning/testing strategy - Anywhere, anytime,

anyplace learning/testing of acquired knowledge Delivery mode and device choice: IVR + Messaging

services on Desktop/Mobile End user : Students

Need for ICT based tools for Agricultural extension

Why: Access to information: 3As – Anywhere, anytime, anyplace Increased Mobile penetration, extend existing tool’s functionality

on Mobile devices Low cost Intermittent network connectivity

Deployment mode and Device: Through SMS alerts on Mobiles, Internet, Desktop, offline versions

on Client machines

End Users: Farmers, Agriculture related entities

Agriculture – Project ideas - 1

Extension of aAQUA system

Develop SMS based querying on aAQUA /pushing data from aAQUA to users through SMS

Expand database to include experts from other states Implement Offline versions of aAQUA through rural kiosks Implement Offline versions at the Expert’s end , to decrease

dependency on connectivity. Push RSS feeds from aAQUA to the user’s mobile

Agriculture – Project ideas - 2

Extension of Photo Capture tool

Develop a tool to push the captured photo , append it with a question on to the aAQUA forum

Develop an interface where the Expert logs in , views the photo based question and sends a reply to the mobile from which the image was captured.

Develop an Interface for the aAQUA users to browse through the captured Photo gallery [ database of images with relevant tags ]for information

Develop the same tool for CDMA technology

Agriculture – Project ideas - 3

Extension of remote SMS trigger tool for photo capture

Package the tool along with the mobile service provider tools Extend the tool for CDMA technology The application can be extended not only for capturing crop images but any

remote image without physical intervention

WiFi based vehicle tracking system

What: Tracking vehicles using WiFi and display of live information on buses and the field

Why: • Live data for passengers – route of the vehicle, current

occupancy, expected arrival time• Infotainment, advertisement, marketing et.

Deployment mode and Device: • Pilot at IIT Bombay using the transportation vehicles on the

campus using custom built devices.• To be replicated in rural areas in the later phase.