Models of Class Rooms

Edusat and its Utilasation

E- learning through Satellete

EDUSAT and its Utilisation
Dr. Amarendra P. Behera, Reader
Curriculum Group, NCERT, New Delhi.
Introduction:

Educational Technology (ET) is a systematic way of designing, implementing and evaluating the total process of learning and teaching in terms of specific objectives, based on research on human learning and communication and employing a combination of human and non-human resources to bring about more effective instruction (Commission of Instructional Technology, USA). Realising the importance of Media and Educational Technology in India, the National Policy on Education in its modified document-1992 (Media and Educational Technology, Para 8.10-11, Page 38) states that, “ Modern communication technologies have the potential to bypass several stages and sequences in the process of development encountered in earlier decades. Both the constraints of time and distance at once become manageable. In order to avoid structural dualism, modern educational technology must reach out to the most distant areas and deprive sections of beneficiaries simultaneously with the area of comparative affluence and ready availability. Further

it has stated that "Educational Technology will be employed in the spread of useful information, the training and retraining of teachers, to improve quality education, sharpen awareness of art and culture, inculcate abiding values etc., both in the formal and non-formal sectors. Maximum use

will be made of the available infrastructure.

Today, our country engages nearly 55 lakhs teachers spread over around 10 lakhs schools to educate about 2,025 lakh children (Source: Chapter-I, NCF-2005, page 1). Also if we look at the data and analyse on the growth of teacher education organizations in the country, it reveals that the number of these institutions have been multiplied i.e. as on 31.03.2000 there were 2051 such organizations and as on 31.03.2005 the figure is 4550 (Source: NCTE-Annual Report, 2000 – 2001 and 2004- 2005). Orientation of teachers and teacher educators of such a huge system at regular intervals is always a challenging task. Covering all such teacher educators only through face-to-face training and orientation programmes is virtually impossible. Organization of orientation programmes through a cascade model i.e. multi-tier training strategy (training of Key - Resource Persons, MasterTrainers etc. at State, District, Block and Cluster level) may be one of the modalities for training and re-training of a large number of teachers and teacher educators of our country. Special Orientation of Primary School Teachers (SOPT) and Programme for Mass Orientation of School

Teachers (PMOST) was organized through adopting such strategy. However, keeping in view the transmission loss through such programmes (training through cascade model) and the resource crunch with the states, training of teachers through distance mode (video and audio conferencing) could be a better option.

In the recent years Media and Educational Technology are being employed to revitalise the entire education system all over the world. With Launching of a series of satellites by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) broadcasting (audio and video) and teleconferencing facilities are now available in almost every states and UTs of our country. The concept of beaming educational programmes through satellites was demonstrated for the first time in India through Satellite Instruction Television Experiment (SlTE) in 1975-76 using American Application Technology Satellite (ATS-6). During this unique experiment, which is hailed as the largest sociological experiment conducted anywhere in the world programmes pertaining to health, hygiene and family planning were telecast directly to about 2400 Indian villages spread over six states. Later with commissioning of INSAT system in 1983 a variety of educational programmes is being telecast. In the 90s Jhabua Development Communication Project (JDPC) and Training Development Communication Channel (TDCC) further demonstrated the efficacy of tele-education. Even in the year 1996-97 under the tele-SOPT programme teachers of Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka were trained through video-conferencing. This has further established the importance of satellite communication in the field of education.

Launching of EDUSAT:

Keeping in view usefulness of the INSAT in educational programmes MHRD visualized EDUSAT project in October 2002. The satellite was launched on 20 September 2004. EDUSAT is the first Indian satellite built exclusively for serving the educational sector offering an interactive satellite based distance education system for the country. It is specially configured for the audiovisual medium, employing digital interactive classroom and multimedia multicentric systems.EDUSAT is primarily meant for providing connectivity to school, college and higher levels of education and also to support non-formal education including developmental communication. The scope of the EDUSAT programme is planned to be realised in three phases EDUSAT carries five Ku-band transponders providing spot beams, one Ku-band transponder providing a national beam and six Extended C-band transponders with national coverage beam. It will join the INSAT system that already has more than 130 transponders in C-band, Extended Cband and Ku-band providing a variety of telecommunication and television services.

 The EDUSAT offers opportunities for using satellite for human development in general and for education in

particular. EDUSAT can be used for:

• Conventional Radio and Television broadcasting
• Interactive Radio and Television (phone-in, video on demand..)
• Exchange of data
• Video conferencing, Audio conferencing & Computer conferencing
• Web based education

Conclusion:

As India enters the new millennium, it is necessary to sustain such kind of effort by continuously tuning it to the fast changing requirement and updating the technologythat goes into the making of these sophisticated systems. The challenges continue to grow but that is what attracts and sustains the interests of personnel working in the space programme. Even if a satellite is launched, its meaningful utilization in any sector including education is a million dollar question and raises many eyebrows. The life span of EDUSAT, which was launched in September, 2004 is seven years and it has provided many facilities and possibilities. But the real challenge before us is how to feed this monster and reach out the rural masses especially millions of student’s teachers and teacher educators in the country. For the successful use of this satellite a rigorous planning is need of the hour and collaborative efforts are essential for designing of the software and its utilization for achieving goals of education

EDUSAT is the satellite exclusively devoted to meet the demands of educational sector. It was launched on September20, 2004 by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to meet ever increasing demand for an interactive satellite-based distance education system for the country. It has revolutionized classroom teaching through IP based technology. EDUSAT has five KU band transponders providing spot beams, one KU beam transponder providing national beam and six extended C-band transponders providing national coverage beams.   

Consortium for Educational Commission (CEC) is one amongst the five primary users of this educational satellite.ISRO has adjudged the CEC as “the best EDUSAT National Beam User” in July 2008.

At present, there are over hundred Satellite Interactive Terminals (SITs) and Receive only Terminals (RoTs) under CEC EDUSAT network, installed at various colleges, Academic Staff Colleges and Universities across the country. Many more are being added with the purpose of providing quality higher education to the remote areas through satellite network.CEC EDUSAT network is empowering students through cutting edge technology and caters the needs of students across the country.

EDUSAT live transmission

CEC EDUSAT network has done exceptionally well in the past and has won many laurels since it began live transmission on 5th September 2005. In the live transmission, CEC acts as the teaching end. Subject Experts deliver lectures live. These lectures are received by various SITs and RoTs. They are known as Class Room End. The Teaching End can be shifted from one SIT to another. Thus, the students can benefit from experts located in various Educational Institutions across the country.

The Expert can address the queries of the students in the live mode. The students can interact and ask questions using the following three methods.

§  Audio Video Conferencing

 §  Text Mode

 §  Through Telephones