Joyojeet Pal1 Computer Aided Education in India: A survey of the Azim Premji Foundations junior school initiatives Joyojeet Pal

2 Project Goal and Objective Preliminary study of APF s Computer Aided Learning Centers (CALCs) program to identify factors influencing computer usage Social issues Operational issues Cognitive issues Children in Cuttack running an OPEPA CD with a tracing game

Joyojeet Pal3 MSR and TIERs Interest in CALC Research arm that does not have to have product- orientation Has a section looking at Technology for Emerging Markets TIER working on several levels of ICT for development research And my own interest…

Joyojeet Pal4 Research Methodology Short field visits, interview and observation based Locations selected from three states on basis of: Language – variations within Karnataka Condition of local economy Stage of the program Feasibility of research

Joyojeet Pal5 Locations Orissa – 4 locations Karnataka – 6 locations Pondicherry – 1 location Mumbai – 1 location

Joyojeet Pal6 Locations LanguageLandscapeChild LabourPovertyAPF involvementCALCOccupation Kogadu MultilingualHillyMinimalModerateI & CDevelopedEstates Dakshin K. MultilingualCoastalMinorModerateI & CDevelopedSF, AL Udupi MultilingualCoastalModerate I & CDevelopedAL, Fishing Bellary MonolingualArid plainsModerateDireI & CDevelopedAL, Livestock, Mines Raichur MultilingualArid plainsSeriousDireI & CDevelopedAL Gadag MonolingualAgriculturalModerateDireI & CDevelopedHandlooms, AL Pondi MonolingualCoastalMinimalModerateI & CNascentAL Mumbai MonolingualUrbanMinimal NoneDevelopedCL Cuttack MonolingualUrbanMinimalModerateContentNascentCL Mayurbhanj MonolingualForestMinorDireContentNascentTribal, AL Puri MonolingualCoastalMinimalModerateContentNascentAL, SF Ganjam MultilingualCoastalModerateDireContentNascentAL

Joyojeet Pal7 Scope 9 observations – most Orissa 130 interviews – range 3 min – 180 min 18 schools 15 HTs / HMs 28 subject teachers 7 computer teachers 27 students 15 parents 4 VEC/Panchayat 21 community 5 government 8 administrators/agency

Joyojeet Pal8 Research Approach

Joyojeet Pal9 A Computer Center This is a computer center from Abishekapakkam in Pondicherry – these typically seat between 3-6 children per PC – notice that the teacher has little involvement in the actual class functioning. The aggressive users (often standing) in this case are students from senior classes sneaking in for extra time

Joyojeet Pal10 Resource-strapped In Baripada, Mayurbhanj district in Orissa, the local school has three computers, to be spread over 500 students – this numerical equation is not uncommon, consequently, as many as 10 students can be using one computer simultaneously – notice the interactive work here

Joyojeet Pal11 Observations: Social Issues Clear enthusiasm, despite lack of understanding of computing VEC/SDMC plagued by political issues Parents do not question school – no PTA involvement Children seem to be doing better in areas with higher female parent involvement in PTA, though causality not clear here Child labour a comparatively minor issue, perceived value from schooling more serious issue Class retention follows a threshold pattern – to lesser extent among DL families More homogenous or older communities tend to have comparatively successful CALC programs KEY TAKEAWAY: Village community endorsement of a project is not a stable indicator of the sustainability of a project

Joyojeet Pal12 Parent Profile Except in the most remote areas – only poorest send kids to govt. schools Majority are DLs Females more active in schools (often breadwinners) along the more developed areas Will question private schools, not govt. Parents in Pondi, peeved when midday meal contained copper wire Farmer affords one child in private school, other in govt. school – works in local VEC

Joyojeet Pal13 Dropout profile Daily wager parents – extreme poverty (Rs. 20 daily) Generally construction, household help – in rural livestock, cottage Seasonal absenteeism highly prevalent Urban rim more prone to child labour, though inland dropout rate higher Poor school infrastructure Abuse Child labourer from Raichur

Joyojeet Pal14 Observations: Operational Issues Timetables highly improvisational Head Teacher critical – interest in CALC highly varied In resource strapped areas (infrastructure and teacher time), junior classes tend to be excluded Implementing agency (APF, Aptech. Etc.) usually seen as the owner of the project – thus operational role critical Teachers training for CALC very likely to have different expectations from trainers motivations No effective student testing mechanism currently Financing patterns ad-hoc for CALC services Equipment maintenance still an issue KEY TAKEAWAY: Most rural schools are not prepared to function without significant handholding

Joyojeet Pal15 Head Teacher profile Usually not locals Generally near retirement Usually lower academic qual., longer experience Often face social issues in taking up appointments Play link role with the government machinery Tend to multi-task classrooms A Maharastrian head teacher in Raichur, Karnataka

Joyojeet Pal16 CC Instructor profile From local families (teachers often not) Reasonable to expect Rs pm as saleable wage - BUT Salaries in risk most places Use of CCs for additional rev. generation not ensured Empowerment, respect, openness to work away Play a tenuous role with the rest of the institution A successful CC Instructor from Udupi Dist.

Joyojeet Pal17 Observations: Curricular / Cognitive Teacher Difficulties (and student difficulties, largely): English (Pondi, Karnataka) Geometry (Orissa, Karnataka) Labs, Geography (Orissa + Encylopedia demands) Student Benefits Match concepts fractions / LCM Geography (Pondicherry CD popular even in Orissa) CALC teaching generally adaptive – children positioning, time-sharing Teachers reinforce classroom standings in CCs High variance in terms of learning / computing ability Children easily tire of the repetitive content and want to move to games Picking up Linux OS quite painless for younger children KEY TAKEAWAY: Actual computer time for children is very low, but learning within the limited access time fairly good – optimization an issue.

Joyojeet Pal18 Seating patterns No conclusive evidence, but enough to merit further investigation Using the ANOVA test for Statistical Significance we find: The correlation between the position occupied by the student during the computer class and the students familys economic position is statistically significant to over 95.1% and to a students performance in class is statistically significant to over 99.8% Seating Position L2L1TR1R2 Class Performance Economic Affluence

Joyojeet Pal19 Position and Family Affluence LEFT SD=0.66 CENTER SD=0.48 RIGHT SD=0.83 Class Size: 21

Joyojeet Pal20 Position and Classroom Performance LEFT SD=0.82 CENTER SD=0.48 RIGHT SD=0.86 Class Size: 21

Joyojeet Pal21 Shuffling seating Children in positions R2 is the smart kid in class, R1 is average, and C and L1 were among the poorer performers – C being the poorest according to the teacher. Before the seating intervention, R2 was the most active, controlling the mouse and running ahead with the game – all the three remaining were inattentive. There was no dialogue.

Joyojeet Pal22 Recommendations QUICK FIX Shuffling students on an experimental basis Single set of instructions per active class, streamlined instead of self-paced CURRICULAR Quick modules that deal with one specific problem Adapting to number of users at start-up stage Use of icons as characters in CD content Games (incremental scope) ORGANIZATIONAL Headmaster training – preferably on-site Door-to-door campaigns on computer proficiency Coordinators and Computer instructor essential in short term (see Pratham model) LONG TERM Test CALC using current SSA student evaluation metrics Increase amount of offline teaching – CALC dependable for fraction of time Support policy level initiatives – Childcare, English earlier

Joyojeet Pal23 Thanks For Questions:

Joyojeet Pal24 Thanks Sukumar Anikar Kentaro Toyama Santhosh R. Lopamudra Jena Rajashekhar Pandi Prema Shankar