About 3,400 classrooms in government and aided schools in Ernakulam district have now turned ‘smart’.
These classrooms have been made hi-tech as part of the Public Education Rejuvenation Mission of the General Education Department. The 3,400 classrooms are among the 45,000 classrooms in classes 8 to 12 turning smart across the State this academic year.
Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE) is spearheading the implementation of the project aimed at utilising Information and Communication Technology for enhancing the teaching-learning process in government-owned institutions.
In Ernakulam, the 3,400 classrooms now have laptops, multimedia projectors, projector ceiling mounting kit, USB speakers and screens. All schools have been provided with high-speed broadband internet connectivity. Two hundred more classrooms in Ernakulam will be made hi-tech in the coming months.
These classrooms need to have better security and safety features before installing the laptops and projectors, according to officials associated with the programme. However, the Education Department has provided laptops and projects in the laboratories in those schools, where safety and security facilities need to be upgraded, they said.
The laptops and projectors have a five-year comprehensive warranty, which includes the battery and power adapter for the laptop and the lamp/bulb of the projector. It also ensures that the schools will not be having any liability towards the maintenance of these machines.
KITE will address the issues being reported from the schools. It has imparted specific IT training to teachers of class 8 to 12.
The teachers will also be familiarised with the Samagra resource portal developed by KITE, which enables them to undertake lesson planning in digital form. The facility has a bouquet of digital resources in the form of video, animation, pictures, audio and simulations.
Schools have been provided with free software applications for editing, audio/video mixing, animation of educational video content prepared by students and teachers using handy cams.