An online open learning programme developed by the Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE) has become a runaway hit among schoolteachers across the State.
With the State government recognising the programme titled KOOL (KITE’s Online Open Learning) as sufficient for clearing their probation, thousands of teachers have begun to evince interest in the six-week IT training programme.
As many as 2,369 teachers completed their training in the first batch of the KOOL programme started on December 8 last year. As many as 2,911 teachers have registered for the second batch completing the programme by next month.
“It was an amazing programme that gave us a great IT learning experience. In the current milieu of IT classrooms, all teachers must take this programme,” said Janisha T., a teacher from AMLP School, Tirurkad, who attended the first batch.
More than 5,000 teachers will be clearing their probation by completing their mandatory IT training by next month in Kerala.
“It will be a record of sorts in the country,” said KITE officials. The KOOL programme is the first of its kind in the State to win the government recognition for teacher training.
K. Anvar Sadath, vice chairman and executive director of KITE, said that the State had launched its first official MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) for schoolteachers and not for professionals or researchers.
“It’s a creditable achievement for the General Education Department’s technical arm called KITE, formerly IT@School,” he said.
It is mandatory for all teachers who joined since 2011 to pass any IT course of 45-hour duration for clearing their probation. Teachers are apparently on cloud nine after the government said that the KOOL course would be enough to clear their probation, and that too without losing any academic days.
“KOOL is offering separate modules for each week, helping us learn all basic things required for a modern IT classroom. I’m sure it is good enough to make us self-sufficient in IT,” said A.K. Jamsheer, a teacher from Crescent Higher Secondary School, Adakkakundu, who completed his training in the first batch.
How to register
Teachers can register for the KOOL programme by logging in the Samgra resource portal. KITE has offered a mentor for every 20 learners. Teachers will have to attend the contact class only on the first and the last day of the programme.