InOpen @ eIndia 2011- Gandhinagar, Gujarat

eIndia 2011 was the 7^th edition of India’s largest ICT event. It was organized by department of Science and Technology, Government of Gujarat, and Gujarat Infomatics Limited, along with Center for Science, Development and Media studies (CS- DMS) and Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd.

eIndia 2011 Conference was a unique platform for sharing of knowledge, challenges, ideas and best practices amongst the various stakeholders driving ICT initiatives in the domain of Governance, Healthcare and Education. The conference had three major tracks focusing on e-Gov, digital learning & eHealth under which there were multiple thematic sessions. E-Agriculture, Telecentre Forum and Municipal IT were also covered as separate tracks/thematic sessions.

Mr. Narendra Modi – Chief Minister Government of Gujarat inaugurated the exhibition addressing all the exhibitors from different parts of the country. He with the other members from Government of Gujarat visited all the stalls.

The three day eIndia 2011 attracted more than 5000 visitors.  We could meet and network with key decision makers & experts, bureaucrats & policy makers, leaders and stakeholders.

Panel discussions were also going on side by side on various topics. Dr. Sridhar Iyer was also a part of panel discussion for which the topic was ‘Creating Innovative Models in Education: Best practices and Next Practices.’ His talk was appreciated by all the attendees. We had an increase in the footfall on our stall after his session. Also had a meeting with the IT Commissioner of Gujarat.

We were nominated for the Champion Innovators award.

Visitors appreciated our teaching methodology and use of FOSS based applications for encouraging computer literacy. There was enthusiasm in the visitors to know more about our product and everybody wanted to carry a CM kit along to study the curriculum in depth. School principals wanted us to visit their schools so that we can take CM ahead in their school.

Computer Masti conference in SINE- IIT Bombay

A conference was organized for English medium Schools of Mumbai in the CSRE department of IIT Bombay on 10^th December 2011. It was attended by 18 teachers of various renowned schools of Mumbai. The session heeded with Ms. Anushree welcoming the representatives and handing over the session to Dr. Farida Khan for demonstrating CM. Every participant was provided with a laptop to practically look, feel and use CM & its applications.

It was an interactive session where teachers shared their problems which they face in their day to day teaching of computers and other subjects as well. All those were addressed by Dr Farida.

Participants also enjoyed playing various Open Source Based Educational Games and Applications during the Hands on session conducted by Ms Amita Sathe.

The workshop catered to the question as to how is it possible to have both education and fun together. Looking forward to more such events to together raise the standards of education.

Computer Masti Conference 2011 in Pune

InOpen technologies in collaboration with IIT Bombay organized a workshop for Marathi schools of Pune in Pai International learning Solution, Azam campus, Department of animation & multimedia camp, Pune  on 10^th December 2011.

The workshop aimed at introducing Computer Masti( CM) to Principals and Teachers and to further demonstrate the functionalities of the product.

33 enthusiastic participants from 21 schools were present. Participants included principals, HOD’s and teachers of respective schools.

Mr Nikhil from InOpen welcomed all the participants. A presentation on Computer Masti was delivered by Mr Manesh Waghmare by a handholding session with the other team mates.

Experience sharing session was also conducted at the end where teachers who are presently teaching CM in their schools shared their experiences.

The workshop proved out to be a learning experience for all. InOpen has been invited by all the participants to their schools to take CM ahead and implement it as part of their regular curriculum.

InOpen at OSI Days 2011, Bangalore

InOpen participated at the OSI Days 2011, organised by the Forum for Open Source Initiatives in India (FOSII), in association with LINUX For You magazine, between 20 and 22 November at NIMHANS Convention Center in Bengaluru. Powered by the EFY Group of publications, OSI Days 2011 is the 8th edition of this event which started out in 2004 as LinuxAsia.

This year, the conference was segmented with three separate domain-specific events—PHP Days, DATA Days and OSI Days — to include more topics encompassing open source tools and technology and beyond.

InOpen technologies was represented by Dr. Farida Khan, Mr. Rupesh, Sahil and Anushree. Dr. Farida and Rupesh presented a topic on how the use of Open Source in computer education can really leverage cost benefits and scalability for the schools. The various panel discussions focussed on how important it is to promote Open Source tools as a learning medium for students in their initial years so that they can take up such tools in their career as well. They raised a concern that no such content was available in school education which taught students using Open Source software as a medium. This is where InOpen and Computer Masti hit the nail on the head as CM content is taught using only Open Source tools. InOpen’s approach towards promoting computer education using Open Source was applauded and cheered by all.

InOpen Technologies bridging the Digital break: Promoting “Equalizing Access to Technology by all Kids”

InOpen Technologies, conducted an event for the underprivileged children of Teach for India an NGO promoting teaching vocation to youngsters. The event catered to the underprivileged children from Dharavi and the objective was to get them a chance to explore and learn Computers Science in an innovative and fun way through the Computer Masti program. The event is going to be held at IIT Bombay on November 19th.

With this initiative InOpen technologies made a difference while demonstrating the idea of Equalizing access to technology and learning by all kids in the country.

Kids were welcomed and greeted with chocolates and then were taken to the seminar hall where an ice breaker introduction session would was conducted. An exclusive play was organized by the name of “Computer and Me” for these kids in order to get them engaged and make the session more interactive, in order to get them an opportunity of equal learning. The play made them learn about the parts of computers, places where computers are used, Do’s and Dont’s, also to make them learn about the correct posture as in healthy practices while working on computers and so on. Then a brain storming session was held related to they learnt from the play and what they understood. This was followed by a presentation by Mr Rupesh Shah.

A playful and interactive session was conducted by Dr. Farida Khan, Research Scientist at IIT Bombay. The assembly included a quiz session for the kids followed by some winning activities for them and in order to encourage their participation the top 12 kids were conferred with Certificates, Prizes and Goodies. This was followed by lunch and then the kids were taken to lake side and some academic areas of IIT like kresit and mechanical department. At last the kids were given Computer Masti Kit followed by a group photograph.

InOpen in pink city, Jaipur

InOpen steps foot in North India by organizing a Computer Masti (CM) workshop for the schools in the pink city of Rajasthan, Jaipur. 38 enthusiastic participants from 25 different schools turned up for the CM workshop at MNIT Jaipur, our venue for the day. There was an air of anxiety around the event as participants were anxious to know what InOpen and IIT Bombay had to offer to them. A workshop on innovative ways of teaching computers and promoting a holistic learning experience in IT education to kids was something the schools were really looking forward to. Before the workshop all the participants were provided with a CM kit inclusive of all CM books with a CD and a brochure, Research document and curriculum document. Anushree welcomed all the participants by giving a brief introduction about the background of CM after which Mr Rupesh took the event ahead with his presentation on CM and side by side catering to all the queries from the participants. The refreshments served to the participants after a strenuous session were nicely enjoyed by all. There were great reviews from all the schools with many teachers and principals really appreciating the teaching methodologies and content provided in Computer Masti.

After the workshop, a press conference was held at the same venue with journalists from leading newspapers like HT, Rajasthan Patrika, Dainik Bhaskar to name a few were present. Mr. Rupesh addressed the media and all their queries on CM and InOpen’s role in promoting computer education. With this workshop and press conference, InOpen also expressed its interest in setting up a base in Rajasthan which would be materialized soon.

Inopen Technologies urges school Students to Learn Computers through a fun curriculum.

On 12^th of November, InOPEN Technologies and IIT Bombay conducted hands-on Workshops for teaching “innovative methods of teaching Computer Science in schools”. Representatives from 40 Schools from Cochin attended the 1 day workshop held at Cochin University, Department of Computer Application. The session started with a brief introduction by Dr. Farida Khan, Academic Head of Inopen Technologies on philosophy behind Creating Computer Masti.

Dr. Farida Khan, Academic Head of Inopen Technologies said that “The Computer Masti programme is based on a thorough research done at IIT Bombay under the guidance of a professor that gives a strong quality assurance

The workshop was attended by 40 prominent schools of Cochin including Rajgiri Christu Jayanti Public School, Chinmaya Vidyalaya, St Peters School, Cochin Public School, Al Ameen Public School.