Oh, my cyberworld!

PUNE, Sept 23: Cyberworld in every college classroom in 224 colleges in Pune, Nashik and Ahmednagar, with faculty trained to use multimed...

PUNE, Sept 23: Cyberworld in every college classroom in 224 colleges in Pune, Nashik and Ahmednagar, with faculty trained to use multimedia packages to enhance teaching? A project waiting to take off, but for Central approval and an estimated Rs 14 crore to be raised.

Part of the Vision 2010 document, this ambitious project conceived by Vice-Chancellor of University of Pune Dr Arun Nigavekar, details strategy to establish an Internet laboratory and internet connectivity for all colleges under its jurisdiction at Nashik and Ahmednagar, rural and urban Pune, 41 post-graduate departments of the university, with a central Internet multimedia teaching material IMTL laboratory at the university campus.

8220;It was submitted to the Government of India four months back by the University Grants Commission UGC and if funds can be raised, it should be partially completed by the next academic year,8221; says Nigavekar, adding that meetings with principals are already on to convince the teaching community to support the project.

8220;Unless at least Rs one crore is available, we cannot begin implementation of the project, or establish separate high speed microwave radio links to Nashik and Ahmednagar,8221; says Prof D Kanhere, part of the project team, and head of the Centre for Network Computing CNC at the university. But Nigavekar is optimistic that technology should pose no hitch, for 8220;it is extremely feasible,8221; and 8220;the cost should come down by at least 20 per cent of the estimate.8221;

Resource crunch or not, that the university is bent on making this project a reality, is obvious from the technical survey recently conducted by it in collaboration with Gateway Systems Pvt Ltd, which successfully established the feasibility of connectivity to 20 of the city8217;s colleges.

8220;We want to collaborate with Education to Home ETH Research laboratory, Pune, especially in relation to content development,8221; says Nigavekar.

8220;We want to pick up the best of teachers and provide them the technical expertise of the central lab to create specific educational software, which can reach the remotest classrooms through CD-ROMs or Internet,8221; explains Kanhere. If successful, Internet connectivity will be extended at a later stage, to the Deccan College, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Bharati Vidyapeeth, junior colleges and schools.

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8220;Every affiliated college and the university, though physically apart, can thus be a cohesive entity for exchange of information,8221; says Kanhere. Pompous? Not if you consider that the university has already, at a cost of Rs one crore, inter-connected all departments and institutions on its campus over 7.5 kilometres of fibre optic cables.

And if another odd couple of crore is thrown in, a core staff of five teachers will be trained at the IMTL to develop teaching packages for undergraduate and post-graduate levels, and train teachers of affiliated colleges to use multimedia learning packages for education in the new millennium.

Meticulous planning notwithstanding, official fingers are still crossed, for the fate of the project hangs in balance, awaiting a decision of the next government.