ICT Harvest a film is made by Swati Desai a creative consultant. This film is made with financial support from HIVOS and Comet Media Foundation 2007.From 2002 to 2007, NIIT an IT Training and Developing Organization undertook a study investigation what children did when left themselves with a computer and a high speed internet connection. This film looks at a school that took part in this project .The fast internet connectivity is gone but the school tries to continue the programme within its available resources. This is also the story of a teacher who discovered his vacation with ICTs and persisted to keep these efforts alive.
Summary of content
Shamashuddin Attar is a high school science teacher at village of Shirgaon, south of Maharastra. NIIT decides certain school to have demonstration of Kioas.It shows that how children work with computer without any training and tutoring. What they do when they left with computer and internet. There is a little village located near Goa. It lies between the Arabian Sea and the Sahayadri hills. In this remote place in 2002 NIIT and ICICI bank installed a kiosk centre in Shirgaon Collegiate High school Sinhudurg district, Maharastra, India. Their aim was to see how these children can use the kiosk till two hours before the school starts. There are first two computers into twenty children share each. Free public computer kiosk for children. This facility is for use by children under 15 years of age. There are no instructors or teachers. All activities at this kiosk are continuously monitored from New Delhi.
Neither computer has a mouse. They have a finger touch joystick four of the six buttons are meant to direct the cursor. The remaining two are the right and left clicks of the mouse. Seeing the number of children visiting the kiosk NIIT installed 50 to 60 games on the computers. First of all, the children just had fun on the computers. Later, the crowd at the kiosk increased. They began playing games and tiring of them opened other programmes like paint brush.
Earlier student had heard about computer on TV and in books. Students knew nothing about the internet. When this kiosk has installed students are thrilled to learn something new.Arun Chauhan an ex student said that when he was in the 7th since that time the kiosk came and he became a regular. At first he had no idea what to do because never having seen a computer before. Later he began to use the internet. He learnt a lot of new things. Many children now started using the internet. They first learnt how to visit a website and search for it.
Computer lab, the software package had its links to sites in Marathi, Hindi and English and related to children’s school subject. Children could not use the computer lab in the school for long hours. There were over 60 students using the few computers. Children could not learn much .Their teacher could only give them a demonstration. In comparison with computer lab, the kiosk was always open. Whenever the children had time they could do anything.
Children learnt very soon how to open browsers, click on link and open sites. They would pick up on the sites related to their school subjects. Thus while searching websites; they stumble on the Google link. Despite their poor English they realize that what research meant and start searching for games. They discovered a whole list of such websites. They realized something new that there is a thing like search engine.
Children searched also about things for books and websites. Some of them were interested in like astrology. Whenever children get into stuck they approach to Attar sir, who then guides them. They really enjoy themselves jostling for a place at the kiosk. As there are just two computers and so many students are over there. While surfing one day some children come across the New Scientist magazine. Now they are interested in DNA and genetics since childhood. Reading these articles they get to more interested .They have made up their mind and thinking to pursue Biotechnology.
Earlier when the internet was fast they formed a chat group with kids from kiosk in Kashmir. They chattered for half an hour everyday and even sent each others games. But when the net slowed down, they kept postponing their chat until they stopped. Now younger children at school find that the kiosk was shut for the holidays when it restarted the v-sat connection was dropped .Now it takes so long to open a site that they lose interest in surfing. They now just play games which also soon bore them. Students feel that they are not getting the benefit as they got previous time from the kiosk.
As teacher Attar feels that he should keep himself abreast on new topics. He downloads information from the net to present to students. He teaches students through presentation that suit them. Things from the syllabus which he is unable to show he downloads from net and presents it. These presentation which he downloads from the net or record it from TV get the children really involved. He has built up a collection of over hundred CDs. All that is available in English, he is putting them into Marathi. And in this way he is building an archive which is of perpetual use for the school.
The fact is that in 1991 when he took this job he had not even seen a computer. In 1995 the school was donated some computers. He was told since he was a science teacher. He had to teach computers as it was a science too. He said he knows nothing about computers.’’ Do a course in holiday and teach the children’’ they said. So he started learning. Today he can do everything, setup, installing even maintain just by practice and observation. He said no one needed to teach me even his son is able to format his computer. Earlier he knew very little English even Hindi was poor. He could just understand what is your name? In chat room he used to ask do you know Hindi. If they did, we chatted. If not we looked for someone else.
When he came to this village, people walked 4 k.m to fetch water. With rain water harvesting today there is no problem. He looked up his village in Google earth’’ this is my village and here is a small lake’’. He saw that that lake water would only flow down wards. He used satellite picture to follow the water. Collecting at spot where it seeped into raise the ground water level. He planned to dig a well in his school area. From this satellite picture he got the distance between the earth and camera. He measured the distance of a canal leaving the lake and the potential spot of the well from the same camera height. After that he calculated the height difference between two spots. There was a difference of fourteen feet between the lake and the spot for the well. He deduced that by digging fourteen feet deep he would find out the ground water level. Finally, he found out the water at sixteen feet. He realized that if he had no access to the internet then he could have never learnt what he has today.
Analysis and evaluation of the movie
This is really one of the greatest movies among inspirational movies. There are many things which strike me noteworthy . Teaching through computer technology which expands mind and brain. How children learn? It has been clearly manifested through movie that learning does not always happen in classroom rather outside of the class. There was no trainer or tutor for teaching computer. But children learn by observation and doing. It can be also called learning by trial and error. We also find interesting that children have consistent enthusiasm and passion for learning. Learning proves more effective if children did when left to themselves with a computer and a high speed internet connection. Children can not learn more only through computer demonstration. We can not also avoid importance of high speed internet connection. As we see that devoid of high speed internet connection loses children interest towards learning. Hence high speed internet connection play a conitive[urge to learn] role in children learning and understanding.
I appreciate and accept that ICT provides children what they want to learn and study. ICT has come up an exploratory idea in which children get space for study and discover how to learn, what to learn for them in what way they like. ICT teaching pedagogy seemed to me based on non authoritarian.ICT allows students exactly what they want to study, space what they want to do.
Another interesting aspect that make me to think of the teacher [Attar] who discovered his vocation with ICT[ Information and Communication Technology] and persisted to keep these effort alive. Earlier he knew nothing but later through his sincere effort he became the master of computer. He did not give up his positive hope and at last became successful computer teacher.
I agree but not completely because there are many loopholes in it also. When children at school find that the kiosk was shut for the holidays when it restarted the v-sat connection was dropped .Computers were running over there but devoid of high speed net connection. Now it takes so long to open a site that they lose interest in surfing. They now just play games which also soon bore them. Students feel that they are not getting the benefit as they got previous time from the kiosk.
Conclusion
In order to bring the conclusion to an end, I can say that ICT Harvest by Swati Desai is indeed a creative and motivational movie. The aim of NIIT to investigate what children did when left themselves with a computer and a high speed internet connection. The fast internet connectivity is gone but the school tries to continue the programme within its available resources. They found out that learning comes through trial and error rather computer demonstration. This is also the story of a teacher who discovered his vacation with ICTs and persisted to keep these efforts alive. Finally he brought what opt was thought could accomplish and paved a new path of success.
