Vivekdisha

Inspiration: Swamiji’s Vision

“Let noble thoughts come to us from every side” is a beautiful ancient verse of wisdom. Everything originates from thoughts. An idea takes shape from thoughts and translates into concrete action. Swami Vivekananda therefore always used to lay great emphasis on the power of ideas. His idea of education as the ‘manifestation of the Perfection already in man’ is the modern mantra for self-reliance, self-respect and self-confidence. Swami Vivekananda wanted to inculcate the spirit of self-reliance in every human being—‘stand up and take the responsibility on your own shoulders’, ‘stand on your own feet’ were some of his exhortations. He said, “All the wealth of the world cannot help one little Indian village if the people are not taught to help themselves.” So he envisioned a new India that would emerge from cottages, farms, small factories with the Indian masses self-reliant and self-confident. He gave a call to the youth to work among the masses, spread the light of education and elevate them to be on a par with the peoples of the developed countries of the world in modernity of outlook, scientific temper and technological skill, while at the same time preserving and being rooted in their own indigenous cultural and spiritual moorings.

Swami Vivekananda felt that his vision of a new India combining the hoary spiritual heritage of the East and the modern science and technology of the West could be actualized by the hard work of a dedicated band of youth fired with a spirit of selfless service. He had a comprehensive plan for community development, both urban and rural, integrating the best elements of the East and the West. He gave a new philosophy of work for the modern world. One of the important principles Swami Vivekananda learned from his Master, Sri Ramakrishna, was Shiva Jnane Jiva Seva—‘service to living beings looking upon them as veritable embodiments of the Divine’. Such a world view, a new weltanshuuang, would transform the act of service into reverential worship. A hungry person, a sick person, a needy person is not an object of pity, but an object of reverential worship. Such an attitude elevates the giver and the recipient to the levels of worshipper and worshipped. Swami Vivekananda’s powerful words in this context are worth remembering: “Let the giver kneel down and worship. Let the receiver stand up and accept.” He also envisioned a scheme for the dissemination of education even at the doorstep of every villager. In a letter to his dear Madras disciple Alasinga Perumal, he wrote on 24 May 1894 from Chicago: "Try to get up a fund, buy some magic lanterns, maps, globes, etc., and some chemicals. Get every evening a crowd of the poor and low, even the Pariahs, and lecture to them about religion first, and then teach them through the magic lantern and other things, astronomy, geography, etc., in the dialect of the people." The ideas of ‘distance learning’, ‘distance education,’ ‘open university’ etc thus have their origin in this educational vision of Swami Vivekananda.

Further, the concept of ‘lifelong education’ has its roots in Sri Ramakrishna’s famous saying: “As long as I live, so long do I learn.” It is thus a matter of great satisfaction and joy that Sri Ramakrishna’s and Swami Vivekananda’s vision is getting actualized in a small way through the “VIVEKDISHA” project of Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University under the RKMVU-ISRO Village Resource Centre (VRC) Scheme.

Prologue:

Ramakrishna Mission has been striving hard to provide quality education in India guided primarily by the vision of its leader Swami Vivekananda. His vision of teaching religion, sociology, science and other things with visual aids and incorporation of technology is gradually taking shape in a profound way. ‘VIVEKDISHA’ is a space and ICT based development project specially aimed at the uplift of rural India.

It was in the year 2005 December Revered General Secretary Maharaj of Ramakrishna Mission received an invitation from Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO, Bangalore) to be a participant organisation in their Village Resource Centre (VRC) scheme. The project envisioned would render tele-education, telemedicine, advisory services, and skill development programmes to the rural people using the VSAT connectivity through EDUSAT, the educational satellite of India. At that time Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University (the then RKMVERI) was newly founded, which took charge of the project. After that consultation, discussion and survey of the sites were done by RKMVU and ISRO members. VIVEKDISHA was officially inaugurated by Dr. G Madhavan Nair, Chairman, ISRO and Secretary Department of Space on 4 July 2008, the Mahasamadhi day of Swami Vivekananda.

Features of the Project
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is an increasingly powerful tool for improving the delivery of basic services, participating in the global economy and enhancing local development opportunities. Now the time has come to develop infrastructure and strategies that expand access to ICT and harness it for the benefit of humanity. The concept of videoconferencing is the backbone of this new project. The following are the special features of the VIVEKDISHA project, which strives for holistic development:
* Space & ICT based
* Need based
* Adapted to local communities
* Income generating
* Conducted in local language
* Carried out within specific time frames
* Capable of integrating indigenous knowledge

VIVEKDISHA Centres:
At present we have 14 VIVEKDISHA centres in West Bengal and Jharkhand. In all these centres, the installation of equipment for videoconferencing has been completed. However, the telemedicine equipment and the specific software are yet to be installed at our telemedicine expert centre at Sevapratisthan, Kolkata. The satellite connectivity and basic equipment have been supplied by ISRO. The centres at Belur Math and Ranchi are the Expert Centres, while the other centres in West Bengal and Jharkhand are remote centres. The distribution of the Vivekdisha Centres in West Bengal is wide enough to cover almost the entire State of West Bengal—from Cooch Behar, in the very north of the state, to the Sundarbans region in the south, to the district of Purulia. All the Vivekdisha Centres are located in the branch centres of Ramakrishna Mission or in places where ex-students/devotees of Ramakrishna Mission run centres with dedication to the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda ideology.

Tele-education
Tele-education is the use of information and communication technology to provide distance education. In today’s world, education is needed for sustainable development. Tele-education encompasses a new vision of education that seeks to empower people of all ages to assume responsibility for creating and enjoying a sustainable future. As the world is gradually becoming more and more connected, ICT-based teaching practices in education are being extensively used and emphasized, although face-to-face meetings or synchronous interaction in real time are still required to supplement asynchronous and independent learning, if more effective learning is to take place. ICT facilitates a high level of interaction among students and the teacher, with the aid of multimedia-based materials. Hence, communication can be dynamic between the teachers and students through video-conferencing.

ICT-based learning offers greater diversity of learning goals, projects, activities, and exercises than traditional classroom learning. Also it allows the learners to make full use of their own multiple cognitive abilities and conative powers. In the ICT-based teaching-learning process, teachers and students alike are enthused because teaching becomes more dynamic, expanding their vision and making available high quality study materials. Moreover, teachers are motivated to teach more creatively and to exchange lesson plans and pedagogical strategies with their colleagues all over the globe even on a day to day basis.

Since the age of the Vedas, education has been instrumental in the development of society. This is no less true in today’s knowledge economy. Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University places special emphasis on education projects that keep students—particularly underprivileged children—intellectually stimulated, mentally focussed, and emotionally sensitive, so that they develop an all-round personality endowed with the faculties of jnana (intellectual knowledge), bhakti (emotional richness) and yoga (mental concentration and focus).

What exactly happens in a tele-education scenario?
A teacher teaches using a writing board or multimedia presentation prepared by computer. This is transmitted simultaneously to all the centres affiliated with the University Expert centre. In these centres the students are able to see and hear the teacher, the board, the multimedia presentation as well as students at other centres who are also participating in the tele-education class. At the same time, the teacher at the University can see and hear all the participating centres. It is a virtual class room whose boundaries are not defined! It makes a vibrant interactive virtual classroom environment for the teacher and students at various geographically isolated centres.

Tele-education : Our Programmes

The VIVEKDISHA project run by Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University has taken up the following educational programmes:
* Spread of literacy through formal and non-formal methods
* Participative education
* Skill development
* Communicative English
* Value education—basic human values, social values
* Indian cultural and spiritual heritage
* Health awareness
* Co-curricular activities like music and drawing
* Computer education and training
* Multimedia applications
* Teacher education
* Awareness programme for e-governance

Telemedicine
Telemedicine technology makes it possible for doctors at a hospital or an Expert Centre to examine, advise and direct the treatment of patients in remote centres. The technology gives rural residents access to medical specialists who are not often available in remote areas. This saves the patient the cost of travelling to the doctor for advice and treatment and also allows family members to participate in the discussions. The specialist service may involve general diagnosis of disease, dermatology, orthopaedics, pathology etc. This technology can also be used to provide follow-up care for patients who have had surgical interventions. This service will also help the non-specialist and local doctors to gain advanced knowledge that would enable them to treat their patients better.

Breaking the digital divide in the rural front:
Swami Vivekananda was a unique modern saint in India who equated service of living beings, especially the poor and the downtrodden, with worship of the Divine. He stated boldly: 'He who sees Shiva in the poor, in the weak and the diseased, really worships Shiva; and … with him Shiva is more pleased than with the man who sees Him only in temples.' It was Swami Vivekananda who coined the word daridra-narayana to refer to the poor and the afflicted. Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University is making humble efforts to infuse in the youths this attitude and feeling for the poor and the underprivileged through the VIVEKDISHA project.

1. Knowledge as the catalyst:
   The catalyst for change and empowerment is information and knowledge. Access to relevant information gives people opportunities to develop and better their lives. In turn it helps family, society and the nation at large to strengthen the development process. Moreover, the ability to share information on a level playing field helps all to overcome barriers of isolation and encourages exchange and collaboration.
2. Growing teledensity in India:
   72% of India’s national population consists of people living in rural areas. However, it is a matter of pleasant wonder that the country now has nearly 581.81 million mobile phone users at the end of January 2010. The telecom sector is trying to emphasize affordability, focussing particularly on rural India. This will enable the country to bridge the teledensity gap between rural and urban India. India’s overall teledensity has reached 49.5% while the urban teledensity in India has crossed 100% in September 2009 and the rural teledensity has become 21.19% as on December, 2009.

Helping Integrated Rural Development: Our approach

• Spreading of quality literacy
• Crop advisory and disease forecasting services by experts
• Vocational training to sustainable development
• Technology transfer for increased crop production
• Low cost irrigation techniques
• Watershed management
• Knowledge empowerment of rural communities regarding various govt schemes
• Better horticultural and storage techniques
• Organic farming practices
• Herbal medicinal plants cultivation
• Composting methods

Ongoing Activities:

The regular transmission of various programmes through the VIVEKDISHA Centres has generated great enthusiasm besides opening up enormous possibilities for the all-round development of the locality in which these centres are situated. Programmes are transmitted from the University Expert Centre at Belur Math with unerring regularity.

Tele-education:
Salient Features of our programmes: Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Biology, Computer Science, Value Education and Communicative English for students of Classes six to ten are taught mostly through multimedia presentations i.e., through texts, pictures, animations, real visual clips, video recordings from laboratory or operation theatres.

1. Classes were held in Bangla, the local language of West Bengal, in an interactive mode for the benefit of several Vivekdisha Centres.
2. ICT tools like PC, laptop, LCD monitor, camera etc. are used to make the teaching-learning process not only more effective, but more joyful and fruitful as well.
3. Interactions and discussions give the learners certain inputs that take them to a slightly higher level than the classes in which they are presently studying.
4. The technique of tackling questions and the art of writing precise and relevant answers are also highlighted with examples.
5. Students are encouraged to ask questions till they gain a proper understanding of the topic under discussion.
6. Teachers from different institutions including colleges and universities are giving free service with great enthusiasm.
7. An eminent professor from the USA is conducting regular classes for the students of BSc Chemistry Honours of our College at Belur, and this has generated great interest and enthusiasm.
8. Constant feedback is being obtained from the different stakeholders and the needs of students are being continually re-evaluated. Accordingly the routine is framed and the time table modified/expanded by taking into account the students’ requirements.

The Promise of ICT in Tele-education: Our Experience

Our experience has been that ICT particularly has the potential to increase access to and improve the quality of education in the fields of science, Value Education and communicative English.

How can the use of ICTs help improve the quality of teaching in a virtual classroom?

Improving the quality of education and training is a critical issue, particularly at a time of educational expansion and rapid globalization. ICT-enhanced learning mobilizes tools for examination, calculation and analysis of information, thus providing a platform for students’ inquiry, analysis and construction of new information. Through ICT technology, learning becomes less abstract and more relevant to the learners’ life situation: therefore, learners learn as they do.

In this way, and in contrast to memorization-based or rote learning, ICT-enhanced learning promotes increased learner-engagement. ICT-enhanced learning is also “just-in-time” learning in which learners can choose what to learn when they need to learn it. ICT can help enhance and improve the teaching of science and communicative English in a virtual classroom—that is, through videoconference interaction—in the following ways:

1. Making the lessons more concrete: ICTs can be utilized to make teaching more concrete and hands-on than traditional instruction, which tends to convey abstract ideas through textbooks alone. Teaching of topics involving organ systems and real-life situations are cases in point.
2. Motivation to Learn: ICT facilitates a high level of interaction among students and the teacher with the aid of multimedia-based materials. Interactive multimedia provides challenging and authentic content that involves the student in the learning process and increases the student’s motivation to go deep into the subject with joy and enthusiasm.
3. A picture can say a hundred words: With the use of multi-coloured pictures, plenty of necessary information can be communicated to the learners. Moreover, this will enable them to grasp the idea without much stress, by showing, for example, pictures of different types of leaves, brain, heart, laboratory apparatus, atomic structures etc.
4. Achieving visual realism: Animation is one of the tools to be used in the teaching of life science in the classroom for achieving visual realism—for instance, in order to illustrate the cardiac cycle and ECG.
5. Interactive multimedia: ICT interactive multimedia technology provides a new form of document that can be ‘read’,’ written' and checked instantly.
6. Lesson plan development: Lesson plans can be developed in consulation with teachers at various centres through audio or video-conferencing.
7. Use of cognitive abilities and conative powers of students: ICT allows the learners to make full use of their own multiple cognitive abilities and conative powers. ICT-enhanced learning promotes a thematic, integrative approach to teaching and learning. This approach eliminates the artificial separation between the different disciplines and between theory and practice that characterizes the traditional classroom approach. The transmission of basic skills and concepts that are the foundation of higher order thinking skills and creativity can be facilitated by ICTs through drill and practice.
8. Practical demonstration of experiments or principles of mechanisms in virtual mode: Video clippings help the students to have the ideas of the working of scientific principles or machines or actual events e.g., experiments on Newton's Laws of motion, chromosomal movements, DNA replication etc.
9. Virtual dissection lab: With the use of computer-based software, virtual dissections of plant and animals can be done in the practical classes. Moreover, this will enable students to have an ample number of practice sessions without the need to kill animals or plants.
10. Re-viewing or re-listening of class discussions: ICT-based tools like digital camera would allow students to go through the lessons as many times as they need in order to grasp the ideas presented in the classes. Thus the learner is enabled to learn at his/her own pace.

Content Generation:

• For School and college education: Content generation is one of the key factors in teaching science, Value Education and communicative English. The contents published in print media cannot be updated in a short span of time, but in the case of ICT-based content, easy and swift revision and updating are made possible through circulation of content both to the learners and to other experts/professionals in the field of science teaching, Value Education and communicative English, who can make suggestions for updating information.

  To promote the attitude of participative and interactive teaching and learning and to use ICT tools effectively to achieve development goals, the content should be tailored to the particular needs of the users and relevant to the specific cultures and languages of targeted communities. This is a special need of the hour.

  The contents of the multimedia presentations of different science subjects were mostly developed in the local language of Bangla in order to fulfil the local need in West Bengal. Sometimes video clippings shown during the lessons were in English to help the students strengthen their command of that language while learning science subjects in an easy and entertaining manner. The content of the lessons was developed more or less according to the syllabus of the West Bengal Board or universities in West Bengal though the syllabi of other boards were consulted and relevant study materials were also incorporated. Care was also taken to motivate all types of students and to develop in them an inner urge to learn more and to grasp the ideas presented after careful thought. During the content development process, feedback and views were taken from experts in the relevant fields.

• For vocational training: Creation and updating of relevant content to suit local needs is a key factor in this programme. The information provided should be demand-driven and should be relevant to the day-to-day life and work of rural people. So we are trying to address the need for demand-driven and value-added information, which is time and location-specific. Keeping this in mind, documentary video films in the local language on different vocational subjects which are extremely relevant for rural mass like horticulture, mushroom culture, dairy, fishery etc have been collected from one of the Ramakrishna Mission branch-centres, which already specializes in these fields.

Telemedicine:

To serve the poor people as well as to provide better treatment practice to local doctors we have launched our telemedicine programme. The patients are regularly receiving homeopathic treatment from the Expert Centre at Belur Math. The medicines are also given at Khanakul and Sandeshkhali centres. Nearly 1050 patients have received benefits through this telemedicine programme. Specialist doctors on different occasions gave medical advices to patients stationed at Purulia and Cooch Behar in West Bengal.

Advisory Services:
Experts in the fields of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry are counselling and giving advice from our University and Ranchi centres to the common people of the village areas in Khanakul and Sandeshkhali in West Bengal as well as in parts of Jharkhand, to improve their cultivation methods and yield. The villages were also made aware of modern organic farming methods and taught about its effectiveness. At the hour of need, the expert from the Belur Math Expert Centre helped the farmers during the 2009 attack of late blight disease of potato.

Vocational Training:
A self-help group comprised of ladies has been trained in basic computer operations and some software applications to enable them to manage their own farms in a professional manner. They are receiving theoretical lessons through videoconferencing, while practical training is being imparted through computers present at the remote centre. Some school students also received computer training through this videoconferencing method from the University Expert Centre.

Value Education:
Inculcation of higher human values is one important objective of the VIVEKDISHA Project, particularly in the youth. Values imbibed and practised in one’s own life makes life valuable and living joyous. To inculcate the attitude of practising higher ideals in life and to influence young minds right from the school days, VIVEKDISHA has taken up this value education programme, which used multimedia presentations to illustrate Ramakrishna-Vivekananda teachings for students of various age groups, followed by a lively interactive session. Spiritual classes have also been conducted for youth and adults at various centres through videoconferencing from the Expert Centre at Belur Math.

Interaction with self-help groups: In response to Swami Vivekananda’s call for self-reliance and self-confidence, assistance to self-help groups for their livelihood and other developmental projects were offered. Expert advice on better skill development and marketing strategies was provided to the members of self-help groups of VIVEKDISHA Centre at Khanakul, West Bengal.

Participation in the Indian Youth Science Congress:

The conference was held from 5-7 June 2009 at the Rajiv Gandhi National Institute for Youth Development, Sriperumbudur, Chennai. In this conference on 6 June 2009, VIVEKDISHA Khanakul centre joined in the technical session through videoconferencing. They presented different aspects of agricultural prosperity and food security like home gardening for nutritional support, use of wild fruits and vegetables, and mixed cropping.

Expert Services:
VIVEKDISHA has been able to successfully provide expert services including online expert services by involving scholars and technical experts from around the globe to support our project with a diverse wealth of expertise, ideas and contacts. This online collaboration from experts and scholars from various parts of the globe is a valuable addition to our services under the VIVEKDISHA scheme. Among the scholars and experts who deserve special mention are the following:

1. Swami Shraddhamayananda, Head, RKM Dispensary, Belur Math
2. Swami Sevavratananda, Resident Doctor, Seva Pratishthan, Kolkata
3. Dr Tarasankar Pal, FNASc, Professor of Chemistry, IIT, Khargapur
4. Dr Sanku Mallik, Professor of Chemistry, North Dakota State University, USA
5. Mr Kris Dev, ICT & e-Gov consultant, (Manthan Awardee 2006), Life Line to Business, Chennai

Telemedicine:

At the expert centre at Belur Math on 27 May 2009, Swami Shraddhamayanandaji (Gopal Maharaj), Head of our Belur Math Dispensary, was offering the usual telemedicine services. On that day, a large number of patients affected by cyclone Aila had come to our VIVEKDISHA Centre at Sandeshkhali for treatment. All the patients interacted with the Doctor Swami and received his medical advice. Most of the patients were suffering from bruises, cuts, cold and cough, diarrhoea and stomach ailments. The medicines needed for the affected had to be purchased and sent immediately to Sandeshkhali. So we contacted the Belur Math Relief Department requesting financial assistance to purchase medicines to be sent to our Sandeshkhali centre. The relief Department gave their consent and the medicines were purchased and sent to the VIVEKDISHA Centre at Sandeshkhali on the very next day, i.e., on 29 May 2009. The medicines were distributed to nearly three hundred patients. As a follow up, medicines were again sent to our VIVEKDISHA Centre at Sandeshkhali for Aila victims on 9 June 2009 from our Expert Centre (the University) as per the medical advice of Swami Shraddhamayanandaji. So far we have been able to reach nearly 500 patients through our telemedicine service from our Belur Math Expert Centre.

Acknowledgements:
We express our deep gratitude to all who readily extended their academic or financial assistance to run this Development project. We hope the generous people will continue to support this noble cause and make Swami Vivekananda’s dream of a prosperous modern India a reality.