Web4All - Your place in cyber SPACE

Insight personnel conducted a seminar on the importance of accessible technology in the society at Students Centre, Kerala University, Thiruvananthapuram, on 16 March 2011. A presentation on the enterprises of Insight at making technology accessible to the differently abled was also held. The seminar was part of a five-day workshop on ‘Science Communication through Folk Media’. The aim of the workshop was to introduce science to common people using folk media. The workshop that was inaugurated on 12 March 2011 was organized by Swadeshi Science Movement, a swadeshi movement for the promotion of science and technology in India.

As part of SPACE's continued efforts to build technical support for GNU/Linux in Kerala, a workshop was organised in Malappuram district on 12 March 2011. 30 hardware vendors participated in the workshop. They were introduced to desktop features and networking in GNU/Linux. The workshop also provided installation and trouble shooting tips to the vendors. The workshop was organised in partnership with the All Kerala IT Dealers Association (AKITDA)

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Insight has released the 13th volume of Swaram, an audio magazine for the visually challenged. The new version is yet another attempt at making information accessible to the sightless in an amusing manner. Swaram 13 can be listened to online at http://swaram.web4all.in/. One can also request a free copy of the audio magazine. Please refer here for contact details.

With the IGNOU examination held on 24 February 2011, the classes for the seventh batch of Communication and Soft Skill Development came to a close at the Insight centre in Vellayambalam. Twenty visually challenged participants of the Insight training programme, that began on 3 January 2011, gave the test. Prof. T U K Menon, programme-in-charge officer, IGNOU, oversaw the exam procedures.

Teachers of Government U P School, Nemom, had a first taste of accessible technology for children with special needs at a workshop conducted by Insight. The one-day workshop was held on 31 January 2011 at the school. The teachers were introduced to the rudiments of Gcompris, an educational suite for children, customized by Insight to adapt to the needs of special children. Insight also helped the school to assemble an Integrated Education lab for children with mental health difficulties.

The computer training programme conducted by Insight at Kerala Federation of the Blind (KFB) office in Thiruvananthapuram came to a gainful close with an exam on 18 January 2011. The course that began on 5 January 2011 was attended by 35 visually challenged people from various parts of the state. Most of the participants were above the age of 40. The highpoint of the programme was that majority of the students had minimal formal education. One among them had never attended school. Though he learned the keys, he had no idea what to type but could effectively make use of various other applications. To the participants, computers were a new channel for communication and learning. On the concluding day they expressed their willingness to learn more about the technology.

Around 175 Akshaya entrepreneurs were given an account of the activities and programmes implemented by Insight at Vanashree Building, Forest Office in Thiruvananthapuram on 11 January 2011. The talk and demonstration was held in association with the monthly meet of Akshaya entrepreneurs. Dr. B Sukumar, regional director, IGNOU, Dr. C K Peethambaran, E-Krishi consultant, Sri. Unnikrishnan, KNRK administrative officer and Sri. Reju Tomlal, district coordinator, Akshaya, were the guests at the function. Representatives of Intel, Axis bank and Western Union also took part.

Honorable Leader of the Opposition Sri Oommen Chandi inaugurated the computer training programme for the visually challenged provided by Insight at Kerala Federation of the Blind (KFB) on 5 January 2011. The course would be held at KFB state office in Thiruvananthapuram.The opposition leader, during his inaugural speech, vouched to do his best for the progress of visually challenged people in the state. Sri Happy Kumar Kunnukuzhi, Deputy Mayor, City Corporation and Smt Mary Pushpam, Kunnukuzhy ward councillor were also present at the event.

The seventh batch of Communication & Soft Skill Development course for the visually challenged started at Insight centre in Vellayambalam on 3 January 2011. In addition to classes on effective communication, training in ICT tools is also provided as part of the course. The participants are 20 visually challenged students from various districts in Kerala.

http://republicofmath.wordpress.com/2011/01/01/happy-mathematical-new-year-2011-is-the-sum-of-11-consecutive-prime-numbers/

The interesting observation in the above post is that, 2011 is a sum of 11 consecutive prime numbers

2011=157+163+167+173+179+181+191+193+197+199+211

Thanks Rajmohan mash to pointing this

Check http://maanumberaday.blogspot.com/2010/12/2011.html to read some
more information on 2011

ഹരിതവിദ്യാലയം റിയാലിറ്റി ഷോയില്‍ പങ്കെടുക്കാന്‍ സ്കൂളില്‍ നിന്നും പതിമൂന്നംഗ ടീം ഞായറാഴ്ച തിരുവനന്തപുരത്തേക്ക് യാത്ര തിരിക്കുന്നു. മികച്ച പ്രകടനത്തിനായി പ്രാര്‍ത്ഥനയോടെ ഐടി ക്ലബ്ബ്.

Insight had the honour to host Dr. R. K. Srivastava, Director General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India, on 4 December 2010. He visited the new Insight centre and reviewed the facilities here. Dr. Srivastava took keen interest in learning about the activities and functioning of Insight. He commended Insight for its efforts and gave recommendations on means to widen the scope of the project. The luminary said that Insight should try for association with similar institutions.

Kerala Chief Minister Sri. V. S. Achuthanandan inaugurated the new Insight centre at Kumarpuram in the district on 3 December, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. The new centre houses an activity lab for children with special needs and a vocational centre and audio library for visually challenged people.

In his inaugural address, the CM remarked that Kerala was one of first states to initiate IT projects for the benefit of children with special needs. He said that the government was working on various schemes to expand the scope of IT for the advantage of all sections of the society. IT Principal Secretary Dr. Ajay Kumar I A S inaugurated the vocational centre. Dr. Ajay Kumar lauded the efforts of IT Mission at providing education and employment for the differently abled. Ms. Ishitha Roy, Director, Kerala State IT Mission, was also present.

Insight launched the activity lab for children with special needs in the year 2009. The setting up of a new centre is a part of Insight’s initiative to expand and extend its activities so that more children would be able to avail the facility. Insight makes use of various free educational software packages to enhance the communicative and creative abilities of the children. Insight trains children who are visually challenged, autistic, children with cerebral palsy, learning disabilities and other mental health difficulties.

The vocational centre for the visually challenged aims to employ participants of the Insight training programme. Insight intends to procure IT based jobs outsourced by firms. IT Mission has agreed to provide the centre its first job contract. Insight vocational centre will work on the digitization of copyright-expired Malayalam books, a part of IT Mission’s Malayalam Computing project. The digital image capturing device required for the process will be provided by C-DIT. The audio library for the visually challenged is another remarkable feature of the new centre. The library comprises more than a 100 audio books in English and Malayalam languages. This library is the first of its kind in the country.

Seventeen participants of the Insight training programme attended the exam conducted by IGNOU on 30 November 2010. The exam was supervised by Prof. T. U. K. Menon, programme-in-charge officer, IGNOU. The university will issue a certificate for those who clear the test.

A workshop on accessible technology for the visually challenged, developed by Insight, was conducted at International Institute for Social Entrepreneurs (IISE), Vellayani, on 23 November 2010. IISE is the brainchild of Braille Without Borders, an international organization working for the empowerment of the blind. The one-day workshop was attended by 15 participants of different nationalities of the IISE training programme. The Insight team delivered talks on Swaram, a Malayalam Text-To-Speech software, and OCR Insight, an application used to read text in English. This was followed by demonstrations on the working of these applications. The participants of the workshop were highly receptive to the concepts presented. During the interaction they enquired about the feasibility to develop similar software in their native languages. The workshop ended on a fruitful note with the attendees appreciating the efforts of Insight at making technology accessible to the visually challenged.

Insight is braced up for yet another training programme for the visually challenged. But this time there are no new faces as the training is being conducted for our former students who were not able to appear for the IGNOU exams. The training is being given to revive their knowledge in free software and other ICT tools. The certificate course by Insight, tailor-made for the visually challenged, was approved by IGNOU in February 2010. Nearly 75 Insight students have given the IGNOU exams so far. The current batch of participants will attend the test after completion of the one-month course. Insight is planning to start an elaborate training session for a fresh batch of students by the end of December.

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വായനശാല.

ഒരു നല്ല ഗ്രന്ഥശാല ഒരു യഥാര്‍ത്ഥ സര്‍വകലാശാലയാണ്. –കാര്‍ലൈല്‍

വായന.

വായ‌നപോലെ ചെലവുചുരുങ്ങിയ മറ്റൊരു വിനോദവുമില്ല. അതില്‍ നിന്നുണ്ടാകുന്ന ആനന്ദംപോലെ നീണ്ടുനില്‍ക്കുന്ന മറ്റൊരു ആനന്ദവുമില്ല.

— ലേഡി മോണ്‍ടേഗ്.

സാമ്രാജ്യാധിപനായിരുന്നില്ലെങ്കില്‍ ഒരു ഗ്രന്ഥശാലാ സൂക്ഷിപ്പുകാരനായിരിക്കാനാണ് എനിക്കിഷ്‌ഠം.

— നെപ്പോളിയന്‍.

ശരീരത്തിന് വ്യായാമം എങ്ങനെയോ അതുപോലെയാണ് വായന മനസ്സിന്.

— റിച്ചാര്‍ഡ് സ്റ്റീല്‍.

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ലൈബ്രറി

എല്ലാ പ്രവര്‍ത്തി ദിവസവും രാവിലെ 9.30 മുതല്‍ 10.30 വരെയും ഉച്ചയ്ക്ക് 1.30 മുതല്‍ 2.30 വരെയും സ്കൂള്‍ ലൈബ്രറി പ്രവര്‍ത്തിക്കുന്നതാണ്.

അപേക്ഷാ ഫോം വിതരണവും പൂരിപ്പിച്ച അപേക്ഷാ ഫോം സ്വീകരിക്കലും കാര്‍ഡ് വിതരണവും 9.30 മുതല്‍ 10.30 വരെ മാത്രമേ ഉണ്ടായിരിക്കുകയുള്ളൂ.

1.30 മുതല്‍ 2 മണിവരെ പുസ്തകവിതരണം മാത്രമേ ഉണ്ടായിരിക്കുകയുള്ളൂ.

കുട്ടികള്‍ എടുത്ത പുസ്തകവും ലൈബ്രറി കാര്‍ഡും അധ്യാപകരെ കാണിച്ചു ബോധ്യപ്പെടുത്തിയ വായനക്കുറിപ്പ് എഴുതിയ നോട്ടുബുക്കും പുസ്തകമെടുക്കുന്ന ദിവസം രാവിലെ 9.30 മുതല്‍ 10.30 വരെയുള്ള സമയത്ത് ലൈബ്രറിയില്‍ ഏല്‍പ്പിക്കേണ്ടതാണ്. (ക്ലാസ് ലീഡറുടെ സഹായം തേടാവുന്നതാണ്).

ലൈബ്രറി

എല്ലാ പ്രവര്‍ത്തിദിവസവും രാവിലെ 9.30 മുതല്‍ 10.30 വരെയും ഉച്ചയ്ക്ക് 1.30 മുതല്‍ 2.30 വരെയും റീഡിംഗ് റൂം തുറന്ന് പ്രവര്‍ത്തിക്കുന്നതായിരിക്കും.ഈ സമയം റഫറന്‍സ് സൗകര്യവുമുണ്ടായിരിക്കും.

1.30 മുതല്‍ 2 മണിവരെയുള്ള പുസ്തകവിതരണം നടക്കുന്ന സമയത്ത് റഫറന്‍സിനായിവരുന്ന കുട്ടികള്‍ അതതു വിഷയങ്ങളിലുള്ള അധ്യാപകരുടെ സഹായംകൂടി തേടേണ്ടതാണ്.

SPACE conducted a two day workshop on ICT and New Media for NGOs on 29-30 October 2010 at Thiruvananthapuram. The workshop was organised with the cooperation of KAVAL, a network of NGOs in Kerala. Members from 12 organisations participated in the workshop.
 

മികച്ച അധ്യാപകനുള്ള ഈ വര്‍ഷത്തെ സംസ്ഥാന അവാര്‍ഡ് നേടിയ ഷംസുദ്ദീന്‍ സാറിന് അഭിനന്ദനങ്ങള്‍.