AIF is grateful for the generous support of the Prashant Fadia Foundation for making this series possible. For more information on AIF, stay tuned for our upcoming stories in the Lokvani series or visit www.aif.org

This March, the American India Foundation (AIF) was awarded with its third Dell Youth Connect grant for its Digital Equalizer (DE) program. The grant, in the amount of $712,000, will go towards ten existing and five new AIF/Dell Youth Connect classrooms in Delhi, Mohali, and Chennai. Additionally, part of the grant will go towards a third party evaluation of the Connect classrooms, which is part of DE. The additional funding for schools and the forthcoming evaluation will be very helpful for the continued success of the DE program and for helping poor students succeed in today’s digital world.

AIF's DIGITAL EQUALIZER PROGRAM

Shalini P. describes the day that the American India Foundation’s DE program delivered ten computers to her school as "a golden day in my life…where everything started to glitter." Shalini, a 9^th grade student at Sri Rajarajeshwari Vidya Mandira High School in Bangalore, had dreamed of working with computers since she was a young child. She used to envy her cousins when they came home with stories of the computer labs at one of Bangalore's more prestigious schools, and she prayed to God for an opportunity to learn computer skills herself. When the DE computer center made her dream world a reality, Shalini was inspired to take full advantage of the program and learn computer skills as fast as she could. Now, just one year later, Shalini is so confident in her new computer literacy that she can even train others.

Digital Equalizer is a learning program designed to bridge the educational and digital divide in India by using computers to prepare children in government schools to compete in the digital economy. Targeting children in grades six and above, DE provides computer and internet education to both students and teachers, who are trained to effectively use project-based learning methodologies in the classroom. The DE program is run by the American India Foundation, the leading U.S.-based philanthropy organization devoted to catalyzing social and economic change in India. Since its founding, AIF has benefitted more than 1.5 million people through its many programs and partnerships with Indian non-governmental organizations.  Despite rapid economic growth, India faces daunting challenges in providing equitable, high-quality education that adequately prepares youth for participation in the Digital Age. Children from economically disadvantaged communities like Shalini face significant barriers to accessing quality education, leaving them at a disadvantage to participate in the global economy compared to more privileged students.  

The DE program provides schools like Shalini's with a computer center in which teachers and students participate in computer-aided learning through integration of the school’s mandated curriculum. This improves subject matter expertise through the use of technology while teaching about technology at the same time. AIF’s DE program has two main models through which it operates. The “Full-Scale Demonstration model” is AIF funded for three years to demonstrate the program's effectiveness to the local community and government. Computers, teachers, and infrastructure costs are provided as part of this model. The “Large-Scale Partnership model” is also funded for three years but operates with state government partnership, where government investment in the hardware and other infrastructure needs meet the requirements of the DE program.  AIF provides teacher training, curriculum development, monitoring and evaluation and some of the ongoing staffing costs.  Since 2009, the DE program’s focus has shifted increasingly towards the quality of education in government schools, and a new, instructor-led teaching manual was rolled out during the 2009-2010 year. As the DE program grows, so too does the pedagogical and subject content that is delivered. The DE program employs over 150 staff members throughout India to ensure quality control, and thus far over 24,000 teachers and 750,000 students in more than 2000 schools across India to date have successfully been a part of AIF’s program.Evaluations of the program show that in DE schools, children’s learning was enhanced, students were more likely to use computers and the internet in their education, and teachers used computers at a much higher rate to design classroom projects. In 2009 the Punjab government's internal review found a statistically significant difference in math and science for middle school children in favor of schools that had introduced the DE program. Shalini's story demonstrates the positive effect of DE better than any statistics can, though. She credits DE with significant improvements to her Kannada spelling and especially to her English. She says of her school projects, "I can now easily read, understand and collect information from Internet to use them in my project development." Shalini's proudest achievement, however, was when she used her new-found confidence and abilities to train her older brother in basic computer skills. Now, through her determination to learn and help from AIF's Digital Equalizer program, Shalini has not only shaped her own future but has also provided her older brother with new career opportunities in the digital economy. AIF’s experience with DE shows that introducing a well-coordinated digital program in a school reaches far beyond access to computers and the internet. An educational model that is innovative, cost-effective, scalable, and sustainable can engage governments for the long term, persuade parents and communities to keep children in school, and inspire students.

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American India Foundation, is a venture philanthropy which supports more than 150 NGO’s in India through its grants and whose aim is to act as a catalyst to bring social and economic change in India. The local Boston chapter of AIF is led by a leadership council of Raj and Nalini Sharma and Venkat and Pratima Srinivasan who are also on its Board of trustees.

Says Saluni Fadia on this new partnership“I am  looking forward to working with all of you on this special journey with AIF and its varied efforts to bring so much HOPE to folks in India at various levels and through various programs.

Previous stories of AIF that appeared through this column

http://www.lokvani.com/lokvani/article.php?article_id=7062

 http://www.lokvani.com/lokvani/article.php?article_id=7087

http://www.lokvani.com/lokvani/article.php?article_id=7139

http://www.lokvani.com/lokvani/article.php?article_id=7148

http://www.lokvani.com/lokvani/article.php?article_id=7193

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