A television channel for the students by the students — the channel named “Vidya Vision” that the students and faculty at the Ernakulam Girls' High School plan to launch by the second week of September could be best described this way.
Transmission
Thoughts over the prospective avenues for the utilisation of a handycam, which the school received as part of the IT@School project, led to the concept of a channel. The school has plans to organise news reading sessions and telecast it to the classrooms. The news reading will be held at the multi media room and transmitted to all 14 high school divisions through television sets placed in classrooms.
“We now have only four out of the 14 television sets required. We are hoping that someone would come forward to sponsor the rest,” said Sushamakumari, master trainer of the IT@School project and a faculty member of the Girls' High School.
Training in news reading has also been planned as part of the venture. With so many television channels around it makes sense to identify talent with news reading skills and to train them in that profession, Ms. Sushamakumari said.
Besides, the announcements by the school principal, which at present are done during the morning assembly sessions, could be relayed using the facility.
The handycam has a changeover switch for the camera and to connect it to a VCD player, and the television. This means that lectures meant for more than one class could be shot using the camera and then transmitted to every classroom using the television sets. Similarly educational CDs could be played and taken to each class room with out bringing students to a common classroom which poses logistical problems. Plans to can in-house programmes of students and to transmit them to classroom are also thought of.
Cabling
The project won the accolades of a UNESCO team which visited the school in May. The team which was looking for unique ICT projects in schools was impressed by the idea of a channel, a trial run of which was conducted before them. The initial Rs. 15,000 given to the school under the IT@School project as part of the visit of the UNESCO team made up the working capital of the school for the project.
“We have completed the cabling work in six classrooms and the staff room using that fund. Cable work for the rest of the classrooms is pending,” Ms. Sushamakumari said. The Parent-Teachers' Association has also been very helpful in the project.
