National Education

Grid
as Knowledge
Infrastructure for
Education and Open
Learning

Proposal presented to
National Knowledge Commission
by K.R. Srivathsan
director@iiitmk.ac.in
About IIITM-K: IT for Social Sector,
Science & Technology

IT: The Technology IT for Social Sector

Computers, Education, Agriculture,
Networks, Systems, Health, Water
Resources, Trade,
Devices, Systems Environment,
Software … E-Governance,…

ITES, SW Services IT in S&T, R&D

BPOs, Business Datawarehouses,
Computational
Solutions Sciences, Knowledge
Transcription, Management, CAD,
Call Centers, ERP CAM, Entrepreneurship
 IIITM-K: Leader in Information
Systems
and Portals
• www.iiitmk.ac.in - Institute
• www.edugrid.ac.in - Education Grid
• www.compchem.in - Computational
Chemistry
• www.kissankerala.net - KISSAN -
Kerala
• www.tvmcitypolice.org -
Trivandrum City Police Portal for
Community Interaction.
• www.vuatkerala.org - Virtual Univ.
for Agri. Trade
• www.e-krishi.org - Agri. Trade
 On Technology Enhanced
Learning & Teaching
1. All of our educational institutions – universities,
colleges, schools to absorb effective use of TELT.
2. E-Content, Course Management, Digital Learning
Resources, Scientific Databases, E-Journals and
Publications, E-Discussion Forums, Advanced
Computing access, multimedia, remote classrooms
– as part of colleges’ educational systems.
3. Instructional processes management, learning
management, teacher support systems, continuing
education at all levels, just-in-time and on-demand
learning needs, virtual institutions formed by
collaborating institutions – all will need high tech
support systems.
 A View of ICT Requirements in
Education & Research
Terrestrial
Broadband and
EDUSAT
Network

Synchronous Asynchronous
Interactive Knowledge
Classroom Interaction
Environment Environment

Regional Network

Computati Streami Scienti Software, IP Library

onal ng fic &
Server(s) Services Portal( E-Publications
E-Learning & ERP & s) Security &
Management
E- Library Manage Access Control
ment Management
Systems far too complex for most institutions to handle
 Establish Edugrid Centers for Communities of local colleges
Malcolm Baldridge Parameters
of Excellence in Education
Management
 Visionary Leadership
 Learning-Centred Education
 Organizational and personal learning
 Valuing faculty, staff and partners
 Agility
 Focus on the future
 Public responsibility and citizenship
 Focus on results and creating value
 Systems perspective
 Education Grid will build a
supportive learning ecosystem
across all universities,
institutions and colleges that
help them achieve the above
 Education Grid: Vision &
Opportunity
VISION FOR NKC?: “Enable, Educate and
Empower Every Citizen and Community
through Knowledge”.
“Quality Education to all Independent of
Geography”
The Opportunity and the need:
a) Broadband fast moving in. All institutions will
soon be over broadband; SWAN, Mission-2007…
b) Increasing availability of open source, systems,
open courseware and web-accessible resources
c) Education Grid - one click away for any
competent teacher, learner or institution who
seeks knowledge empowerment.
 Need for servicing the complex systems and
tremendous capacity building in institutions and
people.
 What is an Education Grid?
1. Network supporting educational Services
across colleges
2. Resource Centres in premier institutions.
3. Develop and maintain pedagogically
sound refereed courseware in identified
subjects.
4. Subject specific Portals as Course
Knowledge and Collaboration Space.
5. Dev. & Deploy Scientific & Comp.
Portals backed by PG Schools
6. Introduce an IT facilitation layer in the
University/ Higher Education System.
 Governed by quality management of
Content, supported Learning and
Teacher Training Processes.
Ack.: Geoffrey Fox, Indiana U Typical Science Grid
Service such as Research
Database or simulation
Science Grids
Bioinformatics Integrated in to the EduGrid
Campus or Comp. Chemistry through web services.
Enterprise Particle Physics Conte
Administrative Earth Science ……. nt
Grid Publis
her
Learning Management Grid
or LMS Grid Education Grid
Student/Parent …
Digital Community Grid
Library
Grid School of Continuing
Education ? Education
Teacher
Educator
Grids

Education Grid as a Grid of Grids: Will NKC fund establishing

such national knowledge infrastructure?
 NPTEL over Education Grid
 Under the National Programme on
Technology Enhanced Learning, the
IITs and IISc have produced
pedagogically effective/useful
content in ~230+ courses.
 IITs have established facilities for
ongoing production of sophisticated
content.
 Rich open e-courseware from other
sources like the MIT-OCW, OUW-UK,
many leading universities of the
world.
 How do we deploy these content in
the colleges in ways that enhance
the quality of education?

Managing Quality Educational
Processes using Technology
Enhanced Learning and Teaching
LEAD A GRAND
NATIONAL QUALITY

Learning
Ambience
Quality
MOVEMENT IN
EDUCATION

Quality Quality
Instruction TE
Efforts by
By Teachers LT
Students

Resources
 Need to build Quality
Learning Resources
and Processes that
address Quality.
 Objectives of Quality
Education
 To make our graduates EMPLOYABLE.
 To be PRODUCTIVE ON THE JOB and in
LIFE.
 To observe REAL WORLD PROBLEMS,
abstract the issues and apply what they
Foundations,
have learnt and their innate sense to
Concepts,
solve them. Contextual
Skills
Three dimensions of
 Quality
Employable Graduates.
Instruction Professional Self-development
needs teamwork Competence, Responsibility,
Accountability
and effective Maturity
management
NKC TO PROMOTE THE GRAND
NATIONAL K-INFRASTRUCTURE
Resou
rce
Centre
3
Scient Colleg
Colleg
ific e2
e1
Portal
Communication s Colleg
Gateway & e3
Resource Centre
National Regional
ERNET Broadband
& & EDUSAT Resource
EDUSAT Centre 2
Services
Network Computat
Network Program ional
s Servers
Coordina
tion Colleg Colleg
Centre
Supports all types of en Resourc e 4
open learning and e Centre
classroom learning. 1
E- Learners anywhere
Learning
ical Grid: Needs advanced IIITM-K builds
hnologies and competencies such grids in
k.: G. Fox, IU) open framework.
Porta
User l
Re-use Services Servi
ces

Application Application
Application Application
Customization Service
Service Service
Libraries

Middleware
Syste Syste Syste
m m m
Servi Servi Servi
Re-use ces ces ces
“Core”
Grid Raw (HPC)
Resources Databases
EXAMPLE: COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY PORTAL
of IIITM-K
Research Colleges Universities
Communities R&D Labs
National/

Gateway & LAN

International

IIT Madras
Collaborations High-end
Computer

/
ce l
vi ne
Open Learning INTERNET

er n
-s Tu
& Continuing

eb re
Proxy

W cu
Education

Se
User

IP
Industries Agent

Linked IIITM-K/Education Grid Linked

Software & Gateway & Web-server Chemical /
Computation Molecular
al Resources Databases
Digital Library, Web Services
Mini Content
Open Archives & Brokering &
Computer Authentication & LMS
E-Publications
Services
Ensure TELT as Facilitation Layer
as K-Infrastructure for colleges
Course Processes
Instruction planning and
Evaluation Scheduling

Education Facilitation Layer Functi

Grid TELT Environment ons

Infrastructure &
Administration

Today Universities must recognize TELT as part of

Learning Infrastructure
Upgrade capacity of every institute / university
college to absorb TELT and use it in their in house
and open learning activities.
 Educational Grid: Technology
Enhanced Collaborative Learning
Environment in Every Subject

Mentors, College
Referees & Students &
Experts Teachers

Course Knowledge
and Collaboration
Space

Content
Course related Inputs, Course
World, specific Digital
Industry Library, Links
Learning &
Instructional
Excellence
 Education Grid: Distributed
Information & Collaboration
Architecture
Advanced Web-Tech based Servers
Resource
College R&D College n Institute
1

* *
Digital Library and Resources

Content Development and Collaboration Space Experts

,
Mentor
Learning Management Space – one for each course s
Course
Administration

Automated Grid concepts developed at IIITM-K.

 Get each course supported by industry for sustaining the
above collaborative environment.
 Quality Learning
Environment of

Tacit-Explicit Interplay
At the end of a learning effort, a Learner
should be able to say ‘I understand’ 
Add to his/her Tacit capabilities.
People’s
Competenci
T
E Codified
es, A
X Knowledge
Communicat C
P and
ions, L I Processes
I
Feelings, T accessible
Intuitions,C over the
Social I net,
interactionsT paper…

People’s Global
Real World networked
Informatio
n and
computatio
 Build Instructional Cycle into Content
(Merrill’s PBL Model)

2. Activation of
1. Motivation cognitive process

Next Module

3. Learning from
past experience
5. Challenges

4. Application

Need to go much beyond syllabus, classes,

cookbooks, tests and marks
LAUNCH GRAND THRUSTS IN
SCIENTIFIC PORTALS & KNOWLEDGE
SERVICES SECTORS OVER EDUGRID
R&D
INDUST
Organizations
Govt. RY
Organizations
Premier
Instituti SCIENTIFIC &
ons COMPUTATIONAL
U
K- PORTALS S
ACCESS
Service & INTERACTION E
s
Data PORTALS R
Sources
S
Organizatio UNIVERSI
ns
Knowledge TIES
K-
Services AGGREGATION
Postgradu
ate INTERFACE
 Example: Agriculture
Farm Inputs Info Services
Suppliers

TRADERS APEDA Etc.

ASSOCIATION
VALIDATION &
EDITING
Kerala
MASTER F
Agri.
AGGREGATION A
Univ. R
PORTAL PRESENTATION
& INTERACTION M
Commodity PORTLETS E
Boards R
Farm Info.
S
Dir. of Bureau
K-
Agriculture AGGREGATION
Research
Institutions INTERFACE
Education Grid supports Virtual
K-Enterprises
Inputs: Group/Virtual
Knowledge
Information, Decisions &
Enterprise
Requests, Action Out
Observations People’s world
Web accessed area
Information
Group
Global to other
Workflow
Groups
Data Processes
Group
Knowledge Process Capture
&
&
Communications
Computing
Business Model
Base
and Services
Collecti Excellence
ons
 KNOWLEDGE RESOURCE &
LEARNING CENTERS
 Institutions to fulfil Public Responsibility
Functions: Open Education on demand.
 E-Learning and Teacher Training Resource
Centers.
 To host Scientific Portals and Open
Computational Servers.
 To act as KNOWLEDGE SERVICES
CENTRES backed by Postgraduate Schools.
 Recognise and reward efforts in quality

education and educational processes and

knowledge services.
 How do we build such grand K-
Infrastructure?
 Propose a referral Advanced Informatics
Development Agency (AIDA - to be hosted
at IIITM-K?) as the coordinating agency.
 Like the way ADA coordinates in mission
mode LCA related developments across
multiple agencies.
 AIDA may function as the hub of NKC’s
National Knowledge Mission and
K-Infrastructure.
 There will be many advanced informatics
centres of specialized areas in leading
institutions, universities and R&D
organizations associated with the AIDA.
 “Virtual Institute of Science,
Technology and Arts”: VISTA over
Education Grid (promote virtual institutions
on need basis)
Experts
from VISTA
Academic, Programs
R&D, Manageme
Training nt,
Institution
s
LEARNER
S
Community Datacentres Anywher
AIDA/IIITM-K E-content, systems, e
Education Grid college portals,
to help build & Computational Portals,
service etc.
Establish the Grand VISTA
Collaborations over Education
Grid Facilitated by AIDA
VISTA = Virtual Campus + Formal
Education, Collaborative Research and
Open Learning Programs
Advanced Academic and
Informatics Research
Development Institutions in
Agency diverse fields

Virtual Campus ‘Knowledge Bus’

 Such Learning Ecosystems already

piloted in IIITM-K.
 AIDA ROLE
Under
Postgraduate Studies, collaboration
Research and across premier
Training institutions

Education
Grid AIDA ADVANCED
INFORMATICS
Development Inter-institutional R&D
& Servicing K-Mission
programs Knowledge
coordination Services for
Agriculture,
KNOWLEDGE Health,
OPEN LEARNING
EMPOWERMENT Education,
PROGRAMS
PROGRAMS Development
[VISTA]
… etc.

 Different Programs launched and

coordinated in Mission Mode.
 Gordon Moore, “Education is our Achilles Heel”.
 It is about time we REINVENT THE EDUCATION
SYSTEM with FREEDOM OF THOUGHT, OPEN
LEARNING, OPEN DATA ACCESS AND OPEN
COMPUTING!
 Build the Grids of Grids: Grid Computing, Grid
Accessed Computing, Data Grid & Scientific
Portals, Information and Knowledge Sharing Grid.
 Make the Grids support KNOWLEDGE INTENSIVE
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES.
 Involve college youth and postgraduate in
development.
 Restore the Joy of Learning and the Dignity of
Scholarship.
 AN OFFER OR A REQUEST ?
 IIITM-K is the most ready institute in India
to host the AIDA operational centre.
 About to get 10 Acres in Technopark – just
25 mts. From Trivandrum Int’l. Airport –
ready to host AIDA.
 Education Grid and AIDA as the mission
coordination agency provide the best
enabling approach for rolling NKC’s plans.
Peter Drucker: “Knowledge has become the key economic resource
and the dominant - and perhaps even the only source of
competitive advantage."
THANK YOU
 References
Available for download from
www.edugrid.in
1. “Management of Refereed content generation
and utilization in formal education.”
2. “Future ICT Infrastructure for Education.”
3. “Concurrent Instructional Services over NPTEL
content for quality education in the
engineering colleges.”
4. Go also to NPTEL website:
http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/
T OGETHER
E VERYONE
A CHIEVES
M ORE