IBM launches KidSmart program

BANGALORE: IT Secretary for the Karnataka Government Vivek Kulkarni launched the IBM KidSmart Early Learning Program, which is a community initiative for pre school students from the economically backward sectors of the country. Part of a global initiative on the part of IBM, the program is directed at students in the age group of three to seven years to give them a head start on their academic development through the use of age appropriate software developed by the company.

"The program works through Young Explorer consoles, with pre loaded software, which have been specially designed for children and have been imported for the initiative. Around 250 of these have already been distributed in 44 schools in 16 states in India. Another 250 will be donated by the end of the year to reach close to 10000 children," said IBM India MD Abraham Thomas. He explained that the objective of the program is three fold — to provide technology to the economically weaker or disadvantaged section of the society, bridge the digital divide and to make education or learning more fun.

The units are designed with colorful furniture, printers and other educational materials. According to the company, the software developed by IBM focuses on reading and writing skills, numbers and assists children in concept formation and self directed learning. The units are said to have been distributed in a wide range of schools including aanganwadis, government schools, corporation schools, army schools and trust run schools. Around 150 of the units have been deployed in Karnataka alone while other states like Punjab, Haryana, MP and Tamil Nadu.

The KidSmart program also looks at providing training to the teachers in the schools for more efficient propagation of the use of the systems among the students. The program which is only available in English at the moment will be added on to in the future with local language software and other relevant customization.

(Cyber News Service)