Monday, January 25, 2010 – Friday, January 29, 2010
In the developing world, education, or the lack of it, is a root cause of many other problems. Over population, disease, lack of sanitation, and crime are only some of a society’s vices that can be eliminated with the spread of literacy. Last week, as Twitter Social Enterprise of the Day, we picked organizations that are helping to spread education through innovative technological aids.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Social Enterprise of the Day – IL&FS English Seekho
Developed by IL&FS Education and Technology Services Ltd, English Seekho is a new revolutionary service to learn spoken English. It uses mobile telephony as a platform to reach the masses. English Seekho is a phone based tutor that allows one to pick up basic spoken English skills through quick and effective 5 minute lessons. This mobile course integrates the instructional technologies offered by a mobile phone into a learning experience for a user.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Social Enterprise of the Day – Educomp
Pioneering initiatives in the e-education space, Educomp Solutions Ltd. is one of India’s largest education companies, reaching over 26,000 schools and 15 million learners and educators across the world. Educomp works closely with schools, implementing innovative models and creating and delivering content to enhance student learning. Educomp has maintained a long, undiluted focus in the K-12 curriculum design and teacher education space. Its innovative applications and products have revolutionized the way information technology and the Internet are used to deliver new age learning to people.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Social Enterprise of the Day – Butterfly Fields
Butterfly Fields is an initiative to make learning enriching and enjoyable. The Butterfly Fields’ Team strongly feels that the career choice of an individual should be driven by passions and interests that are intrinsic to her rather than by any external influence. Essentially, Butterfly Fields believes in learning by doing. The entire program is comprised of various activities and experiences that are specifically designed to make a child understand underlying concepts and principles, and at the same time, to enjoy it. At Butterfly Fields, the child is placed in an atmosphere where she is made to work in a team, challenged to make decisions, asked to gather information, posed with questions, and encouraged to think laterally.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Social Enterprise of the Day – One Laptop per Child
“The mission of One Laptop per Child (OLPC) is to empower the children of developing countries to learn by providing one connected laptop to every school-age child. In order to accomplish our goal, we need people who believe in what we’re doing and want to help make education for the world’s children a priority, not a privilege.” The One Laptop per Child project provides a means for learning, self-expression, and exploration to the nearly two billion children of the developing world through the powerful XO laptop. The XO is a potent learning tool designed and built especially for children in developing countries, living in some of the most remote environments. It’s about the size of a small textbook. It has built-in wireless and a unique screen that is readable under direct sunlight for children who go to school outdoors. It’s extremely durable, brilliantly functional, energy-efficient, and fun.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Social Enterprise of the Day – Food For Education
The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a leading organization that addresses two of the most immediate challenges facing India – hunger and education – through its school lunch program. Akshaya Patra feeds one million underprivileged children daily in government run schools in India. A public-private partnership, Akshaya Patra combines good management, innovative technology and smart engineering to deliver school lunch at a fraction of the cost of similar programs in other parts of the world. For many of the children, this is their only complete meal for the day. This gives them an incentive to come to school and stay in school and provides them with the necessary nutrients they need to develop their cognitive abilities to focus on learning. By leveraging technology in cooking and delivery, Akshaya Patra has helped to build a global standard of supply chain efficiency. It has also put in place forward and backward linkages to ensure that procurement is done directly from the local farmers and delivered to the beneficiaries in the most cost-efficient manner.
