[OLPC India] Digitizing Primary school textbooks for OLPC, India

Harshal Jawale hjawale at gmail.com
Thu Apr 29 07:49:55 EDT 2010


Thanks Trilok!

I have seen the NCERT site but did not find Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil,  
Telugu etc languages on it.

Also I do not think the navigation is intuitive - for e.g. When I saw  
only two pages in the first PDF, I thought it was a sample PDF.

In my opinion, the structure was probably designed for dialup access.

Btw, the first set of Marathi primary textbooks are being shipped for  
scanning.

We are looking for volunteers to buy & ship textbooks in other  
languages. Costs will be reimbursed (thanks to few sponsors) after the  
textbooks reach Chennai.

Warm Regds,

Harshal

-- Sent from a handheld device --

On Apr 29, 2010, at 4:33 AM, Trilok Khairnar <trilokgk at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> The textbooks are available on NCERT website, although as a  
> collection of chapters that need to be downloaded separately and not  
> as entire PDFs.
> These PDFs can be downloaded and then placed on school servers, XOs.
>
> Regards,
> Trilok
>
> On Mon, Apr 26, 2010 at 11:39 PM, Harshal Jawale <hjawale at gmail.com>  
> wrote:
> Update on content digitization:
>
> Based on the tests done with various formats - we have come to a  
> conclusion that 72dpi scanned PDF format is the optimum format  
> (quality & file size) for digitizing primary school textbooks (Stds  
> I to IV). The subjects are - Balbharati (reading), Math, Sciences,  
> History/Geography.
>
> I am trying to get a few volunteers to mail Marathi primary school  
> textbooks to Soundar.
>
> We are requesting primary textbooks for other Indian languages  
> including Hindi, Gujarathi, Kanada, Telugu, Bengali, Oriya, Urdu,  
> Tamil (the syllabus is changing so this is on hold) etc.
> The books need not be brand new but should not be torn and should  
> not have any scribblings on the pages.
>
> Anyone interesting in helping gathering primary school textbooks  
> from your neighbourhood kids etc and mailing it to Soundar?
>
> His mailing address is :
> M.Soundara Pandian
> eAccess
> New No.42, Old No.2,
> Vellalar Street, Near Best Hospital,
> Kodambakkam,Chennai - 600 024
>
> We plan to package them as Collections so that children will have  
> access to the textbooks on the XO itself.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Harshal
>
>
>
>   1. Re: Digitizing Primary school textbooks for OLPC, India
>      (Harshal Jawale)
>   2. (no subject) (Soundar)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 6 Apr 2010 20:22:20 -0700
> From: Harshal Jawale <hjawale at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [OLPC India] Digitizing Primary school textbooks for
>        OLPC, India
> To: India at lists.laptop.org
> Message-ID:
>         
> <z2s4bac79531004062022x9018d581n5eb24d37137fa17b at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Agreed Sameer. Now that Soundar has shown interest in doing textbook  
> scans -
> I think we should open this for inputs from others.
>
> To keep this discussion streamlined and focused, I would like to  
> suggest
> following discussion points:
>
>   1. To facilitate digitization of primary school textbooks, Soundar  
> has
>   offered his services to scan and digitized textbooks so that they  
> can be
>   used on OLPC. There are two formats which look attractive,
>
>   a) HTML - as Sameer rightly points out, its easy to keep these on  
> school
>   servers. For this we would just need image scans of the pages. The  
> images
>   would need to be optimized to reduce the file sizes. Also, these  
> would need
>   to be packaged so that the HTML navigation can be incorporated using
>   Javascript or simple hyperlinks.
>
>   b) PDF - this is the easy option and can also be kept on the school
>   server.
>
>   Thoughts? This is pilot test so lets keep it simple without  
> getting into
>   painful technical discussions.
>
>   2. Can someone check on copyright & legal aspects of scanning  
> primary
>   school textbooks? Can the scans be used for educational purpose?  
> If not,
>   what approvals are needed and from whom?
>
>   3. Soundar, since you are based in Chennai, can you take couple of  
> Std 1
>   textbooks from your local schools? Try to find a kid you know and  
> borrow the
>   textbook for scanning. Please scan in JPG as well as PDF format.  
> We do not
>   need them to be 'editable'
>
>   4. Once we do a pilot scan, then we can check if volunteers across  
> India
>   can help to collect primary school textbooks in local languages to  
> be sent
>   to Soundar who can then scan them for XO.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Harshal
>
> On Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 6:37 PM, Sameer Verma <sverma at sfsu.edu> wrote:
>
> > On Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 4:20 PM, Harshal Jawale <hjawale at gmail.com>  
> wrote:
> > > Hello Soundar,
> > >
> > > Thank you for your email and interest in helping out OLPC.
> > >
> > > Here's what I think:
> > >
> > > The biggest shortcoming of OLPC in India (& elsewhere) is the  
> lack of
> > > content. Ofcourse, it has built-in activities and tools etc but  
> when it
> > > comes to learning for exams, how can it help the children? I do  
> not have
> > a
> > > clear understanding of it.
> > >
> > > This is where you can provide immense value and help.
> > >
> > > The idea is very simple -
> > > Digitize textbooks of Std 1 to 4 (primary school) for OLPC. And,  
> to start
> > > with, you can focus on Science, Maths and one language.
> > >
> > > Most of the syllabus and curriculum is determined by the State  
> Govts. -
> > in
> > > many cases, the Govt publishes the textbooks and heavily  
> subsidizes it
> > for
> > > primary students.
> > > Now, if instead of carrying paper textbooks, if these kids had  
> it all on
> > > their XO or could access it using the XO- it changes the whole  
> equation
> > on
> > > how the XO gets used! The students don't need to carry any books  
> at all.
> > >
> > > Do you think you have the capacity to softcopy (digitize)  
> textbooks from
> > Std
> > > 1 to 4 for 10 major Indian Languages? That would be around (4  
> classes x 3
> > > subjects x 10 languages = 120 books)
> > >
> > > If you can do this, I am hoping that we can request volunteers  
> around
> > India
> > > to ship you textbooks. You can then create the soft-copies and I  
> can help
> > > package the collection for XO.
> > >
> > > Sameer, what do you think?
> > > I am aware that softcopies take disk space which the XO may not  
> have.
> > But,
> > > school server can host this or an additional SD card can also  
> help solve
> > the
> > > problem. In any case, this shouldn't be a big deal. I am also  
> betting
> > that
> > > since the Govt owns the rights to the educational material, they  
> won't
> > have
> > > problem if this is made freely available to all kids in India.
> > >
> > > Harshal
> >
>
> On Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 6:27 PM, Soundar <soundar at eaccessbpo.com>  
> wrote:
>
> Hello Harshal,
>
> Thanks for the reply. Really I am very happy to do this. I would  
> like to
> know whether the all text books in softcopy ( only for image (PDF ) or
> editable Soft copy.) please advice the same. How I will get the  
> entire text
> book.
>
>
>
> Regards,
> Soundar M
>
>
> >
> > There are two basic pathways to content. Either it is prepackaged by
> > the country/state or the school/teachers create it. So, for instance
> > you want electronic versions of textbooks, then the books have to be
> > scanned or digitized (OCR). NCERT has already done this in an
> > experimental mode. http://www.ncert.nic.in/textbooks/testing/Index.htm
> > Anything that's HTML/web based for exams etc. are usable with a  
> school
> > server. A lot of the material is not clear legally for reuse in such
> > environments.
> >
> > The mode of self-exploration and development of content locally is
> > based on activities such as Write (word processing), Memorize  
> (memory
> > matching), etc. TamTamEdit is a music editing system that allows for
> > building card-based music scores, which can then be played in
> > TamTamJam.
> > http://tamtam4olpc.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/new-tamtam-90- 
> flat.png
> >
> > Etoys is its own authoring system. Sandeep Surve, the teacher in
> > Khairat did some of his own development early on. I saw this when I
> > was there in 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgKy0SuZJHk
> >
> > Nepal is using a HTML and Javascript framework that they have
> > developed (http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Karma).
> >
> > The choices are several. A lot depends on who is authoring and how  
> it
> > is delivered.
> >
> > Note: A good bit of this discussion should happen on the lists so  
> that
> > others can chime in.
> >
> > cheers,
> > Sameer
> > --
> > Dr. Sameer Verma, Ph.D.
> > Associate Professor, Information Systems
> > Director, Campus Business Solutions
> > San Francisco State University
> > http://verma.sfsu.edu/
> > http://cbs.sfsu.edu/
> > http://is.sfsu.edu/
> >
> -------------- next part --------------
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> URL: http://lists.laptop.org/pipermail/india/attachments/20100406/14fa1bfd/attachment-0001.htm
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Wed, 7 Apr 2010 09:43:03 +0530
> From: "Soundar" <soundar at eaccessbpo.com>
> Subject: [OLPC India] (no subject)
> To: <hjawale at gmail.com>,        <India at lists.laptop.org>
> Message-ID: <20100407041326.F1E162384F at mail.laptop.org>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Hello Harshal,
>
>
>
> Thanks. If I am doing the pilot for the Std 1 Text books for OLPC. I  
> would
> like to know the DPI & Mode of the Pages to be scan ( 300 dpi / 1  
> bit Black
> & Whit or 300 dpi gray, if we are do the scanning in Gary the file  
> size to
> large .) please advice the same.
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Soundar M
>
> eAccess
>
> New No.42, Old No.2,
>
> Vellalar Street,
>
> Near Best Hospital,
>
> Kodambakkam,
>
> Chennai - 600 024
>
> Mail : soundar at eaccessbpo.com
>
> Phone : + 91 - 44 - 43565774
>
> Mobile : + 91 - 9543009993
>
>  _____
>
> From: Harshal Jawale [mailto:hjawale at gmail.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, April 07, 2010 8:52 AM
> To: India at lists.laptop.org
> Cc: Soundar; Sameer Verma
> Subject: Re: Digitizing Primary school textbooks for OLPC, India
>
>
>
> Agreed Sameer. Now that Soundar has shown interest in doing textbook  
> scans -
> I think we should open this for inputs from others.
>
> To keep this discussion streamlined and focused, I would like to  
> suggest
> following discussion points:
>
> 1.      To facilitate digitization of primary school textbooks,  
> Soundar has
> offered his services to scan and digitized textbooks so that they  
> can be
> used on OLPC. There are two formats which look attractive,
>
> a) HTML - as Sameer rightly points out, its easy to keep these on  
> school
> servers. For this we would just need image scans of the pages. The  
> images
> would need to be optimized to reduce the file sizes. Also, these  
> would need
> to be packaged so that the HTML navigation can be incorporated using
> Javascript or simple hyperlinks.
>
> b) PDF - this is the easy option and can also be kept on the school  
> server.
>
> Thoughts? This is pilot test so lets keep it simple without getting  
> into
> painful technical discussions.
> 2.      Can someone check on copyright & legal aspects of scanning  
> primary
> school textbooks? Can the scans be used for educational purpose? If  
> not,
> what approvals are needed and from whom?
> 3.      Soundar, since you are based in Chennai, can you take couple  
> of Std
> 1 textbooks from your local schools? Try to find a kid you know and  
> borrow
> the textbook for scanning. Please scan in JPG as well as PDF format.  
> We do
> not need them to be 'editable'
> 4.      Once we do a pilot scan, then we can check if volunteers  
> across
> India can help to collect primary school textbooks in local  
> languages to be
> sent to Soundar who can then scan them for XO.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Harshal
>
> On Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 6:37 PM, Sameer Verma <sverma at sfsu.edu> wrote:
>
> On Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 4:20 PM, Harshal Jawale <hjawale at gmail.com>  
> wrote:
> > Hello Soundar,
> >
> > Thank you for your email and interest in helping out OLPC.
> >
> > Here's what I think:
> >
> > The biggest shortcoming of OLPC in India (& elsewhere) is the lack  
> of
> > content. Ofcourse, it has built-in activities and tools etc but  
> when it
> > comes to learning for exams, how can it help the children? I do  
> not have a
> > clear understanding of it.
> >
> > This is where you can provide immense value and help.
> >
> > The idea is very simple -
> > Digitize textbooks of Std 1 to 4 (primary school) for OLPC. And,  
> to start
> > with, you can focus on Science, Maths and one language.
> >
> > Most of the syllabus and curriculum is determined by the State  
> Govts. - in
> > many cases, the Govt publishes the textbooks and heavily  
> subsidizes it for
> > primary students.
> > Now, if instead of carrying paper textbooks, if these kids had it  
> all on
> > their XO or could access it using the XO- it changes the whole  
> equation on
> > how the XO gets used! The students don't need to carry any books  
> at all.
> >
> > Do you think you have the capacity to softcopy (digitize)  
> textbooks from
> Std
> > 1 to 4 for 10 major Indian Languages? That would be around (4  
> classes x 3
> > subjects x 10 languages = 120 books)
> >
> > If you can do this, I am hoping that we can request volunteers  
> around
> India
> > to ship you textbooks. You can then create the soft-copies and I  
> can help
> > package the collection for XO.
> >
> > Sameer, what do you think?
> > I am aware that softcopies take disk space which the XO may not  
> have. But,
> > school server can host this or an additional SD card can also help  
> solve
> the
> > problem. In any case, this shouldn't be a big deal. I am also  
> betting that
> > since the Govt owns the rights to the educational material, they  
> won't
> have
> > problem if this is made freely available to all kids in India.
> >
> > Harshal
>
>
>
> On Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 6:27 PM, Soundar <soundar at eaccessbpo.com>  
> wrote:
>
> Hello Harshal,
>
> Thanks for the reply. Really I am very happy to do this. I would  
> like to
> know whether the all text books in softcopy ( only for image (PDF ) or
> editable Soft copy.) please advice the same. How I will get the  
> entire text
> book.
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Soundar M
>
>
>
>
>
> There are two basic pathways to content. Either it is prepackaged by
> the country/state or the school/teachers create it. So, for instance
> you want electronic versions of textbooks, then the books have to be
> scanned or digitized (OCR). NCERT has already done this in an
> experimental mode. http://www.ncert.nic.in/textbooks/testing/Index.htm
> Anything that's HTML/web based for exams etc. are usable with a school
> server. A lot of the material is not clear legally for reuse in such
> environments.
>
> The mode of self-exploration and development of content locally is
> based on activities such as Write (word processing), Memorize (memory
> matching), etc. TamTamEdit is a music editing system that allows for
> building card-based music scores, which can then be played in
> TamTamJam.
> http://tamtam4olpc.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/new-tamtam-90-flat.png
>
> Etoys is its own authoring system. Sandeep Surve, the teacher in
> Khairat did some of his own development early on. I saw this when I
> was there in 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgKy0SuZJHk
>
> Nepal is using a HTML and Javascript framework that they have
> developed (http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Karma).
>
> The choices are several. A lot depends on who is authoring and how it
> is delivered.
>
> Note: A good bit of this discussion should happen on the lists so that
> others can chime in.
>
>
> cheers,
> Sameer
> --
> Dr. Sameer Verma, Ph.D.
> Associate Professor, Information Systems
> Director, Campus Business Solutions
> San Francisco State University
> http://verma.sfsu.edu/
> http://cbs.sfsu.edu/
> http://is.sfsu.edu/
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Soundar M
>
> eAccess
>
> New No.42, Old No.2,
>
> Vellalar Street,
>
> Near Best Hospital,
>
> Kodambakkam,
>
> Chennai - 600 024
>
> Mail : soundar at eaccessbpo.com
>
> Phone : + 91 - 44 - 43565774
>
> Mobile : + 91 - 9543009993
>
>
>
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