Importance of satellite in educational activities

Satellites can be a sole distribution source but are often used in combination with other systems, including terrestrial links such as microwaves, cables and transmitters. Satellite distribution and the emerging technologies associated with it are increasing the number of people learning at a distance. But we should remember that the satellite should be used for what it does best, in terms of reaching remote students, in terms of delivering learning materials that could not be sent to the students through other means and allowing, as far as- possible, for two-way communication between students and teachers and among students.

SITE (Satellite Instructional Television Experiment, 1975-76) in which satellite was extensively used to reach and teach, besides rural adults, primary school children living in the rural area: including remote locations and difficult terrains. Thereafter since 1982, INSAT (Indian National Satellite) is being used for education and development. Institutions such as NCERT, UGC, IGNOU produce educational TV programmes for broadcast on the national channel through INSAT.

Two-way interactive communication through satellite, popularly known as teleconferencing (one-way video and two-way audio), has been operationalised in the country since February, 1995 with two teaching ends (uplink facilities at IGNOU Campus, New Delhi and the SAC, Ahmedabad) and more than one thousand learning ends scattered all over the country. The facility is being used by the various institutions for education and training at a distance. Due to wide coverage and round the clock availability of the satellite, it can cater to the educational and training needs of people, irrespective of the place of their location, age and creed.

(ii) Differentiate between Internet and Intranet.

Internet: The internet is an electronic mail system and library access facility. It is a mail system because it allows us to send and receive messages. It is a library access system because it allows our request for information, provided we know what we are looking for.

Internet is a set of various intranets created by the various agencies. In other words, it is a network of networks, a huge source of inter-connected- information. Internet makes information on any topic under the sun available to its users linked with networked computers. The users can interact with master computer to navigate for required information. Internet is being used for both the delivery of distance education and assisting regular/conventional classroom courses. Internet also transforms two-way communication, reducing barriers of time and space. The scale of its coverage, its immediacy, the quality of presentation and the ability to interact with it and through it bring new dimensions to the world of knowledge, thus creating new communities of learning.

Intranet: New communication technologies have created networks for sharing educational resources. The networks allow one-to-one, one-to-multipoint or multi-or-multipoint communication between students and teachers and among students. Depending on the coverage of the area i.e. the size of the networks, there can be two types of communication networks: local area network (LAN) and wide area network (WAN).

LAN is confined to a limited physical area, such as various schools in a town or various departments or units of a university and share information and infrastructure. LAN can link the students to wide area network (WAN).

WAN links various institutional centers or campuses located in different parts of the country or outside the country. Various centers or campuses of an institution or various institutions are networked to share information, ideas, data, resources etc. The interconnection of LAN and WAN can make communication more effective, catering to the local needs as well as global needs of the students.

LAN and WAN can be interconnected among themselves and with internet, thus making communication global. In this way a communication network can be created which interconnect all the networks in the world, converting it into a global village’.

(iii) What are the educational applications of e-mail?

E-mail has three major educational applications:

(a) Pedagogy: Students can have easy access to vast amount of information resources through e-mail.

(b) Research: Researchers can use e-mail to access data and to exchange with their research guides and experts.

(c) Administration: E-mail is also used in day-to-day administration. Sending and receiving messages at a convenient time in a rapid, error-free and cost effective manner are possible through e-mail.

(iv) Telephone is helpful device in teaching-learning activities. Justify it.

Telephone:

Telephone is a useful device of communication in education at a distance. It is being used widely in education in the developed countries for tutoring and counselling. Telephone lines are used for a variety of communications, such as fax, video-text, voice mail, internet etc.

Flink (1978) mentions four ways of using the telephone in education:

(i) Tele-teaching, which is operated by a two-way loud speaking telephone in the classroom and students not present may listen to the verbal activities going on in the classroom and also participate in the discussions.

(ii) The teacher may present a lecture to individuals or groups located at a distance. Two-way communication is possible for all participants.

(iii) The students can dial the school or the source for requisite information.

(iv) Tele-tutoring is a system where an individual student can communicate with the tutor and receive individual help and support during his studies. Baath (1979) researched into which educational functions the telephone can perform in distance education. Baath’s research was carried out in relation to different theoretical models for teaching. We quote here some of Baath’s conclusions:

(i) The greater potential value of telephone contacts seems to lie in the opportunities to establish individualised contact.

(ii) Telephone tutoring could help the tutor to know the individual student.

(iii)Telephone tutoring could, above all, help the student get started.

With regard to cognitive learning goals, individual guidance over the telephone wpuld appear to be valuable as a medium for fulfilling the following Gagne’s teaching functions:

(i) directing attention

(ii) stimulating recall of relevant prerequisites

(iii) providing learning guidance

(iv)providing feedback

According to Moore: “The telephone has the characteristic of immediacy.”

(v) Write about e-mail.

e-mail – “Electronic Mail” An application of network connectivity and a communication standard to allow users on different computers to send messages (usually text only) back and forth. e-mail works in an analogous fashion to traditional paper mail. To compose an e-mail document, the user drafts a message and puts it in an electronic “envelope.” This message is then delivered to the electronic “post office” (actually a computer acting as a mail server) that is responsible for that user. Upon receipt of the message, the “post office” decodes the electronic envelope and gleans from it which “post office” or mail server is responsible for the person defined as the recipient. The “post offices” then exchange the contents of the message, which is then handed off to the recipient by that person’s local mail server. The only real problem with this model is that the mail servers will occasionally become “disgruntled” and fail to deliver the messages as instructed.

(vi) Write the steps in the preparation of a diorama.

There are following steps in the preparation of a diorama:

1. Make a semi-circular base of the required size out of hand board, thick card or some other suitable material.

2. Make up a strip of thin white card of suitable height that is capable of extending all the way round the curved side of the base, draw and/or paint the required background scene on this and fix it to the base.

3. Build up any landscape required in the foreground using plaster of paris and paint this in the required colour(s).

4. Produce or acquire any materials required for the foreground and set them in position; such materials can include model figures, model buildings, model trees, model ships, tanks or other vehicles, pieces of rock and any other materials that you feel will enhance the realism of the scene depicted.