GU-CDAC-GSLab 1

Helpdesk for University Students

byGoa University (GU), Goa

Center for Dev. of Advance Computing (CDAC), Mumbai

GSLab Pune

Joint proposal submitted under National Mission on Education through ICT [NME-ICT]

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Executive Summary

• Proposed Helpdesk system is expected to guide the students beyond the classroom hours

• Its an Inter-institutional, Inter-disciplinary project involving a private software development company

• Collaborators– V. V. Kamat, Goa University, Goa– M. Sasikumar, CDAC Mumbai– Shridhar Shukla, GS Lab, Pune– M. V. Pitke, Ex-TIFR

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Executive Summary

• Proposed project duration 30 months

• Cost of pilot phase Rs. 53.01 lakhs (6-8 months)

• Total cost of the project Rs. 228.61 lakhs

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Agenda

• Problem Definition

• Proposed Solution

• Plan for Pilot project

• Financial Estimates

• Q & A

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Problem Definition

• In the current setup, University students do not get personalized help when faced with difficulty

• The reasons– Huge class strength– Poor teacher to student ratio– Pressure of completing the syllabus– Restricted time of teacher availability– In experienced teacher– Students are afraid to ask question

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Primary target audience

• Students registered for various degree programs– Formal – Non-formal

• Students answering competitive exams– GATE– UGC NET

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Some limitations of the system

• Good teachers are available in few colleges but they are not accessible to students from other colleges

• In small towns, private coaching classes are not available or are unaffordable by economically weak students

• Retired teachers and other knowledgeable members of the society often remain under utilized resource

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Some limitations of the system …

• If many students have similar query, teacher ends up repeating the answer and wasting valuable time

• Freshly recruited teacher themselves may have difficulties that they don’t know whom to ask

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Proposed Solution

• Helpdesk system on lines of call centre proposed

• Students to dial a single number for all queries

• IVR system to classify queries into different types– Administration specific– Information specific– Discipline specific– Subject specific– Topic specific

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Proposed Solution…

• System to maintain database of teachers & support staff along with their time of availability

• Query can be asked through multiple interfaces– Landline, Mobile, SMS, Web interface . . .

• Teachers to answer students’ questions from the comfort of their home

• All queries to be recorded and select queries to be made available in FAQ for future searches

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Proposed Solution…

• Unanswered queries to be automatically escalated to the next level subject matter expert

• Query to remain open till the student is satisfied with the answer provided

• Entire process to remain transparent and open for quality audits

• System to maintain an integrated view of query

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Proposed Solution…

Hardware view

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Proposed Solution…

Software view

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Solution Highlights

• Better response time to keep students motivated

• Physical travel requirement will be minimal

• Convenient access via phone, SMS, e-mail, web

• Access to teachers from prestigious institutions

• Better utilization of faculty time

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Solution Highlights…

• Frequent queries can be converted into FAQ’s

• Query tracking keeps tab on the quality

• Replicable model in other Universities

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Some Positive Social Impacts

• To provide level playing field and address the problem of digital divide

• To indirectly assess the competence of students & the teachers

• To provide useful information for a remedial action

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Months Deliverable

6 2 courses to be serviced

12 8 courses to be serviced

18 13 courses to be serviced

24 18 courses to be serviced

30 22 courses to be serviced

Sr. No Subjects

1 Computer Science

2 Chemistry

3 Mathematics

4 Physics

5 Biology

Subject and Course Delivery

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Why Multi-institution Collaboration?

• All expertise is not available at one institute

• Complement efforts rather than duplicate it

• Each collaborator to play a specific role in project

• It’s a great learning experience

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Why Goa University?

• Only University in the State of Goa

• Small geographical spread, ideal state for a pilot

• Progressive state with high penetration of IT

• University has experience in training using ICT

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Why CDAC Mumbai (formally NCST)?

• Amongst first few to embrace ICT in education

• Has collaborated with Goa University since 1992

• Currently consultant to ICT project funded by state

• University students are routinely selected at CDAC

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Why involve a private company?

• It brings in certain amount of market wisdom on what works and what doesn't

• It brings in professional practices in code maintenance and delivery

• Expertise in system integration is better available in the private sector

• It brings in better knowledge & practices in project cost estimation and overall project management

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Why GSLab?

• It brings in industry experience and expertise on synchronous learning

• At the time of implementation, all major products available in synchronous learning space will be evaluated on features

• However, any involvement / purchase from private party to follow:– University’s procurement rules and policy – Guidelines and regulations of funding agency

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Pilot phase (6-8 months)

• First 3 months would involve– Recruitment of project staff– Setting up of call centre infrastructure– Establishment of a network of subject matter expert– Training the call center staff & the teachers for Q & A

• What it will deliver?– Q & A support for 2 subjects in Computer Science – Basic facility of asking questions on the phone– Call recording & tracking of Q & A– Methodology to replicate the setup for different subjects

as well as Universities

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Total Estimated Project Cost

Phase Duration PeriodCost in Rs.

Lakhs

Pilot 6 months Oct 09 – Mar 10 53.01

1st Year12 months Apr 10 – March

11 83.80

2nd Year12 months Apr 11 – March

12 91.80Total cost 228.61

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Institution wise cost distribution

  GU CDAC GSLab Total

         

Pilot 29.56 16.00 6.45 53.01First Year 49.90 25.00 8.90 83.80Second Year 57.90 25.00 8.90 91.80Cost distribution 137.36 66.00 24.25 228.61

GSLab’s share is 10% of the total project spending

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Projected Expenditure – Pilot (6 month)

  GU CDAC GSLab Pilot

Non-Recurring Expenditure         

Equipment 11.86 4.00    

Recurring Expenditure        

Human Resource 10.00 10.00 3.00  

Phone & Internet 4.20      

Travel & Training 0.75 0.75 0.75  

Consumables 0.25 0.25    

Contingency 1.00 1.00 0.50  

Software service     1.20  

Publicity & Promotion 0.50      

         

Total 29.56 17.00 6.45 53.01

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How it will fulfill the mission objective?

• Cultural and linguistic diversity may prevent single setup to scale up to national level

• Replicable setup can be copied to other states

• The project will create subject wise hierarchical human resource network across the nation

• For competitive exams like UGC NET or GATE, a centralized nation-wide setup can be envisaged

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Hierarchical Network of Human Resource

Subject

Level -3

Level-2

Level -1 Level-1 Level-1

Level-2 Level-2

Level-1 Level-1

TA-1 TA-2 TA-1 TA-2 TA-3

College

University / NIT IIT

Pilot

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What content will it support ?

• Helpdesk will provide support for the University prescribed syllabus and text book

• It will encourage faculty to share content and also use NPTEL content wherever desirable

• It will host self-testing material for students to check their subject knowledge

• It will create a repository of questions & answers asked by the students

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What is unique about helpdesk project?

• Its a centralized help-desk sharing faculty across colleges and institutions

• Cost is shared across, making the model more economical to support multimodal interaction

• Over a period, the system will produce a truly dynamic knowledge repository automatically

• Subject level helpdesk is a novel concept in education.

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How IPR will be handled in joint venture?

• Individuals will hold IPR for all components developed prior to the start of the project

• Each institution to retain IPR over whatever they bring to the project

• An explicit IPR clause will be included in the MoU for all participating institutions

• All development as a part of the project to have joint, free for educational use IPR

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Can it sustain beyond MHRD funding?

• Charge the students or the associated college a subscription fee for use of this facility

• The project report to be released in public domain for entrepreneurs to exploit service angle of the helpdesk

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What is the motivation for teachers ?

• Monetary incentive

• Visibility at national level

• Opportunity to further their own knowledge

• Enhanced job satisfaction

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Questions & Answers

Thanks!

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Human Resource Cost (Pilot)

6 Months GU @ Rate Cost (Lakhs)

Pilot 1 Sr. Lecturer Rs.50,000/pm 3.00

 2 Project

Assistants Rs.25,000/pm  3.00

Consultancy Fee Rs.10,000/day * 4 days  0.40

10 Resource faculty

 Rs. 100/hr * 2hr/day  3.60 

  Total 10.00

6 Months CDAC @ Rate Cost (Lakhs)

Pilot1 Sr. Staff Scientist Rs.75,000/pm 4.50

 3 Project Engineers Rs.30,000/pm  5.40

  Total 9.90

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Cost: 1st year of operation

  GU CDAC GSLab 1st Year

Recurring Expenditure        

Human Resource 32.00 20.00 3.00  

Phone & Internet 8.40      

Travel & Training 1.50 1.50 1.50  

Consumables 0.50 0.50    

Contingency 2.00 2.00 1.00  

Software service     2.40  

Books & Journals 1.50      

Conference 2.00      

Promotion 1.00      

Testing & promotion 1.00 1.00 1.00  

Total 49.90 25.00 8.90 83.80

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Cost: 2nd year of operation

  GU CDAC GSLab1st Year

Recurring Expenditure        

Human Resource 40.00 20.00 3.00  

Phone & Internet 8.40      

Travel & Training 1.50 1.50 1.50  

Consumables 0.50 0.50    

Contingency 2.00 2.00 1.00  

Software service     2.40  

Books & Journals 1.50      

Conference 2.00      

Promotion 1.00      

Testing & promotion 1.00 1.00 1.00  

Total 57.90 25.00 8.90 91.80

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Name for the project ?

• Ask SIRji – SIR (Student Information Resource)

• SAHARA– Student– Assistance– Helpdesk– Anywhere– Responsive– Affordable