Bengaluru govt schools students get 'Smart Podiums' that can play videos, PPT lessons

At a time when most children lack access to proper infrastructure in government schools, the Rotary Bangalore IT Corridor (RBITC) along with the Whitefield Ready, a residents' group working with government schools in Whitefield and surrounding areas have set up 'Smart Podiums' in four government schools. These smart podiums will help teachers teach better and help students understand concepts better. Sumedha Rao, a lead volunteer of Whitefield Ready and RBITC says, "The smart podiums come with a total package including speakers, projector, a laptop, stylus and an LCD screen. This particular device has been designed by HP keeping government teachers and children in mind. It looks exactly like a traditional podium where one can stand and speak about various topics."

Highlighting the specialty of this podium, she explains, "The plus point of this podium is that it is easy to use. One can play the video on the screen and write something simultaneously to showcase a particular point. For example, if the teacher is teaching something about temples, then they can play a video and when there is something important to be highlighted, they can stop the video and write text on the laptop screen using stylus and also erase it. This makes the lessons simple for children to understand. According to our research, children register lessons in their memory for a long time when they watch videos. And with the high-quality speakers and better sounds, it keeps them hooked to classes for a long time."

Smart podiums used in classrooms to teach children 

Now, teachers make the best use of this smart podium to teach most of their lessons in all the subjects. When we asked if the laptop has videos stored in them, Subedha says, "Though there are no videos saved in the laptop, teachers who take classes use the hotspot and play videos on the laptops. If the video is exclusive then they carry it in pen drives to play during classes. Currently, three primary schools and one high school have these podiums and atleast 3,000 kids benefit from it. The response from the schools is overwhelming and teachers have said that it has been easy for them to teach science experiments through videos."

Other projects have taken up by RBITC
Painting classroom walls, providing toilets and drinking water
Setting up a computer lab in six government schools
Running English speaking, personality development and soft skill classes for six schools