Tech On Wheels For Night School Students In India

MASOOM

Masoom is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to establishing and supporting quality education in Night Schools.  Masoom’s mission is to enable Night Schools’ students achieve their full potential through educational and policy support, leading to better skills and job opportunities.

PROJECT SUMMARY

Masoom, in partnership with Level Up Village (LUV), launched the Tech On Wheels Project to help students, especially from night schools to explore their passion for Science & Technology. The project helps students to gain access to computer technology, therby sharpening their design-thinking skills and increassing their increased self-confidence. They can familarise themselves with modern-day technology through this program. Tech On Wheels will allow Masoom and LUV to extend these and other benefits to thousands of night school students in Mumbai.

TECH On WHEELS BUS - The Tech On Wheels Bus is enabling Masoom and LUV to offer LUV courses to a much larger number of students. The Tech On Wheels Bus provides Night School students with access to computers, online resources, and innovative educational programming which will open the door for a bright future for the students. Masoom has found that “Tech on Wheels” program has a positive impact on students’ performance in night schools where tech on wheels project runs, particularly in Science, Maths and English Communication. The technological tools can enhance the quality of teaching and learning in schools and this help the learners to achieve better outcomes. It reinforces the fact that students who used Technology tools in education, feel more successful in school, they are more motivated to learn and have increased self-confidence and self-esteem. It is also observed that many students found learning in a technology-enhanced setting more stimulating and better than in traditional classroom environment. Tech On Wheels bus provides a unique platform for learning. The bus is not only providing access to computers, but it also allows students to enter a larger world of reference material and self-study, particularly when it comes to Science & Technology.

Bus is helping to develop computer literacy and fulfil the National Curriculum framework, 2015 “Educational Technology” objectives  such as

(1) Create a framework to identify the generic skills (problem identification and troubleshooting, for instance) needed for the new initiatives to be undertaken in ET.

(2) Acquire knowledge on how learning takes place in ICT-rich learning environments, optimizing learning paths for learners with different learning styles coming from a variety of social backgrounds, including gender difference

(3) Examine the possibilities of mobile technologies for learning purposes and 21st century skills in the students which is a must for a promising career. 

Students are more equipped to seek higher education as well.  Tech On Wheels bus provides computer access to up to 28 students per class and reaches out to about 168 students per week.  Masoom, which already provides educational support to over 5000 students in Mumbai through 60 night schools, is now be able to serve many more students with the Tech On Wheels Project. These students would otherwise not be in a position to access computer training.

During the Tech on Wheels Computer Literacy Program, Masoom explored ideas to generate revenue and make the program self sustainable. Masoom therefore has partnered with Salaam Bombay Foundation in Mumbai. We are imparting Science and Technology curriculum to the students studying in 9 schools supported by Salam Bombay. Salam Bombay pays fees for the courses we provide to their students.  

A total of 148 students were trained in these Night schools. We have purposefully selected Basic Computer Course as the night schools students have seldom handled computers. In this course the students learnt about Word, Excel and power point through different exercises like, Letter writing, Making Mark Sheet, Calculation Work, Prepare presentations, how to access internet (using search engines like Google, preparing mail ids, etc).