IIT-B to develop new apps, software for Aakash 2 tablet
The world’s cheapest ‘tablet-cum-computer’, Aakash, will undergo further upgradation with new applications and interfaces, which will be developed by students of the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B).
The world’s cheapest ‘tablet-cum-computer’, Aakash, will undergo further upgradation with new applications and interfaces, which will be developed by students of the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B).
IIT-B and the National Mission on Education through Infor-mation and Communication Technology (NME-ICT), responsible for the ‘Aakash’ project, laid down a detailed plan at the Powai campus on Friday.
Committee members said the first batch of one lakh tablets had been distributed successfully. “The new upgraded tablets synced with the latest applications have been given to 250 colleges across the country,” said professor Deepak Phatak, head of the project at IIT-B. He added that more than 12,000 teachers from these colleges have been specially trained to make optimum use of the device.
The gamut of applications includes ProxyMITY, Clicker, Scilab and Spoken tutorials. All these applications are based on open source platform, where users can give inputs for modification or alteration of any application for its better functioning.
Professor Kannan Moudgalya, member of NME-ICT said: “The virtual labs free open source software and the pedagogy project represents IIT-B.”
Phatak said the digital device would enable countrywide access to knowledge. “A device gets value only when it has appropriate content and practical usability.”