Analysis of User Evaluation of Andhra Pradesh Tele-education Programme -‘Mana’ TV: Guidelines for Developing countries
- Paper number
IAC-07-E3.1.09
- Author
Mr. R.L.N. Murthy, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), India
- Coauthor
Mr. Rama Rao Veluri, Society for Andhra Pradesh Network (SAPNET), India
- Coauthor
Mr. Mohammed Ghouse M., India
- Year
2007
- Abstract
"Tele-Education is the use of information and communication technologies to provide Distance Education” (prepared during the First Symposium on Tele-Education for the Developing Countries, organized in 1999 by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Manaos, Brazil). Tele-education focuses on development of the process of distance education that make interactive, flexible and accessible learning possible for any potential recipient. Realising the need for supplementary mechanisms for extending the outreach of education to wider sections of the society, the Government of Andhra Pradesh in association with ISRO launched a dedicated programme ‘Mana’ TV in the year 2000, making use of the modern telecommunication technologies for interactive, flexible and accessible learning. The word ‘Mana’ in the local language Telugu means ‘our’, thus spreading the message of belongingness among all the stakeholders – the users, the providers, the resource personnel and the facilitators. The programme got further fillip and boost when ISRO’s nationwide Edusat project came into being in the year 2004. Currently, Mana TV network has above 2000 terminals operational all over the state all 28 districts, and very soon 8000 more terminals are planned for inclusion. The network consists of a combination of two-way video, two- way audio and telephonic interaction with Receive Only Terminals (ROTs). The Tele-education is an issue of pure service category, where there are no tangible items being delivered to the end users which makes it difficult to be assessed for its quality. However, to make the programme planning and implementation both form the content point of view and the convenience and comfort of the users, the whole programme needs to be responsive to the user needs. To achieve this monthly feedback is being obtained from sections of the users about different aspects of the service. To measure the success of the project, several additional variables like Information Quality, User satisfaction, Use, and Organisational impact in Tele-education need to be studied in addition to the System Quality. The paper presents a critical analysis of the user feed back about the quality of the systems, content and also the associated problems at the ground level which could be suitably adapted for any developing country with comparable conditions. The paper draws the steps needed to improve the quality, plans for technical up-gradation of the network and the value additions aspired by the user community.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-07-E3.1.09.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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