ISRO’S EXPERIENCES IN ISRO’S EXPERIENCES IN SATELLITE SATELLITE COMMUNICATION COMMUNICATION SHYAMAL MEHTA SHYAMAL MEHTA
Dec 30, 2015
ISRO’S EXPERIENCES IN ISRO’S EXPERIENCES IN SATELLITE SATELLITE
COMMUNICATIONCOMMUNICATION
SHYAMAL MEHTASHYAMAL MEHTA
SATELLITE INSTRUCTIONAL TELEVISION EXPERIMENT (SITE)
• FIRST MAJOR EXPT. USING SATCOM FOR DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION - 1975-76
• RURAL DEVELOPMENT ORIENTED PROGRAMMES :
- 4 HOURS, DAILY
• DIRECT RECEPTION SETS (DRSs) :
- 2400 VILLAGES
- 6 STATES
APPLICATIONS
• BROADCAST OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT ORIENTED PROGRAMMES
• PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS’ TRAINING – 40,000 TEACHERS TRAINED
SITE IMPACT EVALUATION - MAJOR OBSERVATIONS
* IT IS POSSIBLE TO DEPLOY, OPERATE AND MAINTAIN COMMUNITY TV SETS AND DRS EVEN IN REMOTE AREAS OF A COUNTRY, AND THAT TOO WITH AN AVAILABILITY OF 80-90%.
* COMMUNITY VIEWING IS POSSIBLE, AND THAT AVERAGE AUDIENCE SIZES OF 80-100 CAN BE EXPECTED.
* INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAMMES WERE PREFERRED, IN COMPARISON TO PURE ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMMES.
* SUBSTANTIAL GAINS WERE POSSIBLE IN THE AREAS OF HEALTH, HYGIENE AND NUTRITION.
* DESPITE CASE STUDIES OF INNOVATIONS ADOPTED IN AGRICULTURE AS A RESULT OF TV PROGRAMMES, A LARGE SCALE SURVEY DID NOT SHOW STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT GAINS.
* COMMUNITY ACCESS TO TV TENDS TO NARROW THE COMMUNICATIONS - EFFECT GAP.
* MOST OF THE TEACHERS FELT THAT THE TRAINING WAS USEFUL.
* THEY ALSO FOUND THAT TV RATHER THAN RADIO WAS PREFERRED FOR THE TRAINING.
DISADVANTAGES OF BROADCAST FOR EDUCATIONAL & TRAINING
• RECEIVER HAS NO OPPORTUNITY TO INTERACT OR
ASK QUESTIONS TO CLARIFY DOUBTS.
• IT IS EPHEMERAL. BROADCAST ONCE MISSED IS LOST.
KHEDA COMMUNICATIONS PROJECT
• OBJECTIVE – DEVELOPMENT & NOT PROGRAMME PRODUCTION - 1975 – 1989
• LIMITED REGIONAL REBROADCAST
• LOW POWER TV TRANSMITTER IN PIJ VILLAGE (KHEDA DISTT./GUJARAT)
• LINKED TO A STUDIO & EARTH STATION COMPLEX
• ALLOWED PROGRAMMES FROM STUDIO OR ANY OTHER PROGRAMMES RECEIVED AT EARTH STATION
• 600 COMMUNITY SETS INSTALLED IN VILLAGES
• CONTENT GENERATION - ISRO’S RESPONSIBILITY – TOPICS :
- AGRICULTURE
- HEALTH
- ANIMAL HUSBANDRY
- UNTOUCHABILITY
- WOMEN’S STATUS
- CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMES
• REGULAR FEEDBACK & IMPROVEMENT
KHEDA PROJECT IMPACT
• SIGNIFICANT DIFFRENCES IN AWARENESS IN TV AND NON-TV VILLAGES PERTAINING TO :
- HEALTH
- DISEASES – SYMPTOMS, PREVENTION
- AGRIICULTURE :- SOIL TESTING - SOIL IMPROVEMENT MEASUREMENT- PRECAUTIONS IN BUYING HYBRID SEEDS- PROPER USE OF FERTILIZERS
- PLANT PROTECTION MEASURES
- SOURCE FOR AGRICULTURAL CREDIT
- MINIMUM WAGE STRUCTURES
- COOPERATIVE FARMING
TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION CHANNEL (TDCC)
• EXPERIMENT & DEMONSTRATION OF INTERACTIVE TRAINING & EDUCATION - 1995
• BROADCAST NOT THE OBJECTIVE
• ONE WAY VIDEO & TWO WAY AUDIO
• AUDIO FROM RECEPIENT VIA TELEPHONE LINE
• HUB ON RECEIVING RECEPIENT’S AUDIO :- RETRANSMITS IT ON SATELLITE CHANNEL - ALL IN THE NETWORK CAN LISTEN TO THE
INTERACTION
• 500 DRSs EXPECTED TO GROW TO ABOUT 1500 – 2000
• TEACHING END AT SAC, AHMEDABAD & IGNOU, NEW DELHI, GANDHINAGAR, BHOPAL, MYSORE
• NEW USERS - HP, ORISSA
• INTEREST SHOWN BY NER STATES, SIKKIM, WEST BENGAL AND OTHER STATES
• TEACHING END - CONSISTS OF SMALL STUDIO & EARTH STATION- ORIGINATES PROGRAMMES EITHER :
- LIVE LECTURES OR- PRE RECORDED VIDEO PROGRAMMES OR- MIX OF BOTH
MAJOR AREAS OF APPLICATION
• DISTANCE EDUCATION - IGNOU, AIMA FOR DEGREE & DIPLOMA COURSES
• RURAL DEVELOPMENT-- NGOs FOR CONDUCTIING TRAINING PROGRAMMES IN HEALTHCARE- PANCHAYATI RAJ- WATERSHED MANAGEMENT FOR RURAL AUDIENCES- TRAINING OF RURAL WOMEN UNDER DEVELOPMENT
OF WOMEN & CHILD IN RURAL AREAS (DWACRA)- PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS & INTEGRATED CHILD
DEVELOPMENT SCHEME (ICDS)
• INDUTRIAL TRAINING - MULTI LOCATION ORGANIZATIONS LIKE - SBI, NPC
ADVANTAGES OF TDCC
* TRAINING SIMULTANEOUSLY IN THE SHORTEST TIME A LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO ARE GEOGRAPHICALLY DISPERSED.
* MULTIPLIER EFFECT BY TRAINING OF TRAINERS.
* UNIFORMITY OF THE TRAINING CONTENT.
* ACCESS TO THE BEST AVAILABLE LEARNING RESOURCES,
* REPEATABILITY OF TRAINING COURSES & EDUCATIONAL PACKAGES, EASY UPDATING AND DISSEMINATION.
* CAPABILITY TO SHARE THE SAME NETWORK BY DIFFERENT USER GROUPS.
* SPECIFIC TOPICS FOR SPECIFIC LOCATIONS FOR SPECIFIC GROUPS ALSO POSSIBLE.
* SIGNIFICANT SAVINGS IN EXPENDITURE DUE TO ECONOMIES IN TRAVEL, LOGISTICS AND REPLICATION OF TEACHING INFRASTRUCTURE.
* IT CAN EFFECTIVELY SUPPLEMENT CONVENTIONAL SYSTEM OF TRAINING & IN SOME CASES CAN
ITSELF BECOME THE MAJOR COMPONENT OF THE TRAINING SYSTEM.
TEACHERS' TRAINING
- 7 PROGRAMMES OF ABOUT 2 DAYS EACH. TOTAL OF MORE THAN 6900 PARTICIPANTS ATTENDED.
- AREAS COVERED INCLUDED SCIENCE TEACHING, DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHING-LEARNING MATERIALS, EDUCATIONAL COORDINATION, GEOGRAPHY TEACHING, ETC.
- ON AN AVERAGE 100 QUESTIONS WERE ANSWERED IN EACH PROGRAM.
- TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS, PRE-POST ACHIEVEMENT TESTS CONDUCTED AND OBSERVATION & OPINION SCHEDULES ADMINISTERED.
- 82 % PARTICIPANTS FOUND THIS METHOD BETTER THAN THE TRADITIONAL METHOD OF TRAINING.
- THIS MODE OF TRAINING FOR OTHER AREAS SUGGESTED
- ACHIEVEMENT TESTS INDICATED SIGNIFICANT GAIN IN KNOWLEDGE IN FIVE OUT OF THE NINE THEMES COVERED.
- LISTENING TO QUESTIONS OF FELLOW COLLEAGUES OF OTHER CENTRES AND ANSWERS WAS A THRILLING EXPERIENCE FOR MOST OF THE PARTICIPANTS.
- PARTICIPANTS FOUND THE PROGRAMME MORE INTERACTIVE, INTERESTING & EFFECTIVE COMPARED TO TRADITIONAL MODE. SUGGESTED EXTENDING IT TO OTHER SUBJECTS
- IN THE TRAINING PROGRAMME OF MP :
- OVER 1800 PARTICIPANTS
- AN AVERAGE 100 QUESTIONS RECEIVED DAILY ON TELEPHONE
- A TOTAL 2000 QUESTIONS WERE RECEIVED ON FAX IN 3 DAYS.
- IN GOA, FOR A 10-DAY PROGRAMME :
- ATTENDANCE WAS 45 TO 150 PER RECEIVE CENTRE
- 10 TO 25 QUESTIONS PER SESSION.
JHABUA DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATIONS PROJECT (JDCP)
• COMBINES SATELLITE BROADCASTING & INTERACTIVE TRAINING – 1996 ONWARDS
• TARGET AREA – - JHABUA DISTRICT - ONE OF THE MOST BACKWARD AREAS IN INDIA - 85 % TRIBAL POPULATION- 14% LITERACY
• APPLICATIONS –- EDUCATION- HEALTH- AGRICULTURE- PANCHAYATI RAJ- FORESTRY
• PHASE – I- 150 VILLAGES - DRS- 12 BLOCKS – TALK BACK TERMINALS
• PHASE – II- 200 DRS & 7 TALK BACK TERMINALS EACH IN ADJOINING DHAR & BIDWANI DISTRICTS
• BROADCAST OF DEVELOPMENT ORIENTED PROGRAMMES
• TRAINING PROGRAMMES FOR :- VILLAGE/BLOCK LEVEL FUNCTIONARIES LIKE :
- TEACHERS- ANGANWADI WORKERS- JOINT FOREST MANAGEMENT COMMITTEES- PANCHAYATI KARMIS