DIGITAL EQUALIZER

Introduction
The American India Foundation (AIF) was founded in the wake of the devastating earthquake that struck Gujarat, India in January of 2001, by leading Indian-American business and community leaders under the leadership of  former President Bill Clinton.

DIGITAL EQUALIZER MISSION
Provide opportunities for under privileged children in India to enhance their learning through the
use of Digital Technology. AIF's Digital Equalizer (DE) program, based in India, is making rewarding strides in bridging this digital divide. DE does this by providing access to digital technology to students
from underserved communities in their own school. DE works with State Government schools or
schools run by non-profits where such students study.

Teacher Training
All teachers in the school are expected to participate in a 3 year long training program.
AIF has developed its own Comprehensive training curriculum for teachers.
It addresses both technical skills and pedagogical training to assist teachers in
using technology in project based learning, developing multimedia lessons, telecollaborative projects, etc.

Infrastructure
Schools who do not possess the necessary technology infrastructure but are keen to
work on our program may be provided with a state-of-the-art computer facility with multimedia
computers, printers, local area network, UPS, scanners, etc.

Area Covered
In Andhra Some schools in Mehbubnagar,Chittoor, Hyderabad

Key Milestones

104 centers have been established in nine states of India and another 58 are on the anvil.
Over 1200 teachers and 23,000 students have been trained since 2001
All teachers have developed multimedia lessons using presentation software in their language of instruction.
All students are conversant with usage of Office tools and 80% of them use vernacular fonts to create content in their regional language.
At least 40% of the students can use internet to search / browse and use emails to telecollaborate with students in other countries.
20% of students can make deft use of web camera, digital microscope, CD writer, etc.
Many schools have created their own web sites.
Around 18 schools already have a sustenance program running after school hours.

DE Portal

The DE Portal has been designed and launched by them with the aim and objective of supporting the DE Training Curriculum with documents, a communications infrastructure, updates on DE schools, and collections of digital lessons and educational aids.
http://www.aifoundation.org/otherFiles/Digital_Equalizer_Files/DE_Portal/index.htm

Contact Address


AIF Offices

East Coast Office:
American India Foundation
c/o McKinsey & Company
55 East 52nd Street, 29th Floor
New York, NY 10022
Phone : 212 - 891-4654
Fax: 212 - 891-4717


West Coast Office:
American India Foundation
647 E. Calaveras Blvd.
Milpitas, CA 95035
Phone : 408 - 934-1600
Fax: 408 - 934-1612


India Operations Office
American India Foundation
N 183 Panchshila Park Second Floor
New Delhi 110 017
Phone : 91 11 2649 5042/43