Launches first-ever e-learning website for Bangla medium students
The first ever e-learning website for Bangla medium school students was launched yesterday in a bid to bridge digital divide and boost online education.
A joint initiative by The Daily Star and TeamCreative, the site will provide interactive examination papers for mathematics and science-related subjects from class III to X, with an emphasis on timing and self-assessment.
Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid inaugurated the website at The Daily Star office in the capital by taking a mock test.
The website, www.champs21.com, will help students assess their knowledge on specific topics and sharpen their aptitude.
English medium students following Cambridge or Edexcel syllabus can also participate in examination on it.
Students willing to take the test will have to pay a fee ranging from Tk 2,000 to Tk 4,000 depending on their class and the subject.
Terming the website launch a historic event, the minister said the young learners have to be provided education in an attractive and accessible way.
Education means knowledge and efficiency that is life-oriented, he said. The initiative taken today [yesterday] is a significant step to building a new generation, which is technologically efficient, he added.
On the current state of education in the country, Nahid said it is impossible to bring changes and achieve Vision 2021 with the existing system.
“We need to bring a fundamental change in education system which will be modern, time-befitting and people-oriented, so the new generation can acquire knowledge and apply those.”
He also urged all to come up with more creative initiatives.
“These initiatives are needed now, so that we can face global challenges,” Nahid noted.
Speaking as special guest, former adviser to a caretaker government Prof Jamilur Reza Chowdhury said the website employs the techniques of formative assessment to help students review what they are learning.
He, however, suggested that the contents be provided free at the beginning to attract more students.
According to Russell T Ahmed, chief executive officer of TeamCreative, the problems on the website are of multiple-choice questions.
More than 15,000 questions, prepared by university students and reviewed by teachers, are featured on the site, said TeamCreative officials.
The website will be constantly updated with new questions, they added.
Russell, however, reminded that the site should not be viewed as a substitute to schools or teachers. It is only to help students learn their lessons properly.
Mahboob Zaman, president of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), said more online educational contents are required so the young generation can learn something while using computer and internet.
The Daily Star Editor and Publisher Mahfuz Anam said the e-learning has opened new doors of opportunities in the world, and it is slowly making its way in Bangladesh as well.
If technology can be used for education, a developed country is possible; and this initiative is a small contribution to that goal, he said.
Former adviser to caretaker government Rokia Afzal Rahman, editor and publisher of the Daily Prothom Alo Matiur Rahman, Grameenphone’s head of market communications Syed Tahmid Azizul Haque and teachers from different educational institutes were also present on the occasion.
