Innovation Challenge Fund (ICF) d.com



Innovation Challenge Fund (ICF)Concept Note Template1.Name/ Organisation Calcutta Social Project2.Email address / Phone numberMohunadutt.csp@ /+91-98300279573.Title of ProjectSolution Bank Online Education (SBOE) 4.Application for ICF Cluster(Please delete one)AI/Data Science, Karnataka5.Co-Members of the Consortium *(Type – Indian Academia, Indian Business, International Academia, International Business, Indian non-commercial organisation, International non-commercial organisation, Other - specify)* Information not mandatory for the concept note stage.#OrganizationType1.Calcutta Social ProjectIndian non-commercial2.Mahadevi Birla World AcademyIndian academia3.NeoSoft Technologies Indian business 4.Index Partners International business 6.If you do not already have agreed consortium members, please indicate here the kind of partners you would like to hear from. We welcome partnerships with other Indian academia with interest in online pedagogical methods and/ or non-commercial organisation that may wish to use the proposed product. 7. Are you content for us to publish your concept note on our web platform in order to encourage potential consortium members to reach out to you? Yes/No8.Funding Requested (up to ?250k)?40,0009.Co-funding provided (if any) and sourceYes/No (If yes then provide source and amount)10.Please summarise your Innovation Challenge Fund research project in one sentence.350 character limitDesign, build and rollout an online peer-assisted learning tool (plug-in) for students to seek progressive levels of support – from peers to “solution bank” to teachers – to solve problems. The “solution bank” is a searchable bank of solved problems that is updated with every new solved problem. We plan to design this as a plug-in for existing online learning platforms such as Google Classroom, etc. 11.Please describe your project further. What problem does your pilot seek to address? Who are the potential beneficiaries and other stakeholders? What are the inputs and activities, and what are the outputs? What does success look like after 12 months of funded research? How will your solution reach the market place? 2500 character limitThe workload of primary teachers increased manifold – and remains unsustainable – as they adapt to new online tools, forced by the Covid pandemic. This, to a significant extent, is due to the lack of a online moderated peer-to-peer exchange and support tool that existed in the offline world, where students could seek help from peers or collaboratively solve problems. Preliminary evidence suggests that the consequent reduced interactivity also limits student engagement and consequently learning outcomes in the online world. The SBOE tool is intended to benefit both school students and teachers. The tool will make it easier for online students to engage with and learn from their peers in a safe and controlled environment. It will also help school teachers to balance their workload towards teaching activities. These benefit will grow exponentially with usage as it will make the AI-driven solution bank more comprehensive and relevant. The main input for the tool will be the “problems” or “challenges” where students need help. The problem will be escalated sequentially through the following user groups at pre-defined time intervals till it is solved: A chosen group of peers; All peers (entire class); AI-matched example of one (or a few) “similar” problems selected from a problem bank; The teacher; they are prompted to help if the above steps fail (teachers have clear view of all posts at all stages). The main output for the tool are the solved problems; these are shared with all peers and added to the problem bank. In addition, the tools also provides incentive and encouragement to students to solve problems themselves before approaching the teacher. After 12 months of funded research, we expect to have a tested product that is in use at CSP and other similar learning communities. We will work with NeoSoft to offer the product as a plug-in for popular online learning platforms (e.g. Google classroom, MS Teams, etc.). It will be downloadable from online marketplaces for education technology tools. We will also distribute the tool free of charge to other voluntary organisations that offer free online classes to under-privileged children in developing markets 12.What is ‘technological’ about your proposed solution and why might this be appropriate to the challenge areas?1000 character limitThe main technology component in our solution will be the AI and Data Science tools to match “past problems” from the solution banks. It will also be used to tag all submissions as well as offer teaching support (similar to Jill Watson work at Georgia Tech). The solution will also use cutting-edge digital UI/ UX to make it intuitive and easy-to-use for young learners who lack adequate learning support at home. 13.Is your proposed solution a response to the impacts of COVID-19, or an effort to contain the pandemic? If so, please explain. 1000 character limitThe proposed solution is a response to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. CSP has been running educational programs for underprivileged children in Kolkata for over 15 years. They migrated the program online due to Covid-19; the change – while successfully implemented – suffers from inadequate engagement from students (and a consequent potential drop in learning outcomes). We believe introducing the tool will help address the problem. 14.Does your proposed solution contribute to combatting climate change or promoting a greener planet? If so, please explain. 1000 character limitThe proposed tool does not directly focus on combatting climate change or promoting a greener planet. However, it indirectly contributes to these causes by providing a more effective education platform where such topics can be effectively taught to the students. 15.How is your proposal relevant to the development challenges of India? 1000 character limitThe SBOE tool is very relevant to the development challenges of India. India has an estimated ~250 million school students of which an estimated ~130 million students attend government-funded schools. The onset of Covid-19 pandemic has severely tested the already stretched resources in most of these schools. As these schools rapidly adopt available technologies (e.g. Google Classroom) to continue their programs online, this technology will complement their efforts by addressing a relatively niche but important “gap” in their existing infrastructure that, in turn, will help improve learning outcomes in several million children who lack guidance and support at home. In addition, it will also help India cope with a potential shortage of primary and secondary school teachers which could be a serious bottleneck in its literacy program. 16.What consideration have you made of gender in developing your concept? Could your project address gender inequality or other kinds of inequality? 1000 character limitThe SBOE tool is mainly intended to support under-privileged student communities that often lack the tools and at-home support for effective online learning. It will be critical to ensure that these students do not fall further behind their “privileged” counterparts who have access to digital tools and home-learning support. The tool is equally useful for students of all genders. It also reduces the relative “gap” or “disadvantage” for students who may be unable to attend physical classes in school for longer periods of time. Finally, the tool will likely have the most positive impact for learners who suffer from poor confidence levels and do not engage with peers in a face-to-face situation; this tool allows them to engage with a certain degree of privacy or “remoteness” Notes: Please be kindly reminded of the primary criteria: relevance to the environmental and/or C19 agenda. See boxes 13 and 14. Except box 5, all boxes require mandatory response.In the interests of fairness, proposals that exceed the character limits will not be considered. ................
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