The document describes a case study of a project called "Social inclusion through digital inclusion" that aims to provide education to rural children using an online platform called Owlish Oracle. Elderly volunteers teach rural children online through video conferencing on this platform. The summary conducted a pilot study with an elderly teacher and a student. It faced issues like internet connectivity but saw benefits like engaging the elderly and advancing rural education. Suggestions to improve included providing better internet access, computer training, and a more user-friendly website. Overcoming these challenges could allow the project to successfully impact rural development.

1. “Social inclusion through
digital inclusion” – A case
study.
Avishek Banerjee
Soumava Banerjee
BETCE Jadavpur University

2. EDUCATION PROBLEMS IN RURAL
AREAS
Whenwe talkabouteducationinIndia,wecan’tjusttalkabouthow
educationisinurbancitiesofIndia,withoutgoingdeepintorural
educationthatconstitutesalmost90%oftheschoolsbeinglocatedin
ruralareas. Recentstudieshave shownhowthefaceofeducationin
ruralparts ofthecountryhavedevelopedtoa great extent,butsome
remoteareas stilldoneeda seriouscheckupwithchildrenfailingto
receivebasicqualityeducation.
Themostcommonproblemsthathindersthegrowthofeducationin
rural Indiacanbepointedoutas

3.  Lack ofproper transportation.
Most villages have poor connectivityfrom one place to anotherand thatis often one of themain reason
why,despite efforts by local governing bodies to build schools, often go in vain.Children, most of the
time haveto walkmiles to reachthesegovernment funded schools and thisoften demotivate themto
attendschool on aregularbasis.
 Income Problems
People belonging to remote ruralareashavemeager incomes, whichattimes is too less to sustaina family
of maybe four or five. Most likely, children from thesefamilies won’tbe sentto schools, insteadwould
be askedto assisttheearningmember of the family to addup some extraincome. On theotherhand,
teachersin ruraleducationalcentersinvillages arepaidpoorly, often leading to lackof attentionby
teachers,ultimately forcing thestudentsto suffer.
 Lack ofproper infrastructure
Lackof proper infrastructureatthese ruralschools is also a big concern. Most of theschools don’t have
proper classrooms, teaching equipment, playgrounds and even basicfacilities like clean toilets. Thus,the
poor condition of schools arebig reasonsto drive awaystudents.

4. CONRIBUTION OF THE ELDERLY PEOPLE IN THE
SOCIETY
Thesepeople arefacedwithnumerousphysical,psychologicalandsocial role changesthat
challenge theirsense ofself andcapacityto live happily.
Mainlyafterretirementpeopleexperience loneliness anddepression eitheras aresult of
living alone orduetolackofclose familytiesandreduced connectionswiththeir
cultureof origin, whichresults in aninabilityto activelyparticipatein thecommunity
activities.
The knowledgeof thesepeople remainalmostunusedastheyarenotinvolved in anykind
ofsocial contributionaftertheirretirements.

5. NowTheSocialInformaticsGroup,IIM-CIIMCcomeswithasolutionofutilisingtheseunused
knowledgeoftheelderlypeopletogiveeducationtothosechildrenofrural areasthroughaproject
“Social inclusion through digital inclusion” which involves -
Elderly can teach ,
thus, becoming
‘remote teachers’ or
‘virtual grandparents’
Via a social media
platform usingWeb
2.0 technology,
Owlish Oracle
Provide education to
the rural children who
are deprived of
facilities for basic
education

6. Our role as interns in this
project
As Summer
Interns at IIM-C,
we carried out
pilot study on an
elderly and a
child –
Conducting
study sessions
online involving
the participants,
Supervising the
online classes,
Recognizing the
problems faced
by the
participants,
Providing
possible
remedies of the
problems faced,
Writing out a
detailed
qualitative report
on the study that
was carried out
for future
reference & help
of the
researchers
involved.
Giving feedbacks
regarding the
problems faced
during the
sessions.

7. The Volunteers for This Intern
Mrs. Ila Banerjee, theelderly, a
womanofeighty yearsof age
volunteered toteach the child.
Sheis a resident of Sealdahin
Kolkata,W.B. Sheresides with
her two sons andtheirfamily
Thechildconcerned,
AryanShaw,aclass
4studentofSt.Pauls
.Heresideswithhis
parentsatSealdah.

8. Sessions on Owlish Oracle
 Boththe teacher and the studentweregiventutorialsfor accessingOwlish
Oracle.
 The elderlyteacher scheduledand conducted onlineclasseswiththechild on
the otherend.
 She shared,discussedand taught thestudy materialthat were providedto her.
 The child activelyparticipatedin the sessionsthat wereconducted.
 Each sessionran for alength of 30 minutesto 45 minutes
 The subjectsthat weretaught to the child broadlyinclude mathematics(long
divisions,multiplications)and science(pollution).

9. Socio-economic impact (child’s end)
SUCCESS OF
OWLISH
ORACLE
INCREASE IN
LITERACY
RATES IN
RURAL AREAS
BETTER JOBS
FOR RURAL
YOUTH
HIGHER
INCOME FOR
RURALYOUTH
BETTER
STANDARDOF
LIVINGOFTHE
RURAL PEOPLE
DEVELOPMENT
OFTHE
ECONOMY ASA
WHOLE

10. Socio-economic impact (elderly’s
end)
ADVANCEMENT OFTHE SOCIETY & ECONOMY
UTILIZATIONOFTHE UNUTILISED SOCIAL CAPITAL
HEALTHY & PRODUCTIVEAGEING OFTHE ELDERLY
INCREASING NUMBER OF ELDERLY GETS ENGAGED IN PRODUCTIVEACTIVITY
SUCCESS OF OWLISHORACLE

11. Suggestion as an Engineer
We have filled the questioners provided to us
and noted the result on both sides. A
mathematical model can be constructed with
the grandparent and the students response
to the owlish oracle platform with the help of
the data taken from the case study.

12. Drawbacks of Owlish oracle
 The first and the foremost problem faced on Owlish Oracle is the
internet connectivity problem.Owlish Oracle requires a high
speed internet preferably at least a 3G connection. So if we have
slower internet or internet connectivity less than3G it seriously
hampers the video conference, causingthe video to freeze or the
PowerPoint presentation to become inactive. Their remains no
synchronization inthe student and grandparent side when a
video is being uploaded .This problems can be solved only by a
good net connection. But the avaibilityof suchnet connections at
rural side will be a great challenge

13.  A technicalproblem facedin Owlish Oracle is that,Owlish
Oracle demandsboththeelderlyand thechild tobewell
versed incomputers.Keepingin mindthattheproject istobe
appliedin rural areas,this can emergeas aserious hindrance
toour objectiveof“socialinclusionthrough digitalinclusion”.

14.  Beforeany session in theOwlish Oracle involving boththe
childand theelderly therearises a needfortrialsessions
betweenthe supervisors for thefreeflowofthe power point
presentations& slidesduring the actualsession.This can turn
out tobea bigproblemlaterand mightnot befeasiblewhen
theproject is actuallyapplied.

15.  Sometimesuploadingofvideos and power pointpresentation
takeconsiderabletimecausingthe childtobecomeimpatient
and therebymakingitdifficulttocontinuethesession

16. Suggestions for Improvement
Providing faster
internet connection
and reducing the
chances of sudden
freezing of videos.
Educating rural
children about
computers and its
uses.
Providing small
computer courses to
the urban elderly so
that they can
conduct sessions in
“Owlish Oracle” on
their own.
Making the website
more user friendly or
uploading adequate
tutorials on how to
operate Owlish
Oracle

17. CONCLUSION
The success of Owlish Oracle depends upon the ability to
overcometheearliermentionedproblems.
Having resolved these problems, the positive externalities
emanating from the success of Owlish Oracle onto the
economyandthesocietyatlarge,willbeenormous.