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EDUSAT-Its impact on Indian Society

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RESEARCH ARTICLE

EDUSAT- Its impact on Indian Society

Lekshmi V Nair1*, Shaijumon CS1, Gayatri V Ayyangar2
1Department of Humanities, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology.
2Social Research Division, DECU/ISRO

Abstract
EDUSAT is the satellite exclusively devoted to meet the demands of the educational sector. It was launched in
September 2004 and is an initiative of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). As the vision of the organization
goes to reach out among the masses, EDUSAT was designed to cater to the needs of the common people and also to
meet the increasing demand for a satellite based education system in the country. It has changed classroom
teachings through the use of cutting edge technology. The present paper tries to analyse the effectiveness of
EDUSAT in meeting its objectives. The study has been conducted in the different centres under Rehabilitation
Council of India, which is one of the primary users of this technology.

Introduction
Technological advances are continuing to be part
of the trajectory of evolving civilization. The quest
for knowledge and scientific enquiry has driven
humanity to explore developments in science and
apply them to human requirements and needs.
Technology has been defined as “a technological
process, invention or method,” or “the application
of knowledge for practical ends” or “the sum of
ways in which social groups provide themselves
with the material objects of their civilization”
(Random House Webster’s College Dictionary,
1997). Technology is also a “social practice that
embodies the capacity of societies to transform
themselves by creating and manipulating not only
physical objects, but also symbols and cultural
forms.” [1] Considerable debate exists about the
definition and approaches to technology [2-5].
Social science studies of technology have included
perspectives drawn from a large number of
disciplines, including, sociology, political science
and economics [6-9].
Since the era of the space age, space technology
has brought more benefits to the mankind than
any other technological advancement in the
world. In fact, no other technology or scientific
breakthroughs has brought more benefits to our
everyday lives then the space technology which
has benefited our world. Information
Communication Space Technology (ICST) has
penetrated deep into our households and is
shaping family interactions in unprecedented
ways. Technology is as old as craft man’s tools.
But today’s digital and emerging technologies are
in a different class than hundreds of other hobbies
or interests because they have come to
significantly define the use of time, the
development of talent, and the allocation of
money. The integration of such technologies into
social settings within society is having a major
influence on social interaction between
individuals.
EDUSAT or GSAT-3 is a communications satellite
which was launched on 20 September 2004 by the
Indian Space Research Organisation. EDUSAT is
the first Indian satellite built exclusively to serve
the educational sector. It is mainly intended to
meet the demand for an interactive satellite-based
distance education system for the country. The
purpose of conceiving EDUSAT has three major
concerns. One of the major concerns was to reach
out to those areas/educational institutions where
the number of teachers is less as compared to the
students. Second, to enable the teachers to
present the concepts with various teaching aids
which would enhance the concept clarity among
the students. Third, same message can be
transmitted without any loss in the information.
These ideas were translated into EDUSAT
technology. After creating awareness about the
technology, through consultations, meeting,
conferences etc., the network was set up for
various educational institutes in different states.
The pivotal role of education as an instrument of
social change by altering the human perspective
and transforming the traditional mindset of
society is well recognised. The universalisation of
education has become the top priority, especially

Lekshmi V Nair et. al.| October 2015 | Vol.3 | Issue 10 |28-34 28

 Available online at: www.ijassh.com
for the developing countries. But the extension of
quality education to remote and rural regions and
also the marginalized becomes a herculean task
for a large country like India with multi-lingual
and multi-cultural population separated by vast
geographical distances, and, in many instances,
inaccessible terrain. Since independence, India
has seen substantial increase in the number of
educational institutions at primary, secondary
and higher levels as well as the student
enrolment. But the lack of adequate rural
educational infrastructure and non-availability of
good teachers in sufficient numbers adversely
affect the efforts made in education.
Satellites can establish the connectivity between
urban educational institutions with adequate
infrastructure imparting quality education and
the large number of rural and semi-urban
educational institutions that lack the necessary
infrastructure. Besides supporting formal
education, a satellite system can facilitate the
dissemination of knowledge to the rural and
remote population about important aspects like
health, hygiene and personality development and
allow professionals to update their knowledge
base as well. Thus, in spite of limited trained and
skilled teachers, the aspirations of the growing
student population at all levels can be met
through this concept of technology known as tele
education.
Mordini [1] says that sequentially evolving
technologies are not isolated from the society in
which they are embedded, but are integral to the
social environment. Increased societal dependency
on technologies necessitates the examination of
“society–technology” interactions. In this context,
it is important to note that on one hand a new
technology may bring about radical changes in
society, while on the other hand the fate of that
technology rests with the society in which it is
being applied. A negative societal response may
be caused by the fact that, while many
technologies deliver benefits to society, they may
also introduce new risks [10]. As a consequence,
such developments are often shaped by public
controversies and concerns [11].Public rejection of
technologies has frequently resulted in negative
consequences for the commercialization of
technologies. In particular, unpredicted events
and accidents affecting the public have acted as a
signal which has resulted in fear and reluctance
to adopt certain technologies, and resulted in
consumer rejection of the products of these
technologies. [12-16].
Hence the present study was conducted to
understand the effectiveness of EDUSAT, a
Lekshmi V Nair et. al.| October 2015 | Vol.3 | Issue 10 |28-34
contribution of space technology and its impact on
Indian society. There are many users of EDUSAT,
ranging from primary schools to higher education
institutions. Nevertheless there are some special
networks that are designed to cater to the needs
of teaching special children like blind, dumb and
deaf, autistic, physically and mentally challenged
etc. Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) is one
such network which is using EDUSAT network.
The study has been conducted among the
Rehabilition Council of India.
Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI), New Delhi
was set up as a statutory body in 1993 to enforce
standardization and regulation of all training
policies and programmes in the field of
rehabilitation and special education all over the
country. The mandate given to RCI is to regulate
and monitor services given to persons with
disability,to standardise syllabi and to maintain a
Central Rehabilitation Register of all qualified
professionals and personnel working in the field of
Rehabilitation and Special Education.The Act also
prescribes punitive action against unqualified
persons delivering services to persons with
disability. RCI promote teaching and research in
Rehabilitation and Special Education by offering
training policies and programmes in the field of
rehabilitation of persons with disabilities,
bringing standardization of training courses for
professionals dealing with persons with
disabilities, prescribing minimum standards of
education and training of various categories of
professionals/ personnel dealing with people with
disabilities, regulating these standards in all
training institutions uniformly throughout the
country, and recognizing institutions/
organizations/ universities running master's
degree/ bachelor's degree/ P.G.Diploma/ Diploma/
Certificate courses in the field of rehabilitation of
persons with disabilities,
At present 565 institutions are affiliated to RCI
with an enrolment of more than 70,000 students
and 80 Long Term/ Short Term Training Courses
on special education which are being adopted by
various Universities/Institutions. Under the RCI
network, Receive Only Terminals (ROTs) are set
up in 565 locations, out of which 380 are in
schools and 185 are in the training institutes with
a dedicated Hub installed by ISRO. At the time of
the study, due to various reasons, at 381 centres
the EDUSAT network was in working condition.
RCI channel named as “Navshikhar” transmit
programme from 10.00am to 5.00pm (seven hours)
from Monday to Friday. This channel also telecast
a slot for two hours duration i.e. 1400 hrs-1600
hrs. The recorded programmes on various subjects
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are shown on next day morning (1030 hrs.-1230
hrs.). These programmes are directed to the
students who after passing out the course would
working as “Special Educators”. The language of
the programmes is either English or Hindi.
Besides, digital resources of RCI are also
available on its portal named “Punahbhava”. The
monthly telecast schedule is also uploaded on RCI
website website so that the intended users can
plan their routine school/college/institute time
table accordingly. RCI owns a studio and a team
of content generators who produces programmes
on differently abled children.
RCI EDUSAT network inaugurated in October 5,
2007, is a special EDUSAT network as the
programme is directed to the special educators
who are in turn responsible for teaching the
special children i.e. children who are physically or
mentally challenged. As a part of our observation,
we found that RCI transmits live programme very
regularly. Hence, it was important to understand
the field reality in terms of network utilisation
and its acceptance by the viewers across the
country.
Objectives
 Obtain feedback from the students and
coordinators about the programme and the
network
 Find out the level of network utilisation
 Understand the overall planning, management
and organisation of network at teaching and
selected receiving ends.
Methodology
In this study, data is obtained from two different
methods. First, method adopted was feedback
obtained through telephone. Second, method of
obtaining the data was by visiting to various
selected locations to get the feedback of users.
After having discussion with RCI officials, we
received the list of 116 centres (out of 381), which
according to RCI, are the active locations. In these
centres the systems are functional as well as
utilized regularly. In order to get an indepth
feedback about the system utilization, states
where five or more than five DRS sets are
functional were selected. As a result, 84 locations
of 111 states were selected.
An attempt was made to contact all the centres,
out of which the feedback of 69 centres could be
obtained. The remaining 15 centres could not be
contacted for various reasons like incorrect
Lekshmi V Nair et. al.| October 2015 | Vol.3 | Issue 10 |28-34
telephone numbers, non-response of the
coordinators of some places through
email/telephone. The telephonic survey was
conducted to (A) have an idea about the
presentation status of utilisation and (B) get an
indication of places which could be considered for
conducting the network utilisation study.
Through this process only 35 centres (the DRS
systems) were found in working condition and
using the telecast, out of which 10 were in
Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh
(western region), 13 were in Northern region like
Delhi, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and
Rajasthan and 12 centres were in Karnataka,
Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Further the centers were divided into three
groups on the basis of geographical proximity.
These groups are:
Group-I- Northern States: New Delhi, Haryana,
Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan
Group-II-Southern States: Kerala, Karnataka and
Tamil Nadu
Group-III-Western States: Gujarat, Madhya
Pradesh and Maharashtra
For this study only the 12 centres of the south
were taken into account. After selecting 3states
and 12 center’s, a list of standby centre’s (a
replacement for selected centres in case of any
replacement required) was prepared by contacting
some other locations in the same state. This was
treated as waiting list. Due to some reason, if the
receiving end mentioned in the first list could not
be contacted then the researcher was asked to
contact waitlisted centers for data collection.
Apart from 12 receiving end locations, data was
collected from teaching end (located at New
Delhi). Data from teaching end included interview
of the Director, interview of the Coordinator and
resource persons (RPs) from RCI. At the receiving
end, principals, teachers, EDUSAT Coordinator
and Students were interviewed. Along with this
live observation of programmes were done at
teaching as well as receiving end. Interview
Schedule was used to collect data which was
supplemented with observations.
Findings
Feedback was taken from the teaching end at
Delhi. As head of the organization feedback
from Major Gen. Ian Cardozo, Chairman and
Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) was
taken. Apart of the roles and functions it was
reported that the RCI runs the Navshikhar
channel with 565 Receive Only Terminals
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(ROTs) located in 380 schools and 185 training
institutes. Also there is a teaching end and
ROT located at the RCI Head Quarters, It was
reported and observed that a state of art studio
with required personnel, recording facilities along
with up-linking facilities are in place with RCI
teaching end.
There are six qualified studio staff in position to
handle the network (Producer, Associate
Producer, Sr. Cameraman, Cameraman, Editor
and Technician).
There are 585 RCI approved training institutions
and these institutions received grants from
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment,
Govt. of India and National Trusts for running
various courses and programme. In all there are
80 RCI run regular courses, of those 27 courses
are operated through distance mode.
On Oct 5, 2007 the actual telecast of EDUSAT
programme was started in RCI. The programmes
are transmitted from 10.00am to 05.00pm (seven
hours) from Monday to Friday. A large number of
progammes in different formats (Discussion,
Documentary, Short Films, Interviews, success
stories etc.) are available at RCI.
The Navshikhar channel starts with
announcement of daily schedule for 15 minutes
from 10.00am to 10.15am which is followed by
other programmes scheduled for the day. The
programmes weekly schedule is also announced
from 1.30pm to 2.00pm and 4.36pm to 5.00pm.
There are provisions for two hours live telecast
programmes daily from 2.00 to 4.00pm.
Recordings of this slot are re-telecast on the
forenoons i.e. 10.30am to 12.30pm. According to
the chairperson, these progammes are based on
courses of studies/syllabus and help enhance
students learning. The RCI prepares monthly
telecast schedule based on the topics to be
transacted by the training institutes.
The director has also emphatically mentioned
that these programmes have been designed to
supplement conventional methods of teaching.
For continuous maintenance of RCI network,
annual maintenance contracts (AMC) has been
entered with Ms. TELERAD. However, RCI is
facing difficulty in maintenance of remote end
centers/learning end.
In the interview with RCI teaching end co-
ordinator, he mentioned that the programmes
produced are targeted for diverse category of
students, professional etc. which is reflected in
the daily telecast schedule. RCI prepares the
Lekshmi V Nair et. al.| October 2015 | Vol.3 | Issue 10 |28-34
schedule keeping in view the curriculum
prescribed for different courses. The programme
schedule is communicated to its viewers through
RCI website and Navshikhar Channel. The RCI
network has no mechanism to trace how may
ROTs are switched on at any point of time for
viewing purposes. In case of any ROT related
problems, receiving end coordinators contact to
RCI personnel and usually the problems are
related to poor/ non- receiving of signals and the
DRS/ROT not working properly.
Of the 12 institutes visited IN THE South, 4 were
NGO’s, 3 were special schools, 2 were medical
college, 2 training institutes and one was a higher
secondary school. They offer courses varying from
Diploma in Special Education, Community Based
Rehabilitation to Bachelors and Masters in Audio
Speech Language Pathology and Ph D in
disability studies.
All the institutes have fairly good number of male
and female faculty members. The total number of
male faculty members is 41 and female faculty
members are 42. Only in the one institute at
Mysore no regular faculty members have been
recruited. All the institutes studied irrespective of
whether it is functioning or not, are well equipped
with all the infrastructural facilities. They have
libraries, LCD, internet, DTH and well equipped
computer rooms. The seating capacity for viewing
the EDUSAT programme is well arranged and the
rooms are quite big to accommodate all students.
But out of 12 centers only 6 are functioning
effectively. Some of the institutes neither has the
set top box for viewing the program nor have a
dedicated room for viewing the program. Of the
institutes working well some have not made
alternate arrangements for power supply or have
a annual maintenance contract in place. Only one
centre AWH, Calicut have Annual Maintenance
Contract with a company. Other centres have
their own technical team or a local person to help
them when they have any problem.
Others reported that they do not know whom to
contact when they have any problem.
The EDUSAT programmes according to all the
principals of South region are very useful and the
students are getting awareness regarding
different topics of Special Education and various
other disabilities. The Principals of those
institutes functioning reasonably well said that
EDUSAT programmes supplement the
conventional methods of teaching by providing
additional information. Most of the programmes
telecasted through this Channel are based on the
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syllabus; it is an additional information and
exposure for the students pursuing these courses.
Only the principals of two Medical Colleges
opined that the content has to be upgraded to suit
the requirements of students pursuing their
graduate, postgraduate and Doctoral programs.
Three principals were not at all interested and
requested to take the set top box back. Students
are losing interest to view the program due to the
poor audio video quality of the program and
telecasting the program in Hindi.
Only the institute of Kozhikode in Kerala has the
post of Receiving End Coordinator. In all the
other functioning centres the faculty is given an
additional charge of EDUSAT Coordinator. None
of the coordinators have received any proper
EDUSAT technical training. But in spite of all
these except a very few colleges, the receiving end
coordinator is aware of the schedule of EDUSAT
program being uploaded by the Rehabilitation
Council of India (RCI) in their portal. A specific
time schedule is fixed to view the programmes on
every day and students considers it with utmost
seriousness. In the Medical colleges the students
view programmes only when they are free or view
programme recommended by the coordinators.
In the other functioning institutes there is no
specific time schedule for viewing these
programmes nor are the coordinators aware of the
website. The students watch the programmes
either during their break time or when the
teacher is absent. The audio and video quality
remained poor in most of the institutes. They face
problems like noise disturbance and poor quality
in videos. Except the institutes of Calicut and
Kilpauk, the other institutes have neither used
nor have any idea that they can interact with the
resource person if required. In Calicut, the
students used to talk to the resource person over
land line. A mixture of RCI-EDUSAT programmes
and the conventional method of teaching is used
for the improvement of the quality of education in
disability studies.
The teachers were of the opinion that all the
programmes are syllabus oriented and catering to
the needs of the learners. Some of the institutes
make sure that the teachers are present in the
audio visual room while students view the RCI-
EDUSAT programme. During the programme the
researcher noted that in most of the institutes a
coordinator or a person in charge of the
coordinator was present during the program. The
teachers try to clear the doubts of the students.
But they themselves find it very difficult to follow
Hindi.
Lekshmi V Nair et. al.| October 2015 | Vol.3 | Issue 10 |28-34
Frequent interruptions occurred while viewing
the programmes because of bad signal. The
teachers of the institutes reported that they are
loosing interest to watch the program because of
the disturbances in telecasting and audio video
problems. Most of the teachers are happy with the
teaching method of resource persons. The
teachers opined that the majority of the Resource
Persons in the Channel are experienced. Resource
persons are trying to cover a large area of a
subject within a limited time. This creates
problems for the students as well as teachers.
They expect a detailed analysis of a specified topic
under a specified area.
Out of twelve institutes that are taken for
analysis in the southern region, the researchers
could interview the students from six institutes.
Though English is the recommended medium of
instruction students are more comfortable with
the usage of regional language during the
teaching learning process in the classroom.
Students are of the opinion that they can learn
the subjects easily if the teacher teaches in
regional language.
26.9% of the students found all the programs
related to the curriculum while others felt that
the program has only some with their curriculum.
When 76.9% are very satisfied with the content of
the program and found it very informative and
useful, 23.1% are not at all satisfied with the RCI-
EDUSAT program. 61.5% reported that the
program is informative and useful, 7.7% of
students did not find the program informative at
all. All of the students have difficulty in
understanding Hindi and they clear their doubts
with the teachers during the class. Video clippings
are helping them in understanding their subject
area and making it easy for them to comprehend.
Students also rated the audio video quality of the
program as poor. It needs to be improved. They
get information about the possibilities of higher
studies and employment opportunities through
the programs are being telecasted by Navshikar
channel.
At Hellen Kellers in Mysore the coordinator told
that he came just because the principal had
informed him about this visit from ISRO. PPT
and demonstration were used by the resource
persons while taking class. Only the students of
Calicut were the most attentive and were also
found to be taking notes while some were not at
all interested.
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In all the institutes audio video quality is very
poor. There was frequent noise disturbances and
fluctuation of channel. The researcher visited the
institutes after taking prior permission from the
head of the institute. Most of the institutes were
visited during forenoon. When the researcher
expressed the need to view the programme along
with the students most of the principals, except
that of Calicut were a bit reluctant. They talked
to the coordinators over phone and were found to
be making all arrangements. Reluctance from the
part of the higher authorities was another
challenge in the implementation of this new
technology. The poor audio video signals reduced
the interest of the students as well as the faculty
towards the program. Neither they knew of whom
to contact to rectify the defects nor were they seen
taking much interests in rectifying it.
A visit to the non working centres show that RCI
had no contact with any of the centres after
providing the network facility. The researchers
felt that there is an urgent need of a regular
monitoring mechanism to check the functioning of
the RCI EDUSAT network. RCI also has to
initiate training programs to new centers before
inducting them into the group. It was felt that
the success of the program depended on the
initiatives taken by the principals and
coordinators. Regular capacity building programs
has to be to be given to the principals and the
receiving end coordinators also. Periodic meetings
with the principals or receiving end coordinators
can be convened to check the progress of the
program. Content of the program has to be
upgraded to suit the needs of students pursuing
bachelors and masters program. In the South the
audio video quality was so poor. This affected the
interest of the students; Quality of telecasting has
to be improved. Telecasting in Hindi is another
major problem faced by teachers and students in
the south. At least subtitles should be given in
English. Most of the institutes find it difficult to
get their equipments repaired when they have
some problems. They do not know of whom to
contact. Hence an agency has to be identified
either by ISRO or RCI which can get into an
annual maintenance with the different institutes.
Conclusion
The study cleary shows that the launch of
EDUSAT has helped in providing quality
instruction through video programmes to students
studying to train a differently abled group. The
students have benefited from the video
programmes delivered through the Satellite. The
benefit gained is in terms of gain in knowledge
and understanding of the content and interest in
viewing programmes.
Lekshmi V Nair et. al.| October 2015 | Vol.3 | Issue 10 |28-34
From the Interviews with the intended
stakeholders and observations also it is quite
evident that the teaching through RCI-EDUSAT
Network certainly supplements the curriculum
based learning. The stakeholders like principals
and teachers are of the opinion that the
programmes conducted by RCI are very effective
and aids learning. EDUSAT programmes
supplement the conventional methods of teaching
by providing additional information.
The coordinators receive the programme schedule
through email and at times, the schedule is also
accessed through RCI website. It is a usual
practice that the institutes show the programme
which are related to their specialisation. On an
average, the attendance varies from 20-70 viewers
per programme. This also includes the students as
well as other interested staff of the institution. In
most of the receiving centres, the teacher is
present in the viewing room to clarify the
questions raised by the students. Probably this is
also one of the reasons that student do not ask
questions to the subject expert preset in the
studio. Some of the centres have also mentioned
that one of the reasons for not watching the
programmes is because of the problem in the
system. The problems may be very trivial but
there should be a mechanism to solve these issues
immediately. This is one step towards ensuring
that systems are used effectively.
Though the programs are quite effective in
content and is serving its purpose, the problem
lies at the managerial level, implementation and
at the stage of using it in the receiving end. Most
of the centres experience difficulty in viewing the
program. They do not know of whom to contact to
rectify the problems. No training programs are
being given to the receiving end cocordinators nor
are there any liasoning officer to mediate between
the centres and ISRO. The number of operational
centres is very high but at some places, ROTs are
kept idle and not used. The authorities in charge
at the respective centres are not interested to
implement it. The problem of not viewing the
programme is thus due to the non operation of the
system, lack of a regular monitoring mechanism
and managerial as well. The
instrumental/expressive dimension as adapted
from Parsons's classification of pattern variables
(Parsons 1951) states that technology is a tool
that meets specific functional goals. In order for a
given technology to be employed successfully to
realize instrumental goals, the user must have
the knowledge of how technology can be utilized,
have the ability to cope with the technological
demands, and actually use it to meet specific
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functional needs. Instrumental goals are such
objectives as task performance, cost savings, and
efficient use of time. The expressive side of
technology refers to the possibilities that
technology creates for communicating ideas and
expressing values through opinions and behavior.
Here the expressive goals are met while the
instrumental goals are yet to be fully realized. It
needs to be addressed by the respective
institutions to facilitate better utilisation of the
network. In order to utilise the EDUSAT
programmes in a better way, RCI may conduct
compulsory achievement tests/exams based the
lectures delivered/programmes telecast on its
network.
RCI should guide the users about AMC and
facilitate repairing of non-functional ROTs on
nominal charges. There is a need to evolve a
monitoring mechanism for regular functioning of
ROTs along with imparting periodic training of all
related functionaries.
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Lekshmi V Nair et. al.| October 2015 | Vol.3 | Issue 10 |28-34
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Recorded media programmes and related study
materials have to be uploaded on RCI portal well
in advance. This will help the receiving end
coordinators and students to equip themselves
before the programme. Inbuilt pre-telecast & post
telecast activity to lead thematic discussion may
be designed. A need based transmission schedule
may be designed and disseminated among stake
holders well in advance.
To facilitate smooth execution of RCI EDUSAT
Network, a state wise and region wise
coordinating mechanism has to be established to
register, understand and solve the problems faced
by each region. Further, a separate postal
address/E-mail ID/SMS service needs to be
created by the RCI for constant interaction and
clarification of doubts. Along with this, a monthly
video magazine for addressing viewer’s
mails/letters may be produced and telecast by
RCI. The programme “Patron Ke Uttar” could be
anchored by the Director/Programme coordinator
of RCI along with a trainee/special educator from
any ROT.
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