mySangham: A Crowdsourcing Platform for Skill Development
mySangham is an online portal and community that will bring skill based education and employment within reach of everyone. The portal enables anyone to upload multilingual content that would be accessible to all especially the mobile-first, cloud-first generation. mySangham applies crowdsourcing to empower individuals and to leverage technology to disseminate vocational education on a mass scale by creating a comprehensive ecosystem of the vocational skills training network by connecting a large online community of those searching for skills and those who can provide skills training. The Content Management System (CMS) and the Learning Management System (LMS) form the crux of this portal which facilitates creation, curation and dissemination of multilingual vocational education and training (VET) content.
This portal facilitates curation of serious games based on the content created out of National Occupational Standards (NOS) and simulation of work environment based scenarios as well. Using multimedia and Web 2.0 technologies to enrich the individual’s learning experience, the portal provides portable, cost effective, scalable, and standardized vocational education and training courses across India.
Content Creation: mySangham offers content creators an easy-to-use platform to develop multimedia based instructional material, interactive activities (2D games), 3D tool libraries, assessments making it easy for anyone to create multilingual courses. A committee of content moderators and reviewers like the sector skill council (SSCs) or NSDC can check the uploaded content to prevent plagiarism and promote a quality content for the portal.
Content Curation: The Content Management System (CMS) has the ability to compile user generated content to create courses or take Open Educational Resources (OER) content to create courses under the Creative Commons Licence (CCL). Using the mySangham Game Engine, content creators would be able to create their own games for their courses. The game engine currently hosts over 12 varieties of interactive activities that is ready to use.
Content Dissemination: With usability as a priority, mySangham offers a gentle user experience to the novice computer user. Through its customizable interface, an individual learner can personalize their learning experience according to pace and preference. mySangham delivers quality content through several methods. The student can access the portal through a computer or HTML5 ready smart phone/ tablet, log in, create an account, and then be guided to a comprehensive course library. The online help menu will always be visible to assist students through the process. Students advance through a particular course by passing ongoing assessments and by mastering certain competencies (Qualification Packs). Modes of learning will include video lectures, interactive activities, 3D tool libraries/simulations and evaluations. mySangham will break the barrier of language by being accessible in many languages. Courses are currently available in English, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and soon will be available in Telugu, Kannada among other languages. Even low-literacy populations will be able to learn through the visually engaging user interface.
Content Community (e-Guilds): Traditionally, guilds were a way for skilled tradesmen and artisans to mentor and pass on skills to apprentices. mySangham would leverage these rich traditions by using technology to create virtual e-Guilds through skill or course based discussion forums, webinars and others. Unlike other e-Learning platforms that present a potential lengthy learning curve, mySangham will be geared towards unskilled sectors of society. mySangham will offer a community feel through social network to connect students to mentors and fellow students and allow them to interact with each other just like in a traditional guild or apprenticeship program.
Other Strengths:
Learn more by visiting www.mysangham.com
