Kollam District Collector P G Thomas inaugurated the mobile classroom, MoVE an initiative of AMMACHI labs aimed at achieving women empowerment. Inaugurating the project Thomas said that MoVE units literally took the occupational skills to the doorsteps of unemployed women from rural areas and help them secure skills that would earn them a regular income. President of Clappana panchayat Sheela Sarasan inaugurated the fabric painting course. Rangan, chief co-ordinator, Amritasree, welcomed the audience and AMMACHI labs director Bhavani Bijlani proposed a vote of thanks.

Amrita University is ushering a new era for the empowerment of socially and economically weaker sections of women in India by taking computer aided vocational training courses to villages using technology aided mobile vehicles called MoVE (Mobile Vocational Education).

MoVE project was conceptualized and developed by Ammachi Labs under Amrita University. Ammachi Labs, acronym for ‘Amrita Multi-Model Applications for Computer Human Interaction Labs’ started 3 years ago to focus on research to offer new technological solutions affordable for the lower strata of society.

A MoVE unit is a fully functioning classroom-on-wheels, equipped with latest computer and communication technology. The unit typically contains 20 computers, through which students are trained in vocational skills using the SAVE haptic technology applications. It employs Wi-Fi and a local and central database to monitor and assess student performance. Also, A-VIEW, an award-winning Amrita video-conferencing technology platform has been embedded into MoVE providing students instant access to experts in their field of study, for real-time, online interaction.

A mobile class room has several advantages over a regular class room such as reusable infrastructure, reduced operating costs and increase in outreach. A MoVE unit is sustained by solar energy, thereby making it eco-friendly and sustainable. The complete infrastructure required to conduct vocational training is contained within the MoVE unit. The technologies used to deliver classes are intuitive and are designed to teach those even with rudimentary literacy.

September 05, 2012