E-Learning

Internet - this is nothing short of a magic box.   It enables you to communicate with people over the continents.  It gives you information within seconds and all you have to do is just click.  And it can also be a means of income!!  The very fact that you are reading now from the website, proves the value of the Internet.   Realizing the importance of the Internet and wishing to introduce it to the plantation communities, Prajashakthi opened its first computer centre - Saumyamoorthi Thondaman Memorial Foundation's Vanaraja Computer Centre in March, 2006. This centre was inaugurated by Honourable President of Sri Lanka, Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse himself.  Internet has its uses in a place such as the plantation communities. It can be used as an effective tool in imparting education. It also ensures that the children of the communities are not deprived of advantages of the internet.   Prajakshathi's e-learning centres enable the children to learn the computer and internet applications. The children learn MS Office, browsing the internet etc. Through the community website www.thondaman.org, the children are also are given email and chat facilities. The Internet is also utilized to impart English language lessons online.   The Internet may be an entertainment medium for millions across the globe but here it means a parallel teaching system. The children use it for distance education and online training thus playing the role of a teacher in school.  How Prajashakthi manages to bring internet and the computer to the plantations needs to be mentioned here. Because of the irregularity of the terrain, the infrastructure (electricity and telephone lines) is still in basic stage here.   It was only the strong intention of benefiting the community that led Prajashakthi to dare these odds. Do you know that these centres use the most expensive mode of internet called the VSAT. That is, the connection is directly obtained from the satellite.   But VSAT is the not the permanent solution because of the high costs involved. The Foundation is still in search of an economical way of bringing Internet closer to these children.