![KITE Office Gate Trivandrum](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/KITE_Office_Gate_Trivandrum.jpg)
Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE) is a state owned
special purpose company
A special-purpose entity (SPE; or, in Europe and India, special-purpose vehicle/SPV; or, in some cases in each EU jurisdiction, FVC, financial vehicle corporation) is a legal entity (usually a limited company of some type or, sometimes, a limited ...
under
Department of General Education of the
Government of Kerala
Government of Kerala is the subnational government of the Indian state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who selects all the other ministers. The chief minister and their most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision ...
. It was developed to support
ICT enabled education for schools in Kerala. The erstwhile IT@School Project was transformed into KITE for extending its scope of operations in August 2017. KITE was the first
SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) company to get funded by
KIIFB (Kerala Infrastructure and Investment Fund Board).
History
IT@School project was established in 2001 and IT campaigns were conducted statewide. Initially, Microsoft had shown interest in the IT@School project, but this was rejected and government went with
Free Software
Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, no ...
. In 2003, IT became a compulsory subject in state school curriculum with IT practical exams. The transition to Free Software was completed in 2006.
In 2017, IT@School project was promoted into a government company named KITE.
KITE VICTERS
![Logo_of_VICTERS_Channel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Logo_of_VICTERS_Channel.jpg)
KITE is the nodal agency for implementing the
EDUSAT
EduSAT is an Italian microsatellite which was launched in August 2011. The satellite was built and is operated by the Sapienza University of Rome in conjunction with the Italian Space Agency ASI, and is primarily used for educational outreach an ...
network, and runs an exclusive channel for education called KITE VICTERS (Versatile ICT Enabled Resource for Students), which is aired from 6am to 11pm. VICTERS offers interactive virtual classrooms that enable the school students as well as the teachers to directly communicate with the subject experts and educationists.
Training programmes
![It@schoolDSCN2395](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/It%40schoolDSCN2395.JPG)
*ICT training: Training given to familiarise the basics of
operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also in ...
s and
office software
An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific dut ...
packages and other application software.
*Hardware training: 3 day training programme on hardware maintenance and basic support.
*Internet training: This 20 hour training programme was given to all SITCs and interested school teachers. The trained SITC then trained all High School teachers in their school. The government also issued strict instructions that every student in Std X in the school should get at least 10 hours of internet exposure per year.
*IT training for the visually challenged: In association with Insight scheme of Kerala State IT Mission, the Project has successfully imparted IT training using free software for teachers of special schools for visually challenged, by exclusively using free software based screen reading software named ORCA.
[IT@School initiative lauded](_blank)
The Hindu (2011-09-19). Retrieved on 2015-04-21.
*Camera handling training: Two day training on camera handling was given to the teachers, enabling them to create educational videos which could be beneficial in implementing ICT enabled education.
*Training on ICT enabled content: Specific training on ICT enabled content was provided to teachers so as to enable them to use ICT enabled content in all subjects in order to equal teachers in classroom transaction.
![Video conference class for english teachers DSCN0123](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Video_conference_class_for_english_teachers_DSCN0123.JPG)
*Animation Training Programme for Students (ANTS): The project provided training in animated movie making entirely based on
free and open source software
Free and open-source software (FOSS) is a term used to refer to groups of software consisting of both free software and open-source software where anyone is freely licensed to use, copy, study, and change the software in any way, and the source ...
such as
KToon
TupiTube (also known as Tupi 2D) is a free and open-source software, free and open-source Animation, 2D animation software for amateur artists, children and teenagers. It is available for Windows, Mac OS X, Unix-like operating systems, and Android ...
,
GIMP
GIMP ( ; GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a free and open-source raster graphics editor used for image manipulation (retouching) and image editing, free-form drawing, transcoding between different image file formats, and more specialized task ...
,
OpenShot Video Editor and
Audacity.
KITE GNU-Linux
KITE GNU-Linux previously known as IT@School GNU/Linux is a
Debian
Debian (), also known as Debian GNU/Linux, is a Linux distribution composed of free and open-source software, developed by the community-supported Debian Project, which was established by Ian Murdock on August 16, 1993. The first version of D ...
based
Linux distribution
A Linux distribution (often abbreviated as distro) is an operating system made from a software collection that includes the Linux kernel and, often, a package management system. Linux users usually obtain their operating system by downloading one ...
that was created for the KITE Project (previously IT@School project) to impart ICT education in public schools in the state. The distribution was originally developed by SPACE and is currently being maintained by the internal team at KITE.
IT@School GNU/Linux 18.04
IT@School GNU/Linux is a
operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also in ...
released by Kite (previously IT@School) it is based on
Ubuntu 18.04
Ubuntu releases are made semiannually by Canonical (company), Canonical Ltd, the developers of the Ubuntu operating system, using the year and month of the release as a Software versioning, version number. The first Ubuntu release, for example, ...
with
free software
Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, no ...
customized as per the school curriculum prepared by scert . This operating systems powered more than 2,00,000 computers in various schools under the
State board of Kerala .
KITE GNU-Linux lite 2020
KITU GNU-Linux lite 2020 is a
operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also in ...
released by KITE on international mother language day. This is a lite version of KITE GNU/Linux 18.04 based on ubuntu 18.04 . This was created in order to install it on older computers with low specifications .It also includes a collection of
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...
unicode fonts and a dedicated English-Malayalm dictionary
KITE GNU-Linux 20.04
KITE GNU-Linux 20.04 is an operating system released by Chief Minister of Kerala
Pinarayi Vijayan
Pinarayi Vijayan (; born 24 May 1945) is an Indian Communist politician who is the current Chief Minister of Kerala, serving since 25 May 2016. A member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), he is the longest-serving sec ...
on behalf of KITE. This version is based on
Ubuntu 20.04 . Most of the applications have been updated to their latest version in this version of the OS
This version also featured the inclusion of
CAD
Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve co ...
software
Libre CAD instead of expensive
AutoCAd
AutoCAD is a commercial computer-aided design (CAD) and drafting software application. Developed and marketed by Autodesk, AutoCAD was first released in December 1982 as a desktop app running on microcomputers with internal graphics controllers. ...
Little Kites
'Little kites' IT Club is an initiative of KITE which features more than 1 lakh student members.
Students are given intense training in areas such as
Animation
Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...
,
Cyber Safety,Malayalam Computing,
Hardware and
Electronics
The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
.
![Little kites Kollam district camp2020](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Little_kites_Kollam_district_camp2020.jpg)
Little kites is the largest Student IT Network in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
FOSS initiatives
Some of the free software applications developed or customized by the Project include the following.
#Application software like
OpenOffice OpenOffice or open office may refer to:
Computing Software
* OpenOffice.org (OOo), a discontinued open-source office software suite, originally based on StarOffice
* Apache OpenOffice (AOO), a derivative of OOo by the Apache Software Foundation, w ...
,
GIMP
GIMP ( ; GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a free and open-source raster graphics editor used for image manipulation (retouching) and image editing, free-form drawing, transcoding between different image file formats, and more specialized task ...
,
Dr. Geo
GNU Dr. Geo is interactive geometry software that allows its users to design & manipulate interactive geometric sketches. It is free software (source code, translations, icons and installer are released under GNU GPL license), created by Hilaire F ...
,
Rasmol
RasMol is a computer program written for molecular graphics visualization intended and used mainly to depict and explore biological macromolecule structures, such as those found in the Protein Data Bank. It was originally developed by Roger Sayle ...
,
KEduca,
Klab etc.
#Examination software – to conduct IT practical examination to more than 1.6 million students
#Handbook for
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
– prepared as a user manual
#Training modules in Linux – to train teachers in open source
#Textbook for standard 8th, 9th, and 10th classes– Prepared in association with SCERT
Implementation of SPARK
The "Service Payroll Administrative Repository for Kerala" (SPARK) is a program of Department of Information Technology (DIT) of the state's government for digitizing the service book details of all employees of the state so that the database could be used for the decision makers and to ensure the welfare of the employees.
School Wiki
![Schoolwiki-logo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Schoolwiki-logo.png)
School Wiki, modelled on Wikipedia, attempts to foster the culture of collaborative learning in Kerala's schools. This collaborative website is completely prepared in
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...
.
All high schools in the state include their educational contents and other details in their allotted space. Each school would be able to enter details such as basic elementary data, their historical references, statistics, infrastructure details, details of alumni, school websites and blogs, various clubs and forums, class magazines, supporting images and videos. Apart from these contents, analytical language projects such as 'Pradeshika patram' – school newsletter, 'Nadodi Vijnanakoshan' – local encyclopedia and 'Ente Nadu' - 'My Village', which are part of learning Malayalam language, would also be entrusted to all students in Std 8, 9 and 10 respectively, which, under the guidance of language teachers, would be completed and the reports and findings would enrich the knowledge base of School Wiki. By facilitating the students to access and modify all contents in School Wiki, the project also ensures the participation of the general public including school alumni.
Total Physical Fitness Programme software
The "Total Physical Fitness Programme" software manages fitness details of 30 lakh students are available for further action.
Accolades
References
{{Reflist
www.kite.kerala.gov.in
Education companies of India
Education in Kerala