Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 4 (IANS): Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE), the technology wing of the Kerala General Education Department, has now distributed 29,000 robotic kits to high schools across Kerala, introducing students to emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and the Internet of Things (IoT).
The official announcement regarding this will be made by V. Sivankutty, Minister for General Education at the Little KITEs state camp on February 8 at the ICFOSS campus, here.
On the day, an exhibition of student-created robotic projects will also be staged.
Following the distribution of 9,000 kits in 2022, KITE has added 20,000 more kits this year with Corporate Social Responsibility support. Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. provided 8,475 kits, Cochin Shipyard Ltd. contributed 4,615, and QBurst Technologies and Canara Bank donated 1,000 each.
The open-hardware kits include Arduino Uno R3, LEDs, mini servo motors, LDRs, light and IR sensor modules, breadboards, buzzer modules, push-button switches, and resistors.
Costing under Rs 1,000 per kit, they allow schools to easily obtain replacement parts.
Students can build prototypes of devices such as traffic signals, street lights, electronic voting machines (EVMs), and walking sticks.
The programming aspect promotes logical thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills.
Little KITEs, the country's largest student ICT network, engages 1.8 lakh students annually and played a key role in this initiative.
Within the programme, 66,737 ninth-grade students participated in school-level camps, 15,668 in sub-district camps, and 1,253 in district-level camps.
Additionally, student-created animations will be previewed.
KITE is a state government enterprise set up to foster, promote and implement modernisation of educational institutions in Kerala.
An Infrastructure division has also been set up under KITE for upgrading the infrastructural facilities in schools.
The spectrum of KITE includes Information & Communication Technology, Capacity Building, Content Development, Connectivity, e- Learning, Satellite based education, Support and Maintenance mechanism, e- Governance and related activities.