Through The ‘LENS’

Making technology accessible to all, KITE Lens is paving the way for a more inclusive and innovative education system in Kerala. KITE Lens has the potential to revolutionize the way educational content is produced and consumed. By providing teachers with the resources and support for creating quality content, the hub helps bridge the gap between traditional classroom learning and digital learning Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE) under General Education Department has been phenomenal in transforming the schools into ( Information& Communication Technology (ICT) enabled knowledge centers at par with global standards. Having successfully implemented the largest ICT projects in Education in the Country-the Hi- Tech projects in 16000 schools, KITE has revolutionized the usage of Digital Media in Education. The KITE VICTERS channel, operational since 2006, has been the flag-bearer of digital education during the COVID-19 pandemic times, with its ‘First Bell’ Digital Classes which benefited over 50 lakh students in the State.

The development of quality educational content for schools has always been a daunting task. KITE has been able to create high-quality educational content through a team of inhouse producers, editors and graphic designers and predominantly of them are teachers. Most of the content development for KITE VICTERS happens from the Studio located at Thiruvananthapuram. During the pandemic, the 14 district offices of KITE also functioned as regional content creation centers. With the increasing demand for digital learning, the need for quality educational content is higher than ever before. The KITE Lens, India’s first Educational Content Creation Hub of this sort was established at the Regional Resource Center of KITE at Edappally, Kochi on 15th May 2023. KITE Lens hub features best-in-class studio facilities including 4K video recording, Sound treated shooting floor, Cyclorama, Chroma facilities, Sound-Visual mixing, Graphics-Editing suite, Sound treatment facility etc.

“KITE Lens evolved as part of our learning during the COVID-19 phase, for the need of decen-tralized educational digital content development. Featuring an advanced studio and the latest audio-video equipment, KITE Lens will act as a single window facility for digital content creation and also empower teachers in creating new-age digital resources. Teachers with innovative ideas can walk into KITE Lens and they can see their idea transforming into digital content with the help of the facilities in the Hub”, said V. Sivankutty, Minister for General Education, while inaugurating the Hub as part of a 100-day programme of the Government. The concept of an educational content creator’s hub is an innovative and exciting development in the field of education. It is poised as a one-stopshop that provides all the necessary resources to produce engaging and informative educational content.

Teachers can receive training on how to create the content, and access to a fully equipped studio featuring shooting and editing facilities. Further, the hub also offers support to teachers in publishing their educational content, including assistance with uploading the content to online platforms for a wider audience. Besides helping teachers, the hub will also facilitate students with access to quality educational content that is easy to access and engaging. KITE Lens has the potential to revolutionize the way educational content is produced and consumed. By providing teachers with the resources and support for creating quality content, the hub helps bridge the gap between traditional classroom learning and digital learning. KITE Lens also supports low-cost educational content creation. Teachers will be able to produce engaging and informative educational content using simple tools like smartphones. The ability to create such cost-effective content using smartphones is a ground-breaking concept in the educational content creation domain. This will democratize the production of educational content, making it accessible to teachers from all walks of life. The use of smartphones for educational content creation is a cost-effective and efficient way to produce quality content.

With the growing demand for online learning, the ability to create content using smartphones will be a game-changer for teachers and students alike. By making this technology accessible to all, the educational content creators’ hub is paving the way for a more inclusive and innovative education system. In addition to content creation, KITE Lens would also act as a Training facility for highlighting the use of smartphones to create videos, animations, whiteboard videos, and even AR and VR content. This will enable teachers to produce content without any limitations, regardless of their location or financial resources. By using affordable tools that are easily accessible, teachers will be able to create content that is both cost-effective and of high quality. This will also have a positive impact on students, who will have access to a wider range of educational resources, regardless of their location or financial resources. KITE LENS is truly creating history in the educational content creation domain. KITE will provide specific training for teachers in using the innovative facilities at the Hub, making them capable of creating worldclass educational content with ease. KITE Lens is a perfect example of a modern video shooting facility which need not require sophisticated equipment which mandates heavy financials but can enable content creation using even common smartphones. KITE plans to set up similar hubs in other districts also.