Tech For All Report

Tech For All, as the name suggests, aims to provide equal opportunities in terms of access to modern technology for all sections of society. As such, our MAD project aimed to bridge the digital divide, the chasm existing between those that have access to technology and those that do not, in Mumbai. For this, we worked with twenty students from Grade X of Worli Sea Face MCGM, a public school in Mumbai. Through five highly interactive sessions with them, we taught them not only how to reap the benefits of modern technology but also trained them in the art of problem solving and entrepreneurship. Our motto was: “Think it? Do it.” We conducted each of the two and a half hour sessions in the school Computer Lab where each student was given the opportunity to use an individual computer and the freedom to explore the infinite possibilities it brought to life. We taught them how to use some common handy features like keyboard shortcuts, PowerPoint, and Google Street View. Each session, we coupled key problem solving strategies with theoretical use of technology in the first hour, and then closely worked with the students to apply the knowledge discussed to select real-world problems in the second hour. The last half an hour was reserved for group presentations which boosted the students’ confidence and communication skills. By the end of our program, we witnessed students that had earlier never used anything more advanced than feature phones now prototyping crossovers between GPS systems and speedometers to innovatively solve problems like speeding. The Tech For All team strongly believes that the program was effective in narrowing the digital divide between technologically literate students like those of DAIS and the students from Worli Sea Face MCGM. Nothing would make us prouder than to see the program carried forward and implemented on a larger scale for greater real-world impact in the future.