KITE Kerala

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.^[6] In 2003, IT became a compulsory subject in state school curriculum with IT practical exams. The transition to Free Software was completed in 2006.^[7]

In 2017, IT@School project was promoted into a government company named KITE.^[8]

KITE is the nodal agency for implementing the EDUSAT 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.^[9]

• ICT training: Training given to familiarise the basics of operating systems and office software packages and other application software.
• Hardware training: 3 day training programme on hardware maintenance and basic support.^[10]
• 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.^[11]
• 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.^[12]

• Animation Training Programme for Students (ANTS): The project provided training in animated movie making entirely based on free and open source software such as KToon, GIMP, OpenShot Video Editor and Audacity.^[13][14]

KITE GNU-Linux previously known as IT@School GNU/Linux is a Debian based Linux distribution 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^[15] and is currently being maintained by the internal team at KITE.

IT@School GNU/Linux is a operating system released by Kite (previously IT@School) it is based on Ubuntu 18.04 with free software 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 .^[16]

KITU GNU-Linux lite 2020 is a operating system 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 unicode fonts and a dedicated English-Malayalm dictionary^[17]

KITE GNU-Linux 20.04 is an operating system released by Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan 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 software Libre CAD instead of expensive AutoCAd

^[18]

KITE designed a program to support English Language Teaching (ELT) called the E Language Lab. One component of this program was the development of stories in print, audio, video formats and sharing the same with teachers using the Moodle learning management system.Forty stories were developed during the COVID period and during 2022-23, the program was implemented across the state in government and government aided schools.A longitudinal impact study conducted by the Regional Institute of English, South India, and IT for Change, found significant improvement in student English communication skills.

'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,Cyber Safety,Malayalam Computing,Hardware and Electronics.

Little kites is the largest Student IT Network in India^[19][20]

Some of the free software applications developed or customized by the Project include the following.

1. Application software like OpenOffice, GIMP, Dr. Geo, Rasmol, KEduca, Klab etc.^[21]
2. Examination software – to conduct IT practical examination to more than 1.6 million students
3. Handbook for Linux – prepared as a user manual
4. Training modules in Linux – to train teachers in open source
5. Textbook for standard 8th, 9th, and 10th classes– Prepared in association with SCERT

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.^[22]

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.

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.^[23]

The "Total Physical Fitness Programme" software manages fitness details of 30 lakh students are available for further action.^[24][25]