Neev developed an application for iSlate, a low-cost device that is part of a sustainable social initiative to enable children in rural India to self-learn. The application lets students work on assignments, assess their performance through graphs, access textbooks, create and store their own notes, keep a tab on tasks to be completed, and even create their own profiles and interact with others on a social network.

The Client

iSlate was built by researchers at Rice University in collaboration with Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU). The iSlate’s hardware was developed by the Institute of Sustainable and Applied Infodynamics (ISAID) based at NTU.

Business Need

Millions of children in rural parts of India do not have access to education and electricity. The iSlate is part of an ambitious project to enable India to realize its full potential through sustainable, low-cost technologies. It is a low energy consuming, electronic, solar-powered notepad that aims to empower millions of kids in rural India and aid them in their studies. The iSlate is a replacement to the hand-held slates and chalk used by every Indian rural kid. The iSlate aims to deliver an improved learning experience to rural schools through the use of technology.

Since the iSlate was designed to run for long hours without charging, the application we built had to consume very little energy. As the children who would use it have never come across a computer or played even a video game before, being complete novices to technology, the application was also required to have an easy-to-use interface that children could pick up quickly. Our application was required to be feature rich with a simple interface.

Neev Solution

Neev built an Android-based application using java that enabled school-going children to self-learn. The application has a simple-to-use interface that lets kids learn operating it quickly and navigate easily.

The application contains a virtual keyboard that can take inputs with a gentle tap. It displays the date and day for users’ convenience. When it opens for the first time, the application allows the user to create a profile with details like name, country name and a profile photo.

The application is smart enough to report even minute details like the amount of time a user spends on reading a textbook on iSlate or the exact time they create a particular note.

Technology footprint

• Java
• Android SDK
• FBReader

Top features

• Learning material like text books and assignments on various subjects. The students can track the percentage of syllabus they have covered in each subject.
• Allows students to create new tasks and view pending tasks along with recent activities they have performed on the application.
• Lets kids create notes and save it for further reference. It then displays a repository of all the notes that are stored in the device.
• The application allows users to test themselves and permits them to attempt for an incorrect answer multiple times until they get the answer right. The test taking interface also contains a worksheet that the users can use for rough work. It then provides a weekly graph-based performance report that contains scores for their performance on each day of the week along with time efficiency. The users can share this report with their friends on social network.
• The application also allows users to network and share on a learning-based social network which provides for increased learning and collaboration.
• Quick-to-learn and easy-to-use UI/UX
• Ready-to-use device with all data like textbooks and assignments already stored in it.

Top Challenges

iSlate in the News

• The iSlate: A New Tablet Notepad for India
  Source: The Times of India
• iSlate: A ‘Pad’ for Indian kids
  Source: PC World