Egen to carve niche in academic institutions

Electronic Generation (Egen), a web-based Academic Institute Information and Management System (AIIMS) is one such software that is rapidly gaining popularity.

This system is designed to establish a round-the-clock communication bridge between the students, parents, teachers and administrators, customized to accommodate the needs of any academic institution. Egen stores information on each user module allowing students to access updated and efficient e-learning techniques.

The system is divided into four modules -- Administration, Students, Teachers, and Parents. Each module works flexibly with the others, but can be a 'stand alone' system by itself.

The system offers features such as -- integrated report writing, e-mail, ID cards with photographs and skill-based report cards.

Users of each module will be entitled to e-mail and chatting facility with users of other modules. They will also be able to store and update their personal information.

From the Students module, any student can obtain his or her attendance records, grades, report cards, personal information, teacher's message, class routine and exam routine. Students can also sit for online exams through this system from any corner of the world. They can be in-touch with their teachers, classmates and foreign students through a 24-hour chatting option.

A parent can monitor their child's daily attendance, exam grades, report cards, class schedules, homework and assignments, course materials and so on. E-mail and chatting options are not limited to those within the academic system, but can also be accessed by parents.

Teachers can access student lists, perform routine administrative tasks such as grading, attendance, reporting and so on, publish and update course information and lessons, update and collect assignments and prepare question papers for online examinations.

Options available to administrators include accessing class and exam schedules, monitoring teacher and student performances, obtaining personal information of any user of the other three modules, putting up important notices, and assigning tasks to teachers through e-mails.

International Computer Connections (ICC), the developers of this system have already received certificates during their participation at the New Jersey School Boards Association's education fair held in October 22- 23, 2003, in USA. They have also received similar certificates from international organisations like Gateway to Educational Materials (GEM), National School Public Relations Association (NSRPA) and International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).

"We are still trying to promote our product to various educational institutions of the nation," said Atiqur Rahman, senior marketing manager, ICC. "Many institutions have shown interest to adopt the system, but the poor internet connectivity in our country is an obstacle to the widespread provision of the system," he added.

Northern University, Bangladesh and Harvard International School, are already using the system. According to Rahman, the administrations and authorities of these two institutions are quite satisfied with the system.

Currently, ICC has two different versions in the showcase the Egen Enterprise is the full featured version and Egen Standard, a low priced version with fewer features.

Asked about future plans, Rahman said that they are already working on another system containing an online database of the outsourcing software companies of the nation.