Technology through my perspective – Nrusingha Nath Nayak
As a programmer, I always wanted to do something innovative and to serve society by doing something extraordinary and utilizing my skills and ability. I wanted to do something that would make me proud and on the other hand, it should give some value to society. But back then I was just a typical programmer who used to work from 10 to 6 in a company. I was in constant search for something special in my career but what was it? Even I was not so much clear about it. Like s stereotypical professional, I would be working and stuck in a daily routine.
It was very recent that I got to know about that “SOMETHING” for which I was always looking for. That was “Job Satisfaction”. I am grateful that I found it while being a part of ThinkZone. But how did it happen? How ThinkZone gave value to my life? and how I gave a touch of Technology in ThinkZone? We’ll come to that. But before that, I want to explain the technological aspects at ThinkZone and then I would discuss my role in all of this. Technology is an important part of our lives, I’ll just give you an example of how.
One day while coming to the office I was standing in front of a small departmental shop near High Court square. At that time a man pulling a rickshaw came and bought two pieces of Parle biscuits for his kids worth 10 rupees. But he had no money with him at that time. I was looking at what he was going to do and I was also ready to give him that amount. But I was really surprised at what he did instead of asking me for money. I saw he came to the front of the shop’s main door and picked his mobile and scanned the UPI code printed. That’s all. That time I came to understand the impact of technology on people nowadays. It doesn’t matter if he is poor or rich, educated or illiterate, underage or a mature person or whatever. We all can feel the impact and influence of technology in our life.
Let me share some of my memories in ThinkZone. It was mid of December 2018 when I got a call from ThinkZone head office. I was asked “There is a position for a Software Developer in ThinkZone. Are you interested to join us?” At that time I assumed just like every IT company ThinkZone might be a company that develops software applications. But anyway I answered, “I want to join ThinkZone”. After some tests by luck, I was selected to work in ThinkZone. And that was the moment when my destiny started preparing to give me a gift to my life.
As I started working in ThinkZone I gradually got to know that the organization was actually working for a noble cause i.e. for the education of children in under-resourced communities. From my personal experience, I know though there are a lot of programs designed by our government for the same. But not many of them are implemented properly. And that is why I really appreciate the attempt of ThinkZone. I really feel proud of working here. Through the various programs at ThinkZone, even the youth in rural areas are getting the opportunity to teach children and earn a livelihood. Over the years I have seen many such young people, run these learning centers, and make themselves self-dependent.
When I joined ThinkZone, there were fewer aspects of technology in the program. I tried to take the responsibility of implementing more and more components through technology. Today I can see our Managers and Teachers are very familiar with our applications like ThinkZone App, ThinkZone Support App, HBL App (Home Based Learning), and MIS App. They can fill in data online and offline through this application. They don’t have to come to the office to submit their reports. In this way, communication goes easier. I have also experienced their excitement while using the apps especially some specific segments like classroom management modules, activity modules, quiz, gallery, and dictionary.
Through this app, they can keep records and can manage them easily. If some mistake happened while taking the records, they can modify them without any difficulties. ThinkZone follows very rich models like the “Tech-Plus-Touch” model and Activity-based methodology to improve the educational outcomes of children from under-resourced communities. It focuses on Early Childhood Education as well as Primary Grade Education programs via data-driven mobile and voice/SMS based technology, low-cost learning resources, and class management tools which helps enabling community educators, Anganwadi workers, and school teachers to deliver quality education.
I learned many useful things from my teammates Binayak, Shrideep, Snehanshu, and all the other team members while building the application framework. They helped in the process of designing and creation the application in a robust and user-friendly manner. Apart from this I also look for feedback from users which helps to make our application errors-free, user-friendly, and easier to handle. When I met with some of our team members who are working in the grassroots like Manoj Mallick and Jnana Ranjan Barik, I got an idea of real-time scenarios and I was elated when they told me that users really want to use apps in their real-time field visits. This gave me the inspiration to make our application more interactive, realistic and no doubt user friendly.
Looking at the vision of ThinkZone, I often think about what value do I add to the organization. So I always try to give my best while developing apps. The Vision of ThinkZone says “Every child should have the opportunity to pursue their dreams”. Let’s walk together with the steps of ThinkZone to make this vision successful.
