Little KITEs IT Clubs

I want to become a journalist and to do that in Kerala, Malayalam is more important than English. Malayalam computing that we have learnt and the media training we have got in Little KITEs will help me in getting into news media.

I want to become a successfull entrepreneur. In one of the camps, I created an assistive device for visually impaired. It had a sensor to check for obstruction and would alert through Bluetooth. I had chance to present it to the CM when the new robotics kit was launched.

In some school, all teachersdon't know how to use ICT butLittle KITEs students there aresupporting them. If I have a laptop athome, I can show friends and siblingswhat I have learnt. We can help othersa lot.

Inspired by many ideas from the Little KITEs programme, I embarked on creating my own Operating System. My dream became a reality in 2022 when I released my customized version of Ubuntu, named Limitless OS, in 2023. It was during a state-level Little KITEs camp that I presented Limitless OS to the public, and I also shared its features with my fellow Little KITEs members at school.

Only because of Little KITEs, I was able to develop a Computer Vision based Hand Gesture Control. This can be used as robotic hand in areas where direct human intervention is not possible. This would not have been possible without Robotic kits supplied to schools

In today’s world, fake news spreads quickly because of technology. I covered topics like the internet and social media’s role in our lives, distinguishing truth from falsehoods online, preventing the spread of fake news, and learning how to identify and address misinformation. Little KITEs programmes like this help students and parents understand the difference between truth and lies, which encourages critical thinking.

My journey through the world of Little KITEs had many ups and downs. Many times I taLittle KITEsed to myself, “I am an average student, can I continue this journey?” But I managed to overcome all the challenges with the help of teachers, my Little KITEs mates, and parents. I learned the values of collaboration, teamwork, and togetherness as part of Little KITEs. Little KITEs gave me inspiration and creative spark to participate in IT Mela and reach the state level in two consecutive years.

We learned a number of new ideas and concepts such as face recognition, face mood detection, and face lock through classes led by experts at the state-level camp. The class on robotics using a robotic kit was a memorable experience. We learned to make a ship and a sunset using graphic software such as Gimp and Inkscape. The block programming we did using Scratch gave us much confidence.

There are students who may not be interested in conventional jobs. Learning these IT skills can give us opportunities in many other fields like animation or robotics.

Members of Little KITEs find new dimensions of knowledge by applying higher-order thinking skills and imagination. Ashik Ali was a low-scoring student in our school. However, in 2019, he received the Little KITEs award for his outstanding performance as an Little KITEs member. In the ‘Ente Keralam’ (My Kerala) programme, the students of Little KITES who made their own computer games using Scratch software won the attention and applause of all.

Definitely, their point of view has changed. Now many want to become animators and programmers. They are able to imagine doing something in the digital world. Earlier, they wouldn’t be able to think of these possibilities.

Former students have said that they found these skills very helpful in doing projects. Some have joined engineering courses and found it very useful for their higher studies. They said that even in their colleges they are the ones who connect devices, take care of IT issues and help their lecturers.

I had the opportunity to participate in the ‘Amma Ariyan’ (For Mothers to Know) programme, an innovative initiative that brought mothers back to school as students once again. I was really thrilled to see my shy daughter leading the class and speaking clearly. Little KITEs has enhanced the communication skills and confidence of my daughter. The programme enabled me to sit and learn new ideas alongside my good old classmates. My son also joined Little KITEs after seeing his sister’s wonderful performance since joining Little KITEs.

My son participated in school, sub-district, and district-level camps of Little KITEs. Now, he and his Little KITEs friends are in charge of the maintenance and upkeep of computers in the school. I have observed that my son has acquired leadership skills and a renewed interest in studies after being a part of Little KITEs.

My son was a bit shy and diffident to take part in social activities. But after joining Little KITES, my son is very confident and active in all the school level and social programmes without any stage fright. He has leaned to make equipment such as traffic signals, automatic streetlights based on light-sensor, electronic dice, automatic doors and ecurity alarms using Robotic kits.