Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) has developed learning application that can transcend limitations of space, time, and language. Four students, Ferro Ferizka (Electrical Engineering), Iqbal Satrio Nindito (Management of Economics), Riza Oktavian (Computer Science), and Gathot Fajar (Computer Science) have created an application to overcome the lack of educational implementation in Indonesia’s remote areas.
Various problems, such as lack of educational facilities and the scarcity of teaching staff, have encouraged the four students to develop the application to transfer knowledge. It is called the Multi-user Interactive Multi-touch Box (Mimbo). This application has made the members of Wolfgang Team win third prize in Imageni Cup 2010 competition held on 11 May in Jakarta.
Team leader Ferro Feriza explained that Mimbo consists of two inter-related applications, ie. application for students and for teachers and community application. The application for students is in the form of a computer adopting multipoint touch screen technology, which can be used by four students simultaneously.
Furthermore, Ferro mentioned that Mimbo has interesting features, such as streaming class and global consulting room equipped with translated chat. With the streaming class, the implementation of virtual teaching and learning activities are possible to do. "We developed this application in order to overcome the problem of school scarcity in remote areas where students have to travel long distances which often make them come late. If this happens, the teacher has to repeat the lesson again, which is ineffective," he explained, Thursday (3/6), in UGM Fortakgama Room.
Ferro continued that translated chat facility at the global consulting room enables students to consult with their teachers in all parts of the world without any language barriers. Translated chat is a program that automatically translates the language used in the consultation. "We have included this feature in order to bridge communication/language barriers in the consultation. So, if Indonesian students want to consult with teachers from Japan, they just write the question in the Indonesian language. The question will be accepted by the teacher in the Japanese language automatically and vice versa," she explained.
Added by Iqbal Satrio Nindito, with this Mimbo application, besides smooth transfer of knowledge, it is also able to save the educational budget. "This application can save up to 40% of school’s establishment cost, which is more or less around 800 million rupiah," he explained.