eBasta: Resources for Schools, Teachers & Students (A Digital India Initiative)

About eBasta

eBasta is a framework to make school books accessible in digital form as e-books to be read and used on tablets and laptops. The main idea is to bring various publishers (free as well as commercial) and schools together on one platform.

Besides the portal, a back-end framework to facilitate the organization and easy management of such resources has also been made, along with the web-based applications that can be installed on tablets for navigating the framework.

Stakeholders involved

The framework, implemented as a portal, brings together three categories of stakeholders: the publisher, the school, and the student. It provides them with the following primary functionalities:

School/Teachers: Browse content, pick what suits, organize into bastas (a collection of e-contents)
Students: Identify e-content/bastas of interest and download
Publishers: upload and manage content in the portal

How to use eBasta

Accessing eBasta

You can use the eBasta from any android based tablet, mobile phone, etc via eBasta App. To download the App, click here.
You can also visit the eBasta portal.

School / Teachers

Create an account as a "teacher" in the e-Basta portal. To create an account, click on the “Register” link. Fill out the registration forms and you’ll have a registered account.
Create eBasta - a compilation of "eContent" organized in a hierarchical fashion.
eBasta helps you choose the best of eContent from different sources, and make it available at one click to your students.
The eBasta can be compiled by using eContent provided by popular publishers.
eContent can be an eBook (textbook chapter or entire book) or Animation or Video.
The “Search e-Content” menu allows you to find your eBook based on class and subject.
Once the e-Content is selected, add it to your cart and finally create it as an ebasta.
You can share the name of the eBasta you created with your students. The basta names are unique. The student can search for that eBasta on eBasta portal and then download it. A number of other attributes are also available for a basta, which can also be used for search if needed.

Students

Search for your relevant "eBasta" (a compilation of "eContent" organized in a hierarchical fashion by a School or teacher
You can search for the required eBasta and then purchase the eBasta. You can also browse the available eBastas and purchase the desired eBasta. The purchased e-bastas are available for download into your reading device.
The cost of an eBasta is the total cost of the eContent it contains. Some eContents are free, while some have a cost associated with them. Cost of the eBasta changes accordingly. You pay this cost at the time of downloading an ebasta.
When you purchase an eBasta, you get a copy of eBasta along with its contents (only the items you have purchased). If the eBasta is free, on successful Order Completion, you get a link to download the eBasta. If the eBasta is paid, on successful completion of payment of the order, you get a link to download the eBasta. When you click on the download link, a zip file of the eBasta gets saved on your System/Device. Unzip this file, and copy it full to the device of your choice. Do not change the file or directory names.
Once you have purchased the eBasta, the respective eBasta ‘zip’ file is available on the Order History Page. You can download it multiple times from there.

Advantages of using eBasta

School / Teachers

The eBooks and other contents in the eBasta can be logically organized by the school / Teacher while creating the eBasta.
Teachers can choose and bundle content according to their teaching methods.
Access to a variety of resources – text, simulation, animations, audiobooks, videos, etc – to choose from.
Review, Comment, Rate on eContents.
Help schools with lesser teaching resources to gain from the resources of better schools.
Provide teachers who contribute content / generate more relevant collections nationwide visibility.

Students

Easy access to interactive and dynamic content augmented with text, charts, graphics, videos, and auxiliary resources.
eBastas are delivered through the internet no packaging no shipping and hence NO WAIT.
eBasta’s are portable. Carry Basta's in any storage medium without worrying about their weight and start reading them ANYWHERE ANY TIME.

Publishers

Single point interface for reaching out to multiples of schools, across the country
Convenience to register, sell and distribute ebooks & related interactive econtents online
Overcome the logistical problems of book printing, transport, and delivery, especially at remote locations
Significantly shortens the cycle of content editing /changes and facilitates the faster release of updates
Support for DRM from the pioneers in the Industry wherever required
Get direct feedback from teachers and students regarding eContents