Veena Raizada, Director Academics, Next Education India Pvt. Ltd. senses abundant prospects in e-content segment and speaks about the solution the company delivers to schools and institutes

What kind of solutions do you provide to schools.

Our service is called “TeachNext,” which delivers high-quality 2D and 3D content in networked classrooms through modern projectors onto interactive digital whiteboards. TeachNext also includes several tools like NextStudio, Next Tools and NextDictionary. We also provide other products like NextERP and Next-Labs (MathLab, ScienceLab, EnglishLab). We help schools set up the system by deploying our team at the school premises, which installs the equipment, and also conduct training for the teachers to use the system. We have a huge team of support professionals across India, who continuously supports 4000+ schools in the country for replacement of any hardware and upgrades, etc.

Who form the biggest group of adopters of e-content solutions?

Private schools have been few steps ahead of government schools in adopting digital content technology. However, we have seen a recent trend of government schools also adopting digital learning technology on a large scale.

Benefits of e-content learning system.

The mundane topics become interesting with lively content, which helps students to learn the concept through experiential learning rather than mug them up. Detailed lesson plans with the content helps the teachers deliver content in a standardized way, maintaining quality in education.

Your best selling e-Content solution for schools; kind of innovations for future use.

TeachNext is our bestselling e-Content solution for schools. We have recently launched our new version with options for schools that include lots more localised content in Hindi, KG, Pre-KG, Interactive Tools, just to name a few. We are continuously working to develop state of the art tools for TeachNext.

“The education world is waking up to embrace digital technologies,” says Snehal Tivatane, Project Coordinator of Guruji World Technologies Pvt Ltd.

Your take on the level of e-Content adoption by Indian schools.

Today schools in the urban and semi-urban areas are planning of adopting technology based education. Audio visual rooms for elearning are also in demand. The rural schools are untapped areas where a lot needs to be done in terms of usage of technology for education and school management.

Kind of solution you provide to schools.

GurujiWorld is engaged with public and private schools directly or through its implementation partners to provide a complete 360 degree educational platform, which caters to the needs, like: a) Digital learning via e-contents, b) a simple, robust and lightweight Online School Management Solution named as GEMS, c) an Online Examination Solution name ‘GOES’ which takes care of the complete examination requirements wherever schools opting for conducting Online Exams instead of paper/pen mode.

Challenges faced in convincing school management about the benefits of e-content.

As software and e-contents are intangible it is at times difficult to convince schools to pay reasonable rates for such products. Huge efforts go into development of digital contents with features like high end 2D animation, voice over, in line questions, good quality illustrations and interactivity, but getting the right price for the same is a tough task.

Your best selling e-Content solution for schools; kind of innovations for future use.

GurujiWorld’s best selling product is our Computer Based Training solutions. The Maharashtra State Board curriculum e-contents are also in demand. We are also increasing our user base for our vocational employability skills for e-Contents on Spoken English skills and Basic of accounting with Tally and Cybercrime awareness. We are exploring the possibility of developing innovative educational contents for education tablets.

“The school fraternity is not averse of adopting e-content”, affirms Ninad Vengurleka, Sr. VP & Head-Content Curriculum Group of IL & FS Education and Technology Services Ltd

Your take on the level of e-Content adoption by Indian schools.

Indian urban schools are frequently using e-content based education. Semi urban and rural schools are recently gearing up to this concept. At IETS, we believe close to 25 per cent of schools are actively using e-content. We also believe no school is averse to use e-content based learning systems. The reason for non-use could be either because they cannot afford the high costs or may not be happy with the quality of content available.

Kind of solution you provide to schools.

Our solution is called the K-Class Program. It is a combination of technology, academic interventions and content to enhance teacher and student performance. K-Class stands for Knowledge Class. K-Class is an interactive learning solution for schools. It makes a school teach, learn, understand and perform better through an ingenious combination of technology and curriculum mapped content.

Challenges faced in convincing school management about the benefits of e-content.

Benefits of e-content based learning are already known to schools. The challenges are in convincing the schools to differentiate between good and bad quality content in terms of learning experience. Many schools tend to focus more on jazzy technology features of the hardware and overall pricing and curriculum mapped content. As a result many a times, learning quality may take a backseat.

Your best selling e-Content solution for schools; kind of innovations for future use.

The K-Class Content Bank is a wonderful mix of over 10,000 digital content units stored inside the K-Yan. These include, curriculum mapped multimedia lessons in Science, Math, Social Sciences and English, as well as assessments, mind maps, practice sheets, science experiment videos and interactive exploriments in science and math. In addition to this off-the-rack content, K-Class also provides a bank of teacher resources that can be used by the teacher to make her own lessons and lesson plans.

Pearson Education Services mapped multimedia-based interactive content for schools. Meena Ganesh, CEO and MD of the company shares her insights with Sharmila Das.

Your take on the level of e-Content adoption by Indian schools.

The Indian school market has been very receptive to e content learning and has seen many positive changes towards a more progressive system of education. Surveys and reports have suggested that 65 per cent of teachers and school administers believe that printed textbooks will completely be replaced by interactive and e learning tools. The last decade has seen parents and teachers showing a keen interest in this new technology and I believe that this trend will show rapid expansion with many more schools adopting this solution.

Kind of solution you provide to schools.

We equip the schools with DigiClass; an ICT-based solution that combines state-of- the-art hardware with syllabus linked multimedia-based interactive content. DigiClass is a complete classroom solution that comes with a CPU, interactive device, digitally- patented, award winning teaching tool, syllabi specific course content, UPS, server, speakers and white board. A resource coordinator will set up and maintain the set up in school and also train teachers on its usage.

Challenges faced in convincing school management about the benefits of e-content.

At the implementation level, we sensed apprehension from the schools, as they were uncertain of the usage, implementation and hardware upkeep of the solution post installation. We addressed their concern by providing full time resource coordinators in schools, on rolls to ensure assistance and resolve any issues on the day to day usage of the hardware.

Your best selling e-Content solution for schools; kind of innovations for future use.

Digitally is our patented multimedia enabled teaching tool which is a part of all our digital classrooms. This award winning tool has several attributes which makes it a superior e content solution for schools. We are currently in the process of developing a learning aid using the tablets.

In the connected world where we live, it is imperative that education is treated as the only glue that can ensure that the world flourishes. Education itself is a best practice that can happen in ones life. It should teach us humility and benevolence and a clarity of mind and purpose. I am reminded of Bhirthrihari the celebrated author of Shatakatrayi who wrote in Sanskrit

Translated in English this means “With fruits, trees bend, i.e. be humble, with water, clouds hang low, i.e. wealthy good men maintain humble posture, and hence are seen to be benevolent.”

In my view it is not unfair to suggest that institutions of higher education have always been created and shaped by the interests of the ruling classes and elites in the societies in which they existed. This means they serve to reinforce the economic, political, ideological, and cultural interests of those who create them, fund them, and populate them. We need to take a hard look at this proposition and make education available to everyone who needs it. A truly inclusive system is in everyone’s interest.

Private, public and governmental participation has been steadily increasing in the education sector. Forecasts suggest that, if current patterns of participation continue, more than 30 percent of today’s school leavers will experience higher education in 10 years from now. A GER of about 15 percent would certainly need to be revisited and the Governments endeavour to push it as high as 30percent is indeed noble. I wish, we attain a figure of 50 percent in the next 20 odd years. Higher education will shape individual lives, the economy and society. Such an activity must be the subject of broad and informed consideration and debate. We need to create a knowledge society. Knowledge is all pervasive and it is said about Knowledge, again a couplet by Bhirthrihari:

Translated “Knowledge removes lethargy of the intellect, invests truth in the speech, enhances the greatness and casts off sin; cleanses the mind and spreads the fame all around”

We need to empower the youth with education that promotes knowledge and promotes meaningful employment based on this knowledge as applicable to a certain environment. Any activity that promotes this is a best practice and such a pursuit will always benefit the society we live in.

“The Government’s move to exempt Xth grade examinations is truly out of box, critics apart, and worth a million in the bullion market. We need more of that”

It is a challenge to be able to pen down best practices in education. The times we live in are full of flux and recounting any number of best practices of today can at best be a mere perspective. I would like to treat that subject in two stages:

1. How to identify what is best.

2. How to ensure that the produce from the colleges hits the ground running to meet employment and opportunity.

The purpose of education is to ensure progress. I would like to choose to lay the foundations of understanding how to record the best practices. How to identify what is best.

The foremost three aspects of education are:
1. The student
2. The faculty and
3. The institution

If there were a way to plot these three properties individually and then have a map that plots all the institutes on a single page; it shall enable us to develop a credible system of rating. drawing up a median and then identifying need-gaps in colleges that remain below the median will help us improve the performance of the colleges and reduce the base area of the education pyramid.

Indeed there are underlying layers that form the crux of each of the above aspects.

1. the student: financial, regional and aspirational mapping
2. the faculty: financial, regional, innovational and aspirational mapping
3. the institution: Its ability to create impact in its local vicinity, national and global realms, promote research, retain faculty and consistently out-perform its out turn each year.

While there are no quick fixes to what ails, we need to recognise that access to higher education is much better today, though the systems have become more complex and hence more challenging.

There can not be a “one size fits all” formula and understanding of need gaps when analysed against a backdrop of the best performing teams of faculty, institution and student will help us deliver a system that is optimised for results. From here shall emerge the best practices.

How to ensure that the produce from the colleges hits the ground running to meet employment and opportunity. The other challenge is the lack of right metrics and planning that do not tie in the produce from the colleges to the available opportunities for the students outside in the commercial world. This leads to lopsided education imparted, there is unemployment leading to restive youth.

Just as there is a method of forecasting GDP and growth and use available data around FDI, industrial, farm outputs and service industry, similarly, the output of students and skills can be planned to meet such development midway. For that truly would be the exacting of the demographic dividend.

A Country blesssed with great numbers of youth in productive age can also be severly undercut if they are not in the mainstream. An example would suffice the seriousness of this statement. Over 50 percent of youth fail between 10th, 11th and 12th grade and probably out of the education scene for ever after that. They surely must be contributing to the growth of the Country in some way as much as contributing to the muck. An out of box approach and a possible best practice could be to allow them to pass the grade with minimal intervention. The Government’s move to exempt Xth grade examinations is truly out of box, critics apart, and worth a million in the bullion market. We need more of that.

Assuming an incremental value addition happens to the entropy of the Universe; it is still worth it apart from the collateral advanatage of higher GER’s and overall growth in economies brought about by an exalted youth. Best practices in Education is notional at best though specifics can always be defined. Anything that adds to overall well being and acts as a force multiplier for economy is a best practice be it in education, medicine economics or any other.