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March 7, 2012

Company: Edutech India P Ltd
Category: Robotics Lab

Target Vertical: K-12, Higher Education
Product Name:LEGOMindstormsfor Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths
Details:With LEGO MINDSTORMS Education students can build robots and use software to plan, test and modify sequences of instructions from a variety of real life robotic behaviours. They gather and analyse data from sensors using data logging functionalities such as graph view. Robotics is an exciting way to bring science, technology, engineering and mathematics to a classroom.Includes the programmable NXT Brick, providing on-brick programming and data logging, three interactive servo motors, ultrasonic, sound, light and two touch sensors, a rechargeable battery, connecting cables, and full-colour building instructions.Key Learning Values:

Developing solutions, selecting, building, testing and evaluating
Brainstorm to find creative alternative solutions
Learn to communicate, share ideas and work together
Hands-on experience with sensors, motors and intelligent units

Company: Edaxis
Category: Language Lab
Target: K-12, Higher Education
Product Name: ILingua
“Ilingua” is a reference which teaches students “how to pronounce English words and phrases correctly and without accent”. Ilingua further includes Listening, Writing and Grammar parts but there is no lesson system in it. This educational method uses “BBC pronunciation” which is the standard way of speaking on BBC radio and on television. In this programme there are 5000 voices already recorded into the dictionary, and about 1500 multimedia exercises divided into six chapters.The training is based on the comparison of your own pronunciation with the sample not only orally, but also visually, by graphic on the screen of the monitor.Bilingual version of software is also available which helps a person to learn English from Hindi or other Indian Languages.Price: 7-8K for single user licence and 85 plus taxes for 30+1 user.

Company: Sparsh Learning
Category: Robotics Lab
Target Vertical: Higher Education
Product Name:iLeanmore

iLeanMore platform contains various advanced exploratory scenarios and real time application development, which focuses on improvements in student learning by providing intellectually stimulating problems that demand higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills.

USP: No dependency on other hardware resources. Only windows based laptops, desktops are required.

Price: 20$ per student per year per virtual lab.

Upcoming Digital Labs: Sparsh is piloting Programming in C/C++/JAVA/Python virtual labs and also developing labs in control systems, digital image processing, databases and operating systems.

Company Name: Sanako
Product Name: Sanako Study solo

Sanako Study Solo is a powerful language learning software application with integratedcontent for improving language skills either independently or in the language classroom. Sanako offes selection of content modules to be used exclusively in Study Solo. This off-the-shelf modular content includes different types of exercises for studying English, and is designed to develop all four key skills of language learning: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Content for exploration of English at different levels and with different end goals will be available.In the future content will also be available for other languages. Sanako will also be offering services for larger projects where content can be customised for specific needs.Taking Study Solo into use is easy, and provides Sanako customers with a great stand-alone option for language study. After purchase it can quickly be activated by a token availablefrom Sanako’s internet site. Content modules can also be easily downloaded from the internet and quickly installed into the application’s content library, where users can actively interact with the content and start improving their language skills immediately.

Combining interactive multimedia content and the application of Study Solo makes the language learning not only fun but also very rewarding. Sanako Study Solo has effective exercises for learning pronunciation and intonation – crucial elements when communicating in a foreign language. Most importantly today’s IT-literate students are more motivated when using multimedia tools in general and the same is true for language learning.

Company: NIIT
Category: Maths Lab
Target: K-12

NIIT’s Math Lab builds an appealing world full of color, touch, sound and exploration around the ‘dry’ subject of Mathematics. It comes with multiple Teaching and Learning Aids like Technology Applications, Videos, Manipulative, Measuring Instruments, Tables and Charts. Theme based ambience complete with chairs, tables, posters, floor tiles which creates the right environment.

It helps student understanding Math concepts using concrete objects and improve confidence through learning by doing. It helps teachers to give individual attention to students, promote project based learning.

This unique digital lab is the perfect mixture of technology enabled learning and has the following unique features:

Opportunities for students to explore, reflect and interpret ideas presented through various media
Exposure to a variety of strategies and perspectives in solving problems individually and collaboratively
Facility to frame and test hypothesis, identify, describe, formulate and reformulate problems
Availability of models, Charts, Teaching Aids, Manipulative and Interactive activities to verify math facts and properties
Specialized Software tools such as Geometer’s Sketchpad to enhance the learning of subjects like Geometry, Algebra and Trigonometry more interactively

Math Lab comes with complete hardware, software and infrastructure support. It comes with computers loaded with Windows XP, Antivirus software and Geometer’s Sketch pad for students and teacher. Multimedia based Teaching Learning Material with 487 Activities, Teaching aids like Manipulative, Posters, Charts, Graphs, Measuring Instruments, Faculty Guide and Videos. Theme based ambience with chairs, tables, posters, floor tiles which creates the right environment. The price range is Rs.10-15 lacs.

Company: ThinkLABS
Category: RoboLAB – Robotics Learning System( RLS )
Lab Type: (Language, Science, math, Robotic, etc.): Robotics
Target Vertical(s): Schools, Jr Colleges
Features and specifications:

The hardware “i-Pitara Pro” has numerous components including 4 types of sensors, micro-controller with memory, remote-control unit and more than 70 building parts, which ensures multiple robot designs by clever and skillful crafting.

The software “CiMPLE” is the key feature of RLS. It has not only won hearts of students but it is also the first-ever brand ambassador of the NOKIA – QT Platform (CiMPLE won the recognition from among 85 competing software entries worldwide). CiMPLE is a Visual Programming Language that highlights the relevance of programming (logic and algorithm). A school student does not need to write the actual code. He/she will just drag and drop various elements and build the program for his robot. We have provided numerous options in the software to facilitate students to discover their creative potential and build their problem solving skills. For those who want to learn more, we have provided with a source code editor option too.

The RLS content is mapped with the existing science, math and programming curriculum in the school.
Using i-pitara and CiMPLE, students can make numerous robots, only limited by their creativity.
The micro-controller supports 6 sensors at a time (highest among the competitors). We therefore provide highest number and types of sensors in our kits.
Our product costs only 60% of the internationally available products.
Virtual robotics, an innovation which helps students explore their artistic dimension and teaches students to animate the robots on screen has been developed in the form of ‘Virtu’

Price: Minimum investment of `4.5 Lakhs over three years.

Company: Pearson Cogmed
Category: Cogmed-Working Memory Training
Lab Type: Science (Cognitive Training)
Target Vertical(s): School students- Pre Primary, Primary, Middle, Secondary& Senior Secondary segments

Features and specification: Cogmed is a learning solution in the ICT space because of its focus on addressing a difficulty in learning rather than enhancing the mode of learning. Working memory constraint is a major cause of difficulty in learning. Cogmed is a cognitive training program that improves attention in those with working memory constraints, using an interactive digital platform and a highly animated user interface. Based on a foundation of extensive research and backed by validation in prestigious research institutions all over the world, Cogmed is a fusion of cutting-edge research on memory with innovative computer game design and close professional support. The digital platform enables a trained Cogmed Coach to monitor the progress of each student, and motivate her to ensure completion of the program.Highlights:

Five weeks of engaging sessions using an animated and highly interactive game design format, for five days a week.
Training can be taken at school as well as at home.
Monitored by a cogmed coach and overseen by a psychologist.
Each session adapts its difficulty level in real time to ensure the child is always training at the upper limit of her working memory capacity.
Three versions available: Cogmed JM (Pre Primary School), Cogmed QM ( Primary & Middle School) and Cogmed RM (Secondary & Senior Secondary School).
Successfully implemented in schools globally and available in over 35 countries.

Price: `15,500+tax, per training (one training per user)

Company: Waterford
Category: Waterford Assessments of Core Skills (WACS)
Target Vertical: K-12
Features:

Waterford Assessments of Core Skills (WACS), an adaptive reading assessment for pre-Kindergarten to second grade students, is designed to assess the following reading skill areas: letter names, letter sounds, initial sounds, blending, segmenting, real words, sight words, nonwords, vocabulary, and listening and reading comprehension.

The major strength of WACS is its adaptive sequencing technology. As children correctly answer questions within a content area, the questions’ difficulty level will increase up to a fourth-grade level. If a child fails to answer questions correctly within a content area, he or she will receive less difficult questions in order to identify the area in which more instruction and practice is needed. In this way, WACS can indicate the full range of a child’s capabilities rather than just providing a satisfactory or unsatisfactory assessment, thereby providing invaluable information about a child’s needs, abilities, and strengths. In addition, because the test adapts to the child’s input, a significant level of detailed information can be gleaned in one testing session, thereby reducing both testing time and the stress associated with multiple testing sessions. WACS designers have developed 4 times the number of items on a typical elementary-school–level assessment: 30% at the beginner level; 40 percent at the intermediate level; and 30 percent at the advanced level for each grade per content area.

WACS is based on nationally recognized guidelines for reading assessment and scientific research, including the guidelines presented in the National Reading Panel’s report, “Teaching Children to Read: An Evidence-Based Assessment of the Scientific Literature on Reading and Its Implications for Reading Instruction,” which established guidelines for educators, curriculum developers, school administrators, and assessment content designers.

Chemistry Labs Simulating the Lab Experience!

Magazine

digitalLEARNING Network

March 7, 2012

Chemistry beyond textbooks happens to students when they enter the chemistry lab and take on the experiments live. Imagine if you could do all this and much more just sitting into your classrooms in a ‘Virtual Chemistry Lab’. Read on to find out more.

By Rachita Jha, Elets News Network (ENN)

Every child is unique and so is the way they learning. More often than not these learning outcomes come from experiences beyond the classrooms. Is it justified to expect all the students to learn and grasp equally by following just one classroom instruction medium. As proposed by Howard Gardner with this Theory of Multiple Intelligences, there are nine different intellectual learning orientations. Each orientation corresponds to a set of learning styles. Kinesthetic orientation learns best with experimentation and activities, linguistic by reading, musical through association with rhythms and rhymes. While we connect with them with regular classroom instructions and discussion, only a part of the class connects best with these sessions. Science subjects become part of the real word when students experience the theories and concepts hands-on in the laboratories, as in chemistry when all the reactions and equations come alive in the lab!

Application-oriented Experimental Space
Any Learning Lab provides for holistic learning approach and better understanding of theoretical concepts by providing concept simulation and assembly, interesting reading of subject topics through the comic books, animations and videos detailing the concepts etc.

It acquaints students by not just elaborating the concept but also their applications. The retention of concepts and, thus, the learning outcomes are maximized as students relate to these concepts. This also helps in developing a scientific temperament amongst the students and inculcating innovativeness in them. The same is applicable for Chemistry – a virtual lab experience with access to many elements and reagents sparks the imagination and curiosity in students pushing them to self-learn which builds the continuous learning approach among them.

A Learning Lab for 9 styles of learning

Iken Learning Lab developed by Mexus Education sparks the imagination and curiosity in students pushing them to self-learn which builds the continuous learning approach among them. The Lab enables a school to bring together several modes of instructions that relate with all of the nine styles of learning. The kit comprises of Iken zing – a series of interactive touch-read books, Iken Joy– A range of curricular concept developed to inculcate activity-based learning model, Iken Math – A worksheet designed to take students through mathematical concepts in creative and engaging fashion, Iken Pro Series – A wide range of self learning short films on global best practices, Iken Library that seamless integrates digital content repository and a Learning management System and many more learning tools for a fun-filled teaching-learning environment.

Chemistry Virtual Labs
There is a growing focus on practical classes especially in science subjects across schools in India. As a result we see the rise in popularity of simulations in science subjects and its effectiveness in learning outcomes that has led to the arrival of virtual platforms of learning in the education sector. Experimental work is core to the learning of chemistry, however although we get introduced to the chemistry concepts in 4th or 5th grade, the live experiments in the laboratory only happens in the 9th grade. An early exposure to these concepts in a virtual simulations environment coupled with scenario-based learning activities, and concepts tests incorporated into a variety of teaching approaches as pre-labs and in-class activities for individuals or groups can make the subject more interesting for the students and help them revisit the chemistry concepts as they move up in to higher classes.

Virtual blast!
The arrival of leaning labs has set a remarkable paradigm shift in Indian Education scenario. Assembling Science and Math concepts in the form toys help in taking students through the lesson while weighing them down with tedious theories and textbook concepts. As the attention span of kindergarten children is very less, through the interactive touch-read books, there is both audio and visual connect which retains their attention for a longer duration making it possible to read through the concepts. This also pushes up the engagement level of the class. The teacher also benefits from this platform as formative assessment system offers the schools a tool to measure the effectiveness of the session and identify the level of the basic understanding of the class. This allows teacher to us, practice remedial teaching, thus, allowing continuous assessment.

Breaking the Language Barrier

Magazine

digitalLEARNING Network

March 7, 2012

Sanako Corporation is the global leader in developing language teaching software and language labs. They have worked closely with the customers around the world for the past 50 years to enable better speaking, comprehension and communication skills for language learners. Their solutions have been deployed at some of India’s premier institutions. Since, launching its operations in India in November 2009, EBS has been one of the early adopters of Sanako’s services.

Sanako Study 1200 Lab at EBS
After an exhaustive review of Era Business School’s (EBS) requirements, Sanako recommended Sanako Study 1200. This learning system includes all the features and functions that are essential for effective and enjoyable teaching and learning, such as screen transfer features, audio and text communication tools, web browsing and programme launch capabilities, file functions, and classroom management and control features. It even facilitates group and individual learning through one-to-one communication between a teacher and a student and among students, that is peer-to-peer learning.

Key Benefits for EBS
Language Agnostic Solution: A prime example of where Era Business School’s faculty found the Sanako Study 1200 solution extremely useful was in teaching Mandarin to the students; it is considered one of the most difficult languages in the world. The solution set-up allowed the teachers to decide which student would converse with whom in a group, which in turn enabled the smart students and quick learners to help the shy and less-skilled students. Furthermore, the Sanako Study 1200 solution facilitated one-to-one, peer-to-peer, one-to-many, group leader-to-student group conversations. In fact, the faculty at EBS discovered that peer-to-peer training gave better results than tutor-to-student training.

“Language Lab has enabled better management of language classes. We see unlimited opportunities to enhance our language instruction offered by the system. Teachers and students are more motivated and the learning experience is richer”, says Dr Sanjiv Marwah, Director, EBS “With Sanako Study 1200, Voice Insert & Voice Graph Activity, I have managed to overcome my fear of public speaking and gain much more confidence,” Anil Sharma, Student

Sanako Lab 100 at CIIL
Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) is an apex government institute in India that promotes multilingualism and teaches various Indian languages to thousands of young and energetic students in India, through its regional language centers.

One of the biggest branches of CIIL is its northern wing – Northern Regional Language Center (NRLC) in Patiala. The key languages taught at NRLC, Patiala are Kashmiri, Urdu, Dogri and Punjabi. CIIL believes in using different technical aids to help enhance language trainings and is pleased to be associated with Sanako Corporation.

Sanako Corporation has implemented Sanako Lab 100 at Northern Regional Language Center (NRLC) in Patiala. This learning system supports different facets of language learning, from listening comprehension and model imitation to discussion exercises and interpretation activities.

Students operate a handy User Audio Panel that combines traditional recorder functions with additional language learning and testing features which make lesson participation easy, as well as enable students to have an active role in the learning process.

“At NRLC we are glad to be associated with Sanako Corporation. We have been using Sanako Language software for over five years now. The Lab not only provides the students and teachers of NRLC with audio/ visual aids, but also simplifies and makes the entire process of learning the language effective and interesting”, says

Dr R K Bhat, Principal, Northern Regional Language Center (NRLC), Patiala Students can simulate real life situations, such as conversations, phoning, presentations and interpretation, keeping students motivated and excited while acquiring needed language skills for personal and professional development. It allows more students to practice speaking in less time and focuses students on comprehension and fluency of speech.

With its exceptional audio quality, Sanako Lab 100 offers students the opportunity to develop their foreign language skills, as well as their listening proficiency, in an environment that is entertaining and stimulating and which promotes effective language acquisition.

Dr Alok Bharadwaj, Senior Vice President, Canon India speaks on his Pre Budget expectations

Features

digitalLEARNING Network

March 6, 2012

Dr Alok Bharadwaj, Senior Vice President, Canon India

“There are a lot of expectations pinned to the 2012 Union Budget, due to the global supply chain disruptions, rupee devaluation, high interest & slackening of policy reforms that 2011 witnessed. For India Inc. to be able to rise and flourish, it is important that the Budget, as a statement of intent, expresses the long term proposal for the economic stability besides radical reforms in taxation space, which the industry today yearns for. Aspects like, implementation schedule for GST for attracting FDI, Duty corrections like in lenses of Cameras, Removal of inverted duty structure, Withdrawal of MRP based assessment for IT Products, elimination of ambiguity on transfer pricing rules and implementation focus on manufacturing centric policies, further adoption and expansion of IT products along with help increase manufacturing of IT products along with sustained focus on education, healthcare should be a part of the immediate focus. With forward looking policy announcements & structural corrections, the 2012 budget could be a great opportunity window for finance minister to inject both sentiments & substance to growth renewal.”

Mohit Anand, MD, Belkin India Sub-continent shares his expectations from Budget 2012-13

Features

digitalLEARNING Network

March 6, 2012

Mohit Anand, MD, Belkin India Sub-continent

“Economic uncertainties in the past year have exposed India Inc. to financial and economic vulnerabilities. The year 2011 witnessed Inflationary pressures and rupee devaluation that have affected IT spending across consumers and the corporate sector. The Union Budget 2012-13 brings with itself a hope of a better tomorrow. Aspects of Duty corrections like Withdrawal of MRP based assessment for IT Products, elimination of ambiguity on transfer pricing rules and implementation focus on manufacturing centric policies are key areas to look out for in this year’s union budget. The implementation of the biggest direct tax reform – GST is a critical growth lever for the IT industry we are hopeful that it will find a mention in this year’s budget, this would phase out other major taxes like excise duty, VAT, service tax, will be instrumental in unifying the markets in term of local taxation, which in turn, will bring down overall cost of goods and services in the country. We are also hopeful that the issue of FDI in multi brand retail, will be resolved soon , which will be a boon for consumers and industry alike. This year’s Union Budget will be the key influencer of India’s development and economic stability.”

digitalLEARNING Announces Interactive Whiteboard and Audio-Visual special issue in April 2012

Magazine

digitalLEARNING Network

March 6, 2012

While covering the latest technological innovations in education for more than 8 years, digitalLEARNING has been able to stand out because of its useful, bold and analytical coverage. In mega special planned for the month of April 2012 we, at digitalLEARNING, plan to carry out an in-depth analysis of the Interactive Whiteboard and Audio-Visual industry that has been making seminal contributions to India’s educational landscape.

The issue will cover the Interactive Whiteboard and Audio-Visual from the perspective of industry and academia in the month of April 2012. Through the month there will be coverage of the industry in multiple platforms – Print Magazine, Website, Events, Social Networking Sites, Newsletters and beyond…

The issue will have interactions with principals, VCs, directors, registrars, chairmen of schools & colleges, administrators, CIOs, officials and leading stalwarts of the industry. We will interact with the academic community and the industry to get their inputs on the various types of Interactive Whiteboards and Audio-Visual equipments that are currently being used in different institutions.

Share your Interactive Whiteboards and Audio-Visual equipments and other educational services, products, and experiences in digitalLEARNING’s mega April special. digitalLEARNING is the best place for Interactive Whiteboards and Audio Visual products manaufacturers, and distributors to ensure message is optimised to achieve best possible coverage, which cuts through the clutter and targets key people who research, recommend and purchase your products and services. Similarly, from past 4 years, it has been continuously guiding schools, higher education institutes, and vocational training institutes about latest IWB and AV product and solutions for better pedagogical experience.

We look forward to see you becoming a part of the mega Interactive Whiteboard and Audio-Visual issue of digitalLEARNING in the month of April 2012.
Timeline: Editorial material timeline: 15th March, 2012; Ad material timeline: 20th March, 2012

For editorial queries contact: Pragya Gupta, pragya@elets.in, +91 8860651648
For advertising queries, contact: Fahim Ul Haque, fahim@elets.in; +91 9873277808

SMART Technologies Launch Professional development Program for Teachers

digitalLEARNING Network

March 6, 2012

SMART Technologies has launched the SMART Professional Development Program for Teachers – India. The program was unveiled by Linda Thomas, Vice President, Products, for SMART Technologies and is focused on addressing the need for training teachers in the use of interactive educational technology tools. The aim of the program is to help educators acquire technology skills enabling them to actively integrate digital learning tools in their teaching process for improved learning outcomes. The company aims to train up to 8,000 teachers in 15 major cities across India in the first wave of the program.

Under the SMART Professional Development Program for Teachers – India, SMART Technologies’ team of Education Consultants will conduct a series of workshops across 15 major cities in India in order to prepare teachers in the use of technology tools including the industry-leading SMART Notebook™ collaborative learning software. Over six million teachers have activated SMART Notebook software to create and deliver engaging lessons for more than 40 million students in 175 countries around the world. The award-winning software enables educators to bring course material alive for learners with the aid of various interactive tools, videos, images and activities allowing lessons to be highly engaging and dynamic for students. The training sessions will be offered to teachers at no cost.

Commenting on the launch of the SMART Professional Development Program for Teachers – India, Linda Thomas, Vice President, Products, for SMART Technologies said, “Educational technology is expected to drive the next wave of growth in education owing to its immense potential in improving the quality of education offered in schools. Well trained teachers are integral for an effective education system and it is critical to equip them with 21st century educational tools as well as offer professional development to optimize the use of such products.”

Sanjiv Pande, Managing Director for India and South Asia noted, “This is the first instruction series of its kind forSMART in India and we are excited to offer this transformative program to educators across the country. SMART has a vision to assist in creating effective technology-enabled learning environments. Lack of training for teachers is one major gap identified and we are taking a significant step forward with this training series. The SMART Professional Development Program for Teachers – India will reach educators and equip them with skills to ensure their success in using SMART products and enabling them to make subject lessons more engaging for students.”

?“Canada and India have a strong bilateral relationship and one of the most important areas of knowledge-based collaboration is education,” said Stewart Beck, High Commissioner for Canada to India. “For India to meet its targets, which include doubling its higher education enrolment rate to 30 percent by 2020, the country requires technologically advanced education solutions. Canadian companies such as SMART Technologies are playing an instrumental role by empowering teachers with professional development and modern learning tools that enhance learner engagement. I wish the company success for their initiative.”

NIOS Launches Web Radio for Learners

digitalLEARNING Network

March 6, 2012

The National Institute of Open Schooling has launched a web-radio facility for its learners in collaboration with Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA), New Delhi to bring educational and information content for the community.

Internet radio (also called web-radio, streaming radio, e-radio webcasting) is an audio service transmitted via the Internet. Internet radio services are usually accessible from anywhere in the world. Internet radio is popular among expatriates and listeners with interest that is not adequately served by local radio stations.

All audio contents developed by NIOS, be it subject related or to address social issues, are being placed in the web-radio. The subject contents available in the website would be much useful to the learners of NIOS as the same are directly related to the syllabus of the NIOS, both for Academic and Vocational subjects. The NIOS has reached another milestone of reaching out to the learners with the support of ICT.

NIOS internet radio involves streaming media, presenting listeners with a continuous stream of audio that can be paused or replayed, it is distinct from on-demand file serving. Internet radio is also distinct from podcasting, which involves downloading rather than streaming. Many Internet radio services are associated with a corresponding traditional (terrestrial) radio station or radio network. Internet-only radio stations are independent of such associations. NIOS internet radio services are accessible from anywhere in the world from NIOS’ website.

Concepts + Simulation +Tech = Labs 21st Century + Aptitude

Magazine

digitalLEARNING Network

March 6, 2012

digitalLEARNING has conducted a survey to map the usage of digital labs in India. Around 500 schools across India participated in the survey and shared their experience of using digital Labs

By Pragya Gupta, Elets News Network (ENN)

Mention of the word ‘lab’ automatically pops out a picture of room or building equipped with tools for scientific research, or teaching, or for the manufacture of drugs or chemicals into minds. Checking the acidic and alkaline nature of any liquid by help of a litmus paper is one the most usual experiments that students in junior or middle level classes are often required to do. In the late seventies, eighties and even till the late nineties Litmus paper experiment, observing onion peels through a microscope used to be a popular pastime in the school laboratories.

With the advent of digital technology, the scope of the experiments that students can conduct has been enhanced to a large extent. The modern digital labs are not limited in scope to just basic apparatuses like microscope or beaker or Petri dish or subject. They subsume a blend of cutting edge technology and simulation techniques and they are capable of enhancing the scope of education in a rather transformative way.

With digital tools teaching moves beyond the stage of cramming, it is more about learning through experience and observation. Today we have labs for almost every subject – Science, Math Labs, English and language labs – all of which are a combination of hardware, software application and simulation. Robotics Labs are also getting quite popular.

With digital labs, students have the opportunity of visualising abstruse concepts in Maths, Science, Engineering in a virtual medium. For instance, the math lab comprises of Geometer’s sketchpad software, technology applications, videos, manipulative, measuring Instruments, tables, charts, etc. English labs have brought revolution in learning a language that has always seemed quite difficult to many Indian students. A typical Language lab comprises of software tools that help students improve their accent, vocabulary and grammar.

digitalLEARNING has conducted a survey to map the usage of digital labs in India. Around 500 schools across India participated in the survey and shared their experience of using digital Labs.

Adoption: The level of Adoption among schools has been increasing. With CBSE coming up with a new mandate in favour of labs, a lot of schools are installing digital lab solutions in their classrooms. The future of the digital lab industry seems quite bright.

English is the weakest area in India, hence the adoption of English lab is much higher in school segment followed by Science and Math Lab.

Curiosity about Labs

Are they Cost effective?

Do teachers feel comfortable while teaching through this technology?

Some major players in the market are Wordsworth, Math Buddy, Liqvid, Orell, Hey Math, Exlpore learning, LAZ, Razz Kids, Gizzmos, Educomp Solutions Ltd, Apple, Adobe, Extramarks, TAB TREE, Edaxis.

Teachers’ Expectations from the new labs

•   “Something more advanced than what we are currently using”
•   That are really beneficial and time saving than hands on experience
•   Tablet based labs

Experience with vendors

Quotes from schools

“Digital Lab experiments can be explained to the students in class itself.”
Prabhu Dayal, Faculty Head, Computer Science, Modern Child Public School

“It saves time, deep practice, reports, assessments.”
Deepak BV, Principal Consultant, JILIT

“Students get clarity and retain what they learn through digital experiments.”
Prantika Das, TGT Computer, The Millennium School, Noida

“It saves consumables. We can observe results of some impractical experiments. It saves time, manpower.”
Geetanjali Grover, Informatics Coordinator, BGS International Public School

“Especially with the tablets like iPads we are able to create experiential learning for every student at their own pace with minimum resources and maximum excitement.”
G R Sivakumar, Principal, Delhi Public School, Surat

The Push to Install Technology-rich Labs

Magazine

digitalLEARNING Network

March 6, 2012

In educational institutes around the world, the push to install technology-rich labs is growing, so much so that many academics have started promoting technology as an appropriate tool and even a bridge between the students and their institutions. Digital labs help students in various ways, the most important of which is their ability to make students familiar with the high-tech tools that they might be using once they begin their professional life. It is also true that students prefer to have learning environment that is in tune with their own knowledge, lifestyle and experiences. Yet, in many cases, there exists a great deal of disparity between the technologies – smartphones, notebooks, tablets, social media, etc. – that they use outside the school to those that they use inside the school. Students are twice as likely to respond to their teachers if enough technology is incorporated into the teaching process. It is clear that the shift towards using digital labs in modern classrooms is properly aligned with the needs of today’s students. In order to garner a comprehensive view on the digital labs industry that has now started flourishing in India, digitalLEARNING interacted with a select group of companies that are engaged in developing digital labs for education purposes. The responses that we have received enable us to have a comprehensive overview of the business related and educational prospects of the digital labs industry in the country.

Hemant Sethi, President, School Learning Solutions & Hole-in-the-wall (HiWEL), NIIT Ltd.,is responsible for driving the growth of NIIT’s business in government and private schools. He also looks after the Hole-in-the-wall (HiWEL) initiative, which aims to improve elementary education and life-skills of children.Focus area for NIIT
We are active across the entire education space. We have the IT Lab, which is a holistic IT education solution addressing the IT Curriculum for classes KG to XII. We also offer a state of the art math lab. We have launched a mobile science lab in association with Fourier Systems.

Price of the top selling product
Our Math Lab solution comes with complete hardware, software and infrastructure support, including computers loaded with Windows XP, Antivirus software and Geometer’s Sketch pad for students and teachers. Depending on the features the price can range between `10 to `15 lakhs.

View on market size of digital lab business
Education technology market in India is booming. More and more schools are adapting these solutions and bringing new technology to students. Today we are providing services to around 2.5 lakh private schools. The K-12 market is growing at the rate of 10 percent annually.

Rate of growth in 2011? Expected rate in 2012?
The market has grown substantially in 2011 both in terms of expansion in private school market and penetration of ICT in government schools in various states. We expect similar high growth in 2012.

Jayaram Pillai, MD, National Instruments IndRA (India, Russia & Arabia), and Solaikutty Dhanabal, Academic Manager, National instruments, India,are active in the digital labs business in India. Focus area for National Instruments
ELVIS is a universal learning platform for students from Electronics Engineering to perform experiments throughout their curriculum. Like all other NI Products, it is based on the concept of Virtual Instrumentation where student used the power of LabVIEW software to customise the general purpose hardware. Our primary focus is to help students to learn new engineering concepts.

Is there scope for improvement in IT education in India?
Compared to OECD countries, India lags behind in implementation of IT in engineering education. Given the large number of engineering graduates India produces, there exists tremendous scope of improvement in the areas of Collaborative Learning, Remotely Reconfigurable educational platforms and Remote Labs.

Upcoming technological innovations
Technological Innovations like Mobile Labs and Portable Labs have a huge potential for revolutionising engineering education in India.

Improving skills of engineers
We believe that our engineers must be encouraged to move beyond simulation. They must be introduced to real-world constraints through lab experiments and Student Projects. This is the only way of improving their skills.

Debabrata Bagchi, CEO and founder, Sparsha Learning Technologies,is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and North-western University, Illinois. He has more than 11+ years experience in technology start-ups both in India and USA.Focus area for Sparsha Learning Technologies
Sparsha Learning Technologies works with Higher Educational Institutes to integrate course curriculum in iLearnMore suite of digital virtual labs. Teachers can use this platform to teach in a more engaged and interactive manner and as a result convert non-learners to learners.

Top selling digital lab product
Our top selling Digital Lab product is in Analogue and Digital Electronics. The use of instruments like oscilloscopes and function generators in the system is helpful in making more familiar with devices and their workability in regards to circuit design and other aspects. The system costs around $20 per student per year per virtual lab.

Digital Labs being planned for future
We are already piloting Programming in C/C++/JAVA/Python virtual labs. We are developing labs in control systems, digital image processing, databases and operating systems.

Market size of digital labs business? Growth rate for Sparsh Learning Technologies
The size of the digital lab business in India is more than $200 million. In 2011 the growth rate for Sparsh was 40 percent. In 2012, we expect to grow at rates between 40 to 80 percent.

Sudarshan Borker, co-founder, IE Education,started his career in 2002 as a Sales Executive with a B2B offshore company in Bangalore. Later he joined his brothers in Chennai to Co-found NextBiT Computing in 2005. He helped found IE Education in 2010 and is focused on making technology affordable in schools.Top selling digital lab product
We have deployed a number of Language Labs using the EduPC hardware and the Language application form English Edge. Our 30 Seater Learning Lab costs around `4 to `5 Lakhs, and our digital classroom solutions are priced at `15 lakhs.

Market size of digital labs in India
The penetration of the digital labs market in India is quite small. There is a huge scope for installing low cost solutions in the rural market. We look to attract investors to our organisation and expand our reach throughout India.

Vivek Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer, Liqvid eLearning Services Pvt. Ltd.,played a pivotal role in starting of eGurucool in 1998.Top selling digital lab product
English Edge is our top selling English Language Lab. It sells equally well in all the three segments of schools, colleges and vocational institutes. We are now seeing lots of interest in our portable language lab offering and customers from all three segments have signed up for these labs.Price of the top selling product
We have three pricing models. In the per student per course model, we charge in the range of Rs. 500 to Rs. 2500 per student per course. In the Per lab model, the price varies between `1.5 lakhs to `3.5 lakhs. The AMC can be in the range of 10 percent of the price. Then there is in the per student per month model in which the price can range between `40 to `100 per student for a 3 year duration.

Market size of digital Labs business in India
During the next three years there is going to be huge growth in the market size. We expect 20,000 schools in India to implement language labs solutions in their classrooms.

Rate of growth in 2011? Expected rate in 2012?
Our business is witnessing a healthy year on year growth rate of 100
percent.

Nirmala Sankaran, co-founder & Chief Evangelist, HeyMath!,used to serve as the vice president of Citibank’s Global Transactional Banking division before she became an entrepreneur and helped found a premier digital labs solution company.Top selling digital labs product
HeyMath! Zone is a vibrant and engaging learning environment that facilitates learning through a process of discovery and exploration. It caters to all kinds of learning and teaching styles. The price of HeyMath! Zone depends on the nature and size of implementation. The list price for setting up the HeyMath! Zone is `4.5 lacs per annum.

Rate of growth in 2011? Expected rate in 2012?
In 2011, we had a growth rate of around 200 percent. In 2012, we expected a growth rate of at least 100 percent.

Are digital Labs cheaper than the traditional teaching tools?
Digital labs allow customisation of the school curriculum. By using digital technology teachers are able to adapt the available resources for meeting the learning related needs of individual students. This ensures that digital labs are not only impactful, they are also cost effective. One of the biggest advantages of Digital Labs is that they make it easy for teachers to manage students with multiple learning abilities.

Gagan Goyal, Founder and CEO, ThinkLABS Technosolutions Pvt Ltd.,has a passion for robotics. In March 2010, he was named among India’s top 10 Young Entrepreneurs by Businessworld in March 2010.

Digital Labs already deployed
Robotics Learning System (RLS) is a hands-on science learning platform, in which students are able to explore the fundamentals of Computer Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (CS-STEM) by building and programming robots. The installation cost of the system comes out to around `4.5 lakhs over a period of three years.

Market size of robotic labs business in India
It is hard for me to put a monetary figure to the market size. But there are over a lakh of premium private schools all of which pose as a target market for setting up robotics labs. So there is a huge potential.

Rate of growth in 2011? Expected rate in 2012?
We saw a 250 percent growth in revenue from robotics labs in 2011 over the preceding calendar year. We aim to achieve around 300 percent growth in 2012.

Shameema Parveen, CEO, Edutech,started her career as a management trainee and went on to become the CEO of one of the leading companies in the digital education space.Top selling digital labs product
Edutech Language Labs and Language Teaching Solutions can be used to teach and learn any language. Edutech’s ICT based Science Lab is a fully integrated solution, which provides students with portable hand-held devices for learning new lessons in a rather interesting way. Designed to meet the learning needs of CBSE, ICSE and IB curricula, our Science Lab is suitable for students of all age groups.

Price of Science Labs solutions
It costs `1.35 lakhs to install the Science Labs in middle school. In case of high school, the cost goes up to `1.75 lakhs. In Senior School the cost is `3 lakhs.

State of the digital labs market
The market is still in its infancy. We expect it to grow multi-fold in the coming years, as the market becomes more aware and better products are launched.

Are digital Labs cheaper than the traditional teaching tools?
Digital labs are certainly cheaper than traditional teaching tools. For instance, with our virtual lab for CAD/CAM, every student can write programs and test/update/modify the same by using the virtual lab. They can work on this at the time of their convenience.

Timir Ghosh, Director North America, Edaxis,has extensive experience of leading major companies like Skyton, Electrovaya, Noble Group, AJ, BMTL, Modi Oliviti in Canada, East Africa and India. He has experience in technology, Education and KPO industry.Top selling digital labs product
Edaxis LangLab is an affordable multimedia platform for learning any language at any level, anywhere. It is a suite of software modules that can turn any computer lab or classroom with laptops into a multimedia language lab. A special hardware is not required with the system.

Price of top selling product
Edaxis LangLab is most cost effective, as compared to any other language lab. For a system with 30 plus 1 terminals the company charges only about `70,000 for one time perpetual licence.

Expected growth rates in 2012
The company is aiming for a growth rate of at least 200 percent in year 2012.

Rita Raje, Commercial agent, WALDNER Laborund Schuleinrichtungen GmbH,is a specialist in educational architecture. Waldner is the leading innovator in the global digital education industry and the market leader for laboratory technology and laboratory equipment at the highest standard.Labs deployed in India
We have been installing labs in Indian Grade 5 to 12 schools since 2005. The labs are practically maintenance-free and meet stringent international safety standards.

Market size for labs business in India
With rising number of schools in India warming up to digital methodologies for teaching, there exist a lot of potential for growth.

Top selling digital lab solution
Our digital science lab allows students to perform experiments wherever they are – in the classroom, in the lab or at home. For instance, if you want to study the water quality at the beach, a lake or the tap, this mobile lab can help you collect and save real time data for further analysis in the classroom.

Srikanth B Iyer, COO, Pearson Education Services,started his career with Wipro in 1993, but he soon left to chase his own entrepreneurial dreams. Pearson Education Services was formerly known as Edurite Technologies, and Iyer is responsible for driving the company to a position of leadership in the e-education space. Top selling digital labs product
English Edge and our Digitally Grammar and comprehension product are our top sellers. English Edge is an excellent tool for building a student’s spoken English skills; it subtly teaches grammar and pronunciation.

Are digital Labs cheaper than the traditional teaching tools?
Digital tools are far more superior to traditional teaching methods. They are convenient to use, cheaper and easy to update and of course a lot more interactive. Also with digital aids students can find answers more quickly and easily.

Digital Labs planned in future
The process of enhancing our digital products is a continuous one. Our in-house teams constantly work on enhancing our existing products by adding more content and them more and more interactive and user friendly.

Deepak Bhardwaj, Director, Corporate Affairs, Texas Instruments,works closely with the Government of India and various state governments, as well as the key Industry and trade associations and Universities, to evolve new ideas for trade and policy. Focus area of Texas Instruments (TI)
Texas Instruments (TI) has developed easy to use math and science lab systems. Science and math tools such as data collection probes that work with TI-Nspire CX (Student handhelds) allow students to predict experiment outcomes, quickly collect data and analyse results.

Market size of digital lab business in India
The market is scattered between different kinds of lab solution providers. Considering the radical changes in the Indian education system and the enhancements by Indian boards of education, we see this market to be growing at an extremely fast pace.

Rate of growth in 2011? Expected rate in 2012?
TI saw reasonable growth in 2011. We are a global leader in math and science labs. We expect to see a good growth in 2012 and beyond, as our technology is a “one of a kind” solution that meets the needs of classroom learning, maths and science lab activities and much else.

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