Technology has Made Teaching Easy : Amit Gupta, CEO – S Chand Group, India

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July 1, 2011

A mechanical engineer with specialisation in operations management from Yamaha Motor Company, Amit Gupta, CEO, S Chand Group realises that e-learning is a way of life. In an interaction with Dr Rajeshree Dutta Kumar and Pragya Gupta, he shares insights about e-Learning and school education in India.

Share your views on the current education scenario. What is the role of e-learning in our school education?

I personally feel, e-learning is something that is already a part of life. Today, computer based learning, the internet, mobile and technology in general, across multiple domains has made information accessible to everyone. It has a major role in our school education. In school education your subject knowledge is not very important, but social skills are. The technology has made teaching very easy. Policy makers should provide teachers and educators with flexible technology-aided educational solutions tailored to the unique needs of students. I feel that e-learning is a way of life.

How can the private players facilitate e-learning?

Let the private players interact at large with the education system. Giving an ‘actual shape to PPP models’, allowing more private participation and benefit to maximum number of schools. Students today are exposed to technology in every aspect of their life. Therefore, it is key that our schools provide them similar 21stcentury learning environment in their classrooms too. Healthy competition stimulates growth and ensures striving for excellence, avoids complacency. e-learning is an exciting, growing field; but a large number of challenges are there. I am hopeful that the strengths of S. Chand will ensure our leadership in this new arena as in the field of publishing.

What is the role of technology in creating a better teaching-learning environment for students and teachers?
We should train our teachers and empower them to be able to use tools and technology effectively in their teaching practices. We should provide the basic infrastructure for sustained change in the form of technology – enabled learning environments. We need to provide spirally organised multimedia content based on sound pedagogical approach. This will ensure that the students can grow from one level of learning to the next, constructing new ideas based on their existing knowledge. Project-based learning allows students to acquire 21stcentury skills in the context of real-world scenarios. The integration of video and other media to support instruction links students with outside resources and enables teachers to address many learning styles at once. Never before have we had so much information as to how children learn, and we must seize this opportunity to bring about the much needed change in the way curriculum transaction takes place in our classrooms.

What specific issues within the e-education sector can your product
or services address?
We have our own standing in the field of academic textbooks. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt brings with them the complete understanding of emerging needs; they bring experience, content, products and investments. This is complemented by us to help meet local needs and carry out joint development. We launched a programme called Destination Success. This programme is a technology-enabled education solution using world-leading K-12 content. It is an interactive learning proposition that meets all the elements of CBSE’s directives. We have implemented this programme quite successfully in huge private schools in India and abroad and it has benefitted students and teachers. Today, worldwide the role of publishing companies has changed. In S.Chand, we have to recover knowledge partner. We have to re-structure as a learning and knowledge company. We need change to bring overall awareness in terms of the mindsets of people, in order to accept holistic learning and adopt e-learning. We are complementing K-12 education and bringing the latest instructional design and pedagogical inputs to the classroom. These issues are presently not being handled in teacher training. We will be bringing services in the knowledge sector, not only for academic purposes but for using assessment as a tool for identifying areas which need special attention or enrichment supplements. We have also partnered with global leaders to bring to India products for learning literacy and language skills in English and for learning mathematical concepts and computational skills. The first prerequisite for developing a 21stcentury learning community is the involvement of all the stakeholders including district leaders, principals, teachers, students, parents, and the business community. It is imperative that all stakeholders be involved in putting together a roadmap to bring about the requisite changes in the educational system, to prepare students for the workforce. The moot question here is – how prepared are we really to address this urgent need? The answer, unfortunately, is no.

Do you feel that reforms are needed in upgrading the curriculum?
Education reforms are a must and there must be involvement of educationists. We are not using technology in a proper way in our school education and it is not a one-way process. Right to Education (RTE) is something which I welcome. There must be some public private partnership model in it. Ministry of Human Resource Development has no plans for PP in school education. But there is tremendous disconnect from plan to implementation in Government approach and there is no clarity. We have taken professional development as a separate vertical. First, we are working with CBSE. Also, we have a lot of training workshops for the use of technology. When the CBSE urged schools to follow the guidelines as stated in the National Policy of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in school education, we decided to throw in our lot. The CBSE schools were asked to set up at least one classroom for each class in the schools equipped with technology that would enable usage of digital instruction materials. That was when we decided to branch out into this emerging sector .

What other challenges you find in our education?
There is a disconnect between what is being taught in classrooms across the country today and the expected skills a student needs to be ready for the 21st century workspace, is stating the obvious. In a world fast shrinking to a global village, skills like global literacy, computer literacy, creativity, critical thinking, problem solving, effective communication and collaboration skills are essential for any child to grow up to be an effective and productive part of the society. \\

Technology plays a major role in universalising education : Eduard Metzger, CEO, Director-Technology (EMEA) ,CYBERNETYX Intreraktiv UG

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July 1, 2011

Eduard Metzger
CEO, Director-Technology (EMEA) ,
CYBERNETYX Intreraktiv UG

Eduard Metzger, CEO, Director-Technology (EMEA), CYBERNETYX Intreraktiv UG in an interview with Pragya Gupta, talks about development of education in India

What are your views on technology adoption in India with respect to the west?

In our view, the Indian education sector is developing very well due to investments into new technologies. The whole world today is looking very optimistically at the expansion of the Indian education sector based on strong fundamentals of ICT. Due to the sheer size and volume of the Indian education sector, we believe technology can and will play a very vital role in the access to widespread education in the country.

What is the market size for digital classrooms according to you andwhat is growth forecast?
Globally, the market for digital classrooms is growing, especially in India, this market is growing very fast. But till now, the penetration of digital classrooms is rather limited in India than in certain other countries in the EU, perhaps even less than five percent vis-àvis a 95 percent plus penetration in the UK and some other countries in the EU. On the market analysis arena, though there are certain reports available on the public domain, there is a dearth of any validated data on the exact size of the market in India. Due to the advent of a good number of education content providers working on the build-operate-transfer (BOT) project financing model in India and thus the increasing affordability and awareness about the revolutionary benefits of interactive technologies in classrooms, we believe that an install-base of 100,000 IWB units can be accomplished in the next 1-2 years in the Indian subcontinent with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) exceeding 25 percent year on year and the global annual market size can reach 1,000,000 units as soon with a CAGR of around 15 percent. Overall, it’s a great time to be in the ICT industry in the global education sector.
Please share your strategies to emerge as the preferred brand. What are your plans to enhance your presence in Indian schools?
Our strategy is to deliver advanced and next-generation technological solutions at a low price. We believe that technology for education shouldn’t be expensive and every student should have a chance to access these assets. Our focus is on developing next-generation intuitive products for the classrooms, which make the process of teaching and learning more fun. We are very aggressive in our presence in the Indian schools. Today, we are already working with several partners in India, including some of the world’s largest education companies to increase the penetration of our natural-user technologies in the schools.

India’s supplemental education represents a US $15 billion market opportunity over the next decade. What are your plans to utilise the opportunity?
Our plans are to develop more products like touch-interactive devices for the educational sector and other sectors and to promote EyeRIS, our flagship stereoscopic interactive whiteboard solution along with continuous improvements. Our products will help the students in form of hardware and software to make the best of their learning. Additionally, we develop special features on demand by our clients, so that they get the sense of ownership and provide them the best support we can give. Further, we are developing several technological tools beyond IWBs, like Optical trackers, Fiducial-touch engines, Augmented Reality setups and so on, which will act as tools to aid the technology- based expansion of education in India.

What is your view on Foreign Education Provider bill?
We welcome this decision as very positive step which will create opportunities
for world-class universities to set foot in the country and also enable Indian universities to collaborate with them. Overall, we believe that this move will increase the standard of education and promote state-of-the-art infrastructure and technology in education. There is need for quality education
and the existing institutes need to tighten their belts and improve the quality of
education to be able to compete with the universities who come here. It is good for students, as they do not have to go abroad and they can admissions at a lower cost. As a technology-solution provider for the education sector, it’s good for us as the awareness about world-class interactive solutions will increase manifold.

Tell us more about the genesis of your organisation in the e-learning
domain?
It all began with the idea of an afford- able and next generation interactive whiteboard solution for schools. We have always believed that devices like IWBs can do much more than their current state in the industry and have developed all our interactive solutions based on the same notion. Our approach has always been to work very closely with our clients and develop a product, which perfectly fits their needs. This way our products could grow in a very healthy way. We have developed a good understanding for the right needs of our clients. We believe that every customer is an asset to us and a source of new ideas. Today, the widespread global recognition that we have received and accolades for our EyeRIS and other interactive products are a bright testimony to that.

Please shed some light on new product development?
Cybernetyx has strong continuing development on EyeRIS to add functionalities like touch-less interactivity, augmented reality and pattern-recognition to the product line, making it even more diverse and advanced than the existing breed of interactive whiteboard solutions. EyeRIS has been raised ground-up to serve as a tool to access the educational content and other digital data in a hyper-interactive way using touch-less gestures, and iPad-like multitouch capabilities, and we are constantly striving to make that experience
better for our clients. Additionally, our newer touch-enabled devices, Interactive-Walls and Touch-Tables, are getting ready for a global launch in the latter half of this quarter, with amazing capabilities and utility across various verticals. As discussed before, we are keen on partnering with organisations having similar focus on the educational industry to augment the widespread access to our interactive solutions. \\

“Digital Medium needs to be in Sync with Tech Age” : Anita Bir, Principal- RN Podar School

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July 1, 2011

Anita Bir, Principal, RN Podar School, in conversation with Rachita Jha on her perspective of technology in school education

What will be the new avatar of schools in the digital age?

Children today are digital natives and we have to keep pace with them; we have to bridge the digital divide

Children today are digital natives and we have to keep pace with them; we have to bridge the digital divide – it is a necessity today for schools to be equipped and not be intimidated by technology. Moreover,n the country today needs to address the availability of quality education to a large number of children distributed across urban and rural areas-and this can only be possible using technology as one of the solutions. The availability of teachers, especially good teachers is a major problem in schools, and to resolve this difficulty, distance education will be the way forward for school education in India, and technologies such as Skype and video-conferencing can be viable solutions for them. Our approach towards brining technology to schools is also gaining much recognition amongst students and parent. This shows that the school is making an effort to keep pace with the latest teaching and learning aids, in addition to creating a collaborative learning environment. Also, a disconnect and barrier that the child faces when he or she compares school to the home is broken, when he uses similar social networking or technology applications for connecting with classmates and teachers in the school itself. Technology, Internet and digital medium are the only way forward for schools to be in sync with the technology age.

How do you ensure the effective use of interactive boards in your
school?
We were the first schools to introduce interactive boards in all our classrooms
way back in 2006. And initially when we brought-in this technology, it got
the students excited but the teachers were apprehensive on being equipped to
teach using a tech tool. We then created a group of seniors students, who provided hand-holding for the teachers and this created a new wave of collaborative learning between the teachers and the taught. This introduced the teachers to the world of technology and created interest even among subject teachers in languages such as Hindi and Sanskrit to use the software. So, the introduction of the interactive boards also taught us of the various ways that the teachers and students can integrate technology in schools effectively. Not every teacher is aware of the interactive boards and, therefore, when we induct new teachers, we ensure that they undergo an in-depth orientation programme on the software and how it is used in the classrooms.
How can Facebook and other social networking sites be used for
schools and support teaching and learning?
We have created an appetite for brining in latest technologies in schools in the minds of teachers and students alike. We don’t content ourselves with a single technology platform that we adopted few years ago. We have tried to constantly adapt and keep pace with the new technological advancements that are taking place. Keeping this in mind, lately we have started with our Facebook initiative, which has proved to be a huge success. It was more a social platform for interaction. We then planned to extend the experience into the classroom and experimented with Google docs and cloud computing. Each classroom created Google accounts for the students and parents and a sharing platform was created for all parentteacher and teacher-student interaction and information sharing. Today, we have 3000 parents with email accounts and
are part of the school cloud ecosystem. So it’s not just the school but also the parents who are using the platform to interact with oth er teachers. The connectivity with students and parents has become much closer and faster using the Google groups and docs applications.
How can a school nurture employ ability skills in students to help in
career development?
We realised early that it is not enough to give school students academic skills;
they need to have life skills. They should develop the ability to think and have
an opinion and express their views. Planting the seeds of thought is very important. They have to learn the adaptive skills. The jobs that are coming up today are not what the schools could have prepared the students for, so we
as a school aim to build the adaptability skills so they are ready to take on anything new in life. I think the real world is coming to schools and technology
has helped us prepare students for the future work environment.
Tell us your views on the steps taken by CBSE to create a progressive
school environment?
As a step forward in this regard, CBSE has now introduced a number of vocational courses to orient the students on the various opportunities that lie ahead of them. Another initiative is introduction of technology tools to get school education related data for all CBSE and other remote schools in India. We now do a Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) in which the Board evaluates the child over a period of time, this data is then sent to the Board electronically and the Board prints the report card for each student based on continuous performance and not just one final examination.
What are your recommendations for the planning commission with
respect to school education?
We are talking about a young India; this young India should be educated. And if
we have to educate such large number of children in the scenario of paucity of teachers, school infrastructure, and books, we have to harness technology to
make education for all a reality. And distance education will play a critical role
in this. The government should therefore have more planning and investments laid out for distance education to reach to larger sections of society that are yet to avail the benefits of quality education.

Tell us how do you plan to leverage technology in your school in
the future?
Open source applications such as Google apps and Google docs have proved as a
major boon to us. As a school, we have always believed in transparency in sharing information; and Google application is just an extension of that. It helps us to connect with our teachers, students and parents on one platform. As knowledge expands only by sharing, this platform has set in a new culture of collaborative learning using Google doc ecosystem for teachers, students and parents to benefit. \\

"Our Private Institutions are Setting Examples for Global peers" : Rajeev Singh, Country Head and General Manager of BenQ India

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July 1, 2011

Rajeev Singh, Country Head and General Manager of BenQ India has been in the industry from nearly two decades of extensive industry. In conversation with Pragya Gupta discusses on tremendous potential in multimedia facilitated education and BenQ’s technological innovation.

How do you see school education evolving in India with respect to the global scenario?

The evolution of school education has seen tremendous leap in the recent past with classrooms being turned from just carrying a blackboard to a complete multimedia unit carrying audio video equipment, which not only empowers the teachers but at the same time increases the interest level of students thus increasing their learning capability and efficiency in the classroom to a greater extent.

In developed nations the automation of classrooms has been completed in last five years, so India is not far behind, but there are examples where our private institutions are setting examples for their peers outside India for technology adoption.

Tell us more about the genesis of your organisation in the e-learning domain?

e-learning or electronic learning in India is gaining prominence slowly, but indeed steadily. This is due to the fact that more than half the population of India today is below 25 years of age. It has become one of the major growth drivers for the education sector. e-Learning in the education sector has been one of the key drivers for BenQ in the recent times. There has been a sharp rise in demand for smart classrooms, which has led to a sharp rise in demand for projectors. We have tied up with companies providing smart classrooms solutions giving us the opportunity to bring some of the most advanced projection technologies in India.

BenQ is world number one DLP projector brand and education projector brand. We have consistently brought path breaking technology at global level for education. We have already sold more than 10 thousand projectors in a single quarter in current year and have captured about 16 percent of the market share in India in the second quarter. About 40 percent of revenues generated from our projector business in India, comes from the education sector. We plan to increase our market share to leadership position by year end.

What drives the educational technology market share that impelled you to foray into the Indian schools?

The market size of digital classroom is likely to touch almost 100 thousand classrooms with a phenomenal growth rate of 100 percent in the recent past. This trend is expected to continue for the next five years.

The way education is delivered and the importance it has in lives of modern India is forcing the changes in the educational set up. Also the globalisation is effective in bringing the latest teaching methodologies and tools to Indian market. The latest teaching delivery mechanism now has a student carrying a networked computer at his disposal, fully networked class rooms, multimedia method of delivery and study content in soft form. This has generated new age companies that are specialising in providing customised and targeted solution to the industry.

BenQ being at the forefront of education based opportunities is providing education projector for specific needs of the customers. We have been part of Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan and have provided projectors close to 10,000 Government schools till now this has been achieved in last 3 years with government schools of South India, which are mostly in remote area. Hence, we are confident that we are well poised to cater to the requirements of the education sector.

What are your views on the time taken by India education sector to match the tech savvy aptitude as the west?

The Indian education sector is growing rapidly; there has been a tremendous growth in the technological advancements in this sector. Schools in the Tier one cities have been quickly adapting to the newer ways of educating the students with more and more interactive classrooms being installed. The government can also see a lot of potential in this sector and is willing to invest so as to be at par with the rest of the world.

India is a developing country, but has a lot of potential for growth. Till a few years back, the education sector was not a priority for the government, however, in the recent past, there has been a shift in focus of the government towards this sector.

Also there have been a lot of investments made to bring up the education sector at par with the developed countries. With the kind of potential this sector has, it has attracted many multinational companies to come and invest in this sector. The sector is gaining prominence slowly, but indeed steadily and given the vastness of the country. It opens newer prospects for a lot of technology players in the coming years too.

Please shed some light on your market positioning and products for education vertical?

The projector market in India has grown at about 100 percent the last three years. In fiscal 2009, the market size was at about 90 thousand units, in fiscal 2010 it rose to 180 thousand units and is likely to reach 300 thousand units in 2011. BenQ India’s business was earlier mainly driven by the LCD monitor segment, generating almost equal revenue from the projector business. Fourty percent of the total revenue for BenQ India comes from its projector business. In the last quarter, BenQ is among the top two projector brands in India with a market share of 16 percent in the overall projector market of India.

“The B and C class cities are mushrooming with professional educational institutes and this forms the largest source of the demand of projectors”

Education, with more than 50 percent of the market, forms the biggest segment for the projector market. BenQ provides more than 20 education projectors in its extensive portfolio of durable and user-friendly projectors designed to meet today’s demanding classrooms. BenQ is drawing on its extensive research and development resources to continually push the limits of what projectors can do, introducing models incorporating the newest technologies like interactive capabilities, 3-D ready, ultra short throw technologies etc. Our interactive projector model MP780 ST with the PointDraw Interactive technology, WXGA resolution, USB reader, LAN and wireless display and 20W speakers gives the learning experience a whole new dimension.

BenQ has launched a wide range of Short throw and Ultra Short throw projectors like MX660, MS614, MS510, MX511, MX613ST, MS612ST, MP780ST and the MX880UST, especially designed for the education sector. The education sector would grow at a faster rate and we plan to tap this opportunity completely.

Please share your future plans for the Indian market?

The projector market is at a boom in India. The education sector plays a very vital role for us as the delivery mechanism of education is changing. The Government of India has big plans of investing in education sector. There are about 15 lakh government schools in India in with a plan to have at least one classroom in each school, which is multimedia capable, hence it is a big opportunity for us. For the government schools the opportunity is right up to the village level.

The private schools focus on infrastructure and use of latest teaching aids in classroom since beginning, are the early adopters of multimedia classroom and smart classrooms. In Metro and A class cities these schools form the major demand source. The B and C class cities are mushrooming with professional educational institutes and this forms the largest source of the demand of projectors.

In first half of 2011, we launched a whole new range of short-throw and ultra-short throw projectors especially to cater to the needs and wants of this sector. In second half of the year, we are looking to widen this range even further having more products for this segment. This would be a big opportunity for us to attain the number one place in the Indian market.

Educomp Conferred with Excellence Award by Institute of Economic Studies

Corporate Updates

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June 30, 2011

Educomp Solutions Ltd was conferred with the prestigious “Excellence Award” and Soumya Kanti, President of Edureach (PPP & ICT Division of Educomp Solutions Ltd.) was awarded the “Udyog Rattan Award” by the Institute of Economic Studies.

Institute of Economic Studies (IES), a premier research-oriented and awareness-promoting organization, conferred the Excellence Award to Educomp for its outstanding contribution towards developing the education sector in India through excellence in productivity, quality, innovation and management of holistic range of educational products and services. The Udyog Rattan Award was given to Soumya Kanti because of his invaluable contribution to the industrial development of the country through transforming of the teaching-learning processes by empowering teachers and encouraging students to acquire knowledge and gain conceptual clarity through use of ICT.

Over the years, Educomp, through its Edureach division, has partnered with over 15 states in implementing various ICT projects covering about 16000 Government schools and over six million students every year. Under PPP model, it has been providing ICT infrastructure, skilled manpower, training faculty, multimedia content and courseware, training and capacity building of subject teachers and educational stake holders etc. depending on the need and agreement with different state Governments.Soumya Kanti has led this effort at Educomp and under his leadership Edureach has become the preferred partner for large scale education projects under the PPP model.

Speaking on the occasion Soumya Kanti said, “This prestigious award validates Educomp's efforts in trying to bring about a visible change in the way education is imparted in the country. I dedicate this award to my entire team of over 10,000 members who are carrying high the flame of ICT in the remotest corners of the country. These awards will further motivate them in their efforts to fulfill Educomp's mission to provide quality education and access to education for all.” The awards were presented by H.E. Shri Shekhar Dutt, Hon'ble Governor of, Chattisgarh at IES' Economic Development seminar in the presence of various eminent personalities. Some of the dignitaries present at the occasion included; S.P.S Bakshi, Chairman and Managing Director, Engineering Project India Ltd, Shri Kishan Kapoor, Hon'ble Minister of Industries, Government of Himachal Pradesh, Dr. Bhishma Narayan Singh, Hon'ble Former Union Minister and Governor of Tamil Nadu and Assam.

India and New Zealand signs Education Exchange Programme

Policy Matters

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June 30, 2011

India and New Zealand have decided to establish a Joint Education Council to carry forward the education cooperation between the two countries. Both the countries already have signed an Education Exchange Programme during the visit of Shri Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Human Resource Development to New Zealand.

During the meeting of the Prime Ministers of India Dr. Manmohan Singh with his New Zealand counterpart on 28th June 2011 it was declared that an Education Initiative, a jointly-funded programme will be launched to enhance bilateral cooperation in higher education, research, and skills development. The total funding for the initiative is expected to be NZ$1 million per year with both India and New Zealand contributing equally. The University Grants Commission of India will provide the funds for India.

It is expected that this initiative will strengthen the relationship even further and promote academic, industry links and open up opportunities for education services collaboration between the two countries. The Education Council will become flagship of the education relationship between the two countries which will encourage in building knowledge and awareness among young business leaders from both countries through scholarships and internships in each other's business schools and industrial enterprises.

IMT to open new campus at Hyderabad

Higher Education

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June 29, 2011

Institute of Management Technology (IMT) is all set to foray into South India with its futuristic Hyderabad campus.IMT currently has campuses in Ghaziabad, Nagpur and Dubai.

Hyderabad has emerged as a major destination for IT/ITES, Pharmaceutical, Biotech, Entertainment, Financial Services sectors and is also poised to witness growth in other sectors such as Semiconductor, Hardware, Gems andJewellery, Apparel and Aerospace. The city therefore become the obvious choice when IMT decided to expand into South India with its new business school.

Addressing a press conference in the city , Dr. V. Panduranga Rao, Director – IMT Hyderabad said that the campus would be inaugurated by Shri Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for HRD, IT and Communication, Government of India on July 2nd, 2011. The inaugural ceremony would be presided over by N.Shri Kiran Kumar Reddy, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and Shri. Kamal Nath, Union Minister for Urban Development, Government of India.

IMT Hyderabad will offer a regular two-year, full-time, PGDM program with specialisations in cutting edge areas like Investment Banking and Business Analytics in addition to the conventional areas like Marketing, Finance and Operations.

The state of the art campus with nearly two lakh sq. ft. built-up area is located in 30 acres land at Cherlaguda Village, Shamshabad Mandal, Ranga Reddy District, Hyderabad. The beautifully landscaped green campus has an academic block, a library building, dining halls, hostels, faculty housing and a sports complex with cricket ground, football ground, basketball court, tennis court, badminton courts along with seven water bodies for water harvesting.

The Academic block will house nine-tiered lecture theatres, eleven flat classrooms, 55 faculty offices, IT labs with more than 100 systems, administrative offices, meeting rooms, conference halls and an open amphitheatre with a capacity of nearly 300. The learning resource centre is equipped with books, journals, CDs and electronic databases. All the hostel rooms are single occupancy, fully furnished and have internet connectivity.

The IMT Hyderabad campus boasts of world class infrastructure. The fully network networked campus with around 800 nodes with a backbone of 10 Gbps fiber connectivity with multi layer, high end Cisco campus wide network, five enterprise level servers with blade technology, a Wi-Fi enabled campus, Video conferencing and webcasting facility, and academic alliance SAP university, Microsoft and SAS. The classrooms are equipped with Wi-Fi enabled projectors, smart boards and learning management systems.

Along with the world class physical infrastructure, IMT Hyderabad has faculty members with research and teaching experience in top American and European B-schools. The young and dynamic faculty team have designed an innovative and industry relevant curriculum supported by a pedagogic approach which is student centric, participative, experiential and team based. This draws from the institute's philosophy of moving from a 'Knowing' mode to the 'Doing' mode and innovating for better lives, better organizations and a better world.

The curriculum has integrative courses that provide a holistic picture and learning about real life business situations and problems. Diverse learning opportunities are provided through case studies, simulations, real-time projects, seminars, workshops and interaction with industry professionals. In each of the courses, 25% of the sessions would be delivered by a mix of industry experts and practitioners. The program has a 14 week faculty supervised industry internship program at the end of the first year. The institute aims to develop socially responsible, innovative business leaders with a holistic perspective.

In due course of time, IMT Hyderabad plans to offer a one year full time Executive PGDM for working professionals with over five years of industrial experience; Certificate Programs in Management of 3-6 months duration; and also offer a Fellowship Program in Management.

Microsoft launches Office 365 in India

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June 29, 2011

As a part of its continued emphasis to enable easy access to cost effective business productivity solutions on the cloud, Microsoft Corporation has announced commercial availability of Microsoft Office 365 in India. Offering at prices starting $2 per user per month, (excluding applicable taxes) this will allow SMBs and enterprise customers to access Microsoft's popular e-mail, collaboration, conferencing and productivity capabilities online. Customers can access the entire Office 365 suite directly from the website and pay a use-based monthly subscription fee, and thus manage their IT needs cost effectively (lower capex). Over the last 45 days, more than 12000 organizations, have signed up for Office 365 trials. Globally over 200000 customers have signed up, creating one of Microsoft's largest beta programs for businesses. For the first time ever, customers can also avail of Microsoft Office, the world's most popular productivity offering, on subscription basis off the cloud.

This launch is part of Microsoft's comprehensive Cloud Services Strategy. Almost all of Microsoft's on premise enterprise solutions are already on the cloud, and the launch of Office 365 takes it to the next level. Today Microsoft's customers can choose to deploy either cloud based or on premise solutions, or both, depending on their need, and in turn experience the flexibility and cost control needed to drive higher business productivity. 'Microsoft Office 365, provides all of the familiar enterprise class productivity solutions on a flexible usage and payment model, delivering streamlined communication with high availability, comprehensive security and simplified IT management. Customers who have already started using the services are realizing savings from reduced hardware, software and operational costs. In a nutshell, it allows them to do more with less”, said Sanket Akerkar, Managing Director, Microsoft Corporation India Pvt. Ltd.

Office 365 is built ground up with an updated platform and new infrastructure investments and is backed by the industry's most rigorous financially-backed SLA, and will be available in different 'packages' depending on the size and need of the customer organization.The Office 365 plan for Small Businesses is optimized for organizations with 25 users or less, and delivers a full range of productivity, communications and collaboration capabilities to meet their business needs. At approximately $6 per user per month, this plan includes Office Web Apps, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Lync Online.

For larger organizations, there is a range of Office 365 plans to address different usage scenarios as well as deliver a more comprehensive set of capabilities for both information workers as well as field forces. These plans start for as little as $2 for basic e-mail to $27 per user per month. This includes the most advanced versions of Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Lync Online as well as an option to get the full power of Office Professional Plus desktop software, along with Office Web Apps.

Customers making online purchase will be billed directly from Microsoft Regional Sales, Singapore.According to Microsoft's long range estimates a typical 1000 person organization can cut IT costs by more than $350,000 per year by moving to the cloud. This is based on a long range estimate over 6 years for BPOS, and while results vary, customers consistently report between 10-50% cost savingsand Microsoft expects that Office 365 will only better customers' experience.

'We believe that Office 365 is off to a great start in India and we are excited by the enthusiastic response from customers and partners alike.' added Sanket. The opportunity is huge, and Office 365 lends itself to organizations of all sizes. As Satyadev Adurti, ACME Tele Power Limited's Vice President

IGNOU’S diploma gets bhel recognition

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June 29, 2011

The concept of community colleges introduced by the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is leading by its examples as the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) under Ministry of Heavy Industry, Government of India, a Navrathna Company has recognized the associate degree given by the university through this scheme and made the students eligible for employment in their corporation.

B. Shankar, Executive Director (HR & CC), BHEL, informed Dr. S. A. Pillai, Managing Director, IGNOU- Institute of Industrial Management for Safety, Health and Environment (IIMSHE) Community College at Bhopal that the Associate Degree in engineering (ADP) in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (Advanced Diploma) awarded by IGNOU is now equivalent to Diploma in Engineering for induction in BHEL as supervisors.

“As informed by your institute (IIMSHE), we have noted that the aforesaid programme of Associate degree in engineering is a regular programme for candidates with 10+2 qualifications and after this programme, students are given admission directly in second year of engineering degree. In view of this, ADPs in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering of your institute and awarded by IGNOU are equivalent to diploma in engineering and thus, candidates with this qualification are eligible to apply for the post of supervisor trainees in BHEL, provided they meet the requirement of job-specifications,” said Shankar in a communiqu

GMAT Test Prep Goes Mobile

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digitalLEARNING Network

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June 28, 2011

GMAT test takers can prep for the exam using actual questions from past exams directly from their iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. The”Official GMAT” app launched by Graduate Management Admission Council, makers of the GMAT exam, is a portable, mobile version of the Official Guide to GMAT Review book series and includes features that make preparing for the GMAT more convenient and fun, such as: Game Center feature that allows you to scoreboard your practice-exam results and instantly compare them with other “Official GMAT” app users. It includes hundreds of official test questions and full answer explanations from the makers of the GMAT exam.

It has two modes of operation, “Exam” and “Practice,” allow you to focus on individual questions and take practice exams when you want including exam date “countdown” reminder.

“There is plenty to like about the 'Official GMAT' app,” says Peg Jobst, executive vice president of the GMAT division at GMAC. “No other app gives you access to real questions from the GMAT exam as well as a fun way to keep your skills sharp and connect with others who are getting ready for the exam. The Official GMAT app also opens doors to an array of tools and services that can help you not only prepare for the exam but also get ready for business school.”

The “Official GMAT” app joins a family of test prep options available on multiple platforms from GMAC, including GMAT Paper Tests, free GMATPrep software and the recently released digital talking book version of the Official Guide.

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