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Merger deal between Zee Learn and Tree House to be put on hold

By
digitalLEARNING Network
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Background concept wordcloud illustration of merger acquisition

The merger deal between Zee Learn Ltd, the education arm of Essel Group, and Tree House Education & Accessories, the pre-school chain has been put on hold for the time being. However, Zee Learn Ltd will be setting up a committee to come up with some options to save the merger deal.  

The reason for this is that Zee Learn does not want to go ahead with the previously agreed share exchange ratio of 53 shares of the company for 10 shares of Tree House. The Pre-school chain, Tree House has been facing revenue crisis since a year now, with its revenue almost fallen down to half.

It is being believed that Zee Learn and Tree House will come up with a revised plan so that the deal doesn’t face any hurdle from Zee’s shareholders who would not like to give more shares, looking at the awful financial state of Tree House.

Zee Learn is the name behind running the country’s largest pre-school chain under the KidZee brand with 1,350 centres, entirely through franchisees. It also runs the second-largest school chain under Mount Litera brand with 87 centres. Moreover, it runs 31 vocational training institutes under ZEE Institute of Creative Art and one centre under Zee Institute of Media Arts as well.

Tree House, PE-backed company has 636 centres in 96 cities. Most of them are self-operated, while the rest are franchisees. It also offers consultancy services and runs 24 K12 schools that teach from kindergarten to 12th grade. Financial performance of Tree-House has been falling since years, as it had scaled down its operations last year also. Until last year, it had 720 pre-schools in 103 cities.

An eletsLABS Presentation Expanding the Frontiers of Collaborative Ideation: : Barco’s ClickShare shows the way

By
digitalLEARNING Network
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Imagine a board room undergoing a high-octane deliberation on a proposed business strategy with datasets from various divisions in multiple avatars, or an intense huddle over the proposed features of a new product seeking inputs from various quarters or a routine admin review of an institution…

No single presentation, howsoever meticulous or elaborate can fit in the requirement of a live ideation. No amount of standardization works either, as different people have different preferences, the way they see through things and want to present in the way they want, something so very important for the free flow of innovation. The real time culling of ideas from various sources during the course of deliberations adds another layer of complexity. With a regime of multiple set of computational devices setting in, this real-time, multi-user, multi-device sharing of ideas in multiple formats seem to be a difficult proposition.

Barco – a global technology leader of Belgian origin, that develops networked visualization solutions for entertainment, enterprise and healthcare markets has come up with a hands on solution, in the form of ClickShare.

As the name duly resonates, ClickShare makes the video/projecting system of the room shareable. Everyone sitting in the room, with the due access codes can thereby become the Presenter. People can take charge of the presenting system and display their visuals as they contribute to the deliberation. Like the good old micro-phone buttons in a conference room which made a user audible, ClickShare can make it even visible on the screen.

barcoThe CSC-1 Base Unit brings about a complete ClickShare collaboration experience by enabling to display the content of up to 4 users simultaneously. 64 buttons can be wirelessly connected to the Base Unit, ready to share. Furthermore, perfectly synchronized sound and video ensures that movie clips can be optimally enjoyed. Moreover, dynamic content from iPads, iPhones and Samsung Galaxy devices can be shown directly on the screen using the specialised apps. A ClickShare CSC set consists of a Tray, four buttons and a Base Unit. Additional items are sold separately.

The ClickShare Universe
Buttons
Button are dongles which can be connected to the USB-port of your PCs or MACs. Simply pressing in the buttons make it shareable.

Mobility
 For iPads, iPhones or Android devices, you just need to get hold of the ClickShare app to share. It can thereby be a good use-case for a smart classroom demonstration as well.

Video and audio
 The system can play videos at 30 frames per second (higher than the worldwide standard for movie theater film projectors at 24 fps), with sound through the meeting room’s AV system.

Zero installation
 ClickShare intends to keep things as light as possible. It has been designed as a zero footprint application, which leaves no ‘software’ on the client PC or MAC. Just plug the buttons and share.

The engineers of ClickShare have gone a level ahead to ensure the fidelity of this toy. They have gone overboard in using both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands simultaneously to guarantee a great wireless connection at all times, which has remained a pain point across even the best board-rooms, specially in this dusty part of the world.

Barco’s ClickShare worked well at the eletsLABS and we found the actual performance closer to the claims. The product certainly can be recommended for a try by all those organizations which want their collaborative meetings to be really productive and keep away the logistic nuisance of moving back and forth struggling with the VGI Cables of the projector et al.

‘Jumping Frog’ Synchronising Students, Parents and Teachers on a CLOUD-BASED PLATFORM

By
digitalLEARNING Network
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Rajesh Bakshi, Managing Director, NetSpec Global speaks regarding the company’s latest venture-“Jumping Frog’

Jumping Frog seems to be quite a unique name related to education. What motivated you to take on this name for your brand?
 At NetSpec, we live, eat, sleep, and breathe education and think of ways to enhance the entire experience of learning more interesting and enriching for students. For this, we need to get deep into the psychology of the students to understand their state of mind and make them learn without giving any kind of a stress. We try to create ‘Digital Content’ with many multimedia images and videos which makes information more playful for students. Therefore, the name of ‘Jumping Frog’ fits into the psychology of the student as it seems as a fun game rather than any educational tool or a learning management system.

What is Jumping Frog all about? How does it act as a communication bridge between teachers, parents and students?
 Jumping Frog is a comprehensive collaborative cloud based platform. Everything that happens in life span of the three major stakeholders in K-12 education, who are parents, teachers and students is automated on Jumping Frog. Within the collaboration, it has features like complete School Information system (SIS), Smart Grading and Report Cards, Digital Assignments and Homework. With all this data that we accumulate, it also gives a lot of analytics on the overall performance of the students individually and collectively. Besides collaboration, Jumping Frog has module on learning as Learning Management System (LMS), powerful assessments and it is also completely integrated with MS Office 365.

How has been the response towards it so far? What can you foresee about the future of Jumping Frog in India?
 We had a tremendous response that is still leading on with bright output as we have catered to the needs of more than 1,00,000 students and 10,000 teachers. We, at Jumping Frog create solutions with students and teachers in mind. For students, our aim is to enhance their school experience beyond just academic learning. For teachers our focus is on efficiency of faculty by saving time, using state of art technology, thereby creating a more productive learning process.

Jumping Frog is built using Open Source technology with various modules incorporated in it, realising the need for a solution that is purposely built to fit the specific requirements of the education sector and overcoming the traditional pedagogy of educational system

Kindly share your views regarding competition. Do you see any competition for Jumping Frog?
Though there are many applications in the market but Jumping Frog caters entirely to the core needs of students, teachers and parents that make us stand visible among our present clientsl. Our educational apps are designed and developed to provide real-time collaborative learning and teaching experience to the students and teachers.

Where do you see Jumping Frog in 5 years time?
We are working in collaboration with Microsoft, INTEL and HP to popularise the concept. We see ourselves as a major domain catering to our clients with optimum results in next half a decade. Also, One Note App. is the most significant and organic change process ever in the school. It is seamless and keeps up with teachers. It provides the place to bring everyone together and helps focus and prioritise things.

LabIn App Empowering Education with Real-Time Simulations

By
digitalLEARNING Network
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Pavan Shinde, CEO, LabInApp speaks about LabInApp’s real-time 3D computer graphics technology promoting the ‘learn by doing’ pedagogy

What was the main drive behind starting LabInApp, a 3D Interactive Science Lab?
 During our journey of 20 years in the field of education, we have come across lot of issues which need attention. One such problem, related to Science education is of practical learning. The science education in schools is mainly driven by theory classes, with little or nothing to do in practical labs, which results in loss of interest in the subject among students and teachers. Moreover, the students don’t get enough time in schools or colleges to explore the science experiments, leading to many doubts.
Hence, there is a need for a platform where students and teachers can perform science experiments at anytime, anywhere with lot of insight in the subject. This is possible with the powerful real-time simulation platform developed by us.
“Our mission is to empower every learner and teacher with real-time Simulations”
With this we started off our journey from an incubation center, CTIE located in KLE Tech University in Hubli, Karnataka.

What are the various hurdles encountered in doing business on ground level?
 The biggest hurdle that stands in our way is to meet the key people or decision makers of schools, since our product is exclusively for the education sector. Very often it is not the Principal, who is the decision maker in such purchase offers. Another big hurdle is keeping everyone happy. The expectations of teachers, management heads, parents and students are different in the educational scenario. Fulfilling everyone’s demands is always a big challenge.
Winning the ‘StartEdu’ competition organized by Unitus Seed Fund (USF) and later partnering with Sylvant Advisors, an Education sector focussed strategic firm, founded by Anand Sudarshan and Madan Padaki, helped us in cracking many of the challenges mentioned above.

Who do you see as your target audience? What techniques are adopted by you for reaching them?
 We are working in K-12 segment and our offerings are aligned to the curriculum of 9th to 12th standard. We are reaching out to our target audience, who are teachers and students, through channel partners, Education Service Providers, tab providers, DVD providers, book publishers etc.

What can be the major benefits for Institutions/ Individuals adopting your solutions?
Various benefits for Institutions as well as students are:

  • Fast revision of lab syllabus, without compromising on the learning factor in schools
  • Live demonstration of science concepts/experiments in the classroom by teacher, since every theory chapter is related with some hands on activities or experiments
  • Students can use LabInApp in school or at home without having to worry about availability of lab resources
  • They get to learn a lot of things in the LabInApp software before they go to the actual laboratories

Where do you see your company in 5 years time?
In few years from now learning is going to be more personal and even more interactive. With the current rate of penetration of smartphones and tablets in every region of the country, it is evident that these devices are going to be the platforms on which LabInApp has to run. We would like to see ourselves as leaders in providing real-time simulation in India.

Navneet forays into e-learning domain THROUGH eSense

By
digitalLEARNING Network
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Harshil Gala, Director, eSense Learning Pvt Ltd informs

What prompted you to start an e-learning solution company?
Navneet believes that leadership in any field is essential. In order to be an effective educational leader one must foster a concept of excellence within the classrooms. This is where we stand out. Time has proved that Navneet has been an integral part of Educational Revolution and now as a sister concern of Navneet, it’s our part to play. We provide a number of e-learning Solutions so as to boil down the complex issues of education and provide a concise statement of what all needs to be done.

In what all innovative ways is eSense integrating technology with learning?
 Please tell us about your latest offerings, eSense TOPClass. eSense is creating 2D and 3D multimedia animation based content which has transformed the traditional textbook in 2D & 3D animation, making it easy and more fun for students to learn from.
eSense TOPClass is a complete digital education solution which consists of interesting and attractive animated content for every chapter. Thus, making teaching and learning easier and faster.
eSense has also developed artificial intelligence based software which is compatible with tablets and mobiles. This makes it cheaper in terms of digital education.

Do you think students have adjusted to e-learning methodology of teaching?
 Do they prefer e-learning to the traditional chalk & board teaching? E-learning is growing in India and students along with their parents have started to accept e-learning methodologies. Especially, students who have been exposed to the e-learning content prefer it over the traditional chalk & talk method.
However, there is a long way ahead to go for e-learning, but with Digital India campaign, the importance of digital education in India has been highlighted. We cannot be sure and say that students prefer the e-learning methodology over the traditional chalk and board teaching, but it is definitely considered as a technique which helps students to retain more of what they have learned. This is because Audio/ Visual helps them to retain around 70 percent of what they see and learn.

    ESENSE TRANSFORMERS  

  • Audio-Visual content
  • Assessment Software
  • Question Bank
  • Analytical Reports
     eSENSE OUTREACH

  • 2500+ Schools
  • 10,00,000+ Students

What are the USPs of eSense?
 E-learning in itself is a unique concept. Nevertheless, our USPs are mentioned as below:

  • Syllabus based for MSB, GSB and CBSE students
  • 2D/3D Animation for each chapter
  • Artificial Intelligence based assessment software
  • Unlimited practice exams
  • Limited final exams
  • Performance comparison with peers across state
  • Analytical reports to focus on weak areas and incorrect answers.

How do you plan to deal with your competitors?
 There is competition for sure. However, we believe in transforming the process of learning through the support of Audio-Visual content, Assessment software, Question bank and Analytical reports. Students can learn better, understand faster and remember more with the help of TOPScorer. We treat knowledge as wealth and our content has been appreciated by schools and the stats say it all.

What are your future plans regarding expansion of eSense?
 eSense aims to go beyond the chalk & talk method and stimulate the learning environment. In the next 5 years we foresee each and every student learning through the content of eSense. We want to replace the traditional textbooks with our content and want that students from every school and household, should be learning from eSense content.

After 7,000 Schools and 70,00,000 Students WHAT’S NEXT AT NEXT EDUCATION?

By
digitalLEARNING Network
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Beas Dev Ralhan, CEO & Co-founder has the answer

Having partnered with 7000 schools and 7 million students, what is your ‘Next’ step now?
 We were among the first few who started out as an education solutions provider in India. After creating a self-learning module called LearnNext, we realised there was a need to improve and enhance the style of teaching in Indian classrooms. It wasn’t easy for us to create content at a global level which not only adhered to the Indian education system but also made learning more efficient and fun-filled. It hasn’t been a simple task to establish our presence in more than 7000 schools and among approximately 7 million students in last 8 years. Continuous learning and understanding of the industry have enabled us to shape the trends and have led us to become thought leaders.
Next Education’s dedicated R&D team has relentlessly worked to keep improving our products and the user experience based on the feedback received. At the same time, they have also led us to branch out into various new product lines like NextBooks, NextLabs and Next ERP.
Products like NextLabs provide a more comprehensive understanding of hands-on learning experience, whereas NextERP is an integrated school management system which streamlines all processes, departments and functions of a school. NextBooks is a complete curriculum solution that combines the best of books, digital content, hands-on activities and gamification, and a comprehensive mentor manual.
We realise that continuous innovation and becoming a ‘one stop solution’ for anything education is the way forward, and we are out to achieve that.

Next Education Pvt Ltd has recently launched a new initiative “Workshop for Principals” with a view to develop leaders. What was the basic drive behind this workshop?
 “Next Academy” workshops for the principal fraternity is a pioneering initiative by Next Education. The aim of this interaction is to engage with school principals, update them about changing technologies, understand their views on current trends, evaluate changing mindsets of classroom teaching and learning, understand the expectations of parents and students and also recognise the life skills that need to be imbibed into students today. At the same time, principals learn from the best teachers out there – each other.
Our workshops emphasise more on making schools future-ready, and so we are extremely meticulous in selecting the points of discussion. This year we plan to conduct 50 principal workshops across India with fresh themes that are in sync with contemporary challenges. We believe that creating thought leaders will impact the entire education ecosystem.

      TYPES OF LEARNERS
  • The visual learner who sees and learns
  • The auditory learner who learns by listening
  • The kinesthetic learner who learns by movements

 

       Product Line
  • LearnNext
  • NextBooks
  • NextLabs
  • NextERP
  • TeachNext


What is your new initiative “Robotics” all about?
 How powerful are Robotics as a tool for education? Next Education’s initiative NextRobotics aims to promote robotics as a tool for application of concept-based learning in a classroom environment using STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Robotics is fast emerging as one of the most powerful tools in education.
The idea is to rediscover and redesign learning by engaging students with a ‘query’-based approach and to be creative in solving open-ended robotic challenges. Observing the current scenario of a classroom, we can say robotics is also used as a formative assessment tool in line with CCE recommendations.
What sets NextRobotics apart is that we provide the students everything that they require. From hardware components to build robots to the various softwares required for programming, an easy-to-use kit which can help students to focus all their energies into simply being creative and developing a practical approach. The kit contains many different kinds of sensors that a robot can use to react to its environment and take decisions. Here, students learn many senses like touch, sound and light that can be replicated in a robot.
Further, our robot programming software, THINK, offers a graphical drag-and-drop coding interface to novice programmers. This provides self explanatory programming blocks that enable them to write powerful pieces of code with ease without getting bogged down by complex syntax and constructs of a textual programming language. Real-life problems often do not have a unique solution, but robotics offers students the flexibility to be imaginative and approach the same problems in their own unique way.

These days there is a lot of stress on skill development. What are your views and how is Next Education working towards this?
 Skill development is one of the most important agendas for both the government and the private sectors in India. The skill development initiative has become of prime focus to generate employment and entrepreneurial skills in India. Thus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched many schemes like National Skill Development Mission, National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) Scheme and the Skill Loan Scheme.
From its inception, Next Education was determined to adopt a hands-on style of learning. In order to make the learning process easier, we have created content in such a way that it requires a practical approach rather than just theoretical knowledge.

How popular are your recently launched products and services like TeachNext, LearnNext, NextBooks, NextERP etc. among students and teachers? Are these products more Student-centric or Teacher-centric?
 Each of our products TeachNext, LearnNext, NextBooks, NextERP and even Labs provide a distinct solution to a relevant problem that a school might be facing. The good thing is that all our products have been received quite well by schools. However, TeachNext enjoys maximum penetration at the moment.
The underlying idea has always been to make the processes of learning and teaching more enjoyable and fun-filled while imparting the required knowledge. For example, when we learnt how the heart worked, all we had before us was a one-dimensional picture of the heart in a black and white textbook with arrows that depicted points from where blood flowed in and out. That was probably enough for a theoretical understanding, but nothing more than that. Compare this with a student who learns how the heart functions with the help of a multimedia platform and gets to see it in 3D. They acquire a practical understanding of the process, how blood flows in and out and various other functions.
We try to strike the right balance between being student-centric and teachercentric, as we understand that both have to be extremely comfortable with the product. With a product like TeachNext, while a teacher maybe the user, a student is the target consumer. A teacher also needs to understand that these products are only there to further enhance their teaching, not to replace their expertise in any way. That is not possible! Human touch will always be prevalent and a primary requirement in this sector.

    Product Design Focus
    Strike the right balance between being student-centric and teacher-centric


How do the10,000 learning modules make teaching easier and more effective for teachers as well as students?
 Our flagship product TeachNext has made end-to-end processes of teaching and learning easier, more engaging and interesting through its rich multimedia content. It is designed in a way that it caters to all types of learner – the visual learner who learns by seeing, the auditory learner who learns by listening and the kinesthetic learner who learns by doing.
Also, with more than 10,000 learning modules and a set of over 500 tools including NextStudio, NextDictionary, NextMaps, periodic tables, log tables and pH indicators, learning is made delightful for the students. While developing the content, we also keep in mind the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) guidelines.
Using the technology is very easy. A simple hand-held remote can accomplish all the required actions, so the teacher can operate it from anywhere within the class. Teachers can also use interactive touch-boards to demonstrate a more details, zoom in, ask students to THE NEXT ONWARD DRIVE solve problems, etc.

    7k schools, 7m students and growing!

 

What Industry Stalwarts Say on eduPERIPHERALS

By
digitalLEARNING Network
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manikandan_r

  Key drivers:

  • With the introduction of technology, students have started taking more interest in the curriculum
  • Technology in education has helped improving the quality of education in India
  • Face of education is shifted partly from books to ebooks
  • Everything from books and study material to the method of teaching, is tending to go virtual
  • Technology is also altering the way the education is provided, making it faster and easier to grab
  • Need of the hour is to make sure that technology is available to every corner of the country
  • 21st century skills require Innovation, Collaboration & Critical thinking, for Indian students to become more employable universally.

  Evaluation Procedure:

  • HP believes in the value of the Hybrid Learning model, combining the best of digital printing with electronic content, to optimize learning outcomes
  • At HP gadgets are not just sold and handed out, but also are provided with the support and training necessary to turn a device into an instrument of change
  • The education edition tablets are ruggedized to meet IP52 certifications to prevent damage from accidental drops and liquid spills and are preloaded with HP School pack.
Case Study:
HP has applied its experience deploying education technology, serving millions of students around the world to meet the challenges of 21st-century education. Digital solutions maximize learning outcomes, focusing on planning, leadership, and total access to content for always-on, always-connected teaching and learning. HP’s Education solution suite aims to enable such comprehensive learning. For example, the students can carry out various experiments by interfacing appropriate ‘probewares’ with HP Tablets. HP has gone a step further to offer Education Edition tablets that are built for schools & designed for learning.

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nilesh_bhaskar_rane

  Key drivers:

  • Audio-visual learnings giving more impact than normal text-book learning
  • Initiative of government to try to minimize burden of school bags by starting digital project.

  Evaluation procedure:

  • Value for money
  • Device to be loaded with latest technology
  • Easy to learn applications
  • Prominent service support
Case study:
iBall is considered the pioneers in providing tablets to a school in Taluka-Vita, Dist- Sangli where the school received an edge of being first digital school in Maharashtra.

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milind_shah

  Key drivers:

  • Shift to a learner-centered model in which class time explores topics in greater depth and creates meaningful learning opportunities
  • Online videos used to deliver content outside of the classroom
  • In flipped classroom, video lessons prepared by the teacher or third parties are used to deliver content on mobile devices
  • Mobile devices also leverage on online collaborative discussions, digital research, and text readings

  Evaluation procedure:

  • Foremost is the Operating System which is a big influencer
  • Availability of all ‘apps’ in the device
  • On-site service for devices
  • Future proof providing for at least 3 years in terms of configuration.
Case study:
In a recent happening, at a particular school in the eastern suburbs in Mumbai. through the involvement of alumni community, Wishtel has successfully deployed a smart class solution, coupled with a flipped classroom approach.

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rohan_shravan

  Key drivers:

  • Inaccessibility of proprietary content, which was just developed by coaching classes
  • Spread of content generators for democratizing great content
  • Cheap Android tablets acting like catalyst from 2013 to 2015, but this momentum was stalled due to their unreliability
  • Momentum shifted towards iPads and Windows-based 2in1s since 2015 as these products are real value for money
  • HTML5 has also made content platform agnostic so moving from one platform to another is very easy.

  Evaluation procedure:

  • Three parties are involved-Hardware, Software and Warranty Services
  • Hardware available at all price points but buyers must keep in mind that cheaper hardware is cheap because the lifespan is less
  • The best model of selecting the ideal software is to do research on other institutions regarding which platform have they picked and what problems are they facing
  • Large dependency on Cloud, so investing on an outsourced cloud is the best option, one can move from one platform to another giving one freedom on cost and infinite scalability
  • Picking the Software platform on monthly models, so there must always be some pressure on the partner to keep improving their services
  • Warranty ‘n’ Services being a very crucial part- It is much better to buy a rupee15000 tablet with three years additional warranty at 5000 (total becomes 20000), instead of a rupee6000 tablet which will stop working after six months.
Case study:
Experience comes after working with a large number of educational institutions. Notion Ink has avoided going into the price ways by bringing in cheaper hardware which doesn’t last. The focus is also on Windows as this is the best platform for educational institutions. Google doesn’t use Android as Android is not built for anything else than for a phone. Institutions need mathematical programming, developmental, testing, and various other tools with flawless integration with all their accessories. Moreover 2 in 1 packs in all the features of tablets and laptops. Notion Ink devices make writing, tagging, multi-touch interactions and keyboard input possible at every instant.

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tarun_jain

  Key drivers:

  • Technology making life easier for both students and educators
  • Shift from typical Indian classroom characterized by an hour-long teacher monologues
  • Present day, digital teaching solutions for students well-versed with the likes of PlayStations and iPads
  • Classroom environment becoming more inclusive and participatory
  • Comprehension of the students increasing with use of devices like Hitachi Interactive projectors

  Evaluation procedure:

  • Technology to support current and future requirements of Hardware and Software
  • Product versatility with the interface systems for today’s equipments and future demands
  • Ease of use
  • Commercials and supplier’s capability for supply and service the equipments.
Case study:
Hitachi has a proven track record with the education institutions in India. Hitachi Interactive projectors are installed at major educational institutions. For users, it is a seamless technology experience in the classroom. Hitachi Ultra short throw interactive Projectors have been very successful. It combines an array of advanced features in a compact, portable design perfectly suited for classrooms of any size. Small in size, but big on performance, the projector provides vibrant image quality, cost-effective operation, and long-lasting reliability.

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chaitanya_sisodia

     Key drivers for eduPERIPHERALS:

  • Novel technologies to boost the learning environment
  • Eagerness of children to become most competitive in order to align themselves with the need of time.
     Evaluation procedure for eduPERIPHERALS:

  • Necessity of a particular device
  • Scope of usage
  • Benefits in terms of revenue as well as study point of view.

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ramya_chattarjee

  Key drivers:

  • eduPERIPHERALS act as an impetus to integrate technology standards for real life
  • Kids are more exposed to the digital devices and learn and play with these devices
  • Using eduPERIPHERALS in the classrooms satisfies the growing standard of technology
  • Make students think beyond their books and explore the learning skills
  • Introduction of gadgets in schools, colleges, and universities helps students to learn from the gadgets and grow their learning skills
  • Not only useful for students but also helpful for teaching staff.

  Evaluation procedure:

  • Return on Investment of the eduPERIPHERAL
  • Feature strength and user-friendliness of the software
  • Cost of maintenance, robustness of the product
  • Service support infrastructure
  • Resource availability & training
Case study:
Cybernetyx has made tremendous advancement in educational institutions. There is not one but many examples where Cybernetyx products have made learning more impactful. However, to site some examples:

  • Advancement through deploying Cybernetyx Interactive Products at Seth MR Jaipuria Group of Schools
  • Making learning experience impactful with EyeRIS Interactive System from Cybernetyx in Delhi Public School at Haridwar.

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  Key drivers:

  • Education shifting the emphasis from a teacher-centred to a learner-centred environment
  • Classrooms being active learning centers that encourage lively discussion and engage teamwork
  • Students collaborate with one another using a variety of gadgets, from smartphones to tablets and laptops
  • Bringing a truly interactive learning experience into classrooms via interactive display design.
  • Hardware and software play equally important roles that drives the development of Interactive projectors and Interactive Flat panels
  • Building the ultimate learning platform, not only simple and easy to use, but also incorporates and integrates more valuable educational resources
  • R&D resources play an important role to display innovation for the classroom, facilitating effective instruction and student engagement

  Evaluation procedure:

  • Educational institutes keeping a strong tab on throw ratio of the product
  • Long throw products are not greatly useful as they glow in the eye of teachers
  • Projector with lamp life of 10000 or 7000 lamp hours should be chosen
  • For brightness the schools must ensure that the projectors are 3200 Lumens and above for clarity
  • Brand, its service reputation and warranty need to be kept strongly in mind
  • In built proprietary softwares that decrease the total cost of induction of IFP’s
  • Extremely easy to be used by teachers
  • No need to put in extra money to buy add on softwares
Case study:
Chennai Public School(CPS), a loyal BenQ customer since 4 years, wanted an interactive solution which eliminates the need of Smart boards. BenQ suggested Interactive Short Throw Projector with Point write module featuring multi-pens collaboration allowing up to 4 students to contribute at once. These required hassle free installation along with minimum training for teachers for using them.

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  Key drivers:

  • Competition to be among the best in country
  • Innovative digital products emerging to improve efficiency of both, teachers and students
  • With both the stakeholders – the teachers and students, getting digital savvy, such hardware initiatives are welcomed.

  Evaluation procedure:

  • Earlier decent spec and lowest price is what every institution wanted
  • However, with technology getting outdated fast, Institutes want the newest technology and are ready to pay a slight premium for it
  • Keeping in mind the stature of the brand, history of the brand, its presence, service set-up and out of warranty charges
  • Evaluate the product to its core and then arrive at the buying decision.
Case study:
Wacom has been at the forefront of eduPERIPHERALS from the very beginning as the Indian customers soon realized the benefi ts of using a digital pen tablet and display in education. The top Indian institutes like IITs, IIMs, IIIT, IIFT, NITs, BITs, Modi Institute, NIFT, NID, MIT, DSK, etc have been using the Wacom products for many years now. The Bamboo Spark, Wacom’s newest product is a smart folio that can be used by both teachers and students alike.

Making of a Digital India with eduPERIPHERALS

By
digitalLEARNING Network
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Confused with the term ‘eduPERIPHERALS’? Maybe, we haven’t heard it or used it anywhere; but as they say, there is always the first time for everything! digitalLEARNING is known for bringing out new things, so let us coin-in a new phrase now! Abha Garyali from Elets News Networks (ENN) brings out the growing popularity and future growth prospects of the eduPERIPHERAL industry, straight from (as they say) the ‘horse’s mouth’

eduPERIPHERALS, as the term suggests stands for the PERIPHERALS which have proven their worth in the education system. As PERIPHERALS include a wide array of auxiliary devices, connected to the Personal Computer in any way so it’s more logical not to include them by large. In the article, we would be emphasising on largely the PERIPHERALS used in the modern Learning- Teaching process, ie- Personal Computers, Laptops, Smart Phones, Tablets, Interactive Screens and Interactive Pens.

eduPERIPHERALS as Marketing Differentiators
 It has been a decade of using personal computers in schools, but there is a large difference now. As compared to earlier, where PCs were just used in computer classes, now everything from A to Z is being done on computers. It’s not just PCs but also laptops as well as mobile phones and tablets, which are making a huge difference.
According to a recent study, Indian users, spend more than 4 hours every day, on an average, with their smartphones. Therefore, it is high time that the same mobile phones are used to revolutionise the Indian education sector!
Moreover, any nation’s progress depends on the system of education adopted by it to prepare the next generation. With the proliferation of peripherals in all walks of life, it was need of the hour for the education system in India to remodel and upgrade its delivery system.
Nothing but mobile phones, tablets, laptops etc can help in the quick conceptualisation of smart education systems. This can be mainly attributed to the fact that India is now the second largest smartphone market in terms of active unique smartphone users, with the total base crossing 220 million users, according to a new report from Counterpoint Research. The research firm’s data showed that in India LTE shipments reached 32 Million units in 2015, while smartphone shipments crossed 100 million for all of 2015. The last quarter saw smartphone shipments in India grow at 15 per cent annually.
Talking about tablets, making waves in the education system, in a recent news, in Hyderabad, many pre-school chains have made it compulsory for parents to buy tablets for their kids who are in play school or studying in classes till UKG. This shows the dependency that teaching can have on tablets. According to market reports, India saw sales of about 475,000 units of media tablets in the last calendar year. As stated in a report from research firm ‘Frost & Sullivan’, the tablet PC user base in India has increased from 60,000 units in 2010 to 300,000 in 2011. The report further says that overall tabletPC user base is likely to grow at a CAGR of 107 per cent to reach 23.38 million by 2017.

It is need of the hour for the education system in India to remodel and upgrade its delivery system, because India is now the second largest smartphone market in terms of active unique smartphone users, with the total base crossing 220 million users, according to a new report from Counterpoint Research

Salient Features vis-á-vis Educational Usage
 eduPERIPHERALS need to have few basic features to prove their worthfulness, especially in the education system. Some of these are mentioned below:
Pricing range: Being for specially the students, the price of the PERIPHERALS is most important. Small kids as well as higher education students cannot afford very expensive smartphones, laptops, tablets etc. Therefore, good brands are launching reasonably priced products.
Financing Schemes: Financing options should be available to students so that buying becomes convenient for them.
Robustness: Being for students, these PERIPHERALS need to be essentially robust in their handling. Water-resistant, drop-resistant, shock-proof gadgets are being manufactured.
Key Features: Any eduPERIPHERAL should include key features like good battery life, storage drive, easy keypad, network connectivity etc.
After-Sales support: PERIPHERALS like mobile phones, tablets etc need to have support throughout from the manufacturer so that consumers (students) do not have a tough time.

Government Policies to Boost eduPERIPHERALS
 With the present government totally involved in transformational programmes like Digital India, Make in India, Skill India, Startup India, Standup India and smart cities for changing the face of the nation, many initiatives have been taken for making India ‘Digital’. One of the most prominent among them is the setting up of the ‘National Program on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL)’ by the ministry of human resources development. The aim of NPTEL was to develop curriculum based video lectures and web courses to enhance the quality of engineering education in India.
In another scheme in UP, under the Akhilesh Yadav Government, laptops were freely distributed among students for developing the laptop culture.
Moreover, initiatives by Educational as well as Corporate are also being made for digitizing India. Pearson Education, HCL Infosystems and Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL) are some of the few companies who have specially launched their tablets for educational purposes. While talking about corporates boosting eduPERIPHERALS, name of Microsoft India can not be left out. Microsoft, since 25 years, has been running several initiatives in India and partnering with students, educators, school leaders as well as with governments and communities to transform education through effective technology, pedagogical innovation and best practices. Microsoft has collaborated with third-party Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to offer highly subsidized Windows tablets and PCs running free software to help state governments across India in providing students with a window into a new world. Windows software is free for OEMs manufacturing devices that are under 9 inches in size. Microsoft has also partnered with the Government of Meghalaya to create digital classrooms, and contribute to their vision of expanding digital literacy.

According to market reports, India saw sales of about 475,000 units of media tablets in the last calendar year. As stated in a report from research firm Frost & Sullivan, the overall tablet PC user base is likely to grow at a CAGR of 107 per cent to reach 23.38 million by 2017

Trend of Refurbished eduPERIPHERALS
Everything starts and ends with only one thing- COST factor! Especially in the education scenario, being cost effective makes the product popular initially. However, getting great quality at a reasonable price is somewhat dicey and many students make their parents spend a lot on buying expensive gadgets. Keeping this in view there is growing demand for refurbished eduPERIPHERALS. These professionally restored devices ensure that you always get top-notch performance along with availing brand warranty on them. Now, due to increasing popularity many big brands along with specially created websites take pride in giving easy access to a long list of quality assured refurbished phones and tablets at the most reasonable prices.

Marching Towards IPO :: Emerging trend in education enterprises

By
digitalLEARNING Network
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In an exclusive interaction with digitalLEARNING, Nikhil Mahajan, the Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director, CL Educate speaks in greater detail about the company, its firm foundations, its diversified portfolio, its growth prospects and its innate intent to file for an IPO

What is thriving at CL Educate?
 CL Educate has a thriving and diversified business portfolio whereby test prep segment accounts for only 40-45% of the revenue accrual.
The publishing division of CL Educate under the auspices of G K Publications bring about authentic reference & preparatory material for various entrance examinations.
The organisation is working closely with the Governments of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Gujarat for their Skills Enhancement programmes, leveraging their ample expertise in the domain of test preparation.
The group has 7 Schools to its kitty having a total installed capacity of 6000 students, expandable to 11000. The current capacity utilisation is at 50 percent. Instead of adding new ones, the focus shall remain to grow to the full potential.

To what extent, would you augment your international portfolio?
Not Much. The total revenue expectation from the international operations is being seen not more than 4-5 percent of the entire revenue inflows.

What are the underlying reasons for going the IPO way?
 Well, the way we look at IPO is more of a landmark or milestone in our company’s progression. We have had been working for the last 5-7 years preparing ourselves to get listed. It’s more of a strategic opportunity for us to create a sizeable stable enterprise in the domain of education.
Offloading the burden of two of our private equity investors – Gaja Capital and HDFC, along with a number of individual benefactors, is also on cards, by way of raising some Rs 300-350 crores from the market.

Where do you see the maximum action happening in the education section?
 For us at CL Educate, we are expecting a double-digit growth across all our business portfolios. We have always stood for a balanced growth, though the revenue mix varies for historical reasons.
In such a vast country, with progressive demographic trends, education sector happens to be one of the largest one and is slated to grow by leaps and bounds. The achilles heels, however remains the utter disorganization and non-systematic unprofessional governance of educational enterprises. This has brought some dis-repute to the sector, when it comes to public offering.

What are the core operational strengths at CL Educate?
 We have evolved as an entirely process driven organization, with sound technological fundamentals. All our centres are connected through a dedicated in-house ERP system. Our testing platform is again our in-house creation which empowers the core business vertical of ours. We have moved towards a cloud-based governance ecosystem and content dissemination regime. Our mobile apps are a big sensation amongst our students at large. Though the direct revenue from the online sales is pegged at 5 percent but it’s support system has helped us scale and sustain the momentum of our growth.

Now, Earn US-accredited Degrees Via ‘DeVry’ online learning platform

By
digitalLEARNING Network
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Ranil Herath, Managing Director – International, DeVry Education Group talks about his recent visit to India and future plans in an interview with Elets News Network (ENN)

What has been the focus of your India visits?

The focus of our visit has been to interact first hand with prospective students interested in studying in the U.S. It is always good for the management to hear first-hand versions of their aspirations, what they are looking for and to find out if we are providing that support and not just rely on secondary or external resources.

Additionally, visits also allow us to meet and engage with stakeholders in the market including various partners and organizations, and learn more about the trends in the market. These are not just for the industry, but for students as well as their parents also. There is a lot to observe on every visit and many best practices to learn from.

We also love to visit India for the South Indian breakfast followed by North Indian dinners.

What’s the DeVry Education Model?

DeVry University does not have any such collaboration programs, but we do offer direct online programs. Students have the facility to study online during the entire program duration, and earn a U.S. accredited MBA by DeVry’s Keller Graduate School of Management, for example. We offer this for all courses with DeVry undergraduate programs and Keller Graduate Programs.

Students also have the opportunity to finish a portion of their studies abroad on campus in the U.S. without losing any credits they have obtained so far in their online program. For example, in MBA, students could potentially study for one year locally in India, and come to a Keller U.S. campus for their second year.

Lastly, we offer a special program for international (including Indian) students who are high academic performers and wish to study in their home office. Based on certain academic and english proficiency requirements, some students may qualify for the American Pathways for International Scholars (APIS). Those who qualify for the APIS program are eligible for up to a 70 percent reduction in online tuition costs while studying in their home country. Should they choose to complete their studies at our campus in the U.S., their credits remain 100 percent transferrable, but the APIS discounted tuition rate will no longer apply.

TEACH @ DeVry
Teamwork
Energy
Accountability
Community
Heart

What steps are you taking to promote the participation of Indian students in DeVry University? DeVry University and its Keller Graduate School of Management offer international students the opportunity to gain valuable work experience before graduation, through the U.S. Career Experience Program launched in 2014. These international student applicants of DeVry University or its Keller Graduate School of Management are selected with the opportunity to gain valuable on-campus work experience through a paid, part-time job while attending one of DeVry’s campuses.

Since 2014, we have had 12 Indian students participate as International Specialists who are engaged in real life, paid part time work experience during their enrolment. We have 40 positions available on a rolling basis every year. At present, we have 5 Indian students who are active in this program.

In addition to this, in order to make Indian students aware of our university, it is always great to meet students face to face and interact with them. We meet them at various forums like at their institutions, education fairs and at our partner’s offices.

What all it takes to realize the vision of “To be the world’s most extraordinary learning organization”?

The purpose of DeVry Education Group is to empower its students to achieve their educational and career goals. Our vision is to be the world’s most extraordinary learning organization, where students and colleagues thrive, and to achieve this vision we follow a certain set of values we call TEACH. TEACH stands for teamwork, energy, accountability, community and heart.

Those who qualify for the APIS programme are eligible for up to 70% reduction in online tuition costs while studying in their home country

THE DeVry MARKET LEARNING
Hear first-hand versions of student aspirations
Find out first hand whether that support is being provided
Do not rely on secondary or external resources

What methodology do you follow to make your students future-ready as well as industry-ready?

Our professors at DeVry bring real-world work experience into their classrooms so students get the knowledge to be career-ready. This program can provide international students of DeVry University or its Keller Graduate School of Management who apply and are selected with the opportunity to gain valuable on-campus work experience through a paid, part-time job while attending one of DeVry’s campuses.

In addition, DeVry University students have the support of dedicated staff to help them achieve academic and career success and help with student finance. Our courses are offered in eight-week academic sessions, giving students the flexibility to design a schedule that accommodates a schedule that works for them (students can take a one session break, assuming they maintain the minimum course requirements for visa status).

What constitutes the core of higher education system of the United States? Students should be very careful and do a good amount of research before selecting a particular university for higher studies. They should be very sure of the course they want to pursue, the country they would like to pursue it in as well as the university they select.

U.S. is a very attractive destination for higher studies and universities here offer a range of programs at both the undergraduate and graduate level. The country also offers internationally accepted qualification and the huge diversity of subjects offered is unparalleled. Programmes range from Management, Engineering and Technology, Humanities, Media technology, Journalism to Fashion. USA is at the forefront of Science and Technology research and offers opportunity to be taught by leading researchers.

In addition to this, students pursuing their higher studies in the U.S. have the option of working while studying and not just after the completion of their course. This provides the students a hands-on experience of the real world without compromising on their education.n

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