LAVA Offers Tablets with New Digital Learning Tools

By

-

October 22, 2013

LAVA International Limited has announced that the company is going to facilitate customised products to harness the potential of digital learning in India. The objective is to empower the students with e-learning tools by offering students an access to a whole new view of their world—right at their fingertips.

According to a report by India Ratings, the Indian education sector’s market size in FY12 was estimated to be Rs. 341,180crore (US$ 54.20 billion). The sector grew at a compounded annual growth rate of 16.5 per cent during FY05-FY12. The adoption of digital technologies in both the formal and informal education sectors is currently being driven by increasing Wi-Fi connectivity, proliferation of portable end user devices such as tablets & smartphones and 3G cellular networks. LAVA aims to harness the potential of the Indian Education industry, which is expected to increase to Rs 602,410crore by FY15. The new range of LAVA tablets is not just an affordable alternative to laptops but also incorporates the most sophisticated tools of digital learning.

Of all the end user devices (such as PCs, laptops, netbooks, smartphones and tablets) currently available, tablets are most conducive for the education vertical. A tablet combines the portability & connectivity of smartphone and large display & computing capabilities of a laptop. Coupled with a slick interface, interactive UI (pinch to zoom) and long battery life, it is one of the most optimized devices for education sector for content consumption, computing, communication and interactivity needs. The third-party applications development ecosystem for tablets is also a key advantage for supply side players.

Speaking about this initiative, S N Rai, Co-Founder & Director, Lava International Ltd, said, “We believe that tablets are a great medium for offering an interactive and compelling learning experience. Mobile computing is gaining momentum amongst today’s educational organizations because of a new class of devices—the tablet. Immensely portable, tablets serve as eReaders, video repositories, and web browsing devices with instant access to thousands of applications, often replacing the need for books. In the next two – three years we foresee a strong adoption of tablets in India particularly in the Education sector. Lava intends to tap this opportunity through its customized tablets for the education sector and provide an enriching student learning experience.”

In this endeavor, Lava announced the launch of the first lot of M-TAB in Meghalaya, where eleven thousand units were delivered to students under the Government’s Student Digital Learning Scheme. This scheme is one of landmark Information Technology-centric initiatives of the State Government, with a vision that IT will revolutionize the way of teaching and learning. Lava has tied up a deal with iProf, a pioneer in Digital Education solutions, as one of key content partners for this tablet.

Lava M-TAB comes with an in built education app – Digital Library which enables students to access the educational content. All the tablets presented to the students were pre-loaded with study materials of Class XI and Class XII courses of CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) and MBOSE (Meghalaya Board of School Education). Sample question papers for Medical and Engineering examinations, classroom teaching format video & audio books and Megh-Tube, a short video clip that showcases the development activities in Meghalaya have also been pre-loaded in the tablets on the 8GB memory card.

Speaking about its partnership with Lava, Sanjay Purohit, Founder and CEO, iProf India Ltd said, “Tablet is the ideal most form factor for education consumption and right now all the four factors – affordable hardware, highly interactive content, a user friendly cloud based platform and favorable regulatory mechanism- are highly favoring the exponential potential growth.”

GIIS Bags IOD’s Golden Peacock HR Excellence Award 2013

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

October 18, 2013

Winner of twenty six International and National Awards for Excellence in School Education, the Global Indian International School (GIIS) has been awarded the prestigious international ‘Golden Peacock Award’ for the year 2013, by the ‘Institute Of Directors’ (IOD).
The award was presented to Atul Temurnikar, Co-Founder & Chairman, Global Schools Foundation, by the Rt. Hon. Baroness Verma, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Energy & Climate Change, Govt of UK at the ‘Golden Peacock Awards Nite’, held at the Tower Hotel in London in presence of business leaders, jurists, academicians, environmentalists, economists, legislators and policy makers.

The Golden Peacock HR Excellence Award recognizes leading organisations and practitioners in driving impactful human capital strategies. The award was received for the quality of work and the impact that GIIS has had in the field of education as a result of their commendable human resource and people management practice.

“Human resource has been our single most significant asset for the advancement in school excellence made by the Global Schools Foundation. We are deeply humbled to receive this award that stands as a testimony to our efforts in creating better leaders for tomorrow through several educational accomplishments”, said an elated Temurnikar.

UGC appoints Sanjay Govind Dhande as new member

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

October 18, 2013

Sanjay Govind Dhande, former Director of IIT Kanpur has been appointed as new UGC member for tenure of three years. He is replacing former member Yogendra Yadav who was sacked on September 18, for being a member of Arvind Kejriwal led Aam Admi Party while he was still associated with an apex body of higher education. In order to avoid future politicisation of the education body, Yadav was asked to retire from the post of member of UGC.

Dhand will serve as a member of UGC till September 24, 2016. Other newly appointed members in the commission include M M Ansari, chairman of Requirement and Assessment Centre DRDO; D Narasimha Reddy, Director of International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Bio-technology; V S Chauhan, Principal of HR College of Commerce and Economics Mumbai; Indu Shahani, Seyed E Hasnain from Kusuma School of Biological Sciences among others.

IGNOU declares admission programme for January 2014

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

October 18, 2013

Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has announced admissions to the distance education programme commencing from January 2014 for undergraduate, masters programme and post graduate certificate courses.Candidates will be able to download admission forms from IGNOU website or regional study centres. Deadline for submitting applications for all courses is December 16.
The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), established by an Act of Parliament in 1985, and has been a key contributor in increasing the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) by offering through the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) mode of education.

It serves over 4 million students in India and 36 other countries through 21 Schools of Studies and a network of 67 regional centres, around 3,000 learner support centres and 67 overseas centres.

IIM Ahmedabad ranked 39 in Economist’s MBA school ranking

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

October 18, 2013

Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad,ranked 39 in The Economist’s MBA School Ranking 2013. It has moved 17 positions up in the ranking of top 100 management school as compared to 59th position in 2012 rankings.

The IIM-A is doing well in finding a position in the Economist’s full time MBA ranking for the last four years. It has also improved its ranking from fifth position to one step ahead making it to forth position in the Asia and Australasia ranking 2013 rankings.

In 2008, IIM-A wasthe first business school in the country to be awarded EQUIS (European Quality Improvement System) accreditation. The management education fraternity and the nation expects better global exposure following appointment of Harvard Law School professor Ashish Nanda as new Director of the institute.

MS Announces the Availability of Windows 8.1

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

October 18, 2013

Microsoft Corp announced the global availability of Windows 8.1, an update to its popular Windows 8 operating system, enabling customers to create experiences that keep pace with their lives – at work, at home or on the go. Beginning today, consumers with a Windows 8 device can download the free update via the online Windows Store. Over the next few weeks and months, Windows 8.1 will also be available on new devices at retail locations.

Windows 8.1 evolves the Windows vision for highly-personalised computing while showcasing Microsoft’s continued commitment to rapid and responsive development. It marks a wave of new, innovative devices coming for consumers and businesses – from the convenience and mobility of tablets and 2-in-1s to the productive experience expected from laptops and all-in-ones. Many of these new devices are touch-enabled and will deliver advancements in processing power, battery life and design, across a range of price points.

Speaking about the launch of Windows 8.1, Amrish Goyal, General Manager – Windows Business Group, Microsoft India said, “Windows 8.1 comes within a year of Windows 8, reiterating the fact that Microsoft is constantly listening, learning and evolving to enhance user experience. Windows 8.1 builds on our vision for mobility and touch-firs, bringing together everything you do across all devices whether at home, at work or on the go”.

Windows 8.1 offers a host of increased customization refinements, functional improvements and new innovation including highly personal, more familiar and easy to navigate, enhanced search, wide range of apps and services from the Start, multi-tasking and productivity, deep cloud integration with SkyDrive, and redesigned Store.

RUSA to Snatch UGC’s Funding Power

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

October 17, 2013

University Grants Commission (UGC) is likely to lose its funding authorities in the offing. With the approval of Rashtriya Uchchtar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) of Rs 22,000 crore budgets that aims to revive and strengthen India’s state higher education system, the HRD ministry has started working on a plan to filch the funding powers of UGC.

The ministry is working on to revitalise a proposal presented back in 2005, which foreseen the UGC as a purely regulatory body. The proposal asserted that the body should be rechristened as Higher Education Council as its existing nomenclature suggests its role only as body that dispenses accreditation or grants.

Reworking on the same proposal, now the HRD ministry expresses its view that single body should not wield the dual power of regulating as well as funding.However, the proposal also aims to fortify UGC’s power as a regulatory body with improved inspections and audits of academic institutions and better implementation of its rules and regulations. The UGC should be bestowed with powers to grant degrees to reputed yet active institutes.

The move is taken on the ground of the growing number of varsities and colleges in the country. The RUSA, which will work as a funding body for state universities, already takes off UGC in terms of grant-giving powers.

Currently, the UGC bestows about Rs 6,000 crore of funds per annum to central universities, deemed universities and state universities.

Pearson Appoints Deepak Mehrotra as new MD for its India Business

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

October 17, 2013

Pearson has announced the appointment of Deepak Mehrotra as the new Managing Director for its India business. He will lead a growing team to capitalise on Pearson’s strength in the Indian education sector and bolster its diversifying business. Deepak will be joining Pearson from Monday, October 21, 2013.

Deepak, who was previously associated with Micromax as the Chief Executive Officer for the last two years, has been credited for strong business performance through product revamping and improving trade partnerships. Prior to this, He has served as Executive Director- Mobility for North, West and South regions at Bharti Airtel.

Bringing 25 years of expertise in cross industrial and cross functional areas such as manufacturing, sales, distribution and operations, Deepak is now all set to elevate Pearson India’s business to the next level.

A post graduate of Jamnalal Bajaj Institute, Deepak also holds engineering degree from University of Roorkee. He began his career with Asian Paints and worked his way upwards to become the Regional Vice President at Coca Cola.

CAT 2013 Observes Lower Participation from Candidates with No Work Experience

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

October 11, 2013

Indian Institutes of Management has announced the registration data for the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2013. Prometric, a trusted provider of market-leading test development and test delivery solutions, is IIMs’ partner in developing and delivering CAT 2013.

“While overall registration has declined, the ratio of female candidates over two years has continued to steadily increase, to 29 percent,” said Professor Rohit Kapoor, CAT 2013 Convenor. “The rise of candidates with two or more years of work experience, registering for CAT, has risen to 16 per cent over the same span, while candidates with little to no work experience have declined to 66 percent. It is understandable, in our current economy that many working professionals are choosing to acquire greater work experience before diverting attention from their present employment to undertake an MBA. We now set our focus on delivering the CAT for nearly 2 lakh aspirants seeking to earn a place among this year’s available IIM seats.”

Female aspirant registrations are up from 28 per cent in 2012, and candidates with two-plus years of work experience are up from 13 per cent last year. Candidates with little to no work experience are down from 68 per cent last year. Across all IIMs, 115 seats have been added for B-School admissions this year, a total of 3,335 seats.

Other trends include Technology/Engineering backgrounds comprising 70 per cent of candidates, an increase of 6 per cent from last year, continuing a two-year increase. Economics, Management and Science make up the remaining 23 per cent, while all others make up the remaining academic backgrounds.

By region, Maharashtra had the highest number of CAT registrations, followed by Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. “In 2012, Prometric and the IIMs delivered 191,642 CAT exams. This year we can expect similar participation as seen by the registration numbers. Together with the IIM Convenor, we have tirelessly worked to ensure all test centres are prepared for this year’ CAT window. We wish all candidates the very best for CAT 2013 and encourage all test takers to prepare well and arrive for their exams one and a half hours before their scheduled appointments,” said Soumitra Roy, General Manager, Prometric India.

Pearson Acquires GlobalEnglish to Deliver Business English Learning

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

October 11, 2013

Pearson has announced the acquisition of GlobalEnglish, an international provider of cloud-based, on-demand Business English Learning Software through its corporate assessment arm Pearson TalentLens. Through this acquisition, Pearson will be offering software product suite to businesses across India and enhance Business English skills of professionals to help them gain competitive advantage.

The acquisition is in line with Pearson’s strategy to become the leading player in English language training business worldwide through expansion into corporate markets. GlobalEnglish currently serves more than 450 corporate customers, including 20 percent of the Forbes Global 2000 companies such as General Electric, HSBC and Tata Consultancy Services and is well poised to further penetrate the India market. GlobalEnglish’s content is focused on the application of Business English to real life workplace situations such as composing e-mails and participating in conference calls and its effectiveness is highly rated by global companies and their employees.

On the occasion of announcement, Sushil Eapen, Managing Director of Pearson TalentLens said,“Pearson is now offering the award-winning GlobalEnglish online training program in India under the TalentLens umbrella of Pearson talent assessment division. This acquisition shall help us in meeting the emerging demand for improving Business English communication skills among employees in India. Pearson is delighted to offer both assessment and Business English training solutions to corporate customers in India.”

Mahesh Ram, Chief Executive Officer of GlobalEnglish, added, “The acquisition strengthens both businesses. It positions Pearson as a leader in providing the highest quality enterprise software offerings in Business English communications via cloud. With Pearson English’s commitment to ongoing investment in GlobalEnglish, we will be able to expand our unique strengths and competitive advantages, and ultimately better serve our clients.”

The GlobalEnglish product suite comes equipped with formal Business English learning coursework, informal and social learning capabilities, performance support tools, an enterprise collaboration platform, a mobile app, assessments and a premium one-on-one coaching service. Approximately 75 percent of GlobalEnglish’s more than 200,000 active subscribers are in fast growing economies in Latin America and Asia.

LATEST NEWS

Top Trending News

Top Trending Categories