The State of Sourcing

Through much discussion and debate, the Apple iPad seems to have held its own, when it came to university implementation. Whether the goal was to enhance campus communication, replace textbooks, introduce new learning approaches in the classroom, or promote informal learning, the iPad seems to have clicked with higher education, in the first quarter of its release. We’re hearing of more and more faculty/depts. experimenting with ways to leverage the technology to suit their varied learning requirements, be it at law schools, medical schools, engineering students, or business related content/app development.

So what was the reaction from the corporate learning segment? Here’s a couple of noteworthy initiatives that have reached mainstream online discussion.

Continue reading ‘Why isn’t the corporate learning community excited about the iPad?’ »

The comparisons between Apple iPad and this $35 ‘still unnamed’ mobile device are so unfair. The online buzz about this new product is almost deafening. Ever since the Indian government announced the launch of the ‘$35 m -device’ (lets call it that, since it does not have a name yet, and this anyway seems to be the most exciting ‘fact’ about it), discussions abound on its viability, price, wasted funds, its not-so-successful predecessors, apps that it can offer and its future. While debate on all of these is justified, some more thoughts:

Why is cost such a big issue?

Continue reading ‘Education at $35… Dreaming big?’ »

The Union Human Resource Minister, Kapil Sibal has taken it upon himself to completely overhaul the Indian education system… a good and long-awaited move. The Right to Education Act (RTE) was indeed a major development in the scheme of things. This is another move towards making education universal, as primary education, something that many of us take for granted is actually out of bounds for millions others.

Recently the Minister talked about the need to recruit 2 million teachers to achieve the goals set out by the Act. The other requirement would be more schools… schools where students are actually taught, and not just decrepit buildings. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has also expressed a desire to build 6500 ‘model’ schools. This is where the private players come in. That the Government will need help from the private sector to successfully implement RTE, hardly needs an intelligent analysis. What is debatable is – Will the PPP work? How will it work? And how long do we have to wait before it makes an impact? The problem, we cannot afford to lose any more time.

Continue reading ‘How long before PPP bridges the education demand supply gap?’ »

The growth of technology-enabled learning globally has resulted in hundreds of service providers mushrooming in India in the last 10 years. In 2009, the ValueNotes report ‘e-learning Outsourcing: Advantage India’ estimated over 140 technology-enabled learning providers catering to the corporate, government and education sectors across the world. While these companies primarily focused on international markets for business (US and UK), ValueNotes highlighted the trend towards exploring the domestic corporate and education market.

With the Indian higher education sector undergoing major changes, domestic providers are now offering a variety of services to help educational institutions become more efficient and globally competitive. Technology can benefit these institutes in areas such as course delivery (through e-learning), automation of administrative processes (ERP, etc), and exam management (through online delivery and assessment), among others.

Continue reading ‘Exam Technology Outsourcing: The Indian Higher Education Context’ »

e-learning has been a service oriented industry since its inception. Indian e-learning service providers have also traditionally taken on offshored custom services from clients, on an ongoing basis or through annual contracts. According to a ValueNotes report, the revenues from this offshoring market are estimated at $341 million for the calendar year 2008. Trends in the industry now suggest that while the offshore services framework may serve as a good strategy for companies in the short term, future growth for Indian e-learning companies will be sustained by a diversification/upgrading of service offerings.

Productizing for alternate revenue streams
ValueNotes research suggests that e-learning providers will most likely go into the learning products business in the future, for domestic as well as international client markets. This is because scalability is achievable to a high degree with such offerings, and providers are able to target specific new audiences with their products (such as B2C products for English language, primary school children; B2B products for sales training, soft skills). For example, Zeus Learning, an e-learning services company, recently launched its product ‘TestFunda.com’, an online/CD ROM based learning courseware delivery platform for CAT aspirants. Companies looking to diversify from their offshoring services model are concentrating more on developing such offerings in the next year.

Continue reading ‘Productization and SaaS as a Strategy for e-learning’ »

This was the heated discussion that took much of the limelight, at the first ever ‘CLO Summit 09‘ held yesterday at the TISS Convention Center, Mumbai, India. The event saw the attendance of Learning and Development heads of many leading companies across the Indian corporate field (including Novartis, Pepsico, Oracle, L&T, IBM, NIIT, HPCL, ONGC, SBI Life Insurance, BPCL and Aditya Birla Group.), as also some domestic e-learning providers. The Chief Guest, Bhaskar Chatterjee (IAS, Secretary, Dept. of Heavy Ind. & Public Ent., Government of India) set the context for the event, by defining what it means to be a ‘CLO’ at an organisation, and the many roles and characteristics that the title assumes. Panel discussions and audience inputs throughout the rest of the Summit then debated these concepts.

LeapVault’s CEO, Kumaar Bagrodia gave his vision for learning in the future, encompassing the principles of change and innovation for competitive advantage. Panel discussions and presentations by eminent corporate representatives discussed topics such as the role of the CLO and L&D in organizations; learning in public sector and non corporate organizations, learning in multicultural environments and the role of Learning in R&D intensive organisations.

Continue reading ‘CLOs: To appoint or not to appoint?’ »

The failure of IGNOU’s online engineering entrance test made headlines. The reasons cited include sabotage by someone who was not given the contract (which I hope is not the case, way too easy!!), too many people logging onto the website at the designated time (shouldn’t this be anticipated), among others. Of course, we will know the truth once the Delhi Police cyber security cell completes its investigation.

For a university that has presence in over 34 countries, and caters to 1.8 million students, it is imperative to gradually adopt e-learning in a big way.  And online tests form a major part of it. Equally important is that it gets everything right, as issues like this really undermine the efforts and the people associated. Especially in developing countries which have only in the last few years considered experimenting with online learning alternatives, instances such as these serve as less than desirable examples, and might deter institutions from venturing online.

Continue reading ‘Online tests the way forward?’ »

Almost all of us remember fondly teachers who tried to make lessons interesting. Iinnovation is still the key, as it was then. Our research in the education segment, corroborates that blended education is generating interest, but is quite sporadic. Studies have indicated that e-learning is equally, if not more effective than traditional teaching methods.

The use of ICT for education is a worldwide movement, yet the effect is still limited. How many schools in SE Asia have really started including ICT as a teaching media – it is at best an elitist phenomenon. While education has become a booming business, we are still struggling with the quality of instruction. The corporate world is adopting training at a pace like never before, going all out to include training in all strategic decisions. How often do teachers undergo training? How equipped is an English teacher today to make Shakespeare come alive on the screen? Will a geography teacher for standard V use ICT to explain earthquakes? Will the management of a school equip all teachers to care and handle successfully a dyslexic child?

Continue reading ‘Fast forwarding 'E' into learning for K-12’ »

This week I’m in the process of applying ValueNotes’ proprietary company rating model to the Indian e-learning outsourcing industry. One of the sub-parameters that companies are being rated on is marketing presence in key client markets, that will illustrate a part of the company’s overall strategic intent.

A quick summative analysis of Indian players reveals that the majority of firms (small ones, these) have at best a few marketing representatives in key markets such as US and UK. While the big boys have set up base and even moved beyond to expand in the Middle East and various parts of Europe, the rest of the industry has a long way to go before it can catch up!

Continue reading ‘Marketing e-learning online’ »

With 100% literacy rate, we thought there was nothing better that Kerala could do… but think again, they went one up on that. Kerala, a state in Southern India, is set to declare 100% e-literacy in November 2009.

Kerala, a tourist hub, has always maintained  a giant headway over other states, and has continued to beat national averages. The initiative, called Akshaya Scheme, spearheaded by the government has found acceptance at the grass-root level of Panchayats (rural governing bodies) and citizens alike. So what did they do right? This definitely was not an achievement that came about overnight and there is really no  shortcut to this feat. This is a result of sustained efforts over the last six years, with an actionable plan, in conjugation with funds, building up on past achievements, partnerships (BSNL, Tulip, others, in this case), and a set time line that was adhered to. This is just another example of ambitious projects being completed with a good mix of PPP. Quite a phillip to the e-learning industry.

Any lessons that states like Rajasthan, Bihar, UP, can learn from this bit of news?