The advent of ICT (Information & Communication Technology) has enhanced the scope, reach and quality of education. ICT in education increases learner’s motivation and engagement by facilitating the acquisition of basic skills and training teachers. ICT is, today, a fundamental element in the education system, which improves the quality of education through blended learning by supplementing the traditional chalk board since the students can acquire skills like digital literacy, innovative thinking, creativity and effective communication.
The classroom is changing. From the time school bell rings to study sessions that last well into the night, students and faculty are demanding more technology services from their schools. It is important not only to keep pace with their evolving needs, but also to prepare them for the demands of the workplace tomorrow. The education ecosystem in the country today is looking for communication and collaboration tools that enable the faculty, students, the administrators and the alumni stay in touch and enable virtual learning platforms at minimum costs and that allows for better IT management. Education institutes are on the lookout for solutions that gear up their students for better employability in the future.
According to a report published by Grant Thorton, the primary and secondary education, or Kindergarten – 12th grade (K12) sector is expected to reach US$50 billion in 2015 from US$24.5 billion in 2008, growing at an estimated compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14 per cent.
While according to Ernst & Young – FICCI Report on Higher Education Sector, the Indian higher education system has exhibited impressive growth over the last decade to become one of the world’s largest systems of higher education. The number of institutions has grown at a CAGR of 11 per cent, while student enrolment has grown at a CAGR of 6 per cent.
Impact
ICT helps in enhancing the quality of education through blended learning by supplementing the traditional teaching methodologies. It has a wide impact on education right from spreading awareness about the courses to lead generation for education institutions, simplifying registration processes and enhancing the delivery mechanisms for the students. It makes education faster, flexible and much more interesting. This would also help in increasing enrolment in higher education or higher secondary education in the country which is still low, compared to other developed nations. Mobile phones and tablets with various apps and cloud- based technology can be used for delivery of the courses in the remotest of the areas in real time. Technology is making life easier for both students and educators. Schools and colleges are increasingly adopting digital teaching solutions to engage with a generation of pupils well-versed with the new interactive gadgets to make the classroom environment more inclusive and participatory.
“The role of ICT in education is immense. As an industry player, Canon is always in the upswing mode when it comes to making education more accessible to the people. Technology upgradation is the key, be it schools or centres for higher education. Universities must go for technological upgradation which is the need of the hour,” opines Dr. Alok Bharadwaj, Executive Vice-President, Canon India Pvt. Ltd.
 |  |  |  |
| Dr. Alok Bharadwaj Executive Vice-President Canon India Pvt. Ltd | Gurpreet Brar Director, SMB and Commercial Channel, Printing and Personal Systems Group, HP India | Tarun Malik Director - Online Business & Competitive Strategy, Microsoft India | Soumya Kanti President, Educomp Solutions Ltd |
A Niche Target Segment for Vendors
Technology is transforming the educational experience at all levels – from junior and middle schools to colleges and institutes of higher education. “HP recognizes education as an important growth driver for its printing and personal systems business in India,” says Gurpreet Brar, Director, SMB and Commercial Channel, Printing and Personal Systems Group, HP India. He further says that research has shown that children’s education needs are the biggest driver for printing at home. A printed page is a powerful aid in learning and comprehension for students. HP’s Deskjet Ink Advantage range of printers and all-in-ones are perfectly suited for students who often print large volume of classroom projects, assignments, educational material and therefore, need to print affordably without compromising on the quality of their printouts. Students demand technology that is trendy and cool and yet has a zero compromise on functionality. HP recognizes this choice shift and has launched the ENVY range of stylish ultrabooks, sleekbooks and hybrid PCs to let students choose a device and form factor that perfectly matches their needs.
Education has always been a focus area for Microsoft. Microsoft technologies for education are developed with students at the centre – keeping in view the ease of usability for students and teachers alike, powering the education ecosystem.
“With schools’ ever-tightening budgets, Microsoft Office 365 for education enables them to deliver new and innovative technology in the cloud that will modernize teaching and learning practices, at no cost,” explains Tarun Malik, Director – Online Business & Competitive Strategy, Microsoft India. He further says, “The availability of Office 365 for education brings enterprise-class productivity to education institutions across the country. We are also proud to see Office 365 for education being selected by India’s leading educational institutions such as IIM, Bangalore and AICTE as their choice for cloud services to empower students and faculty for enhanced productivity.”
Educomp Solutions Ltd has a dedicated ICT division Edureach which primarily works with various government agencies on Public-Private Partnership model to reach out the unreached on behalf of the government. Under these interventions, the company installs computer labs in schools and provides computer educational services, including deploying multimedia educational software as per state-board curriculum, providing computer education, courses on spoken English communication skills, safe usage of internet and awareness on cybercrime. Under the project ICT@ schools, Educomp is currently working with 13 State Governments and has around 11,090 schools providing multimedia content in the regional language, testing and certification in computer education, full-time assistants as well as teacher training, monitoring and supervision.
 |  |  |  |
| Saji Kumar Director - Product Management, Acer India | Abhilesh Guleria Country Head, Multimedia Product Group & IT Platforms Group, NEC India | Monali Handa Director Marketing NComputing, Inc. | Saket Setu Chief Marketing Officer, Towards Vision Technologies |
Soumya Kanti, President, Educomp Solutions Ltd, elaborates, “At Educomp, we offer a complete range of products and have presence in almost all the verticals of education like pre-schools, K12 schools, vocational education, higher education, supplemental, for instance, coaching for CA, IAS, Engineering, GATE exams, etc. Our innovative digital curriculum product called SmartClass is now present in over 14,000 schools, reaching over 15 million children in India.”
With multiple technological innovations being adopted across various sectors, the education vertical has also modified its processes. Many schools have also adopted Smart Class learning to improve the existing teaching methods. Ever since the Government has started financial assistance through Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) projects, the primary, secondary and higher education have gained tremendous benefits from it.
“In the last few years, we have also witnessed a lot more schools and other educational institutions aggressively adopting smart class projects with robust technology deployment. Being a dominant player in the education segment, we will continue to focus on this segment aggressively. Acer has a wide range of products that include Desktops, Notebooks, Tablets, Servers, Projectors, TFT displays, etc in its portfolio to address the requirements of its customers in the education vertical. Moreover, thanks to our strong association with the key SI partners in this vertical, we also leverage upon them in offering customized solutions for the customers. We have participated and executed a large number of significant educational projects in various states that include Gujarat, Goa, Assam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu,” says Saji Kumar, Director – Product Management, Acer India.
“NEC has the best fit offerings for the education segment and has an array of solutions such as, projectors for smart classrooms that converge ICT Solutions to enable students with better learning experience. We have specialized 3D projectors to take the education to the next level. Currently, over 9000 smart classes are powered by NEC’s projectors. We have cutting edge solutions that can make any simple wall an interactive board. We provide digital signage and e-bulletin boards for campuses which can be used for infotainment and education purposes. NEC also offers Virtual PC technology that brings robust, flexible, secure and cost effective platform is replacing traditional PCs. It allows students to access content, internet, school libraries, digital libraries or even their result,” says, Abhilesh Guleria, Country Head, Multimedia Product Group & IT Platforms Group, NEC India.
 |
| Deepak Braganza Country Manager India & South Asia, LifeSize Communications |
Saket Setu, Chief Marketing Officer, Towards Vision Technologies, says, “As a telecom software product development company with advanced contact centre and mobile solutions, we strongly believe there can be no business better than education to make our presence felt. Some of the top education institutions in India are using our platform for lead generation, registration and delivery of the courses in real time.” He further elaborates that they have a complete Contact Centre Solution by the name of C-Zentrix which offers real-time connect to students over call, SMS, email and mobile apps. This platform helps in two-way communication for the students and the institution with 24x7 access to all the information. Facilities like IVR, Missed called services, robo calling , Lead Management CRM , SMS and Email facilities help the institution to manage the student’s relationship with the institution and also reach to new customer base quickly ahead of the competitors. Two major projects undertaken by them have been for two of the biggest private institutions, which are NIIT Limited and Amity University for setting up their entire help desk and lead generation system for their various courses.
“Education is one of the most important and largest verticals for NComputing in India, contributing to around 50% of our sales in the country. Most of the educational institutions have limited funds for computer equipment. We enable them to use their existing budget and stretch it so that they can double or triple the number of students who can have computer access for the same cost. We believe that with increasing government thrust on the education sector, this sector holds a long-term potential and we have just scratched the tip of the iceberg,” says Monali Handa, Director – Sales, NComputing. She further opines, “We have an X series which allows up to eleven users to simultaneously share a single PC at a fraction of the cost of a typical PC. We have products which fit into the requirement of the schools. We also have M300 which provides a simple, powerful and affordable PC Expansion alternative. The M300 delivers a rich PC experience at one-third of the cost of PCs and typical thin clients.”
Talking about Information & Communication Technology in Education, Deepak Braganza, Country Manager India & South Asia, LifeSize Communications, said, “Educators are frequently tasked with making their curriculum more engaging, but often have limited resources to do so. Video conferencing solutions from LifeSize enable educators to enhance their curricula without straining resources. From visiting world-renowned museums to hearing about the stars from the astronauts who have seen them up close, LifeSize facilitates interactive learning experiences through the power of HD video conferencing. These solutions can bring the world to your classroom more simply and cost-effectively than you'd expect and provide students and educators alike with a way to learn on the schedule that suits them best.”
Finally
India has amongst the top three largest education systems in the world with more than 500 universities and around 30,000 col leges. The traditional talk and chalk method of teaching has been prominent in our educational system. Now, considering the dynamic nature of the market and evolving requirements of the industry, Information & Communication Technology is the vogue apparently. Undoubtedly, vendors from across the industry, be it for PCs, printers, virtualization, projectors, video conferencing, Contact Centre Solution, the list goes on, are targeting this vertical. And this is, indeed, the need of the hour, as today both ICT and education invariably go hand in hand.
moumita@varindia.com
