Tech support for education

VMukti Solutions

Live streaming software for educational sessions

VMukti Solutions has amassed a clientele of 14schools,colleges,coaching institutes,governments and even a stock-broking firmsince it launched its software in November 2009. When an institution buys VMuktis software,it installs it into its computer server and pastes a link to the session that is being filmed. The institutes partners can then simply click on the link,log in with their IDs and watch the session in real time. The firm charges a flat rate of Rs 300 per month per studentthe session with Kalam,however,was streamed free,with no login required.

VMukti took three years to tweak the software to allow uninterrupted streaming at 100 kbps bandwidth with no supporting hardware except a computer with a data card,dial-up or broadband connection. We designed for India now,not for India 2020, said Sanghvi. We researched for six months and found that although Internet speed in rural areas is said to be 256 kbps,it is actually 80-100 kbps most of the time.

iProf Learning Solutions

Handheld device to deliver virtual coaching

Like VMukti Solutions,iProf Learning Solutions is also attempting to bridge geographical distance,but through a handheld,seven-inch,touch-screen,iPhone look-alike called iProf,which was launched in Ahmedabad last week at a price of Rs 8,900 CEO Sanjay Purohit said his firm is working to bring it down to Rs 5,000.

The iProf is armed with video-conferencing software and 8-16 GB of memory. The aim is to link coaching centres for IIT-JEE,AIEEE,CAT,law and civil services and stream lecture sessions onto a device the size of a notepad. The rationale behind launching the iProf is three-fold,Purohit said: to equalise quality of faculty,to help girls reluctant to migrate to join coaching classes,and to cut costs of sending ones children to cities for coaching.

With iProf,students can register with a coaching class or franchise the company has tied up with,and buy a package,say a Physics package for IIT-JEE,which costs Rs 14,900,excluding taxes. The package can be stored in the device. The student can also avail of lectures delivered by professors hired by the coaching class. The iProf is interactive and students can post questions to a mediating mentor,e-group or wiki-group.

Gridbots

Educational robots for children

Another firm that is launching its educational wing along with retail outlets for its range of 15 robots this week is Gridbots. Each outlet will host a Robo-group,where robotics enthusiasts can meet,develop and build robots,and a Robo-bench,a desk with a computer and educational robots made specifically for school children.

Gridbots educational robots allow users to program them for various tasksthey can compute,walk,talk,trace lights and lines and track wavelengths. The 25-member firms Edubotics will initially work through 25 franchisees in three statesRajasthan,Gujarat and Keralawhere the firm has teamed up with trusts and societies running educational institutes. Each Edubotics sessionjunior robotics for children aged seven or more,and Turtle,a programmable robot,for students in Class 8 and higherwill last a week and cost Rs 1,500 per child. Founder-CEO Pulkit Gaur and one of his franchisee partners in Ahmedabad,Mitesh V Mehta,said the launch is targeted at the summer holidays.

Gaur is also in talks with several private and trust-run schoolsGridbots will provide the schools with its educational robots and the schools will introduce extra-curricular courses on robotics for their students.

Robots Alive

Robotic arm for teaching

Robotics start-up,Robots Alive,has been travelling around the country visiting universities and institutes with its robotic arm. The arm looks much like an industrial robot,but is different in a number of ways. The casing is plastic,not metal,so it is light enough to take it around and showcase it in campus fests and teaching sessions, CEO Abheek Bose said.

The plastic casing also makes it easier to take the cover off so students can look at the inner compartments and mechanisms. It is also waterproof,making it sturdier than normal robotic arms.

Robots with lightweight manipulators carry a global price tag of about Rs 15 lakh-20 lakh,while Robots Alive charges about Rs 5 lakh,which includes the system,Bose said. Most of our technology comes from open source software like Eclipse Framework,Java 3D and Orocos, he said,which makes it easier for students to understand the system and add to it.

So far,Robots Alive has conducted sessions at IIT Bangalore,Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology in Gandhinagar,B M Sreenivasaiah College of Engineering in Bangalore,and Veermata Jeejabai Technology Institute in Mumbai. Another session was conducted on Educators Day with National Instruments in Chennai on November 6,2009.

CEON Solutions

Software to help run schools and colleges

CEON Solutions has developed software such as iSchool and iCampus that track students performance and give suggestions accordingly. They have features like biometric attendance registries that link parents through SMS,and an information package to help new principals review previous tenures.

Its a pan-education solution. It covers everything, said Pranay Gupta,Joint-CEO of IIMAs Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship,where CEON Solutions was based till recently. The firm won IIMAs 2004 Innovation and Business Plan Contest,and was the first start-up to be incubated at CIIE.

With each software priced at Rs 10-20 lakh,CEON Solutions clientele includes international schools and government schools alike.

As CEO and MD of CEON Solutions Abhay Panjiyar said,The future of education is going to be boundary-less.