AN ALUMNUS OF IIT-Madras and Stanford University, Prof. Anant Agarwal is the celebrated professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA and chief executive of edX, the path-breaking massive open online courses (Moocs) provider which offers the exciting prospect of the world’s best classroom lectures and coursework becoming accessible to students around the world — free of charge.
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edX history. Launched by Harvard University and MIT, which are routinely ranked among the world’s Top 10 universities by the highly respected London-based rating agencies QS and THE, edX is a not-for-profit consortium of 32 higher education institutions including IIT-Bombay, offering rigorous free-of-charge study programmes of highly acclaimed faculty of consortium members. Currently, edX offers more than 140 courses to 3.5 million enroled students worldwide including 146,000 in India. Moreover, many multiples of this number of part-time and informal students log-in for edX’s Moocs programmes. In June last year, edX launched its open source platform christened Open edX. This enables faculty of consortium member institutions to contribute enhancements and new features.
Newspeg. After the Open edX platform was launched last year, several national government universities have signed up with it. Ten universities in China have posted XuetangX, an online education initiative on it. In France, 120 higher education institutions, under the direction of the French ministry of higher education, have joined forces to offer France Universite Numerique (FUN) on Open edX, while the non-profit Queen Rania Foundation for Education and Development (QRF) has posted Edraak, a portal for the Arab-speaking world. In India, the Gurgaon-based Aspiring Minds which conducts AMCAT (employability tests), has tied up with Open edX to offer its student clientele edX courses and certificates.
Direct talk. “Moocs have the potential to transform the global higher education scenario, teaching millions simultaneously. edX’s non-profit and open platforms which make high quality lectures and courseware from reputed consortium members available to learners worldwide, is what differentiates us from other Moocs providers. With India struggling to find qualified teachers, edX and Moocs offer a way out. As an Indian, I am proud one of our partners in Australia — Queensland University — has launched a Hindi language study programme. Moocs is certainly the biggest innovation in education after the advent of textbooks 400 years ago,” says Agarwal.
Future plans. According to Agarwal, in the near future, economics, social status, gender or geography won’t determine a student’s access to high quality education. “We will continue to work with and deepen our engagement with universities, faculty researchers and students to innovate and transform education, making it accessible to all and continuously improving the edX and Open edX platforms and course content through intensive research. The V6 platform under preparation and future technological innovations will universalise Mooc programmes, leading to the development of virtual laboratories and more advanced technological education,” says Agarwal.
Way to go!
Autar Nehru (Delhi)
College Board Rep
LISA JAIN is the Bangalore-based country representative of College Board (estb. 1900) — a non-profit private organisation headquartered in New York, which numbers over 6,000 of the world’s leading educational institutions among its members. The board’s standardised tests such as SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test), PSAT/NMSQT (National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test) and the Advanced Placement program are written by students in more than 175 countries aspiring for admission into undergraduate study programmes of colleges and universities in the US, UK, Canada, Singapore, and India, among other countries.
Newspeg. Since it opened its India office in 2011, College Board has been testing students in over 45 SAT centres in 25 cities, and offers Advanced Placement exams in 11 centres in as many cities countrywide.
In addition to assessing high school students in India ($94.50 for SAT, and Rs.8,900 for AP), the College Board also runs Big Future, a free, comprehensive college planning resource website.
History. Established over a century ago in 1900, The College Entrance Examination Board (renamed College Board subsequently) was founded at Columbia University by representatives of 12 universities and three high school preparatory academies to prepare school-leavers for admission into colleges/universities. Now, over 7 million students are assisted annually for a successful transition from high school to university.
Direct talk. “The College Board’s programmes assist thousands of universities in the US and in other countries with their admission decisions. For instance, SAT is written by 2 million students in 175 plus countries annually, and provides university admission authorities a good idea of the aptitude of every student tested,” says Jain, an alumna of Warwick University, UK and ISB, Hyderabad who returned to India after working for two years with UBS Investment Bank, London and signed up with College Board in 2013.
“On the other hand, the College Board’s AP program enables high school students to strengthen their college applications and earn college/university credits while still in school. By earning credits, students can save time and money,” she adds.
Future plans. The board is set to launch a redesigned SAT by 2016. “In association with the globally famous US-based free online education company Khan Academy, we will provide students free-of-charge test preparation material by next year to ensure they will be prepared to write the redesigned SAT. Over the next five years, the board also intends to provide high-quality professional development opportunities for teachers and college guidance counsellors in India,” says Jain.
Paromita Sengupta (Bangalore)
Video-conferencing missionary
TONY SANDBERG is the Singapore-based director (industry solutions and market development — Asia-Pacific) of Polycom Inc. (estb. 1990), a company headquartered in San Jose, USA which offers hi-tech voice and video solutions. The company is currently engaged in developing new technologies for distance learning through video conferencing.
Newspeg. Sandberg was recently in Bangalore for the launch of Polycom’s EduCart 500, a mobile video conferencing unit which promises to make distance learning more interactive, enriching the student-teacher experience. EduCart 500 is a stand-alone mobile unit with an adjustable screen and amplified speakers, enabling high definition room-based video conferencing and content sharing in a variety of locations.
Direct talk. “Contemporary organisations and classrooms demand video feeds from beyond conference rooms, to embed into operational and business presentations. Improved technology solutions such as EduCart 500 enable people to visually interact with others in external locations — a factory floor, a project site, or lecture theatre,” says Sandberg, an alumnus of University of Vaxjo, Sweden who signed up with Polycom in 2010.
According to Sandberg, EduCart 500’s USP (unique sales proposition) is that it offers “real presence communication techniques” such as gliding camera which follows a speaker as she changes her physical position, and eagle eye which provides close-ups of teachers and students as they speak. “Polycom also enables collaboration across universities and access to a community of teachers on the internet. Students can also record classroom sessions or lectures for referral and archiving,” he explains.
Future plans. Sandberg believes there’s huge demand and potential for EduCart 500 in India, given that most educational institutions have limited enrolment capacity. “Our new compression technology enables transmission of high resolution video feeds even in dial-up networks, which is a boon to rural India where internet connectivity is slow,” says Sandberg.
Prayank (Bangalore)
Green school evangelist
AN ALUMNA OF THE Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi, Madhavi Agrawal is the founder-director of Cygnus World School (CWS), Vadodara. Established in 2011 and spread over 7.3 green acres in Harni in suburban Vadodara, this CBSE-affiliated K-IX school has 550 students, including 220 girls, on its muster rolls. 
Newspeg. In June, Cygnus World School was awarded the Gold Certificate by the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) and Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED), UK. CWS is the only school in Gujarat and the third in India to receive this prestigious award.
The joint award is the outcome of corporate social responsibility and vision of the Kolkata and Delhi-based Harsh Vardhan Kanoria, chairman of the Cheviot Group — a respected name in the jute and tea industries — and CWS. “We had a vivid picture of the type of learning environment we wanted to provide our children, and left no stone unturned in researching and visiting schools in India and abroad to understand best environment-friendly building practices and how to adapt them to Indian conditions,” says Agrawal.
As a result of this elaborate ground work and research, the “newly constructed full green school” adheres to all the stringent conditions mandated by IGBC/LEED.
History. Born and raised in Kolkata where she was a student of the top-ranked Modern High School, Agrawal was greatly influenced by the philanthropic initiatives of the Kanoria family, especially her mother Malati, who ran classes for women in the low-income and slum areas of Kolkata, “empowering them to lead independent lives”. After her marriage in 2000 into the Vadodara-based Agrawal family, she co-promoted CWS with her father in 2010.
Direct talk. According to Agrawal, the name and logo of the school with its swan symbol embodies the institutional objective of CWS. “Cygnus, the swan-shaped modern northern constellation, personifies our school’s core objective of nurturing every child to be a star. CWS provides a firm grounding in Indian wisdom together with an understanding of the global paradigm. The swan, with its deep-rooted significance in Indian as well as Western culture, is an apposite symbol of this progressive integration,” she explains.
Future plans. CWS’ master plan envisages a maximum of 1,700 students when the school, which currently offers K-IX education, will be prepared for the full spectrum of K-12 classes in the next five-seven years. “Our state-of-the-art infrastructure is in place for gradual expansion to class XII. CWS will be established as a model for environment-friendly schools in Gujarat and nationwide,” says Agrawal
Wind in your sails!
Paromita Sengupta (Bangalore)
Collegify founders
ROHAN GANERIWALA (RG) and Adarsh Khandelwal (AK) — both graduates of St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata — are co-founders and directors of the Kolkata-based Collegify Pvt. Ltd (estb. 2012), a company providing higher education counseling services to students planning to study abroad.
Currently a team of 35 graduates of top-ranked universities (Sikkim Manipal and Boston universities, IIMs) provide counseling to students to facilitate their admission into undergraduate, postgrad and MBA programmes abroad. Within two years of its promotion, Collegify has established centres in Singapore, New Delhi, Gurgaon and Jaipur, and speeded up admissions of over 1,000 students into more than 200 colleges and universities in the UK, USA, and Singapore.
Newspeg. With seven years of experience in the study abroad industry, Collegify is getting ready to extend its footprint to five additional cities in India and abroad.
History. After graduating from St. Xavier’s in 2006, the two friends became actively involved with AIESEC, the world’s largest youth-run organisation operational in 2,400 universities and 125 countries worldwide. Simultaneously, they acquired experience in their family-run business of real estate (Rohan) and information technology (Adarsh). However, in 2008, the duo teamed up to promote Roads, a one-stop coaching centre for college entrance tests such as SAT, GMAT, GRE, etc. The success of Roads prompted RG and AK to move beyond coaching and co-promote Collegify. Since then, the company has prepared and placed over 1,000 students in the age group 15-30 in colleges and universities abroad, including Top 50 US, Top 10 UK, and four government colleges in Singapore.
Direct talk. “Instead of typical consultancy services, we have opted for a mentorship model. An individual mentor is assigned to each student who prepares them to choose the appropriate college/university and write its entrance exam. Further, students are helped with their admission applications and given cross-cultural exposure before they depart,” says Ganeriwala.
Future plans. With the explosive growth of e-commerce and internet usage worldwide, the partners plan to transform Collegify into an online business enterprise. “We intend to consolidate and improve our brick-and-mortar centres in India and abroad. But students in cities like Bhubaneswar, Raipur etc will be counseled and prepared online,” says Khandelwal.
Fair winds!
Baishali Mukherjee (Kolkata)