Manipal Education Enrolls IT For EduNxt, Partners Microsoft

Manipal Education recently launched its next-generation technology learning system called EduNxt. It is partnering with Microsoft, BSNL, and netbook OEM suppliers to provide quality, affordable education coupled with computer access and connectivity. EduNxt enables a collaborative and interactive environment for learning and includes small group mentoring, virtual classrooms, simulation and provision of interactive content, self-study content, recorded presentations and shared browsing. Anand Sudarshan, MD and CEO, Manipal Education, discusses EduNxt in detail with Biztech2.com.

What was the thought process behind launching EduNxt and what led to the Microsoft tie-up?

We actually embarked on the journey of EduNxt around three years ago. We were looking at how higher education in India could be made accessible to the large section of youth in the nation. For this to happen, it was integral to impregnate education with technology. One of the major challenges that higher secondary education in the country faces as of now is the paucity of qualified faculty. Therefore, we started building architecture and a solution, which would ease this situation with an approach that was top-down. With the Internet becoming more pervasive, it was the right medium that could offer the flexibility that was required. Once we had decided how we wanted to take this initiative forward, we decided to team with Microsoft as it had just the right suite of technologies to meet our needs and showed the same zeal and enthusiasm for the education sector as us.

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Can you describe the IT backbone for EduNxt?

EduNxt is a Web-based initiative and as it is based in the cloud, the Internet is the backbone here. As known already, India has a lot of bandwidth issues and hence, to avoid further hurdles, we’ve equipped EduNxt with features such as pre-built content and auto-bookmarking that will override low bandwidth issues.

So, is EduNxt a solution or just an initiative?

EduNxt is a conducive learning environment. It is primarily built around:

- Curriculum, where there are links between topics
- Connectivity and communication for which Manipal is partnering with BSNL
- Computing
- Subject-specific content, which is user generated, based on open source and so on
- Collaboration, which includes availability of discussion rooms and is a mix of e-learning and Web 2.0

How will teaching be imparted?

Education would be supplementary and complementary. There is a face-to-face engagement and satellite lecture. Thus, it’s a combination of various things. EduNxt is like a mobile campus. All our 300,000 students have the option of registering online and our faculty of over 6,500 are also very enthusiastic about the whole concept. We have been doing a beta test for the past seven months and the response has been phenomenal.

Your view on IT’s role in the Indian education sector.

IT has had an impact on the Indian education sector in spurts. Higher education is embracing technology more enthusiastically now and this can be seen from changes in the student administration system. India has one of the largest populations of youth and therefore, technology has to play a greater role in education to be able to cater to their needs.