Tata Sky Classroom is Transforming Distance Learning in India
Distance learning transformed modern education in the last decade. However, according to Tata ClassEdge, technology alone is not a solution. Technology’s role should be to empower teachers, not to replace them.
Tata ClassEdge was conceptualized in 2011 in order to do just this. The service was created in collaboration with Tata Group, an Indian television company with more than 25 years of experience with e-learning.
The goal of Tata ClassEdge is to use technology to improve the effectiveness of education systems in India. Tata ClassEdge’s vision is defined by sustainability and social impact. Focusing on these core ideas may reduce inequity among students and build a platform to reach out to even more students in the future.
The organization addresses four challenges in Indian school systems:
- Varied learners in the classroom
- Lack of personalization in education
- Administrative burden of teachers and principals
- Low parent involvement
To address these problems, Tata ClassEdge created Tata Sky Classroom, an interactive service that provides distance learning to students from the comfort of their homes.
Tata Sky Classroom runs videos on a systematic schedule. It also provides students with multiple choice questions, learning games and mock tests to solidify concepts taught in school.
The material is always presented in an interactive format. This makes subject areas such as math and science both interesting and easy to grasp. The service is available to all subscribers, covers more than 500 topics and is aligned with each student’s school syllabus.
Tata Sky Classroom allows students to deepen their understanding of core concepts at any time of day. These core concepts are “the key building blocks for [the] future, as we see this as a clear need gap,” says Tata Sky’s chief commercial officer Pallavi Puri.
Tata Sky Classroom is a successful example of technology’s potential to effectively enhance education. So far, more than 1,300 schools and 70,000 teachers across India have adopted the Tata ClassEdge way of teaching.
Tata ClassEdge’s staff has high hopes for the service’s future. According to Rajesh Khandagale, another chief commercial officer, “This partnership [with Tata ClassEdge] will further support our vision of educating 10 million students annually by 2025.”
– Liliana Rehorn
Photo: Flickr