Virtual classroom on your mobile

Service providers to stream content through 3G platform.

Soon IIT aspirants will be able to access IIT JEE (Joint Entrance Examination) coaching material on their mobile phones. Six months hence, education service providers like Everonn Education and NIIT will be able to stream educational content through the third generation (3G) mobile telephony using the satellite-based Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) Technology and Broadband.

“3G is ahead of all the present services we use. Everonn, through its several studios, will deliver classes using presentations, video, audio and digital content just like it does with VSAT where a single instructor can teach students across the country without compromising on the quality of learning,” said Kishore, managing director, Everonn Education.

Similar to a VSAT arrangement, 3G will have an instructor and students, in a virtual classroom environment using audio-video transmission. Interactions would be instant, as in a regular classroom not only enabling students to have interactive sessions with instructors but also peers across the country.

A 3G-enabled learning platform would mean anywhere, anytime learning accessible on mobile phones. The 3G spectrum will not only allow stronger bandwidth in remote locations but also better video quality.

“We are working on the per minute cost that would be charged to the users. We have already tied up with Airtel and may look at more tie-ups in the future,” said Kishore. Everonn would also use 3G for language training for students.

Everonn, through Toppers Tutorial – which it acquired in February 2008 – imparts IIT-JEE and other engineering entrance examinations tutorials to students through VSAT technology.

NIIT on the other hand said the organisation is looking at a similar arrangement in the future. “Definitely there is a thought on providing training to students on the 3G platform as the world moves to a point where one can access any information on one’s mobile phone. We would take to it in future,” a senior NIIT official told Business Standard.

Last year, Delhi-based Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), an open university which offers distance learning courses signed an agreement with Swedish telecom giant Ericsson to provide educational content using 3G mobile telephony. The university with over 2.5 million students on its rolls, had launched the programme for 1,000 students pursuing the certificate course in information technology.

According to a report by CLSA Asia Pacific Markets, the size of e-learning market in India is expected to grow to Rs 1,092 crore by 2012 from the present Rs 105 crore.