Background
According to the latest statistics, over 300 million kids are enrolled in schools all across India. Of these, over 50 million are in the secondary and senior classes. Against this, only 2 million seats are available in various colleges and universities. The number of seats for professional courses like medicine and engineering is even lower at 7 lakhs. Thus, there is a huge demand for suitable teaching aids, which allow students a better chance to enter these courses.
The biggest inequity in our education system is that it predominantly focuses on the urban population. The level of schools, the teachers and the overall education standards in small towns and villages leave much to be desired. Thus, there is significant opportunity to supplement the existing school system so that children can get the best out of their educational years.
Television in India has grown by leaps and bounds over the last decade. From a one-channel system, we now have more than 300 channels beaming all types of content into India. The total number of TV homes is now over 100 million and about 60% of all households in India have a TV set. Thus, television is easily one of the most widespread communication mediums in the country.
Being a video medium, television provides for pictorial and graphical depiction of concepts, thereby allowing children to learn faster. Concepts that are difficult to teach in theory become much easier when depicted visually, especially with real-world situations and animations
This is now set to explode even further with the rapid digitisation and addressability that new technologies enable. New distribution technologies such as DTH, CAS, IPTV, etc. also enable interactivity. Along with extensive broadband penetration, these modern ICT technologies provide a strong infrastructure to drive quality education across India.
Company Mission
Greycells18 Media Pvt Ltd. has been set up in association with Network18, one of India's leading media conglomerates; and Educomp, India’s leading technology driven education company.
Greycells18 aims to be a pioneer in the world of education by creating comprehensive interactive learning services that will help students understand subjects better, and enable them to excel in their exams. These curriculum-based educational systems will use modern technological innovations in the ICT space, such as Interactive TV, e-learning and mobile learning, to create an interactive ecosystem where students can thrive. We propose to develop a complete K12 (Kindergarten to Class 12) solution for students over a period of time.
We also see tremendous scope in leveraging the content thus created, by going directly to schools and ensuring that it is used as a teaching aid in classrooms. This concept will be particularly appealing in the backward and remote areas of our country, where schools have little access to modern educational methods or teachers.
About Topper Learning System
The Topper Integrated Learning System - our first offering - deals with curriculum-related content specifically aimed at secondary and senior school students, i.e. from classes 9 to 12. Topper covers Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics for Classes 11 &12; and Science and Mathematics for Class 9 and 10.
Topper content is accessible to students in different formats as well as different mediums including interactive television, the Internet, mobile phones, etc. It comprises of digital video, text and data content, and will be sold to students on a subscription basis.
Interactive video content of the Topper Learning System is exclusively distributed on addressable mediums such as DTH Television or IPTV. It is available on Channel 570 on Tata Sky and Channel 097 on Dish TV. Interactivity is provided through the platform’s middleware, on pressing the red button. The interactive elements include Daily Quiz, Topic Tips, EPG, etc.
The web portal www.topperlearning.com consists of an 'Ask- Expert' section where students can seek answers to their queries/ doubts. In the ‘Test-Online’ section, students can take online tests and keep track of their own performance as well as rank themselves. A lot of reference material is provided in the ‘Study-Online’ section for self study on the site itself. The web portal also creates forums and groups where like-minded students can interact about issues relevant to their subjects
Our Educators
Dr. Chandralekha Singh. She is currently Professor of Physics at the University of Pittsburgh. An MSc from IIT Kharagpur and a PhD from the University of California in Los Angeles; She has also been awarded the Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award by the University of Pittsburgh.
Shaleen Sharma. B Tech Hons from IIT Roorkee. A passion for Physics…and for music! Currently a Music Director in Bombay, he's better known as one of the founding members of the band Agosh.
Dr. Shankar Venkatagiri. A Ph D in Mathematics from Georgia Tech, Atlanta, he is currently Professor of Quantitative Methods at IIM Bangalore! He also has an an M.A. in Mathematics from the University of Southern California, and an M.S. in Computer Science from Georgia Tech, Atlanta.
Dr. Debabrata Goswami. A Ph D in Physical Chemistry from Princeton University, he is currently Professor of Chemistry at IIT Kanpur. He graduated from Jadavpur University and did his MSc from IIT Kanpur.
Dr. Sumeet Luthra. An MBBS from Mumbai and a Fellow of the Royal College of Radiology, London (FRCR), she currently works at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, New Delhi.
Pavan Chauhan. A BTech in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA from IIM Bangalore, he believes in educating children creatively. He is the founder CEO of Applect Learning, a company that works on creative learning systems for children all over the world.
Mona Srivastava. An M Tech in Water Resources Engineering from IIT-Delhi, she has been working with the Indian Railways for the last 6 years in various positions.
