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BetterU Education Corp. $BTRU.ca – #Edtech boom transforms how Indian kids learn $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 10:17 AM on Monday, April 1st, 2019
SPONSOR:  Betteru Education Corp. Connecting global leading educators to the mass population of India. BetterU Education has ability to reach 100 MILLION potential learners each week. Click here for more information.
BTRU: TSX-V

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‘Edtech’ boom transforms how Indian kids learn

  • From a multi-billion-dollar education startup to wired-up mannequins, technology is helping to revolutionise the way Indian schoolchildren are learning
  • A host of online platforms are taking advantage of a surge in smartphone ownership to engage millions of youngsters with interactive games and animated video lessons.

India’s education system suffers from a lack of investment, and the apps aid students who want extra tuition away from overcrowded classrooms and crumbling schools.

Major foreign investors are ploughing funds into India’s growing “edtech” industry as they seek to capitalise on the world’s largest school-age population who face fierce competition for university places.

“I have been using Byju’s since last year and my performance has really improved. I understand mathematical concepts much better now,” says 16-year-old Akshat Mugad referring to a Facebook-backed, Indian education app.

Byju’s has become one of the world’s largest online learning sites since it was founded in Bangalore in 2011 and is currently embarking on an ambitious overseas expansion.

It is just one of dozens of startups betting that kids are eager to learn differently from rote memorisation techniques that are used across much of Asia.

Edtech platforms are also taking off in other Asian countries, notably China and Taiwan.

“We wanted to make education fun,” said Manish Dhooper, the founder of New Delhi-based Planet Spark, which uses “gamified” teaching methods.

Interactive

Garima Dhir enrolled her six-year-old boy into a Planet Spark programme to study maths and English because she wanted him to get used to using technology at a young age.

“With interactive classes, my son is picking concepts without any stress and enjoying the process without fear of failure,” she told AFP.

Robomate, Toppr, Simplilearn, Meritnation and Edureka are others in the market.

India has an estimated 270 million children aged between five and 17.

Its online education sector is projected to be worth $2 billion to Asia’s third-largest economy by 2021, according to research published by accounting group KPMG two years ago.

With revenues heading for $200 million, Byju’s says it has around 32 million users in India using its e-tutorials that feature animations, live classes and educational games to match India’s school curriculum.

It has raised more than $1 billion in funding since the beginning of last year, including from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, valuing the firm at around $5.4 billion.

“We want to be the largest education company in the world,” founder Byju Raveendran, 39, whose stake in Byju’s is now thought to be worth almost $2 billion, told AFP.

‘Ask Alexa’

Analysts say technology has the power to transform education in India but note that at the moment it is largely the domain of middle-class families.

A year-long subscription to Byju’s can cost upwards of $150 for example, a small fortune for the majority of Indians.

At a state-run school in Mumbai teacher Pooja Prashant Sankhe is using technology in a rather different way to change how her pupils engage with lessons.

The 45-year-old hides an Amazon Echo device in a shop window mannequin. When AFP visited children aged 11 approached and asked questions such as, “Alexa, how many states are there in India?”.

They also did sums and then asked Alexa for the answer to find out if they had done them correctly. The device plays the Indian national anthem at the start of the school day and healing music during meditation sessions.

Indian media have carried reports of a teacher doing the same thing in another school in rural Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital.

“The kids get really excited when they ask her questions,” said Sankhe, 45. “Pupils are coming to school more regularly now because of Alexa,” she added.

Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-03-edtech-boom-indian-kids.html

Betteru Education Corp. $BTRU.ca – #Google $GOOG and #KPMG estimates #India’s online education #edtech industry to grow eight-fold to reach $1.96 billion by 2021

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 2:34 PM on Thursday, January 3rd, 2019
SPONSOR:  Betteru Education Corp. Connecting global leading educators to the mass population of India. BetterU Education has ability to reach 100 MILLION potential learners each week. Click here for more information.
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Google and KPMG estimates India’s online education industry to grow eight-fold to reach $1.96 billion by 2021

Growing EdTech Market in India: Key Catalyst

  • India is witnessing demographic dividends, implying more and more people, students and professionals alike are undertaking smart courses in order to improve knowledge base to gain a competitive edge in their careers.
  • This phenomenon has convinced analysts of the immense growth prospects of the burgeoning EdTech industry in India.
  • Reducing internet costs and increasing internet penetration in the country are other notable factors favoring the growth prospects of EdTech industry.
  • In fact, a research report from Google and KPMG estimates India’s online education industry to grow eight-fold to reach $1.96 billion by 2021. Further, the study projects paid users in EdTech to grow six times from 1.6 million in 2016 to 9.6 million in 2021.

By Zacks Equity Research, Zacks.com

Microsoft MSFT has introduced Surface Go tablet in India exclusively through Bengaluru, India-based e-commerce company, Flipkart. Recently, the company commenced shipping of the device, with prices ranging from INR 38,599 to INR 50,999.

The different variants of the new tablet series come with storage capacity of 64 GB and 128 GB, with 4 GB and 8 GB RAM, respectively.

Notably, Surface Go was introduced by Microsoft in a bid to explore the low-priced tablet market to take on Apple’s budget iPads, and Alphabet’s lower-priced Chromebook.

The company had unveiled Surface Go device around Jul 10, 2018 which was made available in early August, with prices ranging from $399 to $549 in the United States.

We believe that availability of Surface Go in India will position the company well to capitalize on the emerging EdTech market. Furthermore, the enhanced security and performance features hold promise in the growing enterprise market in the country.

Microsoft is likely to benefit from the competitive pricing of its Surface Go device. The latest Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 with 64 GB capacity is priced approximately at INR 57,900.

Microsoft Corporation Revenue (TTM)

Microsoft Corporation Revenue (TTM) | Microsoft Corporation Quote

In the words of Country General Manager, Consumer & Devices at Microsoft India, Priyadarshi Mohapatra, “Globally and in India, it’s encouraging to see the rapidly growing Surface community in both consumer and enterprise.”

Enhanced Security & Performance Features Hold Key

The compact Surface Go features a 10-inch screen and weighs 522 grams (or 1.15 pounds), lighter than its prevailing Surface counterparts. Further, the latest series is equipped with Intel’s INTC processor and graphic chips.

Additionally, the device has a decent nine hour battery life and canfunction with optional keyboard, mouse and Surface Pen 2.

Surface Go’s Windows Hello facial recognition option feature for logging-in and Windows 10 S mode, makes it a compelling option.

In a bid to enhance security and performance, users can utilize Microsoft Store appsincluding Microsoft Edge to browse safely.

Enterprises may avail Windows 10 Proto safeguard business infrastructure with robust security features. Windows Autopilot enables users to configure Surface Go from the cloud, in turn simplifying the IT processes a great deal.

Growing EdTech Market in India: Key Catalyst

India is witnessing demographic dividends, implying more and more people, students and professionals alike are undertaking smart courses in order to improve knowledge base to gain a competitive edge in their careers. This phenomenon has convinced analysts of the immense growth prospects of the burgeoning EdTech industry in India.

Reducing internet costs and increasing internet penetration in the country are other notable factors favoring the growth prospects of EdTech industry.

In fact, a research report from Google and KPMG estimates India’s online education industry to grow eight-fold to reach $1.96 billion by 2021. Further, the study projects paid users in EdTech to grow six times from 1.6 million in 2016 to 9.6 million in 2021.

Enemy’s Enemy an Ally?

One important point to note in this latest development is that Microsoft selected Flipkart’s e-commerce platform to launch Surface Go in India. Notably, Amazon AMZN and Flipkart are the two major players in Indian e-commerce market. Additionally, Walmart WMT acquired a 77% stake in Flipkart.

Microsoft Azure directly competes with Amazon’s cloud platform Amazon Web Services (“AWS”) in the cloud market. Walmart which competes with Amazon in the retail and e-commerce market has selected Azure cloud platform.

When we join the loose ends, it makes sense to say that “my enemy’s enemy is my friend.”

Our Take

Microsoft is well poised to benefit from robust adoption of Surface Go on the back of improving EdTech and enterprise scenario in India.

We believe the availability of Surface Go will aid the company in bolstering competitive strength in the direct consumer market, primarily in EdTech market in India.

Notably, Surface revenues increased 14% (same at cc) in first-quarter fiscal 2019 on a year-over-year basis on the back of strong performance of the latest editions – Surface Book 2 and Surface Go.

Moreover, Microsoft Surface series of devices have registered considerable double-digit growth in India in this year, as per Priyadarshi Mohapatra’s statement to IANS. The incremental sales from India will eventually benefit the top line.

Source: https://www.nasdaq.com/article/microsoft-msft-debuts-surface-go-in-india-via-flipkart-cm1076740

betterU $BTRU.ca Update on Proposed Equity Investment by Hindustan Times $ARCL $BPI $FC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 1:06 PM on Monday, January 29th, 2018

Betteru large

  • Provides update regarding the proposed $1,250,000 equity investment by HT Overseas
  • Purchase of 3,205,128 common shares of the Corporation at $0.39 per share
  • HT has been working towards receiving all necessary approvals from India’s government authorities to complete the transfer of funds from India to Canada

OTTAWA, Jan. 29, 2018 – betterU Education Corp. (TSX-V:BTRU) (FRANKFURT:5OGA), (the “Corporation” or “betterU”), is pleased to provide the following update regarding the proposed $1,250,000 equity investment by HT Overseas Pte. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of HT Media Limited, (“HT”) for the purchase of 3,205,128 common shares of the Corporation at $0.39 per share (the “Private Placement”). The Private Placement and agreement with HT was previously announced on December 21, 2017.

HT has been working towards receiving all necessary approvals from India’s government authorities to complete the transfer of funds from India to Canada. The first of eight proposed tranches of Private Placement is expected to close on February 5, 2018.

About HT and HT Group

HT Group has built a Pan India reach via its various print, radio and digital properties.  The combined reach is an astonishing ~10% of Indian population.  In print alone, HT Group’s Hindustan Times (English medium); Hindustan (Hindi medium), Mint (English Business daily) give a combined readership of over 29.9 million.  This readership is multiplied significantly through HT’s radio channels (104 Fever and 107.2 Nasha) which have a dedicated audience of over 21.7 million in Delhi, Kolkata, UP, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and the Indo Gangetic belt.  This is further complemented by HT’s digital presence including hindustantimes.com; livehindustan.com; livehindustan.com; desimartini.com and shine.com.

Geographically, HT Group has the following reach:

  • In the West, HT is able to reach 7 million population in Mumbai through their highly recognised Brands in Print (HT/Mint), Radio (Fever/Nasha) & Digital
  • In the North, HT Group’s mediums directly touch “8 out of every 10” population in Delhi NCR.  Print readership of around 4.3 million complemented by leading radio channels such as 104 Fever and 107.2 (giving an additional audience of 8.1 million) makes HT Group a clear leader in the Delhi NCR region.

Hindustan Times is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded in 1924 and the flagship publication of HT Media. Hindustan Times is one of the largest newspapers in India, by circulation. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations and it has a circulation of 1.16 million copies as of November 2015. HT is one of the top most widely read English newspapers in India. It is popular in North India, with simultaneous editions from New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Patna, Ranchi and Chandigarh.

About betterU

betterU, a global education marketplace, aims to provide access to quality education from around the world to foster growth and opportunity to those who want to better their lives. The company’s vision is to help foster the equalization of education for all by bridging the prevailing gap in the education and job industry and enhance the lives of its learners by developing an integrated education-to-employment ecosystem. betterU’s offerings can be categorized into several broad functions: to compliment school programs with flexible KG-12 programs preparing children for next stage of education, to provide access to global educational opportunities from leading educators, to foster an exceptional educational environment by providing befitting skills that lead to a better career, to bridge the gap between one’s existing education and prospective job requirement by training them and lastly, to connect the end user to various job opportunities.

www.betterU.ca and www.betterU.in

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements, which include completion of the proposed Investment, the anticipated use of the proceeds of the Investment, the development and expansion of betterU’s operations, and other matters. There can be no assurance that the Investment will be completed as proposed or at all. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such information can generally be identified by the use of forwarding-looking wording such as “may”, “expect”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “believe” and “continue” or the negative thereof or similar variations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, which contribute to the possibility that the predictions, estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur. These assumptions, risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the state of the economy in general and capital markets in particular, the development of competitive technologies, the marketplace acceptance of betterU’s products, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of betterU. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, betterU disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additionally, betterU undertakes no obligation to comment on the expectations of, or statements made by, third parties in respect of the matters discussed above. Further information on betterU’s public filings, including their most recent audited consolidated financial statements, are available at www.sedar.com.

For further information, please visit  http://www.betteru.ca/investor-overview/

betterU Education Corp.
Brad Loiselle, CEO
On behalf of the Board of Directors

For further information:
Investor Relations
1-613-695-4100 Ext. 233
Email: [email protected]

VIDEO: betterU Addresses Over 8000 Educators in Australia $BTRU.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 10:10 AM on Monday, July 31st, 2017