Ready reference through books and printed study-material is a thing of past for students in the urban and semi-urban milieu. To the advantage of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the teaching-learning process, what started as an initiative to familiarize Indian students at the higher secondary level has led to the creation of a niche of its own where those with an ‘added edge’ in education tote a tablet PC. From content for K-12 level across schools of different affiliations to higher secondary, under-graduate and university level – the makers of the educational tablet PC cater to various groups providing low-cost devices and free content, making a library or a collection of books a thing of past.
Here is another tablet launched by a start-up based out of Hyderabad which targets the semi-urban and students in rural India who can afford the initial investment for a device. The devicein turn does not rely solely on online upgradation of content.
In a market where competition ranges from big players to start-ups looking to woo the ever growing numbers of students, ‘iTopper’ was launched by city-based entrepreneur Vijay Kallepalli, managing director of AppThoughtz recently. “The USP of our product is that the content is provided by established companies and all the content is available offline. Many parents are wary of providing their children a device with continuous online access and SIM-slot due to the possibility of misuse of the device. ‘iTopper’ caters to these demands and is also aimed at those who live in areas where constant internet connection is a rarity,” explains the entrepreneur. The venture was initiated in December last year with two other associates, Ravi K Vijeswarapu, who holds the post of director and Sunil V Kakarlapudi, head of finance at AppThoughtz. The device comes in two variants – with or without a slot for SIM.
The Android-based device (version 4.0.3) integrates CBSE textbooks provided by Cambridge University Press as well as state syllabus study material from publishing houses along with preparatory tests and questions banks for science stream at plus-two level. “The tablet makes it an interesting platform to take mock-tests chapter-wise or based on the difficulty level. The tablet is specific for MPC or BPC stream depending on which examination the student is preparing for. Also to make it a little more interactive, we have a feature called Kombat Zone which allows students to compete with each other online in different tests without disclosing the real identity of students,” adds the managing director who is looking at a state-wide launch by June 10. The tablet will also launch its version for students of Karnataka and Maharashtra by the end of July. The device also contains a feature called Dashboard which allows parents to check what their wards have been up to – much like going over the task of the day. The ‘Ask’ feature enables students to pose questions and queries online which are answered by senior faculty in the concerned subject.
Though the company has no tie-ups with educational institutes, the venture looks at retailing the tablet in the open-market. “We do not want to make it a compulsion for students to buy the tablets through tie-ups which usually turns out to be the case,” says Vijay who is in charge of product innovation and business development. Adding that the content can be updated whenever the tablet is connected to internet, he emphasizes that the device can be passed on to the next batch due to the continuous process of upgradation.
The device however combines the cost for both hardware and content from publishers and the team has not focused on designing their own content yet. “The resolution of 480x800 and the 24GB Flash internal memory of the hardware is best suited for loading the rich content which also provides chapter-wise links to study material from established and free sources such as Khan Academy. Hence the content and device are a package and we do not provide content on a stand-alone basis,” adds the managing director.
The tablet is priced in the range of similar devices available in the market, at Rs 9,000 for the variant without a slot for the SIM and Rs 10,500 for the SIM-enabled model.