Easy e-learning and e-exams for school students

The present day children and teenagers are so e-savvy that they have taken to cell phones and computers like fish take to water. The electronic devices can be highly beneficial for studies and exams – if only the interest of the students is properly aroused and channelised. This igniting of interest is vital given the highly competitive global environment where only real competence counts, not selective, mechanical and lopsided learning.

A plethora of opportunities await the skilled Indian youth in large numbers. So catch them young and the e-way. Here is a way for any type of student to comprehend and fare far better than now; and for every school to maximise its results in a methodical way. This is intended for classes 7 to 10 of both CBSE and State boards of AP & Telangana.

Alive to the present day realities, the CBSE has changed its pedagogical & examination system, by introducing a Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) system. The CCE with its Formative & Summative assessments aims at evaluating the performance of a student including non-academic interests, soft skills and overall personality – on an ongoing basis, with non-repetition of syllabus in the exams, so that originality, comprehension and assimilation displace rote.

Education in India is a gargantuan process where everyone – the government, the schools, the NGOs and the private professionals – should play a collective role to make it successful. To facilitate the transition envisaged by CBSE, other educational agencies and individuals – imaginative entrepreneurs and organisations inspired by professional research have entered the field with innovative technologies to contribute their mite.

One such is the Hyderabad based www.exaams.in (EXAAMS) who have designed a product based on their interaction with teachers and students. Though the teaching is generally the same, the performance of the students varies from individual to individual, not marginally but widely. According to the study, students come under four broad categories. The first group forming 10% are hardworking & intelligent. They aim at 100% and score 90.

The second comprising 40% are the smart but lazy lot who score 70-80%; they always rue that they should have worked harder. The third category, hovering at 30% are the most hardworking; lacking in concept grasping and proper learning methods, they memorise the things and end up scoring 60-70%. This last category, a cause of teachers’ major worry, represents 20%; they don’t show any interest in their studies and end up between passing and failing.

The above findings, calling for a level playing field, led to the designing of a comprehensive student performance enhancement program in the shape of EXAAMS by a woman academician Sandhya Dittakavi who had research, teaching & technical experience at the University of Hertfordshire, UK from where she did her M Sc (Pharmacology). Back in India she served as a lecturer teaching pharmacology and toxicology to masters students at NIPER (National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education & Research), Hyderabad.

Presently she is the Product Development Manager of the family owned Biosoul Consulting which is behind the EXAAMS. And Dr Dittakavi Syamala Devi, PhD is its director. EXAAMS is an online learning and practicing portal designed by experts in the fields of both education and software.The package is open to both the individual students/parents and the schools at a very affordable tariff. It is also flexible to accommodate the special needs of schools.

This portal imparts e-learning, with lesson-wise exhaustive analysis followed by multiple choice questions; e-tutorials; one-to-one contact with subject experts. Emphasis is laid on concept-oriented learning by which the student assimilates the meaning of each and every sentence. Summary based tutorials enable the students to go through the important points of the lessons, revise them and consolidate their learning.

There are video based tutorials for math and sciences, generating interest in every type of student. The well-researched practice sessions give real competitive edge to the children from an early age. The medium is English, except for Telugu & Hindi of course. EXAAMS has two value-added features – SMART CHAMPS and SMART SKILLS. ‘Smart Champs’ is targeted to uncover the hidden talents and interest of every child.

Professionals from different fields are brought to the school to help the child discover his true interest and guide him/her through projects in the areas of interest. Every month EXAAMS will visit the school to enhance student skills and act as a guide to students in completing their syllabus-based experiments and projects. ‘Smart Skills’ is a soft skill program with multiple benefits. Soft skills are those everyday skills that sharpen our minds and increase our efficiency and effectiveness in completing any given task.

They help in developing 'out of the box' thinking and hone problem-solving abilities. Soft skills, when imparted correctly, will equip the student with a winning attitude and make him better abled. The product also hones the skills of students in areas like critical thinking, intrapersonal adaptability, interpersonal creativity, visualization, motor skills, optimization and problem-solving. The site, through its experienced experts, also offers career guidance for admission to various streams like engineering, medicine, accountancy and arts.

EXAAMS have subject experts who are highly qualified, experienced, skilled and devoted with whom students can interact. The online tests generate instant results, instant reports, and instant mail reports to parents. There are value-added features like free demo, free school ads and free soft skill sessions.The product saves the teacher the burden and time of preparing manual question papers and the manual evaluation process.

Right from the question setting to generation of progress report, every stage will automatically be taken care of by the product. At the same time, the teacher has the choice of making necessary manual interventions, if so desired, and the regular school tests, in addition to the online exams. The package also helps the teachers to impart extra training for the aspirants of special exams like IIT and BITS by having special question bank.

Performance is encouraged by placing the topper of the monthly common tests at the home page. The tech team of the EXAAMS helps with the installation of the system at the schools. The product would also help the students to be eventually at home with online exams like CAT, GRE & TOEFL.

With franchises at Hyderabad, Warangal, Khammam, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Kakinada, EXAAMS are in a position to cater to any student/school in any part of AP/Telangana.

“We strongly feel conceptual learning, regular practice with soft skills will help a student shine on any platform in the world. That is the ultimate dream of a teacher, a student and the nation too,” avers Sandhya Dittakavi.

By:U Atreya Sarma