iProf: iPad of personal education launched

IMA alumnus launches world’s first personal education tablet that will change the way students prepare for entrance tests.







Is it possible to cram piles of books, hours of lectures and thousands of test

papers in a small portable device? Well, here comes iProf, the world’s first personal education tablet that will revolutionise the way students prepare for entrance tests. Conceptualised by former IIM-A alumnus Sanjay Purohit, the device was launched by Principal Secretary (Science and Technology) Ravi Saxena in the city on Wednesday.

Purohit, founder of iProf Learning Solutions, India, designed it keeping in mind the study needs of Gen-Y.

With a 7-inch touchscreen tablet, iProf has built-in, high quality operating system Android (from Google) and a Learning Management System installed on it.
Bundled with content from premier educational institutes, it is priced at Rs 14,900. This excludes taxes.

iProf will initially cater to the test-preparation education segment, the market of which is estimated at about Rs 10,000 crore. iProf will start with IIT-JEE preparation and has tied-up with Brilliant Tutorials. iProf would foray into MBA test preparation by end of May, followed by PMT, CPT, CA among others.

iProf has 8 GB memory and comes with elaborate content like interactive video lectures, test papers and practice questions with solutions.



Chart your course
E-learning is highly effective, as proven by extensive research. It not only increases retention but also gives complete flexibility to students reading e-books, revising video lectures, animations, taking tests and setting their schedules on their own pace. iProf is positioned as a self-study tool, that would mitigate pressure on students, enabling them to perform much better.

It comes with an assessment facility where a user can test his/her speed, identify areas that need improvement and check your results instantly without waiting for weeks. Saxena said, “The device will enhance competency level of students in the state.”

iStudy zones
The company plans to set-up of a chain of e-learning centres called the iStudy Zones, across 30 cities including Delhi, Kota, Pune, Nagpur, Jaipur, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Patiala, Nasik and Kolkata. These centres will enable e-learning delivery mechanism for its students.

““Technology has changed the way people communicate. But the educational delivery system has not changed,” said Purohit, who took 16 months to devise the gadget.

“We see a huge scope for growth in e-learning, especially in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities where quality education is in great demand but supply is an issue. There is an acute shortage of good quality professors. The iProf takes care of this problem,” He added, Through the iProf, Purohit aims to address three major problems that plague e-learning from spreading far and wide — low computer penetration, content piracy and broadband connectivity.

The company will have high performance servers deployed in iStudy zones with high-speed broadband and Wi-Fi capabilities, so that content can be downloaded on the iProf in a secure environment. The centres will also have video-conferencing capabilities for doubt-clearing sessions between faculty and students. The first Value-Add iStudy zone in the city will come up at Akshar Arcade near the Memnagar Fire Station.

The company is also expecting to mobilise investments of over Rs 100 crore via the iProf ecosystem and aims to spread its operations across 250 cities across India in the next 18 months.