Quiz based educational service on TV, first time in India

Television is watched by kids continuously through out the day when they are left alone at home or when they are restricted to play out door with friends or on their leisure time. Many of the parents are worried about this issue as they think TV is the source where child learns beyond his age, for instance he watches movies, reality shows or serials which includes criminal and adult programs. Children generally learn the things which they observe and try to do it practically resulting increase in child crime.

Children watch shows which are not suitable & unnecessary for their age, they loose their innocence and act more mature which is very harmful for their personality and social development.

TV is the reason students getting low grades as it takes time away from reading and homework. Generally parents allow kids to watch TV in holidays and try to stop them watching in school days, which is really a big headache as TV is very addictive and kids continue to watch TV on school days which effect on their Academic performance.

Taking this as point TataSky which has over 1 million of subscribers has partnered with 24x7guru.com which is an online assessment tool provider for school children to introduce interactive self-assessment tool for the children of age group 7-11 yrs. Its Quiz based educational service which covers GK, Maths and Science. This quiz can be easily taken as it can be accessed with the help of remote, after the quiz individual score cards and correct answers are also given to them by which they can learn the correct answers for the questions which they were wrong.


Television is a powerful medium for children to learn apart from the entertainment. Through TataSky’s tool every day child can learn around 50 different questions which will help them to enhance their knowledge, it can be GK or academic subjects like Mathematics & science. Indians are tending more towards Online facilities like banking, business developing and now lately on online Education. That’s the reason for programs like TataSky and 24x7guru have been coming up.

Indian way of learning a big hit in Japan

Here’s an interesting article I read in the ToI (dated 3^rd Jan 08). We have all along believed the Japanese to being the pioneers of intellectual brilliance and rapid learning. The Japanese have had a huge technological lead among its neighbors, so much so that there was hardly any competition from the developed world as well.
Infact till recently, its visionary management concepts and diligent workforce help steer the Japanese economy beyond comparison. A few notable sectors that still dominate the World markets include its Automobile and Electronic goods industry.
Historians and Experts have always considered Japan to be the region’s most advanced nation. But over the last few years the Japanese have been gripped by the fear of being taken over by the ever-growing Indian and Chinese economies.
A red alert has been sounded in the Japanese academic circles last Month after the announcement by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, whose survey placed Japan in the 10^th place in Maths skills (a drop from the first place in 2000) and 6^th place in Science skills ( a drop from the second spot).
To counter the drop in standards many parents have started to prefer Indian schools in Japan, as they believed in the Indian way of learning that focused on Maths and Science basics. It was bitter pill, especially when it was the Japanese education that was once praised and popular for their emphasis on learning at an early age.
With tremendous growth in Indian education standards and its technology-aided tools (e.g. www.24x7guru.com) for youngsters, Indian way of learning is here to stay for long time.

Kids love challenges - get them involved and see the results

We have just returned from the impressive movie 'Taare Zameen Par'. It being such a thought provoking movie, that it not just inspired my children to do their best in their field on interest but also gave me a better understanding of how to inspire my children.
We parents generally tend to favor the academically better performing kids and neglect their other sibling. Personally we too had this experience, with my daughter usually getting all the accolades for doing well in her studies. However I should say my 10 year old son is a very creative person and it was only now that we came to know that he also enjoyed challenges. If you tell a kid that he would get an XBOX 360 if he scored above 85% you can be rest assured that he would do whatever it takes to get it. Not just that, he would also ask you for his next possible prize. :))
Recently I learned from his school about a new competition organized by www.24x7guru.com, that sends 10 deserving students to NASA along with a parent and teacher after a testing them on their subjects. This seems to be a very transparent tests, primarily based on 3-10 class syllabus and based entirely on merit. Now not just my son but even I am spending as much time to help him reach the goal of being a part of the team that visited NASA. It seems to be the talking point in his schools and our neighborhood as well.
An added bonus here is that if he was successful in the competition, he's also sure to fare well in his Maths and Science exams. Kudos to such challenges, hope this is just the beginning of kids of perform at their peak.

Give your children the best of opportunities

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF, FC Barcelona and its foundation Fundacio Futbol Club Barcelona last year had announced a public alliance and kicked off a five year global partnership to extend the work of the club and benefit orphans and vulnerable children in the developing would.

“Barcelona shows us that sports can be a powerful, positive force for children,” Ann M. Veneman, UNICEF’s Executive Director, said, describing the landmark alliance with the Club as a “priceless” donation.

Sports can be a great equalizer and motivating factor for thousand kids. Sports can both teach and ready numerous children. Such initiatives from International organizations and also the corporate community that gives back to the society, go a long way in helping causes.

Children are the future, developing and molding them is the best way for the World to go forward. Children and youngsters must be kept busy and given opportunities to do well.

An initiative which all of us can relate to is a recent ‘Destination NASA 2008’ challenge that encourages children to do well in Maths & Science. 10 winners will have an opportunity to go NASA along with a teacher or parent.

Mathematics - learning Algebra

My 7^th standard twins have difficulties in Algebra. While they are good at geometry, exponents and number theory, its algebra that bring their scores down.

Having gone through their exam papers, they do not make mistakes in adding and multiplying. However when it comes to sections of factorizations and concept of variables they all get confused.

I believe Teachers and Maths tutors need to stress on fundamentals, as Mathematics can be mastered only if the roots are strong. Also children have to be taught the differences between fractions, whole and real numbers.

As students go to higher classes a major part of their syllabus is going to be on algebra, with Linear equations and Matrices being included.

Well the answer to the issues faced, besides getting the fundamentals one has to also practice a lot. You generally find that the diligent students to have a natural inclination to do well in Algebra.

So parents get as many rough note books for your children, give them regular tests and also ensure that you correct them. This has to be done periodically and as an additional activity besides the regular homework.

In today’s age there are also other ways of getting your children to take Maths practice tests. I read about this article just as many others on an online self-assessment site that tests children between classes 3-10 in Maths and Science.

This is a good initiative, it will not only help children to do well in their school examinations but also the site (www.24x7guru.com) which includes contests such as ‘Destination NASA 2008’ will be highly motivating factor of students to do well.

Experiences of a parent, teacher and tutor

I play the roles of a teacher, parent and at times a tutor as well. Multi-tasking is not a child’s play and a lot more hectic in my field of expertize. However I am delighted the fact that I am able to mentor children gives me great pride.

A few things that I have noticed with children (especially talking about those in elementary and high-schools) is that they have so much of energy. They can play an outdoor sport, go for their music classes, do their homework, use the computer and yet have the energy to sulk about the food they are served.

I have realized over time and also a few unsuccessful experiments, that children of today actually like to be quizzed on their interests, most prominent of them are computer games and their other learning skills. Make sure you talk to them about stuff they are interested in or really good at.

My 11 year old son likes gadgets & gizmos and is very ambitious as well. Only last week he was talking about wanting to develop computer games, and late yesterday evening he spoke to me about his interest in spaceships.

We parents sometimes take a casual approach towards our child’s aspirations. I have been guilty of it quite a few times. However, in our defense I’d say most of the kids are fickle and keep changing their mind that more or less depends on peer pressures.

However all said, recent developments in my son has surprised me. These days he shows real interest in Maths, reads snippets on space expeditions and has also asked a lot of questions.

I realized the reasons for the sudden change in his attitude, he is getting ready to go to NASA. Yes, I mean it. He has enrolled in this ‘Destination NASA Challenge’ conducted by an online self-assessment site www.24x7guru.com . It seems to have been the topic of discussion in most schools and children seem to have taken a very keen interest in it.

After this I have immediately decided to check out all details and share it with his other cousins and friends. All our children, rich, not so rich, studious, no so studious, etc. need to be given a chance. The contest has begun and these are multiple-choice questions based on Maths & Science syllabus from classes 3-10.

Concluding I must admit the prospect of going to NASA along with my child excites me as well. Would it not be an amazing experience? So parents and teachers, our tasks additional would include to regularly check for the latest in education and other opportunities.

Online assessment tests for school children

Online assessment service that students between classes 3 and 10 can subscribe, to assess their strengths and weaknesses in Mathematics and Science.




Test to be the Best using 24x7guru.com and Destination NASA is yours.

Feedback on online tests received

One of the main contributions that IT has brought into Education is the Online tests. These tests have students to a great extent by providing course ware, practice tests and well as student backs. All this making the ultimate aim of doing well in tests.
Among the many features, ones such as competitive adaptiveness to competency of the student is intuitive and help in understanding the level of study. Another aspect of online tests is its powerful reporting, instant test results with strength & weaknesses and improvement tips all add to the challenge.
Following up with the posts on the 'Destination NASA', the www.24x7guru.com website is one such concept of an Online self-assessment tests for Maths & Science.

Launch of interactive self-assessment tool of 24x7guru.com on Television in partnership with Tata Sky

Coming back to the story making headlines 'Destination NASA challenge 2008', here's a recent news clip that I had read in the Times of India. As Sekhar Gupta of the Indian Express once said, the future is what the Times group believes and does. Quoting from the Times:
"Forty-six year old Hyderabadi, Sanjeev Gupta, director Learnsmart India, announced a tie-up with Tata Sky to reach out to millions of students through the web with a self-assessment teaching -learning tool. 24/7 guru.com, the leading provider of this programme made the announcement in Hyderabad on Friday at the Taj Deccan.

Conceived as a quiz based service, the programme covers math, science, and general knowledge for students between classes 3 and 10 of CBSE and ICSE syllabi, giving them the opportunity to identify their strengths and areas of improvement through scientifically designed assessment tests. On subscribing, 50 questions are made available to the learner followed by instant feedback on scores as well as diagnostic reports giving adequate explanation. The students are given a fair understanding of where they have gone wrong and what needs to be corrected. So, what's new for the learner in this package? Sanjeev Gupta says, “The special feature of the package is that we are introducing the litmus test, a diagnostic and testing tool which assesses the student's ability. There has been no testing tool so far." Very importantly, he says,"This tool emphasises conceptual understanding and retention and not role learning where the emphasis is on memorising information which is easily forgotten.” He adds, “So far teaching has been in a physical form through tuition, tutorial, or parental guidance, but now we've made it available on the web so we have a larger customer base.” Tata Sky will beam the programme everyday. The content for the programme will be provided by 24/7 guru.com and Tata Sky will give them the market penetration reaching out to 1.2 million homes immediately and to 1.5 million by December through Direct to Home (DTH). “So it is a win-win situation not only for both of us and also for the students," adds Gupta on a note of conclusion."

As a parent, here are my views

I thought of sharing this interesting story of how I noticed a dramatic change in my son’s attitude towards academics, especially the maths and science subjcects. My son Mohit is so fascinated by aeroplanes, that he says that he wants to fly planes when he grows up. But at the same time I had no clue on how he would be able to pursue his dream, as his performance in Maths and Science subjects were very poor. All my efforts to get the concepts into his head were in vain. He was interested in studies and spent most of his time on his favorite video game.
I heard of this website 24x7guru.com from one of my friends and thought of giving a try. I subscribed to the package. I never knew that Mohit would be interested. But now I see that he spends more time on 24x7guru and within six weeks he has got all the concepts clear. Instead of playing his favorite game on the pc he is now addicted to assessing how he had bettered his performed on these subjects daily. Now I have enrolled him for the NASA Knowledge Challenge 2008 conducted by 24x7guru.com. I am eager to see him in the top 135 who would be visiting NASA.
Mathew