Edtech venture GlobalShala aims to

Edtech venture GlobalShala aims to cultivate awareness of United Nation’s SDGs across India and around the world through the launch of their “Superhero U” competition with prizes worth $90,000

GlobalShala has opened its doors for learners around the world to showcase their talent and creativity; the competition is open for Junior (up to 18 years) and Senior (18 years to 25 years)

Edtech venture GlobalShala has recently announced the launch of their one-of-a-kind “Superhero U” competition with an aim to accelerate United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals and pave the way for a new generation of responsible and sound leaders. Across countries, the winners for the same will be awarded prize money worth $90,000 which includes scholarships, internship opportunities, gift cards, and electronic gadgets. 

GlobalShala has introduced this unique competition where individuals are to invent a “Superhero” that essentially takes on universal challenges and strives to make the world a better place. In an industry first, the Superhero U competition aims to tackle the 5 P’s of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) that is People, Prosperity, Planet, Partnerships, and Peace. Hence, the Superhero created should address all these goals collectively and promote prosperity while protecting the planet, the theme of the competition which is inspired by the UN’s mission. 

Talking about the competition, Anushika Jain, Founder & CEO, GlobalShala said “Taking inspiration from the United Nations, we are trying to nurture creativity to address surrounding critical sustainability challenges around the world. As per the SDG Index 2020, countries across Europe like Sweden, Denmark, Finland, France and Germany have set the benchmark for adept sustainability practices, India still falls back at rank 117. This needs to be improved upon immensely and therefore more events, programmes and contests need to be introduced across Asia Pacific countries to inculcate awareness about SDGs for the betterment of our society. We at GlobalShala have taken upon this challenge through an out-of-the-box approach with our “Superhero U” competition to add an element of intrigue and enthusiasm for individuals to take up the challenge. We are excited to see different local as well as global perspectives on sustainability and the challenges each of their Superhero takes on.” 

The competition has opened its doors wide for creativity and has allowed candidates to submit stories, illustrations, photo collages, and even movies that demonstrate how their Superhero use their superpowers to win the day. Moreover, GlobalShala has shattered the eligibility criteria and kept the competition open to many, split into 2 categories- Junior (up to 18 years) and Senior (18 years- 25 years). The Superhero U competition has also permitted any form of submission, whether it is individual or group-led. 

Inspired by the United Nations, GlobalShala focuses on empowering students and educators through experiential learning and education to open up hopes and dreams of lifelong learners around the world. Through the GlobalShala platform, individuals have the opportunity to participate in exciting competitions and events, have a chance to earn global scholarships, receive hands-on training through global internships as well as several certifications and recognitions. 

Link for Superhero U: https://superherou.globalshala.com

Education veteran Vibha Mahajan joins Bengaluru-based edtech venture

Education veteran Vibha Mahajan joins Bengaluru-based edtech venture Ken42
Vibha brings over 26 years of professional experience in the edtech sector from leading
companies like Matific and McGraw-Hill Education where she held senior management roles
Mumbai, 8th July 2020: Bengaluru-based edtech learning management system, Ken42, which is deemed as India’s first Superapp Edtech Platform, has announced the appointment of Vibha Mahajan as Vice President- Growth and Strategic Alliances, who will be based out of their Delhi office.

Vibha brings over 2 decades of experience to Ken42, having served in leadership roles in edtech companies like Matific and McGraw-Hill Education. In her position as VP-Growth & Strategic Alliances, Vibha will leverage her experience as a seasoned education leader in delivering next-generation digital learning solutions to help students achieve improved outcomes and lead growth strategies at local and global levels, through innovative customer-driven educational solutions.

Vibha joins Ken42 after her stint at Australian edtech company Matific, where she played an integral role as Vice-President, India for over a year. She has also previously worked at McGraw-Hill Education for over 20 years in various leadership roles, eventually amalgamating into Director of Portfolio & Marketing where she was responsible for developing and delivering product portfolio strategy for organizational success and lead digital product development through a variety of state-of-the-art learning environments, all based on consumer needs.

On welcoming Vibha at the helm of the company, Ganesh Raju, Founder and CEO, Ken42 said, “Vibha brings with her a deep understanding of the edtech space as well as colossal experience in the workings of a unified learning management interface, making her the ideal fit for Ken42. We are excited to welcome her on board to steer our vision for Ken42 as a unified platform for education design and management, bringing world-class solutions for educational institutions, and disrupting the edutech market. Vibha’s noteworthy experience is an asset to our team.”

Vibha has completed her education from Nagpur University with a Bachelor’s of Engineering in Electronics & Communication. She has also pursued the General Management Program from the prestigious IIM Lucknow.

Talking about the new stage in her career at Ken42, Vibha Mahajan said “There is a certain thrill in building something from square one, and I look forward to applying my experience and acumen at Ken42, to enhance the experience of all stakeholders involved – parents, students, faculty, as well as administration. I am excited to be a part of the Ken42 journey into cultivating the first-ever Superapp Edtech Platform in India.”

Ken 42, an independent tech platform partnered with salesforce.com HEDA and Adobe Captivate brings together the newest thinking in education and technology onto a single platform that
addresses a student’s needs at every stage of their educational journey. The solution begins with essentials comprising academic content, digital classrooms and assessments and goes on to include student development, mentorship and opportunities for entrepreneurship delivered via a robust technology platform accessible by all stakeholders, hence deeming it to be the country’s first “Superapp Edtech Platform".

It enables university administration to easily manage the day-to-day running of the institution comprising learning management, course management and student management. Thus, helping stakeholders by providing them with the best of edtech being built today without the hassle of managing multiple platforms. Ken 42 is already being implemented in top educational institutes and is poised to go overseas in a year.

upGrad becomes India’s first edtech to

upGrad becomes India’s first edtech to enable online blended degree programs - outlays ₹150 crores for the launch

UpGrad, India’s largest online higher education company, is entering into the Bachelor’s market for the first time with the renowned Jamia Hamdard University. upGrad will be offering online-offline blended BBA (Bachelor of Business Administration) and BCA (Bachelor of Computer Application) degrees to school pass-outs. 

The subsequent master’s for these programs, MBA and MCA has been launched as well. A government-funded university, Jamia Hamdard (JH) is amongst the top 25 universities in India as per MHRD's National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) released last week and is a recipient of MHRD’s letter of intent for 'Institution of Eminence' (IoE) status.

Simplilearn offers free access to online learning

Simplilearn Campus Connect initiative: Free access to premium learning programs for faculty and students across 200 Indian Universities

●       The program will help deliver knowledge and practical skills to Indian universities through our Learning Paths

●       Up to 200 individuals from each university learning for free during lockdown  

 In its bid to support teaching and learning continuity across the country in the current lockdown period, Simplilearn, a global provider of digital skills training, today announced the launch of its Campus Connect initiative. Through this unique program, Simplilearn aims to offer free access to entire Learning paths for faculty, and individual skill courses for students, to over 200 Indian universities.  The Learning Path is composed of multiple Masters Programs and digital skills courses in the same domain, free for 50 faculty members of a university. Each faculty member can also nominate four students to enroll in individual skill courses. 

The Campus Connect initiative is aimed at providing the right skill and method of online learning to faculty through uniquely designed Learning Paths. In the lockdown scenario, universities are taking to online teaching methodologies to ensure continuity in studies. Given that this practice is new and most faculty may not be adept, Simplilearn is bridging this gap by bringing its expertise of online learning to the frontlines of education.

Through Campus Connect, faculty members of universities will gain access to premium Simplilearn content co-created with leading technology companies like IBM, Microsoft, AWS and Google, among many others. Along with this, the faculty will also be privy to dedicated customer success representatives who will guide them in the completion of the program. Universities can write to us on survary.khanum@simplilearn.net for any questions.

Speaking on the launch of Campus Connect, Krishna Kumar, Founder and CEO Simplilearn said, “Teaching via digital platforms is a new experience for both faculty and students. In fact, teaching online is a competency that can be developed by learning and teaching online. Through the Campus Connect Initiative, we at Simplilearn intend to fulfill this criterion. As an EdTech provider, we wanted to extend our expertise to more individuals and learners during this nationwide lockdown. Understanding that many Indian universities are new to the concept of online education, we decided to open our premium master’s program to faculty as well. By empowering faculty with the right skills and tools for online teaching, this further ensures continuity in studies and delivery of quality education to students during these uncertain times. With Campus Connect, we hope to build a stronger online education system in India as we believe that this will be the future of education.” He further added, “In these uncertain times, it is also heartening to see the global EdTech ecosystem stepping up to offer free learning programs to students and professionals stuck at home, encouraging them to continue learning.”

Post the initial lockdown announcement, Simplilearn had launched 100+ hours of free courses on its Android application to help and motivate professionals to upskill themselves. The ‘Campus Connect’ initiative is part of Simplilearn’s second phase of providing aspirants a platform for learning continuity, focused towards helping college students and faculty alike. Simplilearn has helped more than one million professionals across 150 countries upskill and prepare for the digital future to-date, and now aims to help build a career for the future professionals.