Education Times Report: Mumbai's students vote for balance between Textbooks and Visual Learning

A poll conducted by Education Times reveals the new generation of students want to study from more visual content apart from regular textbooks.

Does the idea of using the idiot box as a tool to gain knowledge appeal to you?
YES-84% ; NO-16%
Does a television, in your opinion, come across as a good substitute for books?
YES-88% ; NO-12%
What would appeal more to you as a student, in your education system?
A BALANCE BETWEEN BOOKS AND TV-80% ; ONLY BOOKS-20%

For more, click the image or visit http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2009/12/21&PageLabel=40&ForceGif=true&EntityId=Ar04001&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T

DNA News: Coaching Classes go virtual

A review of Sinhal eVideo in DNA Mumbai.

Students who prefer to study by self, will benefit from eVideo

Priya Ramakrishnan / DNA Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Mumbai: In a bid to help students who want to cut the cost of extra coaching for class X exams, a city tutorial, holding classes for ICSE and CBSE boards, has come up with the idea of virtual coaching. With the help of a series of DVDs, loaded with lectures by professors and digital textbooks, students can now prepare themselves on their own at a much lower cost.

"We designed the eVideo to aid those students who prefer to study on their own. It comes with 20 DVDs containing the whole of class X lectures for Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Biology (PCMB). There are also notes and test papers, and a separate section dealing with the frequently asked questions," Sudhanshu Sinhal, director, Sinhal's Classes, said.

The cost of an eVideo set is Rs21,000. A student taking classroom coaching for the same subjects has to shell out more than Rs40,000. "It is not a replacement for a classroom course. Instead, you may call it coaching classes home delivered," Sinhal added.

E-learning has not caught on well in India, but an ever increasing number of students are getting hooked to digital textbooks and animations. "Digital textbooks make reading very interesting. They make it easier to retain the information. Revision, too, becomes much simpler, Anand Pangam, a class X student, said.

Read full article here.

A New Era In Indian Education.

The ICSE course has now gone from 100 Days to 100 Hours. ICSE Physics,ICSE Maths, ICSE Chemistry and ICSE Biology all in a 100 Hour Package. Now is the time to have the power of Unlimited Revisions at your fingertips and understand concepts. No matter who you are, No matter where you are, you can be a part of a New Era In Indian Education.
Sinhal eVideo. Pause.Rewind.Revise.

eVideo HELP & INSTRUCTIONS

Install Sinhal eVideo

Installation of eVideo is a simple 3 STEP process which takes less than 1 minute:

STEP 1: Insert DVD (VOLUME 1 Maths DVD of Prof. Pragya) in your DVD ROM Drive and the MasterKey in the USB slot of your PC.

STEP 2: Open the "SETUP" Folder in the DVD and double click the "SETUP" Icon.

STEP 3: Follow the step by step instructions to complete the installation. A shortcut "Sinhal eVideo" will automatically appear on your desktop. Double click it and start using eVideo!

Note: If it is not getting installed, click the "common_files_folder" and install / double click the 3 items in this folder.

How to play

Insert DVD and the USB. The USB has to be connected to your computer all the time when the content is viewed.Double click the "Sinhal Evideo" icon on your desktop.The Sinhal Evideo Start Screen will be shown. Click Start to begin.The Sinhal EVideo Main Screen will be shown. On the left hand side you will see options to select which chapter you want to see.Search for the chapter you want to see using the dropdown list and the the search box. The list of chapters matching your search will be seen in the list below.Click on the the chapter you want to see.A loading screen will appear. The chapter will take a few minutes to load. Please wait till the video loads.The video will start playing.

How to change views

While watching a video you can use two views.The application will start in the normal view. To switch to Full Screen, click the Full Screen button on the right hand bottom portion of your screen.To come back from the Full Screen view to the Normal view click on the small index bar at the left hand side of the screen.

How to jump to a particular part in a chapter

When a particular video starts playing, you will see a list of sub-parts of the current chapter on the left hand side.You can directly jump to a particular part by clicking on it.

How to mark a particular chapter or part for Revision

You can mark a particular chapter or a topic for Revision.To mark for Revision, simply check the check box on the right of that chapter or sub-part.Chapters and sub-parts marked for revision will stay highlighted in the list.

How to play from Hard Drive

As an additional feature to decrease loading time, you can also play the videos from your Hard Drive.To play the Videos from your Hard Drive instead of the DVD , you have to first copy the files on the DVD to you Hard Drive.Suppose you are copying the content from DVD 1, create a folder called "DVD1" on your computer.Copy all the files and folders from the DVD and paste in the new folder that you created.You can similarly create folders for copying each of the DVDs.After having copied the DVDs, start the application.On the left hand side, select the option "Play Hard Drive"Click on the chapter you want to see. The chapter will ask you to browse to the location where you have coped the files.A dialog box will open. Browse to the "DVD1" folder (considering you have clicked on a chapter from DVD1) and click OK.The video will now load as usual.

How to add New Content from DVD

When you get a new set of DVDs, you need to include the list of chapters in your appplication to play new videos.Insert the new DVD in your DVD drive.Start the application.Click on the menu in the left hand bottom portion of your screen.Click the "Add New Content" link.A new form will open. Select "Add New DVD Content" and follow instructions.

How to add New Content downloaded from the Internet

When you download extra content from the Sinhal Evideo site, you need to include the list of chapters in your appplication to play the new videos.Start the application.Click on the menu in the left hand bottom portion of your screen.Click the Add New Content link.A new form will open. Select "Add Downloaded Content" and follow instructions.

My application does not start

Make sure you have connected the correct USB and try again.It is possible that because of virus activity, accidental deletion or other unknown factors, the installation may get corrupted. Uninstall the application. Reinstall the application and try again.Some components may not be restored by reinstallation. In this case the application will popup a code along with instructions for restoring those components. Follow the instructions and try again. Please click here to restore.It is possible that because of virus activity, accidental deletion or other other unknown factors, the Operating System or part of the Operating system may get corrupt. You will need to reinstall the Operating System in this case.

I cannot see the video playing

Please make sure Windows Media player is correctly installed on your computer. This is a default feature of your Windows Operating System.Insert DVD1(VOLUME 1 Maths DVD of Prof. Pragya) in your DVD drive.Please browse to the CommonSetupFiles folder in the DVD drive.Double click the icon "wmformat95sdk" and follow instructions.Double click the icon "wvc1dmo " and follow instructions.Restart the appication and try again. If it does not pay properly, it is possible that because of virus activity, accidental deletion or other other unknown factors, the Operating System or part of the Operating system may get corrupt. You will need to reinstall the Operating System in this case.

The video I see is very small

Please adjust the resolution of your screen and try again.

I get a message saying "Insufficient Space"

The application requires a minimum free space of 2 GB on your computer. Please free up sufficient space in the drive where you have installed the application.

Minimum System Requirements PC CPU: Pentium 4, 1.5 GHz ProcessorRAM: 1 GB
Operating System: Windows XP, Vista (32 Bit)Free Space on Hard Disk: 2 GBFree USB PortDVD – ROMSpeakersVideo Codecs (Installer with the pack)

WYSIWYL? Maybe.

What you see is what you learn.

Isn't this true?

Maybe.

There's no complicated research to back this statement. But there is a parallel: WYSIWYG.

In the early 1980s, computers had a TEXT-BASED INTERFACE, meaning you had to understand (and make the computer understand) everything in TEXT (most popular such product being Microsoft DOS). Needless to say, this was not a permanent long term solution to understanding computers and soon enough, bright engineers started looking for an alternative developed the GUI or the GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE. They called this new interface the WYSIWYG or What You See Is What You Get; no complicated text to be memorised. Maybe this single shift from TEXT to VISUAL has changed our world by making computers accessible to so many more people around the world.

Will textbooks ever shift from being "text" books to "visual" books? In a way, with eVideo being a companion to Sinhals "text" NOTES, it has already started to happen.

Perhaps eVideo's myDigitalBook is the world's only book which displays animations and visuals.

Most people do learn better and faster if they can visually see something. Until now, we were in the text-based system because of various limitations. But with better technology and resources, its obvious that in the future learning will be more visual and less textual. WYSIWYL: What You See Is What You Learn, a boon for all the Visual Learners in the world.

We see. We learn.

Its that simple.

Seeing IS believing

We've all heard it a million times right since we were kids; seeing is believing. Right from the time we were a year old, we learned things by seeing. As we grew a little older, we started to learn by listening.

Then in school, we began to learn how to read. The first thing we were taught to read was a unfamiliar triangular shape object by visually associating it with round red fruit (A for Apple). We further strengthened our reading skills by using our already developed "listening" skills, using phonetics, rhymes and other such devices.

Clearly, its clear that seeing was our first language, listening our second, and reading our third.

By age six, we started to rely more and more on learning by reading, with less and less emphasis on seeing and listening. As we have grown older, things have only become harder.

But why have things become harder? Shouldn't things have become easier as we became older and smarter?

It was this simple concept of learning through "seeing" and "listening" that prompted us to develop eVideo for standard 10 students. eVideo has explanations & animations, and is simple, easy and fast. The goal was simple: to help students to "understand twice as much, in half the time".

Whether eVideo succeeds in its goal, only time will tell. Either way, we hope every school student tries it out to see if eVideo works for them.

eVideo advertisement in leading papers

Children's Day is special. Its one day when they are given the power. A day when we remember that Jawaharlal Nehru believed that children are the future of the nation.

It was only fair that students be given little extra freedom, on this special day.

{The advertisement reads:
Starting today, students get the power to pause their professor. Anytime they wish, anywhere they want.
After all, why should learning only be in classrooms?}


Hopefully, eVideo will make a small impact in Indian education. And a giant one on the students actually using it.

eVideo Frequently Answered Questions

Owing to the high curiosity towards this relatively new self-studying tool for students, we've been asked a lot of questions. And frequently answered a lot of questions.

Here's the WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY, HOW of eVideo:

WHAT is eVideo?

Short answer: Sinhal eVideo = Sinhal TEST-SERIES + Sinhal eVideo DVDs .

Long answer: eVideo is an innovative course for Std.10 ICSE students. It is meant to be used as a self-studying tool and consists of 3 main things:

complete Sinhal NOTES, highly predictive Sinhal TESTS, and 20 high quality Sinhal eVideo DVDs.

The set of 20 high-quality DVDs contain lectures of popular Sinhal PROFESSORS teaching fromSinhal NOTES.

In a way, eVideo is like an mp3 player for your ICSE syllabus. Just as a mp3 player contains one’s full music library, eVideo contains your complete “academic video library”.

WHERE is eVideo available and where can I use it?

The eVideo course can be ordered at any of the Sinhals Centres. The eVideo DVDs will work on your computer only with the eVideo MasterKey inserted, a USB device similar to a pen drive. If theMasterKey is removed, eVideo will stop within 5 seconds. You can watch eVideo at home or play it on another computer provided you insert the MasterKey.

WHEN is the eVideo course starting?

You will get the eVideo in 4 VOLUMES as follows:

VOL 1 in the fourth week of November, VOL 2 in the first week of December.

VOL 3 in the second week of December, VOL 4 in the third week of December.

The Sinhals iNTENSIVE TEST-SERIES will be held every Sunday, starting November 15. It is on the following 10 SUNDAYS: Nov 15, Nov 22, Nov 29, Dec 6, Dec 13, Dec 20, Dec 27, Jan 3, Jan 10, and Jan 17. Two tests will be held on each day. The complete solutions with board marking scheme and the corrected answer booklets will be given, acting as a five time dress-reheasal for your Board exams. The Sinhal CONTACT PROGRAMME, a 5 hour workshop for fine-tuning your board performance will be held on one Sunday.

WHY should I enroll for the eVideo course?

In eVideo, the entire Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Biology syllabus is covered by SinhalPROFESSORS from Sinhal NOTES. As such it helps in self-studying all these MPCB chapters at home to build a stronger understanding. Moreover, its really short. So if you watch 2 hours (about as long as a movie), you can easily cover the entire syllabus in just about 50 days. Its also a great chance to learn the Sinhals way, which has produced some of the best results in ICSE all over India, since 1981.

HOW to buy the eVideo package?

After you have seen the free Preview DVD, and are convinced that eVideo may help you study smarter, you can order your eVideo by filling out the form, and paying the fee of Rs. 20,000 bycheque. You will receive eVideo DVDs in four volumes, with two DVDs of Maths, and one DVD of Physics, Chemistry & Biology in each. The fee includes all charges, taxes, and all bonus inclusions and software updates etc.

SOME MORE EVIDEO FAQS

Q. Why is eVideo better than classroom coaching?

It’s not. eVideo is not meant to replace traditional classroom lectures, as nothing ever can imitate the feel of actually being in the class learning with fellow students. But even after attending a lecture from the best professor in the world, you still have to come home and self-study from your own notes, classes notes, prescribed textbooks, reference textbooks, photocopied notes, cyclostyle sheets, etc. eVideo’s simple format is made to help you with this latter self-studying part. WitheVideo you can keep your Sinhal NOTES in front of you and let your professor explain a second time (or even a third or a fourth time).

Q. Will eVideo clash with tuitions?

Not really. eVideo is a complete package for Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Biology made for students who have already attended lectures on the chapters. It is a revision and self-study tool. Even if you have attended every lecture in school/classes/tuitions, you will still find eVideo useful. It can only help to understand the same syllabus from different points of view. Moreover, you can always choose to give more importance to eVideo lectures of those chapters which you have missed (or not understood that well).

Q. Which questions will be solved in eVideo?

The questions being solved in eVideo are high-quality concept-clearing Sinhals Questions. All theSinhals Classwork Questions will be solved as per the Board standard by the shortest and simplest method. Apart from these Sinhals Questions, the most important difficult Board Questions will also be solved by the Sinhal eVideo Professors.

Q. The lectures in the Preview DVD are really short. Why?

The lectures in the Preview DVD are just a sample of what you get in eVideo. The actual eVideocontains in-depth coverage of every concept in each chapter. Once you have the eVideo, you can watch the entire chapters again and again, or mark the difficult parts to watch again. If you do not already have free Preview DVD, you can collect it from any of these Sinhal Centres: ANDHERI-26246755, BORIVALI-28902550, CHEMBUR-65751592, DADAR-24172910, GRANT ROAD-23892338, MULUND-25907358, THANE-40244987, VASHI-65289242, VILE PARLE-26121686. The Preview DVD has short 10-12 minute sample lectures of each of the five eVideo Professors, so you can decide if eVideo will be useful for you.

Q. Parent query: But if this is given now, then will they not keep on watching this?

Research has shown there are two types of learning: active and passive; and both are important.eVideo can be used perfectly when students have had a long day and are too tired to “actively” study. Besides, as with anything audio-visual, the more it’s watched, the better its recall; much like scenes from one’s favorite movie. So if students do keep watching eVideo, it may be a good thing.

Q. Are there any other course options for non-Sinhals students?

Yes, along with eVideo, there is also an option to include the Sinhal TESTS & Sinhal NOTES of English Literature, English Language, History, and Geography. The fee for this course option is Rs. 27,000. There is a two installment facility for this course option. Specific details at your nearestSinhals centre.

Q. I do not know about the Sinhal iNTENSIVE TEST SERIES (iTS). What is it?

Sinhal iTS has long been a popular choice of ambitious ICSE students. In its 28 year history, theSinhal iTS has been used by 27 FIRST RANKERS in Mumbai, 10 FIRST RANKERS in INDIA, and FIRST & SECOND RANKERS in Singapore and many FIRST RANKERS in major cities. In Mumbai, Sinhal iTS is conducted at Sinhals Centres. We do not encourage giving tests at home as the testing atmosphere is missed, but if there are genuine reasons then the papers can be collected, and solved at home under supervision.