Manipal's e-learning platform wins award

BANGALORE, INDIA: Manipal Global Education Services (MGES) of the Manipal group has won the 2011 Golden Peacock innovative product and service award for developing an e-learning platform that enables Distance Education students access to over a million online books and journals, to take tests and quizzes online.

The learning platform, christened EduNxt, was launched in 2009 and it supports about 170,000 students across 25 countries covering 700 subjects or courses on 24x7 basis.

"EduNxt functions on the principle of 3A's (affordability, accessibility and appropriateness) and 4C's (content, collaboration, communications and computing) for disseminating meaningful education and knowledge across countries," MGES chief executive Anand Sudharshan said after receiving the award at the 22nd 'World Congress on Total Quality' here on Monday.

EduNxt was selected for the award after valuating its unique features, benefit to company, society, economic, social and environmental impact, competitive alternatives and institutional support for innovation.

"As the first-of-its-kind e-platform, our distance education learning system has transformed distributed learning India and other countries the world over," Sudarshan asserted.

Named after India's national bird -- peacock, the national award is given every year by the Institute of Directors, headed by former chief justice of India M.N. Venkatachalaiah and selected by its jury, chaired by former Supreme Court chief justice P.N. Bhagwati.

"The award reflects our commitment to innovation in the technology-driven learning space for emerging societies, and is a testimony to the imagination and execution of the team," Sudharshan added.

With campuses in Malaysia, Antinuga in the Caribbean, Dubai and Nepal, the Karnataka-based MGES also offers a wide range of higher education services to institutions, corporate training programmes in partnership with enterprises and vocational training in diverse sectors.