Sesh Kumar, Founder/CEO of Emantras
Sesh Kumar founded Emantras, (now) a digital education company, in 2000. Emantras began as a web development company, primarily using Macromedia Flash, and in 2004, began delivering e-learning solutions. Now with 9 offices worldwide, Emantras develops digital educational content for K-12, higher education, and enterprise. Emantras’ impressive enterprise client list includes Lufthansa, McGraw Hill Education, NASA, Nokia, Siemens Medical and IKEA. Under the Punflay brand, they’ve also developed a number of interactional educational game apps (playable online and on Apple mobile devices) for K-12. Their frog dissection app – offering a gesture based virtual simulation of everybody’s favorite biology lab – won 2010 best science app (elementary) by the IEAR (I Educational Apps Review) as well as the 2010 Mark Twain Ethical Science Award from PETA. Mobl21, Emantras’ mobile learning application, enables teachers and students to easily create and access digital learning content across various social networks and mobile devices. It launched in 2010, and won the 2010 Learning without Frontiers Innovation award.
Unlike many learning technology venture founders – though fairly commonly for web developers(?) – Kumar himself dropped out of college. It is unclear how soon after he launched Emantras. In a recent interview, he discussed how what he didn’t have in formal education – and what he seeks to provide students through Emantras – are highly accessible learning opportunities. Unsurprisingly, then, developing mobile learning content and experiences is Emantars’ current focus. His core skills are in web development, and the entrepreneurial quality that I can particularly see is willingness to adapt Emantras’ core activities to respond to changes in the marketplace and in especially in technological achivements. His leadership team has expertise in business operations and development, engineering, gaming and learning technologies.
Reflections
Looking through Emantras’ work, I’m beginning to really see the potential and value of mobile educational delivery. Emantras’ frog dissection app is using gesture-based computing in a way that is really valuable for learning. It’s exciting, and definitely warming me up out of my initially cool reception for tablets and other such devices.
It strikes me that much of Emantras’ focus is on content – indeed, a lot of the 1:1 discussions focus on content delivery. And yet it strikes me that the value of 1:1 education is as much in feedback as in content. Certainly some feedback can – and is – provided on these interactive, content-driven learning objects.
I’m thinking, optimistically, that the well-delivered content delivered through Emantras’ learning objects free up teacher/trainer time to focus on providing effective feedback to students. My imagination is sparked, and I’m trying to think of possible ventures that are directed towards – or more centrally include? – providing students with qualitative feedback. Is it possible?
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Everton Walker 4:42 pm on September 28, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Well based on where technology is taking us it seems like everything is possible. I am also inspired by this venture as my future entrepreneurial ambition is right up this street. I just would like to find out the nature of the content and the regions it spans. With the world becoming closer with every advance in technology, business ventures are no longer developed and marketed for any single region or location. This is a venture I will be following closely.
David William Price 4:51 pm on September 29, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Not sure that I’m a fan of replacing authentic messy learning with politically correct and tidy “simulations”. Mobile learning makes a lot of sense to me in respect of just-in-time performance supports but I’m interested in seeing examples of more than just a textbook or website shrunk down for the small screen.
Karen Jones 12:26 pm on September 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi David,
I think that simulations are a valuable tool in a number of situations. To start, they are useful to “cut out the noise” of the real experience, i.e. electricity and dissection simulations are a much more effective way to introduce concepts that otherwise are obscured by faulty equipment and excitable students (picture 30 grade 9’s dicing up 10 pig hearts.. 8-0) Secondly, they are suitable replacements in online settings and for students who missed the guided “face to face” experience. I totally agree with you in terms of coodinating the learning experience with the affordances of the medium or tool. I think too many online courses are just chunks of text that are suitable only for those with higher level reading skills.
KJ
kstooshnov 1:27 pm on September 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Karen,
I agree with David that there is a need for authentic, messy learning, and Louv’s book Last Child in the Woods that my wife is currently reading has lots to say about the Nature Deficit Disorder happening with too many plugged-in children. On the other hand, dissecting a rendered pig’s heart or a frog is not exactly a natural occurance, merely a simulation in place of studying human organs. It is about time for teachers to move on the digital frog and start teaching students about what is inside their own bodies… with the help of learning technologies, of course 🙂
Kyle
mcquaid 2:49 pm on October 1, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Kyle, that’s an interesting-looking book. I had never heard of that disorder before, although it makes sense to me as someone who spent a lot of their youth in the woods by myself or with friends. I may have to keep an eye out for it!
Doug Smith 3:57 am on October 1, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
This is an interesting case, thanks for sharing. I wonder how it is that Kumar, a college dropout, got involved in making educational products. I would guess that his dissatisfaction with his own education may have led him to recognizing a missing piece and a market that could address it.
mcquaid 2:48 pm on October 1, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I would like to see some kind of statistics on the percentage of successful entrepreneurs who are dropouts vs the rest of the population. It seems that for many, as long as you have a good idea and the traits of an entrepreneur, that school isn’t necessary for professional or financial success.
Just check out some of the examples here:
http://www.retireat21.com/blog/the-most-successful-college-dropouts-in-history
(although I wonder how many of them got successful while in college THEN dropped out)