PRINCETON, N.J. and
MENLO PARK, South Africa, Jan. 5,
2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Tabtor, a tablet-based learning
solution that is redefining education through data driven
intelligence and personalized learning, today announced a
partnership with Via Afrika Publishers, a leading publisher of
quality educational textbooks and materials in South Africa. The companies will work together
to replicate in South Africa the
dramatic math performance improvements achieved by Tabtor students
in the US and elsewhere in the world. The Via Afrika Tabtor
Math program will be available immediately in South Africa for students in grades R through
8 and will follow the South African CAPS curriculum.
Tabtor's groundbreaking concept that provides powerful student
level Point-of-Learning Analytics along with time stamped
Proficiency Matrix to teachers has attracted widespread adoption
among consumers as well as media attention in the US because it
delivers results.
Tabtor's approach to learning makes the partnership with Via
Afrika a natural fit: The South
Africa-based publisher is a leading advocate of digital
education. Via Afrika released a report last June outlining the
challenges and opportunities associated with eLearning in
South Africa, detailing how the
emergence of technology platforms can change the role of teachers.
Via Afrika's ultimate goal is to make learning more personalized
and less transactional, leveraging technology to deliver affordable
new tools to students and teachers.
"Some view digital technologies as a platform that educators can
use to extend the reach of traditional teaching methods – a new
venue to transmit lectures to students," said Christina Watson, CEO of Via Afrika. "We believe
new technologies such as Tabtor will drive positive change in
teaching methodologies, providing a new educational future in which
teachers serve as facilitators, coaches and guides to give students
a personalized learning experience."
"We are excited to be working with Via Afrika in expanding the
immense opportunity for personalized learning for students in
South Africa. With Tabtor, on an
average we see a 50% improvement in learning speed and a 65%
improvement in answer accuracy within a few months," says Raj
Valli, CEO of Tabtor. "We've also observed a dramatic increase in
math confidence amongst students and near elimination of students'
perceived fear of math. We are excited to work with Via Afrika to
deploy technology and instructor resources to achieve similar
results in South Africa."
Balraj Suneja, CTO of Tabtor
said, "we are leveraging mobile technology with data analytics to
create a GPS of learning that guides students along their own
personalized learning pathways." He added, "scalability often
comes with technology and this is no exception. Our ability
to offer Tabtor on Android for South
Africa as well as offer support for math learning in
Afrikaans language is proving both the flexibility of the platform
as well as our ability to expand learning opportunities for all
students globally."
Having played a key role in improving education in South Africa for more than 60 years, Via
Afrika Publishers is uniquely positioned to launch an innovative
new approach. Via Afrika is part of the Media24 group, Africa's leading publisher, which has many
international and local affiliated companies in the media industry
through its holding company, Naspers. Founded in 1915, Naspers is a
broad-based multinational Internet and media group offering
services in more than 130 countries. Naspers is listed on the
Johannesburg Stock Exchange (NPN.SJ) and has an ADR listing on the
London Stock Exchange (LSE: NPSN).
Via Afrika serves the needs of students of all ages, from early
childhood learning to adult education. Working in cooperation with
Tabtor, Via Afrika has made this groundbreaking tutoring technology
available to the public on both iOS and Android tablets.
"We believe Tabtor can be a game-changer for South African
parents, teachers and students," Watson observed. "It can help
students who are struggling develop a love for math and the skills
to succeed. It can challenge our brightest students to reach
higher. And it can help educators and parents transform the
education system by combining 21st century technology
with the human touch needed to spark learning and academic
growth."
Sundi Natarajan, Tabtor India CEO
added, "the availability of Tabtor on Android tablets significantly
enhances our ability to reach all students across the world and
make it available for both consumers and schools at very affordable
levels. As a platform, we are well poised to add subjects
outside of Math very quickly as well."
The Via Afrika-Tabtor personalized learning solution is now
available at the iTunes App Store
for iPads and at Google Play for Android tablets. Via Afrika plans
to eventually work with educators to integrate Tabtor tools into
school curricula, potentially reaching hundreds of thousands of
students. Learn more at http://tabtor.viaafrika.com.
About Via Afrika Publishers
Via Afrika Publishers is
a leading publisher of quality educational textbooks and related
material for South Africa and
southern African countries. With 65 years of experience, the
company publishes materials that meet the needs of learners from
early childhood development to Grade 12, and FET (vocational)
Levels 2 to 4, as well as Adult Education learners in print and
electronic formats. The high-quality educational material is
currently being used by thousands of learners and teachers
country-wide. Via Afrika Future, a division of Via Afrika, has been
developing digital content for more than a decade. Visit
www.viaafrika.com for more information.
About Tabtor
Tabtor is a flagship educational
technology platform from PrazAs Learning, Inc., and is designed to
completely transform the way the world looks at learning. The
platform, designed for tablets, provides teachers and students with
a highly personalized learning experience, which focuses on data
driven proficiency improvements tied to individual
topics/curriculum and point of learning for each student.
Tabtor combines best of personalized teaching with a fun and
engaging learning program that supports multiple subjects. It is
tailored to every student using a combination of patent-pending
digital-paper technology that allows data visualization of student
performance using proficiency matrix that is tracked each day,
sharing and review of handwritten work, automatic grading, video
tutorials, and adaptive analytics. For more information, visit
www.tabtor.com.
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SOURCE Tabtor