Earn and learn online, tcyonline style

April 5, 2008 at 7:24 am · Filed under Edu-News, Teachers, Career Counseling

Shifting gears to move with the changing times, the modern student in the country today prefers to supplement his classroom education with online learning, be it his regular exam preparation for school or college, or any competitive exam.

At the same time, ‘not-so-computer-savvy’ students are getting jittery following the recent announcement of elite CAT going online next year. Such students are feeling a sense of insecurity and are making hectic efforts to learn net-surfing fast.

The broadband internet has made e-learning the modern buzzword and the students are taking a full advantage of free downloadable tests made available by www.tcyonline.com, the largest student-teacher platform in the country.

It is worth noting that the website is fast moving towards its target of 100,000 enrolments. On an average over 6000 students visit the site daily and are being benefited in their exam preparations, be it for IELTS , Medical or MBA.

Scores of free downloadable tests are available on the website for school and college examinations apart from some competitive tests being held in the country from time to time. These practice tests help the student in not only assessing his or her level before the actual exam, but are a wonderful way to benchmark himself or herself with anybody and anywhere in country.

The company is also making long strides through its two programs called ‘BetterThink’ and ‘STEPS’ in imparting quality education to the students and trouble-shooting their problems with the help of Live support by subject-experts and technical experts at tcyonline.com.

Boon for teachers:

Tcyonline.com is a real bonanza for teachers as well. An ‘attractive’ revenue model for teachers, launched about couple of months back, has evoked an ‘overwhelming’ response from the teaching community nationwide. Hundreds of satisfied teachers are uploading their tests on this unique website and are being financially benefited.

“This largest teacher-student platform in the country is a real boon for teachers because now they can earn a life-long income through our website,” said Mr. Kamal Wadhera, the CEO of tcyonline.com, an online initiative of Top Careers & You (TCY).

“Surpassing our all expectations, more and more teachers are flocking to this democratic platform every day and earning a handsome income,” the CEO said.

This education company launched this unique platform mainly for teachers to enable them earn a steady monthly income by uploading their content on the website.

Since the launch of this platform about couple of months back, over 1500 teachers have registered themselves on the site and are making ‘good’ money.

The encouraging part of the whole exercise is teachers are getting used to uploading their content on the website, thanks to the technical support offered by tcyonline.com experts.

Mr. Javed Ahmed, an IT professional-turned-online teacher from Hyderabad, who started uploading his MBA tests about two months back, is a happy man today thanks to the initiative by this website. “I couldn’t imagine teachers can make such easy money until I came across this website while net-surfing one fine morning. Basically I am an IT guy but money through uploading tests has really supplemented my income,” he said.

Mr. Ahmed, however, suggested that the financial gains of online-teachers like him should be based on number of downloads. “It’s a wonderful side-income for teachers and I would suggest other teachers, especially the retired ones, to come to the site to earn some good money,” he added.

For a blogger-turned-online teacher from a small city off Mumbai, Mr. Rajiv Vashisht, this website has come as a ‘good lucrative business’. He has uploaded quite a good number of MBA and English tests since the last one month. Mr Vashisht is of the view the tests should be ‘better categorized’ for the convenience of the students and the payment system for the teachers should be further streamlined.

Mr. Manoj Dogra, an online teacher from Himachal Pradesh, is all praise for this ‘totally unique’ website. “While other websites charge money, to my knowledge tcyonline.com is the only website which is totally free for the teachers and the students,” he said. Mr. Dogra, who is also running his own coaching institute for competitive exams like MBA suggested that the tests should be in a ‘more systematic order’ for the convenience of the students.

For the uninitiated, this unique concept is a real windfall for the teachers because now they can start earning through this website right from the day one as they can get their works published even if it is a couple of tests. Just with an effort of three-four hours on a single test, a teacher can make good money and can also keep track of his earnings in very transparent platform.

tcyonline is currently paying a good amount to the teachers as per each test uploaded. On top of that, they are also making money since the students have started attempting these tests. So, in a way they can turn their one-time effort into a life-long earning. This website is very particular about the originality of the content but does not bind them for an exclusive content.

About tcyonline.com:

Tcyonline.com is an online initiative of Top Careers & You (TCY). Founded in 1998, TCY provides college level test preparation and school level supplemental education services. The company serves almost all the sections of student community, through classroom teaching, and online mode; from K-12 to students preparing for competitive exams. TCY is present at 34 locations, and is tying up with more like-minded individuals and businesses, to further extend its footprint across the country.

TCYonline.com Challenge Zone

ne 20, 2008 at 4:22 am · Filed under Edu-schools, Edu-News, TCYonline, Tests Preparation, Teacher-Student Platform

The real way of exam preparation

NEW DELHI, June 20 - TCYonline.com, India’s number one web-portal for teachers and students, today launched the ‘Challenge Zone’ – a unique testing competitive tool — on its website which takes pride in having more than 1.15 lakh enrolled students and 3600 registered teachers across the country.

This free ‘challenge’ is something the students have always imagined but never had a chance to experience it anywhere. “The idea behind this initiative is to give a required boost to student-benchmarking through this thrilling learning experience, “ said Mr. Kamal Wadhera, the CEO of TCY, while launching this state-of-the-art ‘testing tool’, meticulously prepared by TCYonline.com experts with their decade-long experience. “I must say, no student can ill-afford to miss this testing tool,” he added.

“It is something we probably needed but never knew it could happen”, was the common feeling among a bunch of test-takers we spoke to during ‘test-rides’.

“Our experience tells that students desperately need such tools for customised testing but they don’t know what they need. It’s like what Henry Ford said,” If I’d asked people what they wanted, they would have asked for a better horse…” Drawing such a comparison of what the world’s motor-car giant, Henry Ford, had once said, Mr. Wadhera observed that the modern student couldn’t have asked for more.

Better benchmarking being the key to better scores, thanks to education portals like www.tcyonline.com, today a student in the country is in a better position to judge himself with anybody, anywhere and anytime. Touted as the success mantra by online education pundits, this ‘testing tool’ is sure to take students’ scores to dizzy heights, thereby giving them a great morale-boost.

This online unique competition puts a student on a sound pedestal, in full cruise-control. Now he can even choose to play a host. He can either ‘throw’ an on-the-spot challenge or schedule it at a later convenient time. Forming internet groups and scoring over each other is all set to be the in-thing in the Indian education arena. This Challenge Zone is just a beautiful beginning towards TCYonline.com’s objective of giving a new meaning to student-benchmarking in India.

The methodology: Just imagine, on a particular day and time an MBA aspirant in Chandigarh decides to benchmark himself against four other such aspirants in different parts of the country, say in Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. All he has to do is log on, select a test, invite his opponents, schedule his time and date. And, there you go!

“The beauty of this whole testing exercise is that a student can keep track of his performance (with onscreen score display) by controlling his speed and accuracy,” the CEO added. This is akin to keeping a tab on your running-mate.

Even inviting other students to the site, who are not online at that time, is as simple as sending a simple SMS. Students with the same goal can compete with each other. The benefits of this ‘challenge’ are many which include choice of better peers, better test, better time and better speed.

At the end of the test all the participants, including the host, will be able to see their scores on a scoreboard which will give them an idea as to where they stand and in what areas they have to improve upon. This testing tool may also shatter many of their false hopes that they might have developed during their course preparation.

The student might feel he is good in one subject but to his shock and dismay may face a stark reality like, “Oh, my God, I am nowhere as compared to that guy in Chennai.” Chances are he would work harder and overshoot his own goals. Now, that’s the beauty of this whole cerebral exercise. Want to jump on the bandwagon and take a ‘joy-ride’?

Salient features:-
• Ultimate form of customization
• Better peer choice
• Flexible time, better tests
• Self-motivating learning thrill
• Healthy competition for mutual benefit

About TCYonline.com:-
www.tcyonline.com is an online initiative of Top Careers & You (TCY). Founded in 1998, TCY provides college level test preparation and school level supplemental education services. The company serves almost all the sections of student community, through classroom teaching, and online mode; from K-12 to students preparing for competitive exams. TCY is present at 36 locations, and is tying up with more like-minded individuals and businesses, to further extend its footprint across the country.

CBSE exams: A cakewalk with tcyonline.com

As the mercury plummets, and the countdown begins to the Board exams, some of the students are really getting ‘chilly’ down their spines. Yes, the testing times are here again and most of the students are losing sleep over the very thought of it. There may be others silently praying for a miracle!

On the flip side, it is also true that the Gen Next has come of age. After coming to grips with hard ground realities, fighting parental pressure to perform, students have now got down to some serious business. Since the modern-day students are net-savvy, their exam preparation too goes hi-tech.

‘Smart study’ being the success secret, a majority of them goes in for online tests. These tests have been made available free of cost by tcyonline.com, India’s first education networking platform. Exam preparation has become a lot easier, leading to better results.

In a bid to boost their confidence level for their Central Board of Secondary Examination Class IX and X exams, www.tcyonline.com has gone whole hog with free online practice tests for the students. So, no more butterflies in your little stomachs.

Completely aligned with CBSE syllabus, these scientifically designed 30-minute tests would help shoot away students’ examination blues. These tests comprise 40 probing questions that would analyze their knowledge and aptitude.

“Hundreds of man-years have been spent in preparing these tests, starting from school programs like test papers for CBSE to Medical and Engineering”, according to tcyonline.com CEO, Mr. Kamal Wadhera.

“These tests would help ‘scientifically streamline’ students’ preparation, identify their grey areas and gauge their right progress. Once they take these online tests, the students would get a fair idea of their comparative rankings and topics to be revised. This is because the education portal also provides the detailed analyses sheet with correct answers.”

Mr. Wadhera advised the students to ‘consolidate’ their preparation without getting nervous when they are just over a fortnight away from the D-day. “They should come to our portal and discuss their preparation strategies with other students. Also, a little bit of benchmarking would help to a large extent,” the CEO opined.

It is worth noting that fine-tuned with students’ academic tastes and computing skills, these tests have really stood the test of time and got rave reviews from parents and teachers as well. Launched about three months back, they are gaining popularity between the student and academic fraternity alike. This unique education portal will cross the 1, 00,000 enrolment mark soon.

According to experts, a student taking more tests will feel more confident, cerebrally fighting fit to take the bull (exam) by its horn. Moreover, such a better-prepared student is bound to improve his cut-offs. We do not think there is any better way to shoot away your exam blues.

It is notable that cutting across geographical barriers, age groups and peer pressure, broadband has really broadened modern student’s mental horizons today. The best possible content is available now at the click of a mouse, whether a student is in a metro, a tier B-City or a remote place. No wonder, student’s benchmarking and analytics have catapulted to a different level. Today, he is in a better position to prepare for the forthcoming Board exams.

About tcyonline.com

Tcyonline.com is an online initiative of Top Careers & You (TCY). Founded in 1998, TCY provides college level test preparation and school level supplemental education services. The company serves almost all the sections of student community, through classroom teaching, and online mode; from K-12 to students preparing for competitive exams. TCY is present at 31 locations, and is tying up with more like-minded individuals and businesses, to further extend its footprint across the country.

“It’s no BPO play for American kids”

January 16, 2008 at 9:29 am · Filed under Etutoring

Kamal Wadhera is the founder and CEO of tcyonline.com . The company specializes in school programs and standardized test preparation; provides LIVE online homework help through one-on-one tutoring. One of the leading educational organizations in India, tcyonline.com is gaining a foothold in North America with its unique online tutoring budgeted plans. The company is mapping out top US cities through its prospective affiliates with the just launched attractive ‘zero-investment’ model plan. Wadhera touches upon the Affiliate Business Model of tcyonline.com

Excerpts from the interview with R.M.S. Atwal

Q. There are already a host of tutoring players in the American market. How different is tcyonline.com from them?

I categorize these players primarily into two parts; the companies delivering the services from within the US and outside. While a majority of the American companies is providing these services to the end customers (school-kids) at highly prohibitive prices, the same job is being done by offshore companies, like us, at a much lesser cost, thereby putting lesser burden on the parents. We have an edge over the US companies because we provide great value for money. On top of that, our results speak for themselves. Today, with over 250,000 hours of total tutoring experience and over 1000 US students already tutored in the last two years, we are at a much stronger position. Our old students testify for us because we have made considerable difference in their lives. Our tutors have helped improve their grades a lot. Now we have a series of great results to show during the last two years that have made both students and parents very satisfied. Many of our students are repeat students. They were earlier with us in the lower grades and are still with us in their higher grades. The student satisfaction has really pushed the enrolments. That, I think, is something encouraging for us.

Q. But how different are you from the BPO industry?

I don’t see it as an outsourcing venture. Ours is purely an educational venture. The only difference is that it (education) is happening over the Net and the end-customer is sitting 10,000 miles away. So, it’s not at all a BPO play for us. Ninety per cent of the companies that had mushroomed in this sector thinking it as BPO sector have vanished. It’s a pure and serious education play. The challenges in the US are different as kids have more distractions there. With over nine years of experience in education and over two years in e-tutoring US kids, we are very comfortable handling these issues. If you see the BPOs, their only plank is cost arbitrage, irrespective of the quality of services. But you can’t afford to do that with kids’ education. You can’t cut corners on any aspect. Over here we have been following a unique five-step approach since the day one. Our academic counselors monitor our tutors so that at no point of time anything is compromised in the entire delivery process. So, this is like teaching one-on-one in a classroom, and certainly it’s not another BPO business.

Q. Some of the Americans are not happy with the outsourcing services. Here you are dealing with school kids. Don’t you think your responsibility increases manifold?

Definitely. I would say this is a very sensitive area. The reasons behind outsourcing services (not doing well) were slightly different. Accent was one problem and customer service was another. Coming to schools, we have to be very careful. for example, who the tutor is, what he talks, how good his presentation is, how caring and passionate he is, how well he can relate to the problem of the child, etc. At all times, he has to be very patient. He can’t afford to lose his patience and his interaction with the child has to be very soft and encouraging. So, we train them in all aspects before they go live.

Q. Your new Affiliate Business Model sounds good on paper. How realistic is your ‘zero investment’ offer?

We have rolled out this plan after considerable amount of research on existing services, other choices in front of the customer, pain points, gaps in the market, etc. This is one aspect of the venture. Secondly, we have considerable experience in the Indian market in terms of franchising and handling affiliates. So, as far as our systems and replication of our services are concerned, we are comfortable on that. If there are any hiccups, we will overcome them as our team is humble and quick to learn. Regarding zero investment offer, it’s not a classroom setting for our affiliates. We are not replicating our delivery i.e. they don’t have to deliver the services on our behalf. They just have to enroll students and delivery is from our end. In the Indian market, when we are franchising our classroom services, we do charge a considerable amount of licensing fee and security. Our affiliates in the US and Canada would be primarily counseling and enroling students. So we don’t want to burden them unnecessarily.

Q. What are your expectations from this model?

Well, we have very realistic expectations. It should pick up very fast because education is a great pain for any parent in the world and the US is no different. With the budgeted K-12 school programs we will make private supplementary education effective and affordable, and reach out to an average American household. We need somebody representing us close to the end customer so that we understand him better. That’s where affiliates come in. It’s a win-win situation for the end-customer as well as the affiliate. So, if both are satisfied in this chain, we are bound to succeed.

Q. Who all could be interested to become your affiliates and what benefits can they expect from you?

Educators, publishers, tutoring companies, home business owners, individuals or businesses with an interest in the education sector would be keen to become our affiliates. They could be people who have had some academic connection in the past, either in a teaching capacity or school administration. Since they know this field a little, it would be easier for them to understand the whole concept and be successful earlier in this venture. Now, talking about benefits, we have seen that working in this sector is much more satisfying than working for any other venture. If you put in the same kind of energy one feels much more satisfied at the end of the day. Secondly, the financial rewards from this model are so handsome that anybody would love to be associated with us.

Q. What’s the foundation of your tutoring program and how scalable is it?

I do not know whether scalable is the right word over here but definitely everything is at its place: huge content repository for K-12 for all grades, topics and the states. The foundation has already been laid. All the inputs required for state curricula alignment are already in place. Now it is just a matter of enrolling students and delivering the services to them. Talking of the delivery side, our team is very strong. Our tutors are kind, patient and give individual attention to child. I would like to mention here that our tutors are always supervised by academic counselors who are also very experienced. I do not see any hurdle in our scalability.

Q. So, where do you see tcyonline.com down the line, say in the next three years from now?

We have quite optimistic and big plans for the future. We see tens of thousands of students enrolling with us for homework help, test preparation and High School Programs in every state of the US. Our affiliates’ services would be extended throughout the country after we establish our offices in four to five major cities of the US.

Online coaching for entrance tests

January 22, 2008 at 5:11 am · Filed under GMAT

The Tribune

January 22, 2008

By Sanjeev Singh Bariana

If you cannot afford tuition fee to assess your potential for entry into a management course, GMAT or GRE, take a simple online test at the tcyonline.com website and plan for your future. The test can be attempted free of cost. In a novel endeavour, Top Careers and You, a Ludhiana-based company, which provides coaching classes for a range of entrance tests, including MBA, MCA, GRE, GMAT, SAT and law courses, has launched the site recently. Within a short span of a little more than a couple of months, the enrollment figure has crossed 40,000.

Giving the details, Kamal Wadhera, Chief Executive Officer, said benchmarking is a key issue in planning for any entrance examination today. Benchmarking done by individual coaching classes don’t give the correct standing of a candidate vis-à-vis students in other institutes. “Thus, we decided to create a common pool where a student could make his comparisons with students all over the country.”

Wadhera said, “We have exposed students online to all our contents in our eight years’ experience. We have taken a big risk, however, the initial response tells that the site will save our financial interests as well while giving quality offer of assessment to students. As far as our financial gains are concerned, we have been approached by certain institutes for their online advertisements. We are looking into the matter and in case we get decent return, we might also make free the expert coaching classes which we will provide at a level higher than the entry level. Students will have a liberty to choose their levels.”

It is also possible for students to pick any section of the testing material like IQ, general knowledge or numbers to estimate their potential based on the standings that the computer result would offer. The site allows teachers, or just passionate mentors and writers, to share their questions and tutorials with thousands of students by uploading their content in any format.

“We are working out the details of financial costs of Value-Added Services (VAS) under which students will have the option to choose tests, based on their preparation levels. Just clarifying on front of payments by students, our institute will offer free online testing to all students who want to check their standings in the general merit at the national level before joining expert coaching. The exercise will save a lot of time and money and also tell students their actual standing before they choose to commence their journey in preparing for any entrance examination,” Wadhera added.