IT Educational News (02)

"Cyberplanet Plans IPO & English Parnership"
by Jirapan Boonnoon
The Nation
July 21, 2009

Thai software and computer games developer CyberPlance Interactive is planning to list its stock on the Market for Alternative Investment, with an initial public offering this year. Moreover, the firm is planning to join with a business partner in England.

CyberPlanet president Chanindej Vanijwongse said the firm had been preparing for the stock listing for several years. He said about 90% of the company's revenue came from Europe and the United States, with the rest coming from the domestic market. For this reason, CyberPlanet is negotiating to set up a sole distributor in England as a marketing arm to expand its customer base in Europe.

The company has also announced the formation of what it calls Genius Planet Centre tutorial schools for primary-level students in Thailand. The schools will be run by a subsidiary company called Informix Plus.

Managing director Sasivimol Kerdphol said that in a first phase, the centres would offer tutorial courses in English called English Monster, enabling students to learn and study English via edutainment programmes and Nintendo DS as an instructional medium.

Informix Plus plans to launch 50-100 tutorial schools within the next few years and franchise the system after that.

CyberPlanet is expecting to develop brain training, science and mathematics courses next year and aims to create edutainment programmes for secondary-school studetns in 2011.

"I think the education sector offers high potential business," Sasivimol said. "The English programme will help develop children's learning and thinking and also analyse their skills."

Chanindej said CyberPlanet generated revenue of Bt85 million last year. In the first half of this year, the company made Bt 40 million, and it expects full-years revenue of Bt 100 million to Bt 120 million.

IT Educational News (01)

"Local Software Boosts Learning Experience"
One Computer Handles as many as 50 Students
by Asina Pornwasin
The Nation
July 21, 2009

Sarut Pongkanissaraporn, a Prathom 3 student at Chanpradittharam Witthayakhom School on Phetkasem Road in Bangkok, enjoys his Enlish lessons. At first glance, though, the 9 years old seems to be playing a computer game with his classmates. In fact, he and his friends are practising their English with their teacher interactively, via a computer screen projected on to a whiteboard.

Sarut says he likes learning with his friends by using locally-developed computer software called MIcrosoft MultiPoint, and he is happy that his school will implement the technology in the coming semester. "This kind of technology helps us to learn more easily and to understand the subjects - especially maths. That is a tough subject for me. It also helps us to enjoy learning because it's like my friends and I are playing a game together and we get along with one another much better," he said.

A younger student at the same school, Mattunyu Jama, 8, is also quick to praise the new style of learning. Her favorite subjects are English and computer studies, and she believes Microsoft MultiPoint technology will make her studies more enjoyable, and she will learn better. "For me, science is a tough subject, but I think learning with our classmates, using Microsoft MultiPoint, will help us to understand it more easily," Mattunyu said.

Microsoft MultiPoint software was develped by Microsoft (Thailand). It allows large groups of students to take part in lessons at the same time, using the same electronic courseware on just one computer.

Currently, about 500 schools in 16 provinces run by the Office of the Basic Education Commission are using the technology. Microsoft (Thailand) is also extending the new learning experience to 340,000 students attending 435 primary schools run by the Education Department of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA).

Last week, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with the BMA to allow its 435 schools to use Microsoft MultiPoint technology and courseware free of charge for the next three years. As a part of the package, called the Microsoft Education Alliance, teachers working in the BMA schools and the development of courseware specifically for the BMA system.

Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra said the BMA planned to introduce Microsoft MultiPoint in all of its 435 schools next semester and had set aside Bt 7 million to buy computer mouses for schools. Under the plan, each school will have one computer room equipped with Microsoft MultiPoint.

"We'll roll out this kind of technology in all eight main subjects - one by one unitl all subjects are covered," Sukhumbhand said.