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A for-profit venture having its roots in Oberlin College, Ohio and working its way up from the lower margins of the society, Lumen Ed seeks to revolutionise  the way education is imparted and received in India. With technological tools such as the Bright Orange Box and digital methods such as the Video Pen Pal Programme they have made  the cultural and information exchange between low income classroom models in India and classrooms in the US possible.

The Bright Orange Box is an unique device. It is battery operated with a projector and speakers loud enough for an entire classroom. It has a large touchscreen for easy navigating and has video recording facilities with 3G and Wifi access.

The Video Pen Pal Programme is powered through a smart projector (Bright Orange Box) and along with an app designed by Lumen Ed it enables classroom pairs on oppposite ends of the world to exchange 1-3 minute videos every week.

With a ‘Go Big or Go Home’ policy the team at Lumen Ed is currently starting off with a small sample of schools in India and the US (around 30/40 schools in both countries) despite greater demand to ensure that the implementation and assessment is accurate. In an association with ‘Teach For India’ they are currently pairing classrooms in the US with low-income TFI classrooms in New Delhi. Their aim is to provide every single participating teacher and student the simplest , most engaging cultural exchange through videos . With the revenue generated from the Video Pen Pal progamme and help from Kickstarter and prizes, they are now running the show on their own. Schools in the US agree to participate in the Video Pen Pal programme for an annual fee and sponsor the Box for their partners in India making it possible for them to provide both their product and service to the under-resourced, low income schools free of charge.

In a recent conversation with Saksham Khosla, Co-Founder and Media Outreach person of Lumen-ed, he talked about how they are planning to expand their hardware applications outside the classroom. “We are currently exploring possible applications of our hardware to learning environments outside the classroom, including refugee assistance, health-care education and adult learning with partners in Africa and South America” he said, when asked about possibility of innovations like the Box in the future. With a unique piece of equipment  like the Bright Orange Box as the pivot of their organisation they have  brought about remarkable change and some it unprecedented. As a message to the future generations in pursuit of something similar, ” I’ve always been a firm believer in the power of surrounding oneself with smart, driven individuals obsessed with solving problem. All four of  my fellow co-founders embody these qualities amply, which is why we are able to get where we are today”.

Note: Lumen Ed is currently hiring fresh graduates for an Operations role. Having successfully worked with DU students in the past they would love to work with more and for more permanent positions. You can contact them at their website LumenEd

Featured Image Credits: foradian.com

Arindam Goswami
[email protected]