Headquartered in Noida, HarperCollins Publishers India is one of the world's largest publishing company which publishes fiction, non-fiction and poetry written by diverse and world-renowned writers across the world.

“Learning through `discovery' is best supported through the `interactive' media of the field trip. This is the richest mode of learning, and of course, the most expensive, requiring both the intimate involvement of the teacher, and the teacher constructed world," asserts Laurillard.

Even though eLearning has existed for a relatively long time, it is still in its infancy in India. Current eLearning systems in the market are limited to technical gadgets and tools that aid in the organizational aspects of teaching, instead of supporting the actual learning. As a result, the learner has become de-individualized and has been demoted to a non-critical homogenous user. The way out of this drawback is the creation of individual eLearning materials. This includes a flexible multidimensional data model and the generation of individual content, which would en-able interaction between the learners and the con-tent in eLearning systems.

eLearning has a vast presence in almost every field. Language teaching is one such field where technology has taken over and improved the ways of learning. eLearning has redefined many of the strategies and concepts of teaching, thus enabling the teaching community to per-form better. Infusing technologies in classroom learning have added stimulus and enhanced the learner's interaction within the classroom.

Take for example, the English language. eLearning has enabled the user to gain standardised knowledge even if societal restraints of teaching are there with parents or teachers not having the know-how to teach the child English or train them in communication. Teachers resort to eLearning tools, including audio-video clips, recording, and assessments to impart knowledge. Not only does it make the session more interesting than the old book style teaching, but it also keeps the learner attentive during the class. eLearning is not restrictive, thus facilitating the user to learn at his own pace and time, and thus reinforcing till knowledge is learnt.

Efficient & effective communication

is essential for the success of a school. Learning platforms help schools improve communication by promoting the use of a wide variety of modern communication tools such as cloud mail, internal messaging, project spaces and blogs. As a result, a school can save time by streamlining information sharing between different stakeholders and ultimately, reduce the amount of money spent on paper.

These learning platforms also help schools realise time-saving benefits for teachers and administrative staff, improve communication within the school and the local community, and improve student engagement and performance. According to a 2011 survey conducted by the company that developed a learning management system, 75 percent of teachers feel that parental involvement is `very important' in the success of a child's education. But for many teachers, finding the time to communicate effectively with parents can be difficult. Using a dedicated online tool, such as a parent portal, can reduce the amount of time teachers spend in communicating with parents and improve the quality of information they get. A parent portal may give parents access to a secure web-page containing information about their child's education, such as grades and attendance. As much of the information is up-dated automatically, the parent portal saves teachers' valuable time. Teachers can also add specific information about individual students as required, such as comments on behaviour, attendance and mentorship, enabling them to easily and quickly communicate directly with a child's parents.

Learning online is popular because it is:

1. Faster & Wider: This new age learning system is technology-based and helps knowledge to be shared by connecting with other users. Teachers can reach their class with a click and get feedback instantly. They have a chance to connect with a wider group of learners and educators that help them maximize their academic objectives.

2. Convenient & Cost-Effective: The new age learning system allows students to acquire knowledge at one's own pace and convenience. And it is possible because eLearning doesn't need you to travel far or spend time at libraries. Everything is available with an internet connection that makes education comfortable and cost-effective.

3. A Collaborative Learning System: With eLearning you get the option to learn with the whole world. The class today is no longer confined to a physical classroom with walls. People from different parts of the world join to discuss and share knowledge. Through online learning, different students from different countries can exchange learning processes and through that, a cultural exchange also takes place. This constant cross-cultural exchange benefits students in many ways.

One of the platform providers and a big player in digital school content claims to reach 10 percent of India's private school-going children every day. This gives us an idea of the market scope in this segment.

For a publishing house, which is making in-roads into the eLearning sphere, the following are the avenues to be explored:

1. Apps based on language learning or cloud-based online learning platform that learners can access on desktops and mobiles
2. Assessment & reporting tools
3. Language labs for Science, Maths and English

The efforts of teachers and technology combines to improve the quality of education. Easy access to materials, flexible space, time and pace of study and immediate feed-back are some of the advantages that make online language learning a fun thing to go.