Oxford University Press Celebrates 110 Years in India

Celebrating its 110 years in India, Oxford University Press (OUP), a department of the prestigious University of Oxford, announced the launch of its new suite of blended learning solutions—OXFORD INSPIRE. Catering to students of grades 1 to 8, Oxford Inspire is India’s first competency based blended learning solution with ‘learner success’ at its core. It is designed to inspire learners to acquire knowledge, abilities, and skills through a variety of experiences in an engaging and flexible environment and inspire teachers to engage innovatively with learners by combining sound pedagogy with new-age technology.

Oxford Inspire will offer print and digital courseware for English, Mathematics, Environmental Studies and Science blending the two learning mediums through a unique learn journey. The gamified platform will allow greater levels of student engagement and drive a deeper understanding of core concepts. Oxford Inspire will also offer a Reading Portal, a multilingual digital library with exclusive graded stories on Indian and International themes. The aim of the Reading Portal is to encourage learners to read for pleasure, hone their knowledge of India, and empower them to become independent readers.

Oxford Inspire's three fundamental pillars, competency-based progression, flexible learning environment and learner engagement are critical to creating confident, connected, actively involved and lifelong learners. Aligned with the new National Education Policy’s (NEP 2020) priorities, these pillars will enable classrooms to shift from traditional rote learning methods to holistic concept-based learning.

i.  Competency-based progression focuses on a sound grasp of core concepts with a more practical approach to real-world application and continuous assessment for learning progress;

ii.  A flexible learning environment encourages continuous learning with anytime, anywhere access; 

iii. A high degree of learner engagement through gamified assessments with motivational elements like rewards, class leaderboards, and ‘unlocking’ of levels and challenges as learners progress. Digital learning buddies, based on endangered animals hailing from different corners of the Indian subcontinent, accompany students on their learning journey and also promote a greater understanding of topics such as climate change, conservation, and forest and wildlife protection.

On her visit to celebrate 110 years of OUP in India, Ms. Fathima Dada, MD Education, Oxford University Press commented, “The Indian education sector is on a transformational journey which has been accelerated by innovation in digital technologies and bolstered by the Government’s prioritizing the sector. Oxford University Press has a long and prestigious history in India and has gained recognition and respect for its distinguished scholarly works and academic publishing. From publishing its first book in 1912 to currently publishing 4000+ new resources a year, OUP has upheld the highest editorial and publishing standards. We are on our mission to widen students’ access to our educational resources.”

Ms. Dada further said, “Edtech and digital learning has brought a revolutionary change in the way Indians receive their education. OUP has always been the front runner in education and research and recognises the critical role that technology can play in making a breakthrough in the world of knowledge and learning. Our new product, Oxford Inspire supports our intention to meet the ever-changing needs of Indian students for holistic learning by offering schoolbooks and companion digital solutions such as videos, question banks, quizzes etc.”

Sumanta Datta, Managing Director, Oxford University Press India added, “We remain committed to developing relevant, high-quality academic and scholarly content, and making it available in print and digital forms. The foundation of Oxford Inspire resonates with the approach recommended by NEP 2020 and focuses on concept-based, cross-disciplinary education, imparted through engaging theme and activity-based blended learning modules. We believe that the students and teachers will appreciate Oxford Inspire's innovative formats to improve conceptual learning and access to quality content.