TikTok To Train IIM Indore Students, Professionals

Indian Institute Management (IIM), Indore, on January 16, announced its partnership with China-based shot video platform TikTok to develop video modules for students and professionals.

Under the partnership, TikTok will have to develop video modules on communication, strategy, negotiation, marketing and others, which will be integrated on several courses provided by IIM, Indore.

IIM Indore’s director, Himanshu Rai, highlighted that the TikTok videos will be tailor-made for management professionals, government employees, officials and entrepreneurs, who come to that management institute for training.

“We are hopeful that the MoU with TikTok will help in skill development for youngsters and in turn boost the country’s economy in the future,” Rai added.

TikTok’s New Initiative #EduTok

In 2019, TikTok also launched a new initiative #EduTok programme. With this new programme, TikTok aims to popularise bite-sized e-learning content across India. In TikTok’s world, “#EduTok is a multi-phased integrated initiative aligned with the wider objective of democratising learning for the Indian digital community on the platform.”

At the #EduTok official launch, Gunjan Taneja, a fitness creator on TikTok said, “Campaigns such as #EduTok shine a spotlight on how one should never give up the quest to learn and how one can succeed if they have the grit and determination to work towards their goals.”

TikTok will cover varied topics from subjective educational lessons through edtech platforms to videos that offer tips on health and mental awareness, and motivational talks. The company plans to bring “innovation in the education industry by democratising learning” through its #EduTok Programme.

In October 2019, TikTok announced that the #EduTok hashtag was used to share over 10 Mn short videos. TikTok also noted that the videos got over 48.7 Bn views and were shared 1.8 Bn times on TikTok within a few months of its launch.

TikTok also partnered with social enterprises, Josh Talks and The/Nudge Foundation, to start mentorship programmes for creators. For this, Josh Talks also organised 25 #EduTok workshops. It also shortlisted five thousand TikTok creators to attend a hands-on learning workshop conducted by existing #EduTok creators.

The/Nudge Foundation also created custom content on various topics — soft skills, skill development, identity building, job readiness and career planning. The/Nudge Foundation will organise workshops across Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir till March 2020.

The foundation also announced that each workshop will accommodate up to 200 users. In addition, the workshop will be conducted in the regional languages with varied content, talking about motivation, language skills, health and fitness, respectively.