How are ed-tech start-ups revolutionising the education sector in India

Imagine understanding a complex math problem in a minute with a graphical illustration of all the steps, or visualising how our heart functions. Learning has never been so much fun and engaging as it is now with all the digital apps, games and online tutorials at our disposal. Whether for school goers or working professional, education is now a click away. Thanks to the new-age learning made possible by the edtech industry. The growing technology frontier of India and its foray into the education sector promises to deliver great educational outcomes for the whole nation. Edtech is being embraced and promoted by private and government organisations to extend the reach of education beyond barriers. Here’s how edtech is revolutionising the field of education:

Online platform: The exploits of technology in the education domain can mostly be felt by the rise of online learning portals in India. Edtech firms are providing digital learning platforms via apps, mobile, tablets etc. to cater to a range of diverse learners. What makes it in demand is the flexibility that it offers. With India’s increasing student population, technology enabled education system is an answer to make education inclusive. A large portion of prospective learners cannot access education due to various factors related to remote location, inadequate infrastructure, shortage of teachers, societal obligations, personal commitments etc. An online learning platform not only solves the issue, but is a great way to connect with other participants and the instructor. Here are two bespoke aspects of an online platform:

• New-age tutorial: India had a thriving culture of private tutorial/coaching centres. With the influx of technology most well established tutorials are going digital, joining hands to be part of the edtech community. The presence of renowned institutions in the virtual space will be a boon to candidates aspiring to crack competitive exams who couldn’t previously avail of focused training due to distance/location etc.
• Flip Classroom: This is a unique take off technology enabled learning. The flip method works wonders to maximise student’s class performance especially with a heavy concentration of students per class. They get the resource online, prepare beforehand and use class time for discussions and application of the learning. It saves time, reduces distractions and increases learner engagement.

Edtech firms by their innovative learning approaches and suave tools are fulfilling many dreams and giving wings to aspirations.

Personalised learning: An online learning course curriculu+m is meticulously designed. Each topic is graded depending on the cognitive capacity of the learner. The courses are installed with self-assessment tools that let learners self-check their learning, apply the concepts and stay motivated. The assignments are designed from simple to complex and each level builds on the previous one. Furthermore, technology allows optimising learning by tapping into various learning styles namely visual, auditory and kinaesthetic. The entire learning package is catered to meet the specific learning need of a candidate. The Edtech set up carefully analyses the need of a group of learners and tailors a perfect solution to meet that need. The booming market of e-learning speaks volumes about the success of edtech in India. Byju’s Learning App, Khan Academy are some of the leaders of the field.

Standardized resources: Whether instructional materials, interactive lessons or tutor led classes, the digital medium offers you standardized quality of learning. In the Indian education market, quality service is often a concern due to a disparity between the demand and the availability of resources. Edtech start-ups are providing large pool of knowledge bank, developing MOOC modules and exclusive alternatives for accessing relevant, meaningful and learner centric tools. Firms are either serving an expansive client base comprising K-12 candidates, aspirants of higher studies/vocational education as well as professionals or are focussing on particular sectors. As an example, Byju’s, Meritnation cater to the K-12 arena, Imarticus provides learning solutions in the specific field of data analytics etc. The edtech industry promises to resolve the issue of resource crunch, hence catalysing the proliferation of education across the country.

Creating job opportunities: Teaching had never been a much sought-after career option in the past. The new learning medium has created a tremendous demand for subject matter experts of various fields and teachers to design courses and deliver them. Instructional designer, e-learning experts, curriculum developers, course designers are the latest positions offered to educators by both corporate houses as well as eminent organisations. On the job training, decent salary package, exciting projects have created lucrative job opportunities for professionals from various industries namely Education, IT, Analytics etc. Edtech enterprises are also consolidating their contribution in creating a niche job market.

Education is a necessity and comprehensive efforts to make it more effective and accessible at mass scale is all that we need. The edtech start-ups with their novel and range of solutions will definitely catapult our education system towards greater success.

This article is authored by Grishma Nanavaty, Partner and Lead Counsellor, ReachIvy.com