The Edtech industry is spearheading the changes in the education sector’s new normal. Unlike the e-commerce sector that took seven years to change consumer behavior and acceptance of the platform, the edtech industry became part of a student’s life overnight. Gone are the days when parents had to stand in line to meet a teacher or get vague answers to their child’s academic progress. The learning platforms make progress cards, live sessions, attendance, assignments, and much more available at a click of a button. The flexibility of virtual learning has encouraged parents to explore even homeschooling as a viable option.
Even though the acceptance of virtual learning has increased multifold, traditional lesson plans need significant tweaks to be implemented in an online learning session. Edtech industry must not undermine the importance of teachers and must account for their vast experience and knowledge of how a student learns. Elearning platform must be in tandem with the traditional school, especially once the lockdown is lifted. Online education can’t fill the void of socialization and learn through physical proximity. This is true especially for the pre-primary and primary students who learn through touch-and-feel method or fun-way method. The technology must be blended with physical interventions to give maximum advantage to the students. This can be done by providing kits, conducting decentralized events, opportunities for collaborative work, and out-of-the-box thinking while planning blended learning teaching-learning lessons.
India’s glaring digital divide makes online education more challenging for a large number of students, particularly those from ‘one device or less’ families. Birla Brainiacs aim to reach out to all students in spite of the digital divide to provide quality education to students from every nook and cranny of the country. The biggest challenge that the Edtech industry faces is to provide quality content at an affordable price. While most platforms are close to overcoming this challenge, we must not lose sight of what is the most important aspect in the learning process i.e. the student.
It is an exciting time to be part of the Edtech industry and see the positive impact it brings to students from diverse backgrounds.
Article by – Mr Nirvaan Birla , Founder, Birla Brainiacs
