A dive into the world of Indian Edtech
Educational technology, or Edtech, has the potential to create an education environment which is more dynamic, efficient and accessible.
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have come to prominence during the pandemic for their ability to bridge the restrictions on mobility and face-to-face contact resulting from lockdowns and public health measures.
They present many advantages over traditional teaching, many of which became highly apparent over the challenges of the last two years. MOOCs are accessible to those who cannot physically study at an institution, be it for financial, geographical or other reasons. There are no physical limitations to how many can enrol, meaning any number of students can benefit from a MOOC programme. Because of this MOOC programmes can also be highly cost effective.
India’s edtech platforms
The government already has established its own MOOC platforms called SWAYAM and DIKSHA. SWAYAM hosts free online courses from class 9 up to postgraduate level. The content was prepared by over 1,000 faculty and teachers from across India. Courses follow a similar structure to major long-term international MOOC providers such as Coursera and Udemy. The bulk of learning materials are prepared readings and video lectures, while practice comes in the form of self-assessment quizzes and online discussion forms.
DIKSHA, or ‘Digital Infrastructure For School Education’ is much in the same line, but for younger school-age students. DIKSHA provides over 6,000 courses as well digital versions of textbooks in India’s most common languages. Since the platform went live in 2017 there have been over 130 million enrolments on its courses.
Alongside the government’s progress in developing freely available online learning content, India also has a plethora of its own private Edtech companies. These cover everything from exam preparation, one-to-one tutoring and personal mentoring online.
The value of Edtech
Edtech has a lot to offer the education sector and learning as a whole.
Students can access it wherever they have an electronic device with an internet connection. As long as the infrastructure is in place, this is particularly important for rural areas where education resources are often more limited.
Edtech can make teaching more efficient and ease the workload of teachers through automated assessment, and teaching management tools. This gives teachers time back to focus on delivering quality education rather than funnelling much of their energy into marking and administration.
It also offers the potential for expanded multimedia learning that utilises video, audio and interactive content. MOOCs and edtech should be an opportunity to make education more engaging, delivering content in ways that gamify the learning process.
For India, perhaps one of the greatest benefits of Edtech is that its use is not limited to a formal education setting. Digital learning platforms can be as accessible for the working populations as for-school and university students. India suffers a skilled labour shortage and Edtech can play a major role in the reskilling process.
This is a particularly pressing matter the demands of the labour market are rapidly changing globally. As technology offers learning opportunities, it also demands it. The World Economic Forum predicts that worldwide 1 billion people must retrain by 2030. That is a third of the global workforce.
Edtech is serious business
Edtech has already proven itself to be extremely valuable from a financial perspective too. A report from Grand View Research predicts that the global Edtech market will grow by 18.1% to USD 285.2 billion between 2020 and 2027. India holds the cards to a significant share of that growth and is home to four Edtech unicorns, start-ups valuated at above USD 1 billion. Pushed to prominence by their increasing relevance during the pandemic, these companies grew rapidly over the past two years. Byju’s, the largest of the four, achieved decacorn status (start-ups valued at over USD 10 billion) in June 2020 after VC funding brought their valuation to USD 10.5 billion. Three more rising stars of Indian Edtech are predicted to join the existing unicorns.
Some predictions of growth go even higher than the Grand View Research report, but there are limitations to consider. India’s youth dividend and current enthusiasm for technological solutions certainly create the base of a flourishing Edtech environment, but income and infrastructure disparity mean that only a segment of the population can fully utilise it.
Full speed ahead, or a few gears down?
There can be no denying the exciting possibilities of Edtech. If adopted cleverly, it will revolutionise education not just in India, but also globally. It is indeed already on the path to do so. Educators and policymakers must however not let an overzealous approach to Edtech take hold and should remain acutely aware that it is no silver bullet for all the woes of the education sector.
Effective application of technology in education will see that it supports educators and does not replace them. It is an opportunity to make learning dynamic, not just present textbook content digitally. Most importantly, Edtech depends on robust internet connectivity, and as such must be developed with the knowledge that digital infrastructure remains the priority.