By Amit Kapoor
An opinion often cited by our educational technology (EdTech) professionals is that it is a rapidly changing field. Sometimes managers in the field use the statement as a motivation to embrace edtech because if we miss out on even a single trend, it will be too late for us to catch up. So far, the Indian EdTech industry’s performance can be considered exemplary, with a few exceptions.
As they say, ‘technology can never replace great teachers, but technology in the hands of great teachers can be transformational.’ Over the past few years, technology has been helping schools make necessary changes whenever possible. Even when the pandemic brought the education sector to a standstill, EdTech firms assisted educators, schools, and other educational institutes in continuing learning and teaching simultaneously via multiple solutions. Even though the initial journey was not as smooth as one might desire, eventually, like the pieces of a puzzle, all fell into place.
Today, schools that had fallen behind the learning curve are well on their road to recovery, reasserting their position as ‘the safest place for learning. A digitally equipped school in today’s environment enjoys a central position in society. It acts as a source of safe and well-curated digital content for students and their parents. The students have returned to schools in the post-pandemic with comparatively higher expectations and aspirations.
Much before the pandemic, the importance of play-based learning has been empirically proven to enhance student’s absorption of topics and concepts. During pandemic, this was required even more to attract and retain attention of students on a virtual platform. Hence, beyond Math and Science, students nowadays want teachers to adopt pedagogies on many more subject, with learner-centric approaches like kinesthetic opportunities that complement well with the 21st Century skills adoption. Since the “alpha generation” (born after 2010) is comfortable in multi-tasking, they want today’s educators to focus more on learning with flexibility and greater purpose, cultivate soft skills, and lastly, develop critical thinking.
The renewed focus on learning outcomes and preferences is putting a lot of pressure on re-skilling teachers’ and parents’ ends. What happens in the classroom needs to be complemented and integrated with at-home learning as well. Hence, there is a need for a unified platform that enables a seamless transition and increases learning outcomes. It’s an area where EdTech can act as an enabler, bridging the gap in learning while assisting teachers, students, and parents with their customizable solutions.
Besides learners’ expectations, the key mandates of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 also pave the way for schools to adopt more modern digital solutions. Of course, it was the pandemic that originally triggered this accelerated adoption of digital solutions in schools and various educational institutes across the country. Being said, these modern solutions like enterprise solutions, content management systems, and learning management systems have helped educators to reduce their non-teaching tasks, allowing them either to explore more about new pedagogies or ways to introduce them to the learners. At the same time, these solutions have also helped all stakeholders assist young learners on various topics while following the same or similar methodologies being used in the classroom.
It is worth mentioning that the NEP 2020 has put technology at the center of the Indian education system, allowing institutes to adopt digital solutions that not only upskill the students but also prepare them for the highly competitive 21st century.
In the coming times, we will witness increased emphasis on the integration of curricular and co-curricular areas. If done thoroughly, it has the potential to boost engagement among students. And this requires a new design of content development and deployment at schools. While course textbooks will continue to remain an essential source for formal education, it will be supported with well-researched, curated content, available online. A combination of physical textbooks and online reference books/topics is the future. It is one of the many trends that EdTech is following closely, introducing new series of books in their online library for school students.
Both schools and EdTech firms have to collectively decide on areas that require digital intervention and innovation to exceed the ever-changing demands of the younger generation. Customization is the key and an individual learning plan for each student with remedial solutions will be icing on the cake.
The author is co-founder of Eupheus Learning. Views are personal.