How can the edtech sector get the Indian education system back on track?

By: Nishant Agarwal, Founder, Proctur

Despite the technological advancements that have taken place over the years, India’s education system has remained relatively unaltered, as if it is frozen in time. We mostly rely on the same old principles of teaching and learning that were discovered centuries ago. However, the intervention of the Covid-19 pandemic has changed things drastically.

As soon as the virus started rampaging around the world, schools, colleges, and other educational institutions were shut down to prevent any unnecessary outbreaks and safeguard the health of staff and students. The pandemic, in a sense, strong-armed the educational institutions to transition to the online platform for disseminating education. Several edtech organizations have mushroomed up since the last year to provide novel edtech solutions to tackle the challenges posed by the pandemic. The Indian education system may have fallen off the rails during the pandemic but the edtech sector has tremendous potential to bring it back on track.

Let us take a look at some of the areas where the edtech organizations can make a meaningful difference to fast-track the recovery of the Indian education system.

Professional Development to support in-person, hybrid, and remote learning

One of the first steps we should take is to ensure technology and remote learning pedagogy are critical areas of professional development (PD). As several of today’s edtech products could be used in a brick-and-mortar or online classroom environment, it’s key that their PD programs focus on the broader subjects of technology, not solely just on a product. Without the right training or understanding of the overarching concepts, those products will not be as successful.

Technology to make teaching-learning easier than ever

The edtech industry has already created several products that solve a plethora of challenges that teachers and students regularly face in conventional settings. The new-age technologies that the edtech sector deploys, should: 

1. Seamlessly blend into our existing education system and should be easy to use in four-walled classrooms.
3. Free the teachers’ hands from mundane tasks like taking attendance and evaluating answer sheets so that they can focus on teaching.
5. Allow for easy transition from different classroom environments
7. Solve certain problems that teachers and students face in conventional classrooms.
9. Level the playing field so that students of all abilities can get access to learning

To make a positive change in the education system, the edtech sector needs to deploy technologies that fulfill these criteria. Only by doing so can we ensure that our education system will get back on track.

New challenges and changing needs

The pandemic has turned the education sector topsy-turvy. Several challenges need to be tackled and the edtech sector must come up with innovative solutions as soon as possible. Edtech organizations need to stay agile and mold their new products as per the changing needs of users and the overall market.

A strong alliance between the edtech organizations and the education fraternity – including thought leaders, teachers, and students – is the need of the hour. Following are some of the ways through which the edtech sector can stay in touch with the ground realities:

1. The edtech organizations should conduct monthly or quarterly surveys to gauge the thoughts and feelings of students and teachers regarding certain subjects.
3. Every product that the edtech organizations deploy in the market must have a feedback mechanism that allows the users to comment whether or not the technology is satisfying their expectations. If not, they can provide constructive criticism which can then be used to make changes in the product to make it more user-friendly.
5. Organizations must work closely with their tech teams to resolve any technical issues that their users might be facing at the earliest.
7. Business owners must attempt to attend events where stakeholders from different regions gather to brainstorm the future of e-learning in the country.
9. The edtech organizations should also consider conducting customer focus groups.
11. Social media interactions are a must.

Even though the world’s largest immunization drive is underway, it is still too early to comment on when the pandemic will effectively end. As long as it continues to be a matter of concern, e-learning will continue to be a lifeline for the global education system. Moreover, since the educational systems have gotten comfortable with using technology, they’re now realizing its benefits. It suggests that the edtech sector will continue to add value to the Indian education system, even after the pandemic subsides.