Technology: Making Education Smarter for Children

According to a report by KPMG, the size of India’s e-learning market was $247 million, comprising 1.6 million users in 2016. The market size is likely to grow eight-fold to $1.96 billion and the user base will grow six times to 9.6 million users by 2021. In fact, India’s e-learning market is the second-largest after the US, which is forecasted to exceed $48 billion by 2020.

Education Sector in India is never-ending sphere, which is growing at a steady speed. Since the time of its inception, education sector has been given an utmost importance for the growth of the nation and the people.

Technology is slowly and steadily making a foray in education. Knowledge is no more limited to books and the use of platforms such as websites, apps, videos, live chats, etc., have taken it to another level. A lot of schools and colleges – mostly in tier 1 and tier 2 cities – have embraced technology to make learning fun and interactive.

Today, little children are watching their favorite cartoons and learning pictorial rhymes on the same device. Education is being imparted to them through flexible and non-intrusive formats. As a consequence, students across all age groups are discovering the joys of learning and having fun while at it. There has been a noticeable shift in the perception of parents and teachers view digital learning too. Today, institutions are making efforts to shift the focus back on students to reinvent the way they learn right throughout their life.

India might not have readily adopted education technology but it's heartening to see how a traditional sector like education is using technology as an enabler so far. Today, some cutting-edge technologies are being used to further enhance this sector, while grabbing the attention of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, corporates and governments.

As told to Business World, Sameer Bora from Next Education India Pvt Ltd, an education solutions provider with a special interest in K-12 education, says that edtech can work only when there is interaction and participation. “A lot of people only look at videos but that is not the sole purpose of education technology. Interaction and participation are the two biggest components of online education,” he says.

Sikka informs that in order to assess students, iAugmentor throws up five pieces of content which can be videos, articles or cartoons from which a user has to choose one and then answer questions related to it. “Through the students’ answers, we can assess specific gaps in learning by using tools such as memorability, hand movement and articulation assessments tools, which are our parameters,” as told to Business World.

Technological Trends Attracting the Education sector

Personalised and Adaptive Learning

Learning platforms, softwares and digital devices are together creating countless new ways to modify education. This way, the academic potential, strengths, weaknesses, aptitude and learning pace of every single student is catered to.

ELearning

In the traditional classroom seating scenario, students are unable to get the individual attention they need due to time constraints. In contrast, the one-to-one context of learning in digital mediums currently students to learn through videos and chat with an expert.

Mobile Learning

Over the past few years, mobile learning has picked up by the populace who has gradually assimilated it in their lives. It has offered students the flexibility to access educational content seamlessly across multiple digital devices like desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones.

Use of AR and VR in Education

VR allows students using e-learning platforms on mobile devices to directly interact with study material. This keeps their engagement levels high and motivates them to learn more and better. On the other hand, AR facilitates teachers and trainers in performing tasks; they previously haven't or cannot, in a safe environment. Together, the both of them are engaging students in ways like never before and are poised to become a lot more widespread in their usage and impact in the future.