VSN Raju is an electronics and communication engineer from the University of Madras and holds an extensive experience of over three decades in sales, marketing, and operations. Today, he is the CEO of Coempt EduTeck, a leading technology solution provider in the learning and examination space. Before joining Coempt EduTeck, he was a successful business partner of National Institute of Sales (NIS), a division of NIIT. During this tenure, he was associated with many promising initiatives which involved both students and corporate enterprises. He also was associated with Andhra Electronics Limited, leading different marketing initiatives specifically in the government and the export space.
A study by KPMG and Google found that by 2021 the online education market in India backed by a phenomenal rise in the paid user base about 9.5 million users is expected to grow to be a $ 1.96 billion industry. Moreover, India is the second-largest consumer of e-Learning after the United States, which indicates that online education in India is not a new phenomenon. Instead, it is an accepted norm of teaching-learning in some leading educational institutions.
As our core education sector is governed by the government, shifting to online education from the traditional education system continued to face many hurdles both from academicians and sometimes from the system. However, in the wake of COVID – 19, the importance of adapting online education practices in tandem to the traditional method has been realized. Going forward, more innovative student-engagement methodologies will be developed with online systems in mind to get a better and measurable outcome. COVID – 19 has changed the traditional mindsets of many academicians and institutions.
Coempt EduTeck has a rich experience of over two decades in delivering turnkey teaching-learning solutions for educational institutions. We were way ahead in promoting online learning possibility as a viable option not only to engage students positively but also medium to bridge the urban-rural divide with regards to access to quality teachers.
As a socially responsible company, Coempt EduTeck has provided free access to all our digital learning assets to positively engage the student community during the lockdown while they stay home. We have now ramped-up the development and customization efforts of our comprehensive teaching-learning-assessment platform. Educational institutions can use it for all their online learning needs, including academic/casual learning, skilling, certifications, or for their test preparation.
Online Learning and Common Misconception
Many students still think that online learning programs do not fulfil their learning and certification needs. They believe that institutions and companies do not recognize these programs, as these are not well planned and offer only one-way communication. Moreover, many students a notion that they need to be good with computers to undergo an online program. These are wrong. Today, with the growth of the internet and mobility, online learning is becoming a norm in the teaching-learning industry.
Based on their needs and budget, schools and colleges have many robust technology solution options. There are many free applications like Zoom, Google Meet and Facebook Live, that can be used for digital education purposes. For those institutions that are looking for a secured digital learning application with many features like recording and archiving sessions, there are solution providers like Coempt EduTeck.
There are many good products in the K12 space like Tata ClassEdge, Toppr, Unacademy, courses developed by Sarva Siksha Abhiyan that the schools can choose from depending on their need. In the higher education space arts and sciences, commerce, management, medical and technical, the institution can use Swayam Portal offered by the Government of India for providing learning possibilities to students. Apart from providing digital learning platform, Coempt EduTeck is offering teaching and learning material that the institutions can use to not only enable faculty to deliver online sessions and simultaneously give the students self-paced learning material.
E-learning Trends to Follow in 2020
Internet technologies enabled blogging, audio conferencing, instant messaging, which was initially used to allow online learning possibilities. With the advancement of internet and mobility, teachers and students become increasingly accustomed to different communication tools that enable asynchronous education.
Currently, the Ed-Tech is experiencing a revolution due to the recent advancements in technology. The availability of new gadgets, innovative tools for trainers, and cutting-edge equipment has enabled solution to provide new digital learning experiences that were not known a decade ago. This enhancement has in influencing online learning by offering new ways to share knowledge and deliver content.
Some of the emerging trends we see in the year 2020 are extensive usage of artificial intelligence, deep learning, and big data to augment digital education that will ensure actual teaching and learning outcomes.
Being an early entrant in the digital education space, at Coempt EduTeck, we have experience of implementing sizeable path-defining turnkey digital learning projects. Some of our clients who were sceptical about transiting to digital education are now aggressively looking at digital solutions that will help them shift at-least 60 per cent of their academic engagement and examination are looking at positively post COVID – 19. We see ourselves playing a significant role related to Indian digital education market in the areas of language and casual learning, higher education, skilling and reskilling, online certifications, K12 and digital examination and evaluation space.
Future of Ed-Tech Market
As per the study by Google-KPMG the Ed-Tech market or digital education market is expected to grow to a 9.5 million paid user base market. Most of the growth is likely to come from the Tier-II cities of India who are also now slowly opting for online education for their training or academic needs. Moreover, India has seen an increase in the purchase of smartphones due to the availability of affordable high-speed internet.
The internet expansion and the rise of smart devices inside and outside of the home have led to institutions exploring innovative ways of teaching and learning in schools and colleges. It has also given students who live in the remote regions of the country the opportunity to learn from experts through various online learning possibilities.
The startups that have ventured in the Indian Ed-Tech market need to synergize and collaborate with various industry leaders, world-class educators, government and institutions to transform online education and make learning better for everyone. The focus of these startups should also be on Tier II and Tier III markets, which not only a potential market segment but also are in dire need for varied digital learning solutions.
On the other hands, educational institutions need to engage experienced technology partners who have proven experience in delivering comprehensive digital solutions under a common umbrella. It will enable the creation of a conducive digital ecosystem in their campus and help in actively engaging the all the stakeholders, i.e., teachers, students and parents. The education institutions need to be slightly patience to see the outcome and results. Digital adaption is a process of customizing the solutions to the unique requirement of the institutions, and it can only be strengthened through continuous deliberation and constructive feedback. (As told to the Editor)