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Most startups are born when the founders encounter a real-world problem that they seek to solve. Thus, it is no surprise that there are countless efforts to resolve deep-rooted problems in our education system. They seek to resolve several issues. They range from finding better solutions for questions to facilitating the improvement of professional skills.
If you wish to reform education, leveraging technology is a must. It complements the field of education perfectly as it enhances access to knowledge. It can also be employed to observe the impact of teaching and collect data. This helps to improve learning in the classroom.
There are several edtech startups that are already attempting to work on the problem. Explore the five major categories that their attempts fall under in the list below.
1. Web-Enhanced Learning
Examples: Torsh, Blackboard
Some edutech startups seek to complement classroom learning. They provide means to use technology as a tool. to ensure the smooth functioning of the class and ease the teaching process.
Blackboard is a perfect example as it optimizes the learning experience by providing a learning management system. Teachers are given a variety of tools that they can utilize to teach or distribute assignments. Blackboard also provides data insights that are crucial to enable student success.
Web-enhanced learning is different from e-learning as it does not seek to replace the classroom. The platform is designed to only complement and ease the teaching process
2. E-Learning
Examples: Byju’s, Unacademy, Coursera, UpGrad
Several startups have been quick to join the movement to revolutionize education. They are creating platforms that host a variety of subjects or courses. The objectives differ between various companies. While some might help students prepare for competitive exams, others offer online courses and degrees.
Specialist services allow these companies to become different. Coursera hosts MOOCs, Byju’s targets primary education, and Unacademy works with multilingual education.
E-Learning is an especially lucrative business. An increasing number of users are turning to online learning. Thus, these startups are valued highly. Both Byju’s and Coursera have crossed a valuation of $1 billion recently and achieved unicorn status.
3. Educational Games
Examples: Quizizz, Smartivity, Primo Toys
These startups are taking educational revolution a step further by creating games and toys to learn with. The activities can occur online, offline, or be a combination of both. The motivation to learn is provided by designing games which can teach basic concepts. This allows students to learn better and teachers can also save time through repeated engagement with the product(s).
Smartivity and Primo Toys focus on STEM education. They design toys that can teach coding and other scientific concepts. Quizizz, on the other hand, motivates learners by transforming homework into games. Instant feedback is given to learners and they can take the quiz repeatedly.
The startups have been successful with a young audience. They are witnessing massive growth and have millions in funding.
4. Networked Learning
Examples: Qalaxia, Piazza, Vedantu
A holistic environment that fosters growth is one of the fundamental needs of education. Companies like Qalaxia and Vedantu seek to fill in this void in the system. They provide a platform where teachers and students can network with each other to teach, learn, problem-solve, and more.
Qalaxia acts as a Q&A forum that connects classrooms to experts who share their knowledge and insights. I classify Vedantu as a networking platform as well since it provides online tutoring sessions. Its platform creates engagement between an online tutor and student(s).
Networked learning can be considered to be a subset of E-Learning since the latter employs interaction as a component sometimes. However, its focus on creating networks places it on the list.
5. Enabling Convenience
Examples: RefME, PhotoMath
The primary purpose of these applications is to ease certain processes in education. They focus on leveraging technology to solve time-consuming problems, thereby making life easier for students.
RefMe does this by offering a citation management tool that creates citations by merely scanning a book’s barcode. It saves a lot of time which would otherwise be spent in understanding different citation styles. PhotoMath’s innovation allows students to solve math problems by simply taking its photo. While it can be seen as a hack, several students use it to verify their answers and learn the correct procedure.
