Consumer behaviour is evolving with increasing preference for personalised, round-the-clock and customised content that ed-tech platforms offer for the child's sustainable growth. Yogesh Makkar lists the predictions and expectations from the sector in the New Year
The year 2020 has been a significant year for the education sector. Though every industry across the globe has undergone a substantial transformation due to COVID-19, the way it has disrupted education and benefitted ed-tech makes it worth to call 2020 a watershed year for the education sector.
To start with, the year saw an increased focus of education fraternity and governments on e-learning and the recognition that technology integration is vital to make education easily accessible, affordable, and personalised. Additionally, 2020 has been remarkable for ed-tech as it continues to disrupt the way education is delivered and consumed. There has been a significant increase in online courses, e-learning platforms, upskilling programs, and video conferencing tools.
Consumer behaviour is evolving with increasing preference for personalised, round-the-clock, and customised content that ed-tech platforms offer for the child’s sustainable growth. As we enter a new year, let us dig deep into significant education system changes so far and expectations from 2021.
COVID-19 impact on education industry
E-learning is easily accessible, flexible, time-saving, convenient, and the best way to educate the masses. The benefits of e-learning, its potential, and its approach are known to everyone now as both seekers and providers switched to the safe confines of e-learning during the sudden outbreak of a pandemic. Instead of buckling under the uncertainty of the pandemic’s impact, the educational fraternity created a new space on the back of this unprecedented situation.According to NASSCOM, e-learning companies have benefitted immensely, and the industry is expected to reach $3.5 bn by 2022. This is a significant rise from the earlier expected range of $2.8- $3.2 bn.
Emerging ed-tech a boon for learners and educators
In 2021, the ed-tech entrepreneurs’ primary expectations revolve around improving the accessibility to education - covering a large number of masses from remote areas and promoting digital versions of textbooks that are cheaper to purchase. As e-learning can deliver education even to the outlying areas, it can help overcome challenges related to accessibility to education. Additionally, the ability to tailor technology as per individual needs is revolutionary for those with disabilities.
Further, the lack of teacher supervision during home tests is an issue of concern for parents and educators. However, ed-tech can efficiently handle this challenge by helping teachers analyse data on how digital textbooks are consumed and enhance the teaching and learning methodology accordingly. Some apps let teachers conduct quizzes and generate immediate results, allowing them to monitor every student effectively and evaluate their progress.
Tech trends in education industry
With the incorporation of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality in the education system, the traditional classroom learning experience has undergone a tremendous change. It makes learning an immersive experience and incredibly useful to explain complex subjects; for example, it helps students view enhanced versions of the objects on their tablets, unlike hands on experiments in the lab. AR and VR are making unexpected changes in the education system by helping students experience something while reading about it. It will be interesting to see the advancements it infuses in 2021.
Further, gamification technology’s adoption will gain popularity because of its unique and innovative concepts like incentive-based learning, likes, level advancement badge, etc. It will enhance the learner experience and drive user engagement by designing a more customised offering.
Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, and Cloud-Based Learning are other significant trends ruling the education industry. Every learner has a different learning capacity, rate, interest, and tactics for grabbing information. The ed-tech industry is continuously and rapidly adapting to the learner’s evolving behavior by analysing, understanding, and developing custom content and tests using big data and artificial intelligence. They will play a more prominent role in the future and help ed-tech form strategic associations with educational institutions. Additionally, cloud technology allows access to resources stored in a virtual environment, anytime and anywhere, from various forms of web-enabled devices. To offer enhanced access to learning resources, more and more ed-tech companies will incorporate cloud technology.
Summing up
The trends mentioned above will together help the education industry deliver the most relevant content and resources. Further, as more people stay glued to e-learning, 2021 is expected to be a year of exponential growth for the ed-tech industry.
The writer is Founder and Director, Kapdec
