From co-curricular learning to now early childhood learning: How Indian edtech industry is leapfrogging trends

The edtech industry has evolved rapidly, with the COVID-19 outbreak pushing schools, colleges, and universities across India to adopt online technology-based learning.

With technological evolution in the edtech system, students are offered new and interactive courses and learning methods — be it in the form of online coding classes or the K-12 coaching modules or any other course. Without the intertwining of tech with education, 2020 and 2021 would have lost years for all students. 

With the advent of technology, education has taken a gradual shift from mainstream education to value-based and real-time learning where knowledge is not restricted to mainstream subjects, and various other trends are surfacing, making student’s lives easier.

From edutainment platforms to co-curricular, to innovative teaching and early childhood development, edtech now covers all.

The present and future is edtech

Edtech has played a crucial role in the past one and a half years during the pandemic as different age groups suffered differently due to the unavailability of physical institutions.

College students have been missing out on a lot due to the unavailability of guidance as they are transitioning to their careers, and the profile building guidance is being largely impacted.

Similarly, young students are missing out on early childhood development and restricted physical activities. Thus, home learning and co-curricular learning comes to their rescue. 

Since all the schools and physical institutions are closed due to COVID-19, different edtech trends have emerged as saviours for students across all age groups.

Identifying this need gap in various education sectors, more and more startups are coming up with various solutions to cater to this issue. Besides major edtech companies like BYJU’s, Unacademy, Vedantu, UpGrad, etc., many others have also surfaced with their differentiated propositions and new-age courses that are empowering the students across various age groups. 

The pandemic has changed the world for good, and the most disruptive sector that has emerged with the rapid adoption of technology is the education space.

The world is going online amidst the pandemic, and the challenges might fade away with it, but edtech is here to stay as it has paved the way for several to ingest education like never before.

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The dynamic edtech trends 

What started only for mainstream education has now evolved to various unconventional themes, and following this pattern, the edtech industry is leapfrogging different trends.

From edtech solutions for mainstream school going students to college students to various professionals, edtech has mushroomed.This highlighted the future potential and made the industry realise that more trends can be clocked and more people can be targeted.

Some major trends the edtech industry witnessed are coding, robotics, co-curricular, profile building, and healthcare learning.

Edtech and early childhood development

Another major trend surfacing nowadays is ‘early childhood development through home learning’ as the need for interactive, holistic, and comfortable learning for children from ages between 0-8 is crucial due to the unavailability of physical playschools or professional child care because of COVID-19.

Early childhood development is very crucial as it develops and inculcates socio-emotional skills. Moreover, edtech companies in this field are also counselling the parents and helping them provide their children with more inclusive childhood development and a peer to peer like environment for their overall development.

Additionally, a guided learning programme, covering all the necessary skills and where the child feels comfortable, is also vital to aid early development.

Edtech companies in this space are moving towards a hybridised learning module, which takes children to a learning space that combines real-life learning experiences with curated activities.

It focuses on the fundamental development of a child based on various core areas like — linguistic skills, logical thinking, sensory and motor skills, cognitive skills, and creativity.

Edtech players are also offering various modules for early childhood development through various channels like kits or apps. The companies are designing courses for early learners (0 to 8), which lets parents teach, play, and bond meaningfully with their children and creates a learning space that combines real-life learning experiences with curated activities and a resourceful library.

Conclusion

What was earlier conceived as only a means to substitute for mainstream curricular education has changed its paradigm towards a more holistic and interactive approach.

Edtech has evolved tremendously and is leapfrogging trends towards its growth. The many trends have made us all realise that it is just starting, and many trends are yet to come.

Therefore, every parent can vouch for edtech as it is changing the conventional approach of education by replacing mainstream and traditional methods with various engaging and new-age methods to bring out the best of education through technology.