What is Tech in Edtech – Challenges, Solutions, and Future

Edtech
Edtech

For humans, learning has always been a big and very important problem to solve. We have raced ahead of all the other species, because we were able to learn and innovate. People, in all throughout the human history, have experimented with new ways of learning and spreading it to the masses. Think about the innovation of Writing Paper, Fountain Pens, Typewriters, Printers, etc. and how each of these inventions has hugely impacted our lives and made learning better and faster. Again, we are at a turn of time where we will redefine the way we learn and take a giant leap in the human history.
Internet and Smartphone penetration to smaller towns, and even villages, has made it possible that Technology can bring learning to everyone, everywhere. While this solves the accessibility problem, it still lacks in one very crucial thing. That is, a single learning resource cannot teach everyone, as everyone has a different understanding and a way of learning. So, to make it work, it has to be personalized. Technologists all over the world are empowering Personalized Online Learning by collecting insights on various learning methods, and parameters and implementing them in the form of Innovative products.
Data science is playing a huge role in helping create the conductive conditions for Personalized Learning. It works as a knowledge gathering and feedback system, which collects thousands of data points and keeps feeding it to the system, making the system smarter. These data points can be generated by making use of several factors and information and a detailed, consolidated set can be created using data science.
There are four major steps involved when we learn anything; Learning, Assessment, Benchmarking, and Application. Each of these steps is a problem in itself, having many aspects that need to be solved. If we are to take an instance of how data can be significant, then consider a picture where a student is getting a performance chart after an activity. He can get a deep insight into his learning, strong/weak areas, along with comparative insights right after completing the exercise. This can further be extended in helping a student, by identifying his learning pattern and providing him more personalized learning.
The future of Virtual Learning is shining bright, as it offers opportunities that seem cumbersome for the traditional learning system to cater. Several inferences and metrics can be drawn after extracting the user-generated data which can be utilized to their utmost potential in defining a learning behavior. This learning behavior will eventually lead to the advent of a personal trainer or so-called ‘Virtual Trainer’ which will be a replacement for the physical teacher. The training will be customized according to the need of the learner. How does that sound? Of course flexible enough! Again, technology plays a crucial role here as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning will be the entities that will drive the things.
Like I said earlier, it is a very Important and Huge problem to solve and we all need to come together to solve it. Testbook is doing its bit in the Edtech space by empowering 30 lakh+ students to prepare for Hundreds of Exams. Through Data Science, we are identifying common Pain Points and creating products and features that solve these. We are also equipping students with Insights and Elements that are helping them Study Smarter and Faster.
About the Author
Ashutosh Kumar the CEO & Co-Founder of Testbook.com. He is an IITB Alumnus and has been reforming the education and education technology space for the past 8 years. His previous efforts included ExcelMentors, an education startup designed to mentor students.