Online learning is the new normal. Innovative products are available in the market today to fill the void created by the pandemic between students and conventional schools. With the help of augmented and virtual reality, the future of education technology appears to be promising.
Right from providing personalised solutions to result-oriented comprehensive, practical and satisfying study materials, technology has not only profoundly changed education but also transformed the way of teaching and the results.
Besides helping students to improve their marks, Edtech platforms provide insightful mentoring sessions, masterclasses and even one-on-one mentoring from experts who bring in experience and depth in an area. This helps students to decide the right career options.
Meenu Bhatia, co-founder of VMentor.ai - a tech-enabled, human-intervened mentorship platform, said that edtech platforms are helping students to adopt an approach beyond academics and toward building a career.
Vivek Varshney, founder of SpeEdLabs, said that watching videos and recorded lectures have not shown a transformation in the knowledge of students too much and secondly, there is no tracking and monitoring of this. "In the absence of this most of the time, students just watch it like a movie or a non-serious study mode," he said.
With the sharp rise in the number of edtech platforms post-pandemic with each claiming to be the best in the market, it is, however, not easy to choose the best. But properly evaluating such platforms on key parameters can help choose the best option.
Vivek said that the right ed-tech platform is the one that focuses on the self-study analytics and improvement areas which are comparatively more active rather than passive.
To choose a programme, apart from considering career-oriented programmes, one should focus on some key aspects like customised and personalized learning, frequent interactions with faculties, privacy and security credentials, transparent pricing, refund policy and reliability and genuine nature.
"Among the top qualities, an edtech platform must offer students a personalized and customized learning experience. A student's regular interaction with faculty members and doubt-clearing sessions is a critical success factor," Rajesh Panda, founder and MD, Corporate Gurukul, said.
Yogesh Makkar, founder and director, Kapdec, said that students must have access to the study material for self-study or for taking reference notes, all consolidated in a single place, and must have access to a practice questions bank, so they can strengthen their knowledge and be ready to compete. Finally, last but not least, you must evaluate the privacy credentials of the platform and don't forget to go through its payment and refund policy.
Tips that will act as a guide to choosing the right edtech platform for better learning:
Compatibility and access options: The educational technology platform must be functionally compatible with all of the future digital platforms that the child will use. For a learning experience of the highest calibre to be feasible, the operating system must have all required plugins and upgrades. The accessibility of various electronic devices should also be considered by pupils.
Customization and personalization enable individuality: When choosing the best educational technology platform for your child, it is not advisable to take a "one size fits all" approach. Instead of basing your choice on what's popular, expensive, or what your friends and family suggest, consider what works for you. "The course's content, delivery style, and feedback procedure should all be considered along with the teachers' ratings before making a choice," Shekhar Jain, co-founder, OMOTEC (On My Own Technology), said.
Examine financial information thoroughly: Always pay great attention to the payment and refund policies. A business model known as "free" is used by some companies that provide educational technology, in which a number of services are first provided without cost but ultimately need students to sign up for a premium service or pay in-app purchases in order to access them. Never hesitate to ask any and all questions before to signing up for the new service. Make sure you receive a payment receipt from the business along with a tax invoice.
Feedback: Nothing, not even the most sophisticated online learning resources, can replace the in-person experience of learning in a classroom with other students. Investigate the platform's feedback feature in great detail before making the purchase. Both within and outside of the classroom, the feedback system should be accessible via the platform.
Security and discretion: As with every other internet medium, there is always a chance of various types of malware, spyware and phishing assaults. The confidentiality of a child's personal information must be upheld by parents.
