6 Technologies That Make Edtech A Profitable Business

Bangalore based edtech startup Byju’s financial statement for the year 2019 triumphs after a startling disclosure of their profits. Post audit of financial results for March 2019, they have recorded an increase in net revenue from Rs 490 crore in 2017-2018 to Rs 1341 crore in 2018-2019 which brings them a profit of 20 crores!

The company credits this growth to an increased number of subscribers and a wider reach across the country. The profit numbers can be a serious morale boost for multiple industries and persons enthusiastic about learning on the go. Learning methods, soft skills development or simplifying STEM subjects, the use of technology has worked wonders for the education sector. 

With internet services finding their way to every nook and corner of the country, fresh opportunities arise for edtech industries.

Let’s take a look at the technologies used by edtech startups that became profitable in 2019:

1. Virtual Assistant and Videos

The concept of virtual assistants has made its place into people’s lives more than they would admit. With Apple’s Siri, Google Assistant and Amazon’s Echo Dot, people’s lives have begun to rely heavily on these smart devices. 

By capitalizing on this development, Edtech startup ‘Learning matters’ launched 4 products: Tara (virtual voice teacher), Tool Box (activity-based teaching), Star Teacher and Konnect (Teacher skill development) and Kengine (Library of videos). 

2. Deep Learning 

Stemming out from the root of Artificial Intelligence, deep learning is copying the functioning of the human brain so it can process data and understand patterns. These patterns can then be used to make decisions. 

Mumbai based startup, ‘iSchoolConnect’, is a platform that helps the education sector by easing the college search and application process. By using deep learning techniques, the platform matches students to the course they are looking for by using predictive modeling. It also makes a single interface for students so they can submit their applications to multiple universities from one place.

3. Artificial Intelligence Tools

There aren’t many industries that have overlooked the advantage AI can bring to their functioning and EdTech has leveraged on the use of AI too.

‘Leverage Edu’, founded by Akshay Chaturvedi, is a career guidance platform that uses AI to mentor students on their career journey. The tool helps them receive guidance regarding college applications and suggests programs to polish their skills. 

Enrolling on this platform would mean everything from your admission to your job would be looked after by their advisory. Even information on housing and educational loans for students wishing to study abroad is provided. 

4. Virtual Reality 

When students are accessing the core concepts of a subject through virtual reality, there are higher chances of them understanding the subject better. For example, ‘Smartivity’ concentrates on services for STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) courses by allowing students to experience the fundamental concepts of physics through the experience of Virtual Reality. 

With virtual reality, you are able to explore so much beyond the confines of your classroom. 

5. Unacademy Uses Youtube To Disseminate Information

There are platforms that are popular for giving entertaining content and when a user stumbles upon educative material on the same platform, there are higher chances of them shifting to learning on this platform. For example, a video streaming platform Youtube has a lot of pages that are dedicated to insightful and informative videos. And, they also have a huge number of followers. 

If your topic is interesting, your audience will find you. Unacademy is one such platform that began providing lessons on Youtube before it became a full-fledged education platform. The highest selling point of this platform is that it delves into a variety of courses and releases videos in 10 languages. 

6. Learning Analytics

For the same reasons that data analytics found relevance, the education sphere can grow with learning analytics. Learning data is acquired and analyzed by education institutes to identify areas that need improvement and measure the success of teaching processes. It is the convergence of learning, analytics, and human-centered design. This technology will revolutionize the way students and teachers interact and boost engagement. Some international based companies like Panorama Education, BrightBytes, Junyo and Dreambox are already providing these services. 

Where is EdTech going next…?

While we have successfully charted out the Indian EdTech’s presence and achievements, the education technology sector is a global market with an expected growth of 15% by 2024. Most of the examples mentioned above are already functioning overseas or definitely can enter the global market when they wish to. 

When we imagine the future education, it will be attending classes without actually attending classes with VR and AR coming into play. A much wider access to educational content, a variety of teaching methods and a lot of options in channels made possible with technology is what will pave the way forward for edtech. 

With the advancement of technology now, universities like Yale and IIT are putting up their entire courses online for people to take and study for free, and more and more international universities and colleges are opting for teaching via online methods, so the future looks promising.

 On the flipside- You are confined to a tiny screen for learning yet you are exploring content from across the globe.