Personalised Learning: The Now And Next Of Edtech

The future of edtech rests on personalised learning and various methods like – related transformations, early learning cognitive skills impetus. And bringing gamification, 3D and Virtual reality solutions embedded into edtech as hygiene are being seen as strong trends for making startups globally scalable. This is a core of the process of startup selections at so that the next of edtech can be fast tracked now.

Personalisation is an important approach to learning, because not every student learns in exactly the same way. A single, one-size fits-all approach — i.e., seven-period days with teachers lecturing in the front of the classroom mixed with some student assignments — is not effective for every student. Evidence suggests that students who do not respond to the typical, uniform approach tend to tune out, perform poorer academically, and drop out more.

At its core, personalised learning is all about tailoring instruction to meet the needs of each individual student. It’s a move far away from the standardised teaching and testing for which the education system is currently structured. Because no two students are alike, no two students learn in exactly the same way. In the traditional classroom model, teachers may try to combat this issue by separating students into small groups or creating independent study time so they can work one-on-one with students who are struggling.

However, allowing students to work with technology that can offer them multiple learning paths through curriculum can be much more efficient and effective.

Individualised Learning

Individualised learning means instruction is paced to the learning needs of different learners. Learning goals are the same for all students, but students can progress through the material at different speeds according to their learning needs. For example, students might take longer to progress through a given topic, skip topics that cover information they already know, or repeat topics they need more help on.

Differentiated Instructions

A differentiated instruction is a philosophy that acknowledges that students learn in different ways and at different paces. Differentiated learning means instruction is tailored to the learning preferences of different learners. Learning goals are the same for all students, but the method or approach of instruction varies according to the preferences of each student or what research has found works best for students like them.

Differentiated instructions benefit students because it promotes an environment in which learning differences are not only tolerated, they are valued, and every child comes with different talents, abilities and motivation levels.

You can use Differentiated Instructions for Remediation (Re-Teach), Intervention (Re-Enforce), Enrichment, Extensions.

Personalised Learning

Personalised learning means instruction is paced to learning needs, tailored to learning preferences, and tailored to the specific interests of different learners. In an environment that is fully personalised, the learning objectives and content as well as the method and pace may vary (so personalisation encompasses differentiation and individualisation).

How Early Learning Cognitive Skills Make Kids Smarter

Given the science behind early learning – and the research that shows the benefits of early learning in an individual’s personal success – both governments and parents have a heightened awareness of the subject than we had in the last decade. In India, not only do we see a whole lot of preschools sprouting up and admissions beginning as early as 6 months – but also kids becoming smarter with early exposure in ways we could not even have imagined a few years ago. Today science clearly tells us that starting early makes kids smarter.

For example, Tinytapps software, a Pune-based company has been doing some pioneering work on bringing together a comprehensive syllabus of all topics preschoolers need to learn by creating a learning system with over 1000+ digital activities available both as a software only and a tablet version. 90% of the brain development takes place in the first five years and they form the very critical portion of lifelong learning for kids.

While early schooling forms a good part of where a child learns early on, they also spend a lot of time at home where additional learning resources become the key to supplementing them with what they learn in preschool. There is a vast market for phones, tablets, and televisions being used in early childhood programs, but early educators may not be taking full advantage of how these technology tools can contribute to children’s learning experiences.

Using the touch interface of a device like an iPad/smart phone, kindergarteners can learn concepts behind engineering, architecture as well as programming while developing motor skills, hand-eye coordination and challenging activities effortlessly. They discover critical speculation skills that ensure effective learning.

If India has to become the innovation capital of the world in the next decade, we have to take advantage of the knowledge economy and vast human capital. Educators would have to get together with Governments, corporates, and NGOs to make early learning reach its maximum potential by various structured initiatives led by state governments to make it reach places where it today does not exist. Parents would need to have a heightened sense of awareness and desire to educate their children and put a love for learning in early childhood.

Gamification And VR In Education

Edtech is transforming the learner’s engagement with 3D games. Providing interactive 3D role-playing games powered by next-to-real animations and compelling storylines, help them develop and retain the practical knowledge. Serious and engaging 3D games, aimed towards bridging the skills gap between the industry and institutional curriculum promote a competitive environment amongst the users.

Real-time graphics is one of the USPs for richness and the level of details put into the games, which allows creation of real-time visualisation, accurate virtual environments mimicking the real learning solutions. Leaders can learn this by applying approach where the users get a chance to learn by actually doing and carrying out processes and roles which are generally difficult to access or unsafe.

VR is poised to transform the education space. Immersive educational content is being developed across all the disciplines, letting student’s deep dive into subjects with incredible detail and interactivity. Beyond the content, social VR environments will also help teachers and students connect with each other to communicate and collaborate remotely in a more personal and interactive way than existing laptop/mobile platforms. Achieving the sense of space of a physical classroom is difficult to achieve online, but VR makes it easy.

Enhanced Learning Experiences Are Being Developed By The Use Of

Head Mounted Displays (HMDs): Bringing HMDs for visualising processes and running educational experiments with added operational features for an immersive experience.

Lab Controllers: Introducing VR-enabled controllers to interact with the lab environment and exploring processes to get the desired output.

Haptics & Sensory Devices: Get hands-on learning experience with the availability of haptic and sensory devices including gloves, for efficient and accurate results.

 3D-Enabled VR Software: Resources to match existing lab experiments, to convert it into a visual treat for the users.

Although high-end VR headsets like Oculus Rift and HTC Vive are too expensive for mainstream adoption, and low-end headsets like Google Cardboard aren’t powerful enough to deliver the best VR content, the high-end headsets are dropping in price quickly, and the low-end headsets are quickly improving in quality, most notably with the launch of the new Google Daydream View.

The next of edtech has simple mandates – education elements made easy, more accessible and provided instantly, with strong assessable outcomes. The founding fathers of edtech recognised this expectation and took the traditional concepts of edtech services; added innovation and technology to watch the future of education get onto a path of change.

Today students are born with digital DNA as their footprints. Startups that are making students get constantly exposed to digital technologies outside of the learning rooms and hours are expected to deliver the same digital capabilities as what can be provided within a walled learning environment.

Unlike the ups and downs of the other sectors, edtech remains slightly absolved of geo-political pressures and hence, may be a stronger and safer heaven for smart investors, in the next couple of years to come.