‘Tech is not going to replace teachers anytime soon’
As a founder, an angel investor and a mentor,
Zishaan Hayath is a prominent figure in the Indian entrepreneurial
ecosystem. After graduating from IIT-Bombay in 2005, Hayath worked with ITC and
Opera Solutions. In April 2008, he co-founded a phone commerce marketplace,
Chaupaati Bazaar, which was acquired by Future Group in 2010. While working for
the new entity, he came up with the idea a learning app after realising that
students spent enormous amounts of money on coaching classes. Toppr, founded
with fellow IIT alumnus Hemanth Goteti in 2013, is a freemium app — the content
is free for a limited period after which students pick a paid plan. Toppr has
three million registered students in classes 5-12. Hayath has mentored startups
such as Ola and Chaayos, and runs angel investment group Powai Lake Ventures.
He tells TOI why he thinks only ed-tech can reach India’s thousands of students
Most Indian
ed-tech startups focus on students preparing for competitive exams, while those
in other markets cater to mid-career professionals or teach coding. What is the
reason?
In many countries, the availability and effectiveness of school education is
better than our country. We have a lot of children who need to learn but very
few teachers and schools. The difference that technology can make in school
learning in India is much greater. In other parts of the world, the maximum
value for learning is perhaps in skilling those with a strong foundation.
Ed-tech in India is vastly underserved. Anecdotally, less than 10% of
school-going children have tried any method of learning using technology.
How do you
perceive India’s ed-tech space compared with mature markets?
There are
more than 400 million school-age students in India. Conventional learning is
ill-equipped to cater to such a large number. As per a report by Google and
KPMG, the ed-tech industry in India is expected to grow 8x between 2016 and
2021 to $2 billion, making it the fastest growing market in the world. As
technology gets better, the role of teachers will change to facilitators for
more effective learning, driven and delivered by learning app ecosystems.
Do you think
apps will eventually replace real teachers?
There is
this constant and misguided thought of technology as a replacement for
teachers. Technology acts in one of two ways. One, it helps students in ways
that teachers alone would not be able to, for example, on Toppr experts solve
doubts for students at 4am, unthinkable without the platform. Two, technology
amplifies the effect of teachers. A good teacher can now reach millions of
students where he was earlier limited to the seats in his classroom. While
technology will help more kids learn better with less dependence on teachers, a
teacherless future is very far away.
How much
time does a user spend on ed-tech apps?
Publicly
quoted numbers for usage on online learning platforms vary from 10-20 minutes
on global apps like Khan Academy and Coursera and 40-50 minutes on local ones
like Byju’s. On Toppr, a user spends about 90 minutes a day. Younger students
tend to spend more time with videos and passive learning modes. Older students
spend more time on active learning, such as problem solving and clearing
doubts.
What are the
challenges you foresee?
The biggest
challenge is going to be reaching out to the vast number of students. Online
learning platforms are not an automatic choice for students and parents.
While
e-tailers are battling it out on customer service and product selection, what
are ed-tech companies doing to set themselves apart?
E-commerce
companies are like storefronts for other brands. Hence, product selection and
transactional experience is all they can improve. Ed-tech is a “full stack”
business. We own what the customers get, how they get it and there is one brand
that represents the relationship. This long-term relationship is the enabler
for customer happiness.
Source |
Times of India | 2nd April 2018
Regards
Mr. Pralhad Jadhav
Master of Library & Information Science (NET
Qualified)
Senior Manager @ Knowledge Repository
Khaitan & Co
Mobile @ 9665911593
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