The global Covid-19 pandemic has compelled human society to maintain social distance. A significant disruption has occurred in the education sector, a critical factor in determining a country’s economic future. On December 31, 2019, Wuhan, China, reported seeing it for the first time. Kerala reported the first COVID-19 pandemic case on January 30, 2020. The victim had travelled to Wuhan, China, in the past, and the cases continued to rise from thereon.
In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the WHO recommended that social isolation remain the first preventive phase. As a result, the lockdown procedure to isolate the infected people started in each country. Schools, colleges, and universities shut down along with the rest of the education system. Schools, colleges, and universities cancelled classes and indefinitely postponed all exams, including entrance exams. Thus, any student’s schedule was destroyed by the lockdown. Even though it is a unique situation in educational history, COVID was able to transform from the comprehensive teaching paradigm in the classroom to a modern era of the digital model.
Before Covid-19, educational technology (ed-tech) had already undergone significant development and adoption with a variety of adoptions in educational settings and at home, including using visual aids, conducting research, and developing online portals. A few advantages include enhanced digital literacy, elevated student engagement, automated grading, constant communication, publishing and displaying student work, and personalizing learning.
According to a study of 35 of the most popular online learning platforms conducted by SimilarWeb, the edtech sector saw a 26% increase in user visits from April 2019 to March 2020 compared to the corresponding period in 2018–19. The survey also revealed that, before the pandemic, school-level online learning platforms like Vedantu, LearnCBSE, BYJU’S, Toppr, Tiwari Academy, Meritnation, and Gradeup collectively controlled 51.25% of the traffic share. In the first 28 days following the lockdown, this share shifted in favour of massive open online courses (MOOC), including Udemy, Coursera, and Toppr.
According to a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) report, there were over 687 million internet subscribers by the end of September, up from over 665 million at the end of June, representing a 3.35% quarterly growth rate. The statistics show the widespread use of the internet, which has made it simpler for edtech companies to take advantage of its potential across the nation.
The constantly increasing demand for skill development from the tech and tech-related industries is another significant factor impacting the sector’s growth. While the pandemic has made it easier for startups to overcome one of their biggest challenges—acquiring new users—and, consequently, their investment in marketing—it has also created new obstacles, including an increase in layoffs and a lack of employment, which has led to a decline in disposable income.
Infrastructure restrictions exist, and these act as the main deterrents. Having access to laptops or other technology with ideal screen size, having the means to buy devices for the family, and the availability of decent internet are just a few of these issues. However, the industry faces other difficulties as well. The industry is having trouble controlling and maintaining this adoption and growth even though it is experiencing unheard-of growth in the number of users and adoption.
Savvy Enchantress 