The corona-virus brought a lot of change to the world. People were forced to stay at home and the traditional education system was completely halted. However, this was a great opportunity for digital services such as edtech platforms. Edtech global startups, mainly US, UK, and India based, had a massive surge of popularity, and their number of users quadrupled. In this article, we focus on top 5 EdTech startups.

So, what exactly is EdTech?

Edtech, or “education technology” is not a new trend. In fact, it has been an ongoing trend for a while now. Edtech platforms aim to completely digitalize the education system. The specialty of these platforms is that they allow a student to learn at home. And, lessons are interactive and innovative. The use of videos, animations, games, and more works well to keep students focused while learning. In short, this trend might be the best thing to happen to the education system in a very long time.

With all this hype around edtech, it is about time that you get to know about it. So, we rounded up 5 of the best leading edtech startups globally. These fantabulous platforms are great for interactive teaching and learning.

Blackboard

This platform was founded back in 1997 in Washington. It has a valuation of $700 million and has over 100 million users in 90 different countries. With over 20 years of experience under their belt, Blackboard is one of the largest learning platforms in the world.

Their aim is to make learning more interactive by adding online functionalities to traditional face-to-face teaching and learning. Blackboard also allows users to create fully online content for students all over the world.

This learner portal is great for blended learning and includes handy elements such as video conferencing, asynchronous learning, built-in course authoring, mobile learning, and more. Students can get personalized learning material on the go through the mobile app. Blackboard also sends reminders and notifications to users. As a result, students will always stay up to date with their learning. Blackboard also allows teachers to upload assignments, tests, and quizzes easily. So, it eliminates any extra hassle while making learning and teaching an interactive process.

Byju’s

Byju’s is an India based edtech platform specifically for the K12 segment of the school system. Byju’s boasts over 40 million users and an average time of 70 minutes spent in-app every day. In 2019, this was the world’s most valued edtech platform with a valuation of a whopping $5.4 billion. So, this platform is one of the most successful startups globally.

The Byju’s app is freemium, meaning that a student can access basic free content. The specialty of Byju’s is that they design personalized lesson plans for each student with the curriculum in mind. This platform focuses on helping students identify and work on areas that need improvement.

All lessons are given as interactive video lessons. After understanding each concept, students can take quizzes related to the exam syllabus. And, Byju’s will recommend videos each time a student makes a mistake. With Byju’s, mastering science and math will no longer be a challenge.

Zen Educate

This is a London based, $10.4 million worth edtech startup. Zen Educate is not a traditional teaching, learning platform. This app is specifically for teachers. It focuses on helping teachers find work and schools to find teachers. To put it simply, Zen Educate is like a mediator recruitment agency, but cheaper, faster, and more effective.

After a teacher signs up for this platform, he/ she gets a list of job opportunities daily. And, the matching is done according to a variety of factors including the teacher’s skills, expectations, and distance to school. So, this is an extremely easy way for teachers, assistant teachers, and cover supervisors to find work without the high commissions they have to pay for traditional recruitment agencies.

As for schools, they get to hire the best teachers easily. Zen Educate makes the hiring process much easier with a lot more options. And, at the end of the day, better teachers result in students getting a better education.

Brainly

Brainly truly stands out among other edtech companies. While most are geared towards learning the school curriculum or training for a specific exam, this platform works as a community of students.

It has over 200 million users around the world including students and teachers. Anytime a student gets a tricky question, they can post it on the app and everyone else will put their brains together to answer it. All the answers are verified by experts to make sure that students get the correct answer every time. So, this is a great platform for students to clear doubts and learn more.

The great thing about Brainly is that it functions as a smart kid’s community. So, if a 9^th grader posts a question, a 12^th grader can post an answer to it. And, unlike most edtech platforms that only focus on math and science, Brainly can answer any question in any subject including history, English, Biology, Business, Social studies, Geography, Health, Arts, and more.

Brainly is a truly awesome platform that allows sharing ideas, knowledge, and most importantly, teaching students to improve as a community.

Chegg

Chegg is a USA based platform that specializes in math education. It allows students to get fast help for any math problem. So, this is a great homework helper and self-learning platform. As of 2020, Chegg reports over 2 million subscribers and is worth over $410 million.

Chegg has three major domains; Chegg Study, Chegg Prep, and Chegg Writing. Chegg study allows students to access a wide variety of content such as video explanations, textbook solutions, expert Q & As, and practice problems. This variety of resources enable all students to become an independent learner, tackling different study areas on their own.

Chegg prep is especially geared towards students who are preparing for exams. This domain has useful functions like personalized flashcards to help memorize important facts. The third domain is Chegg writing. This feature is for students who are frequently turning in essays and other writing homework. Students can use this for functions such as checking for plagiarism.

Another cool function available in Chegg is that students can sell, rent, and buy textbooks. Because of this, the overhead cost of students is reduced. And for those who are selling and renting books, this becomes a source of income.

So, this platform is a great place to share resources. And, more importantly, it makes learning an interesting experience through self-paced content.

Final Words

The edtech sector proved its worth during the lockdown. Now, it’s time to start embracing change. With the advancement of technology, the edtech sector is only projected to expand in the future. And there is a good reason for this immense growth.

Edtech combines many great features such as personalized lesson plans, homework help, gamification, and many more. Because of these features, lessons are fun and much easier to understand for any student. Plus, learning through an edtech platform while at home is a lot more convenient than learning in a traditional education institute.

It is time to join the edtech revolution for interactive education. And these 5 startups are great platforms to start your new-era learning.