How Vedantu is empowering teachers with technology amid the pandemic

Its TTE programme provides rigorous training to offline teachers and academicians to bring them up to speed in the world of online teaching

Teachers across India have been hit hard due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has seen several thousands of teachers lose their jobs. Several others had to take substantial pay cuts. The situation looks grim in the metros and small-town India. For example, in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, several private teachers have lost their jobs as schools have gone online. There are over 1,300 government integrated private schools in the district and about 14,000 teachers are working in those schools. But managements prefer only a few experienced teachers for online classes, leaving the remaining faculty with no option. Over 350,000 teachers from private schools in Karnataka, most of them without support, are facing challenges due to job loss and are fighting for survival.

The situation has adversely impacted offline teachers across India. To alleviate this problem, edtech unicorn Vedantu’ is providing support to all teachers by training them through its Teacher Training Excellence (TTE) programme, which is an industry-first initiative to help teachers conduct online classes effectively. Further to the training, they will join the Vedantu team of trained academicians who are highly qualified, experienced and are better known as “Teachers by choice”. 

“When online or offline, the real problem statement for any teacher is how to be successful or engage students while teaching,” says Rajesh Rajan, deputy general manager, teacher training and development at Vedantu. “To solve this, we are the first edtech platform to be able to develop in-house a scientifically researched and validated training or learning framework for the entire teacher community by providing practical tools and techniques and not just imparting knowledge. Our learning techniques incorporate technology insight so we can create impact at scale.”

TTE programme provides rigorous training to offline teachers and academicians to bring them up to speed in the world of online teaching. The TTE team trains these teachers under four cohorts- Master teacher, personal teacher, class teacher and student academic mentor. This entire teacher training process is conducted on Vedantu’s proprietary tech platform WAVE (Whiteboard Audio Video Environment).

WAVE is all about making learning fun and engaging for the students. Here AI (artificial intelligence) provides learning, testing, and feedback that identifies knowledge gaps and reorients learning to new topics when necessary. AI is used to create more efficient teaching, enrollment, and admission processes as both learning and teaching can be made more efficient and personalised with AI. 

Vedantu has utilised this data and created learning models based on the data generated. The same is ensured by providing teachers with the right tools and levers. For instance, there is an ‘in house data-based whiteboard’. The firm said it is 95 per cent lighter yet better than any screen share tool used in Zoom, Google classrooms - designed for Indian conditions. Any student can be brought on stage and given access to write on the whiteboard, which is the same as allowing the student to speak or explain something.

Using a large bank of questions and books, AI is able to answer most of the questions or doubts raised by students in class without the intervention of teachers. There are 3D models and interactive videos to help students learn better and also aid teachers in explaining concepts.

The platform includes real time analytics tools that provide insights such as real time engagement, student activity, participation data, correctness, attendance, late joinees and good performers. All this data is provided to the teachers in a short and crisp manner.

Also, the two-teacher model enables seamless handling of batches with bigger classrooms, without compromising on quality of interaction and delivering on value for money. This model includes 1 master teacher and 1 class teacher for each section. The role of the class teacher is to control the class, solve doubts, interact with students, have a seamless session.

Vedantu said WAVE is built on the paradigm of capturing deep learning patterns of each individual student. It captures every click and interaction of each student in a LIVE Class--including facial emotions. It also records Teacher side data including tone or pitch analysis of a Teacher’s voice, handwriting analysis, amongst multiple parameters.

In total, over 75 parameters in a Live Class are captured. This data is converted into actionable insights through Vedantu’s patented algorithms and custom-built AI/ML models. It measures the engagement level of each student at different points in the class and his/her learning outcomes. It also measures the effectiveness of content and teaching - making the entire teaching-learning engagement as well as content, measurable. To monitor students’ progress continuously, Vedantu creates personalised weekly learning activity reports based on students’ activities and their performance in in-class and post-class quizzes.

Another firm Byju’s, the world’s most valuable edtech company, this year introduced a ‘Two-Teacher Advantage’ for Byju’s Classes, a comprehensive after-school online tutoring programme. Byju’s Classes is an online tuition program to offer a two-teacher model in India that aims to deliver superior learning experiences and quality teaching at scale to enable better learning outcomes.

With the Two-Teacher advantage, students are taught by one expert teacher who uses strong visuals and storytelling to explain topics in-depth to ensure conceptual clarity. The second teacher solves instant doubts, pays individual attention and makes the sessions interactive and engaging. With this, students get the best of both worlds - access to high-quality teachers and personal attention.

Mrinal Mohit, chief operating officer, Byju’s, had said that the platform provides students access to the best teachers along with live and interactive instant doubt resolutions that closely simulate the offline classroom environment. He had said that Byju’s Classes will be conducted in small batches and students can choose weekday or weekend batches as per their school curriculum.

Byju’s is also betting big on using technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to create online learning content that is personalised, immersive and engaging at the same time. This includes a combination of teachers, video lessons and interactive games, where the firm helps explain concepts by relating them to real-life experiences. This includes a combination of teachers, video lessons and interactive games, where the firm helps explain concepts by relating them to real-life experiences.

In addition to the content, there is the production of Byju’s videos, aided by a top graphics and animation team. There are also multiple in-house green-screen studios, VFX experts, 2D and 3D animators, storyboarding experts, and musicians. Vinay M R, chief content officer, Byju’s, recently said that moving on from the traditional approach of one size fitting all, Byju’s key value proposition has been the customisation and personalisation of content for individual students.

SoftBank-backed edtech unicorn Unacademy recently announced the acquisition of Swiflearn, a platform that provides live face-to-face online tuitions for CBSE and ICSE students of grades 1 to 10. Founded in 2019 by Abhinav Agarwal and Anand Bakode, Swiflearn is an online platform for academic courses, which provides personalised home tuition experience from top quality teachers. The platform offers online tuition classes for English, Maths, and Science, and other important areas of learning like Mental Ability, Life Skills, and Vedic Maths.Swiflearn currently has over 1,500 teachers. The platform hosts over 30,000 classes every month and has over 120,000 registered learners.

myTutorHub, an online tutoring platform built by US-based Ed-Tech company, myTutorHub Inc., is aiming to build on creating a student-teacher community. The platform was recently launched to modernize the education sector by offering digital tools and necessary resources to help educators become future-ready. The company platform lets educators strengthen their online presence. It is bridging the noticeable learning gap between teachers and students, especially in small and mid-level coaching institutes.

Ashish Dixit, co-founder of myTutorHub had said that the mobile-first app will allow the students to connect with the tutors, select the preferred time to study, and get access to the best online study material. The tutor and coach can establish their online presence, create their own brand, and decide the batch size and time while expanding their reach and business.