Guru Takes the Tech Path 'Reinventing a module of education which is more appropriate for students of the mobile generation'

Byju Raveendran took the education technology domain by storm when he moved classroom coaching to an online platform. Today, BYJU's is India's largest K-12 learning app with over eight million users and 4,00,000 annual paid subscriptions. In an interview with Entrepreneur, the teacher turned entrepreneur gave his perspective on what he feels about innovation in the technology space.

Talking about the core innovation areas BYJU's is working on, he says, "A lot has been happening in the Indian education space and it has evolved much over the last few years. With the right investments and plans, technology is helping us to shape the way India learns. However, there is still a lot of room for improvement in the way students learn."

Speaking about a very crucial factor about India's education system, he explains that learning is still driven by the fear of exams, and not the love for learning. "There is so much focus on marks and grades that students are missing out on the fun of real learning. If they learn in the right method and enjoy learning it, then they will automatically score well. If we can intervene during their formative years and change the way they learn then we can make a huge impact," he adds.

BYJU'S is aiming to create a healthy learning environment by making the entire process more contextual and visual. "We are creating millions of self-paced learners where parents take up supporting roles. Our focus is to make students love learning," he added.

When asked about what he believes has been the master stroke innovation at his firm, he said that it is the unique combination of content, media and technology that has helped them to create learning programs and set benchmarks in the industry in terms of making content more interactive. "Our approach has been very simple – help children learn right in their formative years and imbibe the habit of learning rather than spoon-feeding the content," he says.

Reinventing a module of education which is more appropriate for students of the mobile generation, he says, "We combine world-class teachers, proven pedagogical methods, innovative technology and data science to deliver personalized learning, feedback and assessment for students in classes 4-12. Basically, the app makes use of original content, rich animation, interactive simulations and engaging video lessons to provide lessons."

Helping students learn and understand concepts on their own, BYJU's has created a whole new-segment of self-paced learners through mobiles which is disrupting traditional learning methodologies.

(This article was first published in the May issue of Entrepreneur Magazine. To subscribe, click here)