EdTech Sector Faces New Challenges amidst COVID-19

According to HolonIQ, the education intelligence provider, less than 3% of total global education expenditure is currently digital, suggests the potential for significant transformation in the market which is expected to reach $10Tn by 2030, up from $6Tn in 2018.

EdTech expenditure is estimated to grow more than 12% every year to $342bn by 2025. Even though it’s less than 5% of overall education expenditure, this growth is expected to coincide with the increased use of technology in existing and advanced teaching methods. Governments around the world are already adopting a more favorable approach towards online learning as a result of the disruption to standard education delivery caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The past decade witnessed a revamp of the education industry with the introduction and growth of blended learning, which, as a pedagogical technique, combines in-class activities in a classroom with online engagement with students.

The EdTech is seen as offering a multi-year investment opportunity beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, driven by a broader socio-economic need, with the potential to scale profitability as the demand for skills to power the fourth industrial revolution continues to grow.

Even though such estimation and evidential increase in adoption of technologies in the field of education is at every level, the industry especially in light of the pandemic, which is affecting more than 30 lakh people worldwide, is faced with new challenges. Here is a glimpse of the challenges the Education Technology (EdTech) industry is facing in 2020:

1. Lack of universal accessibility

As given in the worldwide internet user penetration from 2014 to 2021, in today’s technologically advanced and interconnected world, the global user internet penetration rate touched 59 percent in 2020. Despite this, a lack of internet connectivity, especially in remote areas of middle or low-income countries has been observed.

An uninterrupted 24*7 internet access is a prerequisite in the process of imparting knowledge and necessary skills to learners at their pace with ease of accessibility. The lack of uniform internet facilities across the globe makes it difficult to seek universal accessibility of education via technology.

If employees are not able to undertake training that trains them for new technologies, the corporate’s productivity is affected. This results in the slowing down of the economy.

2. Absence of uniform content

Technology-based education is dominated by the uniformity and responsiveness of the learning content across all internet-enabled devices. It is necessary to create a more customized and personalized educational encounter for the learners. Achieving content uniformity across all internet-enabled devices enhances a user-friendly experience.

However, to achieve this, a team of dedicated designers and developers is required. It is important to train the trainer on the apt EdTech provider to ensure the use of superior IT capabilities, thus ensuring interactive and engaging content and increasing user-participation.

3. Lack of technology training

To ensure the optimum use of technology, it is important for professionals and job-seekers to receive preliminary technology training before taking on courses. According to an EdTech survey (2020), 67% of respondents including teachers and staff complained of inadequate professional training to deliver online learning. Lack of training is the second greatest hurdle faced by the EdTech industry. There is also a lack of trained staff for information technology support, thereby putting both Educators and Learners in a technological dilemma.

4. Lack of Familiarity

Findings of a study by the Centre for Digital Education show that 73% of educators teaching via blended learning observed a rise in student participation. However, another survey establishes that 41.4% of teachers are resistant to adapt to new, unfamiliar technological changes. This resistance can be attributed to lack of internet availability or exposure or adherence to the traditional method of learning.

Hence, there is a rising need to make people aware of the benefits of E-learning apps using certain introductory courses which would familiarize people with the pros of the use of such apps. Ultimately there could be a rise in the use of such learning-based apps.

5. Technology comes at a price

To ensure the smooth functioning of education, it is important to invest in the latest and advanced technology that is expensive and requires recurrent updating to keep up with the endless advancements. An EdTech company must find a source to finance the infrastructure required for online or blended learning. The educators’ initial investment to get aboard the EdTech train, recurrent updates and bug fixes necessary for the smooth running of the adopted technology to facilitate knowledge delivery would require further financing. It makes it difficult for institutions to adapt to or/and maintain technical apparatus for the changing educational needs.

A wide array of EdTech platforms

The EdTech sector now includes a multitude of providers offering various types of features that are required to run a successful online learning program. So much so that it has now become difficult to choose any one provider among the entire lot.

The requirements of each institution vary, depending upon factors like geographical location, technology budgeting, and the target audience. The clarity for the kind of platform to be chosen comes from market research, which is difficult as the EdTech market is still in its embryonic stage.

These platforms need to develop unique and compelling content that helps them transform into more than just an online platform.

Several EdTech companies will drop out in case they are not able to overcome the aforementioned challenges and those that ignore the pedagogical approach will end up creating dead-end apps. Hence, each organization part of this sector must do their best to overcome these challenges to be able to move up the ladder in the industry.

Moreover, the progress made in improving accessibility and connectivity is what has made online learning possible. It is important to note that the learning resources developed are not accessible by all. Thus, to ensure full utilization of resources by learners and trainers, the EdTech industry must counter these challenges so as to be able to accelerate its growth and also reach its target audience.