EdTech; a commonly used word in the education ecosystem in Africa. EdTech basically sums up the words “Educational Technology”. Educational Technology is well summarized by Wikipedia as “the combined use of computer hardware, software, and educational theory and practice to facilitate learning.”
Interesting to note, the COVID 19 pandemic caused a major disruption in the education ecosystem, which in turn ignited a new approach to learning across the globe. In Kenya, schools were closed indefinitely in March 2020, causing a bit of a frenzy for both school administrators and parents. Within 2 weeks of the shutdown, schools in urban areas created Zoom lessons and learners shifted from physical lessons to online classes. Unfortunately, the uptake for the online lessons was relatively low, sighting affordability challenges; internet access was deemed expensive and gadget acquisition was out of reach for the larger percentage of both teachers and parents.
The above is a brief synopsis of the accelerated growth that has been experienced in the EdTech space in Kenya. EdTech is now technologically enhanced, affordable, and accessible, courtesy of start-ups such as Smart Brains Kenya and LOHO Learning who are key benefit partners with ISIC Kenya.
The value proposition within the institutional packages conjured in the partnership between, ISIC Kenya, Smart Brains & LOHO Learning, is an all-inclusive package of a sustainable technology-based infrastructure for the education ecosystem in Kenya. ISIC Kenya offers the school ecosystem an administrative tool, with access to a wide basket of discounts to both the schools as institutions, and the student & teacher populace as individual consumers. Smart Brains Kenya offers coding lessons to learners within the ecosystem, where they provide a solution on a per module per learner billing model that allows the schools a saving on their OPEX. LOHO Learning offers the schools a government approved eLearning platform, loaded with content for all the learners within the institution on an annual subscription.
In conclusion, the costs of operations for investors in the education ecosystem and government, will drastically reduce as the EdTech space continues to grow.