Scaling Up The Live Learning Model

Enough and more is being said about how companies, and even entire industries are being wiped out because of the global pandemic. However, there are a few sectors that are seeing quite a boom in these unprecedented times. EdTech, clearly is one sector that is not only seeing a double-digit growth, but also a lot of interest and actual funding from investors. Unacademy is a case in point.

A few days ago, while speaking to the founder of Indian EdTech company working in the Literacy space for K12, I found out that they had grown 4x in the past six months. They had been agile enough to switch their Face to Face learning programme for schools to a Live Learning format within weeks of lockdown. With a ready market, they were now poised to scale the Live Learning model. My advice to them was in three areas:

𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀

It is important to reduce dependence on individual teachers’ skills and capability when scaling up the offering. To do this, they could pre-record certain sections of the Live Class such as - introduction, explanation, activity instructions and assignment instructions by a professional storyteller or a ‘Star Teacher’. So, the teachers facilitating the Live Class could just play these videos and audios instead of speaking themselves.

𝗖𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀

The teachers’ role would then be structured around facilitation- engaging with the learners, ensuring that they participated and completed their work and, most importantly, clarify the learners’ doubts. To ensure a standard of facilitation, they could appoint a Master Trainer train the teachers in facilitation skills specific to the pedagogy for the Live Class program. This could be followed by certification through online assessments, Teach Back sessions and observation of live classes or their recording.

𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁

Use the capability of the platform to drive learner engagement. This could be in the form of peer interaction and feedback in breakout rooms; use of quizzes, polls, reaction and comment features to ensure learner participation. Allow participants enough opportunities