New Delhi – The draft National Education Policy (NEP), 2019 envisages to integrate educational technology in school curriculum and TagHive identifies itself with the goals of the proposed law, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Pankaj Agarwal told India CSR.
The South Korean company has designed Class Saathi – a personalised learning solution aimed at developing futuristic classrooms. “The Class Saathi mobile solution does not require the schools to have computers or tablets or even internet,” Agarwal said, indicating challenges towards setting-up digital infrastructure throughout the length and breadth of the country.
“Through functionalities like quiz, poll, vote, evaluation, learning can be made fun and engaging without the need for any major technological or infrastructural interventions,” he said.
“It is a playful device which engages teachers with students and offers interactive content and statistics to students,” the CEO said. The smart solution with interactive learning tools and teaching contents for the teachers in a mobile app, works through a clicker device, given to each student.
TagHive is a technology company which designs innovative digital solutions for kids by merging real and virtual worlds for interactive learning experiences. The company is funded by Samsung Ventures.
A variation of Class Saathi has already been launched in schools in Korea by TagHive, in partnership with a learning management provider, Agarwal said. The company plans an India launch in September, he added.
The draft policy proposes to integrate technological interventions like apps and games on tablets and smartphones that will act as learning aids for the students.
The policy also talks in detail about government’s focus on measuring learning outcomes through adaptive assessment techniques. “With Class Saathi, adaptive assessments can be implemented across all levels, all schools immediately,” Agarwal said.
Agarwal spoke about his own experience of working with government schools in Varanasi where the company had done a pilot of this low cost technology solution.
The pilot was done on more than 1,000 students for one month and the results were “encouraging” for the company, Agarwal said. The learning outcomes increased by almost 8%, he added.
“Accessibility, affordability and accountability are three foundational pillars of the NEP draft and our product is completely aligned on all these 3 “A”s,” Agarwal said.
“Rural schools need technologies for better teaching environment, to empower teachers and to motivate students towards regular attendance thus helping these students achieve better learning outcomes,” Agarwal said adding that TagHive’s ‘Class-Saathi’ cost at $10 per clicker as against an average $20 for similar solutions was “competitive and best in the industry”.
“Schools require smart and affordable technologies that can capture in-classroom learning data and use that data to enhance the learning of kids when they are at home or at the learning center, after school,” Agarwal said adding that technology can make learning more efficient.
Agarwal is an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur graduate with an MBA degree from Harvard Business School. A winner of MIT Top 10 Innovators in India Award in 2017, Agarwal has been an inventor himself with over 50 international patents in his name.
