Exciting EdTech innovations from around the world
We've seen a lot of e-learning websites offer massive open online courses and comprehensive video tutorial solutions. But innovators are constantly coming up with new formats and technologies to serve the future generation of learners. Let's look at some amazing websites from across the world changing the way we learn and teach.
1. Microtutoring
Studypool breaks down conventional tutoring into tiny, easy-to-digest pieces of learning lasting anywhere between one to 10 minutes. CEO Richard Werbe explains, "Think about when you were stuck on that tricky algebra question in high school and you called your smart friend for help. That was microtutoring! Studypool is doing that times ten million. It's like having thousands of friends that are professional tutors that can help 24/7, on demand."
2. Peer feedback
Accepting feedback is one of the best ways to learn. With Peergrade, students evaluate and grade each other's work on online assignments created by teachers and with set criteria for evaluation. Interested organisations can use Peergrade for free through their website.
Moodle, the free, open-source learning management system software, is also used for blended learning, distance education, flipped classroom and other e-learning projects. Using forums and online assignments, discussion and learning can take place anywhere, anytime.
3. Photographic tours
Time Machine Tours has made textbook-heavy history lessons a thing of the past. Using GPS, this iOS app can tell the exact location of a photographer when the historical photo was taken. The user can also hold their phone over the actual location to overlay the past on the present, creating the illusion of looking into the past. Each photo contains information on the historic site and the content can be viewed without going to the geographic location. So although info on photos is restricted to certain areas in the US till now, users can access it from all over the globe.
4. Study guides
Iowa based startup HLT designs study guides and other test prep materials for smartphones. It already has the top study app for nursing exams in the US and is breaking into learning products for real estate and the universally famous "For Dummies" series.
Entri from Bengaluru also brings test prep materials to the palm of your hand. Besides featuring 30,000 entrance-oriented questions, study materials, and formulae, Entri also offers a Q&A forum with subject-matter experts and a dashboard to track progress.
5. Gamification
Quizlet simplifies learning with tools that let teachers and students make flashcards, practice spelling, play learning games, and test their knowledge, while Historia by Arizona's E-Line Media turns history child-friendly by letting them follow a civilisation through time. E-Line Media has designed similar games around major core subjects like language, arts, science, and math for hundreds of thousands of students across 10,000 classrooms and after-school programmes.
The writer is In-charge of the career publication of The Daily Star