Education Innovation Awards- A fantastic event for the edtech industry in India

‘Education Innovation Awards’ was a 6-hour event held on 15 October 2020. This virtual event was conducted by Entrepreneur India. ‘The Education Innovation Awards’ recognized people in and around education for outstanding contributions in transforming education through technology to enrich the lives of learners everywhere. The awards put a spotlight on cool tools, inspiring leaders and innovative trendsetters across the country. This award ceremony identified, showcased and recognized the world's most promising EdTech businesses of the year. From free e-learning platforms that democratize higher education to online homework help communities, EdTech start-ups of all stripes are popping up across India and pushing the ecosystem to the next level. The Education Innovation Conference curated a diverse selection of international thought leaders to share their perspectives on how leading institutions have rapidly transitioned online, how companies have pivoted to maximise work-from-home models, the global leadership lessons learned and how EdTech trends will emerge in a post-COVID-19 world. Sessions and Panel discussions focused on mapping and meeting future demand for technology in education, the growth of edtech in India (and beyond) & the challenges faced by education entrepreneurs. The event also offered a bespoke networking platform to help the audience make new connections, have 1-to-1 video meetings and connect with colleagues from around the world - all without leaving your home The Edtech industry has gained considerable significance after the COVID-19 pandemic and many educational institutions are undergoing digital transformation to adopt new technologies. The event had many eminent visionaries as speakers. The event kicked off with the opening note from RituMarya, Editor-in-Chief, Entrepreneur Media India. Opening Session Opening session - With the New NEP 2020 announced by the Honourable Prime Minister, the future of education and its outcomes looks vastly different, Prof Anil Saharsabuddhe, Chairman, AICTE emphasized the importance of the NEP(New Education Policy) and its impact on the future of education. First Keynote In the first keynote, Dr Aseem Chauhan, Chairman & Chancellor, Amity University spoke on how universities are leveraging technology for evolved learning. Second Keynote In the second keynote, Vijay K. Thadani, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, NIIT Limited; Co-Founder, NIIT University talked about the fourth industrial revolution where digital learning management systems are playing a pivotal role in shaping the educational landscape. Third Keynote White Hat Junior has gained considerable popularity in India during the COVID-19 pandemic as many kids are learning coding during the lockdown. In the third keynote, Karan Bajaj, Founder & CEO, WhiteHatJr spoke on how we can create the next generation of entrepreneurs by teaching kids how to code and he also stressed on creating a creator mindset for students. He also covered the following points - Why should kids code? Future skill Cognitive benefits Creator mind-set How WHJ encourages a creator mind-set Impact WHJ has been able to make in this space Kid stories and numbers Fourth Keynote In the fourth keynote speech, Raghav Podar, Chairman, Podar Education talked about Unlocking The True Purpose Of Virtual Learning Environment First Session In the first session, RESILIENCE AND RE-LEARNING FOR K12 EDUCATION, the panellists talked about the pros and cons of online learning and how personalized learning is shaping up in the K12 online education. The panel shared learning’s on the challenges, benefits, and future of technology in the classroom. They talked about - Is learning online as effective? What Works and What does not How to Humanize Online Learning and Maximize Student Success How Personalized Learning is Shaping up in K12 online education regime Session Moderator: Aditya Berlia, Co-founder & Pro-Chancellor, ApeejayStya University Vishnu Karthik, CEO, Xperiential Learning Systems (The Heritage Schools) Dr Biswajit Saha, Director (Training & Skill Education), CBSE It was good to see Mr Biswajit discussing the Diksha platform that has been developed by our parent company Tekdi Technologies. Second Session In the second session, the FUTURE OF TEACHING an all-star, teacher-only panel talked about the future of teaching from the teacher’s perspective and what challenges do teachers face during the COVID-19 pandemic. The teachers talked about issues beyond technology to help bring effective solutions for all students and how Principals and senior teachers have tackled Classroom Tech challenges effectively. Session Moderator: Dr Avantika Tomar, Associate Partner, EY-Parthenon Jyoti Arora, Principal, Mount Abu School S. DILIP, English Graduate Teacher, Government Higher Secondary School Dr Hrushikesh Senapaty, Director, NCERT Third Session The third session, DIGITISING HIGHER EDUCATION had a focus on best Practices in Transforming your institution into a Digital University. It also talked about effective remote learning for education, employment, skill development etc. This session covered topics like- Best Practices in Transforming your institution into a Digital University Making remote learning effective to meet Students needs for education and employment, Industry needs for higher skills How universities are addressing a wide range of challenges including retention, disengaged students, and the ineffectiveness of the “one size fits for all” approach. Session Moderator: Saurabh Kumar, Editor Special Projects, Entrepreneur Media India Dr Vikas Singh, Executive Director, I.T.S Group of Institutes Prof. P Srinivasan PhD, Associate Dean Work Integrated Learning Program, BITS-Pilani Dr Bhimaraya Metri, Director, Indian Institute of Management, Tamil Nadu Dr Rajesh Panda, Professor and Director, Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Bengaluru Dr. Prabhat Ranjan, Vice-Chancellor, D. Y. Patil International University Dr. Christopher Abraham CEO & Head of Dubai Campus, S P Jain School of Global Management The Final KEYNOTE HOW DIGITAL LEARNING IS EVOLVING TO MEET THE FUTURE OF WORK by Dr. Manish Kumar, MD & CEO, National Skill Development Corporation talked about how digital learning is evolving and how anyone can take advantage of the lockdown and level up their skills using the online courses on NSDC site, eskillIndia. Fourth Session The SESSION IV, HOW THE ED-TECH TITANS ARE RESHAPING THE ED-TECH LANDSCAPE, Ed-Tech Entrepreneurs shared their ideas about how the Future of Education will be From Remote Learning to New Hybrid Models. Irwin Anand from Udemy shared some interesting statistics for the Indian market. All the speakers emphasized on mobile-oriented experience for online learning. Session Moderator: CofPunita Kapoor, Deputy Editor, Entrepreneur Media Indiafee Vamsi Krishna, CEO and Co-Founder, Vedantu Ajay Sridharan, VP - SEA, Degreed Irwin Anand, Managing Director, Udemy India Siddhant Jain, Co-founder & CEO, VdoCipher Fifth Session In SESSION V: INVESTMENT AND FUNDING LANDSCAPE IN EDTECH, many edtech investors gave an Outlook of the Future Scope of EdTech Market. They talked about financial upskilling, SaaS model for coaching, educational upskilling, NEP, Pricing, product bundling and positioning the value proposition along with VC white spaces. Session Lead Ritu Marya, Editor-In-Chief, Entrepreneur Media- the Asia Pacific & Franchise India Ravi Kaushik, Partner, WaterBridge Ventures Namita Dalmia, Director-Investment, Omidyar Network Anirudh Damani, Managing Partner, Artha Venture Fund Karan Mohla, Partner, Chiratae Ventures Aakash Goel, Partner, Trifecta Capital The virtual event had many booths where exhibitors promoted their products. Globus Infocom Ltd-Interactive boards, interactive panels and video projectors, online learning solutions Deskfence-Products for social distancing VdoCipher Media Solutions Pvt. Ltd- A video hosting solution Fliplearn Education Pvt Ltd-Smart learning platform/LMS BusinessEx-Network for connecting businesses looking for investments and businesses for sale Eminent personalities and various edtech companies were felicitated at the event. Awards were given for eLearning solution, standalone school, emerging product and to the various CEOs of the different companies.