New Delhi,UPDATED: May 9, 2023 10:11 IST
By Divya Chopra: The Indian education system is one of the largest in the world. Yet, there is a constant felt need for education in India to go beyond its physical infrastructure and adopt a digital identity for deeper penetration and wider application.
Technology has shaped every aspect of life on Earth, including how people learn. As opposed to traditional classroom-based education where students attend classes in person, participate in discussions, complete assignments, and take exams in a physical classroom, education has also been taken online by various education stakeholders.
WHAT IS SaaS?
One such kind of stakeholder is SaaS (Software as a Service) based education platforms. Software as a Service (SaaS) is a software delivery model where software is provided to users over the internet, usually on a subscription basis.
These are online platforms that offer educational services such as e-learning courses, video lectures, career guidance, profile-building opportunities online assignments, and tests to students, teachers, and institutions. These platforms typically offer features such as virtual classrooms, video conferencing, content management, student tracking and analytics, and more.
As per industry estimates, the online education market size in India is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 20% from 2022 to 2027. The growing focus on skill development and employment is notably driving the demand for the market. Moreover, as per a NASSCOM report, the Indian SaaS industry is growing 1.5x faster than global SaaS.
According to Prateek Bhargava, Founder & CEO of career guidance platform Mindler, SaaS-based education platforms are disrupting the education system by personalising learning experiences and making them accessible and affordable to everyone. Using this AI-powered SaaS platform, educators can map their students across 56 dimensions using proprietary Career Assessments and make informed decisions about the best-suited careers for them.
“By leveraging the SaaS platforms, educators can make scientific career guidance accessible to students in every part of the world and provide students with access to a range of tools and resources that can inform students in their career choices. As these platforms continue to evolve and improve, they will likely become an increasingly important part of the career guidance landscape, providing students with new opportunities to explore their interests and pursue their professional goals,” predicts Bhargava.
This is just one example of how software as a service (SaaS) is shaping learning and careers. Many platforms are offering courses in various languages, using gamification and personalised learning techniques. Such platforms are enabling educators to deliver more engaging and interactive learning experiences and are helping to democratize access to education.
Many Edtech platforms are offering training programmes and are popular examples of how learning has been transformed beyond schools and colleges as they take industry-relevant courses to laptop and mobile screens. The rise of such SaaS-based platforms is proven by data points, such as a report by Class Central saying the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the growth of online learning, with enrollments in MOOCs increasing by 644 percent in March 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.
In addition to accessibility, scalability, and cost-effectiveness, SaaS-based education platforms often provide a high level of security for student and institutional data. They typically use advanced encryption and authentication technologies, as well as regular security updates and backups, to ensure that data is protected from cyber threats.