Today we will discuss dark side of Ed-tech Let me clear one thing Anything which has tech has suffix means that we are solving a problem Example Fintech financial technology 10-15 years back people weren’t aware about Which insurance to take, where to do savings, how much interest will we get? It is also not taught to us But the Fintech world that unfolded So many tools came, so many apps were developed Our work was made easy Which is a good thing Similarly, Ed-tech has many good things Before we talk about its dark side
Some good points are needed to be mentioned
Firstly, this has made quality education accessible Its not mandatory to go to some city You maybe sitting in any corner of country You can learn from good teacher Today teacher is not limited to 80-100 students Rather he can talk to 1000s of students on live stream Which is an amazing thing we couldn’t even think this 10 years back
Secondly this has broken the coaching mafia, city mafia Few years back there were cities where if you don’t reach then you won’t clear that entrance test This has also broken due to online education and Ed tech In many cases this has entire education you get free or is very affordable Value to money is there in many cases But even if I am counting so many benefits We should proceed to dark side A side where Ed-tech is not solution But a means to generate problems Earlier I told you that this provides accessible information, affordable things, there on dark side there is sales trap
In sales trap an aggressive sales pitch is made against you Your profile is made your parent’s profile is made Your financial condition is checked After categorizing you in an elaborate spreadsheet A pitch is prepared for you using it they pitch you and your parents that if you don’t buy our course then Your career is finished Which is very very problematic Many times, it happens that course is very expensive than your parent’s financial status And it is not even of that much value During the buying process many times salesman says that you can pay in parts if you cannot afford it But it is not parts but a loan emi Which is not clear to many parents Many news comes up where parents say that we didn’t even know that we signed a loan we don’t even have that much money to pay By that time, they are trapped This misleading sale is highly problematic
Misleading Marketing
On side you have aggressive sales going on In marketing you see ads where some 5 year kid, or 7 year kid is developing his own app after learning coding Some kid is placed in google who has crore rupees package Even the name keeps changing that is heard in news This shows you have a target audience To whom you want to sell your app lucratively You want to target them But the promises that you made are so exorbitant that in real life They are not possible Maybe you understand it that this is weird This is not possible
In this country there are still many people who will see this marketing and say that if he can do it can I also? I will also take the admission let’s try That is how you go into that loop of misleading marketing You start giving your money And that chain process starts That marketing needs to stop Or at least regulated
Coaching Mafia
In Ed tech slowly a monopoly situation is created when there is entire power in 1,2, or 3 player’s hands It looks like you ended the coaching mafia on one side But in turn are you becoming that mafia? Because if this happens then yesterday you were saying if you don’t go to city or coaching then your exam won’t clear You just replaced the city or coaching with app people will say if you don’t take subscription of this app Then you cannot be selected in the exam.
Teaching Quality
In plus point I said that Ed tech has made quality education accessible Quality education was keyword It is limited to the time that you know teacher Only then you will understand whether it is quality education or not if you don’t know teacher If there is some platform where 1000s of teachers are teaching Question comes whether the quality is compromised in for quantity This question is very important to be asked Which is often ignored Which is why it is another dark side of Ed tech I will show a pattern here It is very interesting pattern A trend is going on There were some cities Which had some institution They became monopoly To break them some individuals came up These individuals started a new thing Online education, Ed tech and their platform were developed These platforms are taking form of this cycle If they become monopoly, then to break them new people have already come up on youtube Many people are teaching on youtube And developing there only own platform there which is free of cost Which is amazing Because if these middle things become monopoly Then new generation already ready If that generation becomes monopoly Then next generation will bring even more simple solution that’s why i said earlier the suffix of tech means some problem is being solved So, if new problems come from new solutions Then their problem will also come from those solutions This gives me a lot of hope about the future of Ed tech
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