TOI & BYJU’S join hands to herald classrooms of tomorrow with #KeepLearning

In times when e-learning has become the new normal for students across the country, The Times of India and BYJU’S have come together to launch their #KeepLearning initiative. #KeepLearning aims to empower students, educators and anyone in the education space with information on the best practices of online learning.

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While the pandemic has caused schools and colleges to remain shut, students have understood the importance of online learning as this sector is growing hand-in-hand with the overall digital sector. The timing of this platform couldn’t have been better as people are trying to find the best ways to make online learning effective.

In conversation with Adgully, Sanjeev Bhargava, Director - Brand, TOI, talks about the partnership with BYJU’S, campaign insights and importance of online learning.

Could you tell us about the partnership with BYJU’s and how it will help TOI communicate with the end consumer? How did you zero in on BYJU’s as the partner for this initiative?

The Times of India has always been at the forefront in bringing positive changes in the society through its various initiatives. The drastic effects of the global pandemic, including the lockdown, have led to a major shift in the education ecosystem and forced a transition from blackboards to digital screens. In line with our brand ethos, we are now striving to help students, parents and educators adapt to the online learning process through our #KeepLearning campaign, where we have joined forces with BYJU’S.

#KeepLearning is a holistic, one-stop platform solving all the e-learning pain-points faced by teachers, parents and students in today’s time. The platform includes content on almost every major topic related to online learning, discussions with subject matter experts through a series of webinars and panel discussions, one-on-one connect with experts from multiple domains like Education System, Lifestyle Coaching, Child Psychology, Ophthalmology, Career Counseling, etc., and discussion forums on various topics.

Having associated with a like-minded brand – BYJU’S, who share the same passion and drive as us, we get an opportunity to enhance our communications through their teaching expertise and bring about an effective and positive change in the society.

What is your campaign strategy? What are your expectations from this initiative?

#KeepLearning is a holistic, one-stop platform solving all the e-learning pain-points faced by teachers, parents and students in today’s time.

The platform includes:

• Content on Online Education: Almost all topics related to online learning are covered through variety of articles, listicles and videos on the website
• Discussion with Subject Matter Experts: There will be series of Webinars and Panel Discussions with subject matter experts on various topics throughout the 2 months duration of the initiative
• One-on-One Connect with Experts: Registered users will also be able to connect one on one with key experts from multiple domains like Education System, Lifestyle Coaching, Child Psychology, Ophthalmology, Career Counselling, etc., to answer their questions/queries
• Discussion Forums: Registered users will also be able to participate in discussion forums on various topics and get perspective of top experts and other participants

What makes this initiative even more special is that almost all the content is getting curated by luminaries and stalwarts from the education sector, including Anubha Doshi, Founder-Director – Artsphere & Soulsphere; Dr Arunabh Singh, Director, Nehru World School; Dr Navin Sakhuja, MD Ophthalmology; Dr Sameer Malhotra, Director and Head – Max Super Specialty Hospital; Ramya Rajendiran, Co-Founder, Springdays School; and Fountainhead Leaders, among others.

Some of the key topics include the New Education Policy, curriculum during COVID and beyond, Blackboard to a Digital Screen, Screen Time – how much is too much, and many more. The campaign is also engaging with prominent celebrities and experts. The list includes known influencers like Rajiv Makhani, Anaita Shroff, Katerina Folkman, Momcom India and many others.

Through this campaign we have created a 360-degree learning process with the help of digital tools and created a bridge between teachers and parents so that they can help their kids in their daily studies. We expect that this initiative, with the help of technology, will be able to keep the learning process ongoing even if we are sitting at our home.

How does this platform benefit the consumer? How important has online learning become in the new normal?

As I mentioned earlier, the pandemic has changed the way students now attend their lectures; we have witnessed a swift transition from the traditional approach to a digital one. Despite how adverse the situation might be, it is important that one’s education must not suffer any setbacks. Taking this very thought forward, we have leveraged technology to raise awareness in the education fraternity with the help of experts and celebrities. They will bring in their knowledge and experience to answer the questions and the challenges that parents and teachers are facing and provide them actionable solutions.

Adgully also spoke with Mrinal Mohit, Chief Operating Officer, BYJU'S, who shed light on the future of BYJU'S and the ed-tech space, besides giving insights on the #KeepLearning platform.

Why did BYJU’S decide to partner with TOI for this initiative?

Learning is an integral part of our lives. Even in the current situation, educational institutions are working tirelessly to offer digital learning solutions for students. Therefore, empowering students, parents and educators with the knowledge of ‘how- to’ of e-learning and exploring the best practices of online learning is the need of the hour. With this objective in mind, we at BYJU’S, have partnered with The Times of India to launch the “Keep Learning” initiative. Through this initiative, we aim to help parents and teachers navigate the shift to online learning/ teaching and the changes in the ecosystem due to the pandemic.

How are you leveraging this platform and tech to further promote online education amongst students?

The #KeepLearning platform is a holistic platform, which aims to offer innovative and engaging content and information for students, parents and educators. The platform focuses on various aspects of online learning and includes:

• Content on online education - An abundance of topics related to online learning are discussed through articles, listicles and videos.
• Discussion with subject matter experts - The platform will feature a series of webinars and panel discussions with subject matter experts, throughout the 2 months duration of the initiative.
• One-on-one connect with experts - Registered users will be able to connect on a one-on-one basis with key experts from domains like child psychology, lifestyle coaching, career counselling, etc.
• Discussion forums - Users will also be able to gain perspective from experts and other participants through various discussion forums.

All these features can be accessed by everyone on the Times Learning Platform for free.

What are the key changes that you have witnessed in the ed-tech sector during the pandemic? How has the year been for BYJU’S?

I think we are fortunate to be in a sector of positive reliance during the on-going pandemic. One of the biggest changes we have witnessed is in the mindset of parents across the country. They have become more accepting towards the idea of their children learning from screens, tipping the scales in favour of online learning. In fact, according to one of our surveys, over 75% of parents in India want their children to continue learning online even after schools reopen.

For BYJU’S, it would be an understatement to call this year interesting. With students completely depending on online learning, we witnessed over 25 million new students using BYJU’S in the months following the lockdown, resulting in over 70 million users and 4.5 million paid subscribers using the platform. During the last 6-7 months, we accelerated the launch of several new products. Apart from making the content on our app free for all students during the lockdown, we also introduced free live classes to bring in a form of schedule to the lives of students across the country.

We introduced History, Civics, and Geography learning programs for students. We also introduced our Learning app in Bengali, Gujarati, Telugu, Kannada, and other languages to enable more students to learn from the app. Further to strengthen seamless learning from home, we launched BYJUS Classes – a complete after-school learning solution for students across the country, which offers classes from India’s best teachers, instant doubt resolution, and one-on-one dedicated mentoring. 

Additionally, to further our goal to democratise education, especially in the current scenario where the education of students is affected, we are carrying out our social initiative – Education for All. Through this initiative, we aim to solve the problem of standardised learning and accessibility by providing students across the country with an equal playing field. We win to impact the lives of 5 million students from underserved communities by 2025.

How do you forecast the year 2021 for ed-tech and BYJU’S? What are your key learnings and how are you looking at leveraging them in the coming year?

With the onset of the global pandemic and the accelerated acceptance towards online learning, the road ahead for ed-tech is definitely exciting. On the other side of the pandemic, we will witness the rise of a new normal that will consist of a blended format of learning that combines the best of online and offline. I think an ideal format that lies in the middle will emerge.

At BYJU’S, we have always believed that the power of education and technology can truly transform our country. The ‘Classrooms of Tomorrow’ will have technology at its core, empowering students to cross over from passive to active learning. The future will see us take a leap from the traditional one-to-many approach to the blended one-on- one learning experiences, providing students the best of both physical and digital worlds. We, at BYJU’S, have already made small strides in this direction and moving forward, our core pillars of growth will be to introduce more subjects for more grades and in more languages.

As an organisation, we never stop learning. It’s in our DNA! It’s easy to start a mission driven company, but what is important is that it remains mission driven. We have spent close to a decade teaching, learning, and growing. We have moved from classrooms, stadiums to virtual classes and now, personalised, blended, experiential learning and much more. Our journey is a clear indication of the fact that we have never shied away from change. In fact, we have embraced it and we will continue to do the same even in the future.