Next Education: Technology Transforming Education

Abstract

The approach towards teaching and learning has drastically changed with the advent of technology. Classrooms are no longer what they used to be. The traditional spaces fitted with blackboards and controlled by overbearing/strict teachers have given way to the new-age ‘smart’ classrooms. The post-millennial generation, which is highly exposed to gadgets like smartphones, has a short attention span and seeks quick learning at the click of a button. They want the freedom to decide what and how they want to learn; this wish is fulfilled by technology that has democratized Indian education system. The integration of technology and education was seen as a thrust area for business development in the early 2000s. In 2007, two IIT alumni and serial entrepreneurs, Beas Dev Ralhan and Raveendranath Kamath, started Next Education with the aim of changing the face of education in India by melding it with technology. In a short span of 10 years, it reached over more than 10,000 schools across the country transforming lives of more than 1,000,000 students with its flagship products such as TeachNext, LearnNext, MathsLab, Next ERP and aims at becoming the leader in technology-based education solution provider. The journey has been quite challenging with stiff competition from EdTech market leaders and resistance from various stakeholders. The questions Ralhan and Kamath were facing: How to enter into an industry which was at the nascent stage? How to create its market space and how to sustain it? How to beat the challenges in establishing a foothold in technology-driven education industry?