The growth of Internet and smartphone industry has transformed other industries with some major changes. One of the biggest sectors affected by digitization is the Education sector. Today, students don’t like to sit in classroom to gain knowledge as they are used to learning things using smartphones, tablets and computers.
Students preferring live classes
The rise of emerging technologies has led to a significant increase in Ed-tech platforms across the globe with millions of students registering to use these. In the Indian context, however, what Gradeup found through extensive research is that, the usage and consumption of the content on these platforms still remains limited owing to gaps in existing learning mechanism & aspirant’s needs. This indicated the need for greater engagement to motivate students with continuous, mentored learning. With these factors in mind, Gradeup launched ‘Gradeup Classroom – Live Classes’, to give students a virtual classroom learning experience from the comfort of their homes. The platform then conducted the research in order to further understand what students look forward to in their online learning experience with a specific focus on live classes.
Nowadays, students are preferring live classes for competitive exams such as JE, NEET, GATE, SSC and Banking exams. To find out how live classes are disrupting offline coaching & online recorded lectures, Gradeup, India’s largest and most effective preparation platform for competitive exams, has released a research report named ‘Evolving Ed-Tech and why Live Online Classes is becoming the most preferred tool for learning and test preparation’. The research was conducted on over 10,000 students from across India who are studying for competitive exams like JEE, NEET, Banking, GATE, SSC etc. It has revealed some really interesting insights. Below are the key insights from the report:
Over 90% of students prefer taking online coaching and the biggest reason is convenience of preparing from home & access to live classes. Also, the availability of best teachers and courses at affordable prices is changing the scene of students from Tier 3 and Tier 4 cities. 20% of the total participants also said they are willing to pay extra for access to live classes. This clearly indicates that students are getting aware and realizing the benefits of taking to live online classes for their exam preparation.
Why live classes?
Live online classes give students a virtual classroom experience. This means they can interact with the some of India’s best teachers, raise questions and get doubts resolved instantly. Moreover, these classes provide students with continuous evaluation and a day-wise study plan, giving them something to work towards every day in a systematic manner, as well as helping them track their progress with live analysis. They also have 24×7 access to support from experts, so they don’t have to wait until the next class.
Given the extent and scope, live online learning has witnessed widespread acceptance amongst students, teachers and even parents, as a legitimate way to study with measurable learning outcomes. With the introduction of Live Classes, our internal data has revealed that there is a 4X increase in retention of the particular subject among students. This gives them a reason to continue to depend on the platform for optimal test preparation, thus effectively complementing offline channels as well. Gradeup’s internal data revealed that teachers are able to deliver knowledge to 10X more students via live online classes as compared to offline modes.
The key findings of this research further suggests that, of the students who are currently using offline modes for exam preparation, 70% would shift to online learning if they are given access to live online classes. Of these, 80% said ‘access to expert faculty’ as the primary reason to make this shift.
The survey further found that 63% amongst those students that prefer online learning would choose live classes for their exam preparation, while a much lower proportion, at 29%, would choose recorded lectures. The main reasons students stated for choosing live classes are ‘interactive classes for instant doubt resolution’ and ‘proper planning through a day-wise study plan’. These findings are clear indicators that students are increasingly realizing the benefits, and opening up to the idea, of taking to live online classes for their exam preparation.
Speaking about the objectives and results of the report, Shobhit Bhatnagar, Co-founder, Gradeup said
“With the launch of ‘Gradeup Classroom – Live Classes’, we at Gradeup have been able to bridge several gaps pertaining to students’ exam preparation, with measurable outcomes; expert teachers, structured study plans & instant student-teacher interaction.”
India’s largest exam preparation platform for competitive exams Gradeup was founded in 2015. It has established itself as a leading online platform for competitive exam preparation in India.
Gradeup took the help of technology to improve community learning & introducing innovative offerings like Classroom. It has become a go-to platform many exams like for JEE, NEET, GATE, SSC, Banking, Railways, Teaching, UPSC, Defence and State level exams because aspirants get free access to prep material, quizzes, previous years papers & get answers to their doubts. Additionally, there are certain paid services like Test series and Classroom. Since the launch of its live online classes, Gradeup has witnessed a 2X growth in enrolments to live courses per quarter and expects the number to touch 60,000 by the end of FY 2019-2020.
With over 1.5 crore registered students and a paid user base of 2.5 lakhs across 2500 cities in the country, Gradeup is continuously working towards improving the standards of online learning.
