You may have come across millions of articles depicting how disastrous the COVID-19 pandemic has proved to be for businesses across the world. Indefinite lockdowns and disruption in the supply chain led to huge losses and businesses had to shift their operations online overnight. However, a few sectors were given a significant boost due to the pandemic, and one of them was the EdTech sector. Also known as eLearning or online learning, this industry saw meteoric growth since early 2020 when the pandemic broke out.
EdTech basically refers to the use of technology, IT tools, computer hardware and software in education to bring a host of options to students for interactive learning. Today, various eLearning platforms have become popular among learners and offer many unique features that are not possible in a physical classroom. These features include on-demand tutor discovery, video on coding and technology, gamification of various concepts, interactive preparation for competitive exams, tracking an individual’s performance over time, and so on.
The eLearning platforms are not only designed for high school or college grads, they are also quite useful for professionals as well. Platforms like Simplilearn, Udacity, edX, and Coursera offer a range of courses on digital skills and act as a bridge between employers and professionals. Based on individual career interests, one can enroll in the desired course. For example, a professional embarking on a career in project management can take a PRINCE2 course or a CAPM training program. Similarly, there are in-depth courses related to various emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence, blockchain, the Internet of Things (IoT), Virtual Reality, big data analytics, and so on.
Apart from the benefits offered to the learners, one can also think of starting a career in the EdTech industry. The job roles in this industry basically come under categories like Technology, Marketing and Sales, and Content and Pedagogy. Let us electronics engineering degree explore some of these job roles.
Technology – Under this category, there are jobs like software engineers, app developers, and technical architects. They are hired to take care of the EdTech platform and its functionality.
- A software engineer would be responsible to make the platform robust and ensure that the technical features are working properly.
- An app developer would be responsible for designing the mobile app for the platform so that learners can continue their studies via a mobile phone and access the course material anytime anywhere with an internet connection.
- A technical architect is usually a senior-level position that would require candidates to have rich working experience. As EdTech platforms have seen a sudden surge in the number of active users, technical architects are hired to make the platform scalable and add features keeping the future expansion of the user base in mind.
Marketing and Sales – As the name suggests, the professionals under this category would be responsible to promote the platform and bring in more learners. A product manager, inside sales manager, and digital marketing manager are the top job roles available in this category.
- A product manager takes the responsibility of understanding the market needs and features that the learners are seeking and converting them to online products and functionalities.
- An inside sales manager is in charge of the sales team and trains the members on how to reach out to prospective customers and convince them to enroll in a course. They focus on generating more leads and achieve a high conversion rate.
- A digital marketing manager handles a team that performs the duty of promoting the courses on various digital channels like search engines, social media, emails, and social networking sites.
Content and Pedagogy – Professionals under this category take care of the study material and delivery methods of online courses. Job roles include content creators, faculty, and academic consultants.
- Content creators are people who decide what topics are to be included in a specific course and design the entire course curriculum. Instructors are hired to make pre-recorded videos for self-paced learning and conduct live virtual classes for instructor-led training.
- Academic consultants are people who assess the learning needs of various students and try to understand what learning style would be suitable for them. Based on their findings, they assign a tutor who could best coordinate with them.
All the job roles mentioned above are in high demand today and you shouldn’t miss this opportunity to enter the EdTech industry and have a successful career ahead.
