What is WizKlub? A brief intro.
WizKlub is a Bengaluru based ed-tech startup that builds Future Skills for school children through its research-based programs. Our easy-to-navigate platform is for 6-16 year olds where we deliver a personalized learning path for every child for maximum efficacy. Our HOTS Program develops higher-order thinking skills to ensure that every child is a smart reader and an adept problem solver. The WizKlubSmartTech Program focuses to build lifelong skills and confidence to create tech products by application of coding, design, robotics, and IoT smart devices.
We have progressed 10000+ children through our programs.
Tell us more about WizKlub’s Young Product Designers Programs?
WizKlub’s Young Product Designers Program (YPDP), a first-of-its-kind for children as young as 6 years, is designed to get children to Build and Code Technology Products. The program takes a child through the journey of creating products including skills related to Hardware, Coding, and Design in an easy drag-and-drop environment that even a 6 year old is using to create products.
The program builds lifelong skills and confidence to create tech products and makes a child Tech Explorer and Creator for life. Every month, the child builds and codes a Tech Product (such as Smart Light, Gesture Remote) assisted through a certified instructor that takes the child through the structured program. The entire set of tools including hardware and the drag-and-drop blocks is provided by WizKlub.
The program makes the child a technology enthusiast who looks at tech products from the eyes of an explorer and creator and not just a passive consumer. This leads to building the skill of using tech to solve real-life problems, a must-have skill for the future.
Each child gets a personalized learning path based on their existing proficiency and learning capacity. Every week, the child interacts with the facilitator to master 1 skill and then move to the next one. The sessions are conducted in small groups of 5-6 children.
USPs
The ed-tech sector offers multiple choices to children depending on their interest/ focus area.
Our target, the k-12 market, can be divided into two segments – one that caters to the curriculum support (Language, Math, Science) and has companies like Byju’s, Toppr, Vedantu, among others and the other is the early years segment where parents look for programs beyond the school curriculum to focus on building skills.
The second segment is fragmented and has a lack of quality solutions. WizKlub is catering to the early years market and is offering affordable solutions that impart quality experience at scale that build future skills of children.
We work towards a child’s holistic development by honing their skills like logical, creative, critical thinking and a tech perspective that allows them to create solutions to complex problems in the future. WizKlub programs are designed to build future-ready skills while bringing out the best in every child. At WizKlub, we evoke possibility, ease of learning, wonder and curiosity, so kids gain new insights and a new lens of perspective, perception and possibility.
The strength of the company is to use technology in innovative ways to impart a great learning experience for the children. The core team has been in the field of education for over a decade and has a deep understanding of how to deliver high quality learning experiences at scale.
Our products ensure that this generation of kids is totally equipped for the future. Whether it is the skills required for rewarding careers or to cope up with the rapidly changing environment, our programs ensure that kids are on top of their game.
What was the idea behind the startup and the challenges you faced?
This is the third edTech venture of the core team together. The earlier 2 ventures were in higher education and in those ventures we realized that by the time a student is in college, the basic aptitude of the student is already defined. One can train a student on various tools such as how to program using Java framework but if the relevant aptitude is not in place (logical thinking and problem solving for a programmer), the student would not become a good programmer. The same applies to all careers- if the underlying core aptitude required for that job is missing, the person would not become a good professional in that field.
More research in this area revealed that the core aptitude of an individual is largely determined by the age of 14-15. The same is established by various research around the world – Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University found that the brain development around higher cognitive functions such as logical reasoning, critical thinking, creative thinking and complex problem solving (https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/inbrief-science-of-ecd/)
However, when we look at the Indian school system, it is still largely focused on curriculum rather than developing skills. The careers in the coming decade would require students to be high on proficiency in these higher order thinking skills and use of tech to solve problems.
WizKlub is committed to empower children with these skills in a fun and easy manner.
We faced challenges that any other start-up faces in the earlier days. The typical challenges were getting the right product market fit, finding ways to acquire customers in a profitable manner and then scaling operations while maintaining the key business metrics.
Some of the challenges were specific to the edtech sector. One such challenge that we faced initially was that the product was delivering results in terms of improved learning and problem-solving aptitude but ONLY those parents who were involved with their kids’ learning journey were able to witness the results. The involved parents could see that the child has become an active reader, is able to get the larger picture, able to connect information, is asking intelligent questions, is more inquisitive, is not scared of unseen problems, which was not the case before joining the program. However, the other set of parents were unable to appreciate the difference as they were expecting results in terms of visible output. We solved this problem by demonstrating the improvement on the world’s most popular IQ test for children, WISC (Weschler’s Intelligence Scale for Children). We were able to demonstrate a similar efficacy of 85% improvement on the third-party assessment WISC as well.
How do you keep the parents informed about technology?
Parents do not need to be informed about the technology. Infact, even the children who are learning technology today would not be using the same technology stack by the time they start their careers. However, what they need to develop at this age is the perspective of creating solutions using technology. If they start connecting the dots of how technology works, they become lifelong Tech Explorers and Creators.
What are your future plans?
We are on our way to have over 50,000 students acquiring these future skills on our platform next year. We would continue to invest in enhancing our product and use the power of technology to drive engagement and learning efficacy. We are looking to establish WizKlub as the undisputed #1 player for developing these future skills at high proficiency levels in early years.
https://wizklub.com/
