Early Childhood Education for the Future: the Case of Miko
- By CDOTrends editors
- May 04, 2022
In November 2021, the Google Government and Education Summit 2021 was held to discuss a variety of topics related to the future of work, Industry 4.0, and the role of education in preparing students for the jobs of tomorrow.
One of the main topics discussed at the summit was the role of edtech in enabling this change management. Sneh R Vaswani, chief executive officer and founder of Miko, was invited to speak at the summit and share his insights on this topic.
Miko is a leading edtech company from India that is at the forefront of bringing artificial intelligence and robotics to young learners. The company has a strong focus on making learning fun and engaging for kids and has been recognized as one of India's most innovative edtech startups.
Young children who interact with Miko's robots allow them to have a playmate to learn with and enjoy. The robots use natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to understand the child's questions and provide responses accordingly. This helps the child understand the concepts being taught and allows them to retain the information better.
Furthermore, the brains behind Miko understand the importance of all-round development in young children. Therefore, in addition to teaching academic subjects, the robots also focus on developing the child's personality and social skills.
This philosophy of all-round development sets Miko apart from other edtech companies, said Vaswani, and this approach will be required to prepare students for the jobs of the future.
Future jobs will require more than just academic knowledge; they will require soft skills such as teamwork, communication, and critical thinking.
Vaswani also spoke about how parents and teachers need to change how they think about education to prepare for the future. He said that, as evident amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional education system is no longer fit for purpose and that we need to find new ways to educate our children.
"Through the past two years, parents have realized the importance of technology. They're dependent on technology for entertainment and learning for their kids. And it and the pandemic for tech has accelerated the adoption of newer forms of experiences at a rapid pace. What could have taken five years has become possible in the past 18 months," Vaswani said.