Meet Byju's content team, which is helping children learn better using tech

A talented and diverse team of experts and technologists collaborate to write the scripts for content and video at the world's most valuable edtech company

Byju’s, the world’s most valuable edtech company with a valuation of $18 billion, is betting big on using technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to create online learning content that is personalised, immersive and engaging at the same time. This includes a combination of teachers, video lessons and interactive games, where the firm helps explain concepts by relating them to real-life experiences.

Behind developing and executing such content through progressive pedagogy and technology is the company’s media and content team. A talented and diverse team of subject matter and creative experts, technologists, product engineers, and project leaders collaborate to write the scripts for content and video. They eventually design and create them to make quality, engaging and meaningful learning accessible to all. Byju’s said they all work in sync with a singular aim – to create concepts and clarity, strengthen the foundation, enable visual learning, and help children become lifelong learners.

“The Media and Content team has been spearheading the formation of the right content for the right students at the right time with a singular mission to help children become better learners,” said Vinay M R, chief content officer, Byju’s, in an interview. “The interplay between content and technology is the key to increasing students’ proficiency.”

Vinay M R, chief content officer, Byju’s

There is the usage of multi-dimensional mediums like videos, games, visual and interactive sessions. This plays a key role in online learning on Byju's platform. In addition to the content, there is the production of Byju’s videos, aided by a top graphics and animation team. There are also multiple in-house green-screen studios, VFX experts, 2D and 3D animators, storyboarding experts, and musicians.

Byju’s provides learning programs for students in LKG, UKG, classes 1 -12 (K-12) and competitive exams like JEE, NEET and IAS. Its learning app now has over 100 million registered students and 6.5 million annual paid subscriptions. With an average time of 71 minutes being spent by a student on the app every day from over 1700 cities, the app is creating a whole new way of learning through visual lessons.

“Technology has emerged as the tipping point where catering to students’ specific requirements to tailor-making content and serving in the right format makes all the difference,” said Vinay.

At Byju’s, content lies at the core of its design and technology. With a focus on developing learning programs that cater to the unique learning requirements of every student anywhere in the world, this tech-enabled content is helping children become better learners.

This includes the identification of the needs, strengths and weaknesses of the student to curate and personalize content for students from diverse backgrounds. Personalisation of content is the key to ensuring productive, challenging and result-oriented learning. The aim is towards helping children fall in love with learning. The firm has managed to integrate all of these avenues through unique movie-like videos and gamified content that are tailor-made for students across age groups.

“Content at Byju’s is primarily designed from the perspective of students,” said Vinay.  “Moving on from the traditional approach of one size fitting all, Byju’s key value proposition has been the customisation and personalisation of content for individual students.”

He said students have a three-pronged approach to grasping content – self-consumption of it through textbooks and apps, learning from teachers, and from peers. The content is developed and provied, keeping in mind these points of view to ensure quality and accuracy.

Data is also the key determinant for creating the right content. This includes churning data from a wide repository has been very useful in identifying and understanding user behaviour and behavioural patterns. For instance, the firm leverages predictive algorithms and knowledge graphs to arrive at a deep understanding of every student’s individual requirements. This helps it to create tailor-made content. Byju’s said user data has been a great tool in identifying student setbacks, problem statements and devising a personalized course. What helps is making questions and answers (Q&As) interactive through gamification.

The Disney Byju’s Early Learn App that was launched in 2019, is there for students in classes 1-3 featuring Disney’s timeliness characters. Byju’s has also been on an acquisition spree, which has enabled it to have access to various innovations and embed them in its products. In September, Byju’s acquired US-based Tynker, a leading K-12 creative coding platform for about $200 million, according to the sources. The two firms would be innovating, exploring and setting new benchmarks for tech-enabled personalized learning solutions. The acquisition will help expand Byju’s U. S. footprint by providing access to more than 60 million students and over 100,000 schools in Tynker’s existing global user base.

Srinivas Mandyam, founder and chief technology officer of Tynker, recently said that one of the core parts of Tynker is story-based learning. It introduces a story to the kids and then engages with them based on their interests. Mandyam had said they can actually connect digital blocks like Lego and can create anything like apps, they can fly drones or program hardware.

In July this year, Byju’s also acquired US-based digital reading platform Epic for $500 million. Epic, meant for children up to 12 years of age, has a collection of over 40,000 popular, high-quality books, audiobooks, and videos from more than 250 of the world’s best publishers available on subscription. Epic gathers and analyzes real-time anonymized and aggregated data to understand the number of kids that read a book and their interest levels.

In 2019, Byju’s also bought the US-based educational gaming company, Osmo, for $120 million in a stock-and-cash deal. Osmo games combine physical interactions with digital experiences to make learning fun.

“The various acquisitions and collaborations made so far have been stepping stones in offering students a wider range of content while elevating their learning paths of what and how they want to learn,” said Vinay of Byju’s.