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For a long time, e-learning adoption was highly promoted by education providers. Yet there was a dearth of people inclining towards modern-day learning and still relies on traditional education. Ed-tech has been successful in transforming the education landscape but encouraging people to accept this method of learning was difficult. The COVID-19 pandemic worked as a catalyst in this process and now we are witnessing the rise in e-learning. Ed-tech tools are being leveraged by millions to support differentiated instruction, classroom inclusion, and interactive lessons. Despite COVID-19 forcing this transformation, people have started appreciating modern-day learning. But another challenge with this pandemic was the lack of access and connectivity for not thousands but millions of students—costing students the future.
Brainchild was established with a mission to help and support the students’ study and learning habits. This soon transformed into a passion to help as several students as they can who belong to disadvantaged backgrounds. With the ongoing crisis, the company has focused all its attention to tackle this crisis. The team at Brainchild understands that presently the students need additional resources and supports for their academic careers which can be achieved through Ed-tech.
Established in 1995, in Naples, Florida, Brainchild is a pioneer in delivering personalized learning, which was invented by the former CEO Jeff Cameron. The slogan of the company was “Study Better, Score Higher” and its mission is to help students take charge and learn to be responsible for their education. With the continued change in the education system, Brainchild aligned its solutions and product with the change to stay relevant and accessible for the students.
In 2001, after the approval of the No Child Left Behind Act, the states were requires to develop academic standards and hold schools accountable using annual high stakes tests. Simultaneously, Brainchild too expanded its product line with online assessment and instruction subscriptions. Considering that the law varied from state to state, Brainchild’s Achiever standards mastery product was built in a way to fit those standards. Furthermore, after the Every Student Succeeds Act, the 2015 law demanded extensive reporting and data analytics for schools and districts which not only measured student performance but also a teacher and school administrators’ performance. Brainchild’s products were perfectly aligned with these requirements.
In 2017, Kumar Bhavanasi, CEO of First Tek, Inc. acquired Brainchild. First Tek is a leading technology services and solutions provider with its presence in over 42 states. By combining First Tek’s extensive developer capabilities with Brainchild’s pioneering academic content the product line was further improved. This combination added new features to the platform like as parent portals, benchmark tests, and social-emotional learning indicators allow all stakeholders to be involved. This expertise also allows the library of over 1,000 animations in English and Spanish to be updated and increased.
Established in 1992, the company incepted its journey with the first handheld tutor for students called PLS-1000. It was one of the early inventors of online summative assessment with nearly one million students using the system per hour. In 2003, the team introduced the Achiever. And two years later, Brainchild initiated the revolutionary product Study Buddy that filled the connectivity gaps faced by the students.
Today, Brainchild is powered by AI and automating the process of providing data-driven, individualized instruction customized to the needs of each learner. Adaptive considerations are being added to Brainchild’s award-winning formative assessment platform. These AI systems act as a teacher who responds to students’ needs and emphasizes certain topics, repeating things that students haven’t mastered, and generally helping students to work at their own pace, whatever that may be.
Brainchild’s education technologies have been deployed in over 1,000 school districts including all 67 school districts in Florida and more than 10,000 schools across the nation. Brainchild might not be the perfect solution but it does align its educational content to specific standards that help the students work towards mastery.
The journey to success is never easy, every organization has to go through several challenges and so did Brainchild too. Initially, the company introduced several products which were used by a fair number of students. After being in business for so many years it is easy to lose direction and become complacent, but the team of Brainchild was aware that to bring the change they needed to make a larger impact on students. With a little more research and exploration, the team could deliver something more revolutionary to the students.
Brainchild’s team is built of skillful individuals who share the same passion for supporting students. Each member has a story of why they want to improve education for students and help them succeed. The team derives motivation from this personal goal and strives relentlessly to perfect the product portfolio.
With technology overpowering every service, the team understands that not everyone hones the same skills and proficiencies to handle complex software. Though it is a rare occurrence, the team does come across a few technophobic. The task is to use the advanced tech but deliver something simple to use the product. Brainchild has mastered this and offers the simplest solutions in the market without compromising quality.
Simplicity has distinguished Brainchild from its competitors. The key is to focus on quality without much gamification into the products, as the goal is to build something that easily digestible and allows students to progress towards mastery. The team of Brainchild constantly ensures that even with the upgrades in the product the overall functioning remains simple and without much hassle.
Brainchild offers supplemental education products which adhere to state standards, GED, and TABE, to name a few. Presently it caters to the K-12 school, adult education, corrections, and juvenile programs. The education services are provided by various mediums like via the web or through the handheld device Study Buddy which works without an internet connection.
We live in an era of the internet. This does not necessarily mean every student around the world has access to connectivity. Even with the pandemic and acceleration of e-learning people forgot that there are students deprived of this liberty. Study Buddy delivers personalized content anywhere anytime. How is this possible? The educational content is stored in cartridges and then inserted into the device. This enables students to access hours of private instruction at their own pace and without embarrassment. Study Buddy has also been successful in supporting corrections.
Praising the efforts of Brainchild, Michelle Candy, MA TESOL, CPCC North Dakota DOCR Instructor, said, “Our corrections system bought Study Buddies at the beginning of the pandemic so that in times we couldn’t teach face to face, our students could continue to learn. We love them, and our students love them. If you’re thinking about getting them, I wholeheartedly endorse them!”
The pandemic has spurred the adoption of Ed-tech to support distance learning. However, this sudden change was successful in highlighting the gaps that went unnoticed in the industry. This gap can be mitigated through technology. Today’s tech-savvy generation can easily adapt to the latest technology. If the Ed-tech providers manage to combine tech with education the future will be promising. It is evident that the future will be dominated by technologies like AI, Augmented Reality, and Hologram.
The world is already witnessing the involvement of immersive technologies. Due to this amalgamation of advanced tech we are successfully moving towards creating a more immersive environment where students can interact with the subject matter and learn through interactive material. The technologies have the potential to build great interest in STEM programs, and bring can science, technology, engineering, and math to life.
