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India is known to have one of the most extensive education systems following the “Nursery to HSC structure”—a prototype that covers formal education over sequential levels ranging from preprimary, primary, and secondary schooling, followed by preuniversity education till the 12th grade. With the number of enrolled students reaching as high as 260 million per year, over 70% of these students have access to smartphone and other devices, and this proportion will likely continue to increase.
The access, availability, and penetration of usage of the Internet in the Indian demographic present a unique opportunity to use the smartphone as an educational learning tool through a mobile application that can reach millions of students spread across the populous country. This creates the potential to solve the age-old dilemma of the education industry finding a way to traverse the Indian market. A KPMG’s (2017) recent report suggested that the growth momentum of Internet users in India at compound annual growth rate18% will surpass the growth by English users (who are increasing at 3% to reach 199 million) by reaching 536 million in the year 2021. It has also been found that users speaking languages specific to India will also comprise 75% of the country’s Internet user base ("Indian Languages"). However, the penetration is higher in urban India compared to rural India (The Internet and Mobile Association of India & Nielsen, 2019).
The lockdowns caused by COVID-19, the availability of low-cost smartphones, the penetration of mobile Internet, and the affordability of broadband are some of the triggers fostering the use of technology for online education delivery. Among Indian children between the ages of 9 and 17 years, 62.4% living in urban areas spend approximately four hours a day using the Internet on a mobile phone (“Telenor India's WebWise report,” n.d.). The government is promoting online education by introducing platforms, including SWAYAM (which means “self” in Sanskrit and is the acronym for Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds) and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA). Various mobile and Web applications (apps) have also been launched, including Unacademy, Upgrad, Byju's, Meritnation, Extramarks, Topper, Vedantu, and Khan Academy, indicating that the scope of online education in India has evolved. These mobile apps vary in expertise and scope. Because of their effectiveness and impact, they are expected to be transformational.
According to Nielsen (“Mobile kids,” 2017), 45% of children were provided with a mobile service plan at the age of 10-12 years. With the growing smartphones addiction, direct interactions between parents and children are on the decline. On a daily basis, an average Indian consumer uses over 43 apps and spends around 3-4 hours on various apps (Sydow, 2018). Urban Indian children aged between 9 and 17 devote over four hours a day on the Internet through their mobile phones (“Telenor India’s WebWise report,” n.d.).
In order to enhance the development and prevalence of the distance education market, various government initiatives are being adopted, including technology-based education techniques, such as e-learning and m-learning. By 2021, it is expected that, in India, the online education industry will be close to $2 billion (“Telenor India’s WebWise report,” n.d.). India is also projected to have accumulated over 735 million Internet users by 2021. Along these lines, Indian parents are becoming increasingly predisposed towards paid learning education apps (Choudhary, 2020). Due to affordable costs, ease of availability, and improving Internet connectivity, the popularity of smart mobile devices is on the rise, in India. Smart mobile phones are easy to carry and enable children to learn in unconventional settings (Ellingson, 2016).
Research indicates that apps can create “significant opportunities for genuinely supporting differentiated, autonomous, and individualized learning” (Shuler, 2009, p5), can boost the intellectual, and promote expression of emotions (Beschorner & Hutchison, 2013). However, to support quality learning, the choice of the right quality app is also required (Goodwin, 2013). In their report, Hirsh-Pasek et al. (2015) presented four principles to improve the educational value of the app which included that the apps are active in a way that requires intellectual effort, appealing, nondistracting, and meaningful, and they provide social interaction for the child.