“Educating children through games used to have a negative connotation, but now that mindset is fading away,” Andi Taru, the CEO of early childhood EdTech platform Educa Studio, said in a webinar hosted by Tech in Asia on Oct. 23.

 

He added that, in the past year, the firm had received requests from kindergarten teachers to make Educa Studi products, which include educational games, available as computer software, in addition to its existing mobile applications. The company has so far partnered with 120 kindergartens.

 

Educa Studio has also worked with the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry to create a game that teaches children to wear masks and wash their hands during the pandemic, he added. It has also created a game in cooperation with the ministry to provide lessons on akhlak (morals) and gotong royong (mutual cooperation).

 

“The government has begun to see the importance of education gamification and animation for children,” Andi said.

 

As the country continues to struggle with a rising number of COVID-19 cases, Indonesia’s 60 million students are forced to adapt to remote learning, which in turn, accelerates the use of EdTech.

 

According to a World Economic Forum (WEF) survey of Southeast Asian youth in June, 64 percent of full-time students used online educational tools more actively during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Meanwhile, a World Bank report published in May titled “EdTech in Indonesia: Ready for Takeoff?” found that almost 90 percent of EdTech firms surveyed targeted their products and services at students.

 

Early childhood education EdTech platforms such as Arsa Kids and Digikids have also utilized gamifications on their platforms to increase their appeal among young children.

 

Ruangguru, an online learning platform for kindergarten to grade 12 students, also provides point rewards for students who can finish quizzes on the platform. The students can compete for the top spot on the leaderboard with their friends.

 

Gamification is also commonly used in language-learning platforms such as Duolingo to encourage daily learning and goal-setting for users.

 

Educa Studio, Andi said, would continue to expand its products to learning management systems (LMS) and create content for middle school, high school and vocational school students, among other learners.

 

While most users of online education tools are full-time students, the WEF study found that 38 percent of active workers also used EdTech platforms more actively during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

E-course marketplace Udemy Indonesia market head Giri N. Suhardi said the platform saw its user numbers double in April, a month after the first COVID-19 cases were found in Indonesia. Most of its users are 18 to 34 years old.

 

“Our users are university students, fresh graduates or workers looking to improve their skills,” he said, adding that there was no significant increase in users aged 45 years and up.

 

He went on to say that light topics, such as pilates exercise and ukulele lessons, were among the most popular lessons taken in the United Stated-based massive open online course (MOOC) platform.

 

However, Giri said finding the right tutors and instructors was among the major challenges for EdTech platforms, from the supply side.

 

“Online learning is more than just providing videos; it’s also about additional content, such as assignments, quizzes, related articles or gamified content. Tutors also need to interact with students to deliver a significant impact,” he said.