Linked table of contents
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Teacher selection, onboarding, training, teacher career path
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Planet Spark Might Be The Solution To The Lack Of 21st-Century Skills
PlanetSpark is an Edtech startup that helps children and young adults transform their communication skills to the better. Till date, PlanetSpark has trained over 35,000 students across 13 different countries of the world and has delivered over 1 million classes.
The Origin Story of PlanetSpark
PlanetSpark is an Indian-based education and learning community founded by two graduates from XLRI Jamshedpur, Kunal Malik and Maneesh Dhooper. The two XLRI graduates met 13 years back and became close friends and hostel wingmates. They didn’t start working together to create PlanetSpark immediately after they finished their MBA; they both branched out to different sectors. Malik worked with an FMCG for five years, and Maneesh worked with a global pharmaceutical company in Switzerland. Hence, it is pretty evident that they both had their fair share of experience before they decided to dive into the plan of creating an online learning platform. After working and gaining experience in different top companies, the duo, with a great passion for education, came together to start up the educational community now known as PlanetSpark. PlanetSpark was started as a better alternative to the unorganised private educational sector in India.
At first, Maneesh and Kunal wanted to use this learning community to transform the process and system of learning from KG to Class 8; they tried to do this by using both physical teachings and mobile technology. Their vision changed further when they discovered a different and more pressing need in the lack of communication skills. So they shifted their focus to online learning and helping their students build communication skills. According to Dhooper, the duo spent three years designing a curriculum that would be engaging and fun for the children regardless of class or age. The curriculum was not only based on theories but also on having the children practice public speaking and writing.
To get investors and raise funds, PlanetSpark held a fundraiser called Series-B funding. In the recently held Series-B funding round, the edtech startup raised $13.5 million. This amount was made possible by contributions from Prime Ventures Partners and entrepreneurs like Deep Kalra, Gokul Rajaram, Binny Bansal, and Shirish Nadkarni. YourStory says that in the first held fundraiser tagged the Series A funding, PlanetSpark had successfully raised $3.7 million, making the total funds that the edtech startup has accumulated from fundraisers $17.2 million.
The Vision of PlanetSpark is to be the global market leader in developing communication skills in kids by 2023. They are on a mission to build a generation of confident public speakers and creative writers.
PlanetSpark Learning System
Every academic organisation has its learning system, and that of PlanetSpark seems to be a well-thought-out one which makes PlanetSpark a genuine platform. Right in the middle of focusing on outcomes, deeply researched pedagogy and tech-led delivery, and operational excellence, you will find PlanetSpark. No other organization, talk less of an educational one has gone so deep into pedagogy neither have they made thorough research in public speaking. Yet, PlanetSpark has created its own pedagogy by spending years of research and by piloting and iterating. To get an optimum result for the student, PlanetSpark uses an optimal mix of different forms of learning, including one-on-one live learning, Asynchronous learning, and Real World Project-based learning.
In the PlanetSpark community, there are three offerings from which a guardian can choose which they believe to be the best for their ward to partake in. Each of these offerings is made to be widely understandable for kids and is built on PlanetSpark ’s proprietary C-Far Framework.
The PlanetSpark Pedagogy FrameWork: C-FAR
Also known as the Constructive Framework For Activity-Based Retention, the C-FAR Framework consists of three learning methods
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Using 1-on-1 (1:1) Live instruction to introduce concepts to the learner. Here, the teacher assigned to the learner has a live session with them to let them know and understand what they are going to be learning and what they should expect as learners in PlanetSpark. In live sessions, the teacher can also guide the learner through further progress, and in the case of a mistake, the teacher corrects the learner.
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Activity-based retention of concepts and knowledge building. With the help of different activities designed and brought up by the PlanetSpark team, the child can further understand what the assigned teacher has taught him. The activities are different depending on what exactly fits the child's interest. From writing to acting and podcasting, etc., all these activities, which will primarily be supervised under PlanetSpark, are aimed to help the child retain and understand what they have learned in the live sessions.
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Periodic Assessments, Feedback, and Action Plan. To ensure the progress and understanding of the learner, PlanetSpark has also made it possible to have regular assessments. This is a way for the three parties involved in the learning(the student, the teacher, and the parents) to know how the child is progressing. Apart from Parents' desire to learn about their children's improvement, PlanetSpark understands that it takes more than the teachers alone to help the child, so they like to involve parents through Parents Teachers' Meetings. PTMs help the parents and teacher communicate how the child is doing in class and how they put what they have learned into their daily activities.
Part of these offerings include the 165 class that runs through a 21-month duration which makes use of 1 on 1 live learning, asynchronous learning and peer and project-based learning. PlanetSpark also has a 5 step methodology to help develop student mastery.
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The first step is a curiosity check. It is kicked off by an interactive question and answer section, an attempt to know if the child is open to learning more, where they need improvement, and finding out what they already know on the topic and what they would further like to find out.
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It is followed by Goal setting. Here, the learner and the teacher brainstorm to set goals and know their expectations for their learning session and time together.
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Then comes concept building, where through different methods, the student is taught the concept in question.
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The outcome is the excellent results that show how much learning and teaching have been done. With the Outcome, we can truly see the progress of the learner and how much of the teaching they have grasped
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Feedback and recap allow the child to recap on what has been taught and where they can make improvements. They get feedback from the teacher on where they need to work further and what aspect of their learning needs more focus.
PlanetSpark Assessment Framework
An assessment is also done periodically after every ten classes to ensure that the student is on the right track to mastery. Using the scale of content, critical thinking & creativity, and language & syntax under Matter, the learner is assessed by their level. This means that the assessment will say if they are emerging, satisfactory, on the road to mastery or if they already have mastered the skill. 'Matter' is not the only scale used; manner and Method are the two other scales used to assess the learner. Under Manner, the child is evaluated on their voice, body language, and confidence. And under the method, the child is only assessed with structure.
Student Community
As part of their learning system, PlanetSpark is genuine because it understands the idea and importance of children having fun while learning. Learning doesn't have to be boring but fun, and PlanetSpark knows precisely how to do it. With Daily online Clubs, Competitions, and Live Events. There are eight clubs in number active in the PlanetSpark learning community, competitions are held every day.
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Comedy club
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PlanetSpark Ted talk
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Writer's Guild
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Youtubing club
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Debate Society
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Podcasting studio
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Poetry Academy
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Theatre troupe
Planet Spark has seven connected learning activities for kids to boost their learning abilities. Reading being part of these activities, the learner can expand and improve their grammar and vocabulary by constantly reading.
Student Curriculum
After thorough research, experts at PlanetSpark came up with a well-detailed and good enough curriculum that enables mastery of communication and other skills. This curriculum is what they termed the 165 class transformation journey.
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Senior Student Curriculum
For senior learners, the curriculum starts with the class1-30 step, which involves lessons on storytelling, logical argumentation, and public performance. The first class is the storytelling class, where the student is taught on voice modulation, growth mindset and influencing through body language. This is not all, as under the storytelling class, the child is also given some basic lessons in public speaking, where they are taught to give different types of speeches. Lastly, the child is helped to build their confidence and self esteem and also prepared to be on camera. Of course this isn't all for class 1-30, as the child under logical argumentation is taught how to think logically, come up with logical debate and also give logical speeches. Lastly, in this class, the child's confident to perform publicly, whether it is to present a speech or to perform a stand up comedy.
It moves on to the next step on the learning journey, which is class 31-60. Here, the ward or child in question will learn story writing, adventure writing, and presentation skills. In this class, learners will first learn the fundamentals of story writing, word usage in narration, letter writing, etc.; then, they will be taught how to be a presenter, the skills of entrepreneurship and also how to script and deliver a TEDx talk. They will then be taught fantasy, adventure and sports writing.
After completing this second step, it can be said that the child is on level 3 on their journey to mastery. This child would have learned the necessary skills to improve, but parents and guardians might decide to push this further and go on their transformation journey.
If they choose to go further, the next step on the journey is classes 61-90. At the end of this particular class, pupils should have learned Charismatic Oration, Design Thinking, and Creative expression. The courses in this third level start with lectures on self confidence and how to become a charismatic speaker, followed by lessons on podcasting and tv presentation. It goes on designing concepts, copywriting and new age writing. At the third step of this level, they begin to build their creative thinking, mime acting and filmmaking. After the successful completion of this step, the ward will be off to class 91-20. There, they will be taught opinion writing, leadership, influence, and persuasion. Class 121-165 which is the last on the journey, will have the child learn suspense writing, report writing, and biography.
For each level leading to level three, there is also a unique activity-based curriculum to test the presentation skills of each student.
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At the First level, the presenter will have activities tailored to help the child overcome shyness, help the child build memory, and help them have a great choice of words.
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In the Second Level, which is also the entrepreneur level, the child will participate in activities designed to teach them the art of making a great first impression; it also consists of activities known as ‘My elevator pitch 'and the ‘shark tank.’
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The third level is known as Ted Speaker; the activities here are designed to help them develop a powerful voice, script a ted talk and also deliver a ted talk.
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Student Curriculum for Grade K-1
For the Grade K-1, the curriculum is different, but it doesn't make it any lower than the senior curriculum. Just like the senior curriculum, that of the Grade K-1 is also a product of a well-thought-out process designed to empower learners with excellent skills, which, to date, have been neglected.
The 165 class transformation journey begins with the class 1-30 as usual, but here the learner is given lessons on Storytelling which leads to being taught Voice and fluency, and then they begin to learn how to write. This first set of classes will teach the child the art of storytelling and how to tell a story about themselves, and it also instils a growth mindset in the child to let them know that they can do what they set their minds to do. It further teaches them how to use an impactful voice, how to control the volume of their voice, and fluency, and also helps them develop confidence. Lastly, in this class, learners will learn how to write and express themselves through pictures, they will get briefed on the mechanics and rules of writing, and then they will begin to write simple things such as cards and letters.
After completing classes 1-30, the student moves on to Classes 31-60. In this class, the GradeK-1 learner is taught how to improve their conversational skills, followed by improving their writing skills, and then they begin story writing. In this class, learners will first learn how to hold conversations in a basic daily setting; then, they will be taught how to describe things( mostly describing when, where and who of an event); they will then be taught how to take out their surroundings; the places they go to and the experiences they face. Furthermore, these classes allow the child to learn how to write with capital letters and how to space their work accurately; they will get tools to improve their writing, and lessons will be held to ensure that they do better at writing. Finally, classes 31-60 will help teach them how to write stories and also have them write different narratives of personal events.
Class 61-90 follows immediately after with lessons on creativity, everyday writing, and grammar and vocabulary improvement. The courses in this third level start with lectures on poetry and drama techniques, and then the learner moves on to learn more about everyday writing, how to creatively describe things on paper, and how to write a letter to their friend. At the third step of this level, they begin to build their grammar further; they start learning to use simple pronouns, adjectives, and prepositions, and they also learn the rules of concord. Apart from this, they also perfect their vocabulary and spellings; they learn consonant blends, vowel patterns, etc., and are given lessons on affixes, homonyms, homophones, and the like.
In Class 91-120, the student begins to take lessons on presentation skills, report writing, and persuasive writing. By the end of this set of classes, the early learner should be able to give an everyday presentation on matters relevant to their age. They should be able to give speeches on topics they haven’t prepared for without losing their confidence. With their presentation skills, they should have developed a strong voice and could script and deliver a ted talk. They should also have a stand regarding journalism and expository writing for their age. Furthermore, researching and delivering research writing along with an opinion and persuasive essay should not be an issue for a learner who has completed this stage in the transformation journey.
Class 121-165, being the last class, the learner takes lessons on reading foundation, social and emotional skills, and logical thinking. By the end of the 165 class transformation journey, the learner would have developed their emotional and social skills, having the ability to identify emotions and empathise. They should balance this with logical thinking, which will help them think well and hold an argument logically.
PlanetSpark's Technology Platform: Scaling Globally
Since PlanetSpark is an online learning community, its learning platform is mainly surrounded by technology, and PlanetSpark has made the most use of the technology it can now. Although they are still upgrading their tech and AI, it is safe to say that what they have done so far is quite impressive. As a learner or the guardian of a learner, if you use their highly scalable technology platform, you'd realise that they have made using the online platform as easy and understandable as possible for users. The students have a customised learning plan which they can access from their student dashboard. The teachers also have their dashboards. There are automated diagnostics reports and student progress reports, among others
Their technology also branches out to a growth tech. The growth tech is an Automated Growth Engine that manages and keeps records of enrolments of new students and class renewals of older students. For the new enrollments, the engine keeps in the record what classes or subjects the student would be taking, the student’s ID, name and contact details, the total number of classes he would be taking, and among other things, the information of the teacher that has been assigned to him. When it comes to class renewals, the AI records the success of the payment and all other information attached to the payment.
Also, with the help of technology used by PlanetSpark, teachers' work is reduced by a lot. With AI Technology, learners can access their customised learning plan and can go through it and learn at their own pace even without the presence of the teacher. This personalised plan is accessible through the student's dashboard. With this AI technology, the teacher can monitor and keep track of the learner's progress through their learning management system (lms). This is because the AI engine processes data points which keeps track of the progress and helps the learner improve in areas like pronunciation, voice, and grammar. The feedback for the children on their progress and performance is a real-time assessment from both the Artificial intelligence engine and the teacher they are assigned to, making the chances of the child progressing further high. The Parents Teacher Meeting is data-driven and automated, aligning with the learner's progress. In the PTM (Parents Teacher Meeting) Deck, which changes depending on the learner’s customised learning plan and current classes, the parents are given a chance to talk about what they are delighted about in their children’s progress or what they are concerned about.
Teacher selection, onboarding, training, teacher career path
In any learning environment, the teachers play a very vital part in the successful growth and successful comprehension of the students. Teachers at PlanetSpark play a key role in making PlanetSpark a genuine platform of learning for your child. That is why PlanetSpark only hires highly competent teachers who have passed rigorous tests and interviews. From the learners, the average rating of the teachers in PlanetSpark is 4.5. Teachers who are picked are part of the PlanetSpark AT percentile, have gone through 3 rounds of interviews, and also scaled through 3 mock sessions. It doesn't end here, as PlanetSpark traditionally understands that teaching differs from teaching remotely. After being picked, the teachers undergo five extensive training processes to prepare them for their journey in PlanetSpark. This training involves a Teacher training academy, Induction, Demo training, and 140+ online learning courses.
Along with this, the selection process of teachers also involves a 140+ online course that covers different aspects that a teacher should ordinarily be familiar with. The teachers are taught how to take online classes, it also covers PlanetSpark pedagogy, fundamentals of public speaking, empathy, handling learners, coaching, giving feedback and handling parents teacher meeting, etcThe training that PlanetSpark teachers go through is one of the comprehensive trainings in the world and it doesn't stop at the point of hiring, but continues further into the future.
PlanetSpark's Teacher Career Growth
Compared to teachers in any other place, including the traditional School setting, Planet Spark teachers have higher earnings. This is one of the reasons why the learning community has up to 85% of teachers who stay back and keep working with the PlanetSpark learning community. Ms Iqra Fazal, for example, is an existing school teacher with an annual earning of $9000 per annum from PlanetSpark. While there are more than this number, approximately 2400 teachers are actively teaching in the PlanetSpark community as of March 2022. There is also an 18% monthly growth in the number of active teachers in the community.
PlanetSpark's Teacher Hiring Plan
According to Economics Times, the team at PlanetSpark plans to hire about 10 thousand or more English teachers to join the learning community before the year runs out. According to PlanetSpark, the teachers who plan on hiring will have to be ambitious with a strong desire to succeed, someone with a sense of self-worth and respect, and who can self-govern and act on their values and interests. Lastly, the person should be skilled in building networks, knowing how to collaborate with other people, and working as a team.
Since the AI engine frees up most of the teacher's work and time, it is more like the teacher is a mentor, not an assessor. An average teacher on PlanetSpark spends 20% of their time in content prep and 40% in assessing.
Special Initiatives By PlanetSpark
PlanetSpark's learning system is not only based on actions but also results. Using the SparkScore, PlanetSpark can measure the number of students who have reached mastery across different parameters. These parameters are content, structure, confidence, body language, voice, language and syntax, and critical thinking and creativity. The Spark Score shows that while about 52% of learners are heading for mastery in any class lesser than 20, in classes above 60, students who are on their way to mastery are 68%
PlanetSpark organised an event called Spark Tank. In this event, the students pitched their ideas to potential investors. According to Kunal, one of the founders, the event will take place once in two years, and it is PlanetSpark's way of encouraging learners, no matter how young they are, to be passionate about entrepreneurship. The event had 15 students from India, and 17 from other countries, including Saudi Arabia, Canada, the USA, etc., making a total of 32 entries from around the world. The first Spark Tank edition, which was thrilling and everything to write home about, took place in December 2021, and the PlanetSpark team is very confident and assured that there would be an even better second edition soon.
Also, BWEducation confirmed that on February 7, 2022, PlanetSpark launched its monthly Newsletter called Spark Times. Spark Times is a digital Newsletter that is led by children in the PlanetSpark learning community who are between the ages of 7 and 16. Although it is a Newsletter, it is in the form of a Newspaper with different columns, allowing the different children with their interests to participate actively.
Along with the methods of teaching used by the experienced teacher, PlanetSpark understands that the teacher is not the only one playing a part in the learner's progress, so they also bring the parents into the equation using feedback. From the assessment carried out every ten classes, a Data-driven Automated Parent Teacher Meeting is held so that parents can give their feedback on the child's progress and they can talk about where they think more improvements can be made. There are currently 200 Parents Teachers Meetings taking place every day on PlanetSpark, and its statistics keep growing.
Initiatives like SparkScore, Spark Tank and Parent Teacher meeting is a major example why PlanetSpark is genuine?
Student Achievers
Besides, PlanetSpark has also produced great authors, YouTubers, Podcasters, and public speakers. Let's take, for example, Rayyan Yousuf, an 8-year-old PlanetSpark kid from Kuwait who has his series in PlanetSpark Podcast titled 'Let's Dive With Rayyan.' In his Podcast series, Rayyan boldly talks about marine animals, something he takes an interest in. He is not the only PlanetSpark kid showing off what they've learned by podcasting. Prisha Agrawal is 11 years old and lives in Bangalore. In her podcast series titled 'Conspiracies Unraveled,' she talks about conspiracies that surround different people, places, or events.
Among the 8000 authors in PlanetSpark are excellent writers like Dhwaja Patel, who wrote the book 'When It Happened,' Jacob Bishop, the author of the book 'The Red Desert,' and The Rainbow Galaxy's author, Siana Shenov. Kashvee is an Indian girl who wrote and published a bestseller titled ‘Lost In The Woods.’
One of PlanetSpark Super Kids on Youtube is Ana from the USA, who has her own Youtube channel titled ‘The Ana Show.’ Nihal is an Indian kid chef and vlogger with so much traffic on his Youtube channel.
Khushi Bhatia is a girl who once had massive stage fright and found it difficult to even answer questions in her class even though she knew the answers to them. According to her mother, Vandana Bhatia, Khushi was confident and outgoing at home, but outside of the house, she became reserved. However, after just 20 classes in PlanetSpark, Khushi can give a speech on any topic relevant to her age, anytime and without hesitation. Oviya Singh, another Planet Spark student, gave a well-written Ted X speech on the importance of Soil. She delivers a coherent and well-structured speech in a way that many her age will be unable to. Oviya Singh, along with her parents, recognised that she had an interest in speaking and orally sharing her ideas, but they also knew that she had no idea how to prepare for public speaking. The PlanetSpark Super kid never believed or thought that she would become a public speaker, but that was until she signed up for PlanetSpark classes. After much work with one of PlanetSpark's teachers, Mr Aditya Iyer, Oviya became a TedX speaker.
Aamar Alimuddin Islam is another Child Prodigy from planet Spark who gave his own Ted talk about how his lockdown escapades recalibrated his life. Him, like many other children, had problems with public speaking and communicating fluently; however, he was able to overcome it with the help of the startup. Peyton is a Canadian who, although she didn’t give a speech in Tedx, is still making headway with her public speaking skills. She is a recognised global public speaking championship winner who gives much credit to PlanetSpark and her teacher for her success in Public Speaking.
Recent updates on student LMS
PlanetSpark has introduced a completely revamped student LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM. The student LMS gives a complete overview of the planned LIVE Classes, Practice Classes and students engagement on our platform. The LMS has new updates every week!
Check out this space for exciting updates that would change the way students learn!
PlanetSpark has launched a new feature on the Student Learning Management System called "the Spark Diary" where students can create their personalised blogs on the topic of their choice. Students get the chance to become a part of the creator economy and unleash their inner content creator!
PlanetSpark believes in tech enabled learning too! Inorder to promote self paced learning, PlanetSpark has introduced a new column in Student LMS called Word Wisdom where students learn new words in a fun and engaging way! The word wisdom helps in enhancing the vocabulary of the kid by introducing and then making the kid practise new words!
PlanetSpark Impact In The World.
As it stands, PlanetSpark being the first Program made available globally for communication skills, has had an impact not only on the different parts of India but also internationally. Over 2000 students who have attended classes in the PlanetSpark program have TedX speakers meaning that they have given not just any speech on TedX but notable, clear, and coherent speeches. Eight thousand Planet spark taught students are authors who have published at least one book and made them available for sale on different platforms, including Amazon. Through the PanetSpark podcast and other means, students in the planetSpark community have given about 2500 speeches. PlanetSpark currently has 20% international users, including from countries like the US, Canada, France, etc. 45% of Indian users are from Tier 2 and 3 cities of India, and the impact in these parts of India has been no different.
PlanetSpark Learning Impact in Tier 2 and Tier 3 in India
In Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in India, like Agra, Jaipur, Lucknow, etcParents and guardians do not have a good enough communication training to help and teach their kids these essential skills and that is where PlanetSpark comes in. The startup is indepthly teaching children in these lower class cities the communication skills they need to stand to measure up with their peers. These kids who wouldn't have aspired to have a bright future, study abroad and chase top professions, can now both dream big and have it in mind that they are able to achieve their dreams. PlanetSpark is successfully removing the barrier and enabling access to a required skill that would normally set children from tier 2 and3 apart from kids from metro cities.
PlanetSpark Impact In International Countries
Apart from their impact in India, PlanetSpark is also making an impact in the Western world and the Middle East. That is why PlanetSpark is genuine not only in India but in the Western countries like the US and Canada and in the Middle East countries too.
In the US and Canada, where the economy is communication driven and most of the professions require the labour force to possess top communication skills, introverted kids and kids who are unable to communicate correctly are left out of the progress. These leave only a few to enjoy the benefits of the labour force. PlanetSpark one on one tutoring has been able to help kids from this geographic setting to build on their communication skills. It is the dream of the US parent to get a personal tutor for their child and that too at an affordable rate and that is exactly what PlanetSpark is doing. We have been able to do this as parents from different races and social backgrounds in this geographic area have signed their children up for PlanetSpark classes.
The middle east are quite familiar with Indian educational brands with PlanetSpark being an online class, countries like Saudi Arabia, Oman, UAE, etc, have been able to access these classes and help their children communicate in English and that too, confidently.
Planet Spark Might Be The Solution To The Lack Of 21st-Century Skills
Why is PlanetSpark genuine? Because it recognises the need for communication and how it is the gateway to 21st Century skills (collaboration, creativity, critical thinking). PlanetSpark founders decided to move their focus from teaching English and Math when they discovered that most parents and guardians chose courses on communication for their wards. After much research, Maneesh and Kunal believed that when anyone starts learning and mastering good communication skills, they will be able to expand and improve on the spectrum of 21st-century skills. This means that communication is at the centre of 21st-century skills, and due to a lack of communication skills in the workplace, many are unable to get the other required skills leading to loss by employers.
The claims and research made by PlanetSpark are not wrong, as different other research and sources have shown the importance of communication in our current era. Lexicon says that 80% of American employees believe communication is crucial for developing trust with employers. Bit blog says there is a 4.5x increase in employee retention in businesses that teach communication skills compared to businesses with no practical communication in the workplace. According to Pumble, Employers see 5x higher performance of companies when collaborative work is promoted. Since collaboration is one of the 3C’s in the spectrum of 21st Century skills, we understand that communication also plays a massive part in collaborative work. Lastly, CMSWire says that 97% of employees believe creativity and communication impact daily task efficiency.
For PlanetSpark, the lack of communication skills is hiding in plain sight, and most people realise that they or their children lack it very late in life's journey, when nothing but very little can be done to adjust it. Even in schools and formal education settings, the courses primarily focused on and taught are coding, tutoring, math, and science, but 21st-century skills are neglected. PlanetSpark plans to be the de facto destination for 21st Century skills globally. This goal is backed by the fact that although $80 billion is the value of the global market for skills-enhancing communication, it remains primarily untapped. PlanetSpark, which has a kids segment for mastering communication skills, believes that it is a category creator in the global market, and it only plans on growing
The community has a 3 phase evolution to help any child take over communication skills, and this phase spans all age groups. PlanetSpark and geographies. The stages in the evolution are:
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Early invention + communication skills,
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Critical thinking and creativity + age group expansion
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Collaboration +non native markets.
Planet Spark understands that the right time to start this evolution is when employers are beginning to require the Spectrum of 21st Century Skills, including communication, and when parents are looking for ways to teach the 4C's to their children. PlanetSpark is making these neglected skills accessible to as many people as possible. Put simply that there is a latent need for communication skills; parents have discovered these needs and the need for solutions. There is a way to fulfil this need through digital delivery, and PlanetSpark is the centre stage.
PlanetSpark is also at the right place because even though they are building this setup from India, they are making it available to the world. Their one-on-one live learning experience is made possible because of the availability of affordable, high-quality supplies for teachers. Enrolling your child means that your child would be taught by someone from a pool of 1.8 million high-quality English teachers in India. With 400,000 teachers being added regularly. The 1-on-1 (1:1) live teaching, which involves one teacher to a student, is of high importance, which is why it is affordable.
Growing The PlanetSpark Community
It is a rule of thumb that where there are positive results, there has to be growth, and with how great the result and impact planet spark seems to be making, it is only fitting that they have more and more growth. In March 2021, the organic percentage of new enrollment was 26%, 35% in August 2021, and in March 2022, it was 37%. With a growth of 30% per month, PlanetSpark has reached annual recurring revenue of $18 million, and they hope to reach $50 million in 2023. As of 2022, PlanetSpark has reached 13 countries, including native and non-native English countries, and they don’t wish to stop there because they plan on expanding their scale geographically. They play on solidifying their roots in the countries they are in and expanding to areas like South East Asia.
While they held 25,000 classes in 2020 and had 1,745 live students, the statistics increased by almost 16 times what it was, making it 700,000 classes and 16,500 live students in 2022. The International countries make up 40-45% of PlanetSpark revenue, and with the demand for live courses growing alongside the discovery of the need for communication skills, the founders believe that in the nearest future, the international market will contain 60% of the PlanetSpark revenue
Conclusion
Following the PlanetSpark's impressive statistics and all information provided, it can be seen that the foundation and idea, and well-thought-out plan behind the edtech startup, and all of this is making us lean toward the positive answer. There are only a few learning communities who pay attention to teaching 21st century skills and as it stands, PlanetSpark is on the path of becoming the global leader in teaching and learning any of the 21st century skills.
