Exclusive Interview with Chitra Ravi, Founder and CEO of Chrysalis

Chitra Ravi is focused on blended learning programme for kids through Chrysalis

EdTech is transforming the traditional processes of learning and teaching through digital learning, courses, and libraries. The global EdTech market is expected to hit US$605.40 billion in 2027 at a CAGR of 15.52%. The emergence of the pandemic has helped to accelerate the adoption of EdTech in the country through smartphones and smooth internet connections.

Here is an exclusive interview with Chitra Ravi, Founder, and CEO of Chrysalis, who explained the need for this EdTech to transform conventional teaching processes with its products like ThinkRoom and Chrysalis Studios.

1. Kindly brief us about Chrysalis, its specialization, and the services offered.

Chrysalis is a transformation and growth partner for K-12 schools in India. Starting in 2001, Chrysalis has been a thought leader in this space. Chrysalis with its flagship product ThinkRoom, a new age blended learning programme for schools, has been redefining the teaching-learning process in the foundational years.

Typically, schools use textbooks that are nothing but a 'repository of content' produced by so-called experts. Teacher 'TEACH' from textbooks, students 'memorize' from those textbooks, and reproduce in exams. Parents and schools tend to celebrate the success of academic achievements. It is a sad truth that education has been reduced to mere cognitive gobbling of information.

Chrysalis has been refocusing education stakeholders to start looking at the learning outcomes and the teaching process more holistically. In a ThinkRoom, students are not given 'textbooks' but, are given 'studios' which are way more advanced in pedagogy than regular textbooks. They are skill-building, value-based, and holistic learning materials that don't just help students master the concepts in English, Science, Social, Mathematics, and ICT, but also build values and nurture holistic thinking skills in students. Along with the curriculum, ThinkRoom also empowers teachers professionally, supports schools to set up systems, and processes to create a conducive learning environment for students, teachers, and parents.

Other than the ThinkRoom programme, Chrysalis has also been a partner for various corporates in their CSR activities. Chrysalis is the only private education organization in India with a wide range of CSR partnerships with corporates like DELL, Microsoft, NOKIA, WIPRO, and so on.

2. With what mission and objectives, Chrysalis was set up? In short, tell us about your journey since the inception of the company?

Chitra Ravi, Founder and CEO of Chrysalis, happened to see her two daughters going to school sad, but coming back home with joy: "Why are schools not a place of joyful learning?" She also happened to see mediocre textbooks that only provided information and didn't encourage children to think holistically. On top of it, textbooks conditioned children in many ways limiting their thinking.  She didn't want to be a passive critique of the system. She vowed to change the system that would morph kids into mindless robots. That was 20 years ago.

The 'system overhaul' wasn't going to be easy. But she had a Master's degree in English, an MBA, and brimming zeal. She had seen her children's less-than-happy experience in school. Yes, she would equip herself to promote a form of education that would let children 'blossom.' Bidding goodbye to her family business, she gathered a small education-passionate group and floated Chrysalis (EZ Vidya Pvt Ltd.).

Chitra's premise: Education today does not encourage children to think. It's not nerdy or uncool to think! "Happy thinking" is possible and through it, children will learn to 'look deep' for critical/analytical thinking, 'look beyond' for creative ideas, 'look around' for social/environmental happenings (transportation, photo-synthesis), and 'look within' to reflect. Children should ask: "Why am I learning this? What is the significance?" to find answers.

"I don't tell teachers what to do," she says. "I ask questions, get them to think." Is the education system showing the children the soul of the subject like Chemistry? "Education must combine cognitive and affective aspects of learning," Chitra mentions. "It must aid self-discovery. The process can be triggered through lessons in class." Children should learn to be emotionally safe. Chrysalis, through its flagship product ThinkRoom, has its unique curriculum that replaces the regular textbooks with Chrysalis Studios, unique and innovative learning material for students.  Studios let students discover their unique talents and not fit them into a pre-determined framework. The package for schools includes curriculum, teacher training, AI and machine learning-powered technology platform, and growing partnership.

Chrysalis textbooks are designed to create a 21^st-century learning environment. These aim to build skills essential for 'living well.' It's an LKG-Class 5 curriculum prepared in-house."

Feedback has been good, Chitra acknowledged that schools have told children they thought dull were the most participative with the company materials. With Chrysalis, there's no need for persuasion. The books and materials cater to the multiple intelligences of the children, allowing space for expression. It's time for dull textbooks to move over.

Chitra and her 250-strong staff see Chrysalis as a movement. Each staff feels like a contributing member. They meet students and teachers, get parents to participate actively, and train teachers to listen sharply. The team constantly innovates, re-visits goals, as well as remains dynamic and robust by looking at the heart of education. In the middle of all this, Chitra tweets actively visit schools across India and abroad, and attends national/international educational forums. She miraculously manages time for family, reading, music, and friends.

It is a long haul, but Chitra is optimistic. Chrysalis has impacted over 1800 schools across India and partners several organizations including Wipro, Nokia, Dell, IBM, American India Foundation, and the Azim Premji Foundation, in their educational initiatives. Recently, the company won the BridgeIT Award.

3. What are the tech-enabled solutions used by Chrysalis?

KidsLoop is a global EdTech platform with a powerhouse of features for schools and education service providers. With its AI and machine learning capabilities, KidsLoop is the fastest emerging EdTech platform globally.

Data and analytics help one to stay on top of a school's operations. Reports keep one informed of teachers' performances and the effectiveness of their lesson plans, as well as provide insight on what types of class activities get the most user engagement.

Also, with the COVID-19 pandemic changing the education dynamics, KidsLoop has flexible delivery options including live, in-class, and homework that allows education providers to choose their preferred method of instruction. Whether one is in a traditional classroom, strictly remote, or a bit of both, the KidsLoop platform has what they need.

Schools can also find fun and engaging content to supplement their curriculum. Badanamu ESL and STEAM program is suitable for ages 3-8. Schools can also search the content marketplace to find a wider variety of activities and lesson plans from internationally recognized publishers.

Going one step ahead, schools can completely take control of the platform and digitize their own curriculum. Easy-to-use tools help schools to take their physical curricula into the digital space. Schools use the game-engine templates to make their digital activities interactive and attach learning outcomes and milestones for easy assessment and reporting.

4. Tell us how your company is using technology to benefit its clients?

Chitra states a list of how the company is reaping the benefits of advanced technologies to provide a satisfactory service to clients. It helps to align a school's curriculum to the international standard while machine-learning algorithms track students as they reach learning milestones and deliver reports on their progress to teachers and parents. Adaptive learning helps schools maximize their educational delivery by identifying individual students' strengths and weaknesses, letting them know what types of content are best suited to each learner's needs, and automating feedback creation and nudges. Easy-to-use tools help schools to take their physical curricula into the digital space while using H5P templates schools digitize activities and make them more interactive thereby improving the engagement,t and improving the learning outcomes. Badanamu ESL and STEAM content make learning more engaging for students.

5. Kindly mention some of the major challenges faced in deploying tech solutions.

Internet connectivity in classrooms is still a challenge. While pandemic has majorly made schools adapt to technology faster and internet connectivity in classrooms in the majority of the schools is still a challenge. More and more parents have moved to smartphones and internet data is available at affordable costs. So, schools prefer supplementary learning tools for students at home where they can master the concepts. However, this also creates disparity among students due to students' economic backgrounds and access to technology. Unlike developed countries, teachers do not carry laptops and they still prefer smartphones. However, teachers are not allowed to carry smartphones inside a classroom. Hence, a school is forced to invest in some classroom technology for enabling in-class technology. This increases the infrastructure investments by schools significantly, which not every school is able to afford.

6. What are the key trends driving the EdTech industry?

Schools are moving towards integrated solution providers rather than looking for separate vendors for curriculum, ERP, LMS, etc. They are looking for a single unified vendor who can give all the tools. Parents are ready to pay more money for online tuition than for school fees. That is why school tech players (ERP) are becoming EdTech players and EdTech players who want to work with schools are putting a SchoolTech in place. There is more focus now on the outcome and learner-centric approach with simplicity in technology. The trend of UI/UX is going to be critical because there is major competition now to capture the B2B market by big players. Curriculum players are acquiring smaller school ERP players as a key trend driving the EdTech industry.

7. What are your growth plans for the next 12 months?

Chrysalis is looking for a 5X growth in the coming twelve months. Currently, Chrysalis is impacting around one million students while the goal is to impact over five million students in the coming few months.