To explain the workings of the EdTech platform SOAL (School of Accelerated Learning), started in January 2018, Co-Founder and CEO Raj Desai gives us a simple analogy of learning to play a guitar. "Imagine that you have read all the books on playing the guitar and have watched several videos too, but until you pick up the instrument and play it, you will not know if it's working or not. That is why our pedagogy is based on learning by doing," says the youngster. And you won't be alone strumming away at the proverbial guitar. Along with you will be other learners, bringing back the experience of learning together.
SOAL offers only two courses as of now — Product Design and Product Engineering — and have nailed both. They have two formats, full-time for 18 weeks and part-time for 34 weeks. And the feature we admire the most is that the student needs to pay for their courses only after they bag a job, as SOAL charges 17 per cent of their annual income for two years as their commission. Circling back to the point of learning by doing, Raj informs us that at SOAL, which was formerly incubated at T-Hub, before the student even ends the course, they would have worked on at least 14 to 16 software or web development products. "These products can be as simple as a card game or as complex as developing an Insta story-like feature," says the Mumbaikar. Then there is their learning assistant and propriety learning platform DELTA, who will continuously provide its insights about your learning path. And, to the relief of many learners, they do not follow a marks system. "Instead, we offer them specific qualitative feedback. Going back to the guitar learning analogy, imagine grading someone on the basis of how they plan. You can't put a score to it," asserts the self-taught coder.
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Transitioning from a hybrid coding bootcamp to a completely online one wasn't all that hard for SOAL, who have their offices in Hyderabad, Mumbai and have one coming up in New Delhi soon. Even community engagement and collaboration among learners was seamlessly happening on GitHub. So it looks like the start-up whose USP was hybrid learning is still able to seamlessly make up for it, thanks to their house educators and tech catalyst (is what they call their guest lecturers).
Raj, who has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics, says that their programmes are built in a way that encourages self-exploration and learning, "which is the focus of the industry too because at a job, you are required to stay updated with the latest in the industry," he reminds us. Expect them to launch courses like Product Management, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and more, next year.
Need to know about SOAL:
- Raised an undisclosed amount from the investment arm of the promoters of Munjal Auto last month
- Varsha Bhambhani and Pratik Agarwal are co-founders
- They have also been backed by IIIT-H
- They also focus on soft skills of students
For more on them, check out schoolofacceleratedlearning.com
