{Edtech Launch: DailiesPods} Affordable Learning Pods for an Equitable Education During the Pandemic

This edtech platform is creating an affordable and equitable online learning solution in the US as the pandemic widens the divide between haves and have nots as some parents opt for expensive methods to keep their children advancing academically.

Online school education might have taken off as a result of the pandemic, but students are facing disengagement and isolation. Parents of school children in the US have decided to team up to form ‘pandemic pods,’ where clusters of students receive professional instruction for several hours each day. The Washington Post calls it a ‘2020 version of the one-room schoolhouse, privately funded.’

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These educational pods allow them to band together and make mini-classrooms by hiring a teacher for private classes, which still may not be completely safe.

However, such solutions are expensive and can further widen the inequity that already exists in the education sector in the US. The recently launched DailiesPods is addressing this very structural problem by bringing relief for both parents and children.

Dailies has been built with a mission to make education affordable and equitable. The company provides immersive online classes for students wherein certified teachers guide learning for children in Pre-K through 8th Grade. That too, only at a fraction of the price of its competitors.

Since traditional schooling is affected due to the pandemic, the students are struggling to engage with their peers.

“After speaking to hundreds of parents and educators in the past few months, I can say that neither parents nor teachers, nor even school principals, feel confident in what’s happening around them. It’s time that parents and educators work together to provide a new future for education. We want to empower them by creating tools that facilitate the power shift,” Manuel Zamora, Founder of DailiesPods, said in a statement.

How it Works

To deal with this problem, DailiesPods forms groups of 4 to 8 students so that they can virtually interact with each other and build confidence. The pods are tailored to each child’s specific needs. They use a project-based learning model by presenting a guiding question to students, who then work together to research as they create an artefact to demonstrate their understanding.

The teachers are actively involved in the process, as they activate student interest, plan, facilitate discovery and discussions with students, and help students create their artefact so they can then share their learning with the group.

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DailiesPods empowers parents by involving them in the educational conversation with their children. It provides them with data and progress reports that help them learn about their children’s strengths and weaknesses.

It is different from its competitors. For example, it doesn’t require parents to sign up for a specific session or at a specific time. It’s flexible and can easily supplement traditional or home schooling or whatever educational decision parents make about their children’s education.