Balatech:Learn serious code in a fun way

Balatech is an educational technology for children/youth to learn mobile literacy, effective use of the Internet and other digital skills through solving algorithmic problems at a gamified e-learning platform.

In our solution, we propose a refinement of our platform, in which we plan to add functionality for carrying out experiments on testing monetization models and expanding the user base. The main refinement of the platform will be focused on teachers who will be able to introduce innovative methods of teaching IT skills in their schools. Thus, our solution will not only popularize programming among children and adolescents, but will also increase the digital literacy of teachers and lead to the introduction of modern technologies into the usual educational processes.

Final product: a platform for learning digital skills in schools in Central Asia.

The development of education system in Central Asian (CA) countries is slow because the standard conditions of educational institutions don’t  meet the requirements of obtaining high-quality knowledge. According to PISA, 8 out of 10 students in CA have a low literacy rate compared with OECD countries. In addition, according to a World Bank study, students from Central Asian countries are on average 1.5 years behind their European peers.

This is especially true for IT-education, where most schools in CA countries face three main problems:

(1) There is a lack of computer science teachers in CA countries. This is due to poor training of teachers, difficult working conditions, and low salaries.

(2) Although technology continues to develop and educational resources are widely available, schools still use outdated curriculum.

(3) Lack of technical equipment to learn digital skills. In Kyrgyzstan only 20% of Internet users have access to computers. 94% of the population only use the telephone in regions. This problem became acute during the outbreak of COVID-19.

Considering that the world is changing rapidly and new levels of experts are needed, the school conditions and teachers in Central Asian countries are unable to provide necessary level of knowledge and ability. 

Our solution is platform Balatech which will allow children to learn digital skills by themselves in the classroom, while teachers will guide the process. As a result, it will be easier for schools to find teachers (to create new jobs) and promote curriculum and teaching methods, It will also help to introduce modern technology into school learning.

1) Teachers don't have to prepare lessons or check homework. The platform includes teaching plan, theory, task and student automatic evaluation system. Their only job is to supervise the interaction between students and the platform.

In order to train students effectively, we propose to organize master classes and special workshops for teachers in Kyrgyzstan on the use of the platform and school implementation. The workshop for teachers will be held in order to learn the content of the platform, solve tasks and provide guidance on how to implement learning materials in schools.

2) Students will be able to learn programming at a gamified form

BalaTech makes learning process engaging and entertaining with real-time practices and its user-friendly gamification. Our platform doesn't need computers. It is compatible with mobile phones, enabling students to learn IT - skills online.

-School management that can't find computer science teachers. It will be easier for school authorities to train new staff and by that create new jobs and teach computer science  course at a high level.

-Teachers who can't teach computer science online / offline without computers and those who lack qualification to give modern knowledge to children, not an outdated learning model. On our platform they can easily train students, because it has a course plan, a theory, a task and an automated student evaluation system. They can also have an access to learn skills through content published on the platform. All of this will be available through mobile phones.

-Educational courses, interested in increasing profits by introducing new programming learning products.

1.Our platform is fully designed for learning programming remotely, which means that a student can learn skills in any place anytime. 

2. Learning programming on the platform includes an element of gamification which will keep the audience interested in learning.

3. Since learning on our platform passes online through short video tutorials and interesting games, schoolchildren don’t put their health at risk, don’t lose concentration and understand material better through the platform’s gamification.

4. Our platform will help teachers of public and private schools introduce new innovative teaching methods into familiar learning processes. Teachers won't waste time preparing the program.

We launched Balatech in March 2020. The results of the project showed that the platform users have solved 150.000 tasks in two months, and 1400 users have solved 50% of the actual tasks. 33% of the students completed the course. At the same time, the global average rate of online education is 7%. Since its launch, more than 15.000 users have registered on the platform. Now we plan to upgrade the platform to 50.000 in 2021.

Overall, our CodeGeneration programming school have been working since 2016. From September 2018 to March 2020, we began to expand the number of locations of courses. In six months, we have grown from one location to seven in Bishkek(Kyrgyzstan), each of which is profitable. In December 2019, we held the first Central Asian Programming Olympiad. In 2020, 11.000 people from four Central Asian countries participated in the Olympiad.

1) Children will gain access to up-to-date knowledge through their mobile phone. There are many technological solutions for teaching children coding in the world: from visual drag and drop programming languages to the creation of websites and applications. But the main necessary element is the presence of a computer to gain access to the educational process. But in the developing countries of Central Asia, more than half of the population does not have the opportunity to purchase a computer. The innovation of our solution is the adaptation of proven training tools on the market for a mobile device.

2) Using artificial intelligence to adapt the educational process for each user. Our 5 years of experience in teaching children programming has shown a high need for an individual approach to each student. In our platform, each user learns at his own pace, and the platform's algorithms help the user master the training material in the most efficient way.

3) In the developing countries of Central Asia, teachers in schools to this day teach children to code on a piece of paper or on a blackboard, since there are no computer classes. Our solution will allow introducing an automated system for evaluation of students into the school educational process, automating the transfer of knowledge to the student in the classroom and will increase the interest of children in the IT industry.

Our solution serves 15,000 children ages 10 to 17 from four Central Asian countries: Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. 

We plan to serve more than 50,000 people in the coming year. This is our realistic projection, as we are negotiating with 20 schools, each with more than 700 students. According to our marketing entree plan, we will be able to work with as many as 50 schools in Central Asia by the end of the year. 

In the next 5 years, we want to reach over 1,000,000 students in the CIS countries. This will make us leaders in the Russian-speaking segment in providing software as a service in school IT education.

1) Assessment of students through the Olympiad
Once a year, users are evaluated and their progress is assessed through an Olympiad with valuable prizes. This element allows the optimal calculation of the user's progress in an interesting for student's format. The next attestation will be held in November 2021. 

2) Increase in enrollment in universities in IT areas from regions of the country, with a weaker level of school education.

3) The growing amount of organic traffic to the platform.
This metric will assess the dynamics of demand for IT education and allow us to make decisions about the introduction of new additional content for users. 

4) The growth of cash inflow through IT outsourcing. 
The data will be collected from the open data of specialized state institutions (for example, the High-Tech Park). Based on the data it will be possible to calculate the dynamics of growth of new jobs appeared in the country for a certain period of time, during which our platform was intensively introduced in the region. 

Total: 11 people

Full-time: 3

• CTO
• Product Manager
• CMO

Part-time: 5

• 4 people Sellings Team
• 1 designer

Contractors: 3

• 2 content makers
• 1 designer

BalaTech key members (100%):

- Sanzharbek M., CEO. 5 years of experience in Education.

- Daniel A., Financial manager. 8+ years of experience in consulting & investments.

- Daniyar A., Strategic manager. 10+ years in big business management.

- Asya Z., Marketer. 10+ years in digital marketing.

- Maksat Z., CTO. 5+ years of experience in web development.

Our team supports the values of diversity, equity and inclusion as the MIT Institute Community.

Diversity: We involve and appreciate different communities. We think that diversity can bring new ideas, open innovation and give opportunity to look at the problem from different sides.

Equity: We make our policies with the goal of providing people of all backgrounds an opportunity to develop and help them to make contribution to communities.

Inclusion: In our team we value and respect everyone. When there is respect and warm environment, the team make solutions that benefit everyone.

We also support values of partnership, inclusive education, optimism.

We are applying to Solve for several reasons:

1.Receive access to funding in grants and investments, including through prizes and Solve Innovation Future. Grants and investments will help us to improve our platform, in which we plan to add functionality for carrying out experiments on testing monetization models and expanding the user base. The main refinement of the platform will be focused on teachers who will be able to introduce innovative methods of teaching IT skills in their schools.
2.Access mentorship, coaching, and strategic advice from experts, as well as the Solve and MIT networks. Solve will give us unique opportunity to get mentors, help and advice from experts who can build strategy in business model, product/service distribution, improve accounting practices, expanding client base and preparing pitch to investors.
3. Receive monitoring and evaluation support to build an impact measurement practice. We are sure that monitoring and evaluation of our product will help us to improve innovative approach which positively impact on population of Central Asia and CIS-countries.

We are open to new knowledge and would welcome the expertise of MIT Solve's experts, allowing our solution to evolve and benefit more people. 

Business model: 
The most creative part of building a business, according to our team. There are a lot of analog projects around the world that can be effectively implemented in other markets. So brainstorming with experienced professionals can help us identify new hypotheses and refine our project's business model. 

Public Relation:
Different countries have different laws about storing their citizens' data. We need to consult on creating a universal Privacy Policy that will allow us to avoid legal penalties. 

Product / Service Distribution.
We are interested to know about the experience with the projects launched in the US market. This market is quite different from the Central Asian and CIS markets. In the future, after the successful implementation of solutions in the CIS market, we are considering the launch of the product in new markets: USA, India and China. 

Our programming school has been teaching children since 2016. For four years, our project has taught more than 18,000 children the basics of coding and the development of sites, applications, games.

We conducted 4 large-scale workshops for 270 teachers of computer science from the regions of Kyrgyzstan on modern technologies of teaching informatics together with partners.

March 2020 - Present, Balatech New Product Creation.Since the launch, more than 15,000 users have registered on the platform, and we plan to increase this number to 50,000 in 2021.

Thanks to our platform, people will have access to relevant knowledge and skills, and they will also be able to possess competencies that will help them compete in the future, both with humans and with machines. Moreover, we will be able to train computer science teachers and strengthen the IT skills of existing teachers.

Сonsidering that GSR will award a prize to solutions that use an innovative and sustainable approach, our product Balatech provide equal and quality education.

During the COVID-19, BalaTech team have fully embraced the change and adjusted all activities to 100% online platform, including organizing the “Central Asian Programming Olympiad” (initially planned offline). In Kyrgyzstan, nearly every household has mobile phones, but not computers/laptops. BalaTech enables kids from urban and rural areas to access its platform via mobile phones in easy steps. It provides free learning content to majority children (unless they request advanced learning). Moreover, our gamification and gender-friendly marketing successfully attracted Girls participation.