EduBeyond

EduBeyond pledges to eliminate educational disparity by means of offering free, accessible educational aid and providing technological education for the next generation of innovative leaders.

Our modus operandi can be broken down into 3 facets.

Firstly, EduBeyond offers educational aid by means of providing free lessons for underprivileged students in countries we operate. As an organization that believes in a "youth-are-responsible-for-youth" philosophy, EduBeyond works with schools across the world to further our agenda and recruit like-minded students. Furthermore, we cooperate with local orphanages and foundations to reach the students who require our help. 

On top of our teaching services, EduBeyond is also spearheading the technological revolution of Indonesia. Our program, known as the "Zero to Hero" Program, accepts 90 students every year and educates them in the use and development of Artificial Intelligence. We are the first and only platform in Indonesia to offer free tutelage on the uses of artificial intelligence.

EduBeyond is able to do the aforementioned actions by use of virtual meeting spaces with respect to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic. We further organize our global team of 100+ members by use of our HerokuApp developed database, and perpetuate information on our website and social media accounts. Lastly, EduBeyond has published an application that will supplement our existing tutoring operations by means of allowing automatic pairing and in-app learning.

With the gravity of the COVID-19 pandemic affecting billions of people directly and indirectly across the globe since 2020, the last of a series of other concerns that parents are having to worry about is the education of their children. The situation regarding such an unforeseen event has further exacerbated the existing gap in elementary and secondary school education, with some students being left without easy access to teachers, classes, or their schools in general, while others have suffered from the financial stipulations brought upon by the pandemic.

That is why we created EduBeyond. We believe, in spite of the admittedly tough situations in which some families are finding themselves, that prioritizing access to equivalents to classroom teaching should not only be a goal, but a responsibility that we all share. 

Moreover, the precarious situations prevalent in Lower Middle Income countries such as Indonesia and India further necessitates our work. The first and fourth most populated countries in the world, India and Indonesia are densely overpopulated, and in parts of the country lack the infrastructure or economy to ensure a proper education for the next generation.

In India, for instance, a meagre 40% of children attend secondary school due to the regular absence of teachers (Stanford Social Innovation Review). Further exacerbated by India's unfavourable population pyramid in which there is a surplus of dependent children and a lack of working class adults, EduBeyond's role as educators are not only supplementary, but necessary.

EduBeyond has provided educational aid to over 400 students all over the world.

Our "Zero-to-One" English Immersion Program has provided Indonesian orphans with the ability to escape the determinant informal sector of Indonesia's economy, and find jobs in tourism, service or other forms of tertiary occupations.

For this particular question, I'd like to refer to our time with Dino and Chelsy, two Indonesian children aged 8 and 9 respectively who we worked with as their educators and mentors. Both orphans, Dino and Chelsy are currently in the care of Tangan Pengharapan, one of our organization's partners in Jakarta, Indonesia. Dino and Chelsy have been part of our English Immersion Program for over a year now, and are now capable of fluently speaking and writing in English. As a result, many opportunities are now available to them due to their acquired skills. 

What I'd like to point out, however, is how they have also used their new ability to help out their non-English speaking friends learn as well. 

This is the true education we in EduBeyond wish to impart on our students and tutors alike. We believe that those who are fortunate enough to attain knowledge should share their knowledge, and those who learn in turn should further share. This mantra is the reason behind EduBeyond's success. It is why we can effect change not only on our students and tutors, but on all those around them who can benefit from our operations.

At EduBeyond, we have taken multiple approaches to ensure our education is of the highest quality and affinity to our users.

Firstly, EduBeyond researches our target audience from a national scale, all the way down to a minute municipal scale. We contrast literacy levels, population per meter square, mean age and annual household income with that of the national average, and isolate these cities or towns that are lower than the average for further research. Our outreach team then identifies and reaches out to organizations or foundations found in these areas who work with children to further learn about the children's needs. With the help of these fellow organizations, we are then further able to offer our services in these regions.

Secondly, EduBeyond works with established professionals to develop suitable curriculums for students of varying levels of ability. For example, we developed our English curriculum with the aid of the Jakarta Nanyang school, a private school in Tangerang, Indonesia. With their professional help, we further learned how to interact with the local children, as well as some methods that could make our material more engaging.

Lastly, our team requests regular reviews from our user to ascertain our strengths and weaknesses. As an organization made up of youth ages 13 to 18, we understand that we have many limitations, and are prone to making errors. By learning from our mistakes, we as an organization strive to develop  ourselves into better educators that are understanding and empathetic.

We believe that we are currently in the "Growth" phase of our solution development.

In recent times, our organization has provided education for underprivileged children across multiple continents, and have been recognized by the European Union Delegation as one of Indonesia’s top 100 CSOs. We are further supported by the University of British Columbia Hope foundation and British Columbian Senate, as well as Canada's National News Network CBC and the National Observer.

We have also worked with many major foundations, including, but not limited to, the United Nations Association, Inspirasia, Tangan Pengharapan, LEAP and many more.

However, as an organization, we understand that we have plenty of room to grow. We are yet to release our app that would streamline our recruitment process as well as internal communication. Until such a point when the App is released, and our artificial intelligence and other technological classes are in full swing, we believe we should internalize and grow in our existing branches.

Gamified Learning

To overcome the monotonous nature of traditional tutoring, the EduBeyond app provides a gamified learning experience. The in-app story-based games can be completed by student progress in learning and the collaborative elements foster connection between students. Every season, new avatars, accessories, and games are added to the EduBeyond app.

Personalized Learning

EduBeyond’s personalized AI learning system aids tutors in helping their students fill gaps of understanding or explore subjects of interest independently from their school system. The system automatically identifies areas of possible improvement based on student answers to questions input by tutors.

Community-Based Mobile Application

To encourage connection between the international network of EduBeyond tutors and students, the mobile app removes entry barriers and encourages interaction. All students are accepted into EduBeyond, while tutors just have to pass a streamlined ten-minute interview process. Community chats are created to facilitate language learning and perspective sharing. Opportunities to contribute to EduBeyond and students with transformative are also showcased in the chats.

AI Pairing Algorithms

Optimal tutor-student pairings are automatically by machine learning algorithms using location, age, subject preference, and availability. Pairings are periodically reviewed and improved by branch managers.

Indigenous Teaching Methods

EduBeyond aims to scale traditional Indigenous teachings of British Columbia, the charity’s birthplace. Like the Indigenous Peoples, we emphasize experiential learning instead of rote memorization to help prepare students to be independent thinkers of the future. Working with our international team of branch managers, we also ensure our technology respects the culture of all EduBeyond students.

Currently serving: 400-500

2022 Goal: 2,000-2,500

• Seasonal recruitment through EduBeyond app (1,000 students and tutors) 
• Zero to Hero AI workshop in Indonesia (100 students)
• English program in collaboration with Indonesian NPOs ( 300 students)
• Indigenous-focused STEM mentorship program (100 students)
• Book drive in collaboration with Indonesian orphanages and schools (50 students)
• Summer expansion in India (100 students)
• Summer expansion in Taiwan (100 students) 
• North America - Asia virtual exchange program (200 students)

Improving English proficiency and digital literacy of youths in rural regions of Southeast Asia

• Semi-annual AI workshop for students in Southeast Asia
• English immersion program with international students 
• Book drives in collaboration with Indonesian schools and orphanages 

Tackling inequality in STEM education for indigenous communities in North America 

• STEM mentorship programs for indigenous children; led by international science and engineering fair category winner 

Increase international awareness within the organization 

• Increased participation from EduBeyond members in cross-regional projects and community events 
• Virtual exchange program: Pen pal, Model UN discussions, key note speakers, engineering build challenges 

Breaking financial barriers for international students studying in North America 

• Collaboration with universities to raise funds for entrance scholarships (currently in organizing with University of British Columbia and University of Toronto)
• Regional scholarships in collaboration with local charities 

Firstly, that of student numbers. Our primary measure of success, the number of students we educate is the statistic of most note to us. We believe that the higher number of students we have, the larger impact we are making in our mission of balancing educational disparity. Furthermore, the number of students we are teaching is also reflective of our reach in distant and struggling communities in the places we operate in.

Secondly, EduBeyond considers the number of members we recruit as paramount. This particular statistic is reflective of how our marketing is faring, and also decides the capacity of students we can teach. As an organization that believes everyone is an asset that has ideas to contribute, a higher membership count also results in more innovative ideas that would propel our organization to new horizons.

Lastly, EduBeyond measures its collective educational prowess by means of our students' progress reports. Our organization consistently reviews how are students are faring academically, and whether or not our developed curriculums can be improved. We take into account their exam scores, their approach to learning, as well as the hours they have taken to reach their current level. To ensure education of the highest quality, we use these statistics to alter our tutor training program accordingly as well.

Financial

Costs of running free EduBeyond programs are subsidized by the student leader of the organization. The EduBeyond app will allow us to reach more students at a decreased cost, but we still currently seeking funding from grant organization and opening a donation option for members of EduBeyond that are able to contribute. Additional funding also allows us to expand our scholarship program for excelling students in both our tutoring and student pool. 

Technical

At the moment, EduBeyond lacks student software developers and artists capable of executing on plans to gamify and expand the personalized learning capabilities of the EduBeyond app. We are developing an interview and training process to alleviate this problem.

Our team consist of students from both North America and Southeast Asia, with most enrolled in rigorous academic programs such as IB and AP. The tutors' academic background combined with their rich volunteering experiences make their lessons effective and engaging. 

Our members in Southeast Asia are further incentivized to participate in this project due to their collective goal of improving the education quality of their home countries. Examples include our operations in Indonesia, where many of our tutors are willing to teach for more than 10 hours a week and take on additional students in rural areas. This attachment to their homeland leads to increased commitment and efficiency from our tutors and executive members. 

On the other hand, our North American members, aside from their own tutoring sessions in their respective regions, often participate in the development of the English curriculum for Indonesian students. EduBeyond's diversity allows members from each region to use their respective strengths for various projects.   

EduBeyond's partners can be divided into 4 different categories:

• Firstly, we partner with foundations that house orphans and other young children who lack the means to a proper education. These include: Human Initiative, Project Child, LEAP, Kampung Melayu, Tangan Pengharapan, Bina Edukasih, Edukita and Salam Bapa.
• Secondly, EduBeyond partners with top institutions across the world who share our interest in eliminating educational disparity (The University of British Columbia, the University of Toronto, the Singapore International School group of schools, Jakarta Intercultural School, British schools Indonesia and Jakarta Nanyang School)
• Concurrently, we collaborate with organizations who agree to conduct joint operations that further our respective agendas. This includes the United Nations Association, DYPLO, Anak-Edukasih.
• Lastly, our organization works with news outlets and media platforms to increase our overall market reach. We have been featured by Canada's National News Network CBC News and the National Observer.