Ruchi Khemka: Empowering Students In 21st Century Skills
Founded in 2013, MindBox aims to build ICT programmes for schools which help in building functional literacy in students using interdisciplinary and experiential learning approaches to teach Design and Creative Thinking, Visual Communication, Technology and Digital Skills. Since its inception, MindBox has been able to build a community of 35000+ students and serve 50+ schools from more than 20 countries.
- What inspired you to become an entrepreneur in the Edtech space?
My journey as an entrepreneur started when I decided to enroll my son in a coding program. I observed that the students could not learn or grasp concepts due to a lack of practical experience, no genuine outcome. There was a dearth of knowledge and exposure around both fundamental programs as well as high-end and professional software and languages. This motivated us to start MindBox, where we carefully curate courses as per individual students’ needs, interests, the pace of learning and style, which in turn helps them to attain 21st-century skills. Our courses cover the entire technology lifecycle with various programs from fundamentals, multimedia, and coding to High-end design courses and professional courses for kids of ages 6-18 years.
- How does MindBox offer an interdisciplinary experience focused on STREAM learning to students?
Jobs in the real world are multidisciplinary. STREAM’s multidisciplinary approach to learning helps students understand how subjects integrate and work together. MindBox offers interdisciplinary experience focused on STREAM learning in all its courses. For instance, in App Design with coding course, knowledge of interdisciplinary subjects is applied as follows:
Science: Implementing concepts of Gravity, Force, Movement, BMI etc.
Technology: Various electronic sensors, Latest smartphones for testing and deployment.
Research: User profiling, identifying needs and requirements for better UX.
Engineering: Built for durability and performance. Designing efficient flowcharts.
Art: Beautifully designed user interfaces (UI).
Mathematics: Accurate Geometry, calculations and complex algorithms.
- You talk about outcome-based learning. Why is it so important in the current education system?
Outcome-Based learning requires the restructuring of curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment practices to reflect the achievement of high-order learning, as opposed to mere grades. It inspires them to become innovators, creators, and problem-solvers. It focuses on the skill sets learners need to acquire following the completion of their course(s) which will help them thrive in the ever-evolving world.
- What are the certifications that you offer at MindBox?
After completing the course with MindBox, we provide a MindBox course certificate which has a seal of alignment from STEM (an internationally recognised body for STEM Education).
- Can you share some brief information on what age group MindBox works with and some of the courses that are available on the platform?
At present, we cater to K-12 students with our STREAM based modules. Our courses cover a plethora of domains such as coding, animation, game design, graphic design, and web design etc. Also, we are the only Edtech platform within the ecosystem that teaches professional software/languages like Maya, Unity, Kodular, Blender, G-develop, Photoshop, SketchUp, CorelDRAW, JavaScript, Python, openshot etc to K-12 students.
- How big is your presence in India and other geographies?
As a growing brand we have good traction over a large audience. Our differentiation is in the fact that we complete the cycle of design + coding courses for kids. To establish a strong brand presence and increase our visibility all over the world, we have a communication plan which includes social media marketing, SEO, content marketing, email marketing, YouTube marketing, Google display ads, Google search/PPC ads and ORM.