"Everyone is within learning distance: Building skills remotely", Mckinsey
Business Valuation Course at Indian School of Business
This McKinsey article convincingly argues that that it’s not only possible to replicate many tried-and-true learning methods in a remote environment, but that remote capability building offers a number of added benefits. While this article is written in the context of corporate work remote learning, it has several learnings for higher education also.
The article is here
We at equitylevers.com resonate strongly with this idea. The main building block of learning and hence understanding is learning by doing by repeating the tasks.
Text books enabled us teach the masses and then video and demo’s accelerated the teaching by giving learners vivid learning material. The next step logical evolution which is underway is enabling learners to practice and skill up especially in a remote environment. A number of simulation and collaborative learning environment are trying to address this need.
Synopsis of this Article
This article captures some important learning points from this McKinsey article and also how equitylevers helps by providing live practice projects to learners. We highlight this with example of recently completed Business Valuation course offered at Indian School of Business (ISB) - April 2021.
Our super successful entrance exams
Our entrance exams for higher education (like IIT JEE, IIM CAT) is simply excellent towards achieving its objective, which is to select the very best. These exams have made it possible for universities to select the best and from the perspective of learners, the top scorers get an opportunity to get noticed at the highest level. They also go on to become leaders in their respective fields.
Why does this happen - To pass these exams, students must solve huge number of problems and gain practice. I.e, they learn by doing. Much like learning a fine art or sport; learning for these exams has evolved in a practice environment. There is clarity and focus in the minds of students and instructors alike to achieve practice.
Why more practice projects are needed for skilling
Extensive practice is mostly not the norm in technical skilling courses. Most of our courses have pre defined allocated time frame for each component of subject. Practice projects like simulations are also limited as only so much can be prepared and completed by instructors/ candidates in the given time. This in our view leaves a large gap in skilling. Also this gap becomes quite notable for poor to average candidates as it affects their skills and placements and confidence for work environment.
Key Points highlighted by McKinsey
1. “Its difficult to make students learn by doing except through classwork”
Mckinsey : There’s no question that learning by doing beats learning by listening/ reading alone (exhibit). Adults can recall almost seven times more content by doing.
ISB Example - how Equitylevers helps
About equitylevers - Much like textbooks, Equitylevers was set up with a mission to make available live projects for skill testing and training in finance - a virtual financial simulations terminal. We currently offer live projects in 10 finance subjects.
Our product was approved in Feb 2021 under the NEAT (AICTE) program of Govt of India. National Educational Alliance for Technology (NEAT) brings the best technological solutions in education pedagogy for enhancing the employability of the youth and are selected by a Committee of experts and showcased on the NEAT portal. All the products approved by AICTE are available at https://neat.aicte-india.org.
Business Valuation Course at ISB
We provided live projects on various aspects of Business Valuation for the course at ISB in April 2021.
A lot of preparation - A lot of time went into customizing the content with Professor for his classes and eventually the following 13 topical simulations were assigned to students as part of the course. Each project was remotely delivered as excel enabled live projects with adaptive learning features.
Value Investing using Piotroski FS-score
Economic Value Added
Earnings Power Value
Integrated Financial Statements Analysis
Comprehensive Financial Analysis
Operating Leverage – How to identify great business?
Beta Computation using Regression Method
Equity Portfolio Game
Comparable Company Method Valuation
WACC Computation
DCF Valuation of Listed Companies (Detailed Financial Modeling)
Pre-Money & Post-Money Valuation
Understanding Cap Tables (using Unacademy data)
Demo examples
Instructors already cover most of these projects….but….
While many instructors already cover similar projects, we highlight below the reasons why structured practice helps achieve better skilling. The Committee of experts on the NEAT (AICTE) interview panel liked these reasons while giving us accreditation.
Record of work - Every single student (poor and average performers included, who are generally part of most Cohorts) solved all projects with detailed record of work being available with students and instructors alike
Different company for each student - Every student got different companies and this enabled deeper collaborative understanding of how a valuation aspect plays out for different companies
Multiple attempts - students getting to solve multiple times means more practice
Easy to create and assign and saves time in assessments and tracking
Just like we use textbooks from different authors, live projects and simulations help create a practical skilling program for learners.
2. “With remote learning you can’t simulate a risk-free environment, which is essential for learning from mistakes”
McKinsey: Adaptive learning simulations delivered online allow participants to comfortably make mistakes without risk. And it is indeed possible to create simulations in a remote environment. Research shows that breaking up extended learning journeys into increasingly challenging modules enables better retention.
How Equitylevers helped :
Our adaptive learning enabled projects helped the student to learn from his / her mistakes and improve in their next attempt - all this in the learners personal space where he / she can avail multiple attempts at the problem or similar problems.
We saw that instant auto result announcement to learner tends to have better learning outcome and better completion of projects.
3. “Motivating people to learn is hard enough and how to make practice compulsory”
McKinsey - People will willingly engage when they believe the program is relevant to them personally, will fulfill their needs, and will enhance their self-confidence—regardless of how it is delivered. We know that learning programs that confer autonomy and give people the wherewithal to sense their progress (through personalization, assessment, and self-inquiry) build intrinsic motivation.
How Equitylevers helped :
We have 17000 users and have completed several courses, several competitions and selection tests with candidates with this new approach to skilling. Consistently, the feedback from learners has been 4 plus on a scale of 5.
Learners see value in solving multiple projects and get their own eureka movements of understanding. This is especially true when complete tasks are assigned with immediate adaptive score feedback. Why practical skilling is necessary - learnings from IIM Shillong financial modelling competition and student feedback. Read here
Our happiness -
ISB students gave us an overwhelming thumbs up.
Professor Prof Vaidya Nathan K wrote us a nice mail with the following message - “I have used equitylevers simulations in my course on Business Valuation at ISB and have found it very beneficial”
Covid 19 has posed new questions
Today, perhaps more than ever, Institutions around the world are changing how they operate. Ironically, COVID-19 forced people to use digital tools they were reluctant to use on road to digital transformation. We see two important changes around us:
That Covid has accelerated remote learning as a need,
and this need has prompted a lot of innovation in remote learning (particularly amongst online education companies), which focus on more practical skills while also motivating the learner.
Text books enabled us teach the masses and then video and demo’s accelerated the teaching by giving learners vivid learning material. The next step logical evolution which is underway is enabling learners to practice and skill up especially in a remote environment.
We are developing an innovative approach to finance skilling. We will be grateful for your feedback and support - reach us at founder@equitylevers.com.
Thank you for reading.
We offer upto Rs 50,000 free credit to Institutions for trial and demo. Students can also take free tests from our site
Our recent product launch - unique simulations covering 20 Indian financial Instruments (gold, mutual funds, debt, bonds, equity) with live Indian data suitable for Investor education and also for financial advisors. Read here