54 | Personalized Learning for Every Child | Modernizations in Education with AI

Today's episode is a Simply Tech LIVE interview featuring my co-host, Ali Mazaheri, and our special guest, Elnaz Sarraf. Elnaz is the Founder & CEO of ROYBI, an investor-backed EdTech company that raised $4.2 million in its seed round, focusing on early childhood education and self-guided learning through artificial intelligence. Roybi is the creator of Roybi Robot, an interactive language learning tutor for children 3 and older, featuring 500+ lessons, 70 Subject Categories, and 70,000 vocabularies, that grow over time with your child.

Roybi Robot was featured in TIME Magazine's "100 best inventions of 2019", and recognized in the 2019 World Changing Ideas list by Fast Company, and is on the 2019 CNBC Upstart 100 list as one of the world’s most promising startups. Roybi Robot's mission is quite clear,  "to provide a personalized learning experience for every child, highlighting their unique abilities and interests. We create a strong educational foundation for children during early childhood, putting them on track for a successful future".

Elnaz grew up as a woman in Iran, and due to her personal experiences around cultural limitations of opportunities, she was inspired to create technology that would empower others - and you can really feel this in Elnaz's passion as she navigates the discussion. Elnaz has over 15 years of experience as a serial entrepreneur, and also led and co-founded iBaby, a consumer electronics/IoT company, and leader in the baby monitor industry. Elnaz has been awarded numerous honoris including being selected as a Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center Milestone Maker, she was also included in the Silicon Valley Women of Influence by the Silicon Valley Business Journal in 2017, and recognized as a Female Entrepreneur of the Year by Women World Awards in 2017. Most recently, Elnaz has been invited to be an official member of the Forbes Technology Council.

Key Takeaways

[09:13] The specific problem ROYBI solves, and Elnaz’s approach to the solution

[11:39] How ROYBI can be used to help children with special needs

[13:58] What brought Elnaz to the US and how she ended up becoming an entrepreneur

[17:48] Feedback Elnaz has gotten from the kids and parents who are using ROYBI in their homes

[20:21] The design journey and continuous feedback loop needed to create ROYBI

[26:26] What Elnaz’s thoughts are for the future, how education needs to evolve and personalize

[31:57] Opportunities for ROYBI to help enable teachers in the classroom

[34:42] Interaction limitations, curriculum, and data driven experiences between children and the robot

[37:03] Additional growth areas in AI and ML with Roybi Robot – the future of data driven education 

[40:53] Advice Elnaz has for parents who seek to guide their own children with their personalized learning curriculums

[43:20] Elnaz’s advice to women who want to become entrepreneurs and engage in start-up culture

Memorable Quotes

[08:24] “The whole startup environment is so different. It is challenging and also so exciting cause every day, you have to deal with different aspects.”

[06:59] “Now that we have more advanced technologies like artificial intelligence, it can help us to create better experiences.”

[33:27] “I can really see ROYBI becoming part of the system, to help teachers to access more opportunities.”

Resources:

Elnaz Sarraf LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/elnazsarraf/

ROYBI - https://roybirobot.com/

National Center for Education Statistics - https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d18/tables/dt18_209.30.asp

How Is AI Used In Education -- Real World Examples Of Today And A Peek Into The Future - https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2018/07/25/how-is-ai-used-in-education-real-world-examples-of-today-and-a-peek-into-the-future/#67cef041586e

Children Learning with a Social Robot - https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2157689.2157809

Thank you for listening!

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