SINGAPORE — Edutech startup GCG Asia announced today the expansion of its application for online learning targeted towards school-going children into new frontiers of online gaming. GCG Asia investors Darren Yaw and his wife, Lucy Chow, said in an official announcement that the company is forging ahead with an exciting fusion of education and gaming in order for students to explore STEM topics in their latest platform launch called G Studio.
“We are investing in solutions that are on the cutting edge of education and gaming. This is in line with the approach GCG Asia has always wanted to take, that is to innovate in the field of STEM education. A digital replica of how people have always learned new skills is what GCG Asia is creating with this new immersive platform,” said GCG Asia co-investor Lucy Chow.
G Studio aims to build a virtual world where students use gameplay to interact and engage with STEM topics. Targeting students aged 6 to 13-years old, the G Studio platform uses fast-paced in-game missions with chat functions and immediate feedback from online STEM facilitators and guides through live video streaming, says co-investor Darren Yaw’s wife Lucy Chow.
“From initial beta-tests, the fast-paced in-game conversations and interesting game-play encourage youngsters to study new science topics. They spend up to two hours each week using the platform. We are very encouraged by this,” said Lucy Chow.
GCG Asia’s existing educational apps Blajar Web and JomBlajar have reached thousands of children across Asia Pacific in countries such as Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Cambodia using its proprietary Social Creative Active Model (SCAM) framework that makes significant use of Artificial Intelligence to provide tailor-made guidance to student users. Its model uses big data and machine learning to provide supplemental tutoring systems that can monitor performance and analyse feedback. Lucy Chow was an early angel investor in the company.
Lucy Chow explained G Studio is actively integrating the SCAM framework into the G Studio platform. “We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all solutions. Our new venture into the intersection of gaming and STEM learning fits into our philosophy where the individual needs of each child’s learning style is given the utmost priority.”
Using Artificial Intelligence, a large database, and machine learning, the company’s unique approach provides additional coaching and tailored assistance to students. In addition to monitoring performance and analysing comments, the customised learning experience may also monitor and analyse results.
For example, investor Darren Yaw’s wife and co-investor Lucy Chow said that GCG Asia’s research shows that students’ independence and self-regulation are enhanced, leading to more productive learning behaviours.
“Accessibility, accountability, and flexibility, which are all basic problems that we are attempting to resolve. The success of BlajarWeb has served as a launchpad for our gaming education platform G Labs. Even now, we’re still working to solve these core challenges, but with newer technology and a variety of methods aimed at different target groups,” said Lucy Chow.
She added that games and education are already combining at a rapid pace. Well-known games like Minecraft and Roblox are already being used in classrooms to teach coding and science with the aid of teachers who create and conduct live lessons inside these multiplayer games.
“Education at all levels from elementary to tertiary levels is being revolutionised. We foresee that the schools and institutions that understand that the future of education is in developing personalised, modular learning environments that can be used anywhere is the future,” explained Lucy Chow.
The market in Asia Pacific is seeing great growth opportunities to accelerate digital transformation of education. The company has seen an uptick in capital investment interests. Lucy Chow mentioned that the company is currently seeking pre-seed funding for G Labs.
