Doyobi

Doyobi upskills teachers to deliver STEM and 21st century skills by equipping them with teaching resources and learning tools.

• Doyobi upskills teachers to deliver STEM and 21st century skills by equipping them with teaching resources and learning tools.

• Over the next decade, a billion youths will enter the workforce into jobs that don’t exist today. Educators are tasked to bridge the gap between what’s taught in classrooms and the skills needed for jobs of the future. OECD has highlighted the discrepancies between today’s curriculum and the diverse needs of preparing students for the future. 

• Doyobi develops STEM and 21st century skills content delivered on a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) with built-in learning tools. The VLE enables teachers to make students full participants in their own education journey through active learning that 1. provides inquiry and experience-based learning with applications in the real world; 2. uses interactive media to allow learners to make crucial links across concepts; 3. gets learners cognitively engaged by building projects using Scratch. In each Doyobi lesson, we’ve included a range of different activities to cater to multiple intelligences and every student’s learning needs. 

• We support educators with instructor notes on the VLE, as well as through professional development and training. Hear from a teacher we upskilled from the Philippines. 

• If scaled in Southeast Asia, Doyobi will upskill millions of teachers to deliver STEM and 21C skills, impacting tens of millions of learners. UNESCO estimates we need 70 million new teachers worldwide by 2030 to meet SDG education goals.

With a total population size of almost 580m people across Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia, a young population, and high levels of inequality, hundreds of millions of students do not have access to STEM and 21st century skills. Governments in all five markets emphasise STEM, 21st century skills, and digital literacy to support economic growth, but most countries are struggling to deliver this adequately across the curriculum. Poor teacher quality and teacher training is a common
theme across the five selected markets, especially Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines.

Edtech presents a tremendous opportunity to strengthen the delivery of STEM and 21st century skills for learners to effectively build work readiness but is hampered by low levels of digital skills amongst teachers and a lack of training for educators in how to deploy edtech effectively. The empowerment of schools and educators is a critical step towards strengthening the delivery of STEM and 21st century skills for learners. Through the use of Doyobi’s VLE, we equip teachers with the digital literacy and confidence needed to engage meaningfully with edtech and develop their ability to bring STEM and 21st century skills into the classroom.

Doyobi's Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) serves teachers and learners. We have spoken to hundreds of educators in South East Asia and we also manage an online community for teachers. Through hundreds of conversations with teachers in the 5 target markets, we understand where teachers are at on the tech adoption curve. As such, we have designed the VLE for teachers who are not familiar with using edtech tools in the classroom. Teachers in both public and private schools are under pressure to teach STEM subjects, but they do not have the time or bandwidth to learn these STEM subjects themselves. In Thailand for example, home economics teachers are expected to teach coding with minimal training. 

Doyobi's VLE is being used by over 20 organisations in 10 countries, with Indonesia and the Philippines our 2 biggest markets. With nearly 2,000 teachers using Doyobi’s VLE, we have witnessed first hand the struggles teachers with low levels of digital literacy face when using edtech products. We take these teachers through a cohort-based training programme that:

• Addresses their anxieties about using tech in the classroom

• Builds their confidence using the Doyobi platform

• Trains them to introduce block-based coding (Scratch) to the classroom

• Provides peer support because they are learning with other teachers with similar levels of digital literacy

• Offers office hours where teachers can come online and ask for help with regards to using the VLE or implementing Scratch from the Doyobi team

Teachers are burdened with workload and do not have the time to find relevant content and new methods to bring STEM and 21st century skills to their classrooms. We empower them to do so through

1. Curriculum mapped content 

• Teachers don't have to worry about how the content fits into their teaching plans. 

• We integrate coding with core subjects like science to save teachers the time and effort to introduce new practices. We make coding accessible by building on a subject that is already taught.
  

2. Platform features on VLE

• Teacher dashboard enables teachers to track each student’s progress in real-time, allowing for early intervention to support individual students. 

• Different teaching modes on the VLE allows for group discussions and independent learning. 

Teachers have low levels of digital literacy and lack the confidence to use technology in the classroom as well as to upskill themselves. We increase teacher confidence and upskill them by:

1. Running cohort-based courses 

• Focused on building a community of peer learning. Quote from cohort member "I believe in the power of the community, being able to share and learn from others is important in acquiring practical knowledge."

• Breaks down the technostress associated with bringing new technologies into their classrooms. Quote from another cohort member "I love the flexibility and the trial and error. It allows for mistakes and problem-solving."

2. Building a teacher community

• Tackles the problem of representation + localisation + inclusiveness 

• Focuses on teachers as learners and creators 

• Connects teachers with other types of educators 

John Tan, CEO.

Doyobi’s solution combines evidence-based learning science with technology to bring about effective and scalable classroom interventions. 

Doyobi’s pedagogy is premised on evidence-based learning science, specifically John Hattie’s Visible Learning pedagogical framework. The fundamental principle at work here is getting teachers to see learning through the eyes of their learners, and for learners to see themselves as their own teachers. Through the Visible Learning pedagogical framework, we create classrooms that produce visible learners - learners who are

1. Active in their learning, so that learning is done with them and not to them;

2. Capable of planning the next steps in their learning

3. Aware of what feedback means and can incorporate that feedback into their learning

We incorporate the Visible Learning pedagogical approach in the design and implementation of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), a cloud-based learning platform that any teacher can use to deliver STEM content in the classroom in a fun and engaging way. The VLE consists of teacher modules which teachers can use to lead classroom discussions, as well as self-paced learner modules which learners can use to actively participate in their own learning, plan the next steps in their learning, and receive and incorporate feedback from teachers.

We have over 20 licensees in 10 countries. Here are some quotes from licensees.

"The Doyobi platform made me feel very comfortable delivering the class."

"The children are very happy and they told me that they have learnt a lot in both Science and coding. If there’s a part 3 our students would like to attend."

"Since the pilot has been a success I would want to now explore integrating it in the curriculum."

In September 2021, a private school network with 8 campuses in Indonesia licensed Doyobi for all 3,000 students from K-12. The school is sending all 500 teachers to be trained in Scratch or Python programming by Doyobi, after which coding will be integrated into science lessons through project-based learning. Besides this private school network, Doyobi is currently used by over 20 schools and enrichment providers in 10 countries.

Doyobi is a web-based Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) built on Elixir, a dynamic, functional language designed for building scalable and maintainable applications. We use cloud services which allows us to easily spin up new instances as we scale. Building our own VLE rather than hosting on a platform like Teachable allows us to not just develop content but also design teaching and learning tools that increase classroom engagement. The Doyobi content makes use of these engagement tools, increasing teachers’ confidence using these tools, and the more teachers use these tools the more content we can develop that’s engaging for learners. It becomes a flywheel where the content and tools reinforce each other to improve learner engagement and help them develop 21st century skills

Doyobi's Theory of Change is that transforming education starts with empowering teachers. In order to move education from an industrial age model of churning out assembly line workers to a 21st century model of preparing kids for jobs that don't yet exist, we need to motivate, upskill and empower teachers. Lucy Kellway, founder of the UK non-profit Now Teach, wrote about the disengagement of students and the disillusionment of teachers.

"As I looked at their faces I saw an impassive mask of the sheerest boredom. Vacant with a hint of despair. If this is education — stuffing random facts into students so that they can pass exams — then maybe it’s time to stop and do something different." 

Lucy Kellaway is echoing the sentiments of many, many teachers. In the UK, 500k qualified teachers have left the teaching profession. To achieve global development goals, we need 70 million new teachers worldwide by 2030.

Teachers play an outsize role in shaping learning outcomes. In the book Natural Born Learners, Alex Beard wrote this line "Learning has everything to do with the expertise and passion of teachers, and very little to do with anything else."

We need to help teachers rediscover that passion for teaching, upskill them, make it easy for teachers to fit STEM and 21st century skills in the existing curriculum, and help teachers make learning engaging in the classroom. 

"We don't want to add more work. We're just trying to make the additional work fit in better with the curriculum and this platform helps us do that."
Watch interview with Lee Dabagia, Principal, Summit International School, Abu Dhabi

"With Doyobi teachers are forced to learn something new, upgrade their skills, understand how students think, communicate better with students." Watch interview with Lita Mariana, Head of School, Mutiara Harapan Islamic School, Indonesia

"Didn't expect the students to pay so much attention completely online. I will rate Doyobi the most engaging tool we have introduced this year." 
Watch interview with Venkata Suresh, Principal, Valistus International School, India

We are measuring impact through quantitative metrics such as number of teachers and students using the VLE, and teacher and student feedback. For example, a survey of 130 students pre and post-learning with Doyobi’s VLE indicated that the percentage of students who “very much enjoy learning science” increased from just under 40% to over 60%. An example of qualitative feedback from a student Jeremy, age 11. “I think that it's way better because in normal science, I am just reading words off textbooks/worksheets, but with Doyobi you can turn the knowledge into animations and stories. It makes you want to do more coding and also, more science."

We are also measuring learners' interest in coding through surveys. In a survey of 298 students pre and post Doyobi, 42% of students surveyed before attending Doyobi classes were unsure they would enjoy coding, compared to 99% of students surveyed after attending Doyobi classes who said they enjoyed learning how to code. Out of the 298 students, 97% of students indicated their interest in continuing to code after the Doyobi programme ended.

Doyobi’s impact is ultimately measured by the number of teachers and students we reach. In a year's time, we hope to have 100,000 registered teachers and 100,000 monthly active students on our platform, growing to 5 million registered teachers and 50 million monthly active students in 5 years. We will get there by building free learner engagement tools for teachers that will drive adoption of our VLE. We will keep growing the Teachers As Humans community to increase the number of teachers we are connected to, have regular conversations with them to understand their challenges, and build new products to make it easier for them to bring STEM and 21st century skills to the classroom. Expanding the cohort-based training programmes for teachers is another way we can build deeper relationships with more teachers. Concurrently, we will go top down by approaching governments, school networks and individual schools, tapping on the Obama Foundation, Ashoka and Transcend networks. 

Doyobi is a spin-off from Saturday Kids. Saturday Kids has a proven track record creating social impact, as evidenced by the success of Code In The Community (CITC). CITC was initially launched as a 3 year programme funded entirely by Google, targeting 3,000 kids, Because of the success of the initial 3 years, the programme was extended for another 3 years with triple the budget, co-funded by Google and the Singapore government. Saturday Kids’ impact report here.

We have raised funding from VC funds and are continuing to raise funding from later stage funds to give us resources to hire product and engineering talent. By far the largest barrier we are facing is market entry - getting schools to act with urgency when it comes to licensing Doyobi in order to deliver STEM and 21st century skills in the classroom. Most schools are assessed based on how students perform in standardised tests, so STEM and 21st century skills is not a priority for school leaders.

We are using community-based growth to drive adoption of our VLE i.e. building a community of teachers. We graduated from the inaugural cohort of The Community Fund and will use the learnings from the programme to build the teacher community. The cohort-based training programmes we run also helps us build relationships with teachers. We will also keep tapping on the networks we are a part of - Obama Foundation, Ashoka, Transcend.

Doyobi is a spin-off from Saturday Kids, one of the largest education-focused social enterprises in Singapore. Besides Code In The Community, Saturday Kids has also run coding programmes in Cambodia for public school children funded by USAID. Half the Doyobi team came from Saturday Kids. Doyobi (and Saturday Kids) founder is an Obama Leader and Ashoka Changemaker. Through leadership and capacity building programmes offered by the Obama Foundation and Ashoka, Doyobi’s founder deeply understands the importance of solving SDG4 - Quality Education for all. Doyobi’s founder and Doyobi’s head of product/co-founder are both Transcend Fellows, a network of founders building the future of work and learning. 

The motivation behind spinning out Doyobi from Saturday Kids is to reach the hundreds of millions of children who go to school but do not have access to STEM and 21st century skills education. Our belief is that by empowering and upskilling teachers, we can help students in traditional school systems learn the STEM and 21st century skills that will prepare them for jobs of the future.

19 full-time staff

Doyobi has 19 full-time staff. The team is located across different regions - Singapore, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia and Egypt. Doyobi is a spin-off from Saturday Kids, one of the largest education-focused social enterprises in Singapore. Besides Code In The Community, Saturday Kids has also run coding programmes in Cambodia for public school children funded by USAID. Half the Doyobi team came from Saturday Kids. Doyobi (and Saturday Kids) founder is an Obama Leader and Ashoka Changemaker. The team comprises of educators, entrepreneurs, engineers, policy-makers, and marketers. Doyobi’s founder and Doyobi’s head of product/co-founder are both Transcend Fellows, a network of founders building the future of work and learning. 

The Doyobi team is supported by individuals who are on the ground in the countries we wish to intervene in. Niyata Plub Limpiti is a former MIT Playful Journey Lab researcher based in Thailand who supports the Doyobi team with assessment measurement and also guest facilitates our Scratch training for teachers. Creative learning designer Yoong Kah Wei supports the Doyobi team with learning experience design and is based in Malaysia. Damar Hadisumarto is an Indonesian curriculum developer who supports teacher training and curriculum development. Aparna Saxena, CEO of social enterprise TORAJAMELO, is a Doyobi advisor based in Indonesia. Impact investor Stephanie Hermawan, also based in Indonesia, is an investor in Doyobi. Education entrepreneur and venture capitalist Tu Ngo is an investor in Doyobi, based in Vietnam. Aparna, Stephanie and Tu regularly connect Doyobi to potential partners and licensees in Indonesia.

Doyobi Team Lead John Tan is a thought leader in education. His tweet on why the education system is broken has been viewed 600,000 times. He regularly publishes essays about reimagining learning. John started Saturday Kids ten years ago as one of the first coding schools for kids in Singapore when he saw the need for kids to learn to create with technology. From a one man show back in 2012 to a 25 person team today with offices in Singapore and Tokyo, Saturday Kids has implemented coding programmes in Cambodia funded by USAID and continues to run the largest free coding programme in Singapore, funded by Google and the Singapore government. John spun out Doyobi from Saturday Kids because he saw the need for interventions in schools, specifically the implementation of edtech innovations that upskill teachers and strengthen delivery of STEM and 21st century skills.    

In addition to being an Obama Leader (top 15% of cohort), John is also an Ashoka Changemaker and Transcend Fellow. He deeply understands the value of being part of a community of changemakers. Every community offers something different and allows members to tap on new resources and build new networks. 

Doyobi's VLE is being used by over 20 organisations in 10 countries, with nearly 2,000 teachers teaching on the VLE. We are in constant dialogue with these teachers via surveys, focus group discussions, in-depth interviews and live training sessions.

Doyobi is working closely with Philippines Business for Education (PBEd) to upskill teachers in their network. Through STEP UP and 1000 Teachers Program, PBEd has an alumni network of thousands of teachers. 6 teachers from PBEd's Scholar Alumni Network (SAN) are currently going through the cohort-based Scratch training course with Doyobi. We plan to onboard hundreds more PBEd alumni in the next few months. 

Doyobi is also working with The Head Foundation through the foundation's Making HEADway webinar series for educators. Doyobi is opening up our Teachers As Humans teacher community to webinar participants so that they can continue engaging with their peers after the webinars.  

Having participated in the Obama Leaders programme (Doyobi’s founder is top 15% of his cohort), the Ashoka Changemaker programme and the Transcend Fellowship, Doyobi’s founder deeply understands the value of being part of a community of changemakers. Every community offers something different and allows members to tap on new resources and build new networks. 

A partnership with Octava and MIT Solve gives Doyobi access to a network of resource partners, mentors and coaches, some of whom can give us advice on market entry, or even help us open doors. The learning & development modules aimed at refining our theory of change and plans for scaling could also be tremendously valuable as we work towards the ambitious target of 5 million registered teachers and 50 million monthly active students in 5 years. 

MIT Solve’s mission to solve world problems is everything Doyobi stands for. Doyobi’s mission is to help school leaders nurture future-ready students who can become changemakers and create positive impact in the world. Excerpt from an essay Doyobi’s founder wrote. “Our generation is not going to solve all of these problems. It is up to our kids and the generation(s) after them to come up with the solutions that will ensure humanity continues to thrive.” Nurturing changemakers is hard. Being part of the MIT Solve community makes it easier.

Need: Human Capital

Teachers who want to remain in education but leave the classroom are great candidates for Doyobi's learning experience design team. We are building products for teachers after all. We also need BD/sales people who have relationships with schools and/or have a deep understanding of how schools make purchasing decisions.

Need: Business Model 

Doyobi’s vision is to be the 21st century skills framework used by every school. To get there, we need advice and mentorship from experts on education and social change strategy. 

Need: Network Connections

We are currently going go top down by approaching governments, school networks and individual schools. Warm intros to prospective licensees always help. 

Need: Product/ Service Distribution 

We are using community-based growth to drive adoption of our VLE i.e. building a community of teachers. We want to work with Octava and MIT Solve to get more teachers from the 5 target markets on to the teacher community. We also want to look for committed channel partners/resellers who can help bring Doyobi into more classrooms.