Through low-data instant messaging services like Whatsapp and Facebook, students can access online learning resources in a variety of languages due to the South African edtech company, FoondaMate. As a result, Nigerian students can get access to locally relevant study materials, including old WAEC junior and senior exam papers.
Like speaking with a friend, the FoondaMate chatbot functions similarly. To start a chat, you only need to message a Whatsapp number or Facebook page. When you send a message to FoondaMate using this means with your question, it will search the internet for pertinent information, summarize it, and reply to you.
A user may, for instance, ask, “What is democracy?” and receive a response in the chat. The user can access past question papers when preparing for particular exams, such as “WAEC Civic Education 2017”. The user can then download or share a pdf version of the requested past exam from the bot’s response in the chat.
It can also serve as a study partner for math classes because students can send equations to the FoondaMate chatbot and ask for the answer. After conducting a web search, the chatbot responds with a document that details a step-by-step approach to solving the mathematical problem.
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Apart from getting only past questions, students can seek study materials and learning resources for challenging courses, as well as the definitions of difficult words they come across. Students don’t need to leave WhatsApp to complete their studies because everything takes place in the chat. Isn’t that great?
FoondaMate is available for both WhatsApp and Facebook users; however, the WhatsApp version is commonly used because it only requires your phone number, while the Facebook profile requires your username and password.
How FoondaMate Came Into Existence
To solve the disparities in the South African educational system, Tao Boyle and Dacod Magagula developed the API-based solution over two years ago. Dacod Magagula, while younger, studied in a public school with a very poor curriculum and little access to physical or virtual learning tools, which drove him to develop FoondaMate.
This provided him with first-hand knowledge of the issue he was attempting to solve. Boyle, his co-founder, went to a private school and, as a result of her wealthier background, had a quite different educational experience. These two had contrasting backgrounds.
However, she did spend most of her time in college working for a group that provided low-income neighbourhoods with textbooks. Their strong conviction that everyone should have access to high-quality education and their drive to make sure that children from low-income families are not denied is what bring them together, leading to their work at Foondamate.
FoondaMate, unlike the majority of educational technology solutions on the continent, is a chatbot on Facebook and WhatsApp, two of the most widely used instant messaging platforms. Without leaving the messaging app, students may communicate with the bot to obtain help with their homework or to prepare for tests. For those who cannot afford access to the larger internet, it is the ideal solution.
Progress Recorded So Far
Over 130,000 students in Africa, Latin America, and Asia have downloaded more than 1.8 million practice questions from FoondaMate. In Nigeria alone, over 4,000 users have registered with the bot on the Whatsapp platform in the roughly three weeks it has been operational in Nigeria.
Boyle, a female co-founder of FoondaMate, responded to a question regarding the company’s aspirations in the nation. Boyle, FoondaMate’s female co-founder, says, “Nigeria is a huge and young market, so there is great potential for helping people move from where they are to that next step, whatever that next step is for them.
Being able to help somebody get to that next step is something that we care about and something that we are excitedly looking forward to doing in the country.”
Concerning the feedback they have received from Nigerian users, FoondaMate is very excited about the acceptance. “Nigerian students don’t hold back. They tell you exactly what they think as soon as they see it. At first, we thought it would be difficult to get feedback, but it’s been completely the opposite,” Boyle said. “Students sign up, and on the same day, they email us telling us how much they love the product and recommending other things they would like to see on the platform.”
The company is taking into account all of the feedback it is getting and will use it to keep improving the solution to satisfy the requirements of Nigerian students at their various stages of education.
Collaborations with financial institutions and post-secondary educational institutions help FoondaMate make money as well. By collaborating with these financial institutions, organizations can promote their partners’ relevant product offers while delivering users sponsored financial literacy to users.