What is More Important in Educational Technology - Education or Technology?

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Edtech or Educational Technology has currently become a big market with billions of dollars invested worldwide. Hence it comes as no surprise that numerous entrepreneurs are striving to get a piece of the pie.

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But can it actually help to change, or should I say improve, the way we teach our students? There are a lot of things to consider here.

Although many new entrepreneurs are frequently coming up with Edtech start-ups with the next big idea, however, we need to keep in mind that the basics of teaching have remained constant for centuries. Hence educational technology must empower educators to improve delivery of education and performance of students, while maintaining the fundamentals of pedagogy.

In my experience, most worthwhile Edtech companies are motivated by the noble idea of improving education and their spirit, commitment and efforts are undoubtedly commendable. But lately I have witnessed the annoyance of these start-ups getting trapped in a dead end. Although their technology is effective but they fail to achieve the numbers they expect. The returns are almost zero and in some cases it’s even negative.

But why? When they have the technology, then why are they unable to achieve their targets?

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This is because their focus is primarily on developing the technology instead of

addressing the needs of the educators. The fact is most children, parents, teachers and schools do not have any interest in such Edtech products or services. This has resulted in a rather frustrating scenario in the global educational technology market.

But there is still hope. With the spread of 4G, new avenues are getting opened. It is time that you stand up and get moving. Here are some suggestions that help you to re-focus and gain fresh perspective about the market-

Understand Your Customer’s Needs

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The first thing you need to do is understand the needs of your customer, in this

case schools, teachers and educators. You need to map their needs and evaluate your offering. Find the loopholes and check what proves effective with your services and products. Your offering needs to be relevant at the location of your customers and not at your labs.

Offer Solutions, Don’t Just Replace Problems

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Don’t underestimate the educators and teachers. In respect to your technologically inclined IQ levels, they may appear fatheaded, but the fact remains that they have the money which you need for your revenues. Hence you must appreciate their understanding and knowledge, even though it sounds irrational. What you need to do is offer them solutions instead of just replacing them. Keep in mind that what you think as a solution could turn out to be a new problem for the teachers.

Understand How Schools Work

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You need to understand how schools and other educational institutes operate and how they teach their students. Assessments and OER are not the only areas; there are several other untouched aspects in education. Before you establish your start-up you need to spend at least 8-10 hours a week to understand the different facets of pedagogy.

Educational Impact, Not Technological Features

Identify and understand the distinction between technology features and educational impact. Features are meant for apps and smartphones, not for education. Focus on measurable impact which can be documented as that is what education seeks.

Restructure Your Team Composition

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Did you set up your education technology start-up without a trained and qualified programmer? I guess not. Then why do you think you can develop effective Edtech solutions without an experienced educationist in the core team? It time you restructure the composition of your team.

Focus On Performance and Scores

Focus on performance and scores instead of understanding and concepts. You need show schools and institutions how your products will result in attaining better grades and marks and improve student performance. You need to realise that the development of a school largely depends on the performance of students in exams. So get your head in the right place.

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Sell Yourself, Don’t Wait For Others

Learn to sell yourself to your customers. If you depend on others to sell your services then that clearly won’t work. By selling yourself you will be able to retain the extra 40-50 per cent of revenues which will increase your profits to a great extent.

So...What is the formula for achieving success in the Educational Technology market?

After all that has been said and done, you should get it by now; but just in case you haven’t, let me spell it out for you...Education First, Technology Later.

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