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Opportunity Notes

By Rafe Needleman

Can Technology Rescue Education?

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Education is one of the biggest information markets. In the U.S. alone, it’s a $8 to $12 billion market, just for K-12 textbooks. It is a tempting business. But it’s a brutal market. Textbooks are bought by committees and have long, political sales cycles. Incumbent publishers get locked in.

If ever a market deserved to be broken open, it’s education. But how?

Technology, of course. But not just through electronic books and distance education. Digital content is flexible. Teachers can tailor courseware to students’ learning styles, if they have the tools. A smart, modern curriculum replaces dated, one-size-fits-none textbooks and homework worksheets with targeted cocktails of books, collaborative content, and testing. And it’s an open community of teachers that will build it.

Curriki has community-created courseware, as well as some of its own, including a new algebra lesson plan.

It sounds utopian, but there are businesses pushing this — and successfully. One is Curriki, a Scott McNealy-founded startup run by former Sun exec Kim Jones. She says teachers in elementary education feel isolated. Curriki helps them communicate and collaborate on materials to improve their methods.

Not only does Curriki help create more flexible curricula, but it’s actually getting love from state educational boards, many of which are both running low on funds (Curriki is free for non-business customers) and mandating studies into tech-enabled educational methods that traditional publishers just aren’t set up for.

Fixing education, “is not about computers,” Jones says. But technology can give teachers the tools they need to interact more personally and effectively with students. And in this strange case, weak budgets are actually good for business.

- Rafe

See also:
Digital Education (Report in MIT Technology Review)

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  • http://www.cmduke.com Chris Duke

    Two obstacles that must be hurdled: access and proficiency. First, accessing digital content requires digital devices; while the content may be used and replicated, generally, at low cost, the devices necessary to access digital content are not. It’s not an answer to the budget crunch; the dollars simply get moved around from purchasing print resources to purchasing devices required to access digital content. Second, the technology proficiency of learners is overestimated; the “net generation” in many respects is a myth. Learners may be using technology every day, but ubiquity does not translate to proficiency. The technology learners typically use and skills they exhibit with technology are not the same technologies and skills required to be productive in a workplace or academic environment.

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