Edtech - Technological Weapon In Education

• By Vishal Virani
• 17-08-2020
• Technology

During this pandemic, when the need for online learning is at peak : Every business owner is striving forward to get into educational learning apps. The entrepreneurs are simply excited to compete with BYJUs, unacademy and many others which are really well built up by the owners and which still sustain and maintain their market share in the educational industry prior to 2020.

Every startup has its pros and cons and such educational startups cannot be exempted from the rule. There are N number of educational startups which could not sustain in the market - sharpscholar, knack for teachers, tutorspree : even these names are unfamiliar to many of us.
Now let us assume that you are an entrepreneur and you are confused whether to get into M Learning apps or not. We are here to provide you with the reasons why the startups fail and the best solutions towards all the problems attached: what exactly an entrepreneur goes through while starting an educational domain.

So here we will discuss all the key-points to capture a huge share in the e- learning industry

6 traps faced by educational startups.

1. Poor Market Research
An adequate examination of the market is the most important feature while entering into new ventures. Assuming the needs of students and teachers often creates a lot many hindrances for both , what you as an entrepreneur think is likely to vary from what teachers and students need. So rather than assuming the things, focus on providing what can work best with them and minimise the differences between online and classroom learning.Prior entering into the industry compare your competitors products and services and figure out the differences and try your level best making a wide exercise on its loopholes and obstructions.

2. Lack of patience
Every industry works according to its own sphere of influence and affluence in the society.Educational startups are slow and steady in terms of their development and acknowledgement in the society. As the development of this edtech industry is quite slow as compared to other industries , Entrepreneurs who were earlier excited about starting a new venture get demotivated. Education helps to lead an individual towards a bright future whereas lack of patience in an entrepreneur creates a deadlock while working on a startup.

3. Unclarity of users V/s customers
Though these two words appears same, there is a difference between both these words. Not everyone who surfs on your webpage will be using your products and services one can count them as customers and if an individual is willing to buy your product or services that can be counted as one of your users. There are a plethora of people who download apps because they are recommended without even knowing the ultimate use of it.

4. Introduction of unnecessary technologies
Not all the edtech apps require high tech features , for example if BYJUs has certain additional features which is not required by your end users then what is the need to propagate those features into your app unnecessarily, the core idea of the app must be focused excluding the influences of features from other successful apps. The cost of the app will also increase and if the features are not so easy to understand many of the existing users might stop using it.

5. Lack of transparency and teachers collaboration
Such startups work to build a place where a teacher and other existing teaching methodology gets substituted replacing all the ways where a student was earlier trained to learn new things. Neither such app developers contact the teacher nor the teachers approach them to get clarity over the App and the end result of this havoc is the failure of the app.

6. Insufficient user training
Entrepreneurs do not provide the manuals and guidelines which could help the ultimate users to use certain kinds of features while working on apps, training elements and tutors must be appointed to provide basic app understanding and training. To sustain in such an environment it is necessary for entrepreneurs to make its users aware of the features provided in the apps.

Looking at the drawbacks you might be wondering whether shall i start and edtech company or not , don't hesitate , you can start.. We do have solutions for all the kinds of problems that you might be facing.

Ways to conquer Edtech collapse

1. Perform market analysis
A proper research as discussed above should be a mandatory step to achieve the organizational goal and to capture a huge share in the market. So the first step before beginning a new venture is to identify the needs of the users , looking at the competitors app and determining his loopholes and making sure that the same loophole does not occur in your app. In other words proper research must include the needs and aspirations of end users and assumptions should be made about what are the challenges that my target audience might face while using the app. By deteriorating all the drawbacks an entrepreneur can flourish well with this industry.

2. Focus on KPIs(key performance indicators)
As discussed earlier the race to get more downloads are often achieved but this hits them hard and certain apps fail to convert its downloaders into subscribers. Considering the percentage of people downloading the app as a crite might initially excite the entrepreneur but its not an appropriate decision

One should look forward to considering the different KPI to achieve the desirable results of the App.

3. Collaborate with Teachers/ Educational organizations
Teachers and educational institutions always blossomed even at the time of indus valley civilisation. The ways of learning and teaching are increasing which can not replace teachers completely.Treating teachers as a comrade rather than excluding them will help the startup to bloom well in the current scenario
Connect with top schools and educational institutions which will act as a fulcrum to reach out to a wide range of people. Seeking advice from them will help you to develop an app which has all the things which a student really needs.

4. Add value to existing learning system
The edtech industry must be made a comprehensive part of the traditional school system and not as an alternative solution to traditional learning.Yet an effective tool to prevent the failure of the edtech industry.

Focusing on the existing learning systems and making it simplify should be the task of such app developers and not to burden the students or the tutors with hi-tech languages. This traditional and ecological approach will gain more audience by making least efforts in marketing.

5. Business model
As discussed earlier the industry is quite slow in generating revenues, so before starting the venture , an entrepreneur should develop a business model to remain in the market before he starts making money from the app.

Mainly four aspects of monetization can be followed or made while working on an app:

A. Freenium:
How a free app earns and makes money is still an interesting question to many individuals. This monetization is highly adored and appreciated by all.Though the app is free to use but a certain amount is charged when an individual wants to unlock all its features and in order to better experience the app.

B. Only pay as you go by:
An individual has to pay for his services and products only when He feels the need of using the app.

C. Subscription
Every startup follows this business model, in this model a user is asked to pay a certain amount of money to get full access to products and services provided by the edtech company and its app developers.

D. Enterprise sales
This kind of strategy is taken into consideration when the products require more training, consolidation and customer service satisfaction.

6. Start with MVP version
If the edtech app which you created is too large and difficult to understand, it will fluctuate the app progress chronology but will also affect the target audience and the end users. It will turn more challenging when there are new competitors emerging out on a daily basis.

To sustain in the market , the best way possible is to relish higher advantages and minimising the disadvantages is to invest in the concept of minimum viable product. Introducing the basic Practical features and technology so that they provide an easy platform to start the venture and which is least when compared to time and cost, optimum utilisation of time with technology is the need of an hour.

Conclusion
The expansion of the E-learning industry is way too confusing for entrepreneurs who want to get into the race and compete whereas they don't really know what the market is all about and how they will survive in this cutthroat competition which ultimately results in the downfall of the particular company. We have tried our level best to provide you with the solutions for the failures associated with this industry.