It’s apparent to most of us that education systems across the world are going through particularly difficult times these days. Blame the Pandemic. And I can’t seem to erase the image out of my mind, a reaction spoken by a leader in the VR/AR industry, that selling to educators these days feels like being an uninvited “wedding crasher”.
That rings true, mainly because there is a lot of pain out there, and educators seem less than receptive to talk about promising technologies. Still, in my way of thinking, pain begets opportunity. If we understand the pain points an institution is suffering through, then we harbor the chance, when the chaos subsides, to sell the right ‘medicine’. So, with my ear firmly nestled to the ground, below are some of the leading pain points now being endured by educators everywhere:
EQUIPMENT
Teachers everywhere are complaining about the lack of reliable technology needed to pursue digital and remote instruction. Beyond the obvious need for mobile devices , a maelstrom of worry is evident for procuring microphones, earphones, tripods, extra displays, spare power cables, and other accoutrements of digital learning. There has also been a lot of panic buying in education, as educators have settled for the expedient instead of the strategic, for the quick fix over the quality solution.
BUREAUCRACY
Another obvious and widespread pain point involves a calcified bureaucracy. Many teachers and schools want to be innovative but existing institutional philosophies, practices, regulations and policies do not support risk taking. The organizational culture is at odds with the need for rapid change. Many teachers feel tied down to outdated policies, while educational administrators settle for legacy solutions, since these leaders don’t understand how to deal with the array of new problems rushing at them.
QUALITY
Forced to provide instruction at home, away from the traditional classroom, educators are also experiencing deep anguish about the quality of remote or online learning. The learning experience, although now online, is becoming increasing filled with lifeless content consumption. Students complain about ballooning busy work, as teachers feel guilty about delivering instruction online. The problem is that educators have, for the most part, tried to rapidly reproduce the face-to-face model of the classroom into the digital confines of synchronous or asynchronous online instruction. Simply digitizing what they always done just isn’t working.
TRAINING
Professional Development, or the lack thereof, has been a decades-long pain point for educators. Yet with the onslaught of the Pandemic, the chief pain points are now timeliness of PD and the teacher preparation gap. Teachers are frustrated and cannot wait patiently for a training course…they need to get just-in-time help, and they need it now! Also, we have seen a huge digital gap emerge between those teachers who truly can innovate with technology and those who are not able, due to lack of experience.
EQUITY
Our last pain point involves the perennial concern about digital equity. Internet access outside of school/at-home is viewed as the most destructive challenge now facing educators. One German educator tells me that only 56% of high schools in Germany were connected to high speed internet in the first place, and now remote learning has been demanding even more access. This equity problem translates differently depending upon disparate differences in resources between districts, regions, and geographies. For example, digital equity seems less attainable in rural areas because of the long-standing lack of infrastructure. Digital equity, defined in terms of access to devices and the Internet, and the availability of technical support and reasonable bandwidth, threatens as the biggest concern, especially for low-income households.
My purpose here is not to purely grouse or whine, but rather, to help readers understand some of the legacy problems in schools that have been exacerbated by the current pandemic. My hope is that your firm can see a business opportunity hiding somewhere in this covidian scramble—and that you might be able offer a product or service that can go a long way to help alleviate any one of these intense pain points. –Len Scrogan
