My recap of ASU GSV 2020
What trends were discussed at this year's virtual version of education's leading conference
*Me at ASU GSV 2019 the last time it was in-person
Last week concluded the first ever virtual version of the ASU GSV conference. The event historically brings together (in-person) the biggest collection of leaders in edtech. This is the “cool-kids” conference I've been going to for the last 8+ years while y’all have been hanging out at CES. This year more than ever ASU GSV was a focal point for many because for the first time ever the tech, corporate, and venture worlds are all watching and speculating as to what will happen next in education. The speakers were leaders like Katie Burke, Chief People Officer at Hubspot, Mark Barragan, Head of North America at Zoom, Matt Cooper, CEO of Skillshare and many many more. Needless to say, the cool kids showed up this year. If 2020 is the SuperBowl for edtech, ASG GSV was the draft.
Below is my interpretation of what I heard over the course of a series of Zoom panel conversations and keynote presentations. I quote no one directly, but provide the general sentiment/ main points of conversation, accompanied of course by my dramatic flare.
My favorite panel conversation asked the question: “In 20 years will kids go to college?” The quick answer is, only if we broaden our definition of what college means. Will students still believe they need college or training to get up the economic ladder? Yes. But will they need to be 200k in debt to get there? No. There is going to be a massive shift (which we are already seeing) to students securing college credits on the cheap for common core subjects by whatever means necessary. Colleges who have liberal policies on accepting/transferring college credits from junior colleges, online universities, etc. are going to survive and thrive in student enrollments 20 years from now, and those universities who don’t accept transfer credits - well they are about to miss out on the largest addressable market of students. The new persona of a college freshman is one that analyzes the return on investment of every dollar spent to secure credits. With a much deeper focus on the ROI of education it was clear across multiple panel conversations that more students are going to look to programs like Outlier, Purdue Global, or ASU to get general ed credits. And high school students aren’t just going to be caring about AP classes, but instead enrolling in online program early to get college credits before they have even applied - favoring enrollment to schools where they can bring their earned college credits with them. Students will still go to college 20 years from now, but you are not going to stop them from getting as many cheap credits as possible. That means there will be significant diversity in what it means to be a <insert the University Name> college graduate because no two students will have pieced together the same low cost options before they graduated. Why should you care? If you are a startup providing courses/programs make sure to prioritize college credit partnerships and there is an even bigger opportunity for platforms like College Collective from Chegg that aggregate all the low cost college credit options for students.
Another major topic of conversation was around higher ed teaching the tangible skills students need to get a job. I am a broken record with this topic, but we know that students go to college to get a job. Or a better job. If colleges put more of an emphasis on teaching skills and students become more comfortable going straight into certificate programs vs traditional higher ed, where will they learn soft skills (or sometimes called professional skills)? Where will students learn the ‘intangible” skills they gain from going to an expensive traditional university? Well the answer at ASU GSV was do these skills really need to come from universities? Or can they come from employers as students enter into their first job? I predict companies like Guild, or new players in the space, will start offering “professional skills” training products to companies who recognize that the new wave of candidates they are hiring are highly proficient in tangible work skills, but still need to learn how to be a normal human being in the workplace.
For me, the biggest theme at the conference was AFFORDABILITY. I don’t know if you noticed, but we are still in a pandemic/recession/Armageddon and thus students want to spend less, but still learn more. Also, the largest addressable market of potential college age students in America are not rich. The winning companies for the coming years are going to be low-cost alternatives to all the traditional pillars of education. Earlier this month Rebecca Kaden I said it best in a post: “by going directly to learners with products and platforms that offer high quality experiences for free or at accessible price points, companies like Duolingo, Quizlet, Outschool, Codecademy, and Skillshare are evolving the learning landscape and expanding access.” The biggest barrier to education right now is access, and other than broadband, affordability is the most powerful lever an edtech company can pull right now. 💲💲💲
In other news, you can hear more of my thoughts on bridging the gap between education and workforce readiness on @blogtalkradio here.