You guys, education is nuts right now
Jul 17, 2020 8:48 AM
** As you have seen from Google notifications, you’ve been added to my emails on the current state of education. You either DMed me directly or I added you based on my good judgement, but feel free to ping me directly if you would like to be removed from this list
Hi Friends,
When I used to introduce myself to people at industry events as an EdTech Entrepreneur, I typically felt like the ugly stepchild to the rest of the startup world. Well, the world has changed….
COVID-19 has turned the addressable market of online education to the entire population overnight. School districts across America are struggling to convert to remote learning. Parent and student sentiment around the value of higher education is changing daily. The line between traditional K-12 education and the future of work space has greyed. Those creating solutions in the very volatile education market, while teachers, families, and students all try to make sense of what learning looks like in a pandemic world, are the frontlines of what will be one of the biggest shifts in our society. EdTech is no longer the ugly stepchild. This is an education entrepreneur’s SuperBowl.
I’m spending a ridiculous amount of time watching the education market, doing consumer research, and building a product in space, and below is a round up of all the things that are top of mind for me this week.
As if being a teacher wasn’t hard enough, last week Trump threatened to cut federal funding for schools that don’t fully reopen this fall. Because that's what we should do now, punish the schools who’ve finally figured out how to effectively convert to online learning..... 🤦🏼♀️. One third of the teaching workforce in the US is over the age of 50. Being over 55 is considered at risk for COVID-19. So basically somewhere between 25-30% of domestic teachers are being asked to go back into the classroom and put themselves at risk. My kick-ass mom and teacher Becky O’Connor being one of them. Fast forward to this week, my Mom’s school district, San Jose Unified, will not reopen in September, along with several other of the largest school districts, but many other districts are still undecided.
On Tuesday, Trump’s administration rescinded a policy that would have canceled visas for international students whose college courses move exclusively online to prevent the spread of coronavirus. We’re talking about schools, most of which have not even made a final decision about what they are doing this fall. That would mean international students would have to either leave the country (and get access to a place to live, with broadband, only to join their online college courses from a different time zone) or transfer to a university providing in-person education within the next 6 weeks. International students contribute $45B annually in revenue to U.S. colleges.. And now that market is all looking to Canada. But aren’t we all.
In doing consumer research this week (official findings to come), I'm finding that graduating high school seniors are falling into two buckets: 1. students who are moving forward with their college plans no matter what, largely because they don’t want to lose their scholarships, spots on athletic teams, or enrollment (universities are drawing a hard line on admissions policies) or 2. students who are not going to move forward with college in the fall and don’t know what’s next. That could mean one year off. Two years off. Taking an alternative higher-ed path - these consumers are currently scrambling for answers <Insert the disruption of Higher-Ed, the moment we have all been waiting for>.
Back in April before we knew what was what with quarantine/ the pandemic I did an Ask Me Anything with Human Ventures on my predictions for the future. Some of them have already come true. You can view the recording here.