The global EdTech market is experiencing significant growth as learning becomes ubiquitous. As a result, entrepreneurs, educational institutions, and leaders in the education sector are trying to invent big ideas that can transform this space and improve how teachers impart knowledge. For example, they intend to make complex and time-consuming tasks like calculations easier and more effective for students.
Designing and developing EdTech products from the ground can be quite challenging. This is because of various factors, such as the availability of multiple product ideas on the market and many parties involved in adopting the products.
To succeed in this competitive market, you must create and implement a robust business plan and manage your product development cycle efficiently and effectively. Here are the steps to follow in this process.
What is EdTech Product?
An EdTech product is a combination of software and hardware solutions or information and communication technology tools that seek to improve tutoring and student learning by creating a more inclusive learning experience and promoting collaboration in the classroom. For instance, implementing technology in education has made it possible le to hold virtual reality lessons.
Guide to Building a Successful Ed-Tech Product
Read on to know the steps to follow when creating your product:
1. Market Research
The first step for successfully developing an EdTech product that meets the customers’ needs is to research the market thoroughly. Identify your competitors or the best EdTech companies in the industry, the products they offer, and what they are missing.
Adding the missing elements to your product will help you stay relevant and surpass industry standards. Also, identify trends in the EdTech sector and analyze prices. According to Yalantis’s article, using a data-driven approach contributes significantly to the success of a product.
2. Find your Niche
In this step, select the niche you want to invest in. There are four categories of EdTech products. Firstly, supplementary content products offer additional learning content in the form of games, videos, and puzzles. They aim to improve students’ performance.
Secondly, supplementary technology products provide technological solutions for various education scenarios like standardized testing. Thirdly, primary technology products are platforms that simplify the creation and distribution of assignments in the distance learning context. The fourth category, called primary curriculum products, provides university-level courses in different disciplines.
3. Know your Audience and their Needs
After choosing your business model, identify the people who can use or purchase your EdTech product. Also, know the problems they are facing and how your product will solve them. For instance, if the students do not have a personal computer to use at home, your EdTech app can help them study via a smartphone.
4. Content Strategy
This stage involves choosing relevant content that your target audience would prioritize and the form that it takes. To create a successful content strategy, you should consider reorganizing and reinterpreting different learning materials and breaking complex ideas into simpler or easier nuggets.
Moreover, use a friendly and conversational tone that engages the product users. Videos and storytelling are among the best content strategies for EdTech products because learners can easily relate to the characters and scenarios.
5. Product Design
Analyzing your EdTech product’s target audience and content strategy can help you to create its fundamental design principles. For example, you can write scripts and animations or design content outlines that will enable the teachers or students to benefit more from your product.
6. Testing
This phase involves testing the EdTech product to determine its usability among the target users. For example, you know whether learners can understand the visual and written language used in the learning material or not. The best approach involves marketing EdTech and collecting this information from your target audience several times.
How to successfully implement a new education product
After successfully developing an EdTech product, you should determine how to implement it. The product implementation process involves the following steps:
Bring Everyone on Board
Start by informing teachers, leaders, and key administrators about the new program and involving them in planning the implementation. This strong communication will prepare them for the change and contribute to the product’s success.
Demonstrate Committed Leadership
Leaders in the education sector should create a fertile ground for the new EdTech product and participate actively in its implementation.
Train
Training teachers about the new product and creating training videos or online manuals for them will help them gain confidence in your product and motivate them to use it more in the classroom.
Offer Excellent Tech Support and Customer Service
Ensuring that teachers and educators can access assistance will make the new product’s adaptation easier and more user-friendly. Therefore, ensure that you have an experienced technical team that can answer the users’ questions professionally.
Encourage Adapting
Incorporating the new EdTech program into the curriculum will be easier when educators and other players stay updated on technological advancements. You can also implement the program in a few schools before you launch it in an entire region.
Involve the Parents
Since parents also participate in their children’s learning, you should involve them in the new program. Doing so will make the continuity from school to home easier for the learners.
Conclusion
In summary, modern technology is focusing more on improving learning through EdTech products. If you choose to invest in this field, the above steps can help you develop your product successfully and ensure that your target audience uses and sticks with it.
