https://medium.com/@priyanka.e.rao/the-remote-learning-diaries-whats-next-for-the-hybrid-future-of-k-12-education-735dd3010621

Over the last few months, we (Esha Joshi, Sonam and I*) have dived deep into the world of K-12 education technology (edtech) — specifically in the United States. Hailing from various backgrounds in the education and edtech sectors, we wanted to learn how the COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting education and how emerging technologies can be utilized to improve virtual teaching and learning.*

*The research below was originally created for John Gannon’s @GoingVC program. Please see the investment thesis here for additional information*.

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A K-12 education is the foundational step to growing, developing, and striving in life.

Traditionally, it was taught in classrooms, where kids would shuffle in, sit closely next to one another, and peer up — perhaps reluctantly — at blackboards or slide projectors. At lunch, they would run out to the playground and swing off monkey-bars in between bites of their home-prepared sandwiches and swigs of chocolate milk.

But today, the way in which students in the US obtain a K-12 education is changing.

In 2020, the novel coronavirus has pushed educators, academics, and institutions to rethink the crux of K-12 education. Gone are the days, for now, in which students can pass physical notes in class and teachers can facilitate in-person group discussions about George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four.

The transition to at-home education consisting of laptops and videoconferencing technology was quick and disruptive. Parents have become educators. Teachers have become IT administrators. Students are longing for the days in which they can continue their education through intimate conversations with their teachers and friends and walk up to the board to “solve for X”.

Despite the difficult transition to remote learning, we believe that the future of K-12 education will be hybrid — a delicate balance between face-to-face and remote learning, equipping the next generation of students with a more personalized education. It will also need to provide students with skills contextual to the modern-day workforce. We envision a future where consumers will work with individual teachers for more catered learning and enhanced networks.

How will we get there?

The evolution of a hybrid model of learning for K-12 education will result from:

• E-learning technological products created for consumers, students, families, and teachers
• Products leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) to create a more customized learning experience for the student
• Buy-in from governments, communities, districts, administrators, teachers, parents, and students, and
• Increased access to technology (e.g. laptops, mobile devices, high-functioning Internet) regardless of a student’s socio-economic status

In this post, we will cover the technologies that can be used to solve some of the problems observed in the remote learning environment today. We believe that, in turn, the implementation of products utilizing such technologies will transform the K-12 learning experience.

The global education sector is a $6T industry. The sector is only 3% digitized, leaving massive opportunities for disruption. The global edtech industry is a +$150B market, expected to reach $420B in 2025 (+15% CAGR). The US edtech sector alone is currently at $40B; it is expected to reach $100B by 2025.

https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/285d39c0-b88d-4e85-abb0-24784d5d95c5/0qCgib7YBmlTrTUAw