Institutions have scrambled to initiate remote learning, but the transition was always unlikely to be smooth in the middle of a global health crisis.
Traditional colleges are running virtual classes on unprecedented scale – in April, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that University of Sydney was holding 1,000 Zoom conference calls each day, some with more than 100 students.
But grasping remote learning will be crucial if higher education is to limit heavy financial losses. Revenues at US universities are forecast to shrink by $23bn over the next year, according to the American Council on Education. Schools in Australia are projected to lose A$3bn-A$4.6bn ($2bn-$3.1bn), and have begun lobbying for extra grant funding, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
The dilemma facing schools is deeper because of the potential implications for social mobility. Not every pupil has access to parental support or technology.
Some 56 to 80 million people in China reported they lacked internet or access to a web-enabled device in 2018, according to government statistics cited by the New York Times. In the UK, 10% of households still have no internet connection, according to the London Business School.
Getting remote learning right is even more critical in light of the precarious economy. Swathes of the workforce face or have recently entered unemployment. Without a coronavirus cure, many of these job losses could be structural, making retraining a priority.
Edtech’s promise
There is no shortage of education technologies available to assist schools during the pandemic. In 2019, edtech accounted for $1.8bn of investment across 72 CVC-backed rounds, up from $877m in 51 deals in 2016.
But winning adoption is another matter. Teachers must be confident in planning out lessons, and few have time to experiment.
Lucy Lynn-Matern, seed investor and principal at VC firm Emerge Education, which recently announced its first external LP fund, said proven principles of learning were all too often lacking in software. She added: “Collectively, we know so much about creating effective learning outcomes yet do not see these approaches applied in online environments as much as one would wish.”
Quality of product aside, GCV Analytics suggests CVC interest in edtech developers varies from region to region.
More than 62% of the deals recorded in 2019 occurred in Asia, with a further 17 CVC-backed investments in North America. That stands in contrast to just eight from across Europe.
One possible explanation is that investment tracks geographies where expectations of schooling are not being fulfilled.
One would expect more emerging edtech businesses in the US where tuition fees are less regulated, for instance, than in European nations that have government grants in place.
Asian countries have their own pain-points but have additional incentives for CVC. Their economies are often rapidly expanding and English language skills are in high demand. These drivers are likely to widen the market for digital education applications.
Tom Steiner, vice-president for corporate and financial communications at educational publisher Pearson, revealed the firm was accelerating the rollout of artificial intelligence-driven English language learning software from its Shanghai-based tech lab. In Italy and China, both early epicentres of the pandemic, at least 1.8 million teachers and students have accessed Pearson digital learning resources.
Steiner said: “As we come through the pandemic we are seeing different regions move at different speeds. The huge influx of people using our digital resources over the last few weeks has dramatically sped up elements of our R&D process, resulting in us getting more learning tools to our learners, faster.”
Longer-term implications
Steiner believes there will be opportunities for disruption beyond the current crisis. Pearson already has a virtual schools business in the US, for example, and Steiner says the model could soon be expanded internationally.
In its present form, Pearson’s service incorporates state-funded courses, set out in timetables much like physical schools. “Parental interest in these schools has increased hugely,” Steiner added.
Indeed the race is on to replicate the physical classroom through software, particularly in terms of engaging learners.
Brian Hollins, founding board member at black venture investor community Blck VC, who is taking a postgraduate degree at Harvard Business School, argued that while Zoom had addressed the sector’s immediate needs there was room for software more catered to teachers and students.
He said: “I think there is room for a sexier and slicker platform to emerge over the next 12 to 24 months.”
Above: Brian Hollins, Blck VC
Academia’s tradition of innovation
Social distancing has made on-campus studying a tougher sell. In England, authorities will charge students the same fees next year even where some of their course has moved online. The University of Cambridge has cancelled all face-to-face lectures in its 2020-21 calendar.
But the challenge to universities from innovative models is nothing new. A variety of online higher education courses are well established, putting pressure on the fees of traditional schools.
Mario Barosevcic, principal at Emerge Education, recently evaluated the sector to assess schools based on the age and radicalness of their offering.
Being modern was no synonym for being innovative, Barosevcic pointed out. Distance learning providers like the UK’s Open University have offered an alternative for decades.
But the IT revolution certainly increased the stakes.Never has the challenge been so robust – from massive open online courses tailored to specific occupational outcomes, to cost-effective, mobile MBAs offered by the likes of Quantic School of Business and Technology.
Hollins predicted some of the biggest changes post-Covid 19 would occur in undergraduate communities. He believes Zoom-proficient students will recognise that a majority of the college experience occurs outside of the classroom, and, once settled, will seek courses designed as virtual experiences, as a way of skirting university costs which have spiralled over the past decade.
He added: “The fundamental structure of undergraduate education is going to be severely impacted in a post-coronavirus environment. I think the lure of the network gained through the traditional university ecosystem has been lost – because there are other ways to build contacts now for much cheaper now, and students are finally waking up to it.”
Upskilling
With unemployment rising sharply, demand will also shift to career-oriented upskilling that can be undertaken without the need to leave paid work. US bank Citi has used its corporate venturing studio under Valla Vakili to create a learning program, Worthi.
More than ever, successful courses will have demonstrable ties to employability and earnings. Pearson Ventures – the firm’s corporate venturing arm – is abreast of the trend. Its portfolio includes digital skills bootcamp operator Springboard, which refunds graduates still without a job offer six months after completing their course.
Pearson Ventures is still relatively new to the CVC arena, debuting with a $50m budget last April, although its precursor Pearson Affordable Learning Fund had invested $20m since 2012.
Steiner said: “With many people out of work, being furloughed or facing unemployment, now more than ever we need to create educational experiences that give control back to learners, with shorter, flexible courses that are stackable and linked to employability. It is what both learners and employers want.”
Greater emphasis on career outcomes will create continued footfall for corporate and occupation-led programs, whether in alignment or competition with universities.
Pete Flint, managing partner at early-stage VC firm NFX, said in a blogpost: “Startups able to use their tech to add value to their labour will be able to unlock latent supply and offer a better experience to both sides of the market. Education and labour have always been closely associated but they will increasingly start to happen on the same platform.”
Immersive platforms such as virtual reality meanwhile offer a glimpse of the remote learning opportunity for manual jobs, according to Fiona Kilkelly, lead for Immerse UK, a subsidiary of government-sponsored innovation support unit Knowledge Transfer Network.
Kilkelly said: “If you are an engineer and you need to learn how to work with an engine, you can do that in augmented or virtual reality much quicker and more effectively than seeing a flat image on the page.”
Above: Fiona Kilkelly, Immerse UK
Diversity in business
The good news is diversity in business could improve once the dust from the crisis has settled.
Having removed constraints surrounding geography and time, training courses are likely to attract a wider demographic of students.
Already, coronavirus has prompted many providers into action. In recent weeks, King’s College London (KCL) hosted a digital edition of the two-day retreat for its Women’s Entrepreneurs Program, a three-year initiative it uses to prepare female applicants for its King’s20 startup accelerator.
Above: The Women’s Entrepreneurs Program at King’s College London
Backed by Santander Universities, the higher education and innovation support arm of financial firm Santander, the initiative is an example of university-business collaboration.
Armandine Bonnard, strategic project manager for the program, said participants enjoyed the online iteration.
“There were some challenges to replicate the exact same agenda to a virtual retreat so we had to shorten the schedule, but we received good feedback, the sessions were interactive and very dynamic and it means those women will now still be able to submit strong applications to our accelerator program,” she said.
Taking registrations online has enabled the WEF to reach its target audience more extensively – serving KCL alumni from as far afield as India. As of 2013-2014, just 13.8% of Indian business owners were female, according to the national census.
“These online opportunities give a chance for people to connect globally that would have been impossible with physical events,” Bonnard added, “I think behaviour will change to a certain extent.”
Few sectors have set as high a bar for disruption post-coronavirus than education. Opportunities await emerging technologies and curricula that successfully translate into improved outcomes. But the risk is that certain groups will lose out from the shift, and that could compound difficulties as societies contend with economic recession.
Then again this is a sector primed for the challenge. The legacy of strategic edtech investment in recent years means the expertise is already in place. Now is the time to put this innovation into practice so that students can reap dividends.