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Innovators and entrepreneurs know within their ecosystem that developing technologies for education is a big challenge. Unlike ventures in the services or financial sectors, funding for educational projects is more difficult to obtain. Investors are accustomed to looking with distrust at classroom projects because they have a high chance of failure.
Nevertheless, knowing that these technologies are destined to change the lives of thousands of people is one of the drivers that move innovators in this field.
During the INCmty2019 Entrepreneurship Festival, Tonika Cheek Clayton, a managing partner on the NewSchools Venture Fund EdTech team, noted that while technology is increasingly breaking into classrooms, its potential remains to be seen. NewSchools Venture Fund is an investment fund that, for the past 18 years, has allocated more than $280 million to about 200 initiatives to transform public education in the United States.
“In EdTech, people who are starting a company are committed to having a social impact, to making a difference, but at the same time, they must look for funding and investors who are willing to accept returns that are not like those they find in consumer-focused technologies,” Cheek Clayton said during an interview at the end of her lecture. However, everyday investors have learned to be patient with the returns and results. That’s why EdTech entrepreneurs need to learn from the mistakes of the past so that their projects can mature and be successful, Cheek Clayton added.
Below, we selected five tips to consider that were presented at this conference for anyone who wants to revolutionize technology-based education.
Get to know the classrooms
This is perhaps one of the keys for EdTech entrepreneurs: knowing the classrooms, the environment in which technological development will operate throughout the entire process of building the product. “If you’re building a product, you need to understand where you’re going to operate your technology and what those classrooms are like and imagine if your product is going to work in those spaces,” Cheek Clayton said.
Repeat
Any innovator in education-focused technologies must be prepared for failure. The goal is not to stay there but to try again and improve, based on data and the results obtained. “With any product in EdTech, you’re going to need to re-try and update based on the information you have collected in the field,” said Cheek Clayton.
Innovate with people’s needs in mind
Every innovation in EdTech should consider the results that teachers, students, and the schools desire and how they will seek to obtain them. It is important to define goals and then measure and document.
Equality and diversity
It is important to remember that working in education is working on issues that involve committing to improving people’s lives. All developments must be carried out to promote equality and respect for diversity. “I encourage you to develop innovations for the people who need it most,” Cheek Clayton said.
Communicate itAt the time when teachers are choosing to work with a new technology tool, the most reliable source for their decision is the opinion of other teachers. Communicating well the advantages of your tools among teachers and amplifying those messages in channels dedicated to them increase the chances of success. “Ask teachers to share their experiences,” said the EdTech specialist.
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This article from Observatory of the Institute for the Future of Education may be shared under the terms of the license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 
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