Informal Learning Media
In an Entrepreneurial course at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, my classmates and I created an Informal Learning Media company to address the lack of informal learning media for middle and high school students.
The goal of the Informal Learning Media is to expose students to STEM content through informal learning media.
Collaborative Project
8/2021-12/2021
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I conducted research on target users and the existing market. I interviewed teachers and students in order to better understand the needs of the target population.
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My project group spent the majority of the semester planning how to go to market as a start-up. We researched user demographics, completed competitive scans and a SWOT analysis. Further, we supplier/market revenue and financial projections.
Need 🤔
Children spend 11 hours a day on media
Children spend more time on media devices than they do in formal education settings. With easy access to devices, kids could be learning informally.
Informal learning is saturated in young children markets
Informal learning is saturated among the 4+ audience (Sesame Street, Helpsters, Forky Asks a Question).
Nascent informal learning content for adolescents
Opportunity for a Blue Ocean Strategy!
Approach 👐
Intuitive Edutainment in Schools
Fun and easy to use OTT platform with entertaining stories and companion materials.
Learning Design & Compelling Narrative
Backed by leading learning design research & talented storytellers: content builds science capital rooted in inclusive belonging and representation.
Interactive Features
Supports community building by incorporating interactive features that support user discussion within OTT.
Partnerships
Partner with informal learning and production organizations to generate the next generation of informal learning content for our future workforce.
Field Research 🔍
Informal learning platforms are trending, fostering competition and producing higher likelihood for additional competitors entering the industry at same time. “[The] U.S. alone spent $35.8 billion in 2020 on hardware, software, curriculum resources and networks, representing a more than 25 percent increase over 2019.” This indicates an upward trend that was in effect even before the pandemic and the market is projected to invest up to $285.2 Billion before the end of the decade. Many companies, both new and old will attempt to position themselves to benefit from these investments.
Reaching Our Market 🌐
We will use various marketing strategies to reach our audience. For example, we will go to conferences celebrating diversity such as the LGBTQ+ Conference, the School Leaders of Color Conference. and TFA School Leaders of Color Conference. While we are at these conferences, we will make initial connections with teachers and school leaders interested in incorporating diverse curricula into their schools. We will provide a QR code so that potential customers can join our mailing list and stay in touch after the conference.
We will also market our product using social media. We will use platforms such as Tiktok, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook to develop connections with teachers and advertise ILM Productions. We will use social media to share ILM success stories and also make informational “reel vs. real'' videos in which we will analyze STEM movies and discuss what is real and what is fabricated.
In addition, we will pilot our product through a teaching agency like Teach for America or Americorps. This will ensure that young teachers across the country will be trained to use ILM in their classrooms. This will help with word of mouth and spreading our product to different classrooms across the country.
Final Project Plan 📓
My team created a final project plan including our competitive scan, SWOT analysis, market sizing, user demographics, supplier/market revenue, customer expenditures and financial projections. See the project plan below.