Lessons on Impact

In general, Susan is intrigued by the potential impact of adaptive learning. For instance, the World Economic Forum hosts a paper by Stefan Dercon where he states: “Adaptive learning software that tailors learning based on data collected about a child’s performance is also showing huge promise.” Dercon goes on to further highlight how Mindsparks was able to increase math scores by 38% in just a few months and for a low, annual per student cost. The idea of using adaptive learning in developing areas appeals to Susan.

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Further, watching the overview video covering Unique Learning Systems from N2Y was inspirational and motivating – she loved seeing the impact of adaptive learning for special needs students, teachers and parents. The fact that N2Y was acquired and is profitable was a surprise. She expected that to have impact she'd have to accept that profitability and acquisitions wouldn't be part of the formula.    

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The OER content used by Knewton Alta also looks interesting and a way to have both a direct impact through her own venture and also potentially supporting other ventures indirectly, thereby magnifying her impact.

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Some outstanding questions for Susan include:

• Are there additional, underserved parts of the market where an approach like N2Y could be replicated? 

• Are there open source technologies that could be paired with OERs to construct an impactful solution that has minimum development and operational costs?

• Is there a middle ground between the high-tech research driven approach of ALEKS and the simpler, content-driven approach of N2Y?