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This pain point may be a disguised blessing. The sudden demand for remote education might break the lock by local educators, exposing most subjects to global co

This pain point may be a disguised blessing. The sudden demand for remote education might break the lock by local educators, exposing most subjects to global competition. Instead of getting the best teacher within walking or busing distance, parents are starting to level up to picking them from anywhere on the interweb. In many places it's the difference between no choice and some choice. It's like the difference between being limited to books only by local authors, and being unlimited. It's worth a good deal of pain to get from here to there. It is a massively less demanding task to curate and monitor your kid's education than to personally conduct it. And even the curating and much of the monitoring can be outsourced.

whatshisface 7y ago
There is enough resistance to the idea of letting people choose between schools within walking distance that I can't ever imagine it being permissible to choose schools within an unlimited distance.
- asdff 7y ago
  Public magnet schools exist in many districts.
- analog31 7y ago
  I'm trying to imagine the amount of added car traffic if you add 10 - 20 miles to the average commute.
JediWing 7y ago
Perhaps to some extent, but I think the larger demand is for remote-education platforms, rather than educational content. The shortcomings of platforms such as Google Classroom, SeeSaw, etc. are being laid bare both from the side of the educators and the side of the students. I think we may see a huge opportunity for a new remote learning ed-tech platform to really run away with things in the near future.
- wadefletch 7y ago
  Canvas is absolutely fantastic for my university, I think the player to watch is Instructure (Canvas’ creator) for either more Canvas features targeting secondary and primary students or a new product in the space.
  - iandanforth 7y ago
    https://marketbrief.edweek.org/marketplace-k-12/instructure-creator-canvas-lms-acquired-private-equity-firm-2-billion-cash/ https://marketbrief.edweek.org/marketplace-k-12/instructure-...
Joof 7y ago
For a lot of people, schools are closer to a daycare -- that's still going to be an issue.
analog31 7y ago
It seems to me a more likely scenario is that remote education will encourage a consolidation, to the point where there may be exactly one viable option for any particular subject or grade level.

whatshisface 7y ago

There is enough resistance to the idea of letting people choose between schools within walking distance that I can't ever imagine it being permissible to choose schools within an unlimited distance.

asdff 7y ago
Public magnet schools exist in many districts.
analog31 7y ago
I'm trying to imagine the amount of added car traffic if you add 10 - 20 miles to the average commute.

JediWing 7y ago

Perhaps to some extent, but I think the larger demand is for remote-education platforms, rather than educational content. The shortcomings of platforms such as Google Classroom, SeeSaw, etc. are being laid bare both from the side of the educators and the side of the students. I think we may see a huge opportunity for a new remote learning ed-tech platform to really run away with things in the near future.

wadefletch 7y ago
Canvas is absolutely fantastic for my university, I think the player to watch is Instructure (Canvas’ creator) for either more Canvas features targeting secondary and primary students or a new product in the space.
- iandanforth 7y ago
  https://marketbrief.edweek.org/marketplace-k-12/instructure-creator-canvas-lms-acquired-private-equity-firm-2-billion-cash/ https://marketbrief.edweek.org/marketplace-k-12/instructure-...

Joof 7y ago

For a lot of people, schools are closer to a daycare -- that's still going to be an issue.

analog31 7y ago

It seems to me a more likely scenario is that remote education will encourage a consolidation, to the point where there may be exactly one viable option for any particular subject or grade level.