K 12 ToB Education Informatization Market Layout and Future Development Trend

The ToB market of online education, or ToG market to be exact, has a history of about 20 years. The 1990s are the embryonic period of the Internet in China, and the embryonic period of the education industry is also at this stage.

Around 2000, the teaching resources and teaching resource management website-resource network (database) began to appear, and then the resource products gradually differentiated, forming courseware/teaching plans and test questions products. At this stage, online reading products began to develop, which is a relatively formed application product besides resource library.

Flash was very popular in 2000, and many teaching/learning resource tools in the form of Flash appeared.

However, Baidu Library was born in 2009 and was optimized and revised on June 201February, focusing on education, PPT, professional documents and application documents. In 20 14 years, the number of documents shared by netizens exceeded 1 100 million, and the free sharing of documents by netizens has completed a breakthrough from quantitative change to qualitative change, and it is a resource platform. Ladder Network (Gong Haiyan's pioneering project, founder of 9 1 lecture) was launched in June 20 13, and closed in September 20 14. Although there are many reasons for the failure of ladder network, the concept of focusing on K 12 educational resource platform obviously missed the development opportunity of resource platform.

20 12 is called the first year of massive open online courses, which are popular in China, but they are more suitable for higher education and adult learning, and are not popular in the field of K 12. Then 20 13 is called the first year of micro-course, and the abbreviation of micro-course is more in line with the concept of curriculum integration. At one time, the education circle thought that micro-course was the fulcrum to incite teaching reform, and a large number of micro-video resources and micro-course networks, mainly based on micro-video retrieval and on-demand learning, broke out.

At present, the content development of teaching resources and resource management websites are the main product forms;

It is also at this stage that the theory of integration/fusion point between information technology and disciplines is put forward, that is, how to choose appropriate teaching resources in the teaching of various disciplines and transform blackboard writing teaching into classroom teaching mode combining multimedia resources;

20 12 is the year with the largest dividend of education informatization policy. Liu Yandong, Vice Premier of the State Council (then State Councilor), put forward at the national teleconference on educational informatization: During the Twelfth Five-Year Plan period, we should take the construction of "three links and two platforms" as the starting point, that is, "connecting schools with broadband networks, connecting classes with high-quality resources, and connecting everyone with online learning spaces" to build a public service platform for educational resources and education management.

For a time, "three links and two platforms" became a hot word in the education industry, and companies began to launch their own solutions of three links and two platforms.

(1) Enterprises focusing on software services have launched an "online learning space" integrated product in the form of information links, which is similar to QQ space in function, but has not made efforts in personalized dressing and content interaction, but is user-centered and aggregates information with other products, much like hyperlink pages;

(2) Enterprises with interactive devices as their main products package hardware devices such as electronic whiteboards or interactive TVs into "Banbantong solutions", which quickly spread to first, second and third tier cities across the country;

(3) There are two modes in mobile, China Unicom, telecommunications and other communication industries. One is to use their own business advantages to solve the problem of broadband access in regions and schools, and provide an upgrade solution for "broadband network access to schools", or to unite the above two types of enterprises to become an overall solution provider for three links and two platforms;

At present, basic network construction and hardware terminal upgrade are the main product forms. No enterprise can complete all the products independently. Whoever has market access, or who has obtained the project license, will be integrated into a first-class integrator.

20 12, another concept is all over the field of education, that is "e-bag", which is also the predecessor of the "smart classroom" that has attracted much attention at present;

This stage is called 1.0 era of educational informatization; In the era of 1.0, product forms have developed rapidly, including more content-based products and a large number of application-oriented products. With the rapid popularization of smart phones and the birth of WeChat, there has been a synergistic effect of strong alliance.

20 18 the Ministry of education issued the education informatization 2.0 action plan, which clearly defined that by 2022, the development goal of "three highs, two satisfactions and one big one" will be basically realized, namely:

This has brought a new wave of policy opportunities. Almost all enterprises that were integrated in 1.0 stage began to transform. All enterprises claim that they can "build a big platform of' Internet+Education' for provincial and municipal education bureaus", and they are all competing to become monopolists of the big platform, or develop into makers of educational informatization standards (becoming "Google in education"). The typical representative of the top-level route is Tianyu Information (Wuhan Tianyu Information Industry Co., Ltd.

At the same time, teacher training further increased the proportion of information literacy training. Almost all schools' training plans each semester include some or even all teachers/leaders to carry out information literacy training.

The three full coverage in the policy can be decomposed into at least four product directions:

At present, there are many teaching auxiliary applications such as resource retrieval, homework, examination, pre-class preparation, programming and other excellent courses and project learning, as well as teaching management auxiliary applications such as teacher attendance, book purchase approval, leave, job title evaluation, substitute class and class management. The form has also developed from web form to web+app+ wechat applet/wechat enterprise number and other forms;

This kind of products mainly focus on the study of subject courses/knowledge points, the explanation/solution of test questions, the study of diagnosis (study report) and the study of English (words, spoken English, reading, class evaluation and interesting learning); K 12 stage study applications are generally divided into primary school, junior high school and senior high school. Due to the maturity of the tutor market, the market acceptance of the concept of knowledge payment is getting higher and higher. Many enterprises directly aim at the ToC market to start businesses, and there are many BToC combinations, so they will not be extended for the time being;

In fact, digital campus should be called digital campus solution. In the era of 1.0, for a long time, everyone called the software and hardware product integration services provided for schools based on information technology as smart campus solutions. 2.0 After the action plan, everyone called it Digital Campus. 20 18 issued at the same time, the "Code for the Construction of Digital Campus in Primary and Secondary Schools (Trial)" clearly stated that digital campus should achieve the following objectives:

The first is the digitization of the real garden environment. Utilize information technologies such as cloud computing, big data, Internet of Things, mobile communication and artificial intelligence to realize the digitalization of infrastructure (network, terminal, classroom, etc.). ), resources (textbooks, books, handouts, etc. ) and application (learning, teaching, management, life, etc. ) can be realized.

The second is to realize the interconnection of information systems. Expand the space-time dimension of real campus and realize the interconnection of application systems. Build a network application environment to realize full access and coverage of campus broadband network; Promote the construction, application and sharing of high-quality digital education resources so that every class can enjoy high-quality digital education resources; Create online learning space to promote the interaction between teachers, teachers and students, students and home schools.

The third is to improve users' information literacy. Improve students' information learning ability; Improve teachers' information teaching ability; Improve the information management ability of managers; Improve the information service ability of technicians.

The fourth is to realize the innovation of learning methods and education and teaching models. Promote the deep integration of information technology and education and teaching practice, and realize the normalization and innovative development of information teaching; Support the optimization and reengineering of school services and management processes, and improve the efficiency and decision-making level of campus management.

The Code proposes that the construction of digital campus should adopt the "cloud-network-end" architecture mode: "cloud" service refers to the Internet service provided based on cloud computing technology, including IaaS (infrastructure service), PaaS (platform service) and SaaS (software service), which is built and maintained by the education administrative department through organizing construction, renting and purchasing services; "Network" refers to fixed broadband, mobile broadband, cable TV network, etc. "Terminal" refers to the school information infrastructure, mainly including computers and various new media technology equipment (including smart phones, tablet computers, etc. ).[2]

In fact, these goals do not quantitatively describe what should be built, but have a direction and a derivative with an ultra-wide dimension. In fact, they are equivalent to what has been built in the past and can continue to be built. With the foundation, they can also cover the construction in technology, content, data and form.

Where should so many teacher-student applications and information applications and services be built in digital campus? Where should the data be stored? Directly pointing to the "one" of "three all, two highs and one big", that is, the big platform;

Business Structure Diagram of Internet+Education Platform (for illustration only, similar as a whole)

In the whole development stage, educational informatization enterprises can be divided into four categories:

A rough estimate of the number of enterprises related to educational informatization in China

According to the data of the latest educational equipment exhibition (the 76th educational equipment exhibition, 20 1 April 26-28, 9, Chongqing International Expo Center, with 1-S7, N 1-N8,1Central Pavilion, totally1.

(table data source t_90.html)

This is the number of enterprises that have participated in the educational equipment exhibition, which is about 1 000. There are still many small entrepreneurial companies that may not be able to afford the participation fees of the equipment exhibition, and it is even more difficult to accurately count the number of people who did not participate.

The exhibition scope of educational equipment exhibition includes:

Show all kinds of educational needs at all levels: teaching instruments and equipment, laboratory and functional classroom equipment, reagent consumables, vocational education and training, geographical parks, ecological parks, digital campus construction, audio-visual equipment, classroom education resources, maker education, robots, VR technology, campus network system construction, information center construction, digital campus application service platform construction, e-bag, preschool education equipment, educational toys, outdoor facilities, indoor toys, etc. Teaching music, art, library and sports facilities, logistics facilities and equipment, school office, school bus, school uniform, campus lighting facilities, fire safety equipment, kitchen equipment, household appliances, school supplies, environmental protection and water-saving equipment, etc.

Online education and distance education: online education, online classroom, cloud classroom, cloud live classroom, online education platform operator, online education technical support platform, online education live platform, online interactive platform, online training system, online examination system, online education community, streaming media management system, video conference, online education overall solution provider, e-learning teaching system, cloud recording and broadcasting equipment, video live broadcasting equipment, digital library, Learning solutions, professional education software, voice recognition system, intelligent voice technology, large-scale open online courses, micro-courses, digital publishing, maker education, 3D printing and consumables, VR education products, etc.

Special education: campus medical system and rehabilitation technology and equipment, hearing-impaired education, visual-impaired education, language barrier education, intellectual education, psychological counseling room, etc. Medical rehabilitation equipment; Rehabilitation AIDS, mobility AIDS, computer voice communication equipment, computer use AIDS, communication AIDS, leisure and entertainment and other personalized training AIDS.

At this stage, the development of educational informatization has been a white-hot stage in which a hundred schools of thought contend, the whole country is in a melee, fish and water blend, princes are divided, everything is inclusive, the blue ocean turns into the red sea, and blood is red. However, some people still choose to start businesses in the education industry, and many other industry leaders continue to enter the market. Why?

At least the following strong attraction:

Although the ToB market of K 12 online education is booming, it has been developed for 20 years, and there is no leading enterprise like BAT/TMD. In the final analysis, the education market itself is immature and unbalanced.

Moreover, this immaturity and imbalance will continue for a long time, and whether it can be finally eliminated remains to be discussed:

Pedagogy has existed since the time of Confucius. Even modern pedagogy marked by General Pedagogy by Herbart, a German psychologist and educator, the "father of modern pedagogy" or the "founder of scientific pedagogy", has a history of more than 200 years since 1806. The idea that education is agriculture rather than industry is deeply rooted. Even if there are a group of teachers and educators who accept advanced technological ideas, there are still very few.

There are ideological differences, practical pain points in the industry, the overall cognitive level of society, and misunderstandings caused by immature technology, all of which exist; Most students are passive, and most students are passive in their studies. Therefore, although they will not become the main body of choice and promotion, their parents' understanding of education is immature and unbalanced. How many parents can devote their fixed energy to the growth of their children? Parents' education span is larger, and their understanding of informatization may be limited to the intuitive experience brought by pan-entertainment products provided by mobile phones. More importantly, almost all parents have only one evaluation standard for their children's learning: how many points and how many people rank.

As for what is the essence of education, what ability to cultivate children, how to judge the educational form and teaching quality of schools, how to improve learning efficiency, etc., parents have no right to speculate.

At present, the teacher-student ratio in most public schools is 1: 12.5 in senior high school, 1: 13.5 in junior high school and 1: 19 in primary school. But in fact, the class size of ordinary primary schools is generally between 40 and 55 students. A teacher should not only prepare lessons and give lectures in class, but also correct homework, test and communicate with parents. The school prepares for collective teaching and research activities, sports and other activities, participates in open class demonstration classes, participates in district-city-province-country educational activities, party group learning activities and other activities.

Although most primary schools work from 7 am to 4 pm, most teachers actually work and rest from 6 am to 9 pm. The phenomenon of "time scarcity" caused by teachers is widespread.

If teachers' energy is not released, teachers will fall into a vicious circle of no time to try new teaching forms-no time to learn new technologies-no time to design process production resources-no time to understand and even conflict;

Subject teachers play too many roles, and the premise of the model of wisdom education that takes learners as the center and takes the classroom as the coach or guide is the diligence of teachers' business and the blank of time.

Students in K 12 stage generally lack learning initiative, unclear learning objectives, insufficient learning motivation and great external pressure. When I was planning the new college entrance examination related products, I deeply studied the high school students' career planning related products. Although there are many similar functional services in the market, the main entry points are online registration services and offline registration services from 1 to 1. Career planning is just the icing on the cake when choosing voluntarily.

On the contrary, the career service products that are now extended to primary and secondary schools will help children know themselves in primary schools and even pre-school and stimulate their abilities.

In fact, all academic problems are essentially students' psychological problems.

If students are not motivated in their studies, they have no initiative in choosing educational products.

The construction of teaching and research system and resources is mixed, with huge volume, frequent changes, difficult maintenance and high cost.

What can be called industry barriers are those that reach a threshold on the time axis and will have a superposition amplification effect. For example, QQ and WeChat have become absolute barriers to social products in terms of the number of users;

What the education industry can do as a barrier can only be the depth of content and data. Only when it reaches a certain depth in a certain depth dimension can the barriers in the education industry be established.

Baidu library is rich in content, and other manufacturers have little chance to be an open resource platform. However, Baidu Library cannot support adaptive learning in the future because of its coarse knowledge granularity, single resource form, ordinary resource content, insufficient learner scenarios and lack of user data, and can only become a general resource search library like Baidu.

So far, no enterprise has been able to establish a recognized adaptive learning database in the whole project of K 12. Not only more than 30 provinces in China have their own textbooks and syllabuses, but also many characteristic schools have school-based teaching contents. The unification of teaching materials has just begun, and there is no national unified subject knowledge system. At the same time, there are many kinds of resources, the same knowledge points and diverse learning perspectives, which doomed this digital resource library to have the characteristics of huge volume, frequent changes, difficult maintenance and high cost.

But at the same time, it also shows that the deeper online education is, the higher the barriers are, the content will always be the basis of online education, data is the driving force, and service is the guarantee.

Information technology, artificial intelligence technology, cloud computing technology, big data technology, internet of things technology and so on can not be directly applied to the education industry in many cases. The application of technology depends on the scene and market demand. The demand driving force of K 12 education industry comes from

In addition to the strength of policy power, the other two have always been the general demand of the education industry, but technology is not their only influencing factor, nor can it prove to be the key factor. There is no just-needed scene, only the market can be cultivated, and the cultivation of the market is often long.

From the perspective of smart classroom solutions, the core of smart classroom is to use interactive terminals and network resources to change the original teaching mode into a mixed mode of teaching-interactive learning-practice and timely feedback-homework presentation and learning socialization, but the actual technical effects are as follows:

It can be seen from this wave of policy dividends, so I won't go into details.

As mentioned above, there are still enterprises pouring into the field of educational informatization because the industry is still in the long-term reshuffle stage; Moreover, for a long time, policy is still the key leading factor, so the policy dividend can still last for some time. But up to now, it is obvious that the country has realized that informatization 1.0 has not achieved practical results, so 2.0 has changed from "construction" to "use".

Even if you don't do content or platform, you just become an empty-shell integrated enterprise, and you can make a profit as an industry solution provider, but at this time it is often the business ability, not the product itself.

Those companies that have no fist products and lack business ability will soon disappear.

The end is mainly the teaching support end and the learning support end, and the teaching end takes place in the classroom and the extension office.

Students study in the classroom and the regular study place at home. Just like the subversion brought by the replacement of feature phones by smart phones, just like the monopoly brought by the replacement of other mobile phones by Apple phones.

"End" is the basis of data collection, and data is the premise of adaptive learning and personalized learning. The occurrence of high-level learning mode depends on the development of basic layer.

Only when the industry is mature and the choice of the inner end of the industry is in the hands of users, excellent products will be born.

The concept of terminal is extensive and not limited to the forms that have been applied at present. With the development of technology, the form of terminal will definitely change.

The content is to learn the raw materials of this dish. Content-based enterprises emerged first, but there are still a large number of content-based enterprises running today, just as people need cheap vegetables whether they buy vegetables in markets, supermarkets or new retail.

As mentioned above, the vegetable industry will not disappear, nor will the content needed for education. But in the end, it is not necessarily the vegetable farmers who make money, but the middlemen who find the sales model.

The ideal learning in the future must be personalized, and it is a learning plan that adapts to the development goals of each child under the overall development trend of society. The theoretical basis of adaptive learning has been studied for decades, but it has never been popularized. Aside from other factors, it is because adaptive operation requires data input, so briefly describe the process (more professional content is not mentioned for the time being).

In the field of educational informatization, the surface is the replacement of technology, and the essence is the change of teaching and learning methods. This change is slow and growing, and it may take a long time before we suddenly realize that he is not what he used to be.

Author: Wen Dao doesn't like nagging, official account of WeChat: donkey monkey. 7 years product manager experience; 5 years team management experience; Experience in realizing C-terminal intelligent learning products from 0 to 1; Experience in implementing multiple products/lines of B-side intelligent teaching, learning and education management from 0 to 1.

The title map comes from Unsplash and is based on CC0 protocol.