Dr Mehool Sanghrajka is the Founder and CEO of Learning Possibilities. He has been working at the forefront of education for 20 years.

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I often get asked to talk to EdTech start-ups about how they should approach the market to become successful long term players. I have finally got around to writing the no-nonsense blog on success in EdTech that I promised many of them.

This three part series, will be published over the next few weeks, looking at the different aspects of the education marketplace and the factors that often lead to success.

The Uniqueness of Education

For many decades, EdTech has be touted as the answer in reforming education. For two decades ‘21st Century Skills’ have been paraded as the answer to the growing skills gap between school/college leavers and employers. Yet there are few success stories in EdTech. The problems in education are complex, as are the solutions.

New entrants to the EdTech market often confuse it with the corporate or wider public sector markets and assume good technology will rapidly gain momentum.

Understanding and navigating the nuances (highlighted below) of the education market is the key to finding a viable and adoptable solution.

Think…Slow Down!: everything in Education moves slowly.

I often laugh at the phrase ‘Education is a get rich slow business’, and it’s usually true.

Education around the world is broadly split into fee-paying and (state or central) government institutions. Both have unique characteristics, but the key differential is scale. In almost every country, learners in government institutions far outnumber, by several multiples, those in fee-paying institutions. In addition, governments usually buy for large number of schools where as fee paying institutions are usually alone or grouped in small numbers.

The other EdTech market is the consumer or parent. Studies show that parents engagement helps their children’s academic success. Here the challenges are different; alignment with curriculum and school teaching, marketing strategies to reach target parents, and competing with free products like Khan Academy.

If you want (or need) scale, then understanding government purchasing cycles is the key. These cycles can be multi-year and sometimes be part of a wider national vision to build a knowledge or digital economy. Procurement may involve public tenders or strict funding criteria. Learning to navigate these needs to be an essential part of any EdTech strategy. 

Governments buy, teachers teach and students learn

In the corporate world, purchasing decisions are usually through a purchasing department and often related to a productivity or cost-saving ROI (return on investment) measure. Education is different. Teachers are overworked and therefore saving costs is not their priority. Further asking time-poor teachers to invest time in learning technology solutions is usually difficult when it’s frequently possible to pass exams well without access to specific learning technology. We focus our strategy on meeting government strategies, whilst having firm plans to engage with teachers and drive learning outcomes for learners.

Buying happens only within academic calendar windows 

Unlike the corporate world, schools operate within the boundaries of school terms and holidays. This defines when purchasing activities, pilots and project rollouts can happen. It also determines when related (but separate) items such as devices and connectivity may be bought.

Understanding the rhythm of the education calendar is vital, as is being part of the annual cycle of exhibitions and conferences. We set our annual calendar and plan our sales campaigns and customer pilots around school terms.

Schools don’t like variable costs

Today having a scaleable solution often means some form of cloud service. These are usually ‘pay-as-you-use’ services, which means incurring variable costs, sometimes with little ability to control teacher or learner usage or behaviour. This model is also contraindicative, as good usage means higher cloud consumption costs.

Government customers usually only work on predictable fixed costs, that they can budget. Having strategies to manage variable costs is usually necessary for global reach.

Students change class every year

As all parents know, children change classes every year. This makes student identity management and data security complex, yet critical. Teachers changes classes and schools many times in their education career. Managing this is more complicated than standard corporate implementations where user change or turnover is low.

In the next blog, I will look at how EdTech is the answer to transforming education, but perhaps not as it is currently.

 

 

Learning Possibilities are thrilled to renew their Microsoft Gold Partner certification for Gold Datacentre, Gold Cloud Productivity, Silver ISV and Silver Collaboration and Content.

Learning Possibilities is a co-sell ready global Microsoft Partner working in 5 regions with partners in over 20 countries, working with local partners on a global scale to deliver LP+365, the next generation Learning and Collaboration Platform. Hosted on Azure and proven to drive adoption of all major features of Office 365, the app drives school investment in Office365.

LP+365 is built on LP+ technology and has been used by over one million learners globally, won major national and international awards for its efficacy and is built on our ADOPT Framework, the UK national standard for e-maturity in schools.

Our continued efforts in improving the app have led to the addition of a multilingual interface, auto-provisioning functionality and the LP+ Exam tool.

To learn more about LP+365 click here to download our brochure.

 

 

We are thrilled to be attending Bett UK 2019 showcasing the latest version of our LP+365 app, the new features we have added and what’s to come for the rest of 2019.

Showcasing the LP+365 Multilingual Interface

The LP+365 multilingual interface allows students and teachers to seamlessly switch between languages in the menu bar. The language options are unlimited and supports multiple scripts, for example Arabic and the Indian languages.

Languages can be selected dynamically by the user and the choice of language is determined by the global administrator. Having the right language drives adoption of the platform and the embedding of LP+ technology into daily use.

Managing Learner Identities & Auto-Provisioning Feature

Managing Learner Identities throughout students education career is critical for ensuring security. LP+365 is integrated into Microsoft SDS and many other school administration tools for auto-provisioning.

Introducing…LP+ Exam

Preview the new tool we have been working on, LP+ Exam. The tool is integrated into our platform for school and ministry of education n exams. It boasts a wide range of question types with auto-marking features, monitoring and submission capabilities, question randomisation and auto-save offline functionality. LP+ Exam delivers results through a full analytics and reporting package.

Download our new LP+365 brochure here to learn more about LP+365 & contact us at info@lpplus.com to meet with us at Bett UK 2019.

We look forward to seeing you there.

As we reflect on a successful 8 years of holding the national contract for digital wales we look back on the impact the platform had in inculcating Microsoft technologies into schools across wales.

 

Check out the Microsoft blog below & take a look back at the successful project:

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/ukschools/2015/07/30/hwb-and-digital-wales-guest-post-from-gerald-haigh/

 

Level: K-12

Usage: 100%

Initiative: Monitoring and measuring learning outcomes

 

Key Findings…

Enjoyed sharing resources and sending messages via the app. Easy to communicate particularly useful using the announcement and discussion tools.

 LP+365 enables student engagement inside and outside of the classroom

LP+365 supports blended learning pedagogical scenarios

LP+365 develops self-paced personalised learning strategies

 

The Challenge

The Ashok Leyland School in the Hosur region of Tamil Nadu is committed to providing the best possible learning environment for a rapidly changing world. LP+365 is perfectly placed to support Ashok Leyland School’s sustainable and scalable model aiming to achieve a 20% improvement in learning levels of students as well as a 20% reduction in dropout rates and increase in attendance and engagement.

The success criteria for this project centred around being able to measure how far LP+365 helps at least three-quarters of the students are able to integrate technology with their lesson, collaborating and sharing their views and ideas across collaboration tools.

 

Chandrachoodeshwaran M, Microsoft digital learning coordinator at Ashok Leyland School said:

“The students have really enjoyed integrating digital technology into their pedagogical journey. Using the Office 365 toolset integrated into the LP+365 app makes teaching more time efficient.”

Result…

For teachers, the advantages of the LP+365 learning and collaboration platform are clear. LP+365 enables the school to reach the government set goals to improve not only student learning outcomes but the collaboration tools contribute towards improving attendance and student engagement.

Chandrachoodeshwaran M explained adding the ability to personalise content has had a positive outcome on focused learning:

“The auto-provisioned Class Notebook is a major advantage of the app over using OneNote, improving class collaboration.”

Click here to find out more about LP+365 or Click here to arrange a FREE demo

We are thrilled to announce the new multi-lingual feature on LP+365.

The LP+365 multilingual interface is now available in beta, and allows students and teachers to seamlessly switch between languages in the menu bar. The language options are unlimited and supports multiple scripts, for example Arabic and the Indian languages.

Languages can be selected dynamically by the user and the choice of language is determined by the global administrator. Having the right language drives adoption of the platform and the embedding of LP+ technology into daily use.

The new feature will help students to…

✔ Learn new languages

✔ Improve the fluency of native languages

✔ Be part of the international community

✔ Develop digital skills using their native language

The feature helps teachers to…

✔ Drive usage of the app and improve digital literacy

✔  Improve students adoption of new languages

✔  Help teachers communicate with international students

Check out the multi-lingual promo video to find out more…

 

As always we’d love to hear from you and your thoughts about the new updates. Contact us on Twitter or Facebook to let us know what you think!

 

The LP+ Tech Team have been busy bug fixing & updating the app to improve it’s performance in the classroom:

✔Students are now able to begin their assignments directly through email hyperlinks

✔Improved links to picture tile thumbnails

✔Optimised performance for retrieval of blog categories

✔Improved Assignment views to meet web accessibility standards

✔Calendar bug fixes and improved views in all browsers

✔Improved provisioning of special characters in Class Notebook

✔Improved ability to export active licence info for user accounts

✔Progressive Web App now includes the analytics feature in the full school app

✔Mobile browser optimisation

✔New Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 optimisation

 

We’d love to hear from you and your thoughts about the new updates or answer any questions you have about these changes. Contact us on Twitter or Facebook to let us know what you think!

As a school student (and that was a good few years ago now – think flared trousers and too much hair!) I loved mathematics. We were one of just two pilot schools for the then revolutionary School Mathematics Project. SMP focussed on things such as sets, graphs, Boolean logic, non-Cartesian co-ordinate systems, non-decimal number systems, matrices, vectors and more. It was visual, relevant (I still see the world in Venn diagrams!) and exciting. I did well, but then suddenly along came “A” levels; sadly, there was then no “A” level SMP maths, so I was plunged into a mysterious world of calculus, quadratics and algebra in general. It was like waking up in a foreign country, confused.

Years later, when the I first watched a (huge) supercomputer solving a quadratic equation I remember thinking how handy it would have been to access that kind of helpful power, day to day during my “A” levels. Sadly, that supercomputer’s cost ran into millions of pounds, and filled a room when we installed it in Westminster. Actually, it remains the most expensive and largest computer that I ever purchased.

Today however, thanks to the miracle that is captured in Moore’s Law (where Gordon Moore noted that overall processing power for computers doubled every two years or so), much more power than that huge early supercomputer is in today’s sleek phones, tablets, and laptops. As the hardware has got better, the software has got cheaper too! As a big fan of OneNote, it still amazes me that this simple tool has the power to let you type in, and then watch, as OneNote solves mathematical equations using many mathematical functions.

However, this is not about just solving those equations, it is about understanding those solutions and OneNote will helpfully step you through all the stages of a solution. You can repeat, review, vary and solve as often as you like. Repeat until understood. Brilliant!

This all matters of course, because in a world of big data and of algorithms, good mathematicians are scarce. Kids dreaming of a career as a Games designer need good maths. A career in health needs good maths, practically every senior career post, including in schools, needs good mathematics. Now, if I can just build a time machine and take wonderful OneNote back to my “A” level maths paper…

Why LP+365 is not an LMS?

For many years, the terms Learning Management Systems (LMS) and Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) have been applied to almost all platforms in schools. We’ve built LP+365 to be different. With over 400m learners having access to #Office365 we believed it was essential to have a learning and collaboration platform that fully exploits the power of Office 365, yet was simple enough to learn within 20 minutes.

LP+365 is not an LMS. Traditional LMS are designed to deliver education courses, or support the teacher in delivering material to students. This usually means the LMS is process driven, often rigid and incompatible with modern pedagogies. Teachers usually require a lot of training and professional development, and many of these platforms are used as little more than glamorised document libraries.

LP+365 is different, it is a Learning and Collaboration Platform (LCP). A simple set of dashboards that presents all the functionality and apps within Office 365 that are proven to have efficacy in an education environment. Usage of these tools has been further simplified by having one-click tiles and an intuitive user interface. With the integration of our ‘one minute’ how-to videos and a full support site to drive adoption, LP+365 is a simple way for teachers to use Office 365 in the classroom thereby developing critical skills in learners.

LP+365 encapsulates a set of tools that are readily available at any time in any context, including the delivery of course material. The platform provides resource management tools, collaboration tools, communication tools, assignments, and analytics and administration tools. These can be used at any time in any context, supporting many pedagogical approaches.

With almost no limit on storage or types of content, the cloud based LP+365 App works on any browser, on any device on and offline.

 

With such a long history of LMS and VLE, why do we need a LCP? Research shows that students or learners who have strong collaboration and communication skills, as well as knowledge of Microsoft Office tools have a greater chance of employability. LP+365 seeks to give learners an experience of the modern working environment, whilst supporting many teaching and learning styles, and minimising the teacher’s training needs.

To experience LP+365 for yourself click here.

Support Centre and App Updates

We are thrilled to finally be able to announce the exciting changes we have made to our App…

The Support Centre

The team have been working hard creating our new Support Centre.

✔ Packed with support and feature guides, how-to videos, case-studies and tips and tricks to get the most out of your App!

✔ Our Stephen Heppell feature page including blogs and articles written by the world renound Prof. Stephen Heppell

✔ We’ve moved the Support Centre from the side menu to the Global Navigation bar to make it more accessible, navigate to the Centre by clicking on the Support Centre icon!

How-To Support Videos

✔ We have created quick support videos demonstrating the main features of the App and how these can be utilised from a teacher and student perspective

✔ The videos can be accessed via the support centre or by selecting the video icon on each of the main features within the app

✔ The in-app video icons are off by default but can be toggled on from ‘Manage App Settings’ by an Admin User.

 

Announcements Update

✔ The Announcements tile in class/subject dashboard now allows html content to be added through a rich text editor

✔ You can format text and add in hyperlinks which will appear in the tile or the pop up window

 

New Pilot Programme

✔ We have decomissioned our preview App and removed this from the Microsoft Store to make way for our new pilot programme

Sign up for the free pilot of LP+365 to see how the App can transform the way you use Office 365!

 

As always we’d love to hear from you and your thoughts about the new updates. Contact us on Twitter or Facebook to let us know what you think.