If Chris Dawson founded a startup

During last week’s taping of review:ed, Kirsten Winkler and I focused on startups, particularly those in the ed tech space. It’s a good time to be a startup with educational technology chops; investors seem to be right on the edge of fueling a bubble where all it takes is a reasonably good idea, some social hooks, and some technical savvy in educational needs.

Well gee, I have some good ideas. I can think “social” (can’t we all?). I’m technically savvy. I’m even an educator! I should found a startup!

Removing my tongue from my cheek briefly, I’d actually like to start a conversation around this. I’m not the only educator out there with an idea or three. I’ll outline one of my favorites here, but talk back, discuss via Twitter, or chat on Google Plus and tell me what you think or where you’d put your efforts if you were founding your own startup.

CADET (Christopher A Dawson Ed Tech)
CADET (Christopher A Dawson Educational Technologies) wouldn’t bring a radical, disruptive new technology to the table, even though that would be incredibly sexy and cool. I have some ideas in that would probably fill the bill (a fully mobile LMS, assistive robots for kids with autism that used biofeedback to detect and respond to stress levels, AI-driven integrated tutoring/assessment/RTI software delivered to thin clients, and student-optimized tablets all come to mind), but my expertise is in the development and deployment of educational systems. Given that, I would take systems integration models to the next level by providing a small selection of turnkey learning solutions for charter schools, private schools, and the public schools willing to buy in to a rigorously tech-driven learning model.

CADET would only work with those schools and educational service providers looking to start with a clean slate implement an across-the-board integrated solution of 1:1 devices, administrative tools, data mining capabilities, and, most importantly, a set of curricula and pedagogical approaches designed to best exploit the technologies. Think of it as tech meets Montessori at scale. For Montessori schools, there isn’t much deviation from the approach and curriculum. It’s the Montessori way or the highway, which works very well for some people and school communities, but isn’t for everyone.

Where many end-to-end solutions fall apart is in their attempt to shoehorn any number of technologies into an existing hodgepodge of computers, information systems, data stores, and wishy washy levels of adoption. This approach is unavoidable in many school settings, where budgets, unions, state and federal regulations, and many other factors prevent the sort of “pure” technology implementation that CADET would be selling. However, charter schools, for example, are cropping up nationwide and are looking for ways to differentiate themselves and prove that their charters lead to improved student achievement.

Similarly, educational institutions outside traditional school settings, whether private schools with unique missions, online schools, or even learning centers like those run by Kaplan for tutoring and test preparation or the Think Tank in Worcester, Massachusetts, have an opportunity to impose a level of technological integration and new approaches to learning that simply can’t be achieved in many public schools. Our ideas about where students should learn and what schools should look like are changing quickly, both here in the States and abroad, creating a real opportunity for a company that can drop in technology and curricula that support these new approaches and do so in a proven, cost-effective, and replicable way.

CADET would focus on complete, turnkey solutions in settings where they can be adopted fully, avoiding extensive costs around customization and compromises around the tech, the curriculum, or both. Organizations either buy into CADET or they don’t. There is no half way here. It’s a more manageable business model and, I believe, a more educationally sound way of providing services to students. While CADET is not designed for flexibility, it is designed for scalability and could be used by small homeschool cooperatives, mid-sized private schools, large charter schools, and everything in between.

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