How Technology and Covid-19 Are Reinventing Education

But we’ll see an uncoupling of learning and socialization over the next decade. The most privileged Americans will continue to go to college, but for many Americans, the cost of college will be untenable. These Americans will learn skills through online providers, while finding community through other mediums.

College isn’t going anywhere. If anything, the pandemic has reminded Americans of how much they value the “college experience.”

Work is changing, which means that education needs to change too.

The average teacher in the U.S. makes $60K a year, with starting salaries often under $40K. But with the Internet, teachers are able to quickly and cheaply apply their skills to learners around the world. This means that teachers can circumvent outdated systems, better earning income from a larger pool of learners. “Business-in-a-box” startups prov... See more

People like to be entertained, typically more than they like to learn. Some of the most innovative education startups are “edutainment”, combining elements of education and entertainment.

Tutoring marketplaces are largest in Asia, where families spend significantly more on supplemental education than their American counterparts. Urban Chinese spend 43% of household income, while Americans spend 2%.

Of the world’s five most-valuable education startups, four are tutoring businesses

Workers will have three, four, or five careers. Many of these careers haven’t been invented yet: 85% of today’s college students will have jobs in 11 years that don’t currently exist.

In the future, learning will bifurcate. “Horizontal skills” will be taught early in life: these skills will form the foundation for lifelong learning, giving people the ability to reinvent themselves again and again. Later in life will come “vertical skills”, which will be job-specific.