Value Proposition: NoRedInk helps students improve their grammar and writing skills. The engine generates personalized exercises based on students’ interests, adapts to their abilities with instant feedback, and provides actionable performance data to teachers, schools, and districts around the world. The software adapts to the students over time and they can even choose from a variety of hobbies, TV shows and movies to make their lessons more interesting. Students answer over 100 million questions per month on the site, and we’re on a mission to help all students harness the power of the written word. In a statement founder Jeff Scheur says: “Because multiple choice tests aren’t a great way to learn, we’re focused on building authentic, personalised curriculum that inspires kids to think creatively and help them write better” (Pivotl, 2015).
Founder-Leader: Jeff Scheur’s seasoned background as a English Language Teacher is his primary motivation for beginning the company. Working in Chicago public schools, he witnessed first-hand students failing standardised tests due to poor writing skills. After addressing the issue in his own classroom, he started to focus his efforts on a program that would pinpoint grammar problems for students around the world. He is a well-spoken professional with an extensive educational background and a clear passion for helping students with their grammar. In 2012, Scheur was the winner of NBC’s $75,000 Innovation Challenge. See his pitch here.
Team: Scheur’s team brings varied experience to the company. Joshua Level was the first team member brought onboard one can assume for his knowledge of computer science to create the algorithms and programming necessary for the site to run. Ben Jackson’s legal background would be an asset when establishing the site’s terms of service, filing the paperwork to become a corporation, dealing with IP concerns, and drawing up legal contracts. Ned Lindau and Jocey Karlan’s experience as classroom teachers would be useful to build customer relations with schools and teachers.
Reflections: NoRedInk utilises a “Freemium” business model which allows users to use the site for free, while more advanced features must be paid for. In this case, the premium version unlocks addition lessons and tools for teachers and students. I think this is a great approach for an edtech company. As a technology facilitator responsible for running pilots at the school, my experience has shown that it is often the enthusiasm of teachers that makes for a successful pilot of software. By offering a Freemium model, NoRedInk targets teachers can can hooked on the benefits of the site and advocate for the software to administration. This strategy is reflected in a team stacked with classroom teachers. Instead of a top-down approach, I think this bottom-up method is very effective in the education industry.
References
Pivotl. “Onfido, NoRedInk, Gilt & Uber’s Bonus Billion – 4 Investments To Watch.” 23 Feb. 2015. Web. http://iq.pivotl.com/article/MsIJayR6nSo/2015/02/23/insight_onfido_noredink_gilt_ubers_bonus_billion_4_investmen/.