The Knowledge Web - Part 2

Generation i - The K-12 Market

From Michael Moe’s time as Director of Global Growth Research at Merrill Lynch.

See below for a preview – Read the full report here.

“Computers are the ‘new basic’ of American education, and the Internet is the blackboard of the future.” – Richard Riley, Secretary of Education

“Computers are the ‘new basic’ of American education, and the Internet is the blackboard of the future.” – Richard Riley, Secretary of Education Today’s kids are the Internet Generation – Generation i – and are as comfortable on a computer as on a bicycle. Generation i loves their computers as much as the Baby Boomers love their cars. The rich, interactive content and the fact that kids can control the machine mean they can be fun and empowering for children. And like a driver’s license for a sixteen-year-old, the Internet can mean the freedom to go virtually anywhere for children of any age. A seven-year-old can go to Amazon.com, select the next Babysitter’s Club book, and with dad’s help (and credit card), buy the book and have it shipped to her at home. All without car keys. For children and teens, the Internet opens a whole new world.

The combination of the Internet and education is not only a natural progression for Generation i, it is a necessity in today’s economy. The Information Revolution is really the Knowledge Revolution. Knowledge is the fuel for the New Economy and technology is its second language. e-Commerce is to the Knowledge Revolution what the railroad was to the Industrial Revolution. The web, the world’s greatest library, can democratize education, increasing the access, reducing the cost and increasing the quality of education for billions of the world’s citizens.

In K-12 education, this means not only providing children with an understanding of technology but also using technology in ways that help children learn new things in new ways.

We believe a huge business opportunity clearly exists in this market. We estimate that the K-12 e-learning market today is $1.3 billion and that the opportunity extends well beyond what we can capture and quantify today. We categorize this market into five areas: Content, Commerce, Community, Infrastructure and Supplemental Services. Each of these areas has tremendous potential, in our opinion. As a consequence, we believe that pulling all these big pieces together into an education hub is the opportunity in K-12 education. The network effect of 53 million children, 23 million families and 3.1 million teachers can be extraordinarily powerful.