Request for Education Startups

#1

Post by hobaak » Mon, Sep 25, 2017, 6:27 PM UTC

Request for Education Startups
blog.ycombinator.com

Re: Request for Education Startups

#2

Post by tonydiv » Mon, Sep 25, 2017, 6:47 PM UTC

I would love feedback on my project BlockSchool from anyone who is interested in ed-tech!

BlockSchool is an online coding school for kids ages 6 to 13. We hire teachers from top colleges and companies like Stanford and Facebook, and connect them with students who don't have easy access to high-quality instruction.

Our classes are conducted via video chat in a fun 3D block-based world where everything can be controlled by writing Puzzle code (our visual programming language), JavaScript, and Python. It's collaborative, social, and kids love the creative freedom we give them.

We are focused on 1:1 and 1:2 instruction now which isn't 'scalable' but later on, we plan on offering a help service for kids only when they get stuck or need a new concept explained. This will lower the cost for students substantially. We hope to follow in the footsteps of VIPkid on this front.

We are based in Seoul/SF, so we have a number of students in China, Japan, and Korea already, but a majority of our customers are in the US.

If anyone is interested in offering feedback, here is our website: https://block.school

We'll be applying to YC too! Hopefully our project is relevant to what they're looking for. We're also growing quite fast :)

Re: Request for Education Startups

#3

Post by hobaak » Mon, Sep 25, 2017, 7:17 PM UTC

tonydiv wrote: post #2

I would love feedback on my project BlockSchool from anyone who is interested in ed-tech! BlockSchool is an online coding school for kids ages 6 to 13. We hire teachers from top colleges and companies like Stanford and Facebook, and connect them with students who don't have easy access to high-quality instruction. Our classes are conducted via video chat in a fun 3D block-based world where everything can be controlle…

I am running a startup that is a market place, http://greensprout.co for afterschool programs and summer camp providers (limited to Bay area). Naturally I am interested in this space. As a Korean, it is great to see startups working from Korea. The coding school is getting popular. So, it is a good place to start. But, there are many varieties. This seems to me like a tutoring service for computer programming. As you said it is video chat, is there youtube video to introduce the service? That will be helpful.

I have one kid, who is at your target. But I am not sure if I need tutoring like for block programming. I am more interested in real programming. Also, it is not clear what you will achieve at the end.

But, keep doing the good work since you have traction and I guess that people like the teaching quality, which you need to keep it consistent.

Re: Request for Education Startups

#4

Post by baby_wipe » Mon, Sep 25, 2017, 7:18 PM UTC

TeachBay (for grade schools) - Parents bid in an auction for seats in a teacher's classroom at the beginning of the school year, instead of having the principal assign students to teachers. This will reward the good teachers, punish the bad ones, and give everyone an incentive to do better.

Re: Request for Education Startups

#5

Post by tarr11 » Mon, Sep 25, 2017, 7:21 PM UTC

tonydiv wrote: post #2

I would love feedback on my project BlockSchool from anyone who is interested in ed-tech! BlockSchool is an online coding school for kids ages 6 to 13. We hire teachers from top colleges and companies like Stanford and Facebook, and connect them with students who don't have easy access to high-quality instruction. Our classes are conducted via video chat in a fun 3D block-based world where everything can be controlle…

I run an after school coding program for kids in the bay area. Happy to talk if you would like. Info is in my profile.

Re: Request for Education Startups

#6

Post by sjg007 » Mon, Sep 25, 2017, 7:21 PM UTC

I would like something that increases parental involvement or at least oversight of their kids. 1:1s and close contact with your manager or team in problem solving is invaluable. What does that mean in the context of a classroom? Is it valuable? Teachers probably have 120 kids at some level so it may not scale.. And I think it's to early or weird to have kids participate in a stand up but an app to help parents understand what kids are working on and how they can help would be interesting. How can you improve the feedback loops. I think kids hit critical periods where they don't understand something and may not have the skills necessary to solve so providing some sort of peer pair (programming?) may help? Maybe start this in AP CS or a high school programming class or something and see if it is effective.

The other idea is work/life balance for kids in school. How do you monitor that and help them? I think kids have more energy but at the same time need downtime etc.. What does that mean in the context of education etc..?

Re: Request for Education Startups

#7

Post by snomad » Mon, Sep 25, 2017, 7:23 PM UTC

May I point out - to YC and others interested in the space - their is a fairly large market for continuing education. Nurses, accountants, lawyers, and lots of other industries require practitioners keep up to date and take courses throughout their professional career. Perhaps their are not enough students to warrant a massive big name startup, but there are definitely enough students for a reasonable sized businesses.

Re: Request for Education Startups

#8

Post by v4n4d1s » Mon, Sep 25, 2017, 7:28 PM UTC

It's not K-12, but some of you may be interested in reading this paper about the online exams service at ETH Zurich (Switzerland).

http://dspacecris.eurocris.org/handle/11366/478

Re: Request for Education Startups

#9

Post by jeffmould » Mon, Sep 25, 2017, 7:29 PM UTC

sjg007 wrote: post #6

I would like something that increases parental involvement or at least oversight of their kids. 1:1s and close contact with your manager or team in problem solving is invaluable. What does that mean in the context of a classroom? Is it valuable? Teachers probably have 120 kids at some level so it may not scale.. And I think it's to early or weird to have kids participate in a stand up but an app to help parents under…

My fiance's children just started in a new school system and they use an app called ClassDojo that is intended to increase involvement between teachers, parents, and the students. At any given time, my fiance can login, see photos of what the kids are doing in class, send/receive messages with the teacher(s), check grades/assignments. Compared to their previous school system, the level of involvement is beyond compare. Her son who is in middle school also uses an app called Remind that has all the assignments and communication between parent/teacher/student on specific assignments.

Re: Request for Education Startups

#10

Post by alex_g » Mon, Sep 25, 2017, 7:29 PM UTC

baby_wipe wrote: post #4

TeachBay (for grade schools) - Parents bid in an auction for seats in a teacher's classroom at the beginning of the school year, instead of having the principal assign students to teachers. This will reward the good teachers, punish the bad ones, and give everyone an incentive to do better.

This sounds terrible. Poor students get slapped down even more than they are now.