k–12 education - mars discovery · pdf file04 as it stands, the canadian k–12...
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01
K–12 Education: Opportunities and Strategies for Ontario Entrepreneurs
MaRS Market Insights
02
Content Leads and Authors:
June Avila, Information Specialist, Market Intelligence
Joseph Wilson, Education Specialist, SiG@MaRS
Reviewers:
Allyson Hewitt, Director, SiG@MaRS
Usha Srinivasan, Director, Market Intelligence
Acknowledgements:
We thank the following individuals and organizations for their participation in this report:
Michael Atzemis, Guidance Counsellor, East York Collegiate Institute
Carolyn Acker, Founder, Pathways to Education
Dr. Jeremy Friedberg, Partner, Spongelab Interactive
Susan Gucci, Co-Chair, School Council, East York Collegiate Institute
Krista Jones, Practice Lead, IT, Communications and Entertainment, MaRS
Annie Kidder, Executive Director, People for Education
Stephen Morris, Vice Principal, York Mills Collegiate Institute
Shahan Panth, Vice President, Business Development, BitStrips
Dr. Fraser Shein, President & CEO, Quillsoft Ltd.
John Tertan, Operations Officer, Ontario Student Trustees Association, York District School Board
Rob Whent, President, Online Training & Education Portal (OTEP) Inc.
and all attendees at MaRS Education Cluster events over the past year.
Disclaimer:
The information provided in this report is presented in summary form, is general in nature, current only as of the date of publication and is provided for informational purposes only. Specific advice should be sought from a qualified legal or other appropriate professional.
MaRS Discovery District, © October 2011
03
Table of Contents
Introduction / 04
Opportunities for education ventures / 06
Drivers of growth in education / 06
Tightening of funds / 06
The importance of science and math education for economic growth and innovation / 06
Education technology and online education / 08
Trends in education / 09
Student-centered learning that is adaptive and personalized / 09
Increased engagement through gamification / 09
A move toward open digital content / 10
Market overview / 11
Market potential / 11
Education spending / 12
Industry overview / 13
Strategies for education ventures / 14
Navigating the system / 14
Creative funding /16
The art of co-creation / 17
Measuring impact / 19
Technology adoption / 22
Choice of legal structure / 25
What students need / 26
Involvement of parents / 29
Conclusion / 30
Ontario education ventures / 31
Bitstrips / 31
OTEP Inc. / 32
Quillsoft Ltd. / 33
Spongelab Interactive / 34
Appendix: Methodology / 36
Endnotes / 37
04
As it stands, the Canadian K–12 education system is one of
the best in the world. Canadian students regularly place
highly in international rankings gathered by the OECD’s
Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)
when it comes to reading, mathematics and science.1
In a recent McKinsey report, “How the World’s Most
Improved School Systems Keep Getting Better,” Ontario
was chosen as one of 20 school systems around the world
“that have achieved significant, sustained, and widespread
gains in student outcomes on international and national
assessments from 1980 onwards.”2
Introduction
“�Our�educational�systems�bear�the�primary�responsibility�for�nurturing�and�developing�the�capacities�and�innovative�capabilities�of�our�fellow�citizens.”�-OECD
05
That said, there are considerable challenges in ensuring that
all Canadian youth benefit from this system and achieve
their highest potential. Student achievement is highly
correlated with socioeconomic background and geographical
location.3 Also, despite high PISA rankings, Canada lags in
its capacity for innovation.4 To remain globally competitive,
Ontario (and Canada) must continue to embrace new ways
to improve student learning and outcomes.
Ontario is home to a vibrant cluster of “education
entrepreneurs” working with the education system to help
improve student learning. When we talk about education
entrepreneurship in this paper, we are referring to socially
innovative ventures, either for-profit or not-for-profit,
that have developed innovative programs or products
that seek to enhance K–12 education in Ontario.
“Our�educational�systems�bear�the�primary�
responsibility�for�nurturing�and�developing�
the�capacities�and�innovative�capabilities�of�
our�fellow�citizens.”5��
These types of ventures can offer innovative platforms to
integrate technology into the classroom (Desire2Learn,
Spongelab, SMART), curriculum-based in-class programs
(ArtsSmarts, Let’s Talk Science, BitStrips) or after-school
programs (Girls Respect Groups, MJKO, My3P).
“I didn’t know there were entrepreneurs in education,” is a
common refrain among stakeholders. The public education
system is often characterized as a static bureaucracy run
by civil servants. In reality, the system is constantly under
flux, driven by market conditions, political realities and
the tremendous store of knowledge and expertise held by
researchers, administrators, teachers and other front-
line education workers. We would like to recast the best
education professionals as “public sector innovators,” and
examine how their knowledge can best be combined with
the entrepreneurial spirit of the private sector.
Christian Bason, Director of MindLab, a “cross-ministerial
innovation unit” in Denmark, defines public sector
innovation as “the process of creating new ideas and
turning them into value for society.”6 Education is an ideal
field for us to seek the creation of “shared value,” that
is, “creating economic value in a way that also creates
value for society by addressing its needs and challenges.”7
Innovative education ventures can blend both the creation
of economic value through market growth and social benefit
through the increased quality of public education.
The Young Foundation and the Center for American
Progress, in a report entitled “Capital Ideas: How to
Generate Innovation in the Public Sector,” claim that
“innovation is needed just as much in the public sector [as]
public services can easily become stuck with outdated and
ineffective approaches.”8
“The key…is to unleash a wave of entrepreneurship in
education of a kind the developed world has not seen since
the 19th century,” says Charles Leadbeater in a position
paper entitled “Learning from Extremes.”9 “The 20th
century was the century of the teacher and the school, the
class and the exam. The 21st needs to become the century of
the educational entrepreneur.”
Entrepreneurs and developers external to the system
have created an enormous suite of tools and programs
that can be used to increase the quality of education in
Ontario. Our job is to ensure that the pathways remain
open to test, refine and grow the innovations that work so
that they can effect change across Ontario, Canada and
eventually the world.
“�This�cannot�be�solved�by�governments.�We�need�social�innovations�to�solve�these�problems.�You�need�an�entrepreneur�who�is�tenacious�and�will�not�stop.”��
-�Carolyn�Acker,�Founder,�Pathways�to�Education
06
Opportunities for education ventures
Drivers of growth in educationTightening of public funds
Schools are always looking for ways to control costs while
still providing high quality education to students. School
boards struggle with the current model of government
funding that can fail to keep up with inflation and rising costs.
People for Education, a parent-led organization that collects
school data and conducts research on Ontario schools,
reports the following statistics10:
• Fifty-six per cent of elementary schools have a
teacher-librarian, a decline from 80% in 1997–1998
• Sixty-six per cent of secondary schools have a teacher-
librarian, a decline from 78% in 2000–2001
• More than 10% of the provincial budget for education
is spent on special education
• Sixty-seven out of the province’s 72 boards spend
more on special education than they receive from
the province
• In total, school boards spent $174 million more on
special education than the province provided
As a result, many schools rely on internal fundraising
activities to pay for school supplies and special projects. A
recent report from Social Planning Toronto, entitled “Public
System, Private Money: Fees, Fundraising and Equity
in the Toronto District School Board,” found that the
wealthiest neighbourhoods in Toronto raised, on average,
$249,362.51 per school compared to $6,922.98 per school
for the poorest neighbourhoods.11
Across Ontario, schools raised a total of $588.4 million to
augment provincial funding.12 In the US, websites such as
Donor’s Choose allow donors to choose which educational
projects and in which area they want their money to go to.
A similar website, Pick My Class, is in the works in Canada.
In the UK, the tightening of public funds is often
accompanied by what NESTA calls “radical efficiency,” which
can be defined as “innovation that delivers much better
public outcomes for much lower cost.”13 For education, this
means finding different ways to deliver the curriculum for
less money, which results in better educational outcomes.
NESTA charges governments not with spending more money,
but creating conditions for “creating inspiration, celebrating
entrepreneurs, providing enabling risk capital and explicitly
opening up commissioned services to new actors.”14
The importance of science and math education for economic growth and innovation
Our economy has shifted from relying on manufacturing
and natural resources to a knowledge-based products and
services economy. To remain globally competitive, countries
around the world recognize the importance of training the
next generation of scientists and engineers and are actively
encouraging more students to study science, technology,
engineering and mathematics (also known as STEM).
Canadian students have consistently ranked well on
international tests that are designed to measure educational
outcomes in science and math. The Programme for
International Student Assessment (PISA) is a collaborative
effort among OECD member countries. PISA tests the
skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students in reading,
mathematics and science. In 2009, sixty-five countries
participated, including all 33 OECD countries. Shanghai-
China and Singapore participated for the first time.
In 2009, Canada had a mean score of 524 on the combined
reading scale, ranking fifth among countries. Canadian students
had an average score of 527 in mathematics and 529 in science,
ranking eighth and seventh, respectively, among countries.16
“During�the�last�decade,�the�number�of�college�students�who�study�math�and�science�in�Canada�and�the�United�States�has�declined�dramatically.�…�This�is�a�critical�problem�because�technology�holds�the�key�to�progress,�and�to�addressing�many�of�the�world’s�most�pressing�problems,�including�health�care,�education,�global�inequality,�and�climate�change.”15�-�Bill�Gates
07
Table 1: Results from the 2009 PISA in reading
ReadingOECD average 493
Shanghai-China 556
Korea 539
Finland 536
Hong Kong-China 533
Singapore 526
Canada 524
Source: OECD PISA 2009 Database
Table 2: Results from the 2009 PISA in math
MathOECD average 496
Shanghai-China 600
Singapore 562
Hong Kong-China 555
Korea 546
Chinese Taipei 543
Finland 541
Liechtenstein 536
Switzerland 534
Japan 529
Canada 527
Source: OECD PISA 2009 Database
Table 3: Results from the 2009 PISA in science
ScienceOECD average 501
Shanghai-China 575
Finland 554
Hong Kong-China 549
Singapore 542
Japan 539
Korea 538
New Zealand 532
Canada 529
Source: OECD PISA 2009 Database
In the US, disappointing performance in international
rankings has resulted in several new education spending
programs to improve outcomes. The “Educate to Innovate”
campaign, launched by President Barack Obama, is
designed to improve the participation and performance
of students in science, technology, engineering and
mathematics. The plan is to work with leading cross-sector
science and engineering organizations to increase STEM
literacy and promote education and career opportunities to
underrepresented groups such as young women.
In 2009, Cisco claimed, “The future growth and stability
of our global economy depends on the ability of education
systems around the world to prepare all students for
career opportunities and help them attain higher levels
of achievement.” This was tempered by recognition that,
amidst an increase in educational spending in both the US
and Canada, achievement did not always increase.17
Amidst the attention paid to the importance of STEM
subjects to a society’s economic competitiveness, there
is a growing body of research to suggest that teaching
so-called “soft skills” such as empathy, critical thinking,
metacognition and integrative thinking are crucial to a
society’s well-being. Educators, such as Roger Martin,
Dean of the Rotman School of Business, are seeking ways
to integrate such practices into traditional subjects like
business through their I-Think Initiative.
Physicist Basarab Nicolescu calls this process
“transdisciplinary thinking.” “It revalues the role of deeply
rooted intuition, of imagination, of sensitivity, and of the
body in the transmission of knowledge. Only in this way can
society of the twenty-first century reconcile effectiveness
and affectivity.”18
Ventures such as Roots of Empathy, Heliotrope and One
Voice One Team have developed experiences designed
to draw out deep feelings of empathy and community
engagement. Evidence suggests that projects like this that
span traditional subject areas greatly contribute to the
success of students both within school and after
they graduate.19
08
Education technology and online education
The rapid proliferation of consumer technology devices is
driving a growing expectation that schools should embrace
high-tech tools for children to succeed in the 21st century.
Existing statistics about technology use in Canadian schools
are quite dated. According to Statistics Canada, more than
one million computers were available to 5.3 million students
in elementary and secondary schools across Canada in
2003–2004.20
More recent information supports the fact that the majority
of Canadian households are connected and that school-
aged children are going online. A 2009 Telus-commissioned
Ipsos Reid survey found that 75% of Canadian children
who used the Internet are proficient on it by the age of
seven.21 In addition, Ontario students spent more time per
week (3.2 hours per week) doing homework online than any
other province.
Michael Barbour conducts an annual review of distance
learning in Canada. Distance learning encompasses
homeschooling as well as education courses taken by
students enrolled in school. While some distance learning
is done using print materials, he does recognize a trend of
greater reliance on the use of technology. According to his
2010 report, there is some level of K–12 distance education
in all provinces and territories. British Columbia has the
highest percentage of student participation. K–12 distance
education enrolment in Canada is estimated to be between
150,000 and 175,000 students (or between 2.8% and
3.4% of the total K–12 student population).22
Online education is more common in the US. The Sloan
Consortium reports more than one million K–12 students
participated in online courses for the 2007–2008 school
year. This is growing rapidly, representing a 47% increase
since 2005–2006.23
Figure 1: US spending on e-learning in K–12 is projected to grow
According to a 2010 survey, about one-third of US public
elementary and secondary schools offer students some
kind of online learning program, and another 20% expect a
program will be started by 2011–2012.24
New Brunswick leads Canada in education technology. In
2004, the province implemented a 21st century learning
model with its Dedicated Student Notebook Research
Project that equipped students at six schools in grades
7 to 9 with laptop computers. The schools already had
high bandwidth connections and wireless access. In 2006,
all teachers were offered laptops and by 2008–2009 the
project had expanded to 24 schools, 156 classes and
3900 students.25
In 2008, the Canadian Education Association conducted
a case study (commissioned by Hewlett-Packard, which
provided the laptops) that reported positive findings from
teachers and students. Teachers reported improvement in
the quality of work, especially from students with special
needs. Students reported that they wrote more and were
more engaged with the learning process.
US SPENDING ON E-LEARNING IN K-12
$2.2 BILLION$4.9 BILLION
2010
2015
Source: Ambient Insights
09
Trends in educationStudent-centered learning that is adaptive and personalized
A personalized learning experience is the new gold standard
in education. With the educational community’s acceptance
that students in any class employ “multiple intelligences,” it
is clear that the “one sizes fits all” model of traditional 20th
century education is no longer enough.26
However, the reality of the classroom environment, with
diverse students of varying abilities and willingness to
learn, rarely permits this. Many education technology
products and services promise to provide this personalized
instruction, allowing students to do work based on their
individual needs, skill levels and interests.
Figure 2: Student collaboration
The Khan Academy is now famous for its online video
tutorials and practice exercises that enable students
to work through problems at their own pace. Windsor-
based OTEP Inc. (see full profile in Ontario Education
Entrepreneurs section) is trying to tailor student learning
based on an individual student’s specific learning profile.
Quillsoft, which is located in Toronto (see full profile in
Ontario Education Entrepreneurs section), provides helpful
cues to prompt students with writing difficulties when they
are writing on computers. This kind of customized learning
and assessment frees the teacher’s time, allowing her to
focus more attention on students that need it most.
Increased engagement through gamification
Student engagement is an issue in many classrooms. A 2011
survey by the Canadian Education Association showed that
STUDENTS USING THE INTERNET DAILY TO COLLABORATE ONLINE WITH A GROUP OR TEAM IN CANADA
STUDENTS USING A COMPUTER DAILY TO COMMUNICATE THROUGH E-MAIL OR CHAT ROOMS IN CANADA
most students in grades 5 to 6 are intellectually engaged
in their learning but that this engagement falls by grade 7.
By grade 9, less than 50% of students are engaged in their
studies.27 School attendance decreases from a high of 90%
in grade 6 to a low of about 40% by grade 12.28
The use of technology can help to address this problem
and increase engagement. Learning becomes a more active
experience, stimulating students at a deeper level. Many
education products employ the principles of gamification,
which is the “use of game mechanics in nonentertainment
environments to change user behavior and drive
engagement.”29 The use of games to teach students is not
new and the importance of play in facilitating learning has
long been recognized.
Today’s technology provides for an even more immersive
experience. Toronto’s Spongelab Interactive uses gaming
principles and 3D environments to teach students about
biology (see full profile in Ontario Education Entrepreneurs
section). Practi-Quest uses interactive role-play to educate
students about bullying. Games increase enjoyment for
students by providing rewards and feedback, which can
improve students’ attitudes toward learning traditionally
challenging subjects like mathematics. Studies trying to
show whether educational gaming increases learning
have been mixed, but they have shown increased student
engagement and motivation.30
Source: OECD
10
A move toward open digital content
Digital content provides teachers with a large number
of resources from which to design their lessons. Online
information is often more relevant and timely so that
students are no longer limited to learning from dated
textbooks. Teachers even have access to content from the
world’s greatest universities, such as Harvard, MIT and the
UK’s Open University.
The trend toward making digital content open is creating a
wealth of reusable resources for teachers.31 Communities
for sharing these resources are growing, making it easier
for teachers to create, share and incorporate digital
content into their curriculum. Toronto companies are
also contributing to the open digital movement. Teachers
create curriculum elements for Bitstrips for Schools (see
full profile in Ontario Education Entrepreneurs section)
to share with other educators for re-use. Spongelab
Interactive has created an online “Global Science
Community” that will enable teachers and developers to
swap digital educational content. Wero Creative is in the
process of developing Kidoid, a platform that rates and
shares online educational games.
Curriki is another global K–12 community. The not-for-
profit organization is a product that resulted from the
Global Education and Learning Community (GELC), a
project started by Sun Microsystems to develop content for
education in a collaborative way. The website contains more
than 40,000 free learning resources for teachers.
11
Table 4: K–12 market snapshot, 2008–2009
According to Statistics Canada, just fewer than 5.1 million
students were enrolled in publicly funded elementary and
secondary schools during the 2008–2009 academic year,
down 0.5% from the previous year. This is down 5% since
2000–2001.34
In 2000–2001, public school enrolment increased in Alberta
(3%) and Nunavut (6%), with all other provinces and
territories seeing decreases. The largest decrease was in
Newfoundland and Labrador, where enrolment dropped 22%.
Other Atlantic provinces also experienced large decreases:
15% in Nova Scotia, 13% in New Brunswick and 12% in Prince
Edward Island. Demographic and migration shifts continue
to alter the population distribution across Canada, affecting
school enrolment across the provinces and territories.
Market overviewMarket potential
In K–12 public schools, student enrolment across Canada
has decreased each year for the past decade but this does
not mean fewer opportunities for education ventures. While
enrolment is on a downward trend, the number of students
enrolled in special needs education and second-language
immersion programs has risen. As operating costs rise,
schools are challenged to provide the same level of service
with less money.
Figure 3: Ontario’s student enrolment
In contrast with Canada, US enrolment has been on an
upward trend. The total number of students enrolled in
public preK–12 schools is projected to increase from
49.3 million in 2008 to 52.3 million in 2019, up 6.2%.32
In the US, the Individuals With Disabilities Act (IDEA)
serves special needs students. In 2007–2008, 6.6 million
children received IDEA services, or 13% of total public
school enrolment.33
CANADA
5,088,789 STUDENTS
375SCHOOLS BOARDS*
15,000SCHOOLS*10,100 ELEMENTARY3,400 SECONDARY2,000 MIXED ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY
392,632FTE TEACHERS
$55 BILLION TOTAL EXPENDITURE
ONTARIO
2,070,736 STUDENTS
72SCHOOL BOARDS
4,923SCHOOLS4,026 ELEMENTARY897 SECONDARY
157,303FTE TEACHERS
$22.48 BILLIONTOTAL EXPENDITURE
ENROLLED IN ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ONTARIO
2,061,390STUDENTS
IN 2009–2010
Source: Ontario Ministry of Education
Source: Statistics Canada, 2010. Summary Public School Indicators. Council of Ministers of Education website: www.cmec.ca
*Numbers are approximate.
12
Education spending
In Canada, education funds come from the provincial or
territorial government. Similarly, curricula and policies for all
public education initiatives are made at the provincial level.35
Taxes are collected by the provincial government and
are then disbursed to the school boards in the province
via “supervisory officers” at each board. Provincial and
territorial regulations provide the grant structure that sets
the level of funding for each school board based on factors
such as the number of students, special needs and location.36
However, enrolment in specialized programs has risen. In
2008–2009, about 317,000 students were enrolled in a
second-language immersion program, an increase of 14%
over 2000–2001. Ontario accounted for the largest number
of second-language immersion students in 2008–2009, with
enrolment over 167,000.
Special needs enrolment has also increased. More than
583,000 students were receiving partial or full-time special
needs education in 2008–2009, up 3.2% from 2007–2008.
(These statistics exclude the Yukon and Nunavut.)
Total expenditures in Canada’s elementary and secondary
schools was $55.0 billion in 2008–2009, up 7.1% from
2007–2008. Since 2002–2003, spending has risen by
32.8%, more than double the rate of inflation as measured
by the Consumer Price Index.
Figure 4: 2008–2009 full-time equivalent enrolments in public elementary and secondary schools
68,255
2,000,000
1,800,000
1,600,000
1,400,000
1,200,000
1,000,000
800,000
600,000
400,000
200,000
0
20,324
133,134
108,407
NL PE NS NB QC ON MB SK AB BC YT NT NU
998,251
1,958,840
172,045
160,362
542,581
551,32
1
4,804
8,628
8,917
Source: Statistics Canada Summary Public School Indicators for Canada, the Provinces and Territories, 2002–2003 to 2008–2009
This money is then disbursed to the individual schools
within each board based on student enrolment and the
needs of its population.37 38 Total expenditures in Canada’s
elementary and secondary schools amounted to
$55.0 billion in 2008–2009.39
Figure 5: 2008–2009 total expenditures in public elementary and secondary schools as a percentage of total expenditures by provincial and local governments
10.9
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
12.412.7
13.1
NL PE NS NB QC ON MB SK AB BC YT NT NU
10.3
15.2
14.1
13.1
14.1
12.4
9.6
11.1
10.1
Source: Statistics Canada Summary Public School Indicators for Canada, the Provinces and Territories, 2002–2003 to 2008–2009
In the US, total elementary and secondary expenditures
for the 2007–2008 school year were $596.6 billion, a
6.1% increase from $562.3 billion in 2006–2007.40 Recent
funding programs to improve education provide some
stimulus for education entrepreneurs. Race to the Top
will pour $400 billion into education. The $650 million
Investing in Innovation Fund (i3) was developed to
encourage new approaches to boosting student
achievement. Only 3% of annual global spending for
education goes toward technology. The largest spending
category is educators’ salaries.41
13
Industry overview
The education industry includes a broad range of product
and service providers. One of the largest is the education
publishing industry. The US K–12 industry is dominated by
large publishers Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Pearson and
McGraw-Hill. These three publishers had 52.8% share of the
market in 2009.42
A December 2009 study by the Association of Educational
Publishers found that 40% of publishers are repurposing
content for digital platforms, up from 25% in 2008.43
According to a 2009 survey conducted by Simba Research,
some of the most prevalent education technology tools in
K–12 classrooms include44:
• Interactive whiteboards
• Student response systems
• Student computing devices
• Games
• Distance learning
• Virtual learning environments
• Social networking
Large technology companies that do not traditionally serve
the education market are leveraging their technological
services or products for the education sector. Technology
giants Microsoft and Google both offer cloud solutions for
the K–12 market.
Microsoft’s Live@Edu, which is also free, is a similar academic
suite of services, offering Microsoft’s cloud version of their
office suite, Office Web Apps. According to their website,
Live@Edu has “tens of millions” of users. This platform
will be transitioning to Office 365, incorporating more
communication and collaboration tools, including SharePoint
and Office Professional Plus. The platform will still be free
for students but fee-based for educators and staff.
Google Apps for Education is a free suite built from a
combination of Google’s existing services, such as Gmail,
Google Docs and Google Talk. According to their website,
Google Apps for Education has more than 14 million K–12
and post-secondary users from around the world.
Google recently became a provider of hardware to
schools through its Chromebooks for Education program.
Chromebooks are simplified laptops that run the Chrome
operating system. They do not run software the way regular
laptops do—the expectation is that wireless Internet is
always available—which make them ideal for young students.
14
Strategies for education ventures
Navigating the systemThe inability to navigate the education system is the most
common barrier that education entrepreneurs identify
when attempting to scale their social ventures. In meeting
entrepreneurs and stakeholders over the last year, the
education system was variously described as “complex,”
“sprawling” and “impenetrable.” One representative from
a private foundation, when asked whether they fund
education ventures, simply said, “No. The education system
isn’t porous enough.”
All entrepreneurs must learn to identify which entry point
within this vast system is appropriate for their venture, and
then use it as a platform to test programs and products in
the classroom with the aid of teachers and students.
Figure 6: Schools and school boards across Canada
However, most stakeholders agree that access to the
education system should never be completely open. Teachers,
administrators, for-profit entrepreneurs and not-for-profit
entrepreneurs agreed that the public education system should
be protected from corporate exploitation. Entrepreneurs
should treat access to public classrooms as sacrosanct and
system access should be considered a privilege, not a right.
“Students are not customers,” said one teacher.
In the same way that pharmaceutical companies must
face regulatory barriers to begin live clinical trials, the
burden of proof should be on education entrepreneurs
to demonstrate that their services are unequivocally
beneficial to individual students and the system as a whole
before they scale their ventures.
To do this, entrepreneurs must ensure that they can
articulate and validate their value proposition in a
language that resonates with individual stakeholders.
While stakeholders in the education system often speak to
the importance of helping children to succeed, the reality
is that the day-to-day lives of many administrators and
stakeholders are dictated by overlapping concerns such as
balancing budgets, writing reports, delivering curricula and
engaging in the machinations of electoral politics.
Furthermore, when approaching the education system with
an innovative venture, entrepreneurs need to distinguish
between stakeholders, customers and end users. In almost
all cases, the end users are the children in the classrooms;
however, the children often do not pay for the product or
service. The cost is borne by a third party, the customer,
which can be the school, the board, a private foundation or
a government-granting program. Stakeholders, in turn, are
all the people involved in the system who are affected by
the project in some way.
Entrepreneurs must know how to identify the decision-
makers for their venture, and get support from relevant
stakeholders, including the teachers and students as end
users. Schools across Ontario are littered with products
and gadgets that were purchased by well-meaning
administrators, but lay idle in classroom cupboards because
buy-in was never achieved at the teacher level.
Successful education entrepreneurs gain access to the
system by first finding a “champion” who works from within.
Some have suggested hiring consultants or mentors who
SCHOOL
SECONDARY MIXED ELEMENTARY & SECONDARY
10,000 3,400 2,000
ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL
SECONDARY MIXED ELEMENTARY & SECONDARY
10,000 3,400 2,000
ELEMENTARY
375 SCHOOL BOARDSAPPROXIMATELY
15,500 SCHOOLS:
ACROSS CANADA THERE ARE
Source: Council of Ministers of Education, Canada.
15
are used to selling into the school system, but there is
significant skepticism about hiring third-party salespeople.
Entrepreneurs found that they had a better reaction in
the system when they worked directly to build trust with
stakeholders to introduce their innovations.
A key difficulty in trying to effect change in any education
system is its sheer size and complexity. One of the most
important strategic decisions an entrepreneur can make
involves determining at what “level” they will attempt to
access the system, and where they can have the most
effect. This can be very different depending on the scope
of the venture, and the priorities of decision-makers at
different levels.
As described in “Education spending,” the flow of money
starts with the Ministry of Education, moves down to the
boards and then proceeds to schools. When funds are
transferred from the provincial coffers to the boards, only
the money meant for special education is “sweatered,”
which means that it cannot be used for anything else.
The rest of the money can be moved around based on
the board’s priorities.45 At the school level, the money is
administered by the principal, and spent by the heads of
individual departments and teachers within the school.
As such, there are four broad levels that have potential
purchasing power directly into the classroom: Ministry, board,
principal and teacher. This is not to suggest that there are no
alternate means of access into classrooms or stakeholders,
such as trustees and unions, that can affect what programs are
implemented. However, these four levels form the traditional
structure of purchasing power in the education system.
At the Ministry and board levels, it is imperative for
entrepreneurs to align themselves with their goals and
priorities.46 At the school level, it helps to align ventures
in a way that helps the schools to fulfill their School
Improvement Plans (SIPs). Schools use SIPs as tools to
communicate with the boards on how they are working
toward improving various aspects of their schools, including
marks, school culture, assessment and equity. “If you want
funding, put it in the SIP,” said one vice principal from a
Toronto high school. Similarly, regional school boards use
Board Improvement Plans to report back to the Ministry on
their progress along yearly metrics.47
As entrepreneurs move further up the chain, from the
classroom level to the Ministry, more proof is required
to use and endorse the product. Demonstrations and
pilot programs at local schools are usually necessary
for the Ministry to consider full-scale implementation.
Entrepreneurs have found success by providing free product
trials for teachers and using social media to engage teachers
in pilot projects that fit with the priorities of a particular
neighbourhood or school initiative.
Several entrepreneurs shared examples of engaging
individual schools that were “under the radar” of the board
and Ministry. One entrepreneur, excited by the success they
experienced at a handful of schools, was eager to approach
the school board to expand the projects. The teachers at
the school, however, were less optimistic. “Please don’t tell
the board we’re doing this,” they said, out of fear that the
program would get bogged down in red tape. (NB: This story
had a happy ending. The board picked up the program and
expanded it to schools across the region.)
A message that shouldn’t be lost in the face of frustration
when dealing with an impenetrable bureaucracy is that, in
many cases, the bureaucracy provides a valuable service by
protecting the sanctity of our publicly delivered education
system. “There’s a whole system in place,” says Annie
Kidder, Executive Director of People for Education. “You
can’t just change one particular piece in your backyard.”
The barriers that provide some entrepreneurs with access
over others is not due to a problem with the bureaucracy
per se, but with social groups’ in-crowd/out-crowd mentality.
It is inevitable and desirable for some barriers to be in
place to protect such an important resource as our public
education system.
It is important for entrepreneurs to understand the map
of the system and the needs of the players, as well as have
evidence to back up their venture to demonstrate how it will
benefit students.
“The�bureaucracy�is�huge.�There’s�one�gate�after�another.�It’s�important�to�build�trust.�Who�are�my�supporters?�Who�are�the�stakeholders?”�-�Susan�Gucci,�Co-Chair,��
School�Council,�East�York�Collegiate�Institute
16
Creative fundingIn Ontario, education entrepreneurs employ a wide range
of business models and funding sources to keep them
afloat. In general, best practices of finding revenue streams
depend largely on the organization’s structure and the
service or product they provide. Considering the challenges
in funding socially innovative educational programs, as they
exist somewhere between a publicly delivered service and a
private enterprise, education entrepreneurs frequently face
barriers to raising new funds.
Innovation often requires a protracted period of
testing and failure, which governments are not keen
to fund with public money. “Public dollars cannot be
used for innovation because of risk,” says Carolyn
Acker. “Seed funding, social venture capital, from risk-
taking entrepreneurs—whether individuals or visionary
foundations—is clearly required.”
Not-for-profit entrepreneurs’ difficulties with securing
funding for their ventures have spurred the creation of
some innovative models that fall under the term of “social
finance” or “impact investment.” In Ontario, the SVX is a
new listing exchange that is specifically designed to support
investment for social ventures.48
A new model called the Social Impact Bond is another tool
that not-for-profit entrepreneurs can use to show that their
social innovation offers a demonstrable economic benefit.
Entrepreneurs would enter into a multi-sector partnership
agreement whereby the innovation’s cost savings are used
to provide a return on private capital for new investment
used to fund scaling. For more information on Social Impact
Bonds, refer to the Nonprofit Finance Fund’s Social Impact
Bonds Learning Hub.49
Across Canada, digital media accelerator programs in
Montreal (Flow Ventures, Founder Fuel, Year One Labs),
Toronto (Extreme Venture Partners, JOLT), Waterloo
(Impact Ventures) and Vancouver (Bootup Labs, Growlab)
have programs that provide funding, space and mentorship
in exchange for a small stake in the company.
For-profit education entrepreneurs can also apply to
incubators or accelerators to help get their ventures to
the next level. In Ontario, Research Innovation Centres
(RICs), which run programs through the Ontario Network of
Excellence, are designed to provide mentorship.50
In the US, several incubators and accelerators run programs
that focus exclusively on education or social enterprise
businesses. Social enterprise Startl, in partnership with
Dreamit Ventures, an accelerator program, offers learning
companies the opportunity to participate in a three-month
program in New York City. The Unreasonable Institute in
Boulder, Colorado works with social entrepreneurs who
pursue social or environmental change, or what they call
“unreasonable ideas.” They ask entrepreneurs to prove
their mettle during the selection process by giving 50
finalists 50 days to raise funds to cover the cost of the
$8,000 program.
New School Ventures, with offices in San Francisco, Boston
and Washington, describes itself as a “nonprofit venture
philanthropy firm.” The firm raises capital from both
individual and institutional investors and then dispenses
those funds to help improve education.
The Kauffman Labs Education Venture Program and
Imagine K12 are programs that incubate start-ups in the
education space to prepare companies for funding requests
and market readiness.
17
The art of co-creationThe ventures that succeed in penetrating the education
market are almost always underwritten by a philosophy
of “co-creation” with the people affected by that market.
Christian Bason says, “Co-creation is about orchestrating a
design process with citizens, businesses and other internal
and external stakeholders.”51 This design process supports
solutions that rely heavily on input from all stakeholders on
implementation and how we might measure their success.
A McKinsey report found that Ontario’s education system
“sponsors and identifies examples of innovative practices in
schools (teaching and learning practice, parent/community
involvement practices, etc.) and then develops mechanisms
to share these innovations across all schools.”52
Charles Leadbeater calls this philosophy “mass innovation.”53
He gives an example in his 2008 book We-Think of a school
in Plymouth that “saw the children as part of the school’s
productive resources, not just as its consumers.”
It is imperative that entrepreneurs do not see selling
into the education system as merely another channel of
distribution for their products. The system’s sheer size and
complexity, coupled with blending social and economic
benefits, requires entrepreneurs to be sensitive to various
stakeholders’ individual needs and work with them to create
a customized version of their product or service.
“Partnerships are the way to do it,” says Carolyn Acker,
Founder of Pathways to Education, when asked to
describe successful integration of outside programs into
the classroom. “Partnerships are about collaboration
and leverage. You don’t go tell the teachers what to do.
Pathways to Education is an adjunct, not a replacement, to
current programs.”
The Pathways to Education program grew from a foundation
of community development, which was grounded in the
values of respect and power sharing. “Pathways is not a top
down program that governments can mandate,” says Acker.
“In order to build community capacity, one needs to use
the tool of community development.” The main premise is
that the community best understands its problems and the
solutions to those problems. This is an attitude that should
be applied to teachers’ understanding of their students and
their needs.
The online comic strip platform BitStrips continually
changes its product based on suggestions from teachers
who use the platform. In 2010, elementary schoolgirls
wanted more skirts for their avatars, so BitStrips included
these seemingly trivial changes in newer versions, showing
sensitivity to students’ needs. As a result, more students
engaged with the program and teachers felt that their
students’ needs were being respected.
To emphasize the importance of collaborating with a wide
group of stakeholders, Carolyn Acker wondered aloud if the
“Ministry of Education” should be called the “Ministry of
Schools.” This is meant to suggest that the education of our
youth is a far bigger mandate than can be handled by one
isolated Ministry. Acker suggests engaging non-traditional
partners, such as public health organizations, anti-poverty
groups and immigration settlement organizations, in the act
of co-creating innovations in education.
The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation is Canada’s
largest private family foundation, and has been using a
“co-creation” model in their funding of innovative education
ventures for the past 15 years. They have achieved success
with programs such as ArtsSmarts and Roots of Empathy
by working closely with them and system stakeholders in
program design.
CEO Stephen Huddart outlines the process of working with
social innovators to effect change in the education system.
“We look for partners to work in close collaboration with, to
test, model, learn, share and disseminate results. We create
the conditions to collaborate.” Education entrepreneurs
cannot expect to sell “out-of-the box” solutions to the
education system.
Since education is a provincial mandate in Canada,
entrepreneurs can expect provinces, and boards within
those provinces, to have different needs based on the
demographics and needs of the students they serve.
“Grandiose projects designed to reform the entire system
are not the way to go,” says Huddart. “Provinces are
perfect labs to test approaches that match the needs of
their students.”
18
There is tremendous resistance to change in large systems,
an inertia that needs to be altered from within, one small
project at a time, instead of from the outside. Working
together with stakeholders to understand their needs is
a crucial step toward developing a shared understanding
of the opportunity. This process develops trust between
collaborators. “Don’t stand outside and expect to be
welcomed in,” says Huddart.
One group that is often forgotten when garnering support
for education ventures is that of the students themselves.
John Tertan is a 17-year-old high school student in York
District School Board and is the Operations Officer for the
Ontario Student Trustee Association. Every board in Ontario
has two or three elected student trustees at the table to
represent the student voice.54
“Student trustees have a huge capacity to help develop new
ideas,” he says. “Every student trustee is eager to take on
new initiatives. Approaching student trustees can help to
improve the idea and help advise on how it’s implemented,
and to make sure their programs are good enough to live
in classrooms.”
Entrepreneurs need to co-create products with the
education market. “There needs to be back and forth
working with allies and champions in the system,” says
Stephen Huddart. “Unlike Bill Gates, you can’t just buy
your way in. You need to go through a co-creation process
with partners.”
Above all, education entrepreneurs must remain flexible in
the face of an immense and multi-faceted education system.
Entrepreneurs should be open to alternative pathways
into the classroom that can complement the traditional
Ministry-board-principal-teacher quadrumvirate. Successful
entrepreneurs have used some of the following access
points to deliver innovative educational programming:
teachers’ unions (e.g., Ontario Secondary School Teachers’
Federation), Toronto Public Health, social service
organizations, immigration organizations (e.g., Settlement.
org), Provincial Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care,
Health Canada, Immigration and Citizenship Canada,
professional teachers’ organizations (e.g., Science Teachers
Association of Ontario), Ontario College of Teachers, anti-
poverty groups, private corporations, publishing companies,
school trustees and direct media to students.
ArtsSmartswww.artssmarts.ca
ArtsSmarts was founded in 1998, through funding
from the J. W. McConnell Family Foundation, to
promote the importance of the arts in student
development and education. This came at a
time when school budgets for arts education
were shrinking. The program uses the arts as
a foundation to teach and inspire independent,
creative thinking by students across all their
subjects. This kind of experiential learning can
have positive effects on struggling students,
improving their levels of engagement.
As a national initiative, ArtsSmarts uses a
network model, working with 16 partners across
Canada to bring professional artists into the
classroom, using music, dance and theatre.
The partnership organizations are a blend of
both public and private sector organizations:
school boards, corporations, arts organizations,
Ministries of Education, Ministries of Culture,
universities and provincial arts councils.
Last year, these partnerships benefited more than
22,042 students in 171 different communities,
bringing 1,480 artists and teachers together to
collaborate on the development of 357 different
ArtsSmarts projects in schools across the country.
Since the beginning, ArtsSmarts has monitored
the effect of its activities in schools, assessing the
impact of their projects on student engagement
and 21st century learning skills. They also work
with their partners to study how the network
model works to develop and share best practices.
19
Measuring impactIt has become fashionable in many education circles to
claim that the true value of education cannot be measured.
Therefore, education entrepreneurs should not be burdened
with providing evidence of the efficacy of their programs.
Notwithstanding the imperfect metrics used in standardized
tests, if entrepreneurs want to get their ventures to work
in as many classrooms as possible, it behooves them to
measure the results of their programs.
“The idea that policy and practice should be underpinned
by rigorous evidence is internationally accepted,” says a
recent NESTA report, “yet there is recognition that the level
of rigour in evaluating ‘what works’ in social policy remains
limited.“55 Providing that rigour is a huge opportunity for
education entrepreneurs to stand out from their less-
effective colleagues.
Pathways to Education’s Carolyn Acker is more blunt. “What
gets measured gets done. What is the point of doing all this
work if you can’t measure what you’re doing? You have to
prove what you’re doing is having an impact.”
There are already well-established networks of researchers
in education at universities in Canada, but access to these
researchers is limited. Researchers at the Ontario Institute
for Studies in Education (OISE) are working on everything
from early childhood education to youth substance abuse.56
There is then the challenge of accumulating solid data to
show the efficacy of new programs and sharing that data
with the wider community.
In the US, Donors Choose is an online charity platform that
connects individuals interested in supporting education
to schools in need. Teachers request funding for projects
ranging from supplies for an art project to school trips.
Donors Choose recently ran a contest named Hacking
Education to learn more from the data collected by their
platform. According to their website, more than 165,000
teachers at 43,000 public schools have posted more than
300,000 classroom project requests, inspiring $80,000,000
in giving from 400,000 donors. The contest opened up their
data for analysis and the building of apps. The implication
is that revealing trends through data on what schools really
need could help to drive funders’ resource decisions.
CIVIXwww.studentvote.ca
CIVIX is the alliance of two organizations with a
significant history of engaging young Canadians:
Operation Dialogue and Student Vote.
Operation Dialogue was a not-for-profit organization
that ran the Talk About Canada! Scholarship
Program. Its mission was to get Canadians talking
and thinking about Canada, to promote good
citizenship and to help young Canadians understand
what it means to be Canadian.
Founded in 2002, Student Vote is a non-partisan
organization working to engage young Canadians
to participate in the democratic process. Student
Vote works with educators to deliver experiential
learning opportunities (primarily mock elections)
for young Canadians to help them understand
and practice their citizenship responsibilities.
Its flagship program runs in elementary and
secondary schools, parallel to official election
periods. Student Vote has served more than
two million students across Canada. It has also
pioneered several democratic engagement
initiatives in person, online and on television.
Taylor Gunn, founding President of CIVIX, is a 2011
Ashoka Fellow. As a social enterprise, CIVIX provides
contract services to supporters, which in turn funds
their programming. CIVIX is planning to expand its
offerings to increase its effectiveness and reach.
The use of analytics to evaluate student performance and
progress can have meaningful impact on how students
are taught and assessed in the classroom. Automated
assessments free teachers from having to grade
assignments or tests, which saves time and allows them to
make more informed decisions about students. The ability
to provide real-time, continuous feedback also enhances the
student experience. Bitstrips for Schools offers teachers a
dashboard for real-time feedback. Teachers can view comics
submitted by students that are ready for review or which
students have yet to start their comic.
20
The Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy in the US advocates
using these types of metrics across the board when
making decisions about public policy. In their 2009–2010
mission, they wrote, “When evaluated in scientifically
rigorous studies, government-funded social interventions
in areas such as K–12 education... are frequently found to
be ineffective or marginally effective.”58 This should allow
more space for independent social entrepreneurs to fill the
gap left by ineffective programming.
Pathways to Education provides one of the most direct
examples of how to use metrics to prove the economic and
social return on investment to stakeholders. When they
began in 2001, they decided to focus on four single metrics—
credit accumulation, absenteeism, graduation rate and post-
secondary participation—to measure progress toward lowering
the high school dropout rates for students in low-income areas
such as Toronto’s Regent Park. From 2001 to 2011, Pathways
reduced the dropout rate in Regent Park from 56% to 11%.
Figure 7: Since 1990–1991, Canada’s high school dropout rate has decreased by almost half
To further quantify the economic impact of this result,
Pathways worked with Boston Consulting to further refine
their statistics in 2011. Boston Consulting found:
• A return on investment of $24 for every dollar invested
• A net present value to society of $45,000 to $50,000
for every student enrolled
• A cumulative lifetime benefit to society of $600,000
for each graduate
• An internal rate of return of 10%59
These “trickle-down” benefits all began with the
organization’s sole focus on decreasing dropout rates. As
a result, in March 2011, the Canadian Federal Government
funded the program to the tune of $20 million over four
years to expand the model to low-income communities
across Canada.60
The question is how to quantify (or qualify) the success
of education ventures outside the scope of standardized
testing and how to measure so-called “soft skills” such as
empathy, critical thinking, citizenship and self-confidence.
It is widely recognized that these skills are integral to a
functioning 21st century society and are more important
than the rote learning and memorization skills that
dominated 19th and 20th century education. But how do we
measure these intangible assets?
There is a balance to be struck between quantitative
and qualitative assessment of education success. There
are many ways to do this. Quantitative measurements
could consist of course grades, grade averages, test
grades, graduation rates, dropout rates, attendance or
punctuality. Qualitative measurements could consist
of self-evaluation surveys completed by students on
intangibles such as self-confidence, empathy and their
desire to attend school.
Impact Reporting and Investing Standards (IRIS) is a
common language or “taxonomy” hosted at the Global
Impact Investing Network (GIIN). The initiative seeks to
standardize how organizations communicate and report
their social and environmental impact. They have developed
a series of metrics that can be used for education ventures,
both in financial terms and in measuring social impact and
educational quality.57
In North America, social entrepreneurs can apply for
B Corporation (B-Corp) certification, which applies to
businesses that meet “comprehensive and transparent
social and environmental performance standards.”
Education companies can take the “B Impact Assessment”
questionnaire to see what impact they are having on
stakeholders and to apply to become a B Corporation.
Standards like IRIS, or certifications like B-Corp, effectively
integrate social performance into business modeling and are
integral for entrepreneurs looking to create more resilient
business models in the education sector. Not only does this
help to build a critical feedback loop for entrepreneurs, these
transparent standards and metrics of success are of interest
to governments, potential funders and administration
looking to invest in the education sector. They can be a key
point of differentiation for social entrepreneurs who want to
distinguish themselves from a traditional business.
9%2008–2009
17%1990–1991
Source: Statistics Canada
21
Stephen Huddart has some cautions about the importance
of choosing the right metric to determine success. In 2004,
the McConnell Foundation funded an ArtsSmarts program
at a chronically underfunded school in Alberta. “Before
ArtsSmarts was introduced, all the teachers would quit at
the end of the year and they’d have to rehire new teachers
in September. It was miserable,” he says.
Figure 8: High School Dropouts cost more than Canada $1.3 billion
At the end of the first year of the ArtsSmarts program,
anecdotal evidence suggested great success. At-risk
students were returning to school and spending more time
in class, and at the end of the year, 100% of the teachers
stayed on to teach the next year. However, the metric they
chose to measure—average marks of all students—dropped.
The problem with the chosen metric was that it included the
results for kids who were now coming back to school, but
would have previously skipped a test or not been counted in
the end-of-year marks. Also, kids were showing up to school
and ignoring their other schoolwork to work on ArtsSmarts
projects. It was hardly an ideal situation, but it was a
definite improvement over the previous state of things.
“There appears to be a lag period between the innovation and
the results we were looking for,” says Huddart. “For some kids
this was literally a life saver. Slowly, the improved attendance
and achievement spread to the rest of the courses, and
eventually the school showed enormous improvement.”
HIGH-SCHOOL DROPOUTS COST CANADA’S SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM MORE THAN
$1.3 BILLION
Desire2Learnwww.desire2learn.com/
Founded in 1999, Desire2Learn provides cloud-
based e-learning solutions for education, as
well as corporate, health-care and government
markets. Desire2Learn enables teachers to design
and deliver courses to their students online. The
platform incorporates digital communication
and collaboration as well as measurement and
assessment tools for teachers. It is currently being
used by schools and universities around the world.
Learning Suite, its flagship learning management
system, has been customized to serve each
market’s specific needs. Learning Suite for
Schools is designed to meet the needs of K–12
schools. Its core consists of six platforms that are
designed to facilitate online education:
1) Learning Environment: learning
management system
2) ePortfolio: student workspace
3) Learning Repository: drives the sharing
of reusable digital education content
4) Mobile: extends learning to mobile devices
5) Analytics: provides data to inform teachers
of their students’ progress
6) Capture: captures and streams digital media
The company employs around 300 people at its
headquarters in Kitchener. In 2011, it acquired
two companies: Metranome, a mobile Waterloo
start-up founded by former RIM employees,
and Toronto-based Captual Technologies, which
moved its five-person team to Kitchener. Captual
Technologies specializes in media-casting,
allowing students to see the presenter and
slideshow at the same time.
The Desire2Learn platform has won several
learning awards. The company has been
recognized by the Deloitte Technology Fast 50
program as one of the fastest growing companies
in Canada in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.
Source: Canadian Council on Learning
22
Technology adoptionMany entrepreneurs developing new products and services
for education work in the field of digital technology or
ICT (information and communication technology). At
MaRS, these clients work closely with the social innovation
practice (SiG@MaRS) and the Information technology,
Communications and Entertainment (ICE) Practice.
Figure 9: In Canada, there is approximately one computer for every five students compared to an average of 1:13 among OECD countries
OECD
CANADA
COMPUTERS PER STUDENT
2003-2004:
Statistics bolster the claim that Canada is one of the
leading systems in the world for access to communications
technology. What the numbers hide, though, is the
gap between teachers who are comfortable with the
technologies and use them daily and those teachers who
are not as familiar with technology in the classroom.
In 2009, Cisco embarked on a wide-ranging project to
evaluate the use of technology ranging from educational
games to calculators. It found many barriers to the practical
use of technology in the classroom, consisting of a lack of
any of the following: “vision; access to research; leadership;
teacher proficiency in integrating technology in learning;
professional development; innovative school culture;
and/or resources.”61 As Mark Cuban puts it, computers in
classrooms are “oversold and underused.”62
Figure 10: In 2006, Canadian 15-year-old students used computers more often than the combined OECD country average
31%25%
CANADA
OECD
Statistics can also be misleading, in that they are aggregate
numbers and do not speak to the state of technological
integration in a particular classroom. If an Ontario school
has, on average, one computer per five students, it does not
mean that students have access to those computers during
the entire day. They might be collected in a computer lab,
for example, that needs to be signed out, or statistics might
include computers used in the library or teacher offices.
Stephen Morris, Vice Principal at York Mills Collegiate, runs
a Twitter feed called Technology Today (@technologytoday)
that comments on the usage of technology in education
and shares innovations with a wide community of teachers,
administrators and private companies. Morris has worked
on getting access to Moodle, interactive whiteboards and
wireless technologies for the TDSB, and on integrating the
programming language C# and programs such as MarkBook
at school levels.
For Morris, who was also the Tech Integration leader for
the southeast family of schools in Toronto, the question
of technology in the classroom is not based on the use
of technology per se, but on challenges of integration,
accessibility, training and pedagogical direction.
15-YR-OLDS USING THE INTERNET DAILY
Source: OECD
Source: OECD
23
“You don’t want to buy a technology for the sake of the
technology,” he says. “How will it help students and help the
school?” Introducing MarkBook, for instance, spoke to the
Toronto District School Board’s desire to make assessment
of students as equitable and objective as possible.
MarkBook also enabled teachers to start thinking about
different learning styles in assessment, as marks had to be
categorized in different ways (e.g., distinguishing between
“rote learning” as a “knowledge” assignment, evaulating
a writing assignment designed to test “communication”
skills). This led teachers to a valuable debate on equity
and assessment and different styles of learning. “These
aren’t technology issues; these are pedagogical assessment
issues,” says Morris.
To successfully integrate technology into a school, you
cannot foist it on teachers from above. “Teachers have to
be on board,” says Morris. “You start with the ones who
aren’t afraid of change, of risk. They share and promote for
you, then you get the other teachers to follow them.”
A report released in 2009, which collected research from
board trustees across Ontario, found that, “While there is
innovative practice to support the integration of modern
technology into the operations of the board, schools and
classrooms, it is not because of a provincial vision or plan.
It is because of leadership which is often teacher and board
staff generated.”63
The goal is to build the use of technology into the school’s
culture, which requires a concerted effort from the school
administration that goes beyond buying gadgets and giving
them to teachers.
The importance of not treating technology as a panacea to
student achievement is not limited to Ontario. A recent OECD
study of member countries found that because education
policy-makers “could not see schools and teachers adopting
technology at the desired pace and with the expected
intensity or clear-cut evidence of the expected benefits,
a certain discomfort, if not skepticism, began to silently
propagate.”64 The report identifies teacher confidence in the
use of technology as a major drawback to its implementation.
This is clearly frustrating for the students. John Tertan,
from the OSTA, gives his opinion that, “There needs to
more of a push to upgrade technology in classrooms. Our
education system needs to invest more in technology so
we can keep up.” According to Tertan, “...it enriches the
learning environment with resources but also platforms.”
Tertan agrees with Morris that, when properly integrated,
technology can also help with the issue of equity. For
example, for courses to be delivered in a traditional manner,
a minimum number of students need to sign up for it. “This
leaves out the minorities,” says Tertan. “Aboriginal students
often can’t pursue aboriginal studies because there might
not be enough students signed up for the class.”
With technology set up to network students across
Ontario, these types of specialized programs could find
enough students to take the course virtually. This would
be a “huge step forward in preparing each student for the
future,” says Tertan.
“A lot of people have misconceptions about technology,”
says Tertan, “that it’ll be a distraction from learning.” But
for students today, technology is part of their culture. The
OSTA spoke out against the TDSB’s 2007 ban on cellphone
use in the classroom, and in 2011, the TDSB overturned the
ban. Now, some boards, such as the Windsor-Essex Catholic
District School Board, have partnered with companies like
New Found Network to design their “In-School App Series”
so that students can use their phones to engage with
educational content.
Most material purchases for products and services occur at
the board level. However, the Ontario Ministry of Education
purchases software for Ontario boards through the Ontario
Software Acquisition Program Advisory Committee (OSAPAC).
Every year, OSAPAC surveys teachers across the province
to determine their software priorities. Their priorities are
then confirmed with the Curriculum and Assessment Policy
Branch of the Ministry and Request for Qualifications
(RFQs) are posted on the bidding website www.merx.com.
A full list of the OSAPAC’s criteria for vendors is available
online at www.osapac.org. There are three criteria of
particular relevance to the problems entrepreneurs often
face when selling into the system:
1. Software is networkable
2. Available in English and French
3. Canadian made, or at least an exclusive Canadian
distributor65
24
Entrepreneurs often overlook this second point: public
education in Ontario is bilingual. Aside from French
immersion schools, which are administered by English
language school boards, thousands of students attend
French language public schools. Of the 72 school boards in
Ontario, 12 are French speaking. For the 2009–2010 school
year, this meant that there were 92,976 French-speaking
students out of two million students (Ontario Ministry
of Education, 2011d). In fact, there are four public board
systems in Ontario: French Public, French Catholic, English
Public and English Catholic. Software procured at the
provincial level must work for all these boards.66
Web-based software also has an advantage because copies
of the software do not need to be upgraded for individual
boards, schools or classrooms. These types of strategies
can help to slowly close the gap between the technology
that is available to educators and the reality of how
technology is used in the classroom.
Heliotropewww.heliotrope.ca
Heliotrope is a social enterprise that was founded
by Howard B. Esbin in 2004 to develop Prelude,
a game-based learning program that uses an
innovative, artistic model. After a career in the
jewelry industry training merchandisers, Howard
became interested in learning how to encourage
individual creativity and imagination. He returned
to school, attending the visual arts program
at McGill University and eventually went on
to pursue graduate and postgraduate studies.
Prelude stems from Howard’s doctoral and
postdoctoral research into participatory learning,
the creative process and positive psychology.
Prelude is a group learning game that fosters 21st
century skills including creativity, communication,
collaboration and an appreciation for diversity.
It is designed for students in grades 6 to 12
and can be incorporated into curricula to teach
students self-awareness and career skills. By
helping groups bond, the game also helps to
reduce conditions for bullying, disengagement,
absenteeism and dropping out. Prelude combines
several development tools including character
assessment, EQ training, creativity training, team
building and diversity training. It is also used
in college orientation programs. The game is
played out over three to six hours and is flexible,
accommodating groups of all sizes from six
people to more than 100.
By introducing innovative educational concepts
and learning tools relevant to life and livelihood
in today’s global knowledge society, Heliotrope’s
mission is to help young people succeed by
teaching them real working-world skills.
25
Choice of legal structureThe public education system runs on taxpayer money and
does not need to turn a profit. As such, there is a running
debate about whether education entrepreneurs should be
not-for-profit or for-profit.
The traditional funding model for not-for-profit education
organizations involves foundation grants and charitable
donations. Early-stage not-for-profit organizations are
recognizing that it is difficult to sustain their mission by
relying on these kinds of funds. Operating as a for-profit
social purpose business (SPB) often enables education
ventures to generate revenue that can then be applied to
fund the core social benefit of increased quality of education.
As a social purpose business, entrepreneurs also qualify for a
wider range of funding opportunities from private investors.
In general, reactions to this question seemed to reflect
the philosophy of a particular stakeholder rather than
a defined policy. At the board level, according to one
parent, “It’s pretty anti-business. It’s a different mentality.”
Administrators, tasked with protecting the public education
system, often view entrepreneurs with mistrust. “The first
thing to do is to build trust, to show them you’re in it for the
right reasons. It needs to be a win-win situation,” she said.
Large textbook companies such as Pearson, Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt and Nelson, as well as software companies
like Microsoft and Dell, have been selling into the system for
years. “For-profit companies have a lot of products to solve
the problems education systems need to solve,” says Vice
Principal Steve Morris. “It’s very hard to provide solutions
with just not-for-profit companies. But the bottom line is
always the same: Is it really related to student success? Is it
something that benefits students?”
As such, entrepreneurs must modify their approach when
talking to different stakeholders and adjust their language.
One of the fiercest proponents of protecting students in
the classroom from exploitation by corporate interests are
students themselves. “We shouldn’t have any advertising
in classrooms or in schools,” says OSTA’s John Tertan. “Our
schools are somewhere people should feel safe and not
bombarded from advertising.”
For Tertan, decisions on whether to include for-profit
companies in the school system “depend on what they’re
offering and how they offer it.” External stakeholders often
forget that students at all levels in the public education
system often work very closely with charities such as
Free the Children, UNICEF and the Aga Khan Foundation.
“Everywhere you go, at every school, you see so many kids
involved in charities,” says Tertan. Not-for-profit companies
should realize that the students that comprise their end-
user base are often sympathetic to the causes and goals of
not-for-profit organizations.
Annie Kidder, from People for Education, comments
that, “We need to have openness while recognizing the
importance of the public system. The whole innovation
movement can sometimes feel like a Trojan horse designed
to break up the public education system.”
Reports, such as the recently released “Best in Class” by
Ernst & Young, provide tips on “how companies can leverage
the successes of businesses that already are making an
impact on the US education landscape.” The report contains
case studies of companies such as IBM, Texas Instruments
and ExxonMobil as examples of successful for-profit
companies working in the education system.
“We need regulation for the overall good, and then we can ask
the question about the balance between for-profit and not-
for-profit,” says Kidder. “Currently, there is no objective body
to help ensure the protection of the system. Before vetting
the purposes of individual companies, we need to protect the
values of the public education system as a whole.”
Foundations like McConnell generally only grant to not-for-
profits, as do many corporate social responsibility initiatives
run by for-profit companies. That said, the growing field of
“social finance” offers the potential for foundations and
others to fund education innovation through their investment
portfolios (see “Creative funding”). The question of private
sector involvement in the public education system can be
sensitive, however, especially with corporate sponsorship.
“How�do�we�set�up�our�education�system�so�that�it’s�open�in�the�right�ways�to�the�innovation�that’s�available�in�the�broader�world�without�endangering�the�public�nature�of�education?”��
-�Annie�Kidder,�Executive�Director,�People�for�Education
26
What students needIt’s tempting for entrepreneurs to assume that their product
is of interest to students because it’s of interest to the
entrepreneurs. Rarely do we stop and ask ourselves exactly
what students need to be successful and how to help them
achieve that.
Figure 11: Graduation rate in Ontario 2009-2010
81%
Secondary school students like John Tertan can get
involved in the administrative procedures of the education
system and advocate on behalf of their peers, but
elementary school students need to rely on parents,
teachers and support workers to advocate on their behalf.
That said, smart program designers listen very carefully to
feedback from young students, and also watch carefully for
proxy indicators of need through marks and behavior.
The concerns that get brought to Tertan and the OSTA
on behalf of secondary school students can often apply
to much younger children. “Mental health needs more
support,” he says. “A lot of the student survey results we’ve
done show that students don’t know where they can get
help, or don’t feel comfortable asking for help.” Resources
need to be made available not only to secondary school
students, but to students just starting elementary school.
A guidance counsellor we talked to emphasized the
importance of mental health initiatives for students in
schools. Currently, there is an imperfect patchwork of
programs designed to serve students. Guidance counsellors
act as “the gatekeepers” to help students connect with social
workers, psychologists, speech and language pathologists,
settlement workers and outside agencies depending on need.
Counsellors are not as bound to the classroom as in-class
teachers, and often attend professional development
workshops on topics such as bullying, eating disorders,
self-confidence and career path management. Guidance
counsellors can be excellent champions of innovative
programs that are designed to address these issues. “In high
school, we are the one person who is in contact with a student
from the start to end of their high school career,” he said.
Tertan and his colleagues have been vocal supporters of
gay-straight alliances in high schools, as well as advocating
for more support for LGBT youth. “These students need
to feel safe,” he says. “They need to be treated equitably
and know that there is a support system for them.” He also
mentions the severe disparity in graduation rates between
aboriginal and non-aboriginal students in Ontario, as well as
the struggles many kids have when planning for careers and
their future.
Carolyn Acker and Norman Rowen founded the Pathways
to Education program around the disparity of dropout
rates for students in low-income areas and their diminished
prospects for careers after graduating. Acker talks about
efforts in the 1960s to attempt to solve the problem by
“reforming curriculum and changing how teachers teach”
in their pre-service education, but it did not change the
statistics of low-income students.
Source: Ontario Ministry of Education
“Ultimately,�the�broader�health�of�a��student�is�equally�as�important�as�the�quality�of�their�educational�experience,��to�ensuring�academic�success.”��
-�Michael�Atzemis,�Guidance�Counsellor,�East�York�Collegiate
27
Figure 12: Canada’s graduation rate
74.8%
CANADA’S UPPER SECONDARY GRADUATION RATE IN 2008-2009.
GRADUATED77.4% 72.3%
Similarly, policy decisions at the board or Ministry level
do not make much difference to dropout rates. “It doesn’t
work until you start to put focus on the communities at
large,” she says. “The unit of analysis needs to expand to
the community. We focused on tutoring after school at a
location away from the school. Single interventions don’t
work —we need a comprehensive approach.”
Stephen Morris, Vice Principal at York Mills Collegiate,
encourages a new way of thinking about what students
need. “Some kids aren’t connecting with the curriculum,”
he says. “They‘re not engaged. They need to be taught how
to be explorers. To be problem-solvers, they need to be
explorers and to be engaged. What can we do to invoke this
passion for learning?“
JUMP Mathjumpmath.org
Dr. John Mighton, best-selling author, playwright
and mathematician, believes that any child can
learn and excel at mathematics. While working as
a math tutor, he became frustrated with traditional
approaches to teaching the subject. Working
with his students, he developed more effective
techniques, eventually developing the foundation
for JUMP Math. Founded in 2002, JUMP Math is a
not-for-profit organization with charitable status
that works to promote the understanding and
enjoyment of mathematics in children.
JUMP Math offers a school program to teach
the mathematics curriculum for grades 1 to
8. The program uses a combination of guided
and independent work, breaking mathematics
concepts down into more manageable steps. These
intermediate steps encourage problem-solving and
inspire confidence in students. The organization
also trains teachers and produces free teaching
guides. JUMP Math is currently being used by
more than 85,000 children in over 400 schools
and tutoring programs around the world.
JUMP Math has worked with researchers from the
Hospital for Sick Children and the Ontario Institute
for Studies in Education (OISE) to evaluate the
program’s learning outcomes. The study showed
that students learning with the JUMP Math
program progressed twice as quickly as those
using the regular mathematics curriculum.
Dr. Mighton has written two books describing his
successes with JUMP Math and his philosophy
and methods behind it: The Myth of Ability:
Nurturing Mathematical Talent in Every Child
and The End of Ignorance. In 2004, he was
granted a prestigious Ashoka Fellowship as a
social entrepreneur for his work in mathematics
literacy. In 2010, he was honoured as an appointee
to the Order of Canada for his work as a
playwright and educator.
Source: Statistics Canada
“In�today’s�knowledge-based�economy,�we�don’t�need�kids�to�memorize�facts�and�be�subordinate.�We�need�knowledge-based�thinkers,�we�need�problem�solvers.”��
-�Steve�Morris,�Vice�Principal,�York�Mills�Collegiate
28
Morris’ answer is to deliver more programs in the digital
media that saturate students’ lives. “This isn’t a trend; this
is a way of life,” he says. Many teachers and administrators
are worried that teachers are missing a whole generation
of students, alienated by the analog nature of their schools.
“The technology is not a tool to them. It’s a big part of what
defines their culture,” Morris says. “One of the things we
pride ourselves on as public teachers is being culturally
sensitive. That should extend to a culture of technology.”
Morris recounts a story of a student, usually uncooperative
in class, who suggested a solution to a problem a teacher
was having with a projector. “The student came up and
helped the teacher fix the problem,” Morris says. The
teacher kept the student at the front of the room as his
“tech consultant” for the rest of the lesson. “That student
was empowered. That student was now part of the lesson
and actually participated.”
ArtsSmarts, the McConnell Foundation-funded arts-
based initiative, is similarly student-focused, although not
necessarily through technology. “This can be transformative
for individual children, and for whole classes,” says
CEO Stephen Huddart. “To our surprise, the program is
particularly effective at engaging those students who
traditional teaching methods don’t reach.“
These types of students often learn visually or in a tactile
manner and function well in a studio setting. “They often
surprise their teachers by producing brilliant work,” says
Huddart. ArtsSmarts classes introduce deep engagement
through the arts and have a strong empathy component.
Huddart sees particularly promising results in marginalized
communities where students discover themselves and help
one another in the presence of a teacher and an artist.
Practi-Quest Corporationpractiquest.com/home.html
Practi-Quest has developed a unique program
to address the problem of bullying in school.
Quest for the Golden Rule is a web-based game
that teaches young students to prevent bullying.
The game was developed in collaboration with
leading researchers on bullying from PREVnet
(Promoting Relationships and Eliminating
Violence Network). PREVNet is a coalition
of Canadians whose goal is to translate and
exchange knowledge about bullying.
Using evidence-based scientific principles, Quest
for the Golden Rule was designed to incorporate
many of the effective characteristics of
established bullying prevention programs through
the use of interactive, animated gaming.
Practi-Quest is an example of using learning
software to teach students more than academics.
Designed for children in grades 2 to 5, the
software raises awareness, encourages positive
attitudes and teaches students problem-solving
strategies for dealing with bullying.
The game involves interacting with animated
characters. This virtual role-play gives children
the opportunity to try out different strategies
to cope with bullying. Students progress in the
game only when they provide a positive solution,
ensuring that they learn appropriate social skills.
Building upon the product’s research beginnings,
Practi-Quest demonstrated that children’s
knowledge of bullying and their identification
of strategies to prevent bullying improved
significantly after using Quest for the
Golden Rule.
“People�who�push�for�programming�might�not�have�the�perspective�of�the�people�the�program�is�designed�to�help.�That�can�be�the�difference�between�success�and�failure.”�
-�John�Tertan,�Ontario�Student�Trustee�Association
29
Involvement of parentsWhen selling into the education system, parents should
be valued as key stakeholders, as they are experts in their
children’s needs. Administrators and policy-makers deal with
children in aggregate, and are tasked with creating policy
that benefits the most number of students. Parents, however,
often have a singular focus on what is appropriate for their
children, and are a valuable source of individual testimony.
School council co-chair Susan Gucci mentions that it’s
difficult to get a wide representation of parents involved. It’s
often the same few parents, often of students who are doing
well at school, who perform the bulk of the council’s duties.
Furthermore, at a high school level, parents are often less
involved in the school than they were at the elementary
level. “The kids still need the parents as advocates,” she
says. “They need more parents involved. Currently, parents
are an untapped resource and there’s a disconnect between
the staff and the parents at many schools.” As parents
work and live in the community, they have connections to
resources that could be brought into schools for projects,
guest speakers, private education programming, after-
school programs and fundraising efforts.
At East York Collegiate Institute, Gucci helped bring in
motivational speakers for students and partnered with
local businesses and the principal to start a breakfast
program for the many kids who were coming to school
hungry. School councils can also work with trustees,
superintendents and school resource officers on various
issues, such as school safety and community integration.
These types of partnerships between parent councils and
community entrepreneurs can be a valuable source of
growth for education entrepreneurs looking for an entry
point. The Parent Engagement Office at the Ministry of
Education is working on policy to create Parent Involvement
Committees at every school to ensure that the lines of
communication remain open between the parents, the
community, the school board and the Ministry.67
The Ministry is also looking at research on how parental
engagement affects student achievement. The goal is to
create schools that welcome a diverse representation of the
parent community, and to help parents understand how the
system works and to become engaged. For entrepreneurs,
this adds another access point to the education system, as
it can help them to find parent champions who support the
project because of what it has done for their children.
“If�we�can�change�one�child�that’s�not�heading�in�the�right�direction,�then�we’ve�done�our�job�on�the�parent�council.”��
-�Susan�Gucci,�Co-chair,�School�Council
30
Many entrepreneurs involved with the education system are
looking for a clear path into the system that works for every
type of venture in all circumstances. Such a path does not
exist. Although we can work toward a more collaborative
model of integrating innovation into the system, the
nature and size of public education in Ontario requires
entrepreneurs to develop patience, tenacity and flexibility.
Building trust between stakeholders is an important first
step, as is trying to work with the system instead of against
it. Entrepreneurs need to listen very carefully to the
discussions happening in public, and between stakeholders,
as to their needs. An old adage in sales says, “If you listen
carefully, your customers will tell you exactly what they
need.” The same is true in education, but the listening skills
expand to encompass a multi-faceted and varied group of
stakeholders who sometimes have needs that don’t align.
For most entrepreneurs, before they scale up to the board
or Ministry level, they need to show that their program
Conclusion
works at a handful of schools, much like a clinical trial for
a new health-care product. Several people we interviewed
pointed to schools in low-income areas as places to test
new solutions. “These are places where you find passionate
principals and teachers eager for new approaches because
the current system isn’t working,” says Stephen Huddart,
CEO of the McConnell Foundation.
“Successful innovation happens in the interstices, the
spaces between the pieces,” says Carolyn Acker, Founder of
Pathways to Education. “In this space we can make strong
connections between the school and the communities.”
The fact remains that Ontario has one of the best public
education systems in the world. Private entrepreneurs, public
teachers and innovators can use their ingenuity to make it
even better, if we create a system that values collaboration
and co-creation. Ontario should look to export its education
expertise to the rest of the world, and position itself as a
global thought leader in public sector innovation in education.
31
Ontario Education Ventures
Bitstrips: Teaching Literacy Though Comic Creationbitstrips.com
Interviewed: Shahan Panth, Vice President, Business Development
Bitstrips brings online comic creation to everyone, with no
art skills required. Jacob Blackstock, CEO and Founder, is a
cartoonist and animator. He originally devised the platform
that is now Bitstrips as a way to automate and simplify the
drawing process. His goal was to eliminate the tediousness
of repeatedly drawing the same elements from scratch each
time he wanted to create a comic.
In 2007, he got together with two friends who were
developers (David Kennedy and Dorian Baldwin) to build
the platform. The original idea was to make something for
themselves, but seeing value in what they created, they
decided to make it available to everyone. By March 2008, they
launched Bitstrips.com at South by SouthWest, one of North
America’s most prominent launching pads for start-ups.
Comics are difficult to make, especially for individuals who
cannot draw. Bitstrips simplifies this process, enabling
anyone to create original comics from scratch. The platform
consists of two components: a general builder to create
the comic strip and a character builder to design cartoon
avatars. Cartoon avatars are customizable in a large
number of ways in positioning and look.
Bitstrips, available for free, quickly became a popular
website. When the site garnered interest from teachers,
the company began developing a new product that was
tailored for the classroom. Bitstrips for Schools launched
in September 2009. Different from the public Bitstrips.com
platform, Bitstripsforschools.com provides teachers with
private, self-contained classroom environments.
Bitstrips licensed Bitstrips for Schools to the Ontario
Ministry of Education, making it available to 5,000 schools
and about two million students in Ontario. Adoption was
quick, in part because the tool is a website and requires
no additional software installation. In its first year, more
than 90% of schools were using it and now that number
is over 95%. More than five million comics have been
created in the last three years in Ontario schools.
Bitstrips for Schools is being used across Canada, the
US and internationally.
Bitstrips for Schools’ content, known as the activity
library, is closely tied to international school curricula.
If a teacher is doing a unit on Shakespeare’s Romeo
& Juliet, students can use elements from the activity
library, such as scenery and avatars, to create comics that
directly match the topic they are studying. The platform
allows teachers to review and provide feedback on work
submitted by students. It also provides the opportunity
for students to collaborate and share their comics with
the rest of the class in a fun and social way. Teachers
have found that it motivates student writing, especially
reluctant writers, and is a useful tool for developing
students’ language and media literacy skills. Since an
Internet connection is the only requirement for using the
platform, students can even do it at home.
What began as a desire to solve an animator’s problem has
now grown into a company of six full-time employees plus
a team of interns. The company’s next goal is to increase
the distribution of Bitstrips for Schools across Canada, the
US and China. They are translating the website into Chinese
and working with a partner to distribute software in China.
Bitstrips’ powerful cartoon creator is also creating more
opportunities for the company. As the issue of privacy
becomes more of a concern to Internet users, Bitstrips
is exploring ways to become your default online cartoon
identity, or avatar.
32
OTEP Inc.: Changing the Way Learning Disabilities are Diagnosedwww.otepinc.com
Interviewed: Robert Whent, President
OTEP aims to modernize the way learning disabilities
are diagnosed and treated. President Robert Whent has
a long history of entrepreneurship. He opened his first
digital media company in corporate training in 1987. This
experience taught him that people were more receptive to
learning when they were engaged with technology, such
as video simulations, rather than traditional classroom
training. In the 1990s, the company began using interactive
platforms for training, which they sold to Fortune 500
companies such as Sears, Chrysler and Motorola. The next
step was to use interactive video combined with gaming
techniques to make corporate training a fun activity.
Robert’s own experience with a learning disability, as
well as his son’s experience, eventually led him down this
current path. While Robert was having his son assessed,
he soon found that techniques for assessment hadn’t
changed in 30 years. Traditional testing was failing in
how it determined cognitive strengths and weaknesses in
today’s children. Robert’s frustration led him to conceive
of the idea for OTEP (Online Training & Education Portal).
The Windsor company was incorporated in 2009 to
improve diagnosis in children with learning disabilities, and
currently employs six people.
Robert partnered with Dr. Corey Saunders, a developmental
neuropsychologist from Windsor. His specialization is in
disorders of infancy and early childhood, including autism
and developmental disabilities. Noticing that his son
excelled at video games, Robert began thinking about how
to use video games to test cognitive strength, essentially
converting each cognitive test into a digital version.
They began trying to figure out how to use video games
to identify and improve cognition in school-aged children.
As Robert puts it, “If my son can play video games like a
champ, does that tell me something about how he learns?”
Many learning styles are never taken into account in
classrooms and struggling students are often misdiagnosed
as having learning disabilities when the problem is a
learning difference or a mental health issue. The team
looked at traditional video games and then identified the
types of cognitive thinking used in each game. Tetris, for
example, uses the executive function of planning and shape
recognition. OTEP then started pilot testing some games,
matching functions to skills.
With their first product, OTEP aims to educate and inform
parents with children struggling in school. Think-2-Learn
(think2learn.ca) is a private online pre-screening tool consisting
of two parts: a mental health and cognitive survey where
parents answer questions about their child, and games that
children play. The results from each are combined to determine
any possible behavioural or cognitive issues. This platform also
has the potential to detect changes in seniors’ cognitive health.
OTEP has spent the past year and a half doing research for
another project related to the learning process. Recognizing
that everyone has a separate cognitive profile that defines
how they learn best, OTEP’s goal is to build unique profiles
based on personal cognitive inventories. This profile could be
uploaded into e-learning programs that adjust based on how
someone learns. They are now working on this concept using
simple PC games and are building an engine that can be
integrated for use by any e-learning program or video game.
OTEP continues to work closely with the University of
Windsor. The university is creating an Institute for Human
Modeling and Interaction using two OTEP patents. They have
also partnered with Koolhaus Games in Vancouver.
33
Quillsoft: Intelligent Prompts to Aid Reading and Writingwww.goqsoftware.com
Interviewed: Dr. Fraser Shein, President and CEO
Dr. Fraser Shein began as a scientist at Holland Bloorview
Kids Rehabilitation Hospital developing assistive technology
for children with disabilities. He founded Quillsoft, a for-
profit corporation, in 2000 to commercialize the results of
these research activities. Holland Bloorview was a co-owner
of Quillsoft in this unique partnership. This was beneficial
for both parties, as each qualified for funding that the other
did not. Holland Bloorview as a research institute could
apply for research grants while Quillsoft as a business could
apply for business funding.
The company now has 1.5 million clients and eight full-time
employees plus three part-time workers. To take Quillsoft to
the next level, Dr. Shein retired as a scientist from Holland
Bloorview. The Quillsoft team now operates independently
while maintaining close ties to the research institute.
Quillsoft produces literacy products that are targeted to
individuals who struggle with reading and writing. WordQ
is a text-to-speech and word prediction technology that
provides verbal and visual cues (similar to auto-correct
when texting) to prompt students when they are typing.
The tool is installed directly on computers and is available
in English, French, Spanish and German. It works with any
computer application that involves writing.
SpeakQ is a companion product to WordQ that adds simple
speech recognition. Larger software providers in this area
design their products for people capable of speaking,
dictating and writing in complete sentences. SpeakQ is
designed for individuals that experience difficulties with
these tasks.
Before using these products, it is necessary to train the
technology to recognize your voice by reading text. But if
you cannot read, you cannot train. SpeakQ re-invented the
training portion that teaches individuals to speak clearly at
a suitable speed. The reading is slower and more digestible,
and repeats back what has been read. All these elements
make the program appropriate for these individuals’ needs.
WordQ is now available to every student in Ontario.
In the beginning, Quillsoft sold its products directly to
schools but this became unmanageable after a few years.
In 2007, the company partnered with Strategic Transitions,
which was then a reseller of Quillsoft products. Strategic
Transactions, with offices in the US and Montreal, handles
distribution, training and support, while Quillsoft is
responsible for product research and development. Its next
project will explore how to support creativity and reading.
Quillsoft remains focused on growing and maintaining
satisfied customers, firmly believing that profits are a
reward for making a difference to people. They are aiming to
become a $100 million company and compete at the same
level as established players. Recognizing that they cannot do
it on their own, Quillsoft is also developing new partnerships
at universities for research and development. Strategic
Transactions, their distribution partner, is expanding to
Europe, which will increase Quillsoft’s global exposure.
34
Spongelab Interactive: Teaching Science Using Digital Media and Interactive Gameswww.spongelab.com
Interviewed: Dr. Jeremy Friedberg, Co-Founder and Partner
Spongelab Interactive offers a wide range of learning
communities an immersive online environment that allows
users to find, organize, annotate, deploy and track digital
science content. The company uses 3D environments and
game-based learning, integrated with intelligent feedback,
that is deployed through custom-developed, open
platform technology.
As a graduate student at the University of Guelph, Dr. Jeremy
Friedberg experienced first-hand the challenges of teaching
students and ensuring that they stayed engaged with the
content. He began using tools like plasticine to demonstrate
complex biological processes. He quickly realized the benefits
of this physical engagement for students, which led him to
begin using immersive environments to teach. This evolved
into using computers for creating animations in Flash.
Eventually he learned to animate in 3D programs.
Dr. Friedberg went on to complete a Doctorate in
molecular genetics and biotechnology. As he continued
teaching at various Ontario universities, and through
various collaborative projects, he began developing his
own approach to game-based learning—adapted for the
mainstream education system. Game-based learning goes
beyond using a computer to teach, incorporating a game-
layer into the learning structure that acts as the motivation
or reward to encourage and self-engage learners.
35
In 2007, Dr. Friedberg met Andrea Bielecki, President of
Invivo Communications, a 3D medical media company.
Together they began to develop the concept for Spongelab,
and along with Andrea’s partner, Reg Bronskill, founded
Spongelab Interactive. The company now consists of eight
full-time employees including scientists, animators and
educators, plus several part-time workers.
One major challenge of developing interactive content
for schools is that it requires a powerful computer to run
immersive digital content. When Spongelab created the
Spongelab Biology platform, an educational series of online
biology games, they tackled this problem, building their
front-end for game development. Spongelab Biology is
fully online, accessible through a web browser, requiring no
downloads or installation.
In 2008, Spongelab built their first game on cell biology
using this technology. This game received a lot of attention,
winning a National Science Foundation award. Spongelab
built eight more games for the Genomics Digital Lab title
and was also awarded a UN World Summit Award. Genomics
Digital Lab is now in use in more than 75 countries, and
offers lesson plans, assessment tools and more to teachers.
After the Genomics Digital Lab project, Spongelab began
History of Biology, an interactive online scavenger hunt
with more than 50 hours of game play. Students experience
the history of biology through scientists and their
discoveries. Development of this project spanned a year
and the game is now part of the Spongelab platform.
As Spongelab Interactive developed games and different
projects for clients, they also talked to stakeholders
within the education system. The company began to
see that their game content was just one component
of the entire learning experience. They learned that
teachers want to use interactive online content in their
classrooms, but lack time and capability to bring it all
together for their lessons. Spongelab decided to address
this problem and built a platform to help teachers
organize resources, lessons and classes. Coming out of
beta soon, the new spongelab.com is a free platform
for teachers that helps them to enhance their science
lesson plans with digitally rich content such as graphics,
animations, simulations and games.
Spongelab’s current focus is on building this scientific
community of teachers, students, faculty and educators.
To encourage growth of the site, they are applying the
same philosophy of gaming they use in their educational
games by awarding badges, experience points and credits
to users and contributors. These credits can be used to
purchase premium content, extended site features and
non-Spongelab products but ultimately functions as a
global engager to foster behaviour change. Through this
process, users are encouraged to become content creators
as well as content consumers. The site also employs several
alternative revenue generation models that access multiple
markets, extending the fabric of education well beyond the
traditional and simultaneously meeting the needs of the
education system at all its levels.
36
Appendix: MethodologyThroughout 2010 and 2011, the MaRS Discovery District
hosted and attended events designed to probe the size and
scope of social innovation in the field of public education. In
addition, Market Intelligence conducted research to support
our clients’ ventures. Of roughly 800 clients served by
MaRS, around 35 of them are part of an Education Cluster:
entrepreneurs who sell into, or work with, the K–12 public
education system in Ontario.
The content in this paper is comprised of data collected
by the Market Intelligence team, and feedback from the
following 2010–2011 events:
• Education Cluster Innovation Project, Business Model
Generation, with Bob Logan, OCADU, Oct. 5, 2010 @ MaRS
• Education Cluster Innovation Project, Systems
Mapping, with Bob Logan, OCADU, Oct. 26, 2010
@ MaRS
• GovCamp, Changing the Education System in Ontario,
June 8, 2011 @ MaRS
• Education Cluster Stakeholder Breakfast, June 28,
2011 @ MaRS
• Education Cluster Networking Breakfast, June 14,
2011 @ MaRS
• Design Workshop for a ChangeLab, with Adam
Kahane, REOS Partners, July 21–22, 2011 @ the
University of Toronto
In addition, the authors conducted a series of private
interviews in July and August 2011 with a varied group of
education stakeholders (see “Acknowledgements”).
During our investigations, we were able to cluster
comments and concerns regarding the ability of
entrepreneurs to work with the public education system
into loose categories of inquiry. These form the basis for the
explorations in these pages.
37
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