whapworth/Study-Snacks — Issue #101: Neal: Ruminating on Khan
Author: whapworth
Created: 2011-12-30 18:09:18+00:00
State: open

Yes I can. Having said that I honestly believe that Kahn has defined success.

In my humble opinion before jumping to implementation we need to define what specific problem are we solving, for whom and what is its value? If we are going to build a business we need to start with a unique value proposition that solves a problem for a specific group or audience. Once this is defined we can build an operational capability to deliver on that promise.

I just signed up on Kahn as a coach for my daughter to see what features and capabilities are the current standard of excellence. It is very well done and its free - very difficult to compete directly on quality (the instruction is superior), content (wide range of subjects) or execution (they have a lot of features: goals, play lists, exercises, coaching, tutors, accomplishment metrics, testing to standards, social network features). In addition they have name recognition and first mover advantage.

Please don't take my comments as being negative. I am trying to understand if an opportunity exists and if so, exactly what is it. Can we out perform Kahn and if so how?

One idea is to partner with owners of specialized content. For example - Kaplan or Princeton in the test prep space. However, content owners will be under pressure from Kahn or can replicate the technology directly.

Alternatively, what about specializing Khan - i.e. going very deep vs. wide. Specialists can beat generalists when the problem is narrowly defined. Specializations:

Subject - Music or sports for example. Noticed not a lot offered
Age Group - You have Sesame Street like characters on the site is that intended to target pre and grammar school children?
Goal - High School or College Admissions
Trades

Another thought is to differentiate by experience. Videos of a smart board are an effective technique for classic subjects. What can these be supplemented with to enable a more effective transfer of knowledge? Better content creation tools? Can we leverage open source frameworks like GIMP to enable authors / teachers to make Kahn like drawings and charts interactive and 3D?

Just thinking out loud here - any thoughts?