The large population and growing attention to education make China an enticing and interesting market for education technology expansion. SIIA’s recent webinar on China outlined opportunities and challenges associated with entering this market. Thought leaders Charles Callis(Vice President, Waterford) , Chris Livaccari(Associate Director of Education and Chinese Language Initiatives, The Asia Society) and Jim Teicher(President, Cybersmart! Education Company) spoke in depth about their experiences with the Chinese market and country.
Five takeaways from the webinar:
- Do not think of China as one homogenous market. The country is geographically diverse, and each region is, in effect, its own market. In addition to geographical segmentation, there are differences between schools and grades, as well as between institutions and informal learning outside of school. Much of the purchasing is done on a local level, and large scale purchases by provinces is not common.
- English language learning is a huge market in China. There are approximately the same number of English speakers in China as there are in the US. China and the United States are becoming more intertwined and shared language exchange is key in the view of many Chinese.
- Among the biggest drivers in the Chinese market are parents. With the one child policy and other cultural norms, it is common that parents will invest their own resources heavily in their child’s education. These investments include private schooling (in the US and China) as well as heavy investment in after school study tools and programs.
- Tablets are increasingly popular in China because of their lower price point and enhanced capabilities, but infrastructure is the more challenging part of the equation. Finding quality content to place on the tablets is increasingly important.
- In the near future, 70% of the population of China will be urban, causing stress on city schools and infrastructure and forcing options for distance and computer-based learning to become more common.
The SIIA Global Working group produces country specific webinars on a regular basis to expand SIIA members’ knowledge of global trends in education. Any SIIA member interested in learning more about the China market or any prior spotlight country should visit our webinar archive.
Lindsay Harman is Market and Policy Analyst for the SIIA Education Division.