THE MARKET FOR US ACCREDITED ONLINE K-12 EDUCATION: Strategies to market your educational products to the hundreds of thousands of parents that want their children to receive a US accredited high school diploma!

WHY ONLINE LEARNING? “A systematic search of the research literature from 1996 through July 2008 identified more than a thousand empirical studies of online learning. Analysts screened these studies to find those that (a) contrasted an online to a face-to-face condition, (b) measured student learning outcomes, (c) used a rigorous research design, and (d) provided adequate information to calculate an effect size. As a result of this screening, 51 independent effects were identified that could be subjected to meta-analysis. The meta-analysis found that, on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction.” Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies U.S. Department of Education 2009

WHY DO PARENTS AROUND THE WORLD WANT THEIR CHILDREN TO RECEIVE US ACCREDITED ONLINE HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMAS? A. ACCESS TO PREMIER ENGLISH LANGUAGE UNIVERSITY TRAINING 1. English is the universal business language; 2. The US has the greatest number of 1 st, 2 nd, and 3 rd ranked universities in the world; 3. With a US accredited high school diploma, children from foreign countries can compete for entrance into any and every university and college in the US. 4. With the number of AP courses available, students can “skip” most of their first year of university; 5. Many foreign students will take Junior College courses on-line and go to the US for the last two years of university.

WHY DO PARENTS AROUND THE WORLD WANT THEIR CHILDREN TO RECEIVE US ACCREDITED ONLINE HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMAS? B. Cost considerations! 1. The cost for international English language education averages from $20-50,000 per year! 2. These costs do NOT include expenses related to travel and boarding if these are necessary for the student; 3. Private national school expenses vary widely, but for highly ranked national schools, costs can be in the $3,000-$15,000 range;

WHY DO PARENTS AROUND THE WORLD WANT THEIR CHILDREN TO RECEIVE US ACCREDITED ONLINE HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMAS? C. QUALITY OF INSTRUCTION: TEACHERS 1. The problem of recruiting great teachers to come to international schools; 2. The problems and costs of visas, housing, and other supportive care services; 3. The problem of too many schools and too few teachers! 4. The problem of teaching courses that don’t have enough students to “pay” for a full time teacher (What motivates a teacher to teach overseas?) THE PROBLEM OF THE COSTS OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

WHY DO PARENTS AROUND THE WORLD WANT THEIR CHILDREN TO RECEIVE US ACCREDITED ONLINE HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMAS? D. QUALITY OF INSTRUCTION: CONTENT 1. The explosion of new information 2. The explosion of new content 3. The explosion of new ways to teach (How can international and national schools keep up with these explosions???) Including 21 st century course content?

WHAT WILL INSURE THAT YOUR COURSES WILL SELL OVERSEAS 1. Your courses are “world-class”, multi-media, with appropriate student-teacher interaction; 2. Your teachers are experienced in teaching in an online environment; 3. Your costs “fit” the income levels of middle class families in various countries (consider economies of scale for countries with lower incomes) 4. Your organization is (US) accredited and leads to an (US) accredited high school diploma.

WHO IS YOUR MARKET? 1. Parents of middle class and upper middle class children who cannot afford or do not have access to world-class international or national education; 2. National schools who want to add your online courses as part of their curriculum with a profit-sharing motive; 3. Educational companies that are in the business of providing English language courses and preparation for English language exams; 4. International schools that want to add to their curricula or who cannot recruit a teacher in various subject areas; 5. Parents of students who want course recovery or who want to take classes (usually AP) that are not offered at their local school.

HOW DO YOU MARKET YOUR ONLINE COURSES? 1. Read Globality: Competing with Everyone for Everywhere for Everything. by Hal Sirkin, Jim Hemerling, and Arindam Bhattacharya ;Hal SirkinJim HemerlingArindam Bhattacharya Hire a multi-nationally experienced marketing/sales director to market country by country; Find key “in-country” educational partners after thoroughly vetting them; Write your contracts so that you pay them from your earnings rather than they pay you from their earnings; PROVIDE THE BEST PRODUCT AT THE BEST PRICE WITH THE EASIEST ACCESS FOR LOCAL MARKETS!

POTENTIAL REVENUE STREAMS 1. Sales of courses and electronic books 2. Provision of “extra” help for struggling students 3. Development of small “on-line” internet centers (schools) in larger urban areas; 4. Provision of college entrance support for successful graduates of your courses; 5. Provision of English language training leading to TOEFL and __________ exams.

FUNDING INTERNATIONAL MARKETING AND SALES OF ONLINE COURSES Consider an industry-wide solution Consider a joint-venture with other online providers Consider getting funding support from agencies like UNESCO, USAID, etc. Consider other private grants for specific countries