How Education Companies Are Appealing to This Generation
U.S. educators have been hit with a retention problem that could apply to any business. Despite spending more than others each year on education programs, American students are having trouble staying interested in their curriculum. Research provided by Cognitive Media notes that a child drops out of school every 9 seconds.
The problem lies in the difference between how young people interact outside and inside the classroom. Gone are the days where analog practices were enough. Standards for catching people’s attention have drastically changed, and keeping students interested means pioneering solutions to match their dynamic modern lifestyle.
They’re Only Getting Younger
Generation Y has their hands on some serious mobile tech. Children are more stimulated than ever—the toys are noisily interactive, the user is always in control, and the interface is hands-on. How could you go from a vivid HD communication platform to a monotone whiteboard lecture without stifling a yawn?
There are now educators on the app market working to confront the psychological gap between how students play and learn by using Helpshift‘s mobile solutions that appeal to this generation. An app developer hoping to retain an increasingly active audience could learn from these teachers’ effective methods.
Engage With What Students Know Best
Each generation finds different methods of giving and receiving information. Asking students to get motivated about a giant textbook is like inviting your friends over to listen to your cassette player. The way that content is delivered often makes all the difference.
Storybots has developed an app called “Starring You Books” that provides interactive educational stories in which the child selects the lead character from their own lives. After the student takes a picture of someone (or themselves) with an iPhone or iPad, that person is inserted into a tale in which the student has a vested interest. Any question that the child has is instantly answered with Helpshift’s in-app FAQ and COPPA compliant customer service.
This highly rated approach accomplishes three things: the user is less likely to become bored with a lesson that involves their own life, the user is being kept in the same medium that they use for fun every day, and the user never has to leave the app to seek help.
Provide an Experience Tailored to the Student
This generation is growing up with a society that instantly caters to their needs. The average mobile user can complete a practically infinite amount of tasks with web apps alone. Yet when it comes to preparing for the SAT, the current standard is a one-size-fits-all method that isn’t resonating with students today.
A company bringing SAT prep to this millennium is Score Beyond with their app SAT Up. On the iPhone and iPad, it offers a vast library of sample questions that pinpoint a student’s strengths and where they need to improve. Thorough solutions are provided after every practice test, and an embedded FAQ means that the student can seek answers themselves. A representative instantly responds with Helpshift’s embedded messaging system for one-on-one troubleshooting.
Users of SAT Up have praised how helpful it is to have an on-the-go prep tool that fits their needs. The reviews are clear: these educators understand how to utilize mobile support to bring teaching into the future.
Summary: Teachers are using Helpshift’s personalized in-app solutions to engage the newest generation. Any developer could retain their audience with these methods. School the competition with Helpshift’s SDK free for 30 days.
