KidsEdge.com individualizes learning offerings - Internet/Web/Online Service Information - Brief Article

Internet Strategies for Education Markets: The Heller Report, May, 2000

KidsEdge.com, a site from Knowledge Universe, will launch this month. It is the first product of Knowledge Kids Network (KKN, Los Angeles, CA), a company owned by Knowledge Universe, and KU holdings LeapFrog and Knowledge Beginnings. KU has a minority investment in KKN; it is a majority investor or owner of LeapFrog and Knowledge Beginnings.

The destination site will feature highly individualized learning resources for children from about age three through grade four, says Sarina Simon, president and ceo of KKN. Those resources are organized into three separate areas: Pre-K and K, grades 1 and 2, and grades 3 and 4. Areas of the site for caretakers--TeachersEdge, ParentsEdge, GrandparentsEdge--will provide advice from experts, resources, recommenda-tions, communications tools, and progress reports on how and what their children are doing.

The areas for caretakers will offer diverse revenue opportunities for the site, including e-commerce, advertising and sponsorship. The children's area will also include sponsorship information, but not advertising or e-commerce, says Simon. Many resources for children are free, but the launch will rapidly be followed by the addition of fee-based online learning under an area called Next School.

Simon sees the site as differentiated from competitors in the learning space by a high degree of individualization, a feature common to many Knowledge Universe holdings. Leapfrog, for example, will soon be introducing toys that can occasionally connect to the Net to provide downloads of new, appropriate activities and reports to parents on a child's areas of interest and performance (see ISEM, March, 2000). Simon stresses that KU regards these assessments as prescriptive; they are intended to give specific information about how to enrich or remediate the learning experience.

Currently, each KU company is using unique technology and databases to generate these individualized responses. That, says Simon, is largely a result of the need to get to market fast. The systems do communicate with each other, and Simon anticipates greater interaction between the companies in the future. She adds that personal relationships established at KU prior to the formation of these companies will facilitate such cooperation between KU holdings. KKN, says Simon, will also work closely with Teacher Universe (Emeryville, CA, www.teacheruniverse.com, see below).

Next School Will Be Sold To Schools and Homes

Next School, the fee-based area of the site, will be introduced soon after launch. Simon defines it as an extremely granular, adaptive learning program that KKN will market to home consumers and schools. Phonics will be the first subject available. The offering is based on a software program that KidsEdge.com acquired from Aspen Learning Systems (Denver, CO). The phonics program and subsequent offerings will include specific reporting mechanisms for either parents or teachers. Marketing for classroom use will be pursued through partners, most likely through other KU companies. Teacher training will also be pursued through such partners. Pricing has not yet been defined.

All learning experiences on the site, free and fee-based, are correlated to an aggregation of standards. KidsEdge.com has synthesized standards of leading organizations and the states of California, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Texas.

Soft Sell E-commerce Approached as a Convenience

Simon sees a focus on critical family relationships as a differentiator in the e-commerce area. KidsEdge.com will make products available through co-branded relationships with suppliers. The adult area will include a collection of objective, third party reviews for proactive shopping, and purchases will also be driven through soft-sell recommendations tied to reports of children's learning needs.

E-commerce, says Simon, is intended as an option of convenience. She says that the goal is to always recommend something that doesn't cost anything along with product purchases. The site, for example, identifies subjects of interest for each age group. Each subject, say dinosaurs, will include three activity recommendations for parents: a hands-on project, a project that encourages kids to do something for their community, and a book-based project. It might also include a product recommendation. However, if a book is recommended, the e-commerce system will also provide a library locator to help a parent find that book at a local library.

Down the road, KKN intends to introduce products for media other than the web. A book product is next, says Simon. The company will also work with television. Simon says that, while their material will be highly suitable for interactive TV trials, KKN is not working in that arena now. Simon adds that KKN is not a packaged goods company; they are not planning to create CD-ROMs except as a marketing vehicle or perhaps a delivery mechanism for high-end graphics or audio.

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