The Untapped Education Market

Dane Carlson's Business Opportunities Weblog quotes Inc. on the looming, massive back-to-school spend that American parents will pump into the economy to the tune of $18B.

Poster Rich doesn't even throw out specific ideas for capitalizing on the huge spend, just the implicit opportunity in parents opening up their wallets for a late-summer rite that seems somehow tied to their desire to outfit their kids to learn real good.

So instead I'll go out on a limb: even though the Inc. post, and the National Retail Federation behind it, cites that almost a quarter of that spending will go toward technology and electronics. Don't get me wrong; I'm a technologist just like the next 27 year-old dotcom'er raised in the cyber era. But I think all the emphasis on technology "tools" for learning actually leaves a neglected opportunity in non-tech educational products. I'll save my anti-20 lb.-textbook rant for another day, but I don't anticipate a lot of 8th graders sitting in math class with either an iPod or a laptop handy, no matter how many are bought.

Gadgets get all the press. But what's the next flashcards, workbook, chalkboard...what, that isn't out there yet, could really help kids learn?