120,000 Students Are Taking Class Through This Startup’s Homeschooling Website
The coronavirus pandemic has led to a spike in demand for education technology company Outschool.
120,000 Students Are Taking Class Through This Startup’s Homeschooling Website, While the coronavirus pandemic has been devastating for many businesses, it’s caused a surge in demand for a startup that helps kids learn at home.
Outschool, a San Francisco-based ed-tech startup, connects students at home with teachers and other instructors with particular areas of expertise. As elementary and secondary schools across the country close their doors, parents have been stuck trying to help their children keep up with their schoolwork.
Co-founder Amir Nathoo says Outschool had 80,000 students in its system as of March 13 and has seen 37,000 new students sign up since then. The company has added hundreds of new teachers to its roster, which now numbers about 1,500, and is seeking many more. Nathoo says the company will need to add 4,500 more teachers in the coming weeks to keep up with demand. Teachers create courses on topics ranging from multiplication to government to video game design, and then teach students in groups via the video conference app Zoom.
In late February, when the CDC first mentioned the potential of mass school closures and the switch to internet-based learning, the 26-employeeOutschool started to brace for what might be coming. “We didn’t think parents at home teaching their kids with online content was going to cut it,” Nathoo says. “They were going to need some more social interaction.”
The courses, which usually run between 30 and 60 minutes long at $5 to $20 per hour, are meant for children ages three to 18. The enrollment size is set by the instructor, with each class holding a maximum of 18 students. Outschool takes a 30 percent fee and the remaining 70 percent goes to the teacher. The company declined to disclose its revenue.
