Elizabeth got a chance to review the homeschool project I delivered with my team the other day (see HERE). It was the application or website that helped homeschool parents be better homeschool parents and helped kiddos too.
She brought up a great point in her first paragraph about how time demands make it challenging for parents and for students to invest the time and attention that is needed in homeschooling to make it truly successful.
One foundational element of this proposal is the spaced practice capability. This is a technology and innovation that we use at our organization to help overcome the same challenges you bring up about time and the ability to study. I think the same challenges we face with our adult learners, homeschool parents will have similar challenges and therefore can make use of the same technology and innovation.
The spaced practice capability that we envision and that we have provided prototypes for with the hyperlinks in our powerpoints would allow homeschool families to concentrate on the core study material when they have time and focus, then reinforce those lessons when time is more convenient for them to do so. This reinforcement can come via their smartphone or computer and can be utilized when they are ready to study rather than at inconvenient times.
I don't think right now that homeschool parents are provided many opportunities or innovations to help them make the best use of their time. It seems like a bit of a sink or swim after being pushed into the deep end of the pool. That was one of the things we were trying to help address in the market.
There is a varying degree to which different groups will utilize and trust our technology. One thing we discussed in our group project meetings was that for the most part home school parents are more individual and relish the independence that homeschooling provides over traditional schooling options.
Additionally, there has been a re-focus on school and a change in the overall number of people accepting and utilizing homeschool as an option. With this influx of new homeschool users there is bound to be people with more questions, greater demands and expectations, and a need for greater innovation. That is the hole we are trying to fill. Those users who want to interact and have a place to ask questions of other users and provide them a platform to find those answers and ask those questions. What we aren't doing is finding ways to market to new users, and that is an area where we could potentially grow. Those folks who "wonder" about homeschooling. We are focused on those who are already homeschooling, not those who are questioning.
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