COVID-19 Boosts Online Education... Edutech Companies' Opportunities for Overseas Expansion

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] As the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has drawn global attention to online education, there is a growing argument that our edutech companies should actively pursue overseas market expansion.

Edutech is an innovative field that combines IT technologies such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), artificial intelligence (AI), and big data with educational services to provide new learning experiences.

The "Edutech Market Status and Implications" report released on the 11th by the Korea International Trade Association's International Trade and Commerce Research Institute analyzed that COVID-19 could be an opportunity for domestic edutech companies pushing for overseas expansion by leveraging their strengths in combining accumulated know-how in mathematics, foreign language education, and early childhood learning markets with excellent IT technology.

The global edutech market size is expected to more than double from $153 billion in 2018 to $342 billion by 2025, with advanced edutech countries such as the United States, China, and the United Kingdom actively building edutech infrastructure and investing at both government and private levels.

Facing a decline in the school-age population due to low birth rates, our companies are also adopting edutech to premiumize their products and expand overseas. Company B has built an edutech platform using electronic whiteboards and tablet PCs that is not limited by language. Leveraging the advantage of interactive classes between teachers and students, it succeeded in entering educational markets in Vietnam and China by linking with government official development assistance (ODA) projects.

Edutech startups are growing in various fields such as customized learning services, game-based learning, foreign language education, and coding education by developing competitive content based on advanced technology. Company M has entered over 50 countries including Japan and Indonesia with customized learning services that reflect different national curricula using AI-based big data analysis techniques.

The report stated, "Companies face difficulties in securing funds and overseas distribution networks when entering foreign markets, but they believe their technology and product competitiveness are superior," adding, "With the full implementation of online school openings in public education due to COVID-19 and the expansion of edutech adoption such as chatbots, global recognition and image enhancement of domestic edutech companies are expected."

Senior Researcher Lee Hye-yeon advised, "Companies should develop package-type export models linking infrastructure, content, and services targeting emerging countries, and the government should actively support edutech infrastructure construction, investment, and export support linked to official development assistance (ODA). It is also necessary to strategically nurture content related to entrance exams and Korean language education, areas where our country has strengths."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.