Online education enters the adjustment period: The Capital Madness period is coming to an end

With thousands of entrepreneurs and investors crowded, the current popularity of online education can be glimpsed by the crowding of the "2014 Global Internet Education Entrepreneurs ' Conference" hosted in Shanghai.

Whether you realize it or not, the 2014 online education has become the most popular keyword, where opportunities and traps, the Red Sea boiling, the big change has just begun, but at the same time the potential bubble has been looming, at any time may be blown broken.

A good time to start a business: change just started everyone has the confidence to explore

In the survey of Tencent Science and Technology, in the past year, online education is the hot land of entrepreneurship and investment, according to incomplete data statistics, almost every day, 2 online education institutions are born in China, and the total monthly financing is counted by billion. But the user is cold to this, the overall online education development is slow. Why?

Min, the State Council's counselor and famous economist, said China's education sector is relatively conservative, closed, the outside world is difficult to enter, MOOC (for the school's online education) one into the schools, immediately by the policy, by the headmaster, teachers, students play out, only at the edge of the place, such as English training, such as corner area development. Because this area will affect people's life, will disrupt our social order, the departments at all levels will be very cautious.

"Many entrepreneurs do not see Clearly, are attracted by the dazzling market," education "two words are puzzled. Talk about ' education ', immediately want to K12 (basic education Stage), university, kindergarten, the concept is too narrow, education is a bigger market, online education is a big concept, can not keep a close eye on the school, students this market. In reality, practitioners have not found a very good technology, the way to really rushed into the online education, rushed into the K12, rushed into the university inside. Min said.

However, "2014 is the year of the Chinese education reform, in the past eight months, the state has introduced more than the past 20 years of education reform policy." "It is a good time for online education to start a business," said Yuje, founder of the network. "Education is undergoing transformation, the development of future education is the Internet of education, only the Internet of education can make education fairer." ”

At the 2014 global Internet Education Entrepreneur Conference, Shanghai Yangpu District issued nine policies to support the development of online education, including funds, manpower and many other support, this is the online education industry's first local policy, with the significance of policy vane.

And in the overall industry environment, compared to last year, from the education content, the on-line education platform constructs, to the industrial park and the technical level promotion, like live broadcast and the recording broadcast provider, the network software provider and so on, from the top to the next industry chain began to perfect, extends and integrates, lets the on-line Education Development Foundation construction to have the embryonic form.

Tencent Technology visited a number of online education practitioners and investors, such as the Wisdom Lesson network, they do not deny that this is a good online education entrepreneurship, but very complex, is a slow, dirty.

As an online education Observer said: "Online education has a broad future, the wave of change has just begun, the industry has not emerged from the giants of the players, is everyone has confidence, each still groping." But to put online education into the mainstream industry, also urgent not to, need a long period of operation accumulation and user cumulative, the user's acceptance habits will also take time to cultivate.

In the front, if from "education is unfair, the university student is difficult to obtain employment, the education innovation is insufficient, the difficulty provides the lifelong education" the present Chinese education most serious four questions pain point cuts in, the online education entrepreneurship opportunity is very big.

The crazy period of capital is coming to an end?

"Online education is promising, but it is likely that in the next few months to more than 10 months, the online education industry will not look as lively as it is now." If the past is a different scene, the current entrepreneur to work hard. Voyayary, founder and chief executive of the network, predicts that the industry bubble is about to blow.

In the past year, online education funding has focused on K12 and online language, and these two types of online education programs will be the next major shuffle in the Red Sea competition.

Kim Fung Chun, a partner at the fund, said the online education project is now overvalued and many people who have been successful in financing deliberately exaggerate the figures. Even some entrepreneurs spend a lot of their energy on financing, not on core products. "This is very dangerous, when this upsurge in the past, not only the death of a group of start-up companies, but also spread to a group of funds, many foundations can not be funded." ”

This is consistent with the previous reports of Tencent Technology. Users ' acceptance of online education is less than ideal compared to the mania of the capital side. Because of the homogeneity of the serious, lack of interaction, the effect is not obvious, online education does not impress a large number of educational objects.

Jiangsu High-tech investment group, an investment manager told Tencent Technology: "Now is the capital boom, will continue to the end of the year, when the online education industry will become the whole, a lot of capital cast out of the case will die a group, or forced to sell their own, just like the same year's buy. ”

Just in mid-September this year, the K12 (basic education Stage) education platform ladder Network and the good net both collapsed, became a lesson case.

Right now, the more the online education goes, the worse the road, the bigger the pit. and "Quick trial and error, rapid iteration", the Internet's typical success idea is not suitable for online education.

Voyayary that the net is also after eight years of "war" ushered in the online education of the tuyere. After all, it is important to find the outlet, the typhoon, the pig can fly. Where is the great pit and outlet of online education?

New Oriental online deputy Panchin told Tencent Technology, a lot of online education startups to be a big platform, this is a huge pit, eventually may not have enough resources and funds to hang up, and for more vertical subdivision projects more opportunities for success, at this stage of vocational education and English more suitable for online education, K12 may be able to break through on the mobile side and on the TV. After all, there is a bright future in the education market for the family through television.

An online classroom project--E boat 禛 China head directly pointed out: civil servants, accountants, it programming, English (including general), higher education, medicine, etc. to master skills for the main purpose of professional online education is more promising, the current online education mainstream technology four major models-live, video (or micro-course), online answers, In the face of General (K12), the application of the digital item bank in the online operation will fail.

"These models are only the current school teaching mode of simple technology imitation upgrade, learning boring, passive, schools do not learn (or learn not) often will not consciously sit to the computer to actively learn." "In the view of the founder of e-boat 禛 China, the society would have needed a" Xinhai revolution "from the ideological level of education, but the current online education is preparing for the poor efficacy of the" westernization (technology) movement "failure is inevitable! In the future, general's online education needs to be transformed, from the original focus on the teacher's "teaching" to now pay attention to the students "learning", to learn mainly, and take the O2O mode to connect the line and offline, class and class, finally can usher in the real broken bureau.

Predictably, next, the domestic online education will enter a round of adjustment period, the tide fades, who is in the nude swimming, what kind of model is feasible, still need to and see. For many entrepreneurs, the urgent matter is to practice hard skills, phase and sometimes move, after all, entrepreneurship itself is a very big thing, 99% will not have a particularly brilliant tomorrow.

(Responsible editor: Mengyishan)