Roundtable Forum: "Restarting after the Epidemic, Educating for the Future"

The 2020TIME Education Technology Conference was held in Shanghai with the theme of “Restarting after the Epidemic, Educating for the Future”. At the main forum, the host guests Ms. Zhou Shuang, partner of Blue Elephant Capital, as well as Mr. He Wei, vice president of China Public Education Group, Mr. Zhang Chaoyue, general manager of the Future Magic School, and Mr. Zhang Liming, co-founder and COO of 51Talk, were invited to conduct a round table around the theme of the conference. dialogue to discuss new opportunities and challenges in the education and training industry.

In the education and training industry under the influence of the epidemic, opportunities outweigh difficulties

Before the roundtable forum began, three big names talked about the impact of the epidemic on enterprises. Generally speaking, the opportunities outweigh the difficulties.

Mr. Zhang Chaoyue, general manager of Future Magic School, said that the epidemic has dealt a huge blow to many partner institutions and it is very difficult for everyone. Throughout the entire epidemic process, both ToC and ToB products of Future Magic School have been upgraded in real time, and now they basically have the ability to switch online and offline businesses at any time.

Mr. He Wei, vice president of China Public Education Group, said that the epidemic may bring more opportunities than difficulties to vocational education companies. Vocational education is a strong market and a rigid demand. Judging from the sales and student services of China Public Education, its degree of impact from the epidemic is relatively limited.

Mr. Zhang Liming, co-founder and COO of 51Talk, said that although the entire industry has been affected by the epidemic, judging from the company’s financial reports, the company has been profitable for three consecutive quarters and is the only company in the industry that can sustain large-scale growth. Profitable company at scale. 51Talk has a strong advantage on the teacher side, which brings a lot of traffic to student recruitment.

But at the same time, Ms. Zhou Shuang also expressed concerns about how companies that already had comparative advantages during the epidemic can continue to maintain their dominant position and demonstrate their corporate value after the epidemic.

Restarting after the epidemic, the education and training industry has quietly changed

The epidemic has had a profound impact on the education and training industry, and various changes have occurred in corporate development models, the most critical of which is online Education seems to be the general trend. So at this historical point in the Chinese education market, what are the potential opportunities or risks in the future? What are the prospects and expectations of leading companies for the future of the industry?

Mr. Zhang Liming shared some of his experiences with everyone from three aspects. First, from the enterprise side, the epidemic is a great opportunity for leading enterprises to gain market share. For small and medium-sized enterprises, the epidemic is a great opportunity to gain market share. It is said to be a period of reshuffle, and for companies with three no licenses (no license, no R&D, and no brand) in the industry, they are likely to be submerged by the trend of the times.

For users, Mr. Zhang Liming talked about three words: cognition, experience and habits. He said that under the epidemic, more users have a better understanding of online education and have a good online experience while obtaining courses. Online education has been recognized by parents and students, and this good The sense of experience has sunk to second, third and fourth cities. For well-prepared companies, enhancing the stickiness with students can help them develop learning habits, such as online learning habits or a combination of online and offline learning habits. This is great for companies. is beneficial.

For the market, the impact is far-reaching, especially for the sinking market, the convenience that online education brings to them, the visibility that data brings to them, and their own progress The feelings it brings, etc. This will subvert their view of the entire education industry, so this is a disruptive effect.

The epidemic has had an irreversible impact on the entire education market, or a change in the ecological environment. From the perspective of vocational education, Mr. He Hao expressed his views. The first is the internal personnel structure and team management of education and training institutions. The impact of the epidemic on enterprises is inevitable, but enterprises should still find the key to breaking the situation within themselves.

For the vocational education industry, three relatively obvious external characteristics emerged in the later stages of the epidemic. The first feature is that with the continuous changes in the employment situation, the continuous development of the economy, and the promotion of national policies, the demand for new occupations and employment transformation is increasing, and the vocational education market is showing greater vitality.

The second one is from the individual perspective of the students. Due to the impact of the epidemic, the education market has changed, and the integration of online and offline has become an urgent reality for vocational education and training institutions. This is the advance preparation needed to deal with future uncertainties. The epidemic has caused changes in user needs, which means that the starting point of education and training institutions should be to meet the needs of students and improve their own products and services.

The third is the core of educational institutions, training content. Single-line face-to-face training or online training content transmission may have their own limitations, but the combination of the two education forms will generate greater energy and help convey high-quality teaching content to students. It will also be easy to accept this training method.

"Most of the institutions we serve chose to go online in the first half of this year. Of course, this was also forced by the epidemic. However, with the arrival of summer vacation, the epidemic situation in various places has improved. We found that almost 100% of our cooperative institutions People over 95 have chosen to resume classes offline. I think this is consistent with the big data in the industry." When faced with the questions raised by the host, Mr. Zhang Chaoyue replied.

The epidemic has caused changes in the industry scale of the education and training market this year. In the industry, offline training is the mainstay, but the market growth rate of online education exceeds expectations. Facing the progress of the times, the blessing of technology, and the iteration of education models, Mr. Zhang Chaoyue believes that even without the impact of the epidemic, the development of online education is irreversible.

During the epidemic, opportunities and challenges coexist. Some principals have the courage to overcome difficulties and actively embrace industry changes. However, there are also many principals who are unable to adapt to market changes and are defeated by the epidemic. But whether online or offline, the epidemic has caused changes in the teaching and management models of education and training institutions. Institutions that are more adaptable to customer needs, more efficient, and better able to capture students' learning habits are quietly emerging.

At the same time, Mr. Zhang Chaoyue also pointed out that with the accelerated operation of technology, although the education industry has changed, educational institutions should respect and adhere to the basic laws of education. This is also the reason why the education industry will become an eternal sunrise. an important reason for the industry.

The risk value of education and training institutions has become higher and higher. How should they face it?

As we all know, the education industry has always shouldered a lot of social responsibilities and social expectations, but now we can see that its risks are actually getting higher and higher, or it is different from the past. A good teacher, a good principal, a good class, a good service to the students, and careful education can basically support a small education and training institution. But now, because the market is different, customer needs are also different, and customer acquisition channels are also different. For example, traffic distribution requires new capital investment, adding AI courseware requires scientific research, or the topic of effective operation is surrounding the entire Education and training industry.

On how to expand educational institutions and deal with risks, the three guests also shared their views based on experience.

"Back to basic, returning to the concept of basic skills, is an element that truly supports the basic market." Mr. Zhang Liming said that in the process of development, no matter what kind of risks an enterprise encounters , or what kind of challenges are you facing, whether you want to expand further, or expand from the product line, etc., you must always remind yourself to return to the essence. If you cannot support it, it is likely that your basic skills are not solid enough.

Mr. He Hao shared two points based on the development of enterprises on how education and training institutions can become stronger and bigger. The first is in terms of products. Education and training institutions should adapt to local conditions in terms of product positioning and be market-oriented based on customer needs. . Secondly, in terms of team members, the core of whether a campus is efficient or inefficient lies in the team members of this campus.

Financial risks are the most direct impact on education and training institutions during the epidemic. Mr. Zhang Chaoyue pointed out that above financial risks are operational risks, and then there are risks caused by customer satisfaction. When it comes to how to deal with risks, he pointed out that any company has two basic value supports. The first is whether it can bring value to customers, and whether the company's products are excellent. It was often said in the past that a company relies on its products to make it strong, its operations to grow bigger, and its culture to last longer.

Whether the product is strong enough or not is an important basis for education and training companies to survive after experiencing the epidemic and policy changes. The other is operations. Organizational profits need to be generated through refined operations. A reasonable view of operational indicators and operational data is related to the sustainable development of the enterprise.

Mr. Zhang Chaoyue also said that at present, no matter how big the risks are, education and training institutions should try boldly and be careful to verify.

Faced with the infiltration of Internet giants, how should major education and training institutions respond?

During the epidemic, most Internet giants began to enter the education industry, and adopted completely different Internet thinking, which had varying degrees of impact on institutions already in the education industry.

Mr. Zhang Liming, co-founder and COO of 51Talk, pointed out that the penetration of Internet giants has brought many impacts to the education industry. The first is advertising, which has gradually increased the cost of education companies on the promotion side, but in addition On the one hand, it is also because the large-scale advertising has brought extensive customer awareness to the company, which is effective for education companies. The expansion of market size is conducive to the development of the industry. Secondly, in terms of user cognition, because users have access to different products and have their own insights into corporate products, this will promote the formation of a healthy competitive environment in the education industry. However, those companies that have not yet developed a sense of crisis will suffer a greater blow in the future. Therefore, companies should always remain vigilant in the process of development.

"Innovation must be a cross-industry collision in order to have a stronger effect. From this perspective, I think the entry of Internet giants into the education industry will indeed accelerate our traditional education. Whether it’s forcing or guiding, it will help us update and transform some traditional concepts,” said Mr. He Wei, Vice President of China Public Education Group.

In addition, he also pointed out that when doing education, the starting point of the company should be clear. If education is just regarded as a business, the strong attack of Internet giants will inevitably cause fear to these companies. If the core is focused on products, content, services, teachers, etc., the impact will actually be limited. Moreover, the arrival of Internet giants will play a role in promoting the entire education industry. It will greatly increase the potential of market demand and opportunities will be born.

Mr. Zhang Chaoyue, general manager of the Future Magic School, said that the education industry is still in a relatively traditional industry, or it is an industry with huge technological potential. Therefore, as a practitioner in the education industry, we very much hope to have Better technology and better talents joining the education industry will, on the one hand, help improve students' learning experience and learning efficiency, and on the other hand, they can also improve the overall awareness and recognition of the education and training industry. At the same time, it will also Internet companies with strong capital, high-end technology, and excellent organizations are very welcome to invest in the education industry for the long term. The penetration of Internet giants is the development trend of the education industry.

At the roundtable forum with the theme of "Restarting after the Epidemic, Educating for the Future", the guests' ideological collision and in-depth discussions were exciting and thought-provoking. Education practitioners have felt that the opportunities during the epidemic actually outweigh the difficulties. The entry of Internet giants is actually conducive to the healthy development of the industry, and the future of education and training institutions is promising.