World-Class Educational Resources FREE for the Whole World

LearnEcon.com is a unique online resource for university and advanced high school students struggling to learn economics. Economics is a foundation course for many disciplines and is essential for students in business and the social sciences. Millions of students each year approach economics with trepidation; finding it challenging, impenetrable and an obstacle to success in their academic or professional career. LearnEcon is for these students. It is designed to support existing curricula as well as function as an independent and complete curriculum. It is provided at no-cost to students world-wide.

Project Description

LearnEcon.com is twenty-eight interactive films comprising a complete curriculum in first year economics for college level learners worldwide. Each 50 minute film is shot around the world and produced to high technical, creative, and pedagogic standards in a style similar to BBC or PBS documentaries. LearnEcon films explore real-world economics with compelling stories, personalities, and locations that make otherwise difficult concepts accessible, relevant, and entertaining. The films are divided into short topics interwoven with activities and assessments to provide essential feedback. And they are modular allowing students and teachers the freedom to customize the curriculum and extract those segments most relevant to their unique needs.

LearnEcon has many thousands of users coming from over two hundred countries around the globe. More than 70% of current registered users come from developing nations with substantial interest coming from Africa and Middle East. These users have discovered LearnEcon by using search engines and modest advertising on Google.

LearnEcon.com has enormous potential to enhance learning of economics worldwide, especially in developing nations. To achieve this we believe it is important to deliver world-class content at no cost to the end users. This is a difficult objective given the high cost of film production, software development, hosting, streaming, etc. This document explores some possible business models and partnerships that will allow us to fulfill this vision.

Work Accomplished

LearnEcon.com currently offers a complete course in microeconomics including four full films supported by sixteen video lectures. LearnEcon will ultimately comprise 28 interactive films replacing the lectures and adding many content areas.

The site currently includes the following films:

·          Opportunity Cost

·          Perfect Competition

·          Price Discrimination

·          Externalities and Public Goods

Lecture topics include:

·          Supply and Demand

·          Elasticity

·          Supply and Demand Extensions

·          Consumer Behavior

·          Costs of Production

·          Monopoly

·          Oligopoly

·          Land, labor, and Capital

·          Distribution of Income

·          Efficiency and the Market System

·          National Income

·          Keynsian Equilibrium

·          Money Supply and the Banking System

·          Money, Interest, and Monetary Policy

·          Aggregate Demand and Supply

·          Modern Debates in Macroeconomic Policy

The website and interactive assessments are authored using Moodle. Video is streamed using Windows Media Servers leased and manged by StreamLearn.

LearnEcon has nearly one thousand registered users with many more guest users. Google advertising generates nominal income with advertisements and banners placed discretely throughout the site. Our predominant advertiser at this time is the University of Phoenix.

Partners

LearnEcon.com is produced by StreamLearn LLC of Boulder Colorado in association with the University of Portsmouth in the UK. It has been funded by a small grant from the Savoy Educational Trust and by private investment. The project is owned and managed by StreamLearn LLC with a small interest held by the University of Portsmouth.

Project Development

LearnEcon is an ongoing project requiring substantial further development. Twenty-four films remain to be produced and there are many technical, design, and marketing challenges ahead. For this we are seeking new partners who recognize the potential of LearnEcon to enhance learning worldwide and to generate revenues necessary for continued development and maintenance.

Areas of Further Development

• Production of 24 new interactive films.
• Compatibility with iPad, iPhone, Android, and other mobile devices.
• ADA adaptive technology to meet accessibility standards in the US, Europe, and worldwide.
• Translation and subtitling with a special focus on languages for developing nations.
• Improved compatibility with managed learning environments.
• Improved granularity allowing teachers to customize curriculum.
• Improved feedback and assessment.
• Integration with Facebook and other social media to enhance interactivity and build learning communities.

Business Models

StreamLearn and its partners have produced many award-winning interactive films and curricula in fields such as chemistry, physics, biology, anatomy, mathematics, and medicine. These projects have been funded by universities, school boards, and through grants from governments and foundations. LearnEcon differs from these projects in that it is based on a self-sustaining business model that delivers world-class learning to millions of students world-wide at no cost. The success of LearnEcon thus becomes a model for ongoing curriculum development in economics and other essential areas of study. Business models under consideration include:

Advertising and Sponsorship

Economics is, for many learners, both essential and challenging. Students of economics actively seek additional resources to aid learning and therefore LearnEcon has the potential to attract millions of users. These learners, students of business studies, economics, and social science, are a valuable demographic for many potential advertisers and sponsors. Students of economics are likely to be highly motivated and productive; pursuing advanced degrees and achieving higher incomes. Corporations interested in reaching the next generation of thought leaders would do well to advertise on LearnEcon. Universities recruiting worldwide would also be ideal sponsors for LearnEcon. Foundations seeking to affect change among future business leaders will find LearnEcon highly effective.

In keeping with our vision of LearnEcon as a world-class resource that is free for learners, all advertising will remain unobtrusive. The site currently integrates Google banner advertising from online universities such as the University of Phoenix. In the future we expect to offer limited sponsorship opportunities within the video streams. For instance, each film could be preceded by a sponsor's message. We may also offer sponsorship of the entire site to a single organization. Such site-wide sponsorship could be offered on a per-student basis. For a fee, a sponsor would be credited as providing this complete curriculum to a predefined number of registered students and thus allow us to offer site-wide sponsorship to more than one foundation or corporation. Sponsorship is an ideal way to build brand awareness worldwide.

Licensing by Site

LearnEcon is also available without advertising and sponsorship for institutional licensing by school systems, colleges and universities. Even though LearnEcon is available to students for free, institutions will find licensing attractive because it allows them to brand the content, eliminate advertising, and provide secure accreditation to their students. The free site is an important component of this business model because it attracts both students and teachers to the content. The free site entices users to adopt the LearnEcon model and increases awareness of the potential to enhance learning.

Accredited Learning Online

Another potential model for generating revenue is licensed accreditation. A partner institution such as a university with global reach would conduct assessment and accredit learning for students is select markets or worldwide. Students would enroll, pay fees, and receive transferable credit on completion. This model may be attractive to students and other institutions in two ways:

·         Direct Enrollment: Students entering tertiary education individually enroll in an accredited LearnEcon courser offered through a partner institution. Students may choose this option to speed completion of a degree, lower costs, or enhance their credentials when applying to universities.

·         Institutional Enrollment: Colleges and Universities, especially smaller institutions, may prefer to have LearnEcon and partner institution provide a turnkey solution for first year economics. With secure assessment and accreditation provided by a LearnEcon partner, the college can lower costs and focus resources on advanced learning.

Branding and Recruitment

Economics is an essential and core component of so many degrees, and so many students find it difficult to learn that they often seek online resources prior to enrolling in undergraduate or postgraduate programs. High school students in the US seeking to do well on advanced placement tests would benefit from using LearnEcon. UK A-level students hoping to score high marks on their exam might also use LearnEcon. Business professionals considering advanced degrees may find that LearnEcon provides an essential foundation. These students, high school, A-level, and professional, are predisposed to continue their studies at the college or university that has branded LearnEcon as their own. A positive experience with LearnEcon under the host's brand translates into enhanced recruitment. This could also work in two ways:

·         Branding: Anyone using LearnEcon under the masthead of a business school or MBA program is already a potential recruit. This is a powerful recruitment opportunity, especially for schools and programs that recruit internationally.

·         Enhanced Application: LearnEcon, branded and accredited, could be used to enhance the application of potential students. Successful completion of the LearnEcon course could be a powerful enticement to apply and enroll in a course by reducing the time and cost of a course of study. LearnEcon becomes an inducement to enroll.

While LearnEcon exists to enhance the learning of economics worldwide, it also has the potential to become self-sustaining and even profitable. Our hope is that with LearnEcon we can establish a successful model for the creation of high-quality curricula across a broad range of core subjects.