If you are thinking about starting an edtech company, you want to create technology that actually serves a useful purpose in today’s classroom. It should support both teachers and students in a realistic way that has a measurable outcome for success. Beyond just the technical requirements to put together this type of technology, you need to put a little more thought into the basis of this learning technology.

How can you create learning technology that actually works? Here are a few helpful tips to get you thinking about what makes edtech successful.

Find a problem that needs to be solved.

Your learning technology isn’t going to work effectively if it doesn’t solve an actual problem in the classroom. Think about areas where students might be falling short of their potential. Where do teachers need more support when it comes to grading or managing their classroom? All of your learning technology should serve a unique purpose and solve an actual problem that exists in classrooms all over the world.

Figure out how students learn best.

Do you know anything about how students learn? If you aren’t an educator yourself, you may need to spend a long time researching the different learning styles that students can have. Ideally, learning technology should hit on all of these styles in order to make it more user-friendly and engaging to an entire classroom. You won’t want to leave anyone out or your technology won’t work well in the classroom long-term. Learning style integration is essential to technology success.

Identify measurable outcomes.

You need to find some way to identify whether your program is helping students to learn better or not. Figure out whether you need game scores built into the program, timers that show how long it took students to learn, or some other method. These outcomes can show areas where the learning technology needs to be improved or updated over time. Making these outcomes available to teachers also gives them greater peace of mind about using your edtech in their classroom.

Without measurable outcomes and benefits to the students, you will have a difficult time convincing schools to use your edtech. These numbers should become a regular part of your sales pitch, so finding a way to come up with them is crucial to the program’s overall success. After all, what school wants to spend money on a program that might not actually benefit their students?

All of these key points are essential to creating learning technology that actually works for the modern classroom. Students and teachers have to be able to identify the benefits of the program and feel like they are making a wise investment of their time and resources. By solving an actual problem and showing how beneficial your technology is, you have a much greater chance of success.