What Are the Good Metrics in EdTech?
In the dynamic world of EdTech, pinpointing effective metrics is key to understanding success. From the insights of a Product Manager to the strategic analysis of a Marketing and New Business Director, we’ve compiled the top seven metrics that industry leaders swear by, starting with tracking the net promoter score and evaluating learning outcomes.
- Tracking the Net Promoter Score
- Measuring Learner Engagement
- Analyzing the Optimal Time-on-Page
- Looking at the Course Completion Rate
- Consider the Nuances in Engagement
- Assessing Student Access Reach
- Evaluating Learning Outcomes
Net Promoter Score in EdTech
As a Product Manager of a successful student attendance tracking app, Attendance Radar, used in the higher education industry, I would say that a great metric to collect in this industry is the Net Promoter Score (NPS).
The NPS measures how likely users are to recommend your product. This is particularly important to know in EdTech, as word-of-mouth serves as a powerful marketing tool in the industry.
Often in EdTech, getting the right people to see your products is quite a challenging task, which is why word-of-mouth is crucial. In addition, the NPS also serves to measure customer satisfaction, serving therefore as a valuable tool to enhance the retention rates of your products.
Nicolas Montauban, Product Manager, Codific
Measuring Learner Engagement
One important metric I look at is how much students get involved, which is often called “learner engagement.”
Learner engagement is good to measure for a few reasons:
- Shows Students Are Actively Involved: If engagement is high, it means students are not just reading or watching things quietly. They’re actively taking part by asking questions, joining in discussions, and being part of the learning process.
- Tells Us About Learning Success: When students are engaged, they tend to do better in their studies. Engaged students understand and remember what they’re learning, leading to better grades.
- Connects to Keeping Students: For online classes or digital learning, engagement is linked to how many students stick with the course. High engagement usually means more students finish the course, which is good for everyone.
Learner engagement helps us understand how much students are actively participating, learning, and enjoying their educational experience.
Suzanne Ricci, Chief Success Officer, Computer Coach Training Center
Analyzing the Optimal Time-on-Page
Time-on-page is particularly important in EdTech. If users are getting distracted or losing focus, then they’re not learning. If they’re a bit too active on the page, that can be a problem too—they’re trying to entertain themselves.
Seeing how long users can sit and focus on the screen shows you how good your product and content are. You need a Goldilocks number here, not too high or too low, to ensure your EdTech product is performing as expected without becoming a nuisance.
Mark Varnas, Principal SQL Server DBA and Consultant, Red9
Looking at the Course Completion Rate
One of the best metrics to track in EdTech is course completion. By working on this metric, an EdTech company can enhance the learning experience for its users and also make more informed decisions that positively impact user satisfaction, retention, and the overall success of its programs.
This metric also gives insight into the overall student engagement for a particular program, which can help the company delve deeper into that program category and implement personalized learning paths that can add more value to the learners and the business.
On the other hand, for programs where the course completion rate is poor, the company can add more elements like gamification, labs, badges, etc., to motivate the learners.
Yogesh Joshi, Head of Growth, Kommunicate
Considering the Nuances in Engagement
It’s tempting to focus on time spent within a platform or daily usage stats, but these are—ultimately—somewhat unreliable when you consider the wide range of teaching styles, access to equipment, and even the number of lessons provided on a particular subject per week.
If a teacher is only logging in once a week, this might be flagged as low engagement; but if they’re using that tool for the full duration of that lesson, and they prefer a front-of-class format, and their students are fully excited and responsive during that session, leading to enhanced comprehension and confidence on the topic in question, that’s full immersion within the product or platform, working with—rather than dictating—the teacher’s style and approach.
By appreciating these nuances and discussing directly with users about their needs and their approach to using products, you’re able to better understand your true metrics and impact. Customer collaboration and resulting feedback should never be overlooked.
Jessica Higham, Marketing Manager, This is School
Assessing Student Access Reach
When it comes to education technology, one good metric is the number of students who have access. This is a really important metric because it shows how well you’re doing at reaching the people who need your services the most.
If you’re an online learning platform, for example, and you have only 1% of your target audience using your product, then that means you’re doing a pretty bad job of connecting with that audience.
On the other hand, if you have 100% of them using your product—or as close as possible—then that means you’ve found a way to connect with them and are providing them with what they need.
Noel Griffith, CMO, SupplyGem
Evaluating Learning Outcomes
Learning outcomes track how EdTech has affected students’ acquisition of knowledge. Tests, quizzes, and assessments evaluate the knowledge that has been acquired over time and show how effective the platform is. The effectiveness of educational technology in promoting meaningful learning experiences is evidenced by improved learning outcomes.
This statistic highlights the main objective of education, which is to improve students’ knowledge and abilities. It offers a concrete indicator of how effective education is and directs the creation of content for long-lasting benefits.
Adam Crossling, Marketing and New Business Director, Zenzero
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