Originally posted by MET student Erin Howard on 31/05/2017
This Kickstarter campaign promises to get kids moving, building and coding through a programmable wearable. The parents who give the video pitch say they were looking for something that would not only inspire their kids to move, but also to learn computational skills and to code. Could this be something that is integrated into a school maker spaces? Physical education programs? Science and technology classes? The product retails at approximately $55 and is for all kids ages 8 and up.
Many Maker kits focus on the STEM side of things, but could this product have an edge bringing kinesthetic learning into the equation?
Coding is a basic literacy in the digital age, and it is important for kids to be familiar and perhaps understand the logic behind coding. Having children learn coding at a young age prepares them for the future. Mover Kit appears to be an excellent interactive tool to introduce young children to the concept of coding. This innovative DYI approach to coding introduces children to coding through an “activeplay wearable.” Kids invent, code, and play their own games while learning important creative thinking and problem-solving skills. Most parents will recognize this approach in similar products such as Kiwico or Amazon STEM, but the Mover Kit approach is different, as it encourages kids to exercise both their bodies and their imaginations. I like to produce and yes, I would invest in both Mover Kit and the parent company “Tech Will Save Us.”
The kickstarter campaign targets a different audience than a potential investor. For this reason, this video is more of a promotional advertisement for the product as opposed to a laudable pitch to a potential investor. That said, the product and the mover kit targets an appealing market for investors at this time. Like the Osmo Coding Starter Kit, which offers hands-on coding products for a higher price (99$), this alternative wearable product comes at a more competitive price. BYJU, ed-techs largest unicorn company, recently acquired Osmo, which leads me to think that investing in a company that provides hands-on coding activities for this age group of kids is a potentially lucrative market. I don’t quite gain an understanding from this pitch, however, of how scalable this product is, nor who it is targeting globally. If it is targeting U.S. school administrators, for example, there are potential drawbacks to the market including a fragmenting public school system, a worsening economic disparity between classes, and decreased public school funding. If it aims to reach the niche market of affluent U.S. parents, it is competing with other established learning companies such as OSMOS that have major companies backing them with large marketing budgets behind them. I do not think a potential investor has adequate information from this Kickstarter campaign to make a decision.