Putting together a pilot program for your edtech product may seem like a daunting task, but it can be both manageable and enjoyable if the pilot study is well-planned and well-executed.

Better than beta testing

Edtech companies routinely beta test products as part of their product development process. The challenge with beta testing is that companies are often working with their MVP – minimum viable product, and the results can be one-sided.

Product piloting, on the other hand, offers a give and take. The pilot site benefits from using the product, and you benefit from their feedback.

Take these eight initiatives in edtech product piloting

Here’s how to get the most out of piloting your edtech product:

• Offer your pilot to schools who most need your product. By working with schools eager to try your product, you are more likely to get good participation.
• Set a definitive start and end time. Include these dates in your written contract, making it clear that the pilot project time specific. This contract is your GPS in conducting the pilot.
• Make sure your pilot encompasses a large enough data sample. Bigger is better. Offering your pilot to only two classrooms won’t allow you to gather the data you need for a viable study.
• Provide professional development. Training and support failure will cause the pilot program to suffer. The more teacher-friendly you can make the training, the more effective your pilot will be.
• Devote ample time to data analysis. You’ll have to collect a variety of data, and this collection must meet confidentiality standards.
• Share the results. Show participants how well the edtech intervention worked, and share this data with future edtech product users. Educators use data to make their purchase decisions. Help with this part of the process by providing research-based data for them.
• Set a price for product purchase. Determine prices for ongoing services for your pilot participants, and establish the pricing structure for new clients as well.

Don’t pilot your edtech product alone 

Finally, consider including a third party data collector. Digital Promise, for example, offers free services to help edtech companies and schools find the right match in piloting innovative educational technology.

Having an impartial third party lends credibility to the data analysis. You’ll get objective edtech pilot results that you can share with other interested schools, use in improving your product and  give you a reason to scale up more quickly.