I encountered an "information bombardment" of online educational institutions
During this period of time, short video platforms have placed many advertisements for online education institutions. Most of these advertisements are aimed at tutoring in Chinese, mathematics, and English for the lower grades of elementary schools. The prices range from 8 to 40 yuan. Some also invite celebrities to stand on the platform, claiming to seize the market. , Low-cost counseling is a benefit given to parents by training institutions.
Before this year’s winter vacation, my wife reported a low-cost course from a well-known educational institution on a video platform, targeting the first-year Chinese and mathematics double subjects, and less than 10 lessons.
Previously, it cost nearly 1,000 yuan to apply for an offline tutoring class, which is a very cost-effective price.
In fact, we didn't have any expectations for this online class, just to find something for the children during the holidays.
Soon, the educational institution sent a "big gift box" with tutoring materials, stationery, electronic watches, etc., giving people the first impression that it was "excellent value for money".
Now that the class has been completed, we discovered that the online low-cost course is a pilot publicity course, a marketing strategy adopted by the tutoring organization. The focus is on the courses after the spring semester. The subsequent courses will cost thousands of dollars. Parents' "renewal" is the purpose of low-cost course marketing.
The staff of the counseling agency have a special division of labor, and the task of many people is to let the parents "renew the report."
The class teacher has the most contact with parents, and concurrently takes the responsibility of customer service and sales.
Parents come from all over the country, the head teacher will build a parent group of nearly 100 people, the group also has a number, it can be inferred that each head teacher is responsible for more than one group, and then the head teacher and the academic affairs teacher advertise together in the group, constantly emphasizing limited time offers, discounts, etc. , It's like an information bombing.
From time to time, some people ask questions, and some people will repeatedly send screenshots of payment within a few days. I feel that they are "childcare", but it is difficult to tell whether they are true or false.
The contents of several classes were taught in the last semester. The lecturer claimed to be graduated from 985 and 211 colleges. The last few minutes of each class will repeat the follow-up courses to parents, and keep reminding everyone that each lecturer has a class quota Limited, you must "grab the report" in order to choose the teacher your child likes.
At the end of each class, there are several homework questions. The head teacher ostensibly feedbacks and communicates with the parents based on the children's class performance and homework. In fact, they "phone bombing" to promote follow-up courses.
The head teacher calls me on my mobile phone every day, and keeps close to me on WeChat, and sends me a registration payment link every night at 10 o'clock.
In order to attract children to take the initiative to "renew", they adopt the "incentive method" of exchanging points for gifts. The lecturer will emphasize in every class that the gifts can only be obtained by accumulating points.
In fact, to complete a low-cost course, the points are not enough, and you must renew the report to accumulate.
There is also a special lecture on "Developing Children's Concentration" for parents.
The main lecturer used the educational theory of "Gao Da Shang" to package, and repeatedly emphasized "Don't lose at the starting line", the purpose is to make parents pay attention to the follow-up offline courses.
Some time ago, many media reported on the current online education crazy "burning money" phenomenon.
Counseling agencies have huge marketing expenditures. The marketing wars of online education agencies are embodied in low-price marketing, "face-hit" advertisements, false qualifications, exaggerated effects, sales anxiety, overdue payment, and money running away. The result is that the nature of education is increasing. The weaker the capital, the stronger the nature of the capital, and the "virtual fire" is spreading widely.
Some online education advertisements are so hysterical, the actual effect is not so ideal.
As far as the low-cost course I have experienced, although students will be automatically divided into many small classes after entering the system, they are still taught in large classes in essence. It is difficult to achieve one-to-one tutoring through online live broadcast. Most teachers ask and answer themselves. Children If self-control is not strong, parents also need to follow along and learn together.
It must be admitted that the fierce competition for survival in the capital market has made training institutions highly dependent on funds. They have designed low-cost tutoring marketing strategies, and made great efforts in marketing methods and customer acquisition. Vicious competition will inevitably be at the expense of disrupting the order of online education and sacrificing the quality of education.
In addition, the "radical" values of advanced competition and the supremacy of scores conveyed by some educational institutions are not conducive to the formation of a health education ecology, and will only increase the anxiety and comparison between parents.
Of course, as an extension and expansion of school education, parents have the right to actively choose to "consume" online education, but it is not ruled out that some parents are "soft ears" and cannot resist the "information bombing" marketing of course sales, so they blindly continue to report. Of course.
In 2019, the "Implementation Opinions on Regulating Off-campus Online Training" issued by the Ministry of Education and other six departments mentioned that off-campus online training institutions should formulate enrollment guidelines and make enrollment advertisements based on facts, and must not over-market, falsely promote, or exaggerate. training results.
Obviously, the current low-cost marketing model that is flooding the entire network has disrupted the standardization of the online education market.
The author does not want to deny online education, but hope that online education can form a healthier and orderly competitive ecology.
To extinguish the "false fire" of online education, you might as well start from the control of the chaos of low-price marketing. Educational departments and regulatory authorities must make timely efforts to improve laws and regulations, establish a monitoring and reporting platform, and timely expose them. Reverse illegal activities such as false propaganda, standardize market competition in the industry, and reasonably guide parents to make rational consumption.
At the just-concluded two sessions, some representatives also made relevant suggestions that the chaos of online education should be managed.
Hu Bo Source: China Youth Daily