LessonApp

Month: February 2024

  • LessonApp project funded by Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment

    LessonApp got funding from Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment
    to develop a new application version and strengthen partnership network for better growth internationally.

    LessonApp Ltd. has developed a mobile application for teachers, with an aim to spread it to teachers all over the world. The application is based on Finnish pedagogy and provides the teachers pedagogical support and a tool to plan lessons.

    The aim of the project was to develop a completely new version of the LessonApp application with new features using the latest cross-platform technology. This will boost the company’s competitiveness and internationalization. During the project, our company also strengthened our partnership network.

    Developing a new application

    During the project we developed a new version of LessonApp application with new features, using a new technology. The newest cross-platform technology was utilized for this task, along with the expertise of one new recruit to the company.

    Piloting the new application internationally

    One of the tasks during the project was to pilot it internationally in several different countries, gathering feedback and making necessary changes based on the feedback.

    Strengthening of the partnership network

    Our company aimed to find at least one suitable distribution channel (digital platform or organization) in each of target areas in order to spread knowledge of LessonApp and sell licenses in these areas. The goal was to deepen cooperation with existing organizations sharing the same goals and values. This task was important for the success of the long term goals of the project, and for supporting the growth of the company.

    Project results

    Feedback was received from the Czech Republic, Uzbekistan, Thailand, Malta, Bangladesh, Albania, and Romania. We reinforced the partner network, including the Czech Republic, Romania, and Thailand.

    Immediate results include a new employee, a new application version, activation of the partnership network, and closer relationships with partners.
    Long-term effects include the potential to expand the application to new markets, a foundation for new language versions and further development with new technology.

    As a result of the project, we also identified the need to explore and test digital marketing opportunities in the B2B segment, in addition to distribution channels and local partners.

    “The new starting page is excellent, full of useful tips and material! The way the planning of a lesson has been divided to separate parts also makes it much easier to use”

    “I find LessonApp to be a useful tool for lessons – for designing and organizing them, having more in the way of methodology and tips & tricks for teachers. I find the readable material, helpful for teaching certain lessons and for organizing, structuring them by moments, time, in class. I think it would be useful to have a LessonApp for the whole school.”

     

  • Empowering teachers

    In the beginning, we were the bunch of people with the desire to help teachers of the world to design pedagogically better, inspiring and effective lessons. But how to do that?

    From the early on, we agreed that we wanted to equip the teachers with tools, so that they themselves could create meaningful lessons for their students. It would be easy to give ready-made models for the teachers to copy. But such an approach would undermine the creativity and talent so many teachers have. We believed that creating an easy-to-use lesson planning tool, would give teachers unlimited possibilities to create better lessons for their students that we ever could.

    Even if it might sound clichéd, we loved the sentiment of an old Chinese proverb:

     “You give a poor man a fish and you feed him for a day. You teach him to fish and you give him an occupation that will feed him for a lifetime.”

    We certainly wanted to provide the opportunity to learn fishing!

    Coming from a certain culture, history and background, we can never know what would be the most beneficial lessons for learners in a totally different context. Yet the local teachers have all the necessary knowledge about the situation in their own school and own students.

    What we can, however, do is to provide teachers with tools that are scientifically proven to promote learning, and let the teachers use these tools the best way they can. Giving the net or the fish-trap or the fishing rod would not be enough. We wanted to pass on the art of successful fishing.

    We wanted the teachers to have understanding of the learning process and how to plan efficient and inspiring lessons themselves. This is how we did it:

    • We wanted the teachers to have the latest knowledge about the factors that really promote learning and therefore included a short introduction to modern, research-based pedagogy (presented by short videos) in the app.
    • We wanted teachers to have a simple way to plan an efficient and relevant lesson structure and thus created a tool with “building blocks” to design versatile and purposeful lessons.
    • We wanted to give them plenty of different ways to actually carry out their lessons and therefore included loads of different activating and efficient teaching methods to the app.
    • We wanted teachers to be able to share their ideas and learn from others and decided to have a possibility to share your own lesson plans and to browse the database of lesson plans of other users.
    For us, teachers are the key to quality education. We want to empower them.