Storyboarding the enrollment process

The storyboarding process was developed by Walt Disney Productions in the early 1930s. Today, Walt Disney and Pixar (along with other animation companies) continue to utilize the storyboard process as one of the first steps in the movie development.

A storyboard provides a visual layout of the movie, and allows animators to reconfigure, redesign, and re-imagine scenes and stories before proceeding to the next stage of development. Perhaps moving scenes around, or adding elements will move the story along, or prevent combustion points in the story. Perhaps different camera angles will add to the story.

Storyboarding has proven so beneficial and successful that even theatrical plays utilize it. In addition companies have begun to use storyboarding for the sales process, customer conversion process, and other operational processes that can be visualized.

Over the past few years I have taken several companies I have consulted with through the visual storytelling to help uncover combustion points for customers, to rearrange the experience that streamlined the process and enhanced the experience, and simply to confirm that the current process needed only tweaks in order to improve.

Recently I have had the opportunity of storyboarding the enrollment process for several virtual schools I am consulting with on a regular basis. In doing so, it helped identify a path forward that dramatically improved the customer experience.

Seeing something visually can lead to alternatives that would otherwise remain hidden.

Try it for yourself. Take time to storyboard your enrollment process from a visual standpoint, and see for the first time what has been hidden before your eyes.

houston@figment-consulting.com

iNACOL's New Strategic Plan

This morning I received an email that linked me to the new strategic plan just released by iNACOL.

"Catalyzing transformation in K - 12 education."

I applaud the direction they are headed. Though I admit I had to quickly check the definition of "catalyzing." Why couldn't they just say "accelerating?"

They have their mission, vision, and theory of action within this new plan spelled out for us. My hope is that behind it all there is an unwavering passion that supports this plan on a day-to-day basis by each and every member of iNACOL.

That is where real change will accelerate, or catalyze.

houston@figment-consulting.com

Zero to One: It's time to quit pretending

Peter Thiel's book Zero to One, Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future, states that when we create something new, we go from 0 to 1.

Paypal (of which Thiel was a founder) took online payments from 0 to 1. Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, is an individual focused on going from 0 to 1. Mark Zuckerberg took us from 0 to 1 when Facebook was created.

As Thiel states though, "It is easier to copy a model than to make something new; doing what we already know how to do takes the world from 1 to n, adding more of something familiar."

When full-time virtual schools were introduced they took education from 0 to 1. They were an "act of creation, and the result was something fresh and strange."

Now, virtual schools are attempting to move from 0 to n. Remember, it is easier to copy a model, to do what we already know how to do. The problem is that the current n is not worth modeling.

My energy and effort is centered on the desire to have us rethink n and return to creating something new, with the hope of moving us again from 0 to 1.

Let's stop pretending. It's time to create something new in virtual schooling.

houston@figment-consulting.com

The Denver Broncos Virtual School

What if I told you that within the Denver Broncos, winners of Super Bowl 50, lies secrets to a successful virtual school?

Head Coach Gary Kubiak, talking before the Super Bowl victory, "I think every experience is different. We've done it different with this football team and how we went about it. But I feel good about our process. Throughout the course of our season we kind of knew we were all involved, we were all contributing. I think that's brought our football team very close together over the season."

Future Hall-of-Fame Quarterback Peyton Manning when discussing the fact this was Coach Kubiak's first season with the Broncos (again before the Super Bowl victory), "When you have a new coach it takes time to understand his expectations and his philosophies. I think though, it is up to the players to buy in and try to fulfill the role that he wants them to play."

Super Bowl 50 MVP Von Miller speaking before the Super Bowl when asked about his emotions after being drafted a few years ago by the Broncos, "I just wanted to come in and be the best Von Miller I could be. When I was a rookie I had dreams and aspirations. But what got me through everything was just keeping my head down, just focusing on what I needed to do. I just focused in with my teammates."

Within those three quotes lies some wonderful secrets to building a remarkable learning experience, if you know where to look.

Can you see them?

Do you understand them?

Do you know how to apply them to your virtual school?

houston@figment-consulting.com

Do you have Service Values?

If you have not developed a Service Theme, then start with yesterday's blog post before reading this one.

Service Values are the practical plans that allow you to implement your Service Theme through your employees, through setting, and through processes.

They

* Provide each administrator, teacher, and staff member a road map to follow

* Offer you guidelines to give you a disciplined approach to serving your students and families

* Identify those areas of vital importance to you that allow you to define your ethos

They are active, predetermined, aspirational, measurable, and when you take the time and energy to define them you then separate yourself from other virtual schools.

houston@figment-consulting.com

What's your Service Theme?

Define

What do you stand for?

Why do you exist?

How do you want to serve?

A Service Theme is not a mission statement or vision statement. It is deeper. It is real. It is lived out each day with each interaction.

Start here and your students and families will know the difference without you having to tell them.

houston@figment-consulting.com

Married at First Sight & virtual schools

FYI has a fascinating program called Married at First Sight. Three couples are matched by so-called experts and they agree to marry on the day they first meet their spouse. Then they have six weeks to determine whether or not they are committed to the marriage, to each other, and to the future -- or, they can get a divorce.

This program is a fascinating study of the struggle between expectations and reality.

Each one of the individuals brings expectations to this experience, to this marriage with them. Then, they are faced with the reality presented to them and what unfolds is an ongoing study in each's ability to adapt (or not to adapt).

You can see where I am going with this one right -- virtual schools, in a similar way, are also studies in the struggles that occur between expectations and reality.

Parents enroll in virtual schools with certain expectations, and then reality hits. After that, it is an ongoing study of whether or not they can adapt to this new reality, or will they seek a divorce. (I find it interesting in that with virtual school parents they also typically leave within a six-week window)

The difference between the two (or the one that matters here) is that virtual schools have the ability to help parents manage those expectations long before they commit to this new relationship. The message, the marketing, the conversations with enrollment consultants and teachers, and the follow-up are all ways in which we can help parents enter into the relationship with expectations better matching reality. Or, we can work hard to help reality match expectations -- either way, the start is better.

Virtual schools must work harder during the courtship period to take the blinder off of parents and help them see clearly - - even if it means some parents never reach the altar.

houston@figmment-consulting.com

The cost of tuition-free

Research has demonstrated the powerful impact FREE can have on sales for businesses. It can increase sales on average by 15% or more. The offer of FREE can increase lead conversion dramatically (depending upon what the FREE offer is of course), and convert leads to customers.

But FREE is not free, especially in the world of virtual schools.

The flip side of the coin when businesses lead with FREE is that they are not building loyal customers. They are not attracting customers that will return for more. More often than not, FREE attracts those who are seeking something free.

In the world of virtual schools, most lead their marketing efforts by focusing on the fact they are tuition-free. In doing so, it helps increase leads, and even can help convert leads to students.

But, that cost remains.

The cost of attracting the wrong type of student.

The cost of seeing those students leave who came because it was free.

The cost of finding more students who are attracted to free.

FREE is not free -- neither for the student nor the school.

houston@figment-consulting.com

Rethinking rigor

Virtual schools enjoy touting their "rigorous curriculum" as a selling point. But, should they?

Our friend Merriam and Webster tell us that Rigor is defined by words such as:

harsh inflexibility
strictness
severity
cruelty
strict precision
rigidness

Oh, I know that is not the intent of the schools when they use this term Rigor.

In the Glossary of Education Reform, the authors give a more accurate definition of Rigor as applied when educators use it. In education, rigor is commonly applied to lessons that encourage students to question their assumptions and think deeply, rather than lessons that merely demand memorization and information recall.

My suggestion is that parents (your customers) apply the Merriam-Webster definition instead of the Glossary.

Every time you say rigor parents hear strict, severe, rigid. If that is your desire, then continue to use rigor.

However, those who understand what it means to be a virtual school that serves, and apply the principles of customer service will seek to better define the true meaning they want parents to grasp. They will better explain what they have created. They will toss aside rigor.

houston@figment-consulting.com

Going the extra mile . . .

. . . is sometimes not far enough.

When it is not, are you willing to go the next mile beyond the extra one?

If not, you may find you never traveled the extra mile in the first place.

houston@figment-consulting.com

Do what matters

Start your day with what matters most, and do it.

Don't choose busy work,

or easy work,

or mindless work.

Do what matters.

Of course this requires you to give thought to, to consider, to discipline your mind, in order determine what does matter.

Then comes the discipline to do it first.

houston@figment-consulting.com

3 Ways to Get Virtual School Students to Engage

Each time I visit with either a new client, or even a prospective client one of the first questions I am asked is "How do we get our students to engage more?"

Student engagement is just below better enrollments, less attrition, and higher retention. Taken together these are the four pedestals upon which virtual schools either stand or crumble. What about academics? If we improve our enrollments, reduce attrition, and increase retention, my argument is academics will improve.

So, how do we get students to engage?

Here are three ways to do it:

1. Give them something worth engaging in

2. Give them a place to belong

3. Demonstrate how much you care for them

Oh, I know these are not the tactical plans you might have hoped for but the lack of engagement goes much deeper than mere tactics.

Remember, some of these same students who don't "engage" in your school spend hours playing video games like Call of Duty, or hours playing iPhone games like Clash of Clans. Those two have given kids something worth engaging in.

These kids also engage in Instagram and Snapchat consistently, especially if they sense they belong.

Then, do your students know you care about them? Do they know how much you care for them? In what ways do you demonstrate it daily?

Think about engagement at this level far more than which tactics or latest gadgets to deploy.

houston@figment-consulting.com

Two questions on the K12 quarterly report

Thursday morning K12 released its quarterly report. Shortly thereafter my inbox was flooded with emails from people who have both agreed and disagreed with my assessment of the K12 ship is sinking (wrote several blogs about it over the past year).

Two of the dominant points common to each email I received are found in these two questions:

Q1. In reading through the transcript it would appear K12 is taking some ideas from your playbook -- focusing more in teacher and student interaction, spending more attention on retention, and using some of the terms you have proposed over the past year. What do you think?

Q2: With the latest report and the stock price soaring upward now, are you willing to say that you might be wrong in your assessment of K12, and that indeed it is turning a corner?

I had numerous emails noticing the use of terms and intense focus on the teacher-student relationship that I posit is THE most critical element in virtual schooling. I also had numerous emails wanting to say I have been wrong about the K12 ship. It was a fun day to read emails.

As for being wrong, I am always open to that possibility which is why I refer to myself as a Specialist and not an Expert in virtual schools. Specialists are always improving their game, learning, and growing. Experts believe they know all they need to know. So, yes I am willing to admit to being wrong.

Not sure though that is the case here just yet. One quarter of seemingly positive news doesn't make for a different story. I am not going to spend time picking apart the report -- in time it will either prove to be true or not on its own. But, this quarterly report does not alter my assessment of the overall ship.

As for K12 borrowing anything from my playbook -- while potentially flattering, I am not one to believe that is the case.

I continue to lead the charge in focusing on students as customers, placing the teacher-student relationship at the middle of it all, and building a remarkable learning experience (emotional and academic). If anyone wants to borrow it, that is perfectly fine.

We need a new virtual. Remember, sometimes when you "turn a corner" it means you may be on your way to going in circles.

houston@figment-consulting.com

The middle

It's safe here in the middle with everyone else.

We hang out with friends who go by the names of: Incremental Gains, Basis Points, Closing the Gap, More Focused, Churn Rate (and his brothers Attrition and Retention).

We pat ourselves on the back for what we call improvements while failing to realize we are only comparing ourselves to everyone else in the middle.

But, it's safe here. And, we like safety.

houston@figment-consulting.com

The edge

The edge can be a scary place.

It's lonely out there.

You feel exposed out there.

You are just not sure it can support you out there.

But, the edge is also the place where remarkable happens.

The edge is also the place where real change occurs.

The edge is also the place where virtual schools need to go.

Embrace the edge and you can impact the world.


houston@figment-consulting.com

Building a remarkable learning experience

Author, blogger, and mentor Seth Godin describes remarkable as something worth talking about. In other words, the service you are rendering is so remarkable your customers cannot help but share it with others.

We have the potential to build a remarkable learning experience in virtual schools -- one that is worth sharing, one that your students and families cannot help but share with others.

Remember though, remarkable encompasses far more than just academics.

You can read more about this in my Virtual School Manifesto: Nine Essential Ingredients.

houston@figment-consulting.com

The Relationship Strategy in virtual schools

212% YOY increase in leads

167% YOY increase in enrollments

35% increase in retention in first year

25% reduction in attrition rates prior to October 1

Lowest number of student absentees for the first day of the new semester in the history of the school


These are some of the results from building relationships with prospective families, and existing families from the virtual schools I have had the privilege of serving these past two years.

When we put the teacher-student relationship in the middle, and not just the student, we are then on the right path of fulfilling the promise of virtual schools.

houston@figment-consulting.com

The photo is in honor of MouseWorldRadio.com who apparently is ceasing their broadcasting on January 31 after 17 years of faithful service.

3D Printing and Virtual Schools

3D printers have the ability to:

* Allow us to travel among the stars
* Save rhinos from poachers
* Replace missing limbs on humans
* Build automobiles
* Fly

In essence, 3D printing is revolutionizing the way in which we live, and will live in the future. And, it is merely one way in which technology is transforming our world.

Enter virtual schools. We have the potential to transform education, radically, with virtual schools.

We can reach students no matter where they are, bring students together across the state, the country, the world, and connect students with the future. Virtual schools, unlike any other type of education, have this capability, this opportunity, this responsibility.

With virtual schools we can bridge racial, demographic, and social gaps in ways no other type of education can. Even more importantly, with virtual schools we can inspire students, open their world to possibilities, bring the world to them, and expand their horizons, their thoughts, and their dreams in ways no other type of education can.

The moment we quit trying to make virtual schools look and feel like traditional schools is the moment we open this box of potential and release the energy within it.

Let's dream beyond the moment and desire more. Let's move toward re-imagining the virtual learning experience rather than trying to adapt and adjust the current model.

Let's think virtual learning instead of virtual schools. Let's make it a verb and not a noun. Let's dream big, dream boldly, and dream beyond our level of comfort. Let's dream in 3D.

houston@figment-consulting.com

The perfect teacher-student ratio in virtual schools

Is it 1:50?

Or, 1:25?

Or, 1:30?

My belief is the perfect teacher-student ratio is not a number but rather a person.

For one teacher, 30 students may be enough. For another, it may be 50 or 60.

Perhaps if we looked at it differently we could determine the best number of students for each teacher instead of trying to arbitrarily assign some average number across the board. Assign the number of students based on the ability of the teacher to build relationships with them instead of defining a number based on the industry.

Less students does not mean less of a teacher. More students does not mean a better teacher. If we are going to work to find the right-fit students, we need also to work to find the right-fit number for each teacher to shine, to excel, to prosper. and to impact the students under his/her care.

Sure, it would require additional thought related to compensation. But, it would be worth the investment.

houston@figment-consulting.com

Be bold

Boldness may simply mean making the path everyone is on wider. Typically though it means carving your own path, going places others are afraid to go, and going to the edge.

Real change tends to occur out on the edge, where it is uncomfortable, where others dare not go.

Confusion occurs when we believe something in the middle is an outlier, and we convince ourselves otherwise.

Closing the gap sounds edgy unless you compare it to eliminating the gap. Then it is merely the middle.

In what ways would our minds and thoughts expand if we turned our attention to eliminating the gap in education, instead of merely closing it?

Simple thoughts produce small results. Bold thoughts and ideas have the potential to alter the paradigm, change the future, and set us on a completely new path.

Being bold can be scary. It's funny though how scary and exhilarating tend to go together.

houston@figment-consulting.com