1. Doing Online Learning Research
with both Scientific and Financial
Value
Joseph Jay Williams
josephjaywilliams@stanford.edu
www.josephjaywilliams.com

2. Why bother? We do “Science” not
“Business”
● Industry/Business/Entrepreneurship
○ ?
○ Making products, selling things?
○ “Every successful business creates something of
value. The world is full of opportunities to make
other people’s lives better in some way, and your job
as a businessperson is to identify things that people
don’t have enough of and then find a way to provide
them.”
● Science: Developing theories/principles that
explain, predict, and control behavior

3. Examples where Online Learning
helps Science & Industry overlap?
● Ed-Tech products
● Corporate Training & E-Learning
○ Sales
○ Product use
○ Product details
○ Software & Equipment Use
○ Safety Training
○ Executive Education
● Consulting activities
● RCTs in Workforce Development

4. Online Learning can turn everyday
work environment into a laboratory
● Physical ----> Digital Online
● Easier Access & Collaboration
● Precise Control
● Automatic data & analytics collection
● Immediate delivery & redeployment, iterative
improvement
● Easily modify digital materials/environment
● Random Assignment to different versions

5. Target Intersection of Scientific
Questions & Industry Problems
Scientific
Questions Industry
Problems/
Products
?

6. *Start* with product, then ask
scientific question
● Example:
Scientific Question: Role of generating
explanations in learning
“Product with value”: Khan Academy math
exercises
http://tiny.cc/khanzscore1
http://tiny.cc/khanexercise1

7. Identifying Relevant Contexts
● Adopt “Growth Mindset”/Leap of Faith
● Identify Society & Attend a Conference
(www.elearningguild.com 70 000 + e-learning
professionals, hosts DevLearn 2013 in October)
● Consulting
● Give Talk/Write Post on applying research to a product
● Talk/Collaborate/Partner with Scientifically minded
people in Industry
○ Bror Saxberg (Kaplan)
○ John Behrens (Pearson)
○ Will Thalheimer, Karl Kapp, Ruth Clark (Run
Consulting & Training businesses)

8. Science → Industry route
● Identify relevant scientists
○ MediaX
○ BJ Fogg, John Stamper, Karl Kapp
● NSF's Innovation Corps
● Grants for small businesses/startups
○ NSF Small Business Innovation Research
○ Technology Transfer
○ Department of Education grants

9. Identifying Products for Research:
Criteria to Consider
● “R.E.P.E.A.T.” Criteria for a Product/Context
● Realistic
● Experimental
● Product
● Evaluation
● Accessible
● Theory

10. Potential Directions
● Focus on “Assessment” as well as Learning
○ EdLab at Columbia,
○ https://getclever.com/
○ http://www.brightbytes.net/
● Sales Training - measures of learning
● Search Skills & Workforce Development
● Executive Education

11. Thoughts?

12. Potential Benefits
Industry → Science
● Address practical needs - “Customer
Development”
● Software/Technology Development
● Data
● Funding (scientist as consultant model?)
Science → Industry
● Measureable, Practical Improvements
● Use 50+ years of education/learning
research