Tyson Greer - Mobile Edugame Market Innovations 2014

Ambient Insight 2014
Mobile Edugame Market Innovations
2014
Key Findings from Recent Ambient Insight Research
Tyson Greer, Chief Executive Officer
Ambient Insight LLC
Serious Play Conference 2014
July 23, 2014

Partial List of Ambient Insight’s Clients
 Adobe
 Amazon
 Amplify
 Apple
 Blackboard
 BrainPOP
 British Council
 Cambridge University Press
 Chungdahm Learning
 Cisco
 Disney
 Hasbro
 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
 IBM
 John Wiley & Sons
 McGraw-Hill
 Macmillan
 Microsoft
 Oxford University Press
 Pearson
 Qualcomm
 Rosetta Stone
Ambient Insight is an integrity-based market research firm that uses predictive analytics
to identify revenue opportunities for suppliers.

Agenda
 Introductions - Research Taxonomy
 Key Findings from Ambient Insight Research
 Innovations in Edugame Content Products &
Custom Services
 Trends to Watch
 Show me the Money

Ambient Insight’s Learning Technology Research Taxonomy
Have Eight Buyer Segments
From Six Types of Suppliers
That Buy Eight Types of Digital Learning Products
Packaged
Content
Consumer PreK-12
Corporations
- Businesses
Higher
Education
Federal
Government
State - Local
Government
Associations
& Non-Profits
Healthcare
Custom
Content
Software as a
Service (SaaS)
Value Added
Services
Installed Tools
& Technology
Learning
Devices
Digital Video,
Text, & Audio
Reference
Self-paced
eLearning
Courseware
Collaboration-
based
Learning
Simulation-
based
Learning
Cognitive
Learning
Mobile
Learning
Social
Learning
Game-based
Learning
Ambient Insight’s 2014 Learning Technology Research Taxonomy
Seven International Regions
North
America
Latin
America
Eastern
Europe
Western
Europe
Asia Africa
The Middle
East

Six Types of Mobile Edugame Learning Products
 Knowledge-based games
 Skills-based games
 Brain trainers and cognitive
fitness games
 Language learning games
 Location-based learning
games (emerged in 2009)
 Mobile augmented reality
games (emerged in 2010)
Ambient Insight forecasts
revenues for six types of Mobile
Edugames:
Clever Goats
Ambient Insight’s 2014 Learning Technology Research Taxonomy

Key Findings from
Ambient Insight
Research

Key Findings from Ambient Insight Research - The Market
 The growth rate for the global Game-based Learning market is
6.7%
 In North America: growth rate for all Game-based Learning is
7.6% , but for mobile edugames is 12.5% - and from 2013 to
2018 mobile edugames revenues will nearly double
 Consumers still dominate packaged content purchases, the
academic market is growing, and nonprofits and government
continue to buy tourism-related content services
 Mobile edugame investors were bullish in 2011, showed a spike of
interest in 2012, slowed in 2013, and steady in H1 2014
 New suppliers continue to flood the market, and product visibility
becomes increasingly difficult
 Cross-platform products (connecting web & app on device) still
increasing
 Telecoms, device-makers, & NGOs provide Mobile Learning
value added services (VAS), except rarely in North America,
so far.

Key Findings from Ambient Insight Research - The Buyers
 Suppliers capitalize on consumers’ interests: early childhood
education, tourism, health, fitness and wellness, cognitive fitness,
nature, and sustainability
 Top “selling” (or downloaded) apps are for young children;
edugames that offer parental involvement are on the rise
 Explosion of personal learning devices (PLDs) and tablets fuel the
market
 Cultural institutions continue to invest heavily in edugames, with a
mix of in-house and custom content services
 Emergence of easy-to-use mobile game-building tools supports
cultural shift towards using game-creation as an educational
experience
 Government entities escalated awareness about protecting privacy
of children, and updated regulations and guidelines.

Personal Learning Devices Proliferate Across the Globe
Amplify Tablet
System bundles
Classroom Tools,
content and apps,
filtering, MDM, and
implementation
support
OLPC XO-10 Tablet with
Bluetooth-enabled keyboard
LeapFrog’s new LeapTV
living room console with
educator-approved
games and videos for 3-
8 year olds
Kurio 7S (kidSAFE+ seal)

Mobile Edugames Inhibitors v. Opportunities
Discoverability
 So many apps, so many
app stores
 Partner with Big Players
(profit or nonprofit)
 Market in multiple media
 Join publishing programs
 Map content to standards
(CCSS, Next Generation
Life Science Standards…)
 Offer professional
development to educators
 Seek sponsorship from 3rd
parties
http://www.gamesandlearning.org/2014/06
/09/teachers-on-using-games-in-class/
Academic inhibitors
 Fragmentation of the
market
 Lack of teacher support
 Social and cultural
structures: enough &
which devices? or are
devices banned?
 Attitudes: educators
and teens

Combining Common Core & Teacher Support & User-
generated Content
Lack of teacher training in how to use edugames in (or out of)
the classroom inhibits sales
July 2, 2014, Imaginary
Number Co over-achieved $42K
Kickstarter campaign to bring
Mathbreakers to Android and
iPad tablets
- Classroom setup free for 3 months
- Lesson plans & level editor $25
Teacher Dashboard: assign game
levels and student track progress
https://www.mathbreakers.com/lessons/Trial
%20Lesson/

Innovations in Edugame
Content Products and
Custom Services

Knowledge & Skills: Products for PreK-2 Dominate the
North American Edugame Market
Funbrain Jr, early math, literacy, problem-solving
web & app published by Pearson Education
Sight Words
in Space by
Clever Goats
Gummii Math
Educational Games ,
the first to crack iPad
Top 25 in Canada.

“The 2013 Content Trench” – Percent of Total Paid
Mobile Learning Apps by Target Demographic
34%
10%
5%
6%
3%
6%
8%
28%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
What’s on the Store Shelves?
Consumer-facing Paid Mobile Learning Content (All Apps Including Edugames)
Across All Major Application Stores, Platforms, and Devices
The vast majority
of PreK-2 Mobile
Learning content is
game-based

Knowledge & Skills: Combining Critical Thinking Skills
with Knowledge-based Learning Opportunities
ELA + STEM = Argubot Academy
GlassLab + NASA launched an iPad adventure CCSS-based (STEM)
game to develop critical thinking skills and interest in science.

Knowledge & Skills: Interest in Coding Levels Up
Hakitzu: Elite, an update
to the original, teaches
STEM skills and the next
level of coding.
“Teacher’s Pack” offers
guidance and lesson plans.
CargoBot for 5+ uses a
moving crane to shift boxes
and use coding concepts
like loops, procedures, and
debugging.

Knowledge & Skills: Includes “Life Skills” for Students
Parents and schools
buy Social &
Emotional Learning
skills (SEL) edugames
to develop children’s
emotional intelligence
IF… (If You Can Company) SEL role-play,
decision-making adventure game for ages
9-11, includes a Parent’s menu.

Knowledge & Skills: Health & Wellness for Consumers
CME Edugames for Healthcare Students & Professionals
For medical students,
“Osmose with Your Friends”
crowd-sourced game from 2013
DreamIt Health tech accelerator
For consumers, health & wellness
topics include alcohol, allergies,
anatomy, asthma, brain fitness,
cardiovascular health, dental
health, diabetes, exercise &
fitness, food & nutrition, pet care,
obesity & weight loss, pain,
smoking cessation, substance
abuse, and safety
TAO WellShell
isometric
fitness device
over-achieved
Kickstarter
$100,000 goal

FDA Intends Discretion When Regulating Mobile Medical
Apps as Devices
 FDA identified examples of mobile apps for which the
FDA will “exercise enforcement discretion” (6/11/14)
 http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/ProductsandMedicalPro
cedures/ConnectedHealth/MobileMedicalApplications/ucm36
8744.htm
 The list identifies 24 types of apps including those
that:
 Provide prediabetes patients with tools or guidance to create
healthy habits
 Use video games to motivate patients to do their physical
therapy exercises
 Are intended for individuals to make decisions or offer
behavioral suggestions related to health or wellness
(including “use social gaming to encourage healthy lifestyle
habits”) – but are NOT marketed as diagnosis or treatment.

Brain Trainers and Cognitive Fitness Apps: New Players
Continue to Enter the Market
Lumos Labs, Rosetta Stone (Vivity Labs), Nintendo, and
Cogmed dominate North American market
 Lumosity with 60 million iOS
users, and just now launches on
Android
 Master of Words PRO ($2.99) #1
on Amazon US-Games-Free
category (not just edugames)
after “daily deal”
 Brain+ (beta in Denmark, Jan
2013) entered North America and
UK markets (July 2014) with 3
“scientifically-proven” games,
including Remember Me.
Remember Me, Brain+

Language Learning: Edugames Teach Languages on
Smartphones, Tablets, and Game Consoles
Dora’s Worldwide Rescue
Spanish vocabulary for age 4
Ubisoft’s language
coaching apps for
Nintendo
Memrise has 1 million
active users for language
and other courses with
crowd-sourced content

Language Learning: Converging Product Types Boost
Engagement (and Sales)
Sesame Workshop updated AR
“Word-o-Scope” letters game
with email-able word labels &
game ideas to extend learning
beyond the app
Top selling apps across the planet are: Edugames for
young children & language learning apps. Add in AR!
Elmo’s Alphabet
Challenge by Sesame
Street, one of the first
AR edugames

Location-based Learning: Venues, Brands, and
Suppliers Create Cross-platform Promotions
Students visiting the
Minnesota Historical
Society use Play the
Past app during field
trips to museum and
back in the classroom.
Tourist attractions create or sponsor
location-based treasure hunts
 Edinburgh International Science Festival built
a free city-wide “Sci Quest” edugame
 Sainted Media’s free multimedia Global
Treasure Apps offer “real-world rewards” in
the sponsor’s gift shop or café venue
Brands also use game apps to engage
customers and/or “edu-sell”
 Marriott hired evviva games to create XPLOR
scavenger hunt/arcade game/puzzles app for
5 cities. Includes “in-game economy” enabling
users to buy and sell goods.
 Microsoft and DreamWorks teamed to create a free (no IAP) road trip
app Dragon Adventure World Explorer, using Here Maps technology,
Weather Channel data, and Foursquare popularity. SDK coming soon.

Augmented Reality: Making History, Science, Math, and
Reading Come Alive
Qualcomm’s Vuforia Platform used by brands, developers, content
owners for advertising, publishing, gaming, tourism, education…
AR Freedom Stories bring US/Canadian
Underground Railroad to life
Math-based games
for kids 6-9, from
PBS KIDS funded by
US Dept of Education

Trends to Watch

Trend: Tools for the Creator Economy
User-Generated Games and User-Generated Content
TinyTap is a platform for anyone
to create edugames, which can be
published on the TinyTap Market,
AppStore, Google Play, and Web
TinyTap Space Game uses Stroop Effect
Futuba Classroom Games
includes question sets. Students
& teachers can use their own
images, audio, and text to add to
the question bank.
Playingmondo.com - find or build virtual playgrounds
and use Mondo builder to create location-based games

Trend: Supporting “Mobile Parenting” with
Communications and Data
 Kindergarten Readiness (FunBrains Jr) - interactive parent
skills checklist
 IF… - Parents’ Menu, schedule frequency of updates
 GuruCool PlaySchool (KidZone Studios) - provides view into
child’s progress, suggests activities and daily tips
 PBS Play & Learn - math & literacy skills edugame
“specifically for parents”
 Fingerprint Digital - Mom-Comm with in-app messaging
 National Geo’s Animal Jam – companion website has a
Dashboard for parents
Suppliers provide connection and data to parents to counter
their concerns (guilt) of “cellphone-as-babysitter” and their
desires for quality educational/play experiences

Trend: Data & Privacy
The Two-Edged Sword
Developers and platform-providers are creating new ways to mine data
What does “big data” mean in edugames for children?
Opportunity Watch Out For…
To deliver a child’s progress data to
parents: to boost their engagement and
product satisfaction
Collecting data without obtaining
parental consent
To accumulate a treasure-trove of users’
gameplay data: to make improvements
or drive new product features
parental consent
To provide a more personalized learning
experience
parental consent
To transmit data to third parties (e.g. ad
network, analytics company)
Transmitting, sharing data without
obtaining parental consent

Trend: Data and Privacy
New FTC COPPA Rules Can Be Costly
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC)’s Children’s Online
Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) rules have teeth
New rules went into effect July 2013
 Expanded privacy definitions include: geo-tagging, behavior
targeting, and (closing the 3rd party loophole) ad network
cookies and social networking
 Approved “Safe Harbor” self-regulatory programs
 Fine potential = $16,000 per incident
 Prosecutions:
– May 2011: Playdom, $3 million
settlement
– June 2012: New Jersey Attorney General
sued 24x7digital
– Feb 2013: Path, $800,000 settlement

Trend: Data & Privacy
FTC-approved “Safe Harbor” Programs
Some suppliers identify themselves as
“family friendly” and respecting children’s
privacy by displaying seals of approval
such as the “Know What’s Inside” from
MOMs with apps.
http://www.momswithapps.com/about)
There are now 6 FTC-approved Safe Harbor programs that
provide certification that members adhere to COPPA rules:
• Aristotle International, Inc.
• Children’s Advertising Review
Unit
• ESRB Privacy Certified
• kidSAFE+
• Privacy Vaults Online, Inc
(DBA PRIVO)
• TRUSTe

Data and Privacy: California Publishes New Guidelines
2003: California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA) - the first
law in US to require a conspicuously posted privacy policy for web &
apps
2013: Attorney General of California’s guidelines reinforce the FTC’s
“privacy by design” approach and the Organization for Economic
Development’s (OECD) “Fair Information Practice Principles,” (FIPPs)
with a couple of new twists:
1. Recommendation to encrypt transmissions of PII (personally
identifiable information) includes apps downloaded or
used.
2. Introduce a new term “surprise minimization,” meaning to
“minimize surprises to users from unexpected privacy
practices.
2014: New guidelines…

Trend: Data and Privacy
Canada Aligned with EU Rules
The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents
Act (PIPEDA) enforces European Union’s privacy directives
(collection, use, retention and disclosure of personal
information)
 Under the United Nations 1989
Convention on the Rights of the Child,
privacy is a basic human right for
everyone under the age of 18.
 Office of the Privacy Commissioner of
Canada (OPC) has focused on
children's online privacy as a priority.
Some Canadian provinces (Alberta, B.C., Quebec, and
Ontario) also legislate data protection.

Trend: Smart Toys for Skills-based Learning and
Learning 21st Century Skills
Tiggly iPad apps are
free; shapes are $29.99
SK Telecom smart
toy teaches
language arts
Uboly uses a
smartphone
for a “brain”
Kids get to program the
Play-I “robots”
Tangible Play’s Osmo
add-on for iPads
https://vine.co/v/Mw
BYjYi1WeX

Trend: Wearables + Edugames Coming Soon…
Oculus Rift offers
opportunity for
immersive learning
experiences
“Ok Glass… Reform Education”
Suppliers such as Duolingo and
Word Lens have ported their Mobile
Learning language and translation
apps to Google Glasses
Top 100 Game Tech Trends
http://www.develop-
online.net/news/the-top-100-
tech-in-games-
revealed/0194694

Innovative Revenue and
Distribution Models
New Opportunities
New Challenges

Incubators and Accelerators are Proliferating Providing
Financial Support and Connections to Experts & Capital
May 2013, Zynga.org committed
$1 million for “Edtech Game
Accelerator” to focus on learning
games in partnership with
NewSchools Venture Fund.
Motion Math and Kidadaptive
were in Zynga.org’s 2013 cohort.
Tiny Tap and Kiko labs in 2014.
Kaplan EdTech Incubator, powered by TechStars, offers $20K
investment, June – September co-location in New York City, market
insights, mentorships, access to Kaplan’s Learning Science group…
Rock Health opened in 2013 and claims to be “The first seed
accelerator for digital health startups.”

Innovative Revenue and Distribution Options
Revenue Models:
 Sponsorships (nonprofits &
commercial brands)
 Free, lite, and premium
 Subscription services
 Partner with telecoms and
device-makers
 Crowdfunding
 Ads
 Real-world goods
 In-app purchases - virtual
goods/ micropayments for
virtual items
Distribution Channels:
 Channel partners (BrainPOP,
Edmodo, Learning.com, Florida
Virtual School…)
 Specialty app stores &
programs
 Public libraries
 Commercial digital libraries
adding mobile content, e.g.
OverDrive
 Partner with virtual schools,
home school suppliers, device
makers, publishers, and
telecoms
 Personal Learning Devices
New app promotion services and new marketplaces

Revenue and Distribution: Brought to You by the Letter
“S” for Subscriptions
 March 2014 released
subscription-based
(in-app purchases
£ 2.49; or auto-
renewable £1.99)
 Includes “together
time” tips for parents
 Allows children to
record their voices
in different languages
Sesame Street S’More is a bi-monthly
interactive digital magazine for kids
(ages 4+)

Revenue and Distribution: Playsourcing - Games for
Giving Back
Gamers steer a course to
collect “Element Alpha,”
through genuine DNA
microarray data.
Collective flight path
gameplay contributes to
massive data crunching
behind the app to
analyze real genetic data.
Feed-A-Pet –For every level a player
completes, the Pet Project donates
money to feed homeless pets in need.
(Donations funded by ads)
Play to Cure – Genes in Space

Q & A
Ambient Insight’s Free Resource Library at:
http://www.ambientinsight.com/News/PublishedContent.aspx
This presentation, the “Mobile Edugame Market
Innovations 2014,” past presentations, and our Learning
Technology Research Taxonomy can be downloaded from

Tyson Greer - Mobile Edugame Market Innovations 2014

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