Timplus Pedagogical Model + Software

There is no doubt, the pandemic affected education systems all over the world. According to UNICEF, 114 Million students in LATAM have been forced to adapt to a digital education due to COVID lockdowns. In Mexico, it has resulted in 5.2 million students abandoning school. The problem has definitely magnified in developing countries as many students were not even regularly exposed to technology before the pandemic. The situation has highlighted all the red flags across the system, as well as the lack of digital literacy among students and teachers. 

On the other hand, long distance learning has created an important gap between students and educators. The gap enlarges if you consider that every student learns in its own way and at its own pace. So much responsibility relies on educators, and according to a study performed by Intel and CAF LATAM, 60% of them feel that they are lacking technical and pedagogical abilities to successfully teach within the actual context.  

That’s why, we believe there is a need to simultaneously solve the following problems, in order to boost and strengthen the educational system as a whole. “Enable and improve personalized learning and individualized instruction for learners who have experienced disruptions in schooling and missed foundational milestones” + “Lift administrative burdens on educators and support professional development as they implement new approaches and navigate continued disruptions.”

We have developed our own pedagogical model presented through a digital platform (K-12), that together build the bridge to leverage technology integration across the education system. 

Timplus empowers educators to design learning experiences through gamification and co-creation. We provide the tools to create customized educational programs that develop students’ critical thinking, always supporting its own singularity.  

Through videogames and AI, we take advantage of the constant data generated while students play, and guide teachers to transform it into new successful educational strategies.

We work with educators and students to strengthen both related channels, and enhance the process of learning and teaching. 

Our solution is currently focused on K-12 education. On one side, we guide students to develop critical thinking. We believe this is the key to increase technology impact in education. Students need to develop strong digital competencies that allow them to quickly adapt in a world of constant change. 

Nowadays, students are exposed to specific technologies that in some years will become obsolete. Through our pedagogical model and digital platform we aim to position technology as a powerful tool to develop key skills that prepare students to solve and overcome any obstacles in their unique way.  

On the other hand, through our model, we empower educators to understand the specific needs of each student. We help them keep students’ interest with interactive and customized materials, through methodologies based on Design Thinking. This way, they constantly generate data to quickly validate the strategies that are providing the results expected. 

As we strengthen both sides, the relationship between educator and student grows, as well as the interest to continue learning and teaching. 

We have been validating closely with our target market since day 1. We know that testing in real scenarios is the best way to keep strengthening our value proposition. Timplus was selected for the Start-Up Chile accelerator a few years back, and during that time we were able to connect with schools in the region. This way, we started testing every piece of our model, even before we developed the platform. Today we continue working with schools in Chile, we have definitely grown and experimented together how to revolutionize education. In Mexico, we have recently partnered with the UNESCO Chair of Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Guadalajara. This partnership has given us the opportunity to validate our pedagogical model across different educational levels. On the other hand, it has strengthened our network to boost our introduction in Mexico.  

We know the education system is composed of strong networks. We have experienced closely how we can gain their trust step by step, once a school trusts in us, the network effect starts. Schools are connected by government regulations, ministers, among other organizations, and we know considering those links can be an important factor of scalability. 

You can definitely help us boost the network effect among the system through your partners. 

On the other hand, we have worked on building a profitable business model, however, we want to detonate our social impact. We are convinced that you can guide us on building strategies, to give back to our community, and attend the most vulnerable population groups. 

Technology in education has rapidly evolved during the last years, day by day we are all exposed to new technologies. However, why can’t we yet measure its actual impact in the education system?

Our solution provides a holistic approach that involves a pedagogical model and a digital platform. We understand that it is not enough to expose students to the latest technologies in order to generate a higher impact in education. The catalyst is the bridge Timplus builds through its pedagogical model that leverages technology integration and its impact, as we focus on developing students’ critical thinking.  

Next year: Achieve the first 5 schools contracts to create a community linking teams in Mexico and Chile.

Next five years: Create a network of 80+ schools aligned to our model to impact a minimum amount of 25,000 students. 

Create our first educational lab, a physical space to develop methodologies based on the timplus model (gamification and innovative technology) and give scholarships to students in situations of vulnerability sustained by the growth of the project (the revenue established in our business plan).

We have a hierarchy of KPI’s:

• School contracts

  • Students learning through the model

  • Teachers participating in the communities of horizontal learning 

    • Strategies created by teachers

      • Percentage of success in each strategy

      • Games related to this success

    • Games created by the teacher's feedback

• Events 

  • Amount of internships between schools

  • Amount of workshops created

  • Amount of teachers in our speakers database

• Jobs created by timplus

Through diagnosis and profiling of the institutions in experience-based workshops, we understand the schools’ necessities, and adapt the model to their specific needs. Then the implementation of a community system promoting horizontal and gamified learning with teachers, will stimulate the innovation mindset within them, by implementing the Timplus model to create new gamified learning experiences in projects that allow innovation with practical projects. Those projects will be uploaded into our LMS and assessed by video games (standardized protocols gamified into RPG missions), automating the planning process and creating a database with strategies.  Afterwards, AI is applied to link learning objectives and success to promote the strategies created by our teachers with other teachers of Timplus schools. This allows the school to access a unique perks system,  full of valuable data and a new learning environment. On the other hand, we can access a sustainable business model to offer scholarships for kids in the context of vulnerability in our learning labs which will be a disruptive environment to create new Timplus experiences. With that system, we can change the educational paradigm with multiple metrics of impact.

To know our theory of change diagram visit the link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1U2Xf5b-UMY-kUcWmw9WLgrLnQRGVso29/view?usp=sharing

Our core technology is based on machine learning to analyze the data of strategies used by the teachers and identify the variables of new projects to suggest appropriate strategies that ensure the learning projects' success. That success will be measured by protocols gamified added to an RPG experience. That AI with our gamified methodology gives sense to the use of technology through a bridge between TICS and learning methods. All the process of training is encouraged in a metaverse environment that currently we use from another platform but we will implement it in our videogames and LMS platform.

Our main approach relies on supporting the students’ singularity through our model and technology. We know every student learns differently, and our technology respects that and facilitates customized teaching strategies. 

Our model is B2B2C. We start the conversation with the schools’ administration and directors. They are the ones that decide if they will integrate Timplus to their education program. Once the school accepts, each student pays a monthly subscription of $15 USD to have access to the platform. A school with 300 students, results in an annual contract value of $45,000 USD, if we consider 10 active months of the academic calendar. 

We have a second option: $25 USD monthly fee, and includes the lease of tablets. 

Our plan is to donate a percentage of each contract to grow education opportunities in vulnerable communities. 

The question before explains our revenue model.

During the last years, we have received equity free grants that have allowed us to develop our solution to the point we are today. We are currently raising to grow our team, accelerate tech development, and officially launch to market in Mexico and Chile. We know during the first years we will need to raise investment capital in order to scale. 

In the future, as our credibility and impact grows,  our model can transform into a B2G, as the government plays an important role in education. 

We have received $25,000 USD on equity free grants including Start-Up Chile. On the other hand, we have united forces with schools, and together we have raised government grants to be able to validate and pilot our solution in a real scenario, and directly with our target market.

In Mexico we will start our first contracts in August by charging a monthly subscription with a discount. In Chile, we are currently performing paid pilots, and officially launching in March 2023, applying our B2B2C business model.