Something worthwhile for tech-savvy tots

IMUTAN

After working for 20 years in the Middle East, Jordan Imutan was all set to retire. However, thanks to an idea inspired by his son, the former banker became president of a startup e-learning company.

Imutan heads Beyond Notebooks, a company that specializes in animated educational videos for toddlers and preschool kids. He came up with the concept when he saw his 6-year-old son Axel Gabe watching videos on YouTube.

The problem with YouTube videos is that there’s no consistency. So many people produce so much content, and sometimes, after making a video on a certain topic, they discontinue production, says Imutan. So, [establishing Beyond Notebooks] was like scratching my own itch since I couldn’t find the material that I wanted, I decided to make it myself.

The videos Beyond Notebooks produce are around two and a half minutes long, and feature two main characters: Candy and Dave. The first and only free app they made, Animal Kingdom Book, focuses on topics such as animal sounds; the differences among pets, farm animals and wild animals; animals and their babies; and how animals survive.

In each video, the characters Candy and Dave tackle the topic on hand. After watching the video, kids may explore other related activities in the app. There’s even a short, simple quiz which they can answer a useful tool for parents to gauge what their little ones have learned.

Other apps available for download are Discover Plants (botany), Wonderful World (geography), Health Book (health and safety), Color Your Life (colors) and Dentist’s Diary (teeth care).

Each app costs $2.99 (roughly P135) and runs only on iOS devices, so far. Four more Phonics, How Our Body Works, What Time Is It, Around Me are scheduled to be released.

To create the videos, Imutan employed the help of his brother Jeffrey, an animator for over 20 years for US-based production houses. He hired two teachers to work on the apps content and structure. Their video editor dubs the voices of both Candy and Dave.

When it came to choosing their videos principal characters, Imutan sought the expertise of his target clients. The company held focus group discussions with young children and presented them with 12 different characters. They chose Dave, a bespectacled explorer, and Candy, a math whiz.

The kids had amusing reasons for choosing Candy and Dave, says Imutan. They liked Candy because of her cute pigtails; Dave, because of his glasses, which was surprising because I wore glasses as a kid and I got teased for it.

Beyond Notebooks was established in September 2013 a year and a half after Imutan came home for good from Saudi Arabia. He used to work in a bank as vice president for strategy and planning.

I came home for a number of reasons: my father had died; my mother was getting older; and I couldn’t really practice my faith or teach Christianity to my son, who was still 4 years old then, since, in Saudi Arabia, they’re very strict about religion, he says.

Imutan and his son came home first. His wife Tez Enolva, a flight attendant, had to wait for her documents to be completed before she could join them.

In between setting up a home and being a full-time parent, Imutan decided to do consultancy work. He also took on public speaking engagements where he would share his work experience in Saudi Arabia.

It was through these talks that he met iAcademy owner Vanessa Tanco-Cualoping, who invited Imutan to join iAcademy’s School of Continuing Education (ISCE) as executive director. Now, Cualoping is also part of Beyond Notebooks.

The mobile apps were not in the company’s initial plan.

Imutan and his team started with a subscription-based website, but soon realized that their market wasn’t really into purchasing subscriptions.

They shifted to providing public schools with TV sets that played their videos in between classes for children to view, but they found it difficult to partner with companies that could provide funding through advertisements.

No one really wanted to advertise in public schools. It’s a bit disheartening because we were ready to provide the tools for education, and all we needed was the financial support to sustain the business. It could have been a CSR (corporate social responsibility) program for the companies we talked to, says Imutan.

SCREENSHOT of Beyond Notebooks app

We had to change our [business] model. It’s called the pivot or pursue tactic: If you get your model right, pursue it. If not, pivot and change direction, he adds.

That’s when Imutan and his team decided to go into app development, partnering with mobile content developer Mega Mobile.

The apps have been available for download since August.

Imutan says Beyond Notebooks will have to see first how the market responds to the eight apps before developing more. The company has around 200 videos lined up for production, and can produce one video a day.

Beyond Notebooks plans to expand its reach by bringing the apps to preschools. Its lessons are in line with the K-12 curriculum, so the apps are up-to-date with what is being taught in schools.

If all goes well with market reception, Imutan says they plan to expand the company by including comic-type educational books, which can also be used with their apps via augmented reality technology.

Kids today are so tech-savvy. They’re fast learners. My son started using a tablet when he was around 3 or 4 years old, and of course he couldn’t read the word YouTube, but he knew the icon, says Imutan. It’s amazing how well they can navigate through technical devices.