SaskCode is focused on the K-12 market, more specifically in the province of Saskatchewan. This is a traditionally small market, which more traditional publishers avoid.
SaskCode offers both content and services for clients. Content in the form of lesson plans and classroom kits, services in the form of teacher training and development.
SaskCode markets their content and services to school divisions, often through development opportunities, and to the teachers directly. They will often promote their classroom kits during their development sessions, but acknowledge that other sources for the tools are available as well.
SaskCode has a very limited target audience and market - K-12 in the province of Saskatchewan. As part of the CanCode federal grant, they also have a goal of reaching underserved populations.Â
SaskCode is very friendly to challenging market conditions. For example, many early lessons require no computers, tablets or phones. The Robot Mouse kits, Ozobots and Edisons have numerous activities that support computational thinking without computers, but instead through push buttons and reading optical codes. Classroom kits are available for purchase, but sponsored kits can also be borrowed.
SaskCode faces little real competition in the province from either traditional publishers or other non-profit organizations. The focus on the Saskatchewan curriculum help promote a unique position in the marketplace, and the use of multiple different hardware systems helps to keep it responsive to the needs of the market. Their strategy of adapting existing hardware to the local curriculum while building classroom kits that support ensures that it will remain relevant.