February 28, 2019

In March, the Varkey Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Sunny Varkey’s GEMS Education, will announce the winner of the 2019 Next Billion EdTech Prize. The Varkey Foundation has a broad mandate to ensure that every child gets a good education and works with a good teacher. The Varkey Foundation pursues this bold mandate through a variety of initiatives, including those focused on training, research, and development.

February 27, 2019

Education technology adoption across the country has increased significantly over the last couple of years. This trend is seen not only in India but also in other parts of the world. A recent study “The 2018 Global Learning Technology Investment Patterns: The Rise of the Edtech Unicorns”, published by research firm Metaari revealed that the ed-tech sector globally received USD 16.3 billion funding with Chinese edtech companies, snapping up a 44.1per cent and US ed-tech companies taking 32per cent of the total global funding.

February 26, 2019

By Jacques Botbol

College is an exciting and interesting time for many students. But for some, this season of their lives gives way to particular stress and frustration.

In the U.S., more than 20,000 deaf and hearing-impaired students attend a college or university each year, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics. These students are often left at a disadvantage in the classroom, with an extra set of challenges to contend with on top of the difficulties that come with mastering the course material.

February 26, 2019

A lot has changed since 2012 or, the year the New York Times dubbed the "Year of the MOOC." The premise back then was that classes would make high-quality online education accessible for all—and for free. Today, many MOOC providers now charge a fee. They’ve rolled out bundles of courses called ‘Specializations’ or ‘Nanodegrees.’ And popular providers like Coursera and edX are increasingly partnering with colleges and universities to offer MOOC-based degrees online.

February 26, 2019

HEY ELSA: Elsa, a San Francisco-based developer of an app that aims to help English language learners practice their pronunciation, has raised $7 million in a Series A round led by Gradient Ventures (Google’s AI-focused early-stage venture fund) and joined by existing investors Monk’s Hill Ventures and SOSV.

February 26, 2019

Three years from now, 15-year-old high school sophomores are going to be college freshmen. And their expectations about the tech that surrounds them in 2022 will have been shaped by both what they experienced in school as K-12 students and outside of school as teenaged consumers.

February 26, 2019

When the partnership you have with your educational software provider turns negative, is it worth the effort to reconcile? Or would it be better to just end the partnership? A case can be made for each option.

Knowing how to discern if a partnership is salvageable or beyond repair is a valuable skill for any educational technology leader. The wrong decision can lead to hassles, headaches, and wasted opportunities and funds. In this article, we will explore three common situations that can make or break an edtech partnership.

February 25, 2019

SCHOOL STAKE: SchoolAdmin, an Austin, Texas-based provider of K-12 admissions and enrollment software, has received an investment from private equity firm Quad Partners. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, although Quad will own a majority stake in SchoolAdmin as a result of its investment.

February 25, 2019

10 African startups are among 30 finalists competing in this year’s Next Billion EdTech Prize, which recognizes the most innovative uses of technology that have the potential to radically impact education in low income and emerging economies.

February 24, 2019

PORTFOLIO ADDITION: Instructure, the publicly-traded, Salt Lake City-based company best known for its Canvas learning management system, has acquired Portfolium. The transaction is worth around $43 million, of which $25.8 million was paid in cash and the rest in stock, according to Instructure’s financial filing.

February 25, 2019

Last month, the nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) published a report arguing schools and districts should go the way of other industries and hire a Chief Privacy Officer to oversee their organization’s privacy policies and practices.

February 22, 2019

I'm a fighter. I believe in our people, I believe in our mission, and I believe that it should exist and must exist.” Sebastian is talking animatedly about Udacity,  the $1 billion online education startup that he co-founded nearly eight years ago. His tone is buoyant and hopeful. He’s encouraged, he says over an occasionally crackly phone call, about the progress the company has made in such a short time. There’s even a new interim COO, former HP and GE executive Lalit Singh, who joined just days ago to help Thrun execute this newly formed strategy.Thrun 

February 20, 2019

From the very start of digital education, the big question has always been: “How can students learn effectively, if they’re not face-to-face with their instructors?”

Since digital education first emerged, following the heady early days of the World Wide Web in the ‘90s, online learning faced the elusive hurdle of turning disembodied classmates and instructors into living, breathing engaged learners and teachers, with minds and hearts you can feel, know and understand; with whom you can imagine sitting together in a lecture hall.

February 19, 2019

In September, Verizon launched the Verizon 5G EdTech Challenge with the support of the NYC Media Lab. The nationwide challenge invited non-profits, including organizations, start-ups, research groups, and universities, “to create powerful, transformative education solutions that leverage 5G connectivity to solve for challenges in under-resourced middle schools throughout the U.S.” Verizon recently announced the winners of its 5G EdTech Challenge, and the winners’ proposed projects offer a fascinating glimpse into the potential future of edtech.

February 19, 2019

Edtech is one of the hottest startup sectors in India today. There is a large addressable audience, rising investor interest, growing paid subscriptions, and intense competition. In all this, Mumbai-based Toppr has managed to stay relevant since 2013.​

February 18, 2019

With the Unified digitization in the World, Education Technology aka Edtech, today, carries the potential to bring revolutionary changes in the education system. The Edtech startups are providing personalized classroom experience for aspirants of all sorts of competitive examinations.

February 13, 2019

Two teachers with a combined three decades of classroom experience have created an online resource that gives parents tools to help their elementary school children.

Cohesion Education is a subscription-based online library filled with videos on math, reading, and writing concepts for children in kindergarten through fifth grade, and intended to give parents insight into what their kids are learning. The lessons are created and taught by certified teachers.

February 13, 2019

In September, Verizon launched the Verizon 5G EdTech Challenge with the support of the NYC Media Lab. The nationwide challenge invited non-profits, including organizations, start-ups, research groups, and universities, “to create powerful, transformative education solutions that leverage 5G connectivity to solve for challenges in under-resourced middle schools throughout the U.S.” Verizon recently announced the winners of its 5G EdTech Challenge, and the winners’ proposed projects offer a fascinating glimpse into the potential future of edtech.

February 12, 2019

Online tutoring services are a dime a dozen, and in recent times they’ve raised many dimes. Since 2016, these companies have raised more than $1.2 billion in venture capital, according to EdSurge data—most notably Chinese startups that connect local students with English tutors.

February 11, 2019

Allovue is scaling to meet increasing demand for education-tailored financial tools in connection with new federal requirements.

February 07, 2019

Students’ concerns about the return on investment in their education, coupled with a demand across industries for graduates with more practical skills, are driving changes in the ways universities offer education, according to a report from the Brookings Institution.

According to the report, both students and employers feel higher education institutions are not giving students the skills they need to be desirable employees in the modern workforce.

February 01, 2019

Finding the right partner–through a merger, acquisition, or another type of business deal–is often essential for education companies trying to grow, beat out their rivals, and anticipate schools’ shifting needs.

But that matchmaking requires a lot of research and clear-eyed predictive thinking about what the pairing will bring to both sides, according to a group of company executives and investors gathered here this week.​

Four participants on a panel at this week’s LearnLaunch conference offered advice to startup companies on what to look for in partnering with big players and other education-focused business. They also provided insights on how they’ve approached their own deals.

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