Edtech Insiders

Send us a textIn this special episode of Week in Edtech, we speak to two leaders in the K12 space using AI to support teachers and learners:Deepanshu Arora, Founder and CEO of Toddle LearningToddle's  mission is to help teaching teams around the world do their best work. More specifically, Toddle is an end-to-end solution for all your teaching and learning needs. Teaching teams use Toddle for curriculum planning, assessments, student portfolios, projects, progress reports, classroom management, family communication and much more.Vivek Ramakrishnan, Co-Founder of Project ReadBuilt by teachers and AI experts from Stanford, Project Read is an ambitious effort to make personalized reading support accessible for all kids, regardless of income. Accessible in browsers on mobile, tablet or desktop.Get ready to explore the future of education! Join Edtech Insiders for a virtual conference featuring 30+ of the top voices shaping the future of Al + Education. A full day of keynote speakers, panel discussions, and networking!Register now here: AI+EDU Virtual Conference

This podcast discusses trends in generative AI edtech tools, the race to build a GitHub Copilot for teachers, and the impact of AI in education. They also explore the characteristics of edtech founders, the elimination of liberal arts majors at the University of West Virginia, and recent funding rounds in the education sector. Additionally, they address the challenges of using AI in Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and provide updates on layoffs in the Indian edtech sector.

Send us a textJames Grant is co-founder of MyTutor, the UK’s leading online tutoring platform, working with hundreds of thousands of students and 1,500 public schools across the UK and US. Their vision is to make life-changing tutoring available to all. They are the largest partner on the UK’s National Tutoring Programme, have a carefully vetted, 20,000 strong tutor community and have raised $40m in funding. MyTutor’s programs are proven to deliver 2.5x the progress for students in their tutored subjects. James was recognised in Forbes 30 under 30’s 2018 list for MyTutor’s social impact. Recommended Resources:The Art of Learning by Josh WaitzkinLearning How to Learn by Barbara Oakley PhDGet ready to explore the future of education! Join Edtech Insiders for a virtual conference featuring 30+ of the top voices shaping the future of Al + Education. A full day of keynote speakers, panel discussions, and networking!Register now here: AI+EDU Virtual Conference

Send us a textBodo Hoenen is the founder of Dev4X, and a cofounder of NOLEJ, a generative AI for education. He is a collective intelligence scientist and serial entrepreneur whose previous startup’s include an LMS that he sold to Google. Since then, he’s been developing a Super Collective Intelligence, an AI-Human collaboration engine to rapidly accelerate the rate at which we can learn and innovate.Recommended Resources:Lex Fridman podcastChatGPT BardBingGet ready to explore the future of education! Join Edtech Insiders for a virtual conference featuring 30+ of the top voices shaping the future of Al + Education. A full day of keynote speakers, panel discussions, and networking!Register now here: AI+EDU Virtual Conference

Special guests Johann Malawana of Medics Academy and Jen Mendelsohn and Mara Koffmann from Braintrust Tutors discuss topics like AI competencies for teachers, changing perception of college education, Medics Academy's mission to provide quality education for healthcare workers, Braintrust Tutors' use of technology for targeted interventions, addressing learning loss and evolving pedagogical approaches, shift towards phonics-based reading instruction, and AI-based learning in edtech.

Send us a textJohn Failla is the CEO and co-founder of Pearl, a research-based tutoring platform that streamlines operations, reports actionable data, and improves outcomes for Pearl’s many tutoring partners. Pearl works with states, districts, and private tutoring companies. John is also a Founder-In-Residence at University of Richmond - Robins School of Business and was the Founder & CEO at Trilogy Mentors.Recommended Resources:Blog by PearlNational Student Support AcceleratorIllinois Tutoring InitiativeGet ready to explore the future of education! Join Edtech Insiders for a virtual conference featuring 30+ of the top voices shaping the future of Al + Education. A full day of keynote speakers, panel discussions, and networking!Register now here: AI+EDU Virtual Conference

Send us a textKimberly Nix Berens, Ph.D., is a scientist-educator and Founder of Fit Learning.  She co-created a system of instruction based in behavioral science and the Technology of Teaching, which has transformed the learning abilities of thousands of children worldwide. Fit learning programs use virtual instruction to target areas a wide range of skills: early learning skills, basic classroom readiness, phonemic awareness, reading fluency, comprehension, inferential language, basic and advanced mathematics, logical problem solving, grammar, and expressive writing.  From her early beginnings in a broom closet at the University of Nevada – Reno, Dr. Berens has helped grow Fit Learning to an organization with more than 30 locations worldwide. She recently published her first book, Blind Spots: Why students fail and the science that can save them.Recommended Resources:Project Follow ThroughPeak by Anders EricssonTalent is Overrated by Geoff ColvinGet ready to explore the future of education! Join Edtech Insiders for a virtual conference featuring 30+ of the top voices shaping the future of Al + Education. A full day of keynote speakers, panel discussions, and networking!Register now here: AI+EDU Virtual Conference

Send us a textIn 2022, Heather Combs was appointed CEO of StraighterLine, one of edtech’s fastest growing companies and the leading provider of high-quality, affordable, online courses that helps learners earn college credit and meet their professional goals. Heather has led the company through its first acquisition of ChildCare Education Institute, one of the largest online training providers for early childhood education professionals. This acquisition is the company’s first step to significantly expand its course offerings and grow the company.Heather brings more than two decades of experience in scaling high-growth companies. Before StraighterLine, she served as chief commercial officer and chief operations officer of the digital product development company 3Pillar Global, where she led operations, marketing, and strategic growth initiatives. Before 3Pillar, she led revenue strategy and product management as the chief business development officer at the HR Certification Institute, was the chief sales officer at Hanover Research, and spent 13 years at Corporate Executive Board, business advisory firm that was acquired by Gartner in 2017.Heather was named a  2018 “female disrupter” of the software development world by Medium and is dedicated to women in leadership. She is a founding member of Chief, a network to connect and support women executive leaders, and a member of the advisory council for STEM for HER, an organization that empowers girls and young women to pursue education and careers in science, technology, engineering, and math.StraighterLine provides high quality, low cost online courses that prepare students for success. StraighterLine combines a $99 a month course subscription with guaranteed credit pathways to accredited degree programs to save up to 60% on the total cost of a degree. Recommended Resources:Using ROI for Strategic Planning of Online Education by Kathleen Ives and Debroah SeymourWhat We're Reading by Whiteboard AdvisorsJeff Selingo booksEdTech Thoughts by Matthew TowerOther Notes:StraighterLine gets to the point where they can offer "courses for credit" not "accredited courses". Technically their courses are not "accredited" but they transfer for college credit at accredited institutions.Get ready to explore the future of education! Join Edtech Insiders for a virtual conference featuring 30+ of the top voices shaping the future of Al + Education. A full day of keynote speakers, panel discussions, and networking!Register now here: AI+EDU Virtual Conference

Guests Dr. Deepak and Maria Walley of Prof Jim discuss AI achieving parity with human instructors, the rise of AI edtech companies, Course Hero's AI Academy, the popularity of ChatGPT in schools, declining college interest among Gen Z, the charade of 'test-optional' admissions, funding for special education solutions, AI transforming educational content into interactive videos, the B2B model in edtech, and the importance of patents in the industry.

Send us a textMarco DeRossi is the CEO and founder of WeSchool, a leading Italian EdTech startupFounded in 2016, WeSchool is an online collaborative learning platform that is designed to be easy to use- it already enables 1.7 million students and 230.000 teachers to amplify their learning experience by leveraging digital tools.WeSchool recently closed a 6.4M€ Series A funding round to scale their technology and enter new markets.Recommended Resources:Visible Learning by John Hattie