Edtech Insiders

Send us a text2022 was a consequential year for Edtech. Join us as we review some of the top trends of the year!In this super-sized episode, Ben and Alex review top trends from the year that was and make some predictions for 2023. We discuss:The "Edtech winter" for startups worldwide, with a renewed focus on profitabilityThe crash in Chinese edtech and the continued rise for India, Europe and other regions. Increasing consolidation in the sector through mergers and acquisitionsThe rise (and fall?) of the online tutoring sectorThe politicization of k12 schooling in the USK12 staffing shortages and their effect on EdtechThe opportunity to address pandemic learning lossThe ROI crisis for university degrees and the rise of industry credentials and college alternativesSea changes for higher ed, including enrollment decreases, closures, focus on adult learners, the rise of test-optional policies, and moreOPMs expanding their reach and competing to be the lifelong learning solutionWorkforce learning on the riseHow the Education-as-a-benefit model survives an economic downturn and evolutions of the talent warThe past and future of the educational multiverse, VR/AR/XR, AI, and Web3.0In Part 2, several of our top guests from the year weigh in on their reviews and predictions! Stay tuned.

Send us a textThis episode features special guest Joshua Broggi of Woolf University,  the first global collegiate higher education institution that allows education organizations to join as member colleges and offer accredited degrees.In this episode we discuss:1) Higher Education's Sea Change (Axios)- Changes coming to higher ed from many directions- testing, rankings, enrollment woes, hybrid courses and more. How can Edtech best support HE in a time of great pressure and change?2) Credential Engine's Annual Report - In a world with over 1mm credentials available, how can Edtech help learners sort out which will work best for them?3) There’s a Reason There Aren’t Enough Teachers in America. Many Reasons, Actually. (NY Times)- The teacher shortage is leading to some new policy ideas, like a $60k minimum wage for teachers- Ben says it should be more like $100K.4) Edtech’s brightest are struggling to pass (TechCrunch)- Edtech stars like Outschool, Bloomtech (formerly Lambda School) and Pluralsight continue to shed jobs and seek profitability5) Course Hero creates parent company Learneo- Course Hero takes a page from Google/Alphabet and creates an umbrella organization to manage all its acquisitionsFunding and M&A:Mathspresso raises $70m Series C Sana Labs raises $34M series BUolo raises $22.5MCareer Foundry raises 5M EurosZeraki raises $1.8MMcGraw Hill acquires Medical Training platform Boards & BeyondLate Breaking news: Instructure acquires LearnPlatform (!) To be disc

Send us a textHeather Shen is the CPO and co-founder of Praxis Labs. As graduate students at Stanford, Shen and classmate Elise Smith, 30, bonded over their mutual interest in helping companies and institutions do a better job at diversity and inclusion training. They came up with the idea for Praxis Labs, a startup that can deliver diversity training using either VR headsets, mobile phones, laptops or desktops. Heather is a member of the Forbes 30 Under 30 List for Education. Heather has also worked as a management consultant, an electrical engineer for Microsoft’s Hololens, and in Crew Systems at NASA. Heather holds a Master’s of Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.Mekayla Castro is the Head of Curriculum at Praxis Labs, where she drives curriculum and content development and partners with the product team to create immersive experiences and impactful learning tools and pathways. Mekayla was formerly a Senior Behavioral Scientist and Head of Learning Experience Design at Edtech Unicorn BetterUp, which provides coaching services to enterprise clients, and was the Director of Global Leadership and Learning at American Express. Mekayla earned her Ph.D in Social-Organizational Psychology from Teachers College Columbia University.

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Send us a textCherian Thomas is a senior vice president at BYJU’S who led the company’s acquisition of Osmo from BYJU’S and the company’s entry to the North American market—as its first international employee. A computer scientist by training and a self-proclaimed nerd through his college years and beyond, Cherian began his career as an engineer and quickly found his passion in the world of startups, including the gaming company Zynga. Prior to BYJU’S, Cherian founded his own startup, Cucumbertown—a network for chefs—that was acquired by Cookpad in 2017. Cherian leads business for some of BYJU’S key initiatives and is responsible for several hundred million in revenue per year that spans across 15+ countries. Currently, Cherian’s focus remains on Osmo from BYJU’S which builds a universe of hands-on gamified learning experiences validated by education experts to nourish the minds of children.Recommended Resources:TED, TEDxWatch me play ... the audience! by Bobby McFerrinEdSurgeYoutube

Send us a textDr. Yair Shapira is the founder and CEO of Amplio. Following two decades as an executive in successful start ups, he founded Amplio to help the millions of children with special needs maximize their potential, starting with his son, who stutters. His previous roles include executive positions in sales, marketing, business development and R&D. Dr. Shapira holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering and speech processing from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.Luann L. Purcell, Ed.D. was the Executive Director of the international Council of Administrators of Special Education, Inc (CASE), a division of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) for 18 years. Dr. Purcell has 48 years of educational experience, as a general education teacher at both high school and middle school level, teacher of students with emotional and behavioral disorders, and assistant superintendent for pupil services for 18 years in a school district with 27,000 students.Judy Rich, EdD, CCC-SLP, is currently a speech-language pathologist (SLP) as well as an education consultant and lecturer at The University of Texas. She worked in public schools for 35 years as a campus SLP, program specialist for speech and language services, special education director, executive director, and assistant superintendent for student services. Angelica Morgan was most recently a Senior Curriculum Engineer at 2U and a research intern at CAST, the Center for Applied Special Technology working on the Center on Inclusive Technology in Education Systems (CITES) project. She will received her Ph.D in learning design and technology from North Carolina State University in December with a research focus on the use of technology for special education students.

Send us a textKate Eberle Walker is an education industry leader, author, and working mom with more than 20 years of experience managing, advising, acquiring, and investing in high-profile education companies. Currently, Kate is the CEO of Presence, the leading provider of teletherapy services for children with diverse needs.  Previously, Kate was CEO of The Princeton Review and Tutor.com, and she managed strategy and investments for Kaplan, Inc. She has served on several education-focused boards, including Babbel, Barnes and Noble Education, Prospect Schools in Brooklyn, NY, and Testing Mom. Kate is a contributor at Fast Company and Forbes, and she is the author of The Good Boss: 9 Ways Every Manager Can Support Women at Work.Recommended Resource:Good Talk by Mira Jacob

Send us a textThis Week, we cover:1. McKinsey Reports on EdtechFive Trends to Watch in the Edtech Industry 2. Owl Ventures Owl Outcomes Report3. Online TutoringSchools across the U.S. have turned to Paper’s online tutoring. Some worry it’s falling short4. Mental Health Hiring Crisis in Schools:Schools struggle to staff up for youth mental health crisis | AP NewsSchools struggle to hire more mental health professionals for students | PBS NewsHour5. Edx + EmeritusedX Teams Up with Emeritus to Fuel International Expansion2U Learning Platform edX Partners With Emeritus for Overseas Expansion | MarketScreener6. Law Schools Ditch the US News and World ReportWhy Six Top-Ranked Law Schools Left U.S. News in the Dust This WeekYale Law School’s Revolt of the Elites | The New RepublicOpinion | Are the U.S. News College Rankings Finally Going to Die? - The New York TimesLaw schools reject 'U.S. News' rankings7. Test-Optional Movement GrowsTest-Optional Momentum Grows As ABA Panel Votes To No Longer Require Law Schools To Use LSATOver 1,830 colleges are test-optional for fall 2023 admissions | Higher Ed DiveWhat Does an SAT Score Mean in a Test-Optional World? 

Send us a textYounes Mourri is the CEO and Founder of Livetech.ai, a course platform that offers low-cost high quality instructor-led courses in high-demand technical subjects. Younes is the co-creator many of the most popular artificial intelligence MOOCs, including Andrew Ng’s Artifical Intelligence class and Deeplearning.ai’s Natural Language Processing specialization. Younes holds a Master’s and Ph.D in Artificial Intelligence from MIT and a Master’s in Statistics from Stanford, where he has taught Deep Learning and Applied Machine Learning.Resources:The Batch (weekly newsletter) from Deeplearning.ai Kian Katanforoosh, founder of WorkeraAndrew Ng, Co-founder of Coursera and Deeplearning.ai

Send us a textPablo Simko is the Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Coleap, a marketplace of expert-designed learning communities. Previously, he was the Chief Operating Officer at Elenas, a startup which enables Latin American women to set up online stores from the comfort of their mobile phones and has onboarded 300,000+ entrepreneurs throughout the region, and a Chief of Staff at Polymath Ventures, a startup studio for emerging markets. Resources:Building the Intentional University by Stephen M. Kosslyn  (Editor, Contributor), Ben Nelson (Editor, Contributor), and others.