Edtech Insiders

Send us a textErin Mote is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of InnovateEDU, a non-profit that brings together leaders in education and technology to design and develop breakthrough models and tools to help ensure that all students graduate from high school ready to succeed in college and careers of their choosing. Erin is also the co-founder of Brooklyn Laboratory Charter School and has served in an advisory capacity to the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Obama Administration’s Global Development Innovation Policy, and the State Department’s TechCamp program.Recommended ResourcesMade to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip and Dan HeathThe Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas KuhnMan's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

Send us a textGuest: Jeffrey Cohen, CEO of FullBloomTopics This Week:Class Technologies Acquires Blackboard Collaborate$210M DealPhilOnEdTech Take MetaverseMercedes Bent on why Metaverse isn’t Over-hypedWorld Economic Forum: the future of education is in experiential learning & VRVirtual Is the New Reality for M.B.A. StudentsInvact Metaversity cancels first cohortBig Tech in EdFacebook Working on a Udemy Competitor?Declining Enrollment at Public SchoolsNYT ‘Seismic Hit’ TakeFunding + M&AFundraising in a Downturn? + Emerge Summit 22Masterschool raises $100MTorch raises $40MParallel Learning raises $20MFoondaMate raises $2M6 Bit Education raises £800KKnowunity raises €10MAmplify Acquires Desmos

Send us a textSophie Brickman is the author of the new book “Baby, Unplugged: One Mother’s Search for Balance, Reason and Sanity in the Digital Age”, all about how parents can try to navigate the world of technology. Sophie Brickman is a writer, reporter and editor based in New York City. Her journalistic work has appeared in The Guardian, The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The San Francisco Chronicle, the Best Food Writing compilation, and the Best American Science Writing compilation, among other places.Recommended ResourcesThe Enchanted Hour: The Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud in the Age of Distraction by  Megan Cox Gurdon

Send us a text1.  Brutal Year for EdTechIt’s Been A ‘Brutal’ Year for Public Education Companies2.  Major Breaking News:  Byju’s in Talks to Buy Chegg or 2UIndia’s Byju’s Eyes Chegg or 2U as It Weighs US AcquisitionScott Galloway’s edtech startup, Section4, lays off a quarter of staff3.  Advertising and Marketing over Education in College SpendGAO Report on Online Program Managers Was Only a Start4. K-12 Beat: California Community SchoolsCalifornia set to launch hundreds of community schools with $635 million in grants5.  Funding + M&AAmplify buys Desmos Curriculum (link)Animoca moves into Education (link)Cornerstone Acquires Edcast (link)GAME: Sign of the Apocalypse or Put Down Your Betting Chips?Online M.B.A.s Overtake Residential ProgramsNational EdTech Plan Getting First Refresh Since 2017ACT Study Finds Grade Inflation in High School GPAs over the Past DecadeStudent Loan Borrowers Don’t Deserve ‘Forgiveness.’ They Deserve an Apology

Send us a textLouisa Rosenheck is the Director of Pedagogy at Kahoot!, one of the largest and most influential gamified edtech companies in the world. Louisa is also an ed tech designer with a passion for game-based learning and playful pedagogies, and teaches educational technology at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she earned her Master’s degree in the Harvard TIE program. Previously, she was the co-founder of MIT’s Playful Journeys lab, and a researcher at the MIT Education Arcade. She was also a classroom teacher, having taught preschool and teaching English in China.Recommended ResourcesResonant Games: Design Principles for Learning Games that Connect Hearts, Minds, and the Everyday by Eric Klopfer, Jason Haas, Scot Osterweil and Louisa Rosenheck  Lego Foundation ReportsLearning, Education & Games: 100 Games to Use in the Classroom & Beyond by Karen SchrierWe the Gamers: How Games Teach Ethics and Civics by Karen SchrierDesign Justice: Community-Led Practices to Build the Worlds We Need by Sasha Costanza-ChockLifelong Kindergarten by Mitch Resnick

Send us a textTopics This Week:Higher Ed’s Commodification and DecentralizationUpskilling Trend Brings Coupons, ‘Flash Sales’ and Other Marketing GimmicksedX’s Role After 2U AcquisitionThe Future Of Learning Is Radically DecentralizedK-12LAUSD makes 'historic' $50M investment to address digital divideUnion pushback on MetaTwitter sale shows us why edtech companies should be accountable to schoolsTikTok May Be More Dangerous Than It LooksWorkforce DevelopmentUnpaid Internships vs. Work-Based Courses.Why MIT was right to reinstate the SATLayoffs amid a Looming RecessionBrutal week of layoffs - OnDeck along with Vedantu, Unacademy, Whitehat Jr & Lido Learning800 WhiteHat Jr Employees ResignFunding + M&AEducapital, Manara, Skillmatics, iNurture, Rise Up, Magnify Venture, ForeignAdmits, Pando, Byju’s

Send us a textJordan Adair is the Vice President of Product at Honorlock, an online proctoring platform dedicated to maintaining academic integrity. Jordan began his career in education as an elementary and middle school teacher. After transitioning into educational technology, he became focused on delivering products designed to empower instructors and improve the student experience. Honorlock is an assessment integrity service that combines AI & live test proctors to make online proctoring simple, easy, and human.Resources:Creating an Anxiety-Free Proctoring Experience

Send us a textGuest: Ashley Andersen Zantop, CEO & Chairman of Cambium Learning GroupTopics This Week:Google Grow Good?Training now free for 500 workers at every U.S. businessStudent Debt CancellationBroad cancellation could backfireWe should cancel student debt, but only for someIncome caps + Online certificate programsKinder-Crisis?Reading recovery's long-term effectsECD going downhillThe pandemic erased a decade of public preschool gainsReturning to OfflineVedantu slashes course costsOnline learning going away in Virginia and Maryland schoolsOnline exam cheating is upFunding + M&AAllen Career Institute, Glorang, Inspired Education Group, GalenaPearson, Snap! Mobile, upGrad

Send us a textEli Bildner is a Senior Director at Guild Education, where he helps to provide opportunity for America’s workforce through education and upskilling, all funded by employers.Eli was also the co-Executive Director and co-founder of Rivet School, a non-profit which simplifies college by pairing an accredited online degree with real-world supports, such as a personal coach, financial aid, a community of peers, career planning, emergency funds, tech support and coworking spaces. Eli also led international growth and was a product manager at Coursera, and earned his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Recommended ResourceNoahpinion- Noah Smith's Substack

Send us a textGuest: Stratsi Kulinski, President of NewU UniversityInternational Bubble?New Oriental Education, Unacademy, BYJU'sMetaverseMeta, Fidelity, Athenaverse, Immerse, MoonhubAdult LearningUdemy's Global Workplace Learning IndexMental Health DataCDC report, Securly, LeanLab, SMART Technologies + KoothFunding + M&AZenda, Newton School, Blue Sky, Vivfy, 9jacodekids, Aztec SoftwareAkadasia, Veranda,