Edtech Insiders

Send us a textTopics This Week:1) Labor Shortages Loom in K12Almost half of all teachers are thinking of leaving their jobsParticularly hurting struggling readers2) College Enrollments Dropping, Higher Ed Making Digital ShiftsColleges have seen the biggest drop in enrollment in 50 years Some are adapting to a new future with Hybrid College Classrooms 3) School Districts Getting more Cyberattacks and RansomwareCyberattacks on school districts getting more frequent across the countryGeorgia to provide cybersecurity platform to all schoolsExperts are recommending more preparation and more attention be paid despite limited resourcesThe 2020 K12 Cybersecurity Act is intended to help4) Mergers and AcquisitionsSoapbox labs partners with McGraw HillLiterati Acquires Follett Book Fairs 5) Omicron Stimulus Money Being spent on Virtual TutoringBack to School, but Still Learning Online (NYT)NOTE: A few important things happened this week after recording, which can be read below and will be covered in next week's episode.1) Spain-based Domestika, an online platform for creatives, received a $100m round at a $1.3b valuation, becoming the latest Edtech Unicorn.2) Fourthrev, a UK-based career accelerator program, announced an $8m Series A.3) Brighteye Ventures put out its 2022 European Edtech Funding Report. Breakdown from Brighteye head of research here.4) Singapore-based college application platform Cialfo received a $40m funding round.5) Singapore-based personalized coaching and mentoring platform Ascend Now received a $2.1m seed round.

Send us a textIn this Week in Edtech, we cover:1) Lawsuit Alleging Price-Fixing at Top Universities- NY Times2) Phil Hill's Coverage of the Shrinking Non-Profit University Ecosystem- Phil on Edtech3) India cracks down on OPM providers in Higher Ed- Times of India- Economic Times4) LEAD Becomes the First Indian Edtech Unicorn of 2022 with a $100m round- The News Minute- Techcrunch5) Around the World- US: GSV Elite 200 Edtech companies Released- UK: MyTutor acquires coding platform Fire Tech- Africa: Egyptian Edtech Orcas Raises Round,  $10M Future of Learning fund from Future Africa- LATAM: Ubits raises $25m to create the Netflix of corporate training 6) Education Labor Force- 74Million: Report shows that there is no 'big quit' in education, but specialized positions are still hard to fill We also play a game of 'fill in the blank' with questions like "University Presidents should feel _________ given the barrage of negative recent headlines about legacy Higher Ed" and take questions live from the On Deck Ed Tech fellowship.

Send us a textStanford education professor Mitchell Stevens on developing a science for working learners for the NSF to improve research and outcomes for those outside of the traditional higher education system.Mitchell Stevens is a sociologist of higher education at Stanford University and the co-director of the Stanford Pathways Lab with John Mitchell.Report LinksHere is a link to the full reportRead the list of contributors to the report.Sign up for a live event on January 19th to discuss the report (also here).Resources Recommended by Professor Stevens1. The Education Trap, Christina Groeger2. Teaching Machines: The History of Personalized Learning, Audrey Watters

Send us a textThis Week in Edtech, we focus on 1) Labor Shortages and COVID Contingency Plans- California Community Colleges Go Online, along with most UC Campuses and Duke- Staff shortages led to Louisville's school district going back online2) Edtech VC Firm Owl Ventures Launches 3 Edtech Funds worth over $1B - Crunchbase- WSJ- Economic Times (India)3) Y Combinator Announced It Would Offer $500K to Companies- This raises the bar for early stage funding- New Edtech Accelerators are popping up, like ODX, Workshop Venture Partners, Blue Meridian and  Sesame Ventures4) Around the World - Europe: Edtech unicorn GoStudent became the highest valued Edtech in Europe with a $300M+ Round- China: New Oriental Revealed 60,000 Layoffs and 80% Revenue Loss (Bloomberg)- India: Inc42's Yearly report came out reporting $4.7 Bn in Indian Edtech investing5) The GSV Edtech 150 was released.NOTE: After this episode was recorded, a few more interesting developments occurred:1) Indian edtech LEAD became the first Unicorn of 20222) Ellucian bought CampusLogic3) Modern Campus bought SignalVine4) School Loan Provider Navient Lost a $1.85B Lawsuit5) Chinese language Edtech Lingoace completed a $100M funding round

Send us a textEdquity is an emergency financial assistance platform for college students that is distributing $50 million per quarter. Founder David Helene is a college financing wunderkind who is committed to keeping low-income college students enrolled; in this episode, we dive deep into how edtech can help support equity in higher education.Resources that David recommends:Paying the Price by Sara Goldrick-RabAutomating Inequality by Virginia Eubanks

Send us a textBen and Alex discuss How US Schools are Opening and Closing and Opening, The Merging of Edtech Platforms with Content Providers,  The Mental Health Crisis in Schools, Chegg's Lawsuit by Investors, and Edtech's Huge Year and the Global Landscape Shift. We also predict the number of IPOs and Unicorns in 2022, look at the LatAm Edtech market, and do a Deep Dive on GSV Partner Luben Pampaoulov's Medium post on how we get to the first trillion dollar Edtech company through LTV. RESOURCES:NYTimes: "With No School in Sight, Chicago Families Grit Their Teeth" Axios: Blackbaud buys Everfi for $750 million, in ESG pushEdsurge: To Help Fight a Mental Health Crisis in Schools, Community Groups Step InInside Higher Ed: Chegg Accused of Cheating Investors HolonIQ's Global Edtech Venture Capital Report

Send us a textIn this special episode, Alex and Ben Kornell of Cambium Education, Altschool and Altitude Learning talk about some of the major trends in Edtech in the milestone year of 2021 and predictions for 2022.Trends covered include:- COVID Fueled Disruption and Edtech Acceleration- Labor Shortages in Schools and Teacher Burnout- Nationwide Mental Health Crises for School-Age Children- Major Edtech Mergers and Acquisitions- Edtech Matures as a Technology Sector (From Edu-slow to Techno-speed)- New Edtech Unicorns and IPOs- Employers Dip Their Toes and Start to Change the Center of Gravity for Edtech- Rise of Indian and European Edtech and Slowdown in Chinese Edtech- The rise of CBCs and the "Educreator" (Teacher-Influencer-Creator Economy)- The Future of the Gap Year

Send us a textIn this episode, we talk to Elizabeth Madariaga and Michael Karsh, production and edtech veterans and co-founders of Edios Media. Edios Media is the instructional design and video production studio behind many of the most successful online courses in the world, including:All four Google Career Certificates (the largest MOOCs in 2021)INSEAD's Blockchain Revolution Specialization on CourseraCourses from Facebook, AWS, Paradigm, Salesforce, Lyft and C3.aiIn this episode, we talk about what makes compelling online video, how to prep and structure an incredible online course, how to provide effective 'gateway learning' to beginners, the power of reminding users 'why' they're learning, filming during a pandemic, and how storytelling principles can be best used in education. Resources- Axios (specifically, the Jobs section)- Institute for the Future of Education from the Tecnológico de Monterrey- Also, check out the Edios Media blog for deeper dives into some of the topics covered here, including storytelling and remote production.

Send us a textIn this episode, we speak to Nikki and Dan Gusz, the sibling entrepreneurial team behind career coaching startup Lloyd.Lloyd's mission is to provide career coaching at scale and at affordable prices to those who may not otherwise have access to it. With support from WGU Labs, Lloyd offers 'career services as a service' to education institutions of all kinds, from individual course creators to bootcamps to universities. ResourcesDan and Nikki recommend the publications and tweets of these entrepreneurial thought leaders:John DannerElizabeth Yin (@dunkhippo33) on Twitter

Send us a textIn this episode of Edtech Insiders, we speak with Amy Amner Jenkins, Head of Schools at Outschool.Previously, Amy was the Chief Operating Officer of Education Elements, an associate partner at NewSchools Venture Fund, a co-founder of an after school program that combines soccer and literacy, and a teacher with Teach for America. Amy holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.In this conversation, Amy and I chat about how Outschool became one of the fastest growing edtech companies during the pandemic, how teachers are using their teaching skills to create side hustles or even full time jobs teaching online, and how Outschool is beginning to work directly within schools to expand learning opportunities.ResourcesAmy recommends:Following school district leaders on Twitter Feedspot Weekly as an aggregator of edtech newsStart with the Why by Simon Sinek