Edtech By Marketscale

Teachers working with young students who are learning English as a second language already have to fight through several barriers. The COVID-19 pandemic added another. Whether educating in person or virtually, as so many are because of the coronavirus, Istation bilingual professional development specialists Julie Robinson and Michele Kimball see plenty of challenges ahead for teachers in the young school year. One question teachers have is how students are progressing. While, in person, a puzzled look may come across a student’s face or a child may ask a question to show they don’t comprehend the material, that’s less likely over an online platform. “I think some of the biggest struggles will be as an educator going, ‘OK, do they understand what I asked them to do? How can I really do those checks for understanding?’,” Robinson said. “When I’m in my classroom, I can see that look on their face that they’re lost or get a thumbs up or thumbs down or where are you at on this scale … It’s really hard to do that w

Back-to-school season this year is unlike any other. With the pandemic forcing schools across the country to rethink the way they educate students, the spotlight is on differentiation and how educators will reach students at an individual level through online or socially distanced class learning. Megan Axtman, Reading Specialist at Taft Elementary, Boise, ID, shared some of the best practices her school’s developed to meet students’ needs in this unprecedented time in education. “For the first three weeks of school, our school district will be entirely online,” Axtman said. And the school district will evaluate the situation and make in-class recommendations based on the coronavirus status after that point. The online program was not something the school district had in place before the pandemic, and it worked over the summer to develop a full-time online curriculum. “From the teacher’s side, we now have a little experience under our belts in how to handle online learning and a little more time to prepare,” A

The way the world learns is changing. The use of video and the internet have been part of this evolution. Now the urgency is even greater. Adams Smith, founder of Ally XR, has a long history of connecting technology with learning.This journey started with creating TeacherTube with his brother, an educator. “My brother came to me with the idea of having a platform to upload teacher videos as a professional development tool. I found some open source code and reengineered it,” Smith said.That small idea caught fire. Soon, it was the YouTube for teachers. “We started getting more and more users. Schools and educators were using technology to enhance experiences. Yet, as the need for digitalization has become urgent, it seems many were unprepared. Smith added, “Infrastructure is the issue and the lack of budget to improve it.”Taking what he learned from TeacherTube, Smith began a new enterprise, incorporating augmented reality.“Ally XR was something we started in 2012 when we were working with Staples at TeacherTu

*Why parents need professional development too*The dangers of learning loss and how to deal with it*How all edTech companies are now customer service centers

Need another negative for this forced migration to remote learning? Students become even more vulnerable to the dangers of what Advait Shinde calls the “modern Internet”. On this episode, the co-founder and CEO of GoGuardian talks about how his company is adjusting its products and services to these new scenarios and offers some hopeful insights for moving forward.Advait co-founded GoGuardian to provide K-12 schools with new technologies that enable students to engage in a better learning experience. His dedication to help unlock student potential in education is made clear through his mission of using the internet in an open, but safe way. In his role as CEO of GoGuardian, Advait brings his passion for using data and technology to solve problems in education.Based on his accomplishments in education and technology, Advait was selected for the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Education in 2016, as a finalist for Los Angeles Business Journal’s CTO of the Year in 2017, as a finalist for Ernst & Young's prestigio

Brady Colby, founder and CEO of Thirty Two EDU, joined the show to talk about the growing importance of micro-credentialing and the potential downfall of many universities.Online learning has taken a front and center role in the world of education in light of the pandemic. While some universities and higher education institutions have met the challenge with scalable hybrid programs, others are scrambling to rise to the demand of remote learning. Brady talked about how some of the most successful schools have been smaller institutions that had already offered hybrid programs, while some of the bigger schools are the ones that are suffering. “These schools that you would never expect are really the ones that are able to scale because of the opportunities provided here,” he said.Host JW asked for Brady’s thoughts about the future of education and how micro-credentialing fits into it. Brady pointed out that most employers don’t feel that people are coming out of higher education with all the necessary skills for

What is the difference between remote learning and online learning? Carol Ribeiro, President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of VHS Learning, can tell you. She has over 20 years of experience in online education management and systems development. In this episode, Carol addresses the big picture issues schools need to contemplate during this mass disruption.Prior to becoming President in 2015, Carol served as the Chief Operating Officer of VHS Learning and was responsible for overall management of operations, including school services, finance and accounting, technology services and support, and human resources. She has designed and delivered online courses and has been with VHS Learning since its inception. Prior to her work in online education, she managed systems development for UNUM. Carol holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Systems from Bentley University and an MBA from Clark University. She is also a Fellow of the Life Management Institute (FLMI) and a licensed MA educator.Th

Voices of eLearning host, JW Marshall, spoke with Harris Goodman, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy at Achieve 3000, a 20 year old education software provider focused on K-12 literacy and other edTech products and services.Marshall kicked off the conversation with the topic of data interoperability. “There’s a lot of data being generated by teachers and students,” said Goodman. Connecting information from different sources and syncing them together is a significant challenge. Being able analyze data on the whole can help determine where the student is coming from and where the student is going. Goodman also spoke of his work to promote open API platforms to improve data collection and analysis.The discussion then moved into the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and how it has changed the mindset of eLearning companies and their willingness to work together to solve problems. Goodman spoke about companies being more open to interoperability as well as other challenges such as stud

Dr. Christina Counts has her eyes on the prize—more flexible, collaborative learning spaces. In this episode VP of Strategy and Development for MiEN Environments shares her ideas on how to make that happen this fall while at the same time keeping both students and teachers safe. Plus: Rethinking learning spaces at home.Dr. Counts has worked in education for over 17 years with experience as a classroom teacher, district instructional leader, school administrator, and digital and innovative learning designer. In her most recent position, Christina leads a team of professionals that support schools making the transition to a flexible, collaborative, & student-centered learning space.  She holds a doctorate in K-12 Educational Leadership, National Board certified, and Google & Apple certified. Dr. Counts envisions a learning space in which educators are empowered to transform education through design, technology and innovative instructional pedagogy to create learners ready for any future.Topics incl

From the history of personalized learning, to the prospect of parental pods, to the role of teacher unions in this new world of hybrid learning, there is seemingly no topic that Jaime Candee is afraid to touch. In this wonderfully candid episode, the President and CEO of the online learning platform Edmentum shares some provocative insights on how schools can manage through this years’ back-to-school madness and how the edtech industry can support them.Jamie joined Edmentum in 2005 and began her career with the company in Human Resources, before working her way through nearly every department within the organization—serving as Director, Sales and Service Effectiveness; Vice President, Product Development; Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing; and Chief Revenue Officer during her initial tenure.Jamie rejoined the organization in 2017, to lead Edmentum’s strategic vision and long term growth plan as President, CEO, and Board Director, bringing her successful record of accomplishment as an executive with e

The "Voices of eLearning" Podcast provides business leaders with insights into current and future trends in eLearning. The "voices" on this show will include business leaders from a wide range of industries, eLearning professionals, technology experts and business professors, and they'll all use front-line experience to deliver an unmatched look at the evolution of eLearning and its role in our collective future.Each episode will allow guests to share their unique insights derived from their experience and knowledge, but "Voices of eLearning" will always look to cover current transitions in the world of B2B eLearning and thought leadership around future trends. This show will provide a roadmap for keeping your business one step ahead of the competition through education.In the inaugural episode, Dr. Art Langer, Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia University, discusses the scalability of digital technology management, his non-profit work with the Workforce Opportunity Service (WOS) and how COVID-19

If anyone can prognosticate the precarious state of testing and assessing students during COVID-19 and beyond, Jeffrey Elliott can. As Chief Operating Officer of UWorld, a company used by more than 2 million students from secondary through graduate and professional certification for high-stakes online learning tools, he can see clearly through the chaos. In this episode, Jeff talks about the barriers as well as the opportunities that this catastrophe presents.UWorld is the worldwide leader in online learning to prepare for high-stakes exams. Since 2003, UWorld has helped millions of undergraduate, graduate, and professional students prepare for their exams. At the core of UWorld's mission is an obsession with quality so that students receive only the best in learning resources. Whether students are preparing for the ACT, SAT, CFA, CPA, MBE, MCAT, NAPLEX/MPJE/CPJE, NCLEX, PANCE/PANRE, USMLE, ABIM, or ABFM, UWorld ensures success by using active learning methods. With challenging practice questions that mirror

Many schools realized they couldn’t safely return to the classroom after spring break or simply a weekend because of the coronavirus pandemic. Most had to turn to online options to educate students. But there were some frequent roadblocks to success, including getting devices to students and making sure they had access to the internet. In the rush to get up to speed, important factors to consider fell by the wayside. Now that administrators have had months to think about going back to school, however, there’s time to develop a plan that David Waugh, Chief Revenue Officer of ManagedMethods, said needs to center on security. “There were a lot of lessons learned about, ‘OK, there’s too much exposure, too much access.’ It wasn’t because of the schools doing or lack of doing, it was that many vendors that work in EdTech and suppliers were caught off guard, as well,” Waugh said. “Google, Microsoft, Zoom – there were a lot of deficiencies that were exposed, because they hadn’t been explored yet.” While Wau

In what will most likely be the most remote interview for Remote Possibilities,  CEO Henjie Wand checks in from edTech software Kami headquarters in Aukland, New Zealand to dissect the massive disruptions in education, the rise of education apps in a distance learning scenario, and the changing role of his 10 million teacher/users.Here’s the Kami pitch:More K-12 schools are shifting to Chromebooks and digital devices as part of the 1:1 initiative. Kami provide users with the essential tools to create an engaging and collaborative learning environment. With Kami as your digital pen and paper, teachers and students can achieve more together.LearnStudents enjoy annotating text and editing documents using Kami. With our kid-friendly app, students can annotate on ebooks, publisher-supplied PDFs, worksheets and more.CreateKami tools boost students’ creativity by allowing them to draw freely and annotate with a selection of colors, shapes and text sizes. Students can easily complete tasks and save files with Ka

Berj Akian doesn’t want to hear about going back to normal. As the founder and CEO of Classlink, he has long advocated for the removal of barriers between students and impactful education content. The way he sees it, the pandemic has created new opportunities to improve this dynamic even more. In this episode he discusses how the education industry can take advantage. ClassLink solves the problem of too many passwords, and too many files scattered about. It’s a one click single sign-on solution that gives students access to everything they need to learn, anywhere, with just one password. With more than 6,000 single sign-on connectors and comprehensive use of open technology standards, ClassLink is the most inclusive single sign-on platform in education today. The technology is accessible from any computer, tablet or smartphone, making ClassLink the ideal solution for 1 to 1 and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiatives. ClassLink Roster Server easily and securely delivers class rosters to any publisher using o

Zoom fatigue? It’s a thing. Frank Weishaupt, CEO of OwlLabs, thinks he has an answer. On this episode of Remote Possibilities, he talks about the state of video conferencing in this world of remote working and learning. The pandemic has thrust the technology of video meetings into our faces. Listen how we can escape these daily squint-inducing reenactments of the Hollywood Squares for a better distance learning experience.Each year, Owl Labs publishes the State of Video Conferencing report to share with business and IT leaders the collaboration challenges companies face most often, the preferred collaboration software and hardware tools to solve them, and how business and education can improve productivity overall.96% of respondents agree that video conferencing is effective for improving the connectedness of remote team members, with full-time remote employees nearly twice as likely to feel strongly about this than those who work on-location. Most notably, the report uncovered that setting up and starting me

Even before the pandemic struck, new learning methods through remote technologies were exploding worldwide. Andrew Urodov, product manager at Practicum by Yandex, has tracked this phenomenon and shares his thoughts on where it is headed next in this latest episode of Remote Possibilities. Practicum, which is a virtual training program to help people gain skills they need to jump start a career in tech, was born out of the NASDAQ-listed tech giant Yandex, operating across Russia and other countries in Europe, MENA and Central Asia. It is a new technology-based career advancement program which offers intensive 6 to 10-month training in three career tracks: Data Scientist, Data Analyst, and Web Developer.The service, recently launched in the U.S., is a one-of-a-kind online learning platform that focuses on upskilling individuals wishing to pursue careers in technology by combining interactive training modules with the help of seasoned online tutors who already work for leading tech companies.Practicum offer

In a normal world, it would have been one of the biggest edtech stories of 2020. After 14 years, Chief Education Evangelist Jaime Casap has left Google Education. In this exclusive interview with host Kevin Hogan, Jaime discusses his past successes, education’s present priorities, and, most importantly, what’s next.Jaime evangelizes the power and potential of technology and the web as enabling and supporting tools in pursuit of promoting inquiry-driven learning models. He collaborates with school systems, educational organizations, and leaders focused on building innovation and iteration into our education policies and practices. He speaks on education, technology, innovation, and generation z, at events around the world, at least when there were events.In addition to his role at Google, Jaime is also an author and serves on a number of boards for organizations focused on education, innovation, and equity. He teaches a 10th-grade communication class at the Phoenix Coding Academy in Phoenix and is an adjunct p

If anyone can help divine what happens next for edtech, Mark Schneiderman can. As the industry’s chief policy advocate for 15 years, his analysis is important for both executives and educators. In this episode, Mark breaks down his recent provocative post, where he provides a 3-point framework for the future:Topics include:The COVID-19 DisruptorFirst, it is important to understand the evolving environmental impact. The K12 edtech sector has experienced quite a journey over several decades. In recent years, we made the fundamental shift from asking “if” technology to instead a focus on “how.” In these last few but very long three months, we have lived years’ worth of emotions as we moved through the stages of concern, excitement, fear, and opportunity about education and technology in the age of COVID-19. As a result, we are now at the cusp of what could be a generational leap for the sector.COVID-19 Impact on School (Technology) BudgetsI expect that increased demand for remote learning and edtech will be outw

Another edtech monolith about to crumble due to the pandemic, along with standardized testing and taking attendance, is how education software gets bought and used. In this episode of Remote Possibilities, Drops Chief Customer Officer Drew Banks talks about the surge in downloads for the company’s learning language app as the lockdowns began and the quick pivot they took to provide extra curricular support for students using Droplets. These weren’t district buys but parents choosing the learning tools, a trend likely to expand as remote learning continues.Topics include:The ingredients needed for a valuable and successful e-learning tool What the future of edtech looks like and how the education sector will have to adapt and innovateWhat’s in store for Drops and how they’re supporting remote studentsDrops entered into the children’s education market with the launch of Droplets, an app designed specifically to teach kids aged 8-17 to learn foreign languages. Through the use of word games, swipe-based inte