5 Big EdTech Deals for January 2022
Professional learning gets the k-12 treatment, AR and AI come of age, better data means stronger knowledge, and more.
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Below is the kind of content that will be going behind the paywall but want everyone right now to get an idea of what they are in for. Any and all ideas, criticisms, and prognostication are encouraged. Just drop it in the comments or hit me at thehoganreport@gmail.com.
Click here to listen to how the sausage was made for this month’s selections.
What’s the big deal:
Pearson acquires Credly for $200M, in which Pearson already had a nearly 20% stake. The deal will expand Pearson’s presence in the workforce skills sector by adding credentialing service to its workforce analysis, learning and assessment capabilities. Pearson also recently made another professional learning acquisition—a company called Faethm – enabling the company to work with employers and employees to identify skills needs, provide learning to address those needs and offer trusted credentialing to prove proficiency. More than 2000 organizations use Credly and since its inception, Credly has issued 50 million credentials to 25 million consumers, making it the world's largest professional credentialing marketplace.
Why it’s a big deal:
Andy Bird, chief executive of Pearson: "The Credly acquisition is another important step in accelerating our strategy in the workforce skills market and in building connectivity across the entire Pearson portfolio. The growing skills gap is putting enormous pressure on the labor market, making verified credentials more essential than ever before."
Details:
What’s the big deal:
Discovery Education launches the Sandbox AR iPad app, which features Augmented Reality (AR) tools for students and teachers to create, share, and even inhabit virtual environments. Sandbox AR also gives students new ways to express themselves and demonstrate their learning through a feature that lets learners take photos or record a video walkthrough with their own voice over.
Why it’s a big deal:
Discovery Education Chief Executive Officer Scott Kinney: “In 2021, we built on the extensive library of educational videos that educators know and love us for and added new time-saving tools and resources providing all learners with more ways to use our engaging content and dynamic platform every day. Sandbox AR and resources we make available to educators today are just the beginning of what will be a number of powerful new resources Discovery Education plans to provide students and educators in 2022 and beyond.”
Details:
A conversation I had with Scott back during the beginning of the pandemic:
Universal Solutions To A Global Crisis: Remote Possibilities
What’s the big deal:
Edthena launches the AI Coach™ platform. The solution helps schools and districts provide teachers with supportive coaching in order to improve teaching effectiveness. The AI Coach platform uses artificial intelligence to guide teachers through coaching cycles aligned to common growth areas.
I had the pleasure of a demo. Edie takes a guide-on-the-side approach to help teachers summarize the evidence found during video analysis and develop action plans to increase impact with their students. As part of their conversation with Edie, teachers develop a short-term goal, identify a strategy for change, and commit to a timeline for implementation. This evidence-based process enables teachers to receive many of the benefits of instructional coaching even if an in-person coach is not available.
Why it’s a big deal:
Adam Geller, founder and CEO of Edthena: “Quality coaching is essential to helping teachers succeed in the classroom. However, ensuring that a coach is available for every teacher on a regular basis to support ongoing reflection was a near-impossible task until now.”
Details:
Adam goes deeper into the future of teacher professional development in this conversation last summer:
The New Style of Educator Professional Development
What’s the big deal:
Lightspeed Systems (“Lightspeed”), acquires the ENA affiliate CatchOn, Inc. (“CatchOn”). CatchOn is a leading provider of learning analytics for schools, and with this acquisition, Lightspeed adds to its portfolio of software that fosters safe and effective learning solutions for K-12 students across a growing network of more than 32,000 schools.
CatchOn is a real-time data analytics provider that captures and shares insights on technology usage, data privacy, and student engagement to create more efficient and student-focused educational strategies. Lightspeed continues to expand its presence in the growing domestic and international K-12 web-filtering and reporting, analytics, mobile device management and classroom management market. In 2021, the Lightspeed product team launched several tools, including the Lightspeed Parent Portal™ and Lightspeed Alert™ with 24/7/365 human review.
Why it’s a big deal:
Brian Thomas, President & CEO of Lightspeed Systems: “Investment in education technology has never been higher or more critical, as administrators strive to better understand the technologies they are implementing, analyze outcomes and maximize the positive impact educators are having on students’ lives. CatchOn’s innovative data analytics tools are highly complementary to Lightspeed’s web-filtering, analytics, and online monitoring solutions. Together, we will have the technologies, capabilities, and team required to accelerate our mission of keeping students safe, and learning equitable and effective.”
Jena Draper, Founder of CatchOn: “Since 2016, CatchOn has been empowering education leaders to measure the effectiveness and usage of their online software application investments. In Lightspeed, we are confident that we have found the right home for our data analytics tool. With Lightspeed’s leadership in online safety monitoring and highly complementary capabilities, our combined company is well-positioned to become an even stronger partner for a growing network of educators.”
Details:
Lightspeed Systems press release
I had the chance to speak with both Brian and Jena recently. Go back and listen to hear if there were any hints last year!
Mapping and Understanding Student Behavior Through Data
Connectivity is Key for the Future of Education
What’s the big deal:
TutorMe, and Richland School District Two in South Carolina announce an agreement to provide more than 28,000 K-12 students with free access to TutorMe's online 24/7 tutoring service for the 2021-2022 school year, with more than 15,000 tutors available anytime to help with more than 300 subjects. TutorMe's virtual classroom provides interactive features including a text editor, code editor, two-way audio/video chat, screen sharing, and a virtual whiteboard for engaging and enriching education. Each session is archived so students can conveniently access past lessons to help them with coursework and studying.
Why it’s a big deal:
Richland Two Superintendent Dr. Baron R. Davis: "Our partnership with TutorMe will allow our students of all ages to have on-call help when needed, and give each student the opportunity to thrive in any subject matter with no cost to their family. The pandemic has made it difficult for students to seek out extra help. This new tool will hopefully bridge that gap and I look forward to seeing the positive improvement across each classroom."
TutorMe's co-founder and CEO Myles Hunter: "TutorMe has been on the frontline of online education assistance well before the pandemic arrived, providing top-notch tutors and on-demand academic support to ensure students never feel lost. Richland Two can rely on TutorMe to provide 1-on-1 learning during critical times of need and beyond."
Details:
My recent interview with Myles on the rise of online tutoring:
How Can Employee Training Take Advantage of Online Tutoring Services?
So that’s it for January (good riddance really). What did I miss? Fill me in in the comments or shoot me a DM.