Getting Smart Staff

EdTech 10: Making Moves

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With 4.0 Schools and DiscoveryEd expanding professional learning opportunities, growing leadership teams at iNACOL and the Broad Foundation, and record setting EdTech investments, this week’s EdTech news was all about making moves. In the spirit of expanding impact, check out Preparing Leaders for Deeper Learning and 25 Impact Opportunities in US K-12 Education.

Blended Schools & Tools

#DENSI. DiscoveryEd’s Discovery Educator Network (DEN) hosted the 2015 DEN Summer Institute that engaged 128 educators from the US, Canada and the UK. The six-day professional learning event sought to train educators to use EdTech to create in learning environments that improve achievement. Navigating the digital shift in your classroom and school? Here, read this.

Digital Developments

Plugged in. ConnectHome is a new cross-sector initiative that will expand high speed broadband to over 275,000 low-income households, nearly 200,000 children, and one tribal nation. The is HUGE for low-income learners during a time when all students deserve take home tech.

Engaging entrepreneurship. 4.0 Schools announced the launch of the Education Entrepreneurs program, and Startup Weekend Education. This week Caroline highlighted the announcement and shared why we’re big fans of amazing programs for entrepreneurship in education. Check out Tom’s #SmartCities interview with 4.0 CEO Matt Candler.

Summer camp. Camp Google is running from now until August 7. The free summer program is made being made possible through a partnership with Khan Academy and NASA. Looking for summer learning opportunities? Here’s our list for students, teachers and parents.

Dollars & Deals

Soaring. Q2’15 set a new record for EdTech deals and financing with $765M in funding. In the last four quarters, EdTech startups landed a soaring $2.3B, almost double the previous four quarters as a result of a bunch of monster follow-on rounds.

Foot on the gas. Investments in EdTech show no sign of slowing with the launch of Barnes & Noble Education Inc., DataCamp landing 1 million to build a data science learning platform, busuu raising $6.7M From McGraw-Hill, and Atomic Learning Acquiring Versifit Technologies. Here’s some great instructions for impact investors and edupreneurs interested in leveraging recent trends.

Higher, Deeper, Further, Faster Learning

Postsecondary progress. It’s time to build a better transcript. That’s the title of a blog by Carri Schneider, and the focus of a blog in the Chronicle of HigherEd by Katherine Mangan. In Katherine’s blog she identifies the disconnect between employers and student transcripts. As we advocate for expanded student records and more robust learner profiles in K-12 with The Foundation for Excellence in Education, it’s great to learn of the progress being made in HigherEd.

Kindergarten Competency = Future Wellness. New in the American Journal of Public Health, is Early Social-Emotional Functioning and Public Health, a report that shares unique associations between kindergarten teachers’ rating of student prosocial skills and key adolescent and adult outcomes. The findings build on our recent focus on the importance of social-emotional learning.

The Big “D”

Backpacking. One of our favorite blogs last week, and perhaps the most one important, was from Data Quality Campaign’s VP, Paige Kowalski. As part of the Student Data Backpack series, Paige shared in a blog why we need state leadership in developing and funding access through solutions.

Movers, Shakers & Groundbreakers

On the move. Three leadership changes to note: Longtime iNACOL Board Member Julie Young announced the launch of Global Personalized Academics (GPA) where she will be CEO. Our friend Jenna Schuette Talbot got the nod as Whiteboard Advisor’s new VP of Strategic Communications. Also, Paul Pastore joined the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation’s education team.

For more EdTech 10’s, check out:

Getting Smart Staff

The Getting Smart Staff believes in learning out loud and always being an advocate for things that we are excited about. As a result, we write a lot. Do you have a story we should cover? Email [email protected]

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