Edtech Insiders

Missed the live panel at SXSW EDU? Tune in to our special episode where Ben Kornell of Edtech Insiders hosts a compelling discussion with AI thought leaders Amanda Bickerstaff of AI for Education, Charles Foster, and Steve Shapiro from Finetune. Since ChatGPT's launch in November 2022, these trailblazers have been integrating generative AI into educational contexts, pioneering new approaches and solutions.

Revisit their insightful conversation on the innovative applications they're spearheading, and the exciting opportunities and significant challenges ahead for educational technology. This recorded session offers valuable perspectives for educators, tech enthusiasts, and anyone interested in the future intersection of AI and education. Don't miss out on these expert insights—perfect for those keen on understanding where education technology is headed next!

Danny King is the CEO and Co-Founder of Accredible, a global digital credentialing platform that serves certificates and badges on behalf of MIT, Harvard, Google, Skillsoft, IEEE, GMAC, McGraw Hill and over 1,000 others. He founded the company in 2012 with Alan Heppenstall, with the vision of becoming the world's first truly verifiable repository of human capital. Over the years he has built a high performing organization fueled by the belief that individuals should be evaluated holistically, and organizations should take advantage of every technology to better identify the most capable team members. Today, Accredible is building the world's backbone infrastructure for credentials, empowering individuals around the globe to choose educational and career pathways that maximize their expected return on investment in terms of time, money and satisfaction.

Recommended Resources
🌃 edtech after dark by Tony Wan
📚 Accredible Blog

Join us as we sit down with three high school seniors who are Research Assistants at the Stanford Deliberative Democracy Lab. They share their insights on the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence and its effect on youth today. In this episode, our guests discuss how AI is currently shaping their lives and education, their concerns and hopes for the future of AI, and their ideas for policies and tools to help young people navigate these changes.

Siya Verma of Quarry Lane School, focused on global public policy, technology policy, and economics.
Sophie Yang from Lynbrook High School, passionate about economics, public policy, and law.
Dev Krishnamoorthy from Saratoga High School, interested in computer science and political science.

Listen as Siya, Sophie, and Dev discuss how their work and academic interests inform their understanding of AI's role in shaping future policy and education frameworks!

Join Alex Sarlin and Ben Kornell as they explore pivotal topics in this Week in Edtech episode:

👓 Meta's new VR OS strategy—will it create a new tech rivalry?
🤖 The growing role of AI in Meta's apps: innovation or irritation?
🏆 Age of Learning earns a spot in TIME's Top EdTech Companies of 2024
💼 Anthology raises $250M for strategic growth in EdTech
🌱 Insights from the Co-Founder at JuneX Capital Partners on the future of educational funding

Plus special guests, Rebecca Kockler of Magpie Literacy and Kristen Huff & Amelia Kelly of  Curriculum Associates and SoapBox Labs 

Don’t forget to subscribe to Edtech Insiders for more updates and insights from the forefront of educational technology!

Jonathan Libov is the CEO & Founder of Antimatter Systems which seeks to bridge the gap between how students learn in the classroom and how people learn in the real world using a suite of modern AI tools for formative assessment, like student-created memes, text message conversations and socratic dialogue with LLMs. Antimatter has recently launched the pilot of their Universe Program, which gives students the opportunity to teach the world and learn how to lead online. Before founding Antimatter in 2021, Jonathan has spent his career in and around startups as a product executive and investor.

Recommended Resources:

🤖 Replit by Amjad Masad
🤖 Synthesis by Chrisman Frank

Elyse Klaidman, after 22 years at Pixar leading creative and educational programs, is now the CEO of X IN A BOX, where she leverages her background as an artist, educator and leader.

Prior to co-founding X IN A BOX in 2020, Tony DeRose led the computer graphics research group for much of his 23 years at Pixar. He is passionate about project based learning and has been very active in the Maker Movement.

Brit Cruise, Chief Learning Officer at X IN A BOX and creator of educational content and products, launched his career with the YouTube channel Art of the Problem, leading to working at Khan Academy and partnerships with NASA, Google, and Disney/Pixar.

Dennis Henderson, VP of Education and Strategy at X IN A BOX, leverages his role as Executive Director of Manchester Youth Development Center to drive social justice through project-based education, promoting social mobility and economic opportunities.

Recommended Resources:

📖 Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration by Ed Catmull & Amy Wallace
📺 Art of the Problem Youtube Channel by Brit Cruise
📖 The Children's Machine: Rethinking School In The Age Of The Computer by Seymour Papert

Join Alex Sarlin and guest host, Alberto Arenaza, Co-founder at Transcend Network as they explore pivotal topics in this Week in Edtech episode:

👩‍🏫 The latest in K-12 challenges and digital threats,
📚 Biden’s big moves in student debt relief,
🌐 Duolingo’s strategic expansion into China's booming Edtech market,
🔧 The fierce competition in AI chip technology among Nvidia, Google, and Intel,
🎓 Insights on workforce trends affecting college graduates,
💼 Significant funding and M&A activities shaking up the sector.

Plus special guests, Hayley Spira-Bauer and Ysiad Ferreiras from Fullmind.

Don’t forget to subscribe to Edtech Insiders for more updates and insights from the forefront of educational technology!

Jeff Wetzler has been on a quarter-century quest to transform learning opportunities. Blending a unique set of leadership experiences in the fields of business and education, he’s pursued this quest as a management consultant to the world’s top corporations, as a learning facilitator for leaders around the world, as Chief Learning Officer at Teach For America, and most recently, as co-CEO of Transcend, a nationally recognized innovation organization. 

Jeff earned a Doctorate in Adult Learning and Leadership from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s in Psychology from Brown University. He is a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network and is an Edmund Hillary Fellow. He lives in New York with his wife, two children, and their puppy.

Recommended Resources:

• AskApproach.com
• How to Get the Honest Input You Need from Your Employees - HBR article by Jeff Wetzler
• AskApproach Instagram

In this episode of Week in Edtech, Alex and Ben discuss:

1. AI

• Business Schools Are Going All In on AI
• Educators divided over AI's impact
• AI concerns grow even as more teachers adopt the technology

2. BigTech

• Microsoft's $100 billion 'Stargate' datacenter for OpenAI may be AI's 'Star Wars' moment
• OpenAI Unveils A.I. Technology That Recreates Human Voices
  OpenAI built a voice cloning tool, but you can’t use it… yet

3. K-12

• Kids Missing school at an alarming rate
• A New Federal Taskforce Targets Cybersecurity in Schools

4. Edtech

• Edtech funding hits new low
• Bijal Shah named Guild CEO, Rachel Carlson goes public with health concerns

5. M&A & Funding

• Modal Announces $25 Million Series A to Upskill Employees in AI

Special Guest:

• Alexa von Tobel, Founder, Managing Partner at Inspired Capital

Gabi Immelman is the founder and CEO of edtech start-up , Mindjoy, a platform for STEM teachers to 10x their impact for boundless classroom learning through unleashing student curiosity with the power of AI tutors.

With Mindjoy, teachers can transform lessons they love and know using the power of AI to create engaging digital first learning experiences for their students. A former Reggio-educator turned EdTech founder with experience working globally in Africa & USA. Mindjoy is the third company she has founded - her first being a stick-on tattoo parlor at the beach where we used to go for summer vacation when I was a child.

Carine Marette is the co-founder and co-CEO of Kritik, an online peer-to-peer interactive learning platform designed for professors to engage students in a twenty-first-century way. Through a gamified experience, Kritik allows students to develop higher-order thinking skills from creating assignments as well as analyzing and evaluating peer submissions. In addition, students will develop the skills necessary to deliver feedback to their peers through our feedback-on-feedback system. They are using AI and artificial intelligence to increase the reliability of peer assessment and save instructors time.