Edtech Insiders

How Renaissance Learning Built a Unified Edtech Ecosystem – With Eric Swanson & Storey Sitwala


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Eric Swanson currently holds the position of Senior Vice President of Practice and Instructional Products at Renaissance Learning. In this capacity, he works with educators, technologists, and researchers to build best-in-class practice products and experiences that improve academic outcomes for students and educators. Working with the Renaissance Next, myON, Accelerated Reader, Lalilo, and Freckle teams, as well as our Math and Literacy product portfolios and new product ventures, Eric ensures the practice and instruction product strategy, roadmaps, and Go- to-Market activities fit within Renaissance and with our customers’ needs.

Storey Sitwala is Senior Director of Product Management at Renaissance. Throughout her career, she has focused on the challenge of how to scale insight-driven best practices for educators. She has spearheaded and developed innovative solutions across education nonprofits, school systems, and within the education technology sector, leveraging her expertise in information science, data visualization, psychology, and user experience design.

💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode:

  1. How Renaissance Next streamlines data for teachers
  2. The strategy behind Renaissance’s edtech acquisitions
  3. Personalization for students, teachers, and leaders
  4. Responsible AI use in education
  5. Why teacher autonomy stays central in AI design

Episode Highlights:

[00:02:04] Eric on Renaissance’s acquisitions journey
[00:09:17] What Renaissance Next is and why it matters
[00:12:42] Designing dashboards for different users
[00:20:21] What beta testing revealed about real teacher needs
[00:23:30] Balancing AI support with teacher control
[00:32:06] Partnering with core curriculum providers
[00:38:05] Renaissance’s AI ethics and governance
[00:46:28] The future: personalization and faster prototyping

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Innovation in preK to gray learning is powered by exceptional people. For over 15 years, EdTech companies of all sizes and stages have trusted HireEducation to find the talent that drives impact. When specific skills and experiences are mission-critical, HireEducation is a partner that delivers. Offering permanent, fractional, and executive recruitment, HireEducation knows the go-to-market talent you need. Learn more at HireEdu.com.

Every year, K-12 districts and higher ed institutions spend over half a trillion dollars—but most sales teams miss the signals. Starbridge tracks early signs like board minutes, budget drafts, and strategic plans, then helps you turn them into personalized outreach—fast. Win the deal before it hits the RFP stage. That’s how top edtech teams stay ahead.

Tuck Advisors is the M&A firm for EdTech companies. Run by serial entrepreneurs with over 25 years of experience founding, investing in, and selling companies, Tuck believes you deserve M&A advisors who work as hard as you do.

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Edtech InsidersBy Alex Sarlin and Ben Kornell

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