Technology has greatly impacted the way we do things—from how we shop for basic necessities to how we conduct business with people around the world. It’s no wonder that technology has altered education, too. Every day, technology innovations transform the way people learn and how educators teach. In the last few years, the edtech field has attracted a lot of talented people, all with excellent knowledge bases and ideas. Though the edtech industry has been around for a few decades now, the last few years, in particular, have seen a surge in investment from both school districts and investors.
The education market is currently worth around $5 trillion globally, and it is forecasted that education technology investment alone will reach $252 billion by the year 2020. This growing investment into edtech startups has created some exciting changes in the world of education. Naturally, with increasing capital, the number of edtech companies is also growing.
There are a lot of edtech companies to choose from, but which ones are truly transforming education? I exhaustively researched companies in the edtech space and selected 10 edtech companies that are making a difference in the way we learn. To frame my methodology, I decided to define the term edtech company broadly. On this list, you will find startups, small and medium-sized businesses, as well as perennial juggernauts, etc. who are transforming the edtech space as we know it.
The companies that were chose are all active in the area of edtech, doing something influential in 2017, well-known throughout the edtech landscape, and making an impact globally. I am excited to witness how these companies continue to change the world this year, and we are anxious to see who will stand on the shoulders of these giants, and as a result become transformative ourselves. Without further ado, here is my list of edtech companies that are transforming education.
The hottest EdTech isn’t just for elementary schools introducing children to the twenty-first century and high school teachers struggling to engage students with another dry round of mathematical theorems. College students love learning with an iPhone and, with StudySoup, they can earn real profits from their own digital academic endeavors to pay for the rising cost of higher education.
StudySoup is an online learning marketplace for students looking to sell quality study materials. From class notes to study guides to materials for MCAT-prep, StudySoup has it all. To clarify, StudySoup is not a homework-buying or essay-purchasing website frowned upon by educators everywhere, but a place where peers can supply extra notes specific to a user’s college course for exam preparation. And, in some cases, a safety net for students with absences through the roof.
StudySoup has completed the 500 Startups accelerator, raised $1.7 million in seed funding, and grossed over $1 million in revenue. Notes are available at more than 300 colleges and universities across the United States. Their goal is to financially support struggling students while providing college kids with tailored educational resources written by peers from the same class and same college who understand the academic environment unique to each college course. Students helping students helping students.
We’ve discussed startups that are focusing on students helping students and students helping teachers, but ClassTag takes a unique approach, focusing on the parent- teacher relationship, which is essential for each child’s academic growth. Founded in 2015 by Vlada Lotkina, a Wharton MBA and former Fortune 500 executive, ClassTag allows teachers to organize events, schedule conferences, and develop newsletter campaigns for seamless, constant, and individualized parent-teacher communication.
The app sends automated reminders, via telephone, email or offline depending on parent preferences, allows parents to volunteer for classroom tasks, fosters one-to-one parent-teacher communication and multi-parent communication in online chatrooms, and automates newsletters and notices with important classroom information. With parent support more indicative of a child’s success than socioeconomic status, ClassTag works to ease communication barriers between parent and teacher while inspiring sometimes complacent parents to engage with their child’s education on a deeper level.
As coding becomes an increasingly coveted skill, schools all over the world are deciding to teach their students how to code. This is an excellent idea, as having coding skills could pay huge dividends later on in life.
CodeMonkey is a learning platform that teaches kids to code. Its platform features an innovative approach to edtech that combines games and with learning. Students assist a monkey in finding bananas by constructing lines of code. While students are playing, the game analyzes their actions to provide them with hints and valuable assistance. CodeMonkey is the ultimate classroom resource and does not require any prior training.
Since they were founded in 2014, CodeMonkey has raised $2 million. In 2017 YTD, they have amassed at least $500,000 in revenue. They have over ten employees stationed in New York and Israel. CodeMonkey has more than 3.5 users throughout the world, and this app is available in 15 languages. In 2016, Code Monkey partnered with Learning.com to launch “Code-a-Thon,” a national coding competition, during which 250,000 students played CodeMonkey.
Conclusion
As you can see, several edtech companies are doing great work. With these innovative education technology businesses in mind, it becomes clear that the landscape of education is vast and technology is carving a new path for present and future educators. Who did we forget? Do you have any edtech companies who you know and follow? Let us know.
