Send us a text We speak with legendary Edtech investor Jennifer Carolan, Managing Director of Reach Capital, and cover topics like: ASU GSV Takeaways Ben and Alex discuss some of the big takeaways from ASU GSV: Gen AI, Skills-based hiring and assessment + shorter runways & potential for consolidation AI Tools continue to Proliferate in Edtech: Edtech is going crazy for AI (Josh Bersin) Chegg announces CheggMate, the new AI companion, built with GPT-4 Schoolytics: Building an AI Co-teacher fo...
Apr 26, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Season 5Ep. 16
Send us a text Lori Stirling is the Senior Vice President of Advancement Strategy at Affinaquest , a SaaS solution that empowers higher education and non-profit organizations to boost revenue and fundraising, enhance constituent engagement, and drive operational efficiencies through data. Advancement RM is Affinaquest's CRM software built on the Salesforce platform to meet the complex needs of Advancement teams. It is designed to improve fundraising and build stronger relationships by creat...
Apr 24, 2023•55 min•Season 5Ep. 15
Send us a text Jason Palmer is General Partner at New Markets Venture Partners , one of the nation’s leading education-focused venture capital firms. As a double-bottom line investor, New Markets focuses on innovative, high impact, early and growth stage edtech companies that improve student outcomes while building profitable organizations. Jason brings twenty years of experience as an education technology entrepreneur, executive and investor, and focuses on fund strategy, supporting portfolio c...
Apr 17, 2023•54 min•Season 5Ep. 14
Send us a text On this Week in Edtech, we discuss: 1. ChatGPT Beat ChatGPT Will Not Replace Teachers But Could Act As A Teaching Assistant * NetEase Youdao Launches ChatGPT Model for Educational Scenario Why We Need to Ban ChatGPT in Elementary Schools * Is AI-enabled ChatGPT a boon or a bane for the edtech industry? * Why some college professors are adopting ChatGPT AI as quickly as students Ed tech experts urge caution on ChatGPT’s student data privacy * 2. K-12 These States Have the Most &apo...
Apr 12, 2023•47 min•Season 5Ep. 13
Send us a text Ope Bukola was a product manager at Amplify Education and a product lead for Google Classroom for four years before branching out as an entrepreneur in 2020. She founded a company to build African tech talent, was a founding member of Level, a multiracial network that invests in businesses led by Black women, and joined the Board of Zeta, a network of high-performing charter schools in the Bronx. Most recently, she is the co-founder and CEO of Kibo School , which offers affordable...
Apr 10, 2023•35 min•Season 5Ep. 12
Send us a text In this episode, we speak to special guest Kian Katanforoosh, whose company Workera just raised a $23.5M Series B. We also talk about: AI Push and Pull Call for a pause on AI training met with skepticism Ed tech experts urge caution on ChatGPT’s student data privacy Italy blocks ChatGPT over privacy concerns Hello Dolly: Democratizing the magic of ChatGPT with open models Higher Ed's Price Hikes in the Face of Uncertainty Ivy League tuition costs over $80K A look at trends in...
Apr 05, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Season 5Ep. 11
Send us a text Junaid Mubeen is a mathematician turned educator who has spent over a decade working on innovative learning technologies, reaching students of all ages and abilities from around the world as Head of Product and Director of Education at Whizz Education, and COO of Write the World. Junaid has a DPhil in Mathematics from Oxford and a Masters in Education from Harvard, where he studied as a Kennedy Scholar. Junaid is also the author of “Mathematical Intelligence: A Story of Human Supe...
Apr 03, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 5Ep. 10
Send us a text Join us at ASU GSV ! This week on the pod: 1) Big Tech Goes All in On AI Launch of Google Bard Adobe launches Firefly generative A.I., which lets users type to edit images Microsoft launches Loop, a Notion competitor + ChatGPT in Education: Where Is the ‘AI Conundrum’ in Education Headed? We Can’t Keep ChatGPT Out of the Classroom, so Let’s Address the ‘Why’ Inside the Quest to Detect (and Tame) ChatGPT 2) Pearson sells OPM Division/OPM Regulation Pearson Sells Its OPM Business (P...
Mar 27, 2023•53 min•Season 5Ep. 9
Send us a text Jess Weems Thibault is the VP of Growth at HireEdu , a talent recruitment firm dedicated to the Edtech industry. Jess is also an educator, marketer, and entrepreneur, who has an MBA from the University of Wisconsin, a master’s degree in Secondary Science Education and a Bachelor of Science in Resource Economics and Plant & Soil Science from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Before moving into marketing and growth leadership, Jess spent over a decade working with middle...
Mar 27, 2023•52 min•Season 5Ep. 8
Send us a text ChatGPT 4 Hear from Kristen DiCerbo, Chief Learning Officer at Khan Academy, about Khanmigo Duolingo Max Readlee Paper Barnes and Noble PhotoStudy Global Edtech LEAD Completes Acquisition Of Pearson’s India upGrad crosses 22,000 job placements Edtech startup uLesson starts an Open University The Rise of EdTech In SEE...
Mar 22, 2023•55 min•Season 5Ep. 7
Send us a text John Gamba is a serial entrepreneur and graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, John Gamba, Jr has been dedicated to transforming education for most of his career. In 1999, John co-founded PACE – The Partnership for Academic and Community Excellence. PACE was the first school-to-home communications network, connecting thousands of schools to millions of homes nationally and was eventually sold to Blackboard, an international industry leader in education. John currently serves ...
Mar 20, 2023•57 min•Season 5Ep. 6
Send us a text Varun Gulati is the CEO and co-founder of Koalluh , a startup which makes reading & writing more engaging by empowering kids to make & share quality, illustrated children's stories using AI. Varun is a former public school teacher, and a product & engineering leader. He co-founded, scaled, and sold his first company, UClass as CTO & Head of Product. Most recently, Varun led the Product & Growth teams at Mystery Science, the fastest-growing K-12 science sup...
Mar 13, 2023•48 min•Season 5Ep. 5
Send us a text John Edelson founded homeschooling platform Time4Learning in 2013 in his living room and remains the president today. Over 360,000 students have now benefited from Time4Learning. He also created Time4Writing, VocabularySpellingCity, and Science4Us. His company was run independently until joining Cambium in 2018. He has extensive expertise working with various educational software, diversified entertainment, and technology companies. He was the producer of the Sony PlayStation game...
Mar 13, 2023•59 min•Season 5Ep. 4
Send us a text In this special, UNEDITED version of Week in Edtech, Ben, Alex and special guest co-host Matt Tower discuss: 1) The sudden demise and federal takeover of Silicon Valley Bank and what it means for Tech, Banking and Edtech. News: Jenna Smialek and Alan Rappeport of NYT Eric Wallerstein et al. of WSJ Daniel Taub of Bloomberg Takes Kevin Roose of NYT Matt Levine of Bloomberg Noah Smith of Noahpinion 2) Discuss the rumors of ChatGPT4 launching next week with AI-created video Microsoft ...
Mar 13, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Season 5Ep. 3
Send us a text Guest co-host this week: Zaza Kabayadando Topics This Week Include: New Federal Guidance for Higher Ed Fallout Education Dept. Shocks Ed-Tech Experts and Colleges With Expansion of Oversight AI Continues to Polarize Educators AI bots can seem sentient. Students need guardrails Is ChatGPT the future of cheating or the future of teaching? Adapt, evolve, elevate: ChatGPT is calling for interdisciplinary action GSV Goes to India GSV + Emeritus India Summit: Women entrepreneurs lead co...
Mar 10, 2023•40 min•Season 5Ep. 2
Send us a text Department of Ed launches new OPM Restrictions Insider Higher Ed on this Phil Hill on this ( here too ) U.S. Department of Education Launches Review of Prohibition on Incentive Compensation for College Recruiters Teen girls in mental health crisis, blowback toward big tech NPR: 10 things to know about how social media affects teens' brains Nearly 1 in 5 Teen Girls ‘Engulfed’ In Wave of Sexual Violence; Many Suicidal Record Levels of Sadness in Teen Girls, CDC Reports - The Ne...
Mar 10, 2023•44 min•Season 5Ep. 1
Send us a text 1. ChatGPT, Pt. 1: APIs OpenAI launches an API for ChatGPT, plus dedicated capacity for enterprise customers | TechCrunch Introducing Q-Chat, the world’s first AI tutor built with OpenAI’s ChatGPT | Quizlet ChatGT, Pt 2: Ramifications of ChatGPT The evolution of ChatGPT will fuel the future of higher education, says Udacity's Sebastian Thrun Will ChatGPT Make Students Turn Away From Homework-Help Services? | EdSurge News 2. Federal Guidelines on TPS Delayed Department of Educ...
Mar 08, 2023•43 min•Season 4Ep. 30
Send us a text In this special episode, we speak to four of the seven finalists for the SxSW EDU Launch competition: - Sari of Kide Science - Nick Suwyn of Promineo Tech - Varun Gulati and Christie Chu of Koalluh - Kavindya Thenakoon of Tilli...
Mar 06, 2023•50 min•Season 4Ep. 29
Send us a text Dana Bryson leads the Study.com 's social impact and double bottom-line strategy, working to build new mission-aligned partnerships, and manages the company's policy and strategic positioning. Dana has spent the last 25 years creating breakthrough results through her vision, innovation, and dynamic leadership in service of non-profits, local governments, and businesses. She is an entrepreneur, nonprofit advocate, activist, founder, funder, board member, chair, and adviso...
Feb 28, 2023•59 min•Season 4Ep. 28
Send us a text Andrew Shewbart is an edtech executive and board member who spent more than two decades working in the digital and offline education management and training industry throughout Asia. As EVP and Board Member of ALO7 , China’s largest digital publisher and B2B content solutions provider, Andrew oversaw digital curriculum development and provided English Language Learning (ELL) guidance for the entire company and the 10,000 schools that utilized ALO7 products. ALO7 revolutionized the...
Feb 20, 2023•54 min•Season 4Ep. 27
Send us a text Kian Katanforoosh is the CEO and cofounder of Workera.ai , the skills intelligence platform redefining how enterprises understand, develop, and mobilize talent. Workera empowers organizations to stay ahead by unlocking the skills data needed to drive innovation. Enterprises get an objective pulse of their innovation skills through a configurable skills ontology, using AI-powered measurement of data, AI, software, cloud, and cyber skills at an atomic-level. Kian is also a lecturer ...
Feb 13, 2023•53 min•Season 4Ep. 26
Send us a text On this super-sized episode of "This Week in Edtech": We talk to Guests Audrey Witters of Stanford GSB and Mike Malefakis of Emeritus about the Emeritus/Stanford collaboration to bring localized executive education from Stanford to the world And hear from Amy Jenkins, COO of Meadow , about their plans to improve tuition transparency and streamline payments. Ben and Alex also dig into: ChatGPT and Edtech coming together PhotoStudy announces ChatGPT-like Chatbot for Math T...
Feb 08, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Season 4Ep. 25
Send us a text Siya Raj Purohit is the Global Edtech & Workforce Development Lead at Amazon's AWS Marketplace and a General Partner at Pathway Ventures . She’s an operator-investor in the Edtech and Future of Work sectors who helps grow & invest in companies that drive economic mobility through innovative models of earning, learning, and community building. Siya is an edtech veteran and a true insider, as an early employee at Udacity & Springboard, a graduate of Harvard GSE’s TI...
Feb 06, 2023•43 min•Season 4Ep. 24
Send us a text In this special episode, we speak to Beth Havinga , Managing Director of the European Edtech Alliance , and Rhys Spence , Head of Research at Brighteye Ventures , about the state of European Edtech. Both organizations have recently released fascinating reports about the state of Edtech: European Edtech Funding Report 2023 (Brighteye Ventures) European Edtech Map: Insights Report (European Edtech Alliance) European Edtech Map (European Edtech Alliance) Beth Havinga is the Managing ...
Feb 03, 2023•53 min•Season 4Ep. 23
Send us a text In this week's Week in Edtech, Ben and special guest co-host Hailey Carter: 1) Talk to Salwa Muhammad of Fourthbrain.ai about the upcoming 3-day workshop with Andrew Ng and other AI Education leaders 2) Discuss "Study Hall", new Youtube/ASU/Crash Course Collaboration ( Youtube Blog ) 3) Take note of a recent survey that expresses doubt about Edtech leaders ( Edweek ) 4) Compare Recent Reports on the State of Edtech Funding - Reach Capital (US) - Brighteye Ventures (...
Feb 01, 2023•43 min•Season 4Ep. 22
Send us a text Laurel Taylor is the founder, CEO, and driving force behind Candidly (previously known as FutureFuel.io ). Her mission is to address the unmet — and urgent — market need for smart solutions that support individuals and families through every step of the planning, borrowing, and repayment experience. Candidly works towards this goal by creating trusted, intelligent and comprehensive solutions that enable Americans to reap the rewards of that investment so they can build financial w...
Jan 30, 2023•50 min•Season 4Ep. 21
Send us a text On this Week in Edtech: We speak to Mateo Elvira of Elvira Media about Edtech content marketing, and how to utilize storytelling to stand out from the crowd, as well as... ChatGPT: We discuss both the prediction that ChatGPT will create a new Edtech boom ... ...and the backlash to tech, including mass bans of both ChatGPT at large school districts and Tiktok at universities Big Tech: We discuss the controversial layoffs at Google and Microsoft and whether it might breed new entrep...
Jan 24, 2023•1 hr•Season 4Ep. 20
Send us a text Vadim Polikov is the CEO of Legends of Learning , online educational games for teachers and students with 2,000 fun, curriculum-aligned, math and science games created to engage students and assist teachers using hybrid learning, blended learning & distance learning models. Vadim loves to learn and build. Bold new ideas excite him and he wants to put them into practice. He sees his career as a series of ideas built to fruition and scale. He wants to make an impact and believes...
Jan 24, 2023•41 min•Season 4Ep. 19
Send us a text Welcome back to our Weekly Round-up of Edtech news across the industry! Guest: Natalia Kucirkova of Wikit, AS Our top stories this week: 1) Companies Becoming Platforms through Consolidation - HMH acquires school testing non-profit NWEA - Instructure (maker of the Canvas LMS) acquires evidence platform Learnplatform - Zoom launches 'Essential Apps' including Kahoot! and Prezi - Jack McDermott of Chegg on consolidation in Edtech 2) Edtech Winter creating CEO turnover - Up...
Jan 18, 2023•55 min•Season 4Ep. 18
Send us a text Dr. Deepak Sekar is an inventor and entrepreneur. Over the last decade, he has been granted 192 patents, making him one of the more prolific inventors in the world today. You may know him from his role as Founder and CEO of Chowbotics, which built the world's first fresh food-making robot named “Sally.” Sally now operates in over 250 locations worldwide. Under Sekar’s leadership, Chowbotics was named among the food trends of 2019 by The New York Times and listed as one of the...
Jan 17, 2023•38 min•Season 4Ep. 17
