EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY
Spotivity | December 19, 2022
Spotivity, a Chicago-based tech startup has fully launched the industry’s first research-informed decision engine to help teens find meaningful afterschool engagement while also supporting program providers to lower liability, improve participant engagement, and drive recruitment. spotivity supports teens through its’ “Pocket Genie” the research-informed machine learning recommendation created in partnership with Utah State University under the guidance of Montana Butsch and Dr. Travis Dorsch.
Completed Pocket Genie launched The Genie is a patent-protected algorithm that utilizes key insights from the user to help identify meaningful non-prescriptive pathways for the user to pursue. In short – spotivity makes the unkowns known and peels back the curtain on pathway routes a teen can take. Specific information on the approach can be found in a recently published blog by Dr. Dorsch https://www.spotivity.com/blog/spotivity-a-research-approach-to-access/. As he clearly underscores, “Many children learn that some dream jobs are out of reach while others lack the functional knowledge to even know that some careers exist. In many cases, children don’t have knowledge of or access to the right preparation pathways to even start planning appropriately. The root problem seems to be that the process of finding a career is largely uninformed by evidence-based principles.”
About Montana
Montana is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, read Education Research at Oxford University, is an Executive Scholar at Northwestern University, and, most recently, an Executive MBA Graduate from Brown University. Upon concluding work at Oxford, he focused on pursuing social ventures in Chicago, which led to the founding of the Chicago Training Center ‘CTC’ in 2006.
About spotivity
spotivity was informed by Butsch’s experience as the founder of CTC. Recent media coverage has centered on the #micdropchallenge www.micdropchallenge.com spotivity is an 1871 member, portfolio company of the Founder Institute, and graduate of the UVI Accelerate Accelerator
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ONLINE EDUCATION
Springboard | November 11, 2022
Springboard, an industry-leading online learning platform preparing students for in-demand, high-growth careers, today, announced a partnership with Uwill, the leading teletherapy solution for colleges and students, to provide mental health support for online learners. As the need for mental health support increases nationwide, Uwill's solution utilizes need and preferences to immediately match students with a diverse team of licensed and available counselors. The services will be integrated into Springboard's existing platform, and will be available to learners in addition to existing human support such as one-to-one mentorship and career counseling.
"At Springboard, our ambitious vision centers around transforming lives through education and career advancement - and we know that this type of growth and transformation needs a strong foundation of mental health, In partnering with Uwill, we can meet students where they are by providing support through the same platform they're using for their education."
Gautam Tambay, Co-founder and CEO at Springboard.
Springboard is launching this teletherapy option at a time of increasing mental health challenges reported by education providers nationwide, where, according to HigherEdToday, nontraditional learners scored significantly higher on a number of mental health ratings than their traditional learning counterparts, specifically on depression, anxiety, and overall life stress.Uwill is uniquely suited to support the needs of Springboard learners to ensure they do not face barriers to mental health support," said Michael London, Founder and CEO of Uwill.
Utilizing its proprietary technology and counselor team, Uwill pioneered the first Higher Ed therapist matching platform and wellness environment. The solution offers an immediate connection to an available licensed counselor based on student preferences, all modalities of teletherapy, a 24/7/365 crisis connection, wellness programming, detailed reporting and support. Uwill partners with more than 100 institutions worldwide including Berklee Online, Union College, Whitman College, and East Carolina University to ensure their mental health and wellness environment meets student needs.
About Uwill
Uwill has become the leading mental health and wellness solution for colleges and students. The most cost-effective way to complement a college's mental health offering, Uwill partners with more than 100 institutions including Boston College, University of Michigan, American Public University System, and University of Maryland, College Park. Uwill was named as one of Boston's hottest companies by BostInno, and now, more than 1 million students have access to the Uwill platform. Investors and supporters are a who's who including hip-hop legend Daryl McDaniels of Run-D.M.C. For more information, visit uwill.com.
About Springboard
Founded by Parul Gupta and Gautam Tambay in 2013, Springboard is on a mission to transform one million lives through education by 2030. More than 20,000 students across 100+ countries have used Springboard to advance their careers through the platform's comprehensive, mentor-led online learning programs. Graduates have landed jobs with employers like Microsoft, Google, Meta, LinkedIn, Deloitte, Intel, IBM, Salesforce and more. Springboard has also trained corporate teams at Visa, Gusto, and The North Face. Springboard was recently named one of the 2022 GSV EdTech 150 — a list of the world's most transformative growth companies in digital learning. Springboard is a 2020 Inc. 5000 company based in San Francisco, recently named a Top Workplace for Women by Elpha, and is backed by leading venture capital firms including Telstra Ventures, Vulcan Capital, SJF Ventures, Reach Capital, Pearson Ventures, International Finance Corp., Costanoa Ventures, Learn Capital, and Blue Fog Capital.
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EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY
Promethean | December 02, 2022
Explain Everything, a leading online digital whiteboard platform for creating engaging lessons, activities, and interactive presentations, today announced it has officially joined Promethean®, a leading global education technology company. The Explain Everything app provides users with an infinite canvas to draw, animate, create videos, and collaborate and is available on iOS, macOS, ChromeOS, Android and the web. Joining forces with Promethean will bring Everything to Promethean's award-winning panels as well, enabling both companies to have a greater positive impact on the future of education. Long-time Explain Everything users can rest assured that the app will simultaneously continue to be offered on all other platforms. Promethean's educational technology solutions deliver a robust, seamless, and secure experience, with features that respond to educators' and workplace users' unique needs around the globe. Its comprehensive edtech solution also includes superior professional development and customer support. The inclusion of Explain Everything's digital whiteboard platform into Promethean's product portfolio will build upon both companies' visions in edtech and beyond. Explain Everything remains deeply committed to providing the highest level of service, and users will continue to have uninterrupted access to their projects and materials. Likewise, the Explain Everything pricing model does not change. The aim of this strategic merger is to expand on both companies' offerings and provide more rapid technology innovation that addresses global teaching, learning, and collaboration needs. This and much more will be possible when working with a top educational leader in the USA and EMEA, and the Explain Everything team looks toward the future with great excitement. We're thrilled to now be part of the Promethean team," said Reshan Richards, co-founder and chief executive officer at Explain Everything. "Explain Everything's mission to impact teaching and learning in all settings is in perfect alignment with Promethean's more than 25 years of education technology leadership. Together, we will continue to provide the most effective interactive learning tools for students and teachers around the world.
"As technology evolves, Promethean continues to look to the future to provide the best solutions to transform learning experiences. Joining the Explain Everything team with ours is part of our commitment to continuously innovate and work towards providing a superior interactive experience from anywhere, This exciting opportunity and new relationship for both companies will allow us to expand our already robust offerings to better serve customers' needs."
Vin Riera, chief executive officer at Promethean
About Explain Everything
Explain Everything Whiteboard is developed by Explain Everything Inc, a New York, NY, and Wroclaw, Poland-based team of innovators, artists, learners, and leaders dedicated to developing creativity-inspiring technologies. Released in 2011, Explain Everything is now used by millions of educators, students and creative professionals around the world. In December 2020, Explain Everything Whiteboard was recognized as one of the Apple App Store's Best of 2020 for Leading the Classroom. The app is available on iOS, iPadOS, Android, Chromebooks and the web, and is developed by the Wrocław-based team.
About Promethean
Promethean is a leading education technology company working to transform the way the world learns and collaborates. From our founding in Blackburn, England, more than 25 years ago to our global operations in 22 countries today, we've continued to explore, innovate, and inspire —designing learning and collaboration tools that are built for breakthroughs. Our award-winning interactive display, ActivPanel, and lesson delivery software, ActivInspire and ClassFlow, were designed to engage students, connect colleagues, and bring out the brilliance in everyone. With headquarters in Seattle, Washington, and offices worldwide, Promethean is a member of the NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKSE: 0777) group of companies.
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