EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY
Brainly | April 21, 2023
Post-pandemic, schools grapple with teacher shortages, frustrated parents and declining student test scores. And now, we are heading into the most stressful time of the school year. Brainly, the leading global learning platform for all school subjects and grades, announces help is on the way: new AI-enabled features that provide homework help where and when students—and their parents—need it. AI-powered products explicitly developed to assist teachers will be released later this year.
These newest features build on Brainly's Knowledge Base of over 250 million high-quality and accurate answers, generated from its moderated student and expert communities. The AI powering the new capabilities, developed with OpenAI's GPT-4 technology, uses that Knowledge Base to provide an even more dynamic, personalized and effective learning experience.
Learners now have the option to “Simplify” or “Expand” answers and “Ask a Follow-up Question” and receive personalized content based on their understanding of a topic. Also debuting is Ginny, Brainly's digital mascot, who is always at the ready to guide students and parents to ensure they get the AI-powered help they need.
Personalized help for all students
“This time of year is always stressful for parents, students and teachers,” said Bill Salak, Chief Technology Officer at Brainly. “Instead of arguing whether AI belongs in education—a moot point since it's already here—let's use AI to help mitigate those stressors. With these latest additions to our feature suite, we put AI-powered learning tools in the student’s pocket, enabling them to get the homework help they need to deepen their understanding of a topic. It's about getting students the help they need when they leave the classroom.”
Learners can now ask for simplified answers to their questions or opt for more in-depth solutions that explore complex topics. They can also ask follow-up questions for more information, clarification of a response or a step-by-step solution to a problem.
For example, a student may ask, “What are organic compounds?” After receiving an answer, they may want to ask a follow-up question, such as, “Why are they vital to living things?”
“This is just the first of the new AI-powered features we are releasing as we move forward on our vision of giving every student access to personalized learning,” said Salak. “Stay tuned for new product releases that will bring our AI-powered technology to teachers, enabling even more students to benefit from our learning platform.”
About Brainly
Brainly is a leading learning platform worldwide with the most extensive knowledge base for all school subjects and grades. Hundreds of millions of students, parents and educators rely on Brainly as the proven platform to accelerate understanding and learning. Based in Kraków, Poland, with offices in New York City and Barcelona, Brainly apps and websites are visited by users from over 35 countries. Brainly is backed by Prosus, Point Nine Capital, General Catalyst, Runa Capital, Learn Capital and Kulczyk Investments.
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TALENT DEVELOPMENT
Businesswire | April 27, 2023
Summer, the certified B Corp committed to addressing the national student debt crisis, announced that it has raised $6M in new capital, with $18M raised in funding to date. General Catalyst, QED Investors, Flourish Ventures, Greycroft, Story Ventures, Gaingels, Calm VC, Partnership Fund for NYC, Fenway Summer, BDMI, and Avidbank participated in the financing.
The company also announced it has surpassed $1 billion in total projected savings for borrowers, and it has hired Leigh Gross as Chief Revenue Officer to lead partnerships with recordkeepers and other financial institutions interested in Summer Secure, the company’s automated solution for SECURE 2.0 retirement matching.
Student loan debt in the United States now stands at $1.75 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve, exceeding credit card and auto debt. It is often the first meaningful debt that young people incur, and can lead to a domino effect on their financial life–making it harder to save for retirement or buy a home years after graduating. Summer works with leading financial institutions, employers, and unions to provide a high impact, comprehensive digital solution that helps individuals plan for college costs, reduce the burden of student loan debt, and optimize retirement savings. To date, the company has delivered more than $1 billion in total projected savings for borrowers across the United States, offering assistance on every leg of the personal finance journey.
“We’re thrilled to announce this new funding, especially at a time when the need for better college planning and student loan solutions has never been more acute,” said CEO and co-founder Will Sealy. “As student loan forgiveness hangs in the balance and payments are set to resume for the first time in years, we’re excited to share our solution with more people to enable them to unlock financial freedom.”
Summer’s funding comes at an exciting time for the business as it continues to expand partnerships with retirement recordkeepers and payroll providers on the heels of its partnership with Fidelity Investments in 2022. Due to the recent passage of the SECURE 2.0 Act, many institutions are turning to Summer to support their employer clients with student loan retirement matching, leveraging Summer’s digital API suite and its expertise with operationalizing complex student loan policies into high-adoption solutions.
In a recent survey, 91% of employees with student debt said they would save more money for retirement if their employer offered a student loan repayment program. By ensuring that an employee’s student loan payments count toward the retirement match provided by their employer, Summer’s workplace solution can relieve student loan borrowers from having to make an impossible decision between paying down their debt or saving for retirement.
Summer was founded in 2017 by Sealy, a former Policy Analyst and Assistant to Sen. Elizabeth Warren and a veteran of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Chief Product Officer Paul Joo, with previous experience at the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Boston Consulting Group, and Chief Product Officer Vincent Tran, who previously led product at Pave and Orchard and was an investor at the Partnership Fund for NYC.
Summer’s recent partnership milestones include a student loan benefit launched with Intuit’s personal finance subsidiary, Credit Karma, and an expanded partnership with the American Federation of Teachers to support their 1.7 million teachers, government employees, and healthcare workers. Summer will use the new funding to expand the platform to help even more borrowers with a holistic approach to financial well-being.
About Summer
Summer partners with financial institutions and employers to empower their populations to reduce education costs and student debt through proven technologies, policy expertise and human support. Founded in 2017 by industry experts, Summer’s mission is to alleviate student loan debt for 46 million borrowers by providing leading solutions for college cost planning, automated enrollment for loan assistance plans, tuition assistance, student loan contributions and retirement matching, and emergency savings. Summer is a certified B Corporation.
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CORPORATE LEARNING SYSTEMS
PRnewswire | April 12, 2023
AccessLex Institute® announces JDEdge by AccessLex℠, a free preparatory skill-building program for rising 1L law students.
AccessLex has prided itself in creating resources that assist law students during their journey from admittance to law school through admittance to the bar, from support with law school selection, to scholarship search opportunities, to calculating student loan and repayment options, to academic and bar success. However, their latest resource is available to students before they set foot in the law school classroom.
Beginning on July 1, 2023 and offered free of charge to AccessLex member law schools and their students, JDEdge by AccessLex℠ is a comprehensive summer program, designed specifically for incoming 1Ls, which provides them with the necessary knowledge, resources, and support they will require when the school term begins.
Through live webinars, video lectures, and interactive online lessons, the program provides 20 hours of asynchronous content organized into five modules, along with opportunities for interaction with JDEdge instructors and peers. Students will gain confidence and skills related to class preparation and post-class strategies, case reading and briefing, writing for law school exams and exam preparation, critical reflection, and professional expectations, all before they attend their first law school lecture. JDEdge provides students with a solid foundation of the skills they need to succeed in law school.
"We're excited to offer JDEdge to schools free of charge to help their students learn how to learn in law school. We believe that if students develop metacognitive skills early on, they can learn more efficiently and effectively throughout law school and during bar study," states Cynthia Cassity, Senior Vice President of AccessLex Institute and Chief Operating Officer of Helix Bar Review. "JDEdge fits squarely within our mission to support the law student journey from admission to law school to admission to the bar."
About AccessLex Institute:
AccessLex Institute is a nonprofit organization committed to helping talented, purpose-driven students find their path from aspiring lawyer to fulfilled professional. In partnership with its nearly 200 member law schools, improving access and positively influencing legal education have been at the heart of the Company's mission since 1983.
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