Education Technology
PR News Wire | September 01, 2023
Discovery Education, a global education technology company backed by Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. (together with its affiliates, "Clearlake"), today announced it has agreed to acquire DreamBox Learning®, a PK-12 education technology provider serving more than 6 million students and 600,000 educators nationwide. DreamBox Learning's current investors Elliott Investment Management L.P. and TPG's The Rise Fund will retain minority stakes in the company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Headquartered in Bellevue, WA, DreamBox Learning offers the only dual-discipline solution rated "Strong" by Johns Hopkins University's evidenceforESSA.org in both mathematics and reading. Through its high-quality adaptive learning solutions independently proven to accelerate student growth, DreamBox Learning empowers educators with data analytics and content-specific professional development solutions to complement instruction.
"Discovery Education is excited to welcome DreamBox Learning, a brand synonymous with quality, research-based math and reading edtech solutions to our growing family of services," said Discovery Education Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Cowdrey. "Combining an expertise in learning science with adaptive, effective instructional solutions, DreamBox Learning's solutions can help students excel regardless of who they are or where they live. Through this latest acquisition, Discovery Education is better positioned to broaden its impact on student success by providing our existing network of partner school systems access to DreamBox Learning's collection of supplemental math, reading, and professional learning solutions."
The acquisition of DreamBox Learning supports Discovery Education's mission to prepare learners for tomorrow by creating innovative classrooms connected to today's world. DreamBox Learning's products complement Discovery Education's other successful digital solutions, which include Discovery Education Experience, the company's award-winning K-12 platform, the Techbook series of digital textbooks, Mystery Science, and more, in supporting student achievement.
The acquisition of DreamBox Learning comes at a time when school districts are seeking comprehensive, yet consolidated platforms to address a wide range of core and supplemental learning needs, backed by research that underscores meaningful gains in achievement. The addition of DreamBox Learning's intelligent adaptive learning technology to the Discovery Education suite will provide educators and students with more options for engaging, personalized learning experiences across a variety of disciplines.
"DreamBox Learning was founded in 2006 with the mission to transform the way the world learns through our pioneering intelligent adaptive learning technology, and today's announcement represents a significant next step to achieving that mission. Building upon our existing math and reading solutions, we can now leverage Discovery Education's highly scalable global footprint to reach more students and deepen our partnerships with educators around the world," said Jessie Woolley-Wilson, President and CEO of DreamBox Learning.
DreamBox Learning will be Discovery Education's most recent acquisition, joining Pivot Interactives and DoodleLearning, which were acquired in August of 2022, and Mystery Science, which was acquired in 2020.
Sidley Austin LLP served as legal advisor to Discovery Education. Moelis & Company LLC acted as lead financial advisor and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP served as legal advisor to DreamBox Learning on the transaction. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2023, pending customary regulatory approval and the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.
About Discovery Education
Discovery Education is the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports learning wherever it takes place. Through its award-winning multimedia content, instructional supports, and innovative classroom tools, Discovery Education helps educators deliver equitable learning experiences engaging all students and supporting higher academic achievement on a global scale. Discovery Education serves approximately 4.5 million educators and 45 million students worldwide, and its resources are accessed in over 100 countries and territories. Inspired by the global media company Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. Discovery Education partners with districts, states, and trusted organizations to empower teachers with leading edtech solutions that support the success of all learners.
About Clearlake
Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. is an investment firm founded in 2006 operating integrated businesses across private equity, credit, and other related strategies. With a sector-focused approach, the firm seeks to partner with experienced management teams by providing patient, long-term capital to dynamic businesses that can benefit from Clearlake's operational improvement approach, O.P.S.® The firm's core target sectors are technology, consumer, and industrials. Clearlake currently has over $70 billion of assets under management and its senior investment principals have led or co-led over 400 investments. The firm is headquartered in Santa Monica, CA with affiliates in Dallas, TX, London, UK, Dublin, Ireland, and Singapore.
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Online Education
PRnewswire | July 28, 2023
Instructure and Khan Academy announced a partnership that brings together Instructure's market-leading learning management system, Canvas, the anchor of the Instructure Learning Platform, and Khan Academy's AI-powered student tutor and teaching assistant, Khanmigo. This integrated solution will put the transformative power of generative AI into the hands of students and educators using the Canvas learning environment.
Generative AI represents an opportunity to enhance the role of technology in supporting educators and creating efficiencies in their day-to-day instruction. This new solution will harness this transformative moment by enabling educators with an integrated Khanmigo experience that supports human-driven, technology-enhanced essay feedback and grading, lesson planning and rubric creation. This solution is a large step forward in delivering personalization for each student while allowing busy educators to scale their excellence and impact in ways unimaginable a few short months ago.
For students, the use of generative AI presents significant opportunities and challenges. In a world filled with intelligent agents and easily-accessed answers, the need for tools that guide, enhance and support active learning is critical. Initially focusing on student writing, Instructure and Khan Academy aim to support students and their learning through Khanmigo's tutoring capabilities. By helping students use generative AI ethically, equitably, and with integrity, demonstrating an authentic work product becomes easy and clear.
"Generative AI, and tools like ChatGPT, have been a part of every conversation I have had this year with leaders, learners and instructors across our global education community," said Instructure CEO Steve Daly. "This partnership with Khan Academy and its deep expertise in generative AI will deliver a powerful solution for one of the world's largest education communities – delivering an intentional, secure and equitable experience that promotes impactful learning experiences for all."
Instructure's Learn Platform independent research team, along with Khan Academy's educational research team, will jointly design research for early adopters, to measure the impact of these tools on student outcomes - delivering insight into the efficacy of the tools and the utilization of AI to assist teachers and students in achieving their learning outcomes.
"Every educator we talk to is seeking ways to address students using ChatGPT to write school essays and do homework," said Sal Khan, founder and CEO of Khan Academy. "How can classrooms use AI tools, while ensuring students develop critical thinking skills? We're teaming up with Instructure to solve this. We're using AI to show teachers not just the final essay, but how the student got there. So students will be supported in developing critical writing and thinking skills, while getting the benefit of AI designed for education. Khanmigo can also help with rubric creation and grading, saving teachers time. Students won't get answers, but they will get appropriate levels of support."
Instructure and Khan Academy will bring Canvas and Khanmigo together for a cohort of K-12 and Higher Ed design partners and early adopters during the 2024-2025 school year. Institutions interested in piloting this solution can sign up in the Emerging AI Marketplace.
ABOUT INSTRUCTURE
Instructure is an education technology company dedicated to elevating student success, amplifying the power of teaching, and inspiring everyone to learn together. Today the Instructure Learning Platform, comprised of its flagship product Canvas LMS and several products serving K-12 and higher education, supports tens of millions of educators and learners in over 100 countries worldwide. Learn more at www.instructure.com.
ABOUT KHAN ACADEMY
Khan Academy is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with the mission of providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere. Our platforms include more than 70,000 practice problems, videos and articles that cover a range of preK-14 subjects. Khan Academy's mastery-based learning system allows students to learn key concepts at a pace that's right for them before moving on to more challenging content. Our award-winning free app for young children ages two to eight is Khan Academy Kids. We partner with more than 500 schools and districts across the country that serve students who are historically under-resourced. Districts use Khan Academy Districts and MAP Accelerator to help teachers differentiate instruction. Worldwide, more than 140 million registered learners have used Khan Academy in 190 countries and 51 languages.
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Talent Development
PRnewswire | July 13, 2023
UWorld, a worldwide leader in online learning tools for high-stakes exams, today announced the launch of its U.K. Medical Licensing Assessment® (UKMLA®) test preparation resources. Aligned to the MLA Examination Blueprint, UWorld's new UKMLA AKT QBank provides educators and students with over a thousand clinically relevant questions developed by practicing doctors to complement existing medical curriculum.
The UKMLA will be a new requirement for all medical students graduating in the academic year 2024-2025, replacing the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board (PLAB) exam. The exam will assess the fundamental knowledge, abilities, and behaviors required to practice safely as a doctor in the U.K. International Medical Graduate (IMG) students that wish to practice medicine in the U.K. will be required to take the MLA starting in January 2024 and U.K. medical students will be required to sit for the MLA starting with the 2024-2025 academic year.
Designed to help students build effective study habits and improve test-taking endurance, UWorld offers practice questions that help prepare them for their high-stakes exams. UKMLA Study tools include vivid, context-specific illustrations and animations that deepen understanding of critical concepts. For each answer choice, UWorld provides concise, detailed rationales that describe the clinical reasoning behind correct and incorrect answers. Personalized performance reports and customizable flashcards ensure students recognize areas of weakness to help create efficient study sessions that maximize impact.
For educators, UWorld provides tools that can be customized to supplement their medical curriculum. Formative and summative assessments can be built using UWorld's 1,500+ question bank. These questions are also easily integrated into presentation format for classroom learning. UWorld's gradebook and reporting tools for teachers provides valuable insight into classroom performance to easily identify knowledge gaps to ensure early-stage remediation and support. Additionally, students are able to continue learning on their own with access to the self-study student AKT QBank.
"We are thrilled to offer U.K. medical students and educators our award-winning tools to help them succeed on the UKMLA," said Chandra S. Pemmasani, M.D., Founder and CEO of UWorld. "The expansion to the U.K. market is a natural next step after supporting more than 90% of all U.S. medical students in their preparation for the USMLE for more than 15 years. We are proud to offer content that is meticulously developed by subject matter experts, which underscores our commitment to providing resources of exceptional quality."
UWorld aims to make difficult topics easy to understand so that learners at all levels are empowered to succeed in the testing room and to accomplish their career goals.
About UWorld
UWorld is the worldwide leader in online learning to prepare for high-stakes exams. Since 2003, UWorld has helped millions of undergraduate, graduate, and professional students prepare for their exams. At the core of UWorld's mission is an obsession with quality so that students receive only the best in learning resources. Whether students are preparing for the, ACT®, SAT®, College Board®, AP®, CFA®, CPA, MBE®, MCAT®, NAPLEX®/MPJE®/CPJE, NCLEX®, PANCE/PANRE, COMLEX®, USMLE®, ABIM®, or ABFM®, UWorld ensures success by using active learning methods. With challenging practice questions that mirror the real tests and unrivaled explanations, students can efficiently and effectively prepare for every topic on their exams.
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