Several years ago, all we had were textbooks and teachers in the education sector. In our world today, we learn on online platforms and learning has become easy. We read on our phones, we ask Google all of our questions and instead of taking a class when we want to learn a foreign language, we can just download an app.
Education technology (EdTech) is not a replacement for teachers but a way of enhancing education by helping teachers teach creatively without the burden associated with traditional teaching. Edtech is offering a range of tools to enhance education for both teachers and students. It’s helping students learn and teachers teach, making the learning process easier for everyone.
With these new innovations, teachers can track their student’s performance and also provide students access their learning materials online. There are many startups and established that are driving innovation. Education has become more data driven, engaging and even fun. Although there are many challenges these startups face when establishing businesses; this article covers the startups that have gained grounds globally despite these challenges.
Coursera
Coursera is a Silicon Valley-based education platform that partners with over 140 top universities and organizations worldwide to offer free massive open online courses.
More than 500 corporates have collaborated with Coursera to up skill employees in order to boost growth. It has managed to raise capital of $210 million and plans on using the latest series D funding of $64 million to grow its B2B platform and provides additional master’s degree courses to its users. Founded in 2012, the company aims to empower people with education that will improve their lives, the lives of their families and their communities.
Helphub
This instant tutoring platform enables teachers and students to work together using mobile and web devices. Over two rounds of funding the company raised a total of $250,000. What makes HelpHub so popular among the student and teacher community is its ability to provide an in-depth analysis of all the interactions which takes place on its platform.
See also: Telecoming, Ubongo Partners to Increase Distribution of Educational Cartoons in Africa
Blinkist
Founded in 2012, Blinkist is a Berlin-based app that has condensed over 2500 nonfiction books into 15 minutes text-based or audio “blinks” that summarize core concepts and insights from each group. With over 6 million readers worldwide, it has been steadily growing, raising $18.8 million Series C round in June 2018.
Ubongo
Ubongo is Africa’s leading producer of kid’s edutainment based in Tanzania. It’s a non-profit social enterprise that creates multi-platform educational content that helps kids learn and leverage on their learning to change their lives. More than 9,100,000 households across Africa watch, listen and learn from the cartoons every week.
Alison
Alison provides free online courses at Diploma and Certificates to a large number of learners in developing countries. Alison provides 1000 free online courses, with new offerings every week. Currently, the platform caters to the learning needs of over 13 million registered learners, 1.5 Million graduates from around the world and over 175 Thousand more signing up every month to access the free education and fulfil their life goals.
Knewton
New York-based startup Knewton uses adaptive learning to help students who struggle with their curriculum. It collaborates with more than 250 colleges across the United States and has over 15 million users.
Knewton’s Alta helps students by eliminating the knowledge gaps and provides them with courses tailored to their individual proficiencies. The contents of Alta are thoroughly researched and put together by experts and many instructors in the US use it as their educational resource.
Cialfo
Awarded the EdTech service provider of the year by Education Investor Asia 2018, Cialfo is a college guidance platform that aids students through every step in identifying best-fit universities. It aids students in the application process for universities abroad, and monitors them throughout their university years to ensure the most favorable outcomes. Cialfo’s mission is to help one million students get into their dream universities by 2020.
Udemy
Udemy is the global marketplace for teaching and learning, connecting students everywhere to the world’s best tutors. With over 30 million students, 100, 000 courses, and 42, 000 instructors, Udemy helps organizations prepare for the ever-evolving future of work. Its goal is to make quality education more accessible and improve lives through learning.
Education is an industry that is essential to the totality of a country’s development. The Internet has become a knowledge base accessible to anyone who wants to learn anything. You can learn online courses from any of these platforms of your choice.
