Eliademy

Helsinki, 24 October, 2014 – Slush introduces the Edutech stage program which will take place November 18 & 19 in Helsinki, Finland, and which will focus on the massive growth opportunity for companies. The event will combine inspiring stories from both edtech startups and educators.

The Edutech market is the fastest growing market in education, standing at over $91bn globally with a growth trajectory of over 20% per annum until 2017.

During the Slush Edutech session, everything from elementary school education to higher education and professional learning will be discussed by people working in edutech. In this sector is full of opportunities. The event will attract attention to the field and inspire people regardless whether they are already working in the sector or not.

After Rovio’s Peter Vesterbacka opens the session, Slush will bring in teachers, edutech entrepreneurs and leading investors. Here’s a close-up look into some of the speakers working in K-12 education.

Learning digitalized

One of the most visible trends in the change of education is the swift move from print to digital content, from lecture halls to group work and interactive learning, and from teacher-driven education to student-centered learning.

In the city of Kaarina in Finland, the Piikkiö school decided to put a ban on books and switch to tablets. The principal Marko Kuuskorpi is worried about how education is lagging behind other parts of society and not utilizing tools the use of which comes naturally to children. According to Kuuskorpi, adding touchpads to classes gets kids more motivated and is beneficial to their learning results. Based on this experience, he will talk at Slush about what schools need from edutech startups.

Srini Swaminathan is a teacher who wants to bring tech to students in a low-resource setting. Swaminathan is from India and grew up in a low-income family. A scholarship provided him with an education (a degree in engineering) and he currently teaches children dealing with poverty by using different kinds of learning apps. In this video, Swaminathan shares his views on the role of technology in class.

Edutainment in Africa

Ubongo, a Tanzanian company, is using technology to make education more entertaining. Ubongo offers educative cartoons that are televised to over a million households in East Africa, making it easier for kids to learn math. Children are motivated by learning through stories and songs, and they can interact via text messages to get feedback on their answers from the cartoon characters. We are looking forward to learning more about scaling an edutechstartup in Africa from Doreen Kessy, the COO of Ubongo.

In addition to K-12 education, Slush Edutech is about investment opportunities, professional learning, and the changing role of universities.

McDonalds had to do extensive research to make the hole on the lid of the McFlurry cup smaller after it became known that hedgehogs got stuck with their heads and starved to death. Their spikes lay flat to get their head inside, but lift up when they try to pull their head out. That is why they resized the hole in the lid so that the hedgehogs heads would not get stuck anymore. 

The idea of Eiademy was born when the two founders of the company, Sotiris Makrygiannis and Sergey Garasimenko, locked themselves in Kuusamo in northern Finland during a cold winters day. The temperature outside was about -35°C when they sat down and started brainstorming. In the process of thinking of all possible scenarios for education in 2020, Eliademy was born. During this brainstorming session the base of the strategy of the company was created.

The First International Conference EdCrunch dedicated to new educational technologies will be held October 17-18 in Moscow, Russia. The conference will be attended by the founders and directors of the leading educational platforms – Daphne Koller (Coursera), Anant Agarwal (edX), Hans Klepper (Iversity), Sotiris Makrygiannis (Eliademy), as well as the head of Knewton headquarters in Europe Charlie Harrington and other experts.

During EdCrunch teachers, startups, venture capitalists, government officials and managers in the sphere of education will discuss the massive open online courses (MOOC), gamification, adaptive and mixed learning, application of Big Data, and research achievements in the field of digital pedagogy. “New educational technologies do not just represent tools for learning, they can become a catalyst for change in the whole education system, – says the program director of the conference, publisher of Edutainme.ru, Vladimir Sinelnikov. – We want to combine completely different professionals: teachers, designers, entrepreneurs, managers, developers and investors – all of whom should participate in the development of new educational technologies.”

The conference organizers believe that the event will spark up a research in the field of digital pedagogy in Russia and will help to formulate new educational standards that will take into account the impact of modern technology. Within the framework of the conference, a hackathon for educational projects and a Start-up Alley will be organized, enabling the participants to receive a valuable expert feedback on their ideas.

The conference is held by the National University of Science and Technology “MISIS”, the center of technological entrepreneurship Digital October and the online magazine about new educational technologies Edutainme.ru, supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.

Website: http://www.edcrunch.ru

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Eliademy gets nominated for the Edison Awards 2015

Saying “thank you” to each one of you is not enough. Eliademy is happy to announce its nomination for the Edison Awards, related to innovation and innovators.

Edison Awards have recognized the most innovative new products, services and business in the world since 1987, that symbolizes the persistence and excellence personified by the great Thomas Edison, while also motivating the human desire for innovation, creativity and ingenuity.

This awards are based on 4 categories: Concept, Value, Delivery and Impact, adding very significant value to the winners who strive every year to create a positive impact in society.

Award winners are given the opportunity to share their story and noble cause to a very big audience, getting recognition, visibility and prestige among the eyes of the spectators like business audiences, higher education institutions, K-12 education systems and museums focused on science, industry, innovation, etc.

All of these activities are encouraged through the Edison Universe, a non-profit organization focused on nourishing the possibilities, opportunities and foundations to empower the imaginations and vision of tomorrow’s inventors and innovators. Motivated by Edison’s unique vision, unbridled optimism and insatiable curiosity, Edison Universe is committed to inspiring educational institutions and supporting the business world.

Just being nominated is such a high honor for us and an incredible victory already. Again, thank you for everything, for believing in our mission. The Eliademy team wishes you a big and happy day, we are having ours already.

“We shall not have better conditions in the future if we are satisfied with all those which we have at present“