Education - Issue #162: EdTech is Booming

There are 3 main reasons why learntech is booming right now, but these are all part of a wider context of change. There is no going back now, and here’s why.

Reason 1: Edtech is going mainstream, national and big-budget

Reason 2: Educators are on board

Reason 3: Tech innovation and learning innovation are finding symbiosis

In 2012, Harvard and MIT jointly founded edX as a platform for massive open online courses (MOOCs). The edtech company 2U has acquired edX and will convert it to a public benefit company. Harvard and MIT will use the proceeds from the sale of edX to create a new nonprofit which will partner with other educational institutions to close gaps in learning through the use of technology.

In the past decade, the level of investment into Chinese edtech has been nearly 2x the U.S. It’s a gap that’s widening. Last year, Chinese edtech attracted more than $10 billion from tech leaders like Alibaba, Tencent, and Japan’s SoftBank, 5x what U.S. companies received.

The edtech sector was ripe for a revolution long before the global pandemic forced parents to become teachers and schools to go virtual. This accelerated switch to online learning also prompted investors to fling money at edtech startups, with the expectation that the education sector will be permanently changed.