IBL News

Category: Platforms | Tech

  • The “Freshman Year for Free” Platform Surpasses 300,000 Learners

    The “Freshman Year for Free” Platform Surpasses 300,000 Learners

    IBL News | New York

    The ModernStates.org online learning platform announced this month that it surpassed 300,000 registered students on its program “Freshman Year for Free.” In addition, fees for 50,000 credit-bearing exams were reimbursed.

    Launched in 2017, the New York City-based Modern States Education Alliance (“Modern States.org”) philanthropy offers a collection of free freshman-level courses that lead to college credit.

    The courses — which include lectures, readings, and practice questions — work as a public library of post-secondary education.

    There are over 40 top-quality online courses taught by professors from leading universities, such as Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Tufts, and Purdue.

    These classes are designed to prepare students to pass any of the College Board’s credit-bearing College Level Examination Program (CLEP) exams.

    The non-profit organization estimates that “students have saved more than $75 million on college tuition by turning to Modern States.” “The all-in average cost of public college is about $20,000 per year, so every Modern States course and CLEP exam passed can save students about $2,000 of cost,” said Steve Klinsky, Modern States Founder and CEO.

    By passing 8-10 CLEP exams, students can save up to a full year of college costs.

    The NYC x Freshman Year for Free program has more than 1,200 registered students from more than 25 New York City public high schools in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens.

    The NYC students who receive stipends for passing courses and exams use Modern States courses to earn free college credit before high school graduation.

    The pass rate on CLEP exams for NYC public school students has been 85 percent to date, which is about 20 percentage points higher than the approximately 65 percent national average pass rate for all CLEP test-takers.

    The overall pass rate is about 75 percent for students taking Modern States courses.

    The philanthropy aspires to help over one million learners, saving students and taxpayers approximately $2,000 per course and over $1 billion in total.

    [Disclosure: These courses and the learning ecosystem, based on Open edX were produced in partnership with IBL Education, the parent company of the IBL News service].

  • Analyst and Entrepreneur Michael Feldstein Suggests MIT and Harvard Endow a Foundation to Steward Open edX

    Analyst and Entrepreneur Michael Feldstein Suggests MIT and Harvard Endow a Foundation to Steward Open edX

    IBL News | New York

    Analyst and entrepreneur Michael Feldstein suggested MIT and Harvard University take a portion of the $800 million profit received from 2U and endow a small foundation intended to steward the Open edX code through the Apache incubation process.

    “MIT and Harvard should not have undue influence or control,” Feldstein said in a recent article while advising to follow the Apache Foundation’s incubation process “to ensure a healthy open-source community and governance practices.”

    “Once the software has passed through incubation—which is usually a multi-year process—then a new board should be elected from the community to chart its future.”

    “The initial board could consist of former EdX members and Open EdX contributors.”

    Michael Feldstein, the author of the influential blog eLiterate [in the picture above], says that Open edX is “a passion project”, and therefore MIT and Harvard are in need of an outside auditor to steward the platform.

    With another portion of the proceeds of the sale of edX Inc to 2U, MIT and Harvard should create “an educational research grant-giving body focused on improving global education and educational equity.”

    “MIT and Harvard faculty and staff would be permanently disqualified from receiving grant dollars from the foundation. A credible board of academic experts and NGO leaders would oversee the distribution of funds.”

    Regarding the transaction itself, Feldstein points to the disagreement inside MIT and Harvard and highlights the “reputational damage done.”

    “My sources inside these institutions, particularly MIT, tell me there’s quite a bit of internal upset and foment over the transaction.”

    Michael Feldstein has recently co-founded Argos Education, a start-up that uses Carnegie Mellon University’s open-source, alternative software, the Open Learning Initiative.

     

    Discussion on Twitter

  • The Ten Top Most Valuable EdTech Start-Ups: A Mix of Chinese, Indian, and American Companies

    The Ten Top Most Valuable EdTech Start-Ups: A Mix of Chinese, Indian, and American Companies

    IBL News | New York

    Five American companies are among the ten most valuable EdTech companies worldwide, while Indian and Chinese start-ups are ranked first.

    “The global EdTech is a broad and diverse field that includes not only the hardware and software programs used in remote learning but also the most effective ways of teaching people new knowledge and skills,” said Ahsan Ullah in an article written in Yahoo analyzing the rising of this industry, accelerated by the pandemic.

    Education research company HolonIQ predicted that the annual growth rate of EdTech will continue growing 2.5x until 2025, and the global expenditure will reach $404 billion in total. The education technology sector will make up 5.5% of the $7.3 trillion global education market by 2025.

    The EdTech companies’ top 10 are ranked according to their market capitalization and valuation.

    1. BYJU’S: Valuation of $16.5 billion. Based in Bangalore, India, and with 40 million users, of whom 3 million are annual paid subscribers, Byju’s provides online courses and enables students to prepare for exams such as IIT-JEE, NEET, IAS in India and international examinations such GRE and GMAT.

    2. Yuanfudao: Valuation of $15.5 billion. A Beijing-based platform that provides K12 online courses and tutoring to 400 million users.

    3. Chegg, Inc (NYSE: CHGG): Valuation of $11.56. An American company founded in 2005 by two Iowa State University students, that provides 25,000 textbooks titles for students with standardized test preparation, career preparation, and study materials on its website. It offers products like Cheap Textbooks, Chegg Coupon, Solution Manual, eTextbooks.

    4. Zuoyebang: Valuation of $10 billion. A Chinese educational platform for online courses, live lessons, and homework help for kindergarten to 12th-grade students.

    5. Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE: BFAM): Valuation of $8.61 billion. An American EdTech company founded in 1986 that offers full-service center based-child care and educational advisory services. It has 26,800 employees.

    6. Duolingo, Inc (NASDAQ: DUOL). Valuation of $5.05 billion. The Pittsburgh-based language learning platform, was co-founded by Luis Von Ahn, the inventor of CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA, and Severin Hacker in 2011.

    7. VIPKID. Valuation of $4.5 billion. A China-based start-up for English learning. Today, it connects 800,000 million paying students with 90,000 teachers in the U.S. and Canada. It uses AI in online teaching.

    8. Articulate: Valuation of $3.75 billion. A US-based firm that allows users to develop interactive courses that work on their LMS.

    9. Udemy: Valuation of $3.3 billion. A US-based marketplace that connects 40 million students seeking to improve their skills with 70,000 expert instructors that offer 155,000 online courses in 65 languages.

    10. ApplyBoard: Valuation of $3.2 billion. A Canadian start-up that connects international students, recruitment partners, and academic institutions in one platform. It has partnerships with 1,500 institutions.

     

  • Udemy Acquires Group Learning Platform CorpU

    Udemy Acquires Group Learning Platform CorpU

    IBL News | New York

    San Francisco – based Udemy.com reinforced its corporate learning activity by acquiring CorpU for an undisclosed amount.

    CorpU, an online development platform founded in 1997, provides cohort-based training, executive and peer coaching, and virtual environments to brands such as CVS Health, BJ’s Wholesale Club, and Rite Aid. In their group learning activities, CorpU includes instructors from Harvard, MIT, and the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.

    “We believe that CorpU will allow Udemy to help companies go further in upskilling initiatives and deepen collaboration and leadership capabilities through immersive learning experiences,” said Gregg Coccari, CEO of Udemy, while announcing the purchase this Monday.

    “CorpU is a powerful addition to strengthen our Udemy Business offering for organizations by elevating leadership development capabilities and helping customers achieve critical business outcomes,” added Greg Brown, President of Udemy Business.

    According to Gartner, HR leaders are finding it increasingly difficult to quickly find and develop talent with the most in-demand skills, yet 58% of the workforce needs new skills to get their jobs done. Gartner data shows the total number of skills required for a single job has been increasing by 10% year-over-year since 2017.

  • Noodle Will Launch a University Partnership Platform with a Sharing Fee of 15% to 35%

    Noodle Will Launch a University Partnership Platform with a Sharing Fee of 15% to 35%

    IBL News | New York

    New York-based, John Katzman-created OPM (Online Program Manager), Noodle, announced last week an online platform intended for universities interested in the lifelong learning market. Columbia Business School, University of Michigan, and Case Western Reserve University have already have signed on as partners. 

    “Noodle’s platform puts university brands front and center, and provides learners with a better experience from start to completion,” said Noodle CEO and Founder John Katzman.

    Scheduled for early 2022, the platform has been developed in partnership with D2L (Desire to Learn LMS), AstrumU, and other providers.

    “Unlike other platforms that take 50-65% of revenues from universities, Noodle’s platform asks for only 15-35%,” added Katzman.

    The platform provides AI-powered recommendations, microsites, teaching assistants, and counselors, as well as collaboration tools like chat/video messenger and group newsreels. It also allows schools to share their own content and those of other universities.

    “The chances that everything you’ve learned by age 21 will take you through retirement are increasingly slim,” said Nikhil Sinha, an advisor to Noodle.

     

  • The CEO of 2U Inc States that His Company Believes in the Open Source Movement [Video]

    The CEO of 2U Inc States that His Company Believes in the Open Source Movement [Video]

    IBL News | New York

    On the last day of the ASU+GSV Summit, Chip Paucek (CEO of 2U Inc.) and Anant Agarwal (CEO of edX) appeared together for the first time publicly, with the mission to convince skeptics and critics of the goodness and benefits for the industry of their recent merger.

    The two executives appeared on stage in the main session of the third and final day of the ASU+GSV Summit, which took place in San Diego this week. Deborah Quazzo, Managing Partner of GSV Ventures moderated this fireside chat.

    Chip Paucek and Anant Agarwal shared the same message of alignment in the mission and plans for the future. “The mission commitment made this deal,” 2U’s CEO said, and the edX chief responded, “No doubt.”

    “We will become the most powerful learning platform in the world,” said Paucek. “2U is Alphabet and edX, Google.”

    Acknowledging the difficulties of merging a Wall Street traded corporation with an educational non-profit organization, Anant Agarwal said: “Profit and non-profits are like oil and water, but in this case, 2U has legally abide by our mission.”

    Deborah Quazzo asked about the Open edX open-source software, which will be governed by a newly created non-profit organization by MIT and Harvard University. Chip Paucek insisted on 2U’s commitment to becoming the first contributor to the Open edX software, and said: “We believe in the open-source movement.”

    Anant Agarwal reinforced the idea by saying that “2U has become the world’s biggest developer of Open edX.”

    Chip Paucek also disclosed that Anant Agarwal’s son, Akash was working as an intern at 2U, which helped in their two organizations’ alignment.

    Agarwal highlighted that the Open edX will be enhanced with the new influx of financial resources, and anticipated that “AI will be built in a broader way.”

    Executives of the two organizations traveled to San Diego to meet and know each other, and for two days socialized and tried to bond.

    • IBL News Video: Conversation on the future of Online Education: Deborah Quazzo talks to Chip Paucek (2U) and Anant Agarwal (edX) 

  • Coursera Reduces Its Fees to Partners to Trigger More Online Degrees

    Coursera Reduces Its Fees to Partners to Trigger More Online Degrees

    IBL News | New York

    Coursera (NYSE: COUR) announced this week a new tiered fee structure in an attempt to encourage university partners to produce more online degrees.

    With the new arrangement, Coursera will progressively reduce its service fee from 40% to 25%.

    To date, Coursera was splitting its revenues with university partners in a sharing model of 60% – 40%.

    Now universities that produce more online degrees might get 75% of the revenue in the highest tier of activity.

    The new structure will first roll out in North America and Europe.

    “Our new fee structure better supports universities that want to offer more degrees online,” said Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO at Coursera.

    The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign — which offers four degrees on the platform — and the University of Colorado Boulder — with two performance-based degrees — are reportedly among the first to embrace the new structure.

    With a global audience of 87 million learners, Coursera claimed that the number of degrees universities offer on its platform has grown by 55%.

    The new tiered arrangement might affect the direct competitor, edX, a property of 2U.

  • Duolingo Plans to Expands Into an App for K-12 Students

    Duolingo Plans to Expands Into an App for K-12 Students

    IBL News | New York

    Duolingo is designing a math app for younger learners, the start-up disclosed in an interview of its CEO Luis von Ahn to TechCrunch.

    It seems that this app, which goes beyond Duolingo’s language teaching field, might be oriented to K-12 students between 3rd and 8th grade.

    In order to accelerate the development of the math app, Duolingo plans to execute an acquisition strategy.

    Von Ahn and his co-founder, Severin Hacker, thought about making Duolingo a math app before they jumped on language learning, as the company mentioned in its prospectus,

    Math-focused EdTech companies include Khan Academy, Brilliant.org, Photomath, Numerade, and the recently acquired Symbolab.

    Further details are expected to be revealed in the upcoming Duocon annual event, on August 20.

    Listed in the stock market at the end of July, Duolingo (NASDAQ: DUOL) reaching a valuation of over $5 billion, after a significant increase from $102 per share at the IPO to $134 today.

    Last week, Duolingo’s stock declined over 10%, as Chinese authorities removed from some app stores in China, signaling the government’s crackdown on for-profit education.

     

  • Coursera’s App for Zoom Enables Instructors to Integrate Live Meetings into Their Courses

    Coursera’s App for Zoom Enables Instructors to Integrate Live Meetings into Their Courses

    IBL News | New York

    Coursera (NYSE: COUR) released this week a new version of its app for managing Zoom lectures on its platform.

    The Live2Coursera app for Zoom, which builds upon a basic version developed last year, is available for free download in the Zoom App Marketplace.

    The app allows instructors to record, share and upload lectures to their classes and integrate live meetings into their courses on Coursera.org. Meanwhile, students have more download and viewing options, including the ability to chose data bandwidth speed.

    “Recorded Zoom lectures have the potential to be valuable, long-term digital assets for both educators and learners,” wrote Shravan Goli, Chief Product Officer at Coursera.

    Instructors and students can engage with the Live2Coursera app anonymously, not being required to create their own personal Coursera account.

    Currently, the recording capabilities are only available for Zoom customers with paid cloud recording access.

    The Coursera for Campus Basic plan provides students with free access to world-class online courses, hands-on projects, and job-ready skills training.

     

  • One-Year-Old, Zoom-Based Class.com Startup Raises Another $105 Million

    One-Year-Old, Zoom-Based Class.com Startup Raises Another $105 Million

    IBL News | New York

    Class.com continues its funding spree. The startup, founded in 2020 as a learning platform to expand Zoom capabilities, announced today that it raised an additional $105 million in Series B funding.

    Class is built on the Zoom Meetings platform and simply adds into its teaching and learning tools. Features include taking attendance, hand out assignments, give a quiz or test, grade work, proctor exams, and talk one-on-one with a learner.

    The reported round was led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2. Additional investors participating include: GSV Ventures, Emergence Capital, Maven Partners, Owl Ventures, Insight Partners, SWaN & Legend Venture Partners, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Fund, Learn Capital, Reach Capital, Slow Ventures, Sound Ventures, Chimera Investment, Daher Capital, Guy Oseary, Bill Tai, and Super Bowl champion and entrepreneur Tom Brady.

    The company founded by ex-Blackboard executive Michael Chasen has raised over $160 million in under a year.

    “Class has a bold vision for changing the way the world learns, and we have experienced increased demand for Class not just in the United States, but around the world,” he said.

    “Over the past year, students and instructors around the world have been using Zoom to power remote and hybrid classes,” said Audrey Witters, Managing Director, Online & Entrepreneurship Programs at Stanford Graduate School of Business, and Class strategic advisory board member. “Class offers features designed to make virtual classrooms around the world feel more like real classrooms.”

    Class.com will become available this summer. Names of customers have not been provided. In this regard, the startup says, “since launching less than a year ago, Class is already deployed in the United States and in over 20 countries worldwide.”