Jamming with Storybots!
Though last year my worked pivoted away from EdTech to stored-value (aka eGC) I’m still facinated by the way technology is reshaping the way we learn at all ages. Of course, since my son is almost 4 years old I’ve been mostly fascinated by EdTech for him. These days, it’s amazing what he finds on YouTube and our latest awesome discovery has been Storybots.
I’m So Hot
Most people my age (late Millennials in their early 30s) are familiar with JibJab, and if you’re not please go here. Back during the Bush Jr. years, JibJab made hilarious political parodies and became one of the funniest web services around. A couple of years ago they refocused that creative genius on teaching children, launching Storybots. At the time JibJab already had something like 20,000,000 registered users for their eCards service (which allow you to put your face in some pretty funny places… just check the link above).
When asked why, the two founders pointed to the fact their own kids don’t watch TV, they watch Netflix on the iPad. And I’m guessing Youtube. Storybots was born to be a compelling place for kids and parents to engage with each other on the new mobile medium. The suite of Storybot apps include “Starring You” books and videos, learning videos, abc videos, and activity sheets.
Really compelling content YOU WANT to watch with your kids
While the other apps are fun, my son and I are raving about the learning videos. The content is so compelling we even play it in the car. Songs range from smooth raps about space which will remind you of old school rap, hilarious folk-rock about animals like the Chicken-bob or Tiger In the Jungle, and even songs that teach children how their body works.
The list of amazing content is pretty long, and getting longer.
If you have a young child and an iPad, you need to get into Storybots. Their learning apps are affordable and the videos on Youtube are free… check it out!
Investing In Education
Investment in education startups has boomed since early 2012, with a range of investors pumping in more than $1B into companies and funds. The number of investors in the space is staggering, even Ashton Kutcher is hip on Ed Tech with an investment in Y-Combinator graduate Clever back in 2012.
While Paul Graham’s Y-Combinator has worked with only a few Ed Tech start-ups (other than Clever), a cohort of new incubators and accelerators focusing on Ed Tech are emerging, led by Imagine K12.
Imagine K12
Decades ago schools spent millions on technology (CD ROMs galore), but nothing really changed… just the medium. Today everything from publishing to management systems are up for grabs. Imagine K12 is looking to grow the companies of the future in the space, becoming the first incubator for Ed Tech to support entrepreneurs who all share a vision for truly impactful technology innovation for education.
Founded by a few big names in Silicon Valley who saw the next wave of school reform as Ed Tech’s new moment, Imagine K12 graduated their first cohort in 2011. Their portfolio includes hapara, NoRedInk, LearnSprout, Class Dojo, Bloomboard, and so many more. Awesome.
The “Most Active” Investors
While the list of firms and funds investing in Ed Tech is long, there are some standouts. In addition to the new incubators or accelerators focusing on Ed Tech, including Imagine K12, lot's of funds specific-to education exist in addition to older VC firms.
Some of the more active investors in Ed Tech are:
NewSchools Venture Fund
Founded way back in 1998, this fund is unique because it operates as a non-profit. The fund has invested “nearly $180 million” in “more than 100 nonprofit and for-profit organizations” and claims that through its investments reaches 12 million students in the United States. Impressive… most impressive.
Relatively recent investments in companies that I think are pretty neat are edSurge, hapara, and NoRedInk.
500 Startups
So much can be said about 500, it’s pretty much just awesome. Some recent investments in Ed Tech have been MindSnacks, Magoosh, and Motion Math. Looks like 500 is focusing on Game-based Learning and (the cash-cow of education) Test-Prep.
Learn Capital
These guys are rocking Ed Tech, boasting the most impressive portfolio of investments. No kidding, the founders of Learn Captial are seasoned Ed Tech entrepreneurs who have exited several companies to big players like HMH, Marvel.
Investments by Learn Capital are truly press worthy, check out their coverage including Edmodo, Coursera, Udemy, ClassDojo, Kalibrr, and more.
ReThink Education
New York City is in the Ed Tech game too, that’s where ReThink Education is leading the way to east-coast incubation for the next big-win. While a new fund, they have made some exciting investments including Bright Bytes, Education Elements, and Smarterer.
Sequoia Capital
Finally, the world-renowned iconic VC of Silicon Valley. Sequoia has not been too active in Ed Tech. However, they did invest in one of my absolute favorite companies: Inkling.
Inkling has been around for awhile now, having been developing interactive content for education since 2009. You could say they are the leaders in the space.
FASTT Monsters Teach Kids
Scholastic released a really neat application a few months back, and my son is almost old enough to start playing with it. Okay, not really he just likes to watch me play with it. Sushi Monster is a fantastic application (particularly on iPad) for kids who need to learn fundamental mathematics.
4 Out Of 5 Stars
Sushi Monster has gotten great reviews already, but please let me add to the chorus of raving parents and teachers. Common Sense Media rated the app 4 out of 5 stars for Quality, saying it “is a fun and effective way to practice addition and multiplication.”
The monsters are well drawn, both funny and colorful (and cute?) enough for boys and girls, moms and dads alike. Imagine if Domo suddently had an app to teach fundamental math skills, and he brought a dozen friends along! That’s what Sushi Monster is like.
Aside from the well designed characters, the application really does offer value in terms of learning. The application is based on a math fluency curriculum offered by Scholastic, and the game engages learners in challenging but fun exercises to learn addition and multiplication. Sushi Monster disguises the learning perfectly well, no boring math here... again, even my 2 year old wants to play with it.
Best Apps for Kids writes: “Sushi Monster is on eof those apps that you just can’t go wrong with -- it is entertaining, educational, and free!” And Free Tech 4 Teachers says you should definitely add Sushi Monster to your list of apps for elementary math. Agreed!
FASTT Math Next Generation
Fastt Math is a math program for grades 2 through 8 which stands for Fluency and Automaticity through Systematic Teaching and Technology. Scholastic developed the program to address Operations and Algebraic Thinking, Number and Operations, The Number System, and Expressions and Equations, and has nicely unpacked how their program addresses new Common Core Standards for each of these.
The program works well as digital content due to the short duration. Rather than a demanding 30 minutes (or more!) the progam calls for just 10 minutes a day. This great for attention spans of young people, but also great for delivering content via a tablet. It’s also easy for teachers, who can implement the program is a variety of ways including in-class, as intervention, at home, etc. It’s fun and versatile.
Coming soon, Scholastic promises to release 17 more new games built on the FASTT math program. Hurray for us all if they are as engaging and creative as Sushi Monster!
"Adorably Morbid"
Dumb Ways To Die is the “most arresting hook since PSY’s Gangnam Style” wrote the Melbourne Herald Sun back in November, 2012. Within a month of release it was the “6th most shared ad of all time” according to Google Insights. The “adorably morbid” video campaign has since expanded to be a hit game for iPhone and iPad too.
The viral hit was created by Sydney-based agency McCann to help address a rise in dangerous behavior around Sydney trains.
Awesomely Entertaining
Since last year, the Dumb Ways To Die video has garnered nearly 50M YouTube views. While that is only mildly impressive compared to the 1B + views of Gangnam Style, the Dumb Ways To Die phenomenon is a public service message, not a hit song from Seoul. While PSY’s hit song was picked up by music moguls in the US and transformed into an international hit, Dumb Ways To Die seems to have spread almost entirely via word-of-mouth.
That said, awards help contribute to the viral growth of any campaign, and Dumb Ways To Die has racked its fair share. At this year’s Webby Awards the viral sensation took home more awards than any other, including four People’s Voice Awards. Dumb Ways also took home several Australian awards such as best radio ad, and is being touted as a favorite to win at the upcoming Cannes Lions Sweepstakes by none other than The Gunn Report.
Last month the Dumb Ways To Die game was released for iOS and was instantly the #1 free app in Australia. A month later the app has taken the top spot in the US App store as well (screen-shot taken today), beating out huge names like Candy Crush and Vine. No doubt there are millions of in-app views to add to the YouTube total.
Exceptionally Effective
Entertaining a tough demographic was one of McCann’s aims for the campaign. However, this was a public service initiative... so was it effective?
Brilliantly.
Reports vary, but back in February (a couple months after the campaign launched) the Sydney Metro reported that “near-miss” accidents were reduced by more than 30 percent. WHOA! Them be big numbers.... and that’s before the game released for iOS, before the most recent push for global virality. With the app taking the top spot for free apps in the US, I wonder what kind of reductions we will see in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco?
And it is only the beginning. The Sydney Metro recently signed a licensing agent to spread the Dumb Ways To Die characters across the retail-sphere. Anticipate T-shirts and cups, stationary, and more in the months ahead. With any luck, the important message of these “adorably morbid” characters will continue to promote safety around trains.
Endless Fun With KPCB’s Next Big Winner
My son, 27 months, read my t-shirt the other day. Sure, he has no idea what “unsweetened juice” means, but he was reading it phonetically.
As you know, Ed Tech is booming -- or ballooning in the opinion of some who believe there is a bubble. Among the famous investors joining the fray is the acclaimed Venture Capital firm Kleiner Perkins (KPCB), and they have once again backed the right horse: Callaway Digital Arts.
Endless Alphabet
For the past 6 weeks or so my son has been thoroughly enjoying Callaway Digital Arts flagship application, Endless Alphabet (or Endless ABCs). Like most parents, particularly those with bilingual children, there is a sense of urgency around getting language learning started early. Loads of development data shows us that this is critical for future achievement. So my wife and I scour the web and app stores for the latest new applications for learning literacy.
However, most of the time they fall short. Either they are too much fun and not enough learning, or they are too much learning (too difficult for that early age when we parents are anxious). Enter the Endless Alphabet.
Endless Fun AND Learning
The application has received critical acclaim from every “kids apps” review site, has been featured by Apple, and written up in Wired’s Geek Mom section. Geek Mom’s Kelly Knox said her daughter “squeals in delight when a new” word is ready in the app.... same here. And it deserves all the praise.
Children absolutely love the application, and play with it for as long as you will let them. Replaying the hilarious and brilliantly animated definitions, and giggling through the touch-and-drag letters as they transform into ridiculous monsters that spew phonetics repeatedly until they are placed in the correct position.
See it for yourself, and try it with your own children. My son continues to be enthralled by Endless Alphabet, and more words are being added all the time.
But most importantly, it works. Not only is he trying to read words that have never appeared in the application (thanks to the fun phonetics) he is using new words he learns via Endless Alphabet in the correct context (thanks to the brilliant animations).
For example, the other day when he ate some food he didn’t find particularly appealing he said “yucky!” Excuse me? Yes, and he never learned it from me.
About Callaway Digital Arts
Callaway (CDA) is fastly becoming a serious player in the vastly lucrative educational content market. To date they have received $6M in funding from a list of A Team investors led by the iconic Kleiner Perkins. Founded back in 2011, the company has released several successful applications in the Ed space, with partners indicative of their investors’ network value such as Sesame Street and Hasbro.
Penguin's New Breakthrough
In case you haven’t noticed, Ed Tech continues to boom. Last year Ed Tech startups grabbed more than $1B in funding -- ONE-BILLION-DOLLARS... just looks bigger that way. Since my first passion in business was actually educational technology, from time to time I’ll post about Ed Tech applications. Here’s the first!
Penguin Publishing is an old company, they’ve been around since 1935. Most people probably consider publishing a dull and non-innovative space. Some may even believe that with advent of Amazon Self-Publishing traditional publishing companies are already in decline. I beg to differ... and Penguin’s new app really blew me away.
Poems By Heart
This is probably my new favorite app, really!
Why? I guess some people are forever hopelessly romantic long after high-school. Poems By Heart is a really fun and simple way to memorize poems. You can impress your friends or, if you’re like me, someone special to you by reciting to them poems of all kinds, from William Blake to Emily Dickinson, and more.
This app isn’t just my favorite because if the value it gives me -- that is, my wife loves it when I recite to her a romantic poem -- it is my favorite because it is one of the most innovative ideas I’ve seen in a long time. Penguin Publishing has taken something many people probably had forgotten about, and made it interesting and modern all over again. Truth is, we all wish we could rattle-off poetry like they do in the movies, don’t we?
Poems By Heart is a game, with levels of difficulty for different poems. The app takes you through stages, removing words from stanzas or lines to help you memorize. You select the correct words from several below the stanza or line you’re memorizing. For your final mission you have to recite the poem by heart to the app, and it records it for you. You get points for doing missions quickly and filling in the blanks with the correct words.
Not only is it fun, it’s educational since you are engaging with literary history (the poem) multiple times, learning vocabulary and usage -- not to mention learning about the poets themselves (or just poets period!).
But it gets better. From a business perspective, this app is a brilliant innovation. It’s clear that Penguin invested a lot of time and talent to leverage it’s massive store of content to generate new revenue through mobile. While the app offers new users with two free poems, to memorize more poems -- or specific poems that you love -- you have to purchase sets. The sets are sold as poetry genres now, but you can imagine with all the poetry in the world the possibilities for Penguin are endless.
Hat’s off to Penguin... then again, “He who binds to himself a joy / Does the winged life destroy....” We’ll see if it sticks, but so far looks like a big win for Pearson and for poetry all around.
