European Edtech Alliance Update May 24
Data, personal information, and support
Data can be a transformative power within education helping us to make informed decisions and react in appropriate ways. Data can also create settings that can cause harm. A recent report shows that there were 96 000 deepfake videos put online in the past year and it takes only one still frame image and about 15 minutes of time to create a deep fake video of someone.
When we try making sense out of data from different systems, though, it can get pretty difficult very fast. Within education environments, we also have to acknowledge that there can be a lack of agency regarding the data being gathered and reviewed from the owners of that data, namely, learners and teachers. Especially at times when it comes to the choice of EdTech systems being used.
In fact, a student session of our EdTech Strategy Lab project showed that learners believe that the choice of EdTech tools should be one made by teachers and students together, providing feedback and agency of use.
One way of addressing these topics is obviously a greater focus on developing skill sets within learning communities to combat disinformation and understand digital citizenship. Encouragingly, this aligns with the European Union’s year of skills in 2023, the Council recommendation on the key enabling factors for successful digital education and training of the European Commission, and the focus of the Council of Europe with its European year of digital citizenship education in 2025.
However, as emerged during discussions in May as part of the Digital Education Dialogues event held by the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union (see below), there is a great need for support resources to get recommendations and programmes like these to have greater impact. We need resources to support EdTech decision-makers and implementers in clarifying and evaluating data practices. Additionally, we require guidelines to help EdTech organizations develop and communicate transparently, ensuring that innovations maintain safe educational environments and provide clear, comparable evidence of outcomes.
Continue reading to learn more about
Our Strategy lab summer workshops
policy dialogues and your chance to participate
opportunities for your networks
funding and M&A news, and
the news from EEA members throughout Europe!
-Beth Havinga
Managing Director, EEA
EEA Project news:
NEW: EdTech Strategy Lab Summer Workshop Series
Join our online workshop series as we delve into the topics of evidence, trust, evaluation and partnerships in the evolving EdTech landscape. Tailored for researchers, framework developers, EdTech providers, and practitioners, these 90-minute interactive workshops are part of the EdTech Strategy Lab, supported by the Jacobs Foundation. Your expertise is invaluable to these impactful discussions!
🗓️ Learn more and register for the workshops below:
Researchers - Monday, June 10th at 4pm CET
Framework Developers - Tuesday, June 11th at 1pm CET
EdTech Providers - Friday, June 21st at 10am CET
See the outcomes of our previous workshops here.
Policy Dialogues:
Digital Education Dialogues - Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union
We were honoured to participate in the Digital Education Dialogues event hosted by the Belgian presidency of the Council of the European Union with Beth Havinga holding the keynote on Trust, Data, and a pathway forward together. The two day event explored fundamental questions of trust between the public sector and industry and measures tht could facilitate cooperation between stakeholders. The delegates from member states and civil society then delved into what it means to balance the protection of data and privacy whilst promoting innovation, and how to evaluate the effectiveness of digital education content and tools with a special focus on the implementation of AI systems in education. It was encouraging to hear the consensus from all those present that we need to explore common and unified frameworks of evaluation for EdTech and provide transparent and standardised methods for showcasing evidence.
Image courtesy of Jelle Jansegers
European Ecosystem Dialogue:
Join us to have your opinion and voice be heard!
Join the European EdTech Alliance on July 1st in a conversation with representatives from DG EAC of the European Commission to share your perspective on how the EU Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027) has impacted your work and, importantly, evaluate what efforts would be most beneficial to your work and the education innovation ecosystem in the coming two and a half years. This 90-minute workshop will allow you to directly share your views and help guide next steps for the initiative.
Register here!
Additionally, the Commission has launched a call for position papers to reflect on the impacts and achievements of the Digtial Education Action Plan thus far. You can find more information here.
Opportunities:
Acceleration Program
The Tec de Monterrey University is opening its acceleration program, IFE Launch, an international program for EdTechs in Higher Education and Lifelong Learning. The goal is to give startups opportunities to enter the Latam Market. The program offers:
Expert advice to help you attract investment
An all-expenses-paid trip to Silicon Valley for one team member
Technology validation in collaboration with students and professors from Tec de Monterrey
Participation in exclusive events like the IFE EdTech Summit and the IFE Conference, with networking opportunities
An all-expenses-paid trip to Monterrey in Mexico for one team member
The application deadline is June 20th. Apply here!
For organisations in Germany:
Unsere Zukunft mit KI: Ideenwettbewerb für Schulklassen
In Zusammenarbeit mit fobizz rufen wir Schüler*innen und Lehrkräfte dazu auf, in diesem Jahr zum Schuljahresende ihre kreativen Ideen, Visionen und Konzepte zum Thema "Unsere Zukunft mit KI" mit uns zu teilen. Wir freuen uns, gemeinsam mit fachkundigen Expert*innen den Wettbewerb zu unterstützen und sind gespannt auf die tollen Ideen!
Alle Infos zum Wettbewerb findet ihr hier!
Funding and M&A News:
Zen Educate raised 34m € for their online marketplace that matches schools with the best available substitute teachers and teaching assistants.
Milan-based Futura, an AI based tool for students to personalise and track learning, raised €14 million.
UK childcare startup tiney secured 8.3m € for their offering of early years education to children across England.
Berlin-based roclub secured 4m € for their solution to overcome the shortage of medical technical workers in Europe and the US.
Vienna-based Teachino raised seven-figures to support teachers with AI-based tools in the preparation of their lessons.
Prag and New York-based Birdwingo raised 1.2m € for their financial education and investment platform to teach European teens how to invest.
Lithuanian-founded Liledu raised 500k €s for their eco-friendly wooden toys based on the Montessori educational method, tailored to children's ages and developmental stages.
Upcoming:
Upcoming EEA Webinars (click on webinar to register for free)
Upcoming events (Click on the links for further information and tickets!):
5th-7th June: ICDE Leadership Summit in Geneva, Switzerland - Program & Tickets
17th-21st June: London EdTech Week - Registration & Program
9th-11th July: Digital with Purpose Global Summit in Cascais, Portugal - Agenda
18th-19th September: Learning Conference for L&D in Stockholm, Sweden - Tickets
2nd-3rd October: EDUtech Europe in Amsterdam, Netherlands - Agenda & Tickets
Check out our members’ newsletters:
This newsletter is written and produced by the European Edtech Alliance. The European Edtech Alliance is a consortium of national trade associations and clusters working with founders and providers of education technology (Edtech), to support the domestic and international growth of these businesses and the innovations they represent. European Edtech News is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.