TU Delft Professors Andy van den Dobbelsteen, Eric van den Ham, and Researcher Tess Bloom won the 2020 edX Prize for Exceptional Contributions in Online Teaching and Learning. They teach the course Zero-Energy Design: an approach to make your building sustainable, with 16,000 enrollments to date. The course was designed to provide an innovative learning experience. The creators produced a compelling short-film and three mini-documentaries to show how students at TU Delft dels with energy-efficient buildings. [Watch it below] The course team also provided weekly video-feedback to students. Additionally, the final project had the learners redesign a building they know (their home, school, workplace, a local familiar building) into a more energy-efficient structure. TU Delft's instructors were selected among an array of finalists. This is the second time that TU Delft has been awarded the edX Prize; Professor Arno Smets took home the inaugural prize in 2016.
Instructure, the parent company of Canvas LMS, announced yesterday the acquisition of Certica Solutions—a U.S. software company specialized in K12 assessment and data analytics, and a longtime partner of Canvas and MasteryConnect. The purchase amount was not disclosed. Wakefield, Massachusetts-based Certica brings the assessments that are both pre-built for teachers or that the teacher can build themselves with a 'bank' of assessment content. A part of the acquired company is the analytics piece of Videri, the jewel of the crown of the acquired company. Videri integrates district data from multiple sources into one place. This data allows visualizing individual student needs, district trends, and at-risk students. Over 1,500 districts use Certica's solutions in the U.S., serving 12 million students. “Joining the Instructure family will open doors to helping more students and educators find the value of a rigorous standards-aligned assessment program with rich analytics,” said Mark Rankovic, CEO of Certica Solutions.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) developed a free web app called "COVID BACK-TO-SCHOOL", that calculates the number of students likely to be infected. This publicly available tool can be used by schools to analyze re-opening strategies from a data perspective. Malik Magdon-Ismail, Rensselaer Computer Science Professor and Developer of the COVID Back-to-School Algorithm, explained that "schools can use it, at least, to evaluate how their current strategy will play out and try out various strategies before actually implementing them". The user selects the category that represents the school type (Primary, Secondary, Boarding School, or College/University) and fills out a profile with info prior to the COVID outbreak. These questions must be answered to obtain a simulated outcome: What was the average number of people that a student would interact within a single day of their residential life? What was the average number of people a student would interact with during a single meal in the school dining facilities? What was the average number of meals a student would have in campus dining facilities? On average, how many interactions did a student have in a single class that could lead to the virus being transmitted? What was the average number of in-person classes that a student has in a day? What percentage of the population is infected if no protocols are in place (If you're unsure, keep it at default) How many students did your school have? How long do you want the simulation to run? (Fall Semester 2020, Spring Semester 2021, Custom Data Range) The algorithmic simulation shows: The Proportion of Student Body Infected Over Time, New Infections Over Previous 14 Days, and Impact of Testing Frequency of Infection The user can adjust the variables on the fly. Rensselaer ensured that this tool and other strategies have enabled them to maintain control over the virus. "We encourage other institutions to learn from and use these tools, like COVID Back-to-School, in hopes that they have similar success in the spring,"Â said Rensselaer President, Shirley Ann Jackson.
Learning Technologies Group (LTG)—the parent company of Open LMS, formerly called Moodlerooms—announced yesterday the acquisition and integration of eThink Education, a large Moodle provider and Platinum Totara Partner with 325 clients and two million users in 22 countries. eThink will be paid $20 million in cash, according to the Baltimore Business Journal. eThink’s founders, Brian Carlson and Cheryl Patsavos will join the Open LMS management team as the new Head of Sales and Head of Customer Success. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Baltimore, eThink has a workforce of 39 people. Open LMS—which bills itself as the largest commercial Moodle provider—said that since its purchase and separation from Blackboard in March 2020, has added 23 additional resellers. In September 2020, it bought Australian Moodle leader eCreators. Today, it claims to serve over 1,460 clients and eight million users across 100 countries. The Indianapolis-based Open LMS platform explained to IBL News that it plans "to consolidate and innovate the commercial Moodle offering for educational institutions and corporations worldwide." "We can further support those who need a fully-functional, open-source solution to manage courses and deliver engaging content experiences at any time and anywhere,” said in a statement Phillip Miller, Managing Director for Open LMS. Open LMS and @eThinkEducation Education Join Teams to Provide World-Class #Moodle Support. What does this mean? Even better support, an expanded portfolio of products and services, and increased capacity to innovate. Learn more about it here: https://t.co/ogX3HcfwnS #LMS #EdTech pic.twitter.com/iWk2yXNBmu — Open LMS (@OpenLMSteam) December 7, 2020
Coursera.org is considering its IPO in 2021 at a valuation of around $5 billion, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. The Mountain View, California-based company is talking now to potential IPO (initial public offering) underwriters. However, no final decision has been made, and the learning company could opt to remain private. Coursera declined to comment. Coursera announced in July that it raised an additional $130 million, as part of a Series F round. At that time, investors valued the company at a reported $2.5 billion. To date, Coursera has raised $464 million. Coursera's investors include NEA (New Enterprise Associates), Kleiner Perkins, SEEK Group, Learn Capital, SuRo Capital Corp, and G Squared. Another edtech startup that might consider an IPO in 2021 is Udemy Inc., a company valued at $3.25 billion.
