Cloud-based education software vendor PowerSchool is being taken private by investment firm Bain Capital in a $5.6 billion deal.
The announcement comes amid a swathe of take-private deals led by private equity firms seeking a bargain on under-performing enterprise software firms.
Founded in 1997, PowerSchool is a web-based platform that helps educational institutions manage areas of their operations such as enrollment, grades, attendance, and communication with parents and students.
The company went public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 2021, after previously been acquired by private equity firms Onex and Vista.
Spotify has carved out a business for itself in music streaming, podcast entertainment and audiobooks.
Starting with a rollout in the U.K., Spotify is testing the waters for an online education offering of freemium video courses.
Mohit Jitani, the London-based product director for the education business, said in an interview that pricing choices were part of what it’s testing.
Around half of Spotify Premium subscribers have listened to education or self-help themed podcasts, Spotify says.
Offering educational content aimed at running a business, or improving your music production, fits with that.
Google announced a bunch of new features for classroom management, accessibility, and AI-powered features for creating questions and lesson plans as part of the Bett ed-tech event in the UK.
AI-powered featuresGoogle already allows teachers to add questions to a YouTube video as part of its Classroom assignment.
Additionally, the company mentioned that its generative AI tool for Google Workspace, Duet AI, can assist teachers in coming up with a lesson plan.
The company is also adding features to Google Meet such as closed captions in 30 languages and the ability to pin multiple hosts.
Plus, Google is soon updating Chromebooks so that students can look at their upcoming assignments directly from the home screen.
OpenAI has its first higher education customer: Arizona State University (ASU).
Today, ASU announced that it’s collaborating with OpenAI to bring ChatGPT, OpenAI’s AI-powered chatbot, to the university’s researchers, staff and faculty.
Since then, some have reversed their bans, while others have begun hosting workshops on generative AI tools and their potential for learning.
Launched in August, ChatGPT Enterprise can perform the same tasks as ChatGPT, such as writing emails, debugging computer code and drafting essays.
“Right now, we’re hyper-focused on putting ChatGPT Enterprise into the hands of our knowledge core … to be at the forefront of discovery and implementation.”
In the depth of the pandemic, 500 or so backers chipped in to make Makera’s Carvera Kickstarter campaign, a fully automatic desktop CNC machine, hit its goal.
At CES in Las Vegas, Makera showed off the Carvera Air, its baby brother.
With almost the same work space, but less a few of the fancy features of its larger sibling, Makera Air is a (slightly) different beast, even better suited to learning the basics of CNC manufacturing.
“Technology is the future,” Erdreich asserted.
“And the future needs creators, not just consumers.”Erdreich has a clear vision for Makera and is excited about the company’s direction.
Parallel Learning is solving that problem with a teletherapy platform that partners with school districts to create individualized plans for each student.
Parallel’s providers work with a school’s special education program (SPED) to develop a Individualized Education Program (IEP), a legal document in the United States that outlines the personalized education plan for a student with special needs.
Then when the pandemic hit and schools began struggling to serve their students, Heldfond knew it was time to bring her idea to fruition.
One of the main problems Parallel addresses is the shortage of behavioral and special education providers that work with children.
The company partners with K-12 public school districts, reaching out to special education directors, superintendents and others.
Fynn is a startup that has built a financing platform for vocational hopefuls. With $36 million in funding, the company plans to continue building out its business and help those…
