Nordic EdTech News #18 : 2020-05-04
Your Week 17 & 18 update from the Nordic & Baltic EdTech ecosystems
An excellent recent webinar organised by Heikki Rusama (CEO & Co-Founder of Freeed.com) saw John Martin (ex-CEO, Sanoma Learning) sharing his views on the impact of Covid-19 on the EdTech industry. It covered many of major challenges companies are currently facing, particularly around sustainable business models (Full summary here). This mirrors issues in Sweden where Jannie Jeppesen, CEO of the Swedish Edtech Industry, has been highlighting the challenges associated with long-term free use of digital resources. (Link) Ongoing government procurement programmes in Denmark have also attracted some concern (Den, Eng), so it’s great to report deals being done (see below) as well as a significant €4m deal, led by Soprano, to export Finnish educational expertise. (Finnish)
Even as governments across Europe begin (or plan) to reopen schools, research is starting to emerge about the impact of school closures (Link) and the new priorities for school systems (Link). The following articles from PEW and the WEF also begin to usefully focus attention on what might happen next.
To support Nordic and Baltic EdTech businesses through these challenging times, the Nordic EdTech Forum (N8) has launched a new mentorship programme (Link) and will also be running a series of webinars for members. Further details on the latter will be included in the next newsletter, so please sign up here to join the group.
And if you’re looking to learn a new skill during the pandemic, the Elements of AI course is now available in Norwegian (and English, Estonian, Finnish, German and Swedish).
Stay healthy and with best regards, Jonathan
News from Denmark
Fascinating feedback from a head about life in a reopened Danish school (Link)
I’ll be watching the development of EdTalk with interest.
Thor Ellegaard is appointed CEO at EdTech Denmark.
How Kubo Robotics can support social-emotional learning. (Link)
Learn more about Labster’s mega-deal with California Community Colleges (Link) as they announce new organic chemistry simulation. (Link)
Ordblindhed.dk launches as Denmark’s dyslexia portal. (Den, Eng)
Changes at Peergrade as free users move over to Eduflow. (Link)
Top tips to support great online teaching from the University of Copenhagen. (Den, Eng)
News from Estonia
DreamApply announce new marketing tools for student recruitment (Link) as Co-Founder Märt Aro shares best practice advice. (Link)
Great feature on language learning app, Drops via Forbes. (Link)
‘A step ahead: Estonia emerges as a leader in worldwide distance learning experiment’ via National Center on Education and the Economy. (Link)
Estonian startups continue to grow at the start of 2020 (Link), although many identify future challenges as a result of Covid-19. (Link)
News from Finland
3DBear announce new funding round (Fin, Eng) and join the Google for Education Integrated Solutions Initiative. (Link)
Don’t miss Olli Vallo, CEO Education Alliance Finland on these podcasts from Atea Finland. (Link - in Finnish)
Very interesting results from a survey by The Swedish Teachers' Union of Finland, FSL, on their members’ experience of teaching in a pandemic. (Fin, Eng)
Finnish schools prepare to reopen from 14 May - here’s the plan. (Fin, Eng)
Fun Learning have recruited and trained 20 Ambassadors from across Africa. (Link)
Grib have been nominated for an Auggie Award in the category of ‘Best Creator & Authoring tool’. Congrats! (Vote here)
Learn more about Milla Kokko , CEO of HEI Schools here. (Link in Finnish)
Sanoma Learning forecast no significant impact on financials as a result of school closures. (Link)
Seppo reach 5,000 games in the library (Link) and develop new games focused on the circular economy and sustainability. (Link)
News from Iceland
Recently updated list of leading Icelandic EdTechs, via Tracxn . (Link)
I’d love to include more Icelandic EdTech news, so please email hello@10digits.org if you’ve got something to include.
News from Latvia
Fascinating to read these descriptions of how Latvian schools (Eng, Eng) are responding to the challenges of delivering online learning. HT Gatis Narvaišs.
Must-read report from Edurio (with MOE) surveying 60k pupils, parents, teachers and school leaders across Latvia post switch to online delivery (Link) as CEO, Ernest Jenavs, shares his experience of leading a startup. (Link)
News from Lithuania
150 BitDegree courses are now available free of charge. (Link)
‘Connected Lithuania’ project offers free digital literacy training to teachers. (Lith, Eng)
Microsoft 365 and Teams rolled out for free to schools across Lithuania. (Lith, Eng)
Don’t miss Justas Janauskas, CEO of Qoorio, talking to Yannick Oswald (of Mangrove Capital Partners) on Wednesday 6 May. (Link)
News from Norway
Great news that the AWS EdStart programme is now open in Norway. (Link)
How pre-school in Norway has changed post-lockdown. (Link)
Kahoot! are working with Cambridge English to help “young learners practise English and build their language skills.” (Link)
Skooler and Acer announce new partnership to deliver learning platform tools to education institutions across EMEA. (Link)
News from Sweden
How Swedish universities have tackled Zoom’s security problems. (Swe, Eng - ££)
Great video case study from Microsoft Sverige showcasing Älvdalsskolan’s use of technology. (Link in Swedish)
Further detail about how Sana Labs’ AI is training New York’s nurses to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic. (Swe, Eng)
Stellar speaker line-up for Skola Hemma’s online conference this Thursday highlighting lessons for the future of education. (Swe, Eng)
Studi launch new Covid-19 teaching resources in record time. (Swe, Eng)
Thanks for reading and see you again on 18th May!
Many thanks, Jonathan
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