Nordic EdTech News #25 : 2020-08-31

Your Week 34 and 35 update from the Nordic & Baltic EdTech ecosystems

Part of the reason behind launching this newsletter was to shine a light on the pedagogical and technological excellence of Nordic EdTech. So it was great to work with HolonIQ on the first ever Nordic-Baltic EdTech 50 and to highlight the 50 leading startups across our region. The full story (including judging criteria) is also available here.

The Top 50 were unveiled during a webinar on 19th August 2020 - a recording of which is available here. It’s well worth watching, particularly for the excellent presentations from 99Math, CanopyLAB, imagiLabs, Labster, Kide Science and School Day

There are plenty of examples below of the increased traction for Nordic EdTech globally, but there are also opportunities closer to home. The digitisation of German schools, for example, is rapidly progressing, which is opening up opportunities for Nordic EdTech. Kim Høgskilde, CEO of FrontRead, is working on an initiative with DSA Youngstar to put Nordic EdTech businesses into German schools. Please contact him directly (kah@frontread.dk; +45 2999 4502) to find out more and to get involved.

Thanks for your continued support, Jonathan

News from Denmark

• Sahra-Josephine Hjorth, CEO of CanopyLAB joins Di Digital’s board. (Den)

• Clio posts loss for 2019 and doesn’t expect profitability until 2022. (Den - $$)

• The DEOO Charanga platform launches to support music teachers. (Den)

• Fascinating insights in The Egmont Report 2020: "Youth on pause - young people's lives and learning in a Corona age." (Den, Eng)

• LEGO launch Braille Bricks (Link) and new learning resources for back to school. (Link)

• Shape Robotics launch Fable Connect – the world’s first telepresence robot (Link) and issue positive H1 report. (Link)

News from Estonia

• 12 new ‘digital textbooks’ have been developed for SEN students and will be in schools for the start of the new school year. (Est, Eng)

• Kadri Tuisk, founder of Clanbeat, explains how Estonian EdTechs responded to and benefitted from Corona. (Eng)

• On that theme, don’t miss the forthcoming e-Estonia webinar ‘e-Lessons from the Leading Education Nation.’ 10th September.

• The recent TEDx Tallinn Salon event focused on education and learning. Find out more about the event here.

News from Finland

• 3DBear support teachers in New York during the pandemic. (Link)

• Dare to Learn launch new ‘Hacking Higher Education’ event in the absence of this year’s physical meeting. (Link)

• Great pilot programme run in the UAE by Education House Finland featuring eight leading Finnish education businesses. (Link)

• GraphoGame sign deal with IDB to distribute a Spanish language version to Argentina, Columbia and Panama. (ESP)

• Kide Science develop resources to help parents to support their child’s science education. (Link)

• New Nordic School launches new online learning platform. (Link)

• School Day announces new product features with their August update. (Link)

• TietoEVRY launch The Polite Type to tackle cyberbullying. (Link)

• World of Insights launch new online tools for corporate training around sustainability. (Link)

• First results published of Finnish research into the effects of Covid-19 on schooling, teaching and well-being. (Link)

News from Iceland

• Changes proposed to Icelandic national curriculum. (Ice, Eng)

• Northstack has the full story on another raise for Nordic Enterprises, owner of BuddyPhones. (Eng)

News from Latvia

• Edurio launches England's largest cross-stakeholder review of Covid-19 disruption with views for 277 schools. (Link)

• Latvian Government announce plans to improve teachers’ digital skills (Lat, Eng) as impact of teacher shortages begins to be felt. (Lat, Eng)

• Uzdevumi.lv publish new competence-based learning content. (Lat)

News from Lithuania

• Content from Briedis and DIDAKTA are being added to the existing educational material on Eduka. (Lith)

• Lithuanian government announce €14m investment in digitisation for schools (Lith, Eng) and distribute tech kit for start of new school year. (Lith, Eng)

• Teachers Lead Tech direct IT and tech creativity classes in primary schools in Vilnius. (Lith, Eng)

News from Norway

• CodeAndGo and Learnlink continue to work together and look forward to the new curriculum. (Nor, Eng)

• IKT Norge argue the case for digitisation in schools. (Nor, Eng)

• Scrimba join Y Combinator’s summer 2020 cohort and move into profitability. (Nor, Eng)

• Skooler announce new features to support hybrid learning as schools return. (Link)

• Impact of additional spending to counter Covid-19 now being felt in schools (Nor, Eng) and the government’s response is causing concern. (Nor, Eng)

• A recording of the recent NOKUT breakfast: Quality in digital teaching event is available here.

News from Sweden

• Haldor launch new app for parents. (Swe)

• New IVA report looks at the role and skills of teachers in the Swedish school system. (Swe, Eng)

• Matteappen and Halmstad Municipality deepen partnership (Swe, Eng) as the company’s CEO reiterates the subject’s importance in school. (Swe)

• Register now for the Soundtrap EDU Summit 2020 - 28 Sept to 7 Oct. (Link)

• Congrats to all involved in Skola Hemma, named the winner of Guldlänken 2020. (Swe, Eng)

• Swedish Edtest is now accepting registrations from companies interested in testing their products during Autumn 2020. Full details here.

• There’s strong evidence that digitisation is increasing in Swedish education, (Swe) yet Swedish schools spend the least on new resources. (Swe, Eng)

Thanks for reading and see you again on 14th September 2020!

Many thanks, Jonathan

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