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Tech In Motion Chicago Goes Back to School with Ed Tech

Tech In Motion Chicago hosted our first Back to School demos & drinks event focusing on those startups changing the education space with technology. Techies from all over Chicago came out to network and chat with some of the coolest startups in the education space. We had a great turnout and each of our five demo companies had a unique approach – we even had a demo-er who had been featured (and funded!) on ABC’s Shark Tank. Packback Books, Overgrad, mLevel, digedu and Jail Education Solutions all came out and demoed their apps and platforms to a very enthusiastic Chicago crowd.

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To recap the event, we thought it would be interesting to ask a few of our demoers some questions about where they saw the ed tech space heading in the next few years.

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Ian Hood with mLevel

1. What do you think is the biggest impact tech has made on education so far?

I think the biggest impact that technology has made within the education space, and really all of our lives, is the ability to access information at will. Whether it be a desktop, a tablet or a smartphone, people today can find information on any topic with the touch of the finger. The process of having to ask your teacher about a subject, search the edition of the encyclopedias at your house (if you were lucky enough to own them), or take a trip to local library are all but gone. The ability to access information at any time is the biggest impact in my opinion.

2. What did you think people were most surprised about, or found most interesting in your presentation, or about ed-tech in general?

I think people were just most surprised to see the mLevel Platform in action. The ability to create a game on any learning subject that could then be delivered to any mobile device without the need for code was powerful, especially for teachers who are already stretched for time. They also loved the analytic suite as they have never before been able to easily assess what a student does and does not know about a topic. They liked that they didn’t have to dig for that information manually, it was bubbled up and easily accessible.

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Amanda Glandon with digedu

1. What do you think is the biggest impact tech has made on education so far?

We all know technology has been advancing teachers' abilities and students' engagement. But the potential for an even greater impact lies in technology's ability to unite a community around improving education. It's may not be the norm yet, but soon, teachers will be regularly using technology to collaborate on lessons, students will be logging in to complete their classwork, parents will have access to exactly what their students are learning, and administrators will have visibility into the strengths and weaknesses of their teams. EdTech can bring together each of these areas with the common goal of improving student learning.

2. What did you think people were most surprised about, or found most interesting in your presentation, or about ed-tech in general?

I think people are surprised at how much digedu can do! Students can receive lessons tailored to their needs anywhere they go, teachers can create, curate, and control exactly what their students are accessing and drive their mastery -- and it can all be a lot more fun than reading a textbook chapter or completing a worksheet!

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Ryan Hoch with Overgrad

1. What do you think is the biggest impact tech has made on education so far?

This is generic, but true: its ability to connect any individual to the world's information. I remember my first year teaching thinking "how the hell am I going to do this." I then found out about Teach For America's resource exchange where I could find entire lessons on exactly what I was teaching. While I still had a lot to learn about to deliver the content, at least I had the content. Whether it's MOOCs, Google, Wikipedia, TFA's Doc Exchange, or whatever, tech connects people with the best information the world has to offer. That is so awesome.

2. What did you think people were most surprised about, or found most interesting in your presentation, or about ed-tech in general?

People thought it was incredible that we had bootstrapped Overgrad to serving 20,000 students in under a year with only two people. Having to grind it out day-to-day, I never stopped to think about what we have accomplished. It was humbling to receive that recognition, but there's still a long way to go.

Since we received such positive feedback on this event, we are planning a follow up "tech talk" in October to hear from 5 local Chicago startups on the changing ed tech space for K-12. We hope to see you there!

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A big thanks to our sponsors, Jobspring Partners & Workbridge Associates. We hope to see you at Tech in Motion Chicago’s next event and make sure to join our official meetup group!