Every day, technology innovations transform the way people learn and how educators teach. In the last few years, the edtech field has attracted a lot of talented people, all with excellent knowledge bases and ideas. Though the edtech industry has been around for a few decades now, the last few years, in particular, have seen a surge in investment from both school districts and investors.
The education market is currently worth around $5 trillion globally, and it is forecasted that edtech investment alone will reach $252 billion by the year 2020. This growing investment into edtech start-ups has created some exciting changes in the world of education. Naturally, with increasing capital, the number of edtech companies, products, and thought leaders is also growing. In that spirit of change and innovation, we present the Tech Edvocate Awards.
After 4 months of hard work, we’ve narrowed down the year’s top edtech companies, products, people and more. We solicited nominees from readers in August and held online voting from August 1, 2017 – September 30, 2017. The nominee’s performance during the online voting period was used to gauge their popularity, but in no way signaled that they would become a finalist or walk away with an award. The finalists and winners were ultimately selected by a panel comprised of two edtech thought leaders, two PreK-12 teachers, one college professor, two K-12 administrators, one college administrator and two PreK-12 parents. Here are our winners and finalists for 2017. Winners can access their award seals by clicking here.
Best Lesson Planning App or Tool
Winner:
Ogment
Finalists:
ClassFlow Family of Software
Unit Planner by Eduplanet21
Best Assessment App or Tool
Winner:
Renaissance Star 360
Finalists:
Istation
Proctorio
Turnitin Feedback Studio
Best Early Childhood Education App or Tool
Winner:
StoryBots Classroom
Finalists:
Nuiteq (SnowFlake MultiTeach)
Alive Studios
Origo
Kinder Lab’s Kibo Robotic Kit
Best Literacy App or Tool
Winner:
Turnitin Revision Assistant
Finalists:
Speare Hybrid Word Processor
myON
ThinkCERCA
Best Math App or Tool
Winner:
Renaissance Accelerated Math
Finalists:
Origo
CanFigureIt Geomety
Best STEM/STEAM Education App or Tool
Winner:
Defined STEM
Finalists:
Nepris
Collisions by PlayMada Games
STEM Gauge by Measured Progress
Best Language Learning App or Tool
Winner:
Rosetta Stone
Finalist:
Verbling
Best Virtual or Augmented Reality App or Tool
Winner:
Learning Alive Plus by Alive Studios
Finalist:
DiscoveryVR
Best Personalized/Adaptive Learning App or Tool
Winner:
myON
Finalists:
Renaissance Flow 360
Claned Group
ThinkCERCA
Best Coding App or Tool
Winner:
Tynker
Finalist:
Code.org
Best Gamification App or Tool
Winner:
Mindcraft: Education Edition
Finalist:
Classcraft
Best Learning Management System
Winner:
NEO LMS
Finalist:
Ogment
Best Blended/Flipped Learning App or Tool
Winner:
Defined STEM
Finalists:
Istation
ClassFlow Family of Software
Turnitin Revision Assistant
Best Assistive Technology App or Tool
Winner:
Fast Forword
Finalist:
MyChoicePad
Best Parent-Teacher/School Communication App or Tool
Winner:
Bloomz App
Finalists:
Parent PaperWork
LivingTree
Apptegy
Best Collaboration App or Tool
Winner:
Nepris
Finalists:
Google Classroom
Insight Advance
x2VOL from intelliVOL
Best Tutoring/Test Prep App or Tool
Winner:
GradeSlam
Finalist:
HelpHub
Best Classroom/Behavior Management App or Tool
Winner:
NetSupportSchool
Finalists:
Google Classroom
Hero K12
Best Classroom Audio-Visual App or Tool
Winner:
ActivPanel
Finalist:
BoardShare
Best Higher Education Solution
Winner:
ClassLink
Finalists:
iGrad
EssayJack Inc.
Student Connections Success Center
Best Learning Analytics/Data Mining App or Tool
Winner:
Claned Group
Finalist:
EDIS.io
Best Professional Development App or Tool
Winner:
PD Planner – Eduplanet21
Finalists:
Insight Advance
Ogment
edWeb.net
Best Student Information System (SIS) App or Tool
Winner:
eSchoolPLUS by PowerSchool
Finalist:
SynergySIS
Best Global EdTech Leader
Winner:
Harry van der Veen
Finalist:
Anant Agarwal
Best Global EdTech Company
Winner:
NetSupport
Finalists:
ClassLink
Promethean
Claned Group
Turnitin
Best Global EdTech Startup
Winner:
GradeSlam
Finalist:
Upswing
Best K-12 School Leader
Winner:
Christina Bice, Haleyville Elementary School, Haleyville, AL
Finalist:
Rachel Hesprich, Slinger School District, WI
Best Higher Education Leader
Winner:
Ray Lefebvre, Bridgewater State University, MA
Finalist:
Anant Agarwal, edx, Cambridge, MA
Best School District Technology Coordinator/Director
Winner:
Dan Phillips, Marin County Office of Education, CA
Finalist:
Rafranz Davis, Arlington School District, TX
Best K-12 Teacher
Winner:
Francis Jim Tuscano, Xavier School; Luzon, The Philippines
Finalist:
Anthony Stirpe, New Rochelle High School; New Rochelle, New York
Best College/University Professor
Winner:
Nicole Kraft, Ohio State University
Finalist:
David J. Malan, Harvard University
Best EdTech PR Firm
Winner:
PR With Panache
Finalist:
J Harrison Public Relations Group
Conclusion
As you can see, there is no shortage of award winners in edtech. With these innovative edtech companies, products and people in mind, it becomes clear that the landscape of education is vast and technology is carving a new path for present and future educators. Well, that does it for the inaugural Tech Edvocate Awards. We will be back, bigger and better in 2018.