Announcing the Winners of the 2020 Tech Edvocate Awards
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 $300 billion by the year 2025. This growing investment in 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 4th Annual 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 June/July and held online voting from May 1, 2020 – July 31, 2020. 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 2020. Winners and finalists can access their award seals by clicking here.
Best Lesson Planning App or Tool
Winner: Learning Explorer
Finalists:
Best Assessment App or Tool
Winner: edSpring
Finalists:
EdIncites®, Incite® Assessment
Best Early Childhood Education App or Tool
Winner: MobyMax
Finalists:
ABCmouse Early Learning Academy
Clear Touch 43” 7000XE interactive panel with mini convertible mobile stand
Best Literacy App or Tool
Winner: Renaissance Accelerated Reader
Finalists:
Lexia Core5 Reading by Lexia Learning
MindPlay Virtual Reading Coach
Best Math App or Tool
Winner: ST Math
Finalists:
LearnZillion Illustrative Mathematics
Best STEM/STEAM Education App or Tool
Winner: Pivot Interactives from Vernier Software & Technology
Finalists:
Britannica LaunchPacks: Science
Best Language Learning App or Tool
Winner: Raz-Plus/ELL Edition
Finalists:
Best Virtual or Augmented Reality App or Tool
Winner: CoSpaces Edu
Finalists:
Best Personalized/Adaptive Learning App or Tool
Winner: Lexia PowerUp Literacy by Lexia Learning
Finalists:
Best Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning App or Tool
Winner: Lexplore
Finalists:
Best Coding App or Tool
Winner: CoderZ
Finalists:
Best Gamification App or Tool
Winner: Adventure Academy
Finalists:
TALi Health – DETECT and TRAIN
guideWELD® VR Welding Simulator
Best Learning Management System
Winner: Edgenuity Learning Management System
Finalists:
Best Blended/Flipped Learning App or Tool
Winner: MobyMax
Finalists:
Istation ISIP Progress Monitoring at Home
Best Assistive Technology App or Tool
Winner: Natural Reader
Finalists:
Best Parent-Teacher/School Communication App or Tool
Winner: Edsby
Finalists:
Best Collaboration App or Tool
Winner: Modo Campus
Finalists:
Best Tutoring/Test Prep App or Tool
Winner: Study.com
Finalists:
Best Classroom/Behavior Management App or Tool
Winner: TALi Health – DETECT and TRAIN
Finalists:
Best Classroom Audio-Visual App or Tool
Winner: Promethean ActivPanel Elements Series
Finalists:
Best Higher Education Solution
Winner: ClassLink
Finalists:
Atlas Powered by New Horizons Computer Learning Centers
AVER TR530 AI Auto Tracking Camera
Best Learning Analytics/Data Mining App or Tool
Winner: UpGrade
Finalists:
Best Professional Development App or Tool
Winner: Learn Promethean
Finalists:
Finders Solvers (Keningau Vocational College)
PresenceLearning’s Teletherapy 101
Trauma-Informed Practices for K12 Schools
Best Student Information System (SIS) App or Tool
Winner: Cardonex
Finalists:
Skyward Qmlativ Education Management System
Best Global EdTech Leader
Winner: Glynn Willett, Co-founder of MobyMax
Finalists:
Salman Kahn, Founder and CEO of Khan Academy
Best Global EdTech Company
Winner: Renaissance
Finalists:
Best Global EdTech Startup
Winner: Knowledge Ai, Inc.
Finalists:
Best K-12 School Leader
Winner: Dr. Usamah Rodgers, Assistant Superintendent at Dallas ISD
Finalists:
Elizabeth Shaw, Chief Executive Officer at Chicago International Charter School
Dr. Johnnie Thomas, Superintendent at Rich Township High School District 227, Matteson, Illinois
Shawn Wigg, Director of Mathematics, Duval County Public Schools
Best Higher Education Leader
Winner: David Johnson, Assistant Vice President, Technology Services and Support at University of Houston
Finalists:
Roslyn Clark Artis, JD, EdD, President at Benedict College
Janet Napolitano, President at University of California
Christopher Brown II, President at Kentucky State University
Elmira Mangum, Vice President at Cornell University
Best School District Technology Coordinator/Director
Finalists:
Adrian Cepero, District Technology Coordinator, Hackensack Public Schools, Hackensack, NJ
Best K-12 Teacher
Winner: Chloe Peterson, Teacher at Elevate K-12
Finalists:
Mossie Shephard, Gifted Education Teacher, Jackson Public School District
Judy Williams, Teacher at Arizona School for the Deaf and the Blind
Best College/University Professor
Winner: Sangeeta Bhatia, Professor, MIT
Finalists:
Dr. Alfred Boyd, Assistant Professor of Education, Mississippi Valley State University
Hope Rias, Assistant Professor at Bridgewater College
Best EdTech PR Firm
Winner: Nickel Communications
Finalists:
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 4th Annual Tech Edvocate Awards. We will be back, bigger and better in 2021.
