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 3rd Annual Tech EdvocateAwards.

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, 2019 – July 31, 2019. 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 2019. Winners and finalists can access their award seals by clicking here.

 

Best Lesson Planning App or Tool

Winner: Nearpod 

Finalists:

Curriculum Engine by Walch Mathematics  

Learning Explorer   

 

Best Assessment App or Tool

Winner: MobyMax 

Finalists:

Renaissance Star 360 

ATI’s Galileo K-12 Comprehensive Assessment System  

Curriculum Associates’ i-Ready  

Otus 

 

Best Early Childhood Education App or Tool

Winner: Headsprout 

Finalists:

Emotional ABCs  

MobyMax

KIBO – The STEAM Robot Kit for Children 4 – 7  

 

Best Literacy App or Tool

Winner: Renaissance Accelerated Reader  

Finalists:

Renaissance myON Reader 

STUDYSYNC® ELA 

MobyMax 

Edgenuity – Pathblazer 

Edgenuity Courseware 

ReadingIQ

Raz-Plus   

Lexia Core5 Reading by Lexia Learning

StudySync ELA 

 

Best Math App or Tool

Winner: Discovery Education Math Techbook

Finalists:

MobyMax

Edgenuity – Pathblazer 

Edgenuity Courseware 

StrongMind Geomethor

MATHia with LiveLab  

Beast Academy Online

Splash Math  

Happy Numbers 

 

Best STEM/STEAM Education App or Tool

Winner: Edgenuity’s Next Generation Science Suite  

Finalists:

Discovery Education STEM Connect   

Defined Learning   

Turnitin Gradescope 

WURRLYedu  

Boxlight’s Mimio MyBot Educational Robotic System

MobyMax 

Science A-Z  

Britannica LaunchPacks: Science   

SyncBlasts – Science 

 

Best Language Learning App or Tool

Winner: Lingvist

Finalists:

Raz-Plus/ELL Edition 

Passport with iCulture  

 

Best Virtual or Augmented Reality App or Tool

Winner: DiscoveryVR 

Finalists:

Gamar  

 

Best Personalized/Adaptive Learning App or Tool

Winner: Lexia PowerUp Literacy by Lexia Learning 

Finalists:

Elephango  

Otus 

Google Classroom

MobyMax 

MATHia with LiveLab  

IXL Learning 

PBS LearningMedia 

 

Best Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning App or Tool

Winner: MATHia with LiveLab  

Finalists:

Quillionz Pro 

Lingvist 

GlyphEd 

NimbleBox.ai   

 

Best Coding App or Tool

Winner: CoderZ 

Finalists:

Tynker

 

Best Gamification App or Tool

Winner: MobyMax

Finalists:

Nearpod 

Math 8 iOS App

 

Best Learning Management System

Winner: Otus 

Finalists:

Edsby 

Google Classroom

Edgenuity 

Ozobot  

StrongMind LMS

NEO LMS 

 

Best Blended/Flipped Learning App or Tool

Winner: Defined Learning   

Finalists:

WURRLYedu  

MobyMax

Google Classroom

FlinnPREP 

 

Best Assistive Technology App or Tool

Winner: PresenceLearning  

Finalists:

Learning Ally Audiobook Solution  

 

Best Parent-Teacher/School Communication App or Tool

Winner: SchoolBzz 

Finalists:

Bloomz

 

Best Collaboration App or Tool

Winner: MindMeister  

Finalists:

Google Classroom

Mindomo 

7000X interactive panel with convertible mobile stand (Clear Touch)

 

Best Tutoring/Test Prep App or Tool

Winner: FlinnPREP 

Finalists:

MobyMax

 

Best Classroom/Behavior Management App or Tool

Winner: PBIS Rewards 

Finalists:

NetSupport School  

MobyMax  

Google Classroom

KidConnect Classroom

Impero Education Pro  

 

Best Classroom Audio-Visual App or Tool

Winner: Boxlight’s MimioClarity 

Finalists:

CirQlive 

Promethean ActivPanel Elements Series  

Epson BrightLink 1485Fi  

LumieLabs 

 

Best Higher Education Solution

Winner: TeamDynamix

Finalists:

Study.com  

Optoma Technology 

 

Best Learning Analytics/Data Mining App or Tool

Winner: Edsby 

Finalists:

MobyMax 

Otus 

Glimpse K12 

 

Best Professional Development App or Tool

Winner: Renaissance-U 

Finalists:

Glean Education  

ADVANCEfeedback® from Insight ADVANCE 

Kognito  

Nearpod 

 

Best Student Information System (SIS) App or Tool

Winner: Campus Management CampusNexus Occupation Insight

Finalists:

Gradelink SIS

 

Best Global EdTech Leader

Winner: Glynn Willett and Wade Willett, Co-Founders of MobyMax  

Finalists:

Elliott Levine, Director of Education, Americas Region, HP Inc.  

 

Best Global EdTech Company

Winner: MobyMax 

Finalists:

Renaissance 

Discovery Education  

Turnitin  

Vernier Software & Technology 

Boxlight Corporation 

Promethean

Britannica Group

 

Best Global EdTech Startup

Winner: Aperture Education  

Finalists:

Classcraft  

 

Best K-12 School Leader

Winner: Dr. Kandace Bethea, Superintendent, Marion County School District 

Finalists:

Shawn Wigg, Director of Mathematics, Duval County Public Schools

Frank Machos, Executive Director for the School District of Philadelphia’s Office of The Arts & Academic Enrichment

 

Best Higher Education Leader

Winner: Dr. Rhonda Spells-Fentry 

Finalists:

Jim Milton, CEO of Campus Management 

 

Best School District Technology Coordinator/Director

Winner: Victor Valdez, Chief Technology Officer for the Pflugerville Independent School District   

Finalists:        

Patricia Romero, Head of Technology, AIM Preparatory School 

Dan Hull, Digital Learning Facilitator for Phoenix Union High School District 

 

Best K-12 Teacher

Winner: Crystal Avila, Socorro High School, El Paso Texas

Finalists:

Cathy Haskett Morrison, Peel District School Board, Canada

 

Best College/University Professor

Winner: David J. Malan, Harvard University

Finalists:

Nicole Kraft, Ohio State University

 

Best EdTech PR Firm

Winner: Pando Public Relations

Finalists:

Nickel Communications  

PR with Panache!  

 

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 3rd Annual Tech Edvocate Awards. We will be back, bigger and better in 2020.