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 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 5th 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, 2021 – July 31, 2021. 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 2021. Winners and finalists can access their award seals by clicking here.
Best Lesson Planning App or Tool
Winner: BuildYourOwnCurriculum (BYOC)
Finalists:
Algorithmics International School of Programming & Mathematics
Best Assessment App or Tool
Winner: Star Assessments by Renaissance
Finalists:
Curriculum Associates – i-Ready
TAO from Open Assessment Technologies
Great Minds®️ Eureka Math Equip™
Council for Aid to Education, Inc. (CAE)
Best Early Childhood Education App or Tool
Winner: MobyMax
Finalists:
ABCmouse Early Learning Academy
Best Literacy App or Tool
Winner: Accelerated Reader
Finalists:
Best Math App or Tool
Winner: ExploreLearning Reflex
Finalists:
Best STEM/STEAM Education App or Tool
Winner: Flinn Scientific – PAVO
Finalists:
Hughes Network Systems and 4-H
Vernier Software & Technology – Graphical Analysis Pro
Best Language Learning App or Tool
Winner: ELT Songs
Finalists:
Best Virtual or Augmented Reality App or Tool
Winner: History Adventures, World of Characters
Finalists:
Best Personalized/Adaptive Learning App or Tool
Winner: Edmentum Exact Path
Finalists:
Best Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning App or Tool
Winner: AVer DL30 Auto Tracking Distance Learning Camera
Finalists:
Best Coding App or Tool
Winner: STEMscopes Coding
Finalists:
Algorithmics International School of Programming & Mathematics
Best Gamification App or Tool
Winner: SplashLearn
Finalists:
guideWELD® VR Welding Simulator
Best Learning Management System
Winner: Jupiter
Finalists:
Best Blended/Flipped Learning App or Tool
Winner: Great Minds in Sync™
Finalists:
IPEVO DO-CAM USB Document Camera
Best Assistive Technology App or Tool
Winner: PresenceLearning – Therapy Essentials
Finalists:
AVer X18iS UV Sanitizing Charging Cart
Best Parent-Teacher/School Communication App or Tool
Winner: MobyMax
Finalists:
Best Collaboration App or Tool
Winner: One by Wacom
Finalists:
Best Tutoring/Test Prep App or Tool
Winner: FEV Tutor
Finalists:
Learning Tools for the ACT® and SAT® Exams
Best Classroom/Behavior Management App or Tool
Winner: NetSupport School
Finalists:
Best Classroom Audio-Visual App or Tool
Winner: AVer VB130
Finalists:
ActivPanel Elements Series + ActivInspire & ClassFlow
IPEVO V4K PRO Ultra HD USB Document Camera
Best Higher Education Solution
Winner: Outlier.org
Finalists:
Best Learning Analytics/Data Mining App or Tool
Winner: Schoolzilla by Renaissance
Finalists:
Best Professional Development App or Tool
Winner: Learn Promethean
Finalists:
Finders Solvers (Keningau Vocational College)
National Institute for STEM Education (NISE) Micro Certificates
Best Student Information System (SIS) App or Tool
Winner: Anthology Student
Finalists:
Best Global EdTech Leader
Winner: Glynn Willett and Wade Willett, Co-founders of MobyMax
Finalists:
Cindy Mi, Founder and CEO of VIPKid
Todd Brekhus, Chief Product Officer for Renaissance
Best Global EdTech Company
Winner: Renaissance
Finalists:
Algorithmics International School of Programming and Mathematics
Best Global EdTech Startup
Winner: Class Technologies
Finalists:
Best K-12 School Leader
Winner: Eduardo E. Lopez, Laredo Independent School District
Finalists:
Elizabeth Shaw, Chief Executive Officer at Chicago International Charter School
Dr. Usamah Rodgers, Assistant Superintendent at Dallas ISD
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: Jim Milton, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Anthology
Finalists:
Roslyn Clark Artis, JD, EdD, President at Benedict College
Janet Napolitano, President at University of California
Elmira Mangum, Vice President at Cornell University
Dr. Robbie Melton, Associate Vice President at Tennessee State University
Best School District Technology Coordinator/Director
Finalists:
Adrian Cepero, District Technology Coordinator, Hackensack Public Schools, Hackensack, NJ
Best K-12 Teacher
Winner: Megan Jacobs, The Connecticut MakerSpace Teacher Consortium
Finalists:
Mossie Shephard, Gifted Education Teacher, Jackson Public School District
Chloe Peterson, Teacher at Elevate K-12
Judy Williams, Teacher at Arizona School for the Deaf and the Blind
Aileen Gendrano Adao, Los Angeles Unified School District
Best College/University Professor
Winner: Derek D. Bardell, Professor of Business Administration at Delgado Community College
Finalists:
Dr. Alfred Boyd, Assistant Professor of Education, Mississippi Valley State University
Sangeeta Bhatia, Professor, MIT
Hope Rias, Assistant Professor at Bridgewater College
Best EdTech PR Firm
Winner: PR with Panache!
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 5th Annual Tech Edvocate Awards. We will be back, bigger and better in 2022.