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<ul class="summary-list"><li>PowerSchool sells student data without parents' informed consent, a federal lawsuit alleges.</li><li>The edtech giant calls the lawsuit's allegations "unfounded and inaccurate."</li></ul>It's been 10 years since Emily Cherkin helped her son log onto a school computer on his first day of Kindergarten."He can't even write his name. Why am I teaching a five-year-old control-alt-delete?" she remembers asking herself.Cherkin, a Seattle mother of two, former teacher, and author of the new parenting guide <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=emily+cherkin+the+screentime+solution&amp;rlz=1C5GCEM_enUS1094US1095&amp;oq=emily+cherkin+the+screentime+solution&amp;gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRigATIHCAIQIRigATIHCAMQIRigATIHCAQQIRigATIHCAUQIRigATIHCAYQIRirAtIBCTEwMzY5ajBqN6gCALACAA&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8">"The Screentime Solution,"</a> is now the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit that alleges the education technology giant PowerSchool is selling student data, including health and disciplinary records, to its third-party "partners," and doing so without the informed consent of kids or parents.The lawsuit, filed in May in federal court in San Francisco, takes on the world's largest provider of cloud-based software for K-12 schools.PowerSchool, based in Folsom, California, manages data and crunches it into what it calls "analytics and insights" for more than 60 million students and their educators, including <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.powerschool.com/global/north-america/united-states/">at 90 of the top 100 US school systems by enrollment size</a>.Boston-based private equity firm <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rak-garg-bain-capital-ventures-youngest-partner-2024-7">Bain Capital</a> acquired PowerSchool for $5.6 billion in a deal finalized October 1. PowerSchool <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.powerschool.com/bain-capital/#:~:text=(%E2%80%9CPowerSchool%E2%80%9D%20or%20the%20%E2%80%9C,value%20of%20approximately%20%245.6%20billion.">CEO Hardeep Gulati said</a> the merger will help the company expand its award-winning products, including <a target="_blank" href="https://www.powerschool.com/powerschool-ai/powerbuddy/?utm_id=ps00032&amp;utm_campaign=powerschool_powerbuddy_paid-search__pkg00035&amp;utm_source=google&amp;utm_medium=paid-search&amp;utm_content=text-only&amp;_bk=powerbuddy&amp;_bt=702266406463&amp;_bm=e&amp;_bn=g&amp;_bg=161909434485&amp;cq_plac=&amp;cq_net=g&amp;cq_pos=&amp;cq_med=&amp;cq_plt=gp&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjwsoe5BhDiARIsAOXVoUucdfp2kkZDiwXnqSDBRfimw6rztJoPhTxmV5nwd8F7Y9ZtUlGzj3IaAqMIEALw_wcB">PowerBuddy,</a> its new generative AI platform.With two parents and their children as sole plaintiffs, the Cherkin lawsuit may seem a small effort by comparison, but it's throwing big rocks.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25260275-cherkin-v-powerschool-complaint-20240506">The lawsuit</a> caps Cherkin's decade of concern about children and screen time. It calls PowerSchool a "multibillion-dollar surveillance-technology empire." It demands that the company pay back untold millions of dollars earned by selling student data "products" to more than 100 of its <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.powerschool.com/company/partners/">partners</a>, including educational consulting firms and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25259171-powerschool-guide-to-p20w">government policymakers</a>.One partner, an educational consulting firm, offers marketing guidance to colleges, trade schools, and the military based on data from the 6 million high school students who use PowerSchool's Naviance college-planning software, the lawsuit alleges."PowerSchool collects this highly sensitive information under the guise of educational support," the lawsuit alleges, "but in fact collects it for its own commercial gain," while hiding behind "opaque terms of service such that no one can understand."PowerSchool is throwing big rocks back.The days of "spiral-bound grading books" are long over, the edtech company's lawyers counter in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25260257-cherkin-v-powerschool-motion-to-dismiss-20240722">a motion to dismiss</a> filed in July.The motion argues that PowerSchools is legally allowed to collect data voluntarily submitted by students and administrators, along with metadata about "unique device identifiers," IP addresses, and "cookie data."PowerSchool also argues that it "adequately discloses" what data it collects.PowerSchool spokesman Austin Zerbach told BI that no PowerSchool product sells any form of student data. "PowerSchool does not endorse or support any use of student educational records other than as agreed to by our customers, the schools and districts controlling the student education record, nor do we conduct targeted advertising with personal data of students," PowerSchool spokesman Zerbach said in a written statement.<h2 id="d912114d-9964-433f-80b6-1ed9123210db">A 345-terabyte trove of data</h2>The information PowerSchool collects from students is "virtually unlimited," the lawsuit says.It lists more than 50 kinds of data that PowerSchool says in public disclosures it "may" collect, including "extracurricular program membership" and "student assessments."<div type="image" title="Categories of data PowerSchool public disclosures mention the edtech company &quot;may&quot; collect." height="1076" width="766" msid="114945245" hostid="261" sizebytes="23708"></div>PowerSchool also tells users it may collect "student behavior data" and information about "physical and mental disabilities," according to the lawsuit.PowerSchool's "data trove" totals some "345 terabytes of data collected from 440 school districts," and includes information from nearly 20 edtech companies it has acquired since 2015, including Schoololgy and Kickboard, a "student behavior management and reporting program," the lawsuit alleges.What's done with the data?The lawsuit alleges that in addition to being aggregated into lucrative analytics "products" for third parties, it's used to "train its AI technologies," including a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.powerschool.com/powerschool-ai/powerbuddy/?utm_id=ps00032&amp;utm_campaign=powerschool_powerbuddy_paid-search__pkg00035&amp;utm_source=google&amp;utm_medium=paid-search&amp;utm_content=text-only&amp;_bk=powerschool%20powerbuddy&amp;_bt=702266406463&amp;_bm=e&amp;_bn=g&amp;_bg=161909434485&amp;cq_plac=&amp;cq_net=g&amp;cq_pos=&amp;cq_med=&amp;cq_plt=gp&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjw-JG5BhBZEiwAt7JR6wXcuxvpa0vkLTae4QJjMPAdsAXLaqF5-fArp6Ea0cuLbThmuvw7YBoCCiwQAvD_BwE">PowerBuddy</a> chatbot marketed not only to educators but to "state officials" for the purpose of "workforce planning," the lawsuit alleges.<div type="image" title="PowerSchool also publicly discloses that it may collect &quot;student behavior data&quot; and records of &quot;physical and mental disabilities,&quot; the Cherkin lawsuit alleges." height="1512" width="822" msid="114945247" hostid="261" sizebytes="38602"></div><h2 id="58f65212-0185-4112-b583-39eb1ada3ba6">The data is anonymized</h2>The data shared with third parties is anonymized, but the lawsuit raises concerns that it is so "granular" that it can be reverse-engineered to identify individual students."There are data brokers — they're called identity-resolution companies — that collect information from internet users, re-identify the data, and then sell it," said attorney Julie Liddell, whose Austin, Texas-based <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://edtech.law/about-us/">EdTech Law Center </a>represents Cherkin in the suit.Technology can easily re-identify anonymized student data, said Chad Marlow, senior policy counsel at the ACLU, where he focuses on privacy, surveillance, and technology issues."A generation ago, the most private student data was kept in a locked steel file cabinet in the principal's office, and it was very hard to share that information," Marlow said. "Nowadays the ability to share and reshare that data can be as easy as pressing a key on a keyboard."<div type="image" title="PowerSchool's marketing of student data systems to state government agencies." height="2394" width="1955" msid="114945234" hostid="261" sizebytes="89902"></div>Among the "products" PowerSchool offers educators, policymakers, and government agencies is its <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.powerschool.com/college-career-and-life-readiness-cloud/connected-intelligence-p20w/">"P20W Cradle-to-Career State Data Systems."</a>Its data is touted as "longitudinal," captured from the same students from K-12 through post-secondary education and into the workforce.<div type="image" title="PowerSchool markets &quot;efficient access to both historical and current data&quot; from students to government agencies." height="1486" width="1744" msid="114945238" hostid="261" sizebytes="109230"></div>"It's telling state and local governments, 'You will not get a more robust picture of children, starting from their earliest days,'" said Liddell."And this is not just for educational services," she told BI. "It's for workforce planning, for healthcare planning, for juvenile justice and law enforcement planning," she said.PowerSchool's motion to dismiss the lawsuit, including on grounds that it misapplies the law and fails to state "actual damages," will be argued in San Francisco on Thursday before US District Judge James Donato."The claims made in the complaint are unfounded and inaccurate," Zerbach, the PowerSchool spokesman, told BI.The company "strictly and proactively follows all legal, regulatory, and voluntary requirements for <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.powerschool.com/privacy/">protecting student privacy</a>," the statement said, pointing to PowerSchool's online "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.powerschool.com/blog/commitment-to-protecting-student-data-privacy/">commitment to protecting student data privacy.</a>""No PowerSchool product, including Connected Intelligence P20W, sells any form of student data," the spokesman said. "Connected Intelligence P20W provides a unified, secure, and integrated platform for education and government agencies to securely unify, integrate, and access their own source system data in a state-specific data cloud. As with all PowerSchool products, only authorized users have data access with stringent data governance as defined by the state agency. "PowerSchool began selling software to help schools track grades, attendance, and enrollment in 1996.Apple purchased the company for $62 million in 2001, then sold it to Vista Equity Partners in 2015. Vista Equity retains a minority investment stake, as does Onex Partners, according to PowerSchool's Bain merger announcement.When the deal closed on October 1, shares of the edtech leader, which had been trading as PWSC, were delisted from the NYSE.The Bain-PowerSchool deal comes on the heels of global investment firm KKR &amp; Co. Inc's $4.8 billion acquisition of the Salt Lake City-based edtech firm Instructure Holdings, Inc., <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/instructure-to-be-acquired-by-kkr-for-4-8-billion-302206622.html">announced in July.</a>"It's unsurprising that private equity firms are increasingly interested in acquiring companies that have access to troves of highly valuable data," Liddell told BI.As a private company, "they will no longer be legally bound to make even the minimum disclosures required by a public company," she said.A spokesperson for Bain Capital did not respond to a request for comment on this story.

A lawsuit accuses Bain Capital's PowerSchool of trafficking in student data. The edtech giant says everything it does is legal.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Headway's CEO shifted to an AI-focused strategy after a Silicon Valley trip in April 2023.</li><li>AI tools boosted Headway's marketing, achieving 3.3 billion ad impressions in early 2024.</li></ul>In the first weeks after OpenAI released ChatGPT to the public in 2022, Anton Pavlovsky, the chief executive of the Ukrainian edtech startup <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://makeheadway.com/">Headway</a>, was wary of the artificial-intelligence hype.He decided his then-three-year-old company should adopt a defensive strategy, letting other companies take the lead in generative-AI investments, and reaping the benefits afterward, should they indeed come.But a business trip to Silicon Valley the following April completely changed Pavlovsky's thinking."I talked with so many very smart people with lots of experience, and those people said that this is definitely a paradigm shift," Pavlovsky said. "They said that it's akin to the internet, the world wide web, then the smartphone, and then AI."On his return, he implemented a companywide, four-month, hardcore focus on AI. The company also created a separate cross-functional team to help integrate AI-powered features into its various products.Pavlovsky said the use of AI tools has made a profound difference to the company's marketing performance.During the first six months of 2024, the company said AI-driven ads reached 3.3 billion impressions. The company said the use of AI tools had increased the return on investment from its video ads by 40% because it had helped lower the costs Headway would have previously spent on production. Headway declined to disclose its marketing budget but said it is in the "millions.""The biggest impact is on opportunity costs for people, it's freeing up so many resources on creative and more value-add endeavors for experimenting with crazy ideas," Pavlovsky said.Headway joins a growing number of marketers looking to harness AI tools, in part to reduce their advertising costs.The buy-now-pay-later firm <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/klarna-ceo-comments-ai-smaller-marketing-team-produce-more-savings-2024-5">Klarna made waves</a> when it said AI had helped cut its spend on marketing agencies by 25%. A recent <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.gartner.com/en/marketing/topics/ai-in-marketing">Gartner study</a> predicted that 30% of outbound marketing messages from large companies would be synthetically generated by 2025. The rapid adoption of the tools has the marketing industry excited about AI's prospects, but some are <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-is-set-to-dominate-cannes-lions-ad-festival-2024-6">uneasy</a> about the consequences for agency jobs and question <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-has-marketing-problem-people-dont-like-hearing-about-it-2024-8">whether consumers are ready</a> for an influx of ads using or mentioning AI.<h2 id="5283ce02-8cac-4410-a913-fe59c246f13c">Headway is using AI tools like HeyGen, Rask, and Midjourney</h2>Founded in Ukraine in 2019, Headway operates a portfolio of educational apps that combined have been downloaded by more than 110 million users worldwide. The company continues to be headquartered in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, though most of its users are based in the US. (The company <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1018097949135255&amp;id=250289965916061&amp;set=a.351463732465350">previously said</a> after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it had helped the majority of its staff and families who wanted to move away from the country to do so, though some have since returned.)Its flagship app, Headway, offers 15-minute summaries of popular nonfiction books, as well as challenges and daily micro-learning sessions. Other apps in its portfolio include the brain-training app Impulse, the AddMile coaching platform, and its newest, Skillsta, which is a training app for soft skills like critical thinking and empathy. The company makes money through paid subscriptions.Headway has leaned heavily on advertising on digital platforms like Meta's Instagram and Facebook, Google, and TikTok in order to grow its user base.All of Headway's user-generated-content video ads are now produced using some element of AI technology, such as for subtitles or voiceovers, the company said. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-make-money-from-ugc-user-generated-content-ads">UGC ads</a> refer to those that blend in with other content on an app, such as vertical video ads on TikTok and YouTube Shorts, and are often produced by creators rather than professional production teams. These ads account for 30% to 50% of the purchases of Headway subscriptions or signups to its 7-day free trials, according to the company.While Headway used to rely heavily on stock images for its static ads, around one in five of its paid downloads or trials are now driven by static ads that use AI-generated images, the company said.When the company launched the French version of its Headway app, it used the AI tools <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.rask.ai/">Rask</a> and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.heygen.com/">HeyGen</a>, as well as the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.deepl.com/en/write">DeepL</a> translator, to translate a video ad featuring an English-speaking creator into a convincing ad for a French audience using AI voiceover and lipsync features.Elsewhere, Headway used tools, including HeyGen and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.d-id.com/photo-to-video/?utm_term=brand-ad&amp;utm_term=d-id%20ai&amp;utm_term=d-id%20ai&amp;utm_campaign=brand-eu&amp;utm_source=adwords&amp;utm_medium=ppc&amp;utm_content=611130303518&amp;hsa_acc=6149207258&amp;hsa_cam=17780208183&amp;hsa_grp=141566902480&amp;hsa_ad=611130303518&amp;hsa_src=g&amp;hsa_tgt=kwd-1687090777879&amp;hsa_kw=d-id%20ai&amp;hsa_mt=p&amp;hsa_net=adwords&amp;hsa_ver=3&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjw59q2BhBOEiwAKc0ijUa9IQQFD-hJJhliDHdxTzmgFcNRWdza6NQWHTILSDlqdRtPc6d2CxoCTMgQAvD_BwE">D-ID,</a> to animate characters in famous paintings like the Mona Lisa to make them "speak" in a YouTube Shorts ad to encourage users to "stop scrolling" and download its Nibble knowledge app.Headway also uses text-to-image tools like <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.midjourney.com/home">Midjourney</a> and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://leonardo.ai/">Leonardo AI</a>. In one example, it produced a static ad featuring an image of Marie Antoinette biting into a marshmallow to promote its concept of "bite-sized learning" for its Nibble app.<div type="image" title="An ad for the Nibble app featuring Marie Antoinette biting into a marshmallow." height="1350" width="1080" msid="113031413" hostid="261" sizebytes="116312"></div>Headway is also increasingly introducing AI features to its own products. The Headway app is currently testing an AI assistant that uses the OpenAI application programming interface, Google Cloud's <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://cloud.google.com/generative-ai-studio">Vertex AI</a>, and its own vector database to answer user queries based on its library of books in a conversational format.Unexpectedly, some users are spending "hours per day" communicating with the AI assistant, according to Pavlovsky, which he said speaks to the success of the company's AI push."Maybe some legacy players that don't move fast won't have that kind of speed of adoption, but for startups, or digital natives, it's a no-brainer," Pavlovsky said.

The CEO of edtech startup Headway breaks down how the company used AI tools to improve its ad performance by 40%

<ul><li>LEAD pays a rich tribute to School Owners for their Herculean effort over the lockdown</li><li>The campaign is conceptualised by <keyword id="1557667" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="tbwa-india" source="Orion">TBWA India</keyword>.</li></ul>LEAD's latest digital film Out of Syllabus celebrates the unsung efforts of 'Future Line Workers' - school owners who acted as a mentor to teachers and an educator to students. On the occasion of Teacher's Day, it turns the spotlight on the challenges faced by school owners in these testing times as they continue to empower teachers, reassure parents and find innovative ways to help students adjust to their new learning environment. School owners often miss out on the reverence reserved for teachers. This film underlines the valiant work of school owners who placed the academic future of our children above everything, ensuring uninterrupted learning as far as possible. They have put the issues of others above their own - parents questioning school fees, teachers worried about their next salaries, students dealing with the glitches of online education. And managed to hold the entire ecosystem together to ensure uninterrupted online learning for millions of children, despite the changed circumstances caused due to the pandemic. They helped teachers resolve transitioning issues and managed the financial challenges of running a school. All this in the face of life's toughest exam where everything was out of syllabus, school owners have shouldered the burden of their new responsibilities with a smile and emerged as real heroes worthy of applause. LEAD's film thanks these Future Line Workers for all that they have done and in doing so disrupts the communication category just as it has disrupted ed tech. The film gives us a peek into the emotional journey of someone fighting an uphill battle during the lockdown of 18 months. The film also addresses the issue of over 15 lakh schools all over India shutting down due to the pandemic, affecting the academic future of millions of students. <div type="Youtube" id="JGiMnXcXUcQ" title="An Ode to The Future Line Workers | LEAD" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JGiMnXcXUcQ/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Commenting on bringing alive a disruptive initiative, <keyword id="1398302" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="govind-pandey" source="Orion">Govind Pandey</keyword>, CEO of TBWA\India said, “During the pandemic, we have had so many unexpected and unsung heroes who went out of their way to help others. Passionate school owners who understand that education is important and that every child deserves a good one are also such heroes. They did what they could despite all the odds because they know that education makes a huge difference to the kids futures and we couldn’t let the pandemic impact that. We call these school owners Future-Line Workers.” Talking about the initiative, Managing Partner of TBWA\India - Parixit Bhattacharya said, “School Owners are the wind behind the sails of the academic infrastructure of our country. And they needed to be celebrated. This is an effort to tip our proverbial hats to their massive efforts in ensuring the education of our children is never compromised. Out Of Syllabus plays into a never before cultural moment of our country when schools cautiously consider opening their gates to welcome back students after a hiatus of more than 18 months. Who better to bring home this message of hope other than LEAD - the organisation that is providing propulsive learning to thousands of children all over the country no matter which strata they belong to.” Chief Marketing Officer of LEAD, Anupam Gurani said, “We partner with 2,000+ schools across India and we have seen first-hand the commitment of these school owners in educating their students during the pandemic. Our new campaign, Out of Syllabus, is a salute to the indomitable spirit of all these future line warriors who have managed to create a seamless online learning environment by acting as an educator to students &amp; a mentor to teachers.”

Ahead of Teacher's Day, LEAD turns the spotlight on the challenges faced by school owners in these testing times

<ul><li>With consumer interest at the core of the consortium, the <keyword id="1464841" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="edtech" source="Orion">EdTech</keyword> companies have committed to observe and adhere to a common ‘Code of Conduct.’</li><li>It would establish a Two-tier Grievance Redressal Mechanism to ensure that the positive impact of the industry reaches every deserving consumer while protecting their interests and promoting their rights.</li></ul> Leading EdTech companies under the aegis of <keyword id="128625" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Internet-and-Mobile-Association-of-India" source="Orion">Internet and Mobile Association of India</keyword> (<keyword id="149966" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="IAMAI" source="Orion">IAMAI</keyword>) today announced the formation of the India <keyword id="12934640" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="EdTech-Consortium" source="Orion">EdTech Consortium</keyword> (IEC). Aligned with the Government’s recent advisory, the IEC will ensure that every learner shall have access to quality and affordable education, which not only improves their academic performance but also makes them future-ready. With consumer interest at the core of the consortium, the EdTech companies have committed to observe and adhere to a common ‘Code of Conduct’ and establish a Two-tier Grievance Redressal Mechanism to ensure that the positive impact of the industry reaches every deserving consumer while protecting their interests and promoting their rights. Several EdTech entities have joined the IEC such as such as Byju’s, Careers 360,Classplus, Doubtnut, Great Learning, Harappa, Times Edutech &amp; Events Ltd, Scaler, Simplilearn, Toppr, Unacademy, upGrad, UNext Learning, Vedantu &amp; WhiteHat Jr. The move to set up IEC comes at a time when Indian EdTech players are creating immense value for the global audience. The disruptions led by the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns compelled both parents and educational institutions to implement tech-enabled learning solutions, thereby accelerating the growth of the EdTech sector. Indian EdTech operators have been solving for accessibility and affordability through quality courses from best teachers, instructors and faculty members, to ensure that students across all age groups are benefiting from the innovation in the education sector. This has elevated India’s position on the global map as an education hub. The overall Indian EdTech ecosystem impacts over 500M+ school students, college students and working professionals across India. At this scale, it is critical that the ecosystem follows a framework that will protect the rights of our learners and all EdTech companies are committed to this. Subho Ray, President, Internet and Mobile Association of India, said: “IAMAI and members of the India EdTech Consortium (IEC) are deeply committed to ensuring ethical standards to protect learners on online educational platforms. IEC seeks to empower the learners by not just helping them make informed decisions but by also having their grievances redressed timely. The formation of this self-regulatory body is an important step towards protecting learners as more and more students, teachers and stakeholders are becoming a part of the online education ecosystem.” Commenting on the formation of the IEC, Divya Gokulnath, Co- founder of Byju’s said, “We are completely aligned with the Government's principles on safeguarding consumer interests and welcome the creation of guidelines that help students reach their learning goals in a manner that makes them future ready and conceptually strong. We have always believed that the student should be at the center of the education system and as educators we must do everything possible to create the right set of processes and methods to empower and enhance their learning." Vamsi Krishna, Co-Founder &amp; CEO, Vedantu, said, “The Indian EdTech sector has grown considerably over the last two years with funding and consolidations strengthening the ecosystem. However, while business growth is critical, so is consumer protection since this will allow students and parents to make more informed decisions about the future. Therefore, as part of the newly institutionalized IEC, we will build a sounder and more ethical ecosystem for students so that we can ensure their safety and mitigate any risks they may encounter in their journey to be future-ready.” Mayank Kumar, Co-Founder &amp; MD upGrad and Co-Chairperson, IAMAI EdTech Committee, said, “We are honored to be a part of the IEC at a time when the EdTech sector is accelerating its growth momentum. The last two years have witnessed the rise of online education as a connecting bridge to access flexible and quality education for students as well as working professionals. With the sole purpose of improving the delivery of education services, it is now crucial for us to foster and sustain stakeholder trust by safeguarding their interest as a practice. This initiative will go a long way in strengthening the EdTech sector and establishing India as the Teaching capital of the world.” In the recent past, the education sector has undergone significant transformation and EdTech has supplemented in driving new-age academic excellence. Having created a significant impact by offering quality and affordable education services, EdTech entities have also improved learnability &amp; employability for users to address the evolving needs of the job market. The adaptive learning solutions have ensured that learners are not merely ‘knowledge receivers’ but ‘knowledge creators’ as well. The sector has also created large number of employment opportunities. However, as the sector and end users grow at a fast pace, it is critical to establish a standard code of conduct for all Indian EdTech entities to adhere to and ensure that ‘learners’ remain at the core of all the business practices.

IAMAI establishes India EdTech Consortium to uphold Code of Conduct by  EdTech Platforms

<ul><li>Indian startup sector witnesses a rise in job losses, with over 27,000 tech employees affected and numbers increasing.</li><li>Nearly 26,868 employees have been handed over pink slips by 98 startups.</li><li>At least 22 <keyword id="1464841" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="edtech" source="Orion">edtech</keyword> startups have slashed 9,781 jobs to date.</li></ul>At least 27,000 tech employees at Indian startups have lost their jobs since the funding winter crept in last year, and the list is only growing. Nearly 26,868 employees have been handed over pink slips by 98 startups, including unicorns led by the edtech majors, according to data by leading startup news portal Inc42. At least 22 edtech startups have slashed 9,781 jobs to date. In the first five months into 2023, more than 8,000 employees lost their jobs in India by nearly 50 startups. Homegrown virtual events platform Airmeet sacked about 30 per cent of its workforce, or at least 75 employees, according to the report. Corporate expense management platform Happay, owned by credit Card bill payment provider CRED, slashed nearly 35 per cent of its workforce as part of a restructuring exercise. Another homegrown edtech startup Teachmint laid off over 70 employees, its second round of job cuts after sacking about 45 workers more than five months ago. <keyword id="12864" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="chennai" source="Orion">Chennai</keyword>-based edtech startup Skill-Lync laid off employees as it consolidates operations across Chennai, Bengaluru, and <keyword id="6354552" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="hyderabad" source="Orion">Hyderabad</keyword> amid global macroeconomic conditions. The year 2023 has become the worst year for tech employees as nearly 2 lakh tech employees -- from Big Tech firms to startups -- have been sacked to date globally, as companies like <keyword id="399907" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="meta" source="Orion">Meta</keyword>, BT, <keyword id="15492" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="vodafone" source="Orion">Vodafone</keyword> and many others announced further plans to lay off more employees in coming months. As per the data by layoffs tracking site Layoffs.fyi, 695 tech companies have shown the doors to around 1.98 lakh employees so far this year. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/is-whatsapp-secretly-listening-to-your-private-conversations-heres-how-to-check/articleshow/100155980.cms">Is WhatsApp secretly listening to your private conversations? Here’s how to check</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/google-pixel-6a-vs-pixel-7a-smartphone-comparison-with-price-and-features/articleshow/100177889.cms">Google Pixel 6a vs Pixel 7a: Is Google's latest mid-ranger worth the extra ₹12,000?</a>

About 27K employees lost jobs at Indian startups to date, over 8K this year

<ul><li>If you search ‘number one private tuitions near me,’ you would come across at least 10 ‘number one’ <keyword id="50385" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="coaching-classes" source="Orion">coaching classes</keyword> in your locality</li><li>Not only do these institutes claim to be number one, they have also started guaranteeing jobs and offering pedagogy teaching methods or promising 100% results in 10th or 12th grade.</li><li>It is because of this rise in false claims that India’s advertising watchdog, the Advertising Standards Council of India has received more complaints from angry Indian parents and students.</li><li>The education industry is the biggest violator of India’s advertising rules and regulations as it continues to dupe consumers with misleading claims.</li></ul>Every second street corner has an ad for a Number One private tuition. A few others claim to have secured 100% results be it JEE, NEET and other professional exams. These bold statements hit the weakest point of Indian parents who are keen on their children getting into ‘best’ institutes. If not lakhs, most parents shell out tens of thousands to these centres with such baseless claims. <div type="image" title="flying feathers ad" msid="92519069" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Facebook&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> It’s no surprise that India’s advertising watchdog, the Advertising Standards Council of India received the maximum complaints of misleading ads from educational institutions – both online and offline. During the fiscal year 2021-22, ASCI received a total of 5,532 complaints of misleading advertisements. The education sector leads the list with 33% of the complaints received from enraged parents against <keyword id="1464841" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="edtech" source="Orion">edtech</keyword> platforms, private education institutes and coaching classes for making false, misleading and exaggerated claims. “Education is a service that goes across to every citizen of this country and particularly in an area that is of high concern and importance to parents. A lot of private institutes and tuitions cater to local and regional audiences with promising claims like job guarantees,” said Manisha Kapoor, CEO and secretary general of ASCI. ASCI also carefully scrutinises BYJU’s <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/advertising/brands/news/byjus-white-hat-jr-to-withdraw-its-social-ads-for-making-misleading-claims/articleshow/78916793.cms">White Hat Jr, </a>Unacademy and other edtech platforms. In the past, White Hat Jr had to withdraw a misleading and false advertisement that showcased a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/advertising/brands/news/byjus-white-hat-jr-to-withdraw-its-social-ads-for-making-misleading-claims/articleshow/78916793.cms">7-year-old girl</a> as a TEDx speaker and app developer. Apart from being successful institutes, some platforms promise new-age pedagogy teaching with misleading ads. The list included ads making tall and usually unverifiable claims by universities, private tuitions, business schools, pre-schools and local coaching classes. Sharing more about the false claims, Kapoor added, “It also includes misleading claims like being the number one institute without having the correct basis for it, or having certain pedagogy methodology which may not necessarily be proven or promising certain marks or helping students clear certain tests.” <div type="image" title="kid studying" msid="92519207" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;BCCL&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Swelling ad budgets of edtech platforms Within education, the mushrooming edtech industry, whose market size is currently valued at around <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/technology/indian-edtech-industrys-market-size-to-reach-30-billion-in-10-years-report/articleshow/82295097.cms">$700-800 million</a>, is a major concern for the advertising watchdog. Earlier this month, EdTech giants Byju’s and Unacamedy were summoned by the consumer affairs ministry over 'extra study pressure' complaints received by <a href="https://www.cnbctv18.com/technology/byju-unacademy-edutech-firms-to-be-summoned-by-consumer-affairs-ministry-over-extra-study-pressure-complaints-13779792.htm">parents</a>. To tackle the number of rising complaints, ASCI is working on a report to crack down on misleading ads in the sector. “EdTech comprises 6% of the total education complaints that we looked at but the impact of edtech is much more because, unlike small fragmented players, edtech players have big budgets and they are present on big [advertising] mediums. We do see a concern with edtech and we are working on an edtech study to understand the themes and harmful claims that are being made,” said Kapoor. The edtech industry is the <a href="https://www.afaqs.com/news/media/fmcg-gaming-edtech-fintech-remain-top-spenders-in-the-first-half-of-2022">third </a>biggest advertiser in India so, it has a wider reach to a large number of consumers in India. The ‘BIG’ IPL spenders During the recently concluded season 15 of the Indian Premier League, which is India’s biggest advertising carnival, education institutes and edtech platforms contributed to 6% of the advertising volumes on television, as per media research firm TAM, making it one of the leading spenders. EdTech players like Think &amp; Learn and EPX Uptech were the biggest spenders on television channels during the last season of IPL. After education, healthcare and personal care were among the top three industries which failed to comply with the advertising rules and regulations, the most.

Parents beware: Coaching classes and edtechs make the most false claims

As VC money disappears amid economic slowdown, tech startups have laid off over 20,000 employees the world over since April, while more than 8,000 employees have lost jobs at the Indian startups led by <keyword id="1464841" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="edtech" source="Orion">edtech</keyword> platforms. According to layoff aggregator <keyword id="6357067" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="layoffs" source="Orion">Layoffs</keyword>.fyi at least 20,514 people have lost their jobs at tech startups globally since April globally and the US is leading the race. The number doubled over the past two weeks, indicating that the labour market for the sector has taken a turn for the worse, reports Nikkei Asia. Ironically, this figure does not take contractual workers into accounts which have lost their jobs in the startup funding winter. The job loss has reached two-year high among the startup ecosystem that once churned out unicorns after unicorns. More than 15,000 people working in the technology sector lost their job in the month of May alone, as global macro-economic factors hit companies, especially startups. According to layoff aggregator layoffs.fyi, more than 15,000 tech workers have lost their jobs this month, reports TechCrunch. Since March 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic started, more than 1.3 lakh employees have been laid off by around 718 startups globally. Tech companies are facing multiple issues like rising inflation, high interest rates, economic slowdown and the Russia-Ukraine war. The situation is set to get worse with recession looming and funding drying up. Several large investment firms like Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Craft Ventures, and Y Combinator etc have sent memos and footnotes to their portfolio companies and startups on how to endure the ongoing crisis. The VC firms are advising startups to focus on sustainable growth, reduce cash burn, cut costs and understand that an economic recovery may be 18-24 months away. With capital becoming scarce, Sequoia Capital told its founders' community to tighten the belt and focus on profitability. Realising that 'funding winter' has finally set in after a strong rally of more than two years in the pandemic that allowed Internet-driven startups to grow exponentially across the spectrum, large investment firms are now parking their funds in Blockchain/Web3.0 and gaming-based startups. <keyword id="8918130" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="binance-labs" source="Orion">Binance Labs</keyword>, the venture capital and incubation arm of leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance, has announced the closing of a $500 million investment fund to boost Blockchain, Web3.0 and value-building technologies. The new fund will invest in projects that can extend the use cases of cryptocurrencies and drive the adoption of Web3.0 and Blockchain technologies. Earlier, US-based investment firm Andreessen Horowitz (A16Z) announced two new funds -- a massive $4.5 billion fund for crypto and Blockchain companies and Web3.0 startups and a $600 million 'Games Fund One' that is exclusively focused on the gaming industry. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/jeff-bezos-blue-origin-to-launch-its-fifth-tourist-flight-to-space-on-june-4/articleshow/91956366.cms">Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin to launch its fifth tourist flight to space on June 4</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/bcci-president-sourav-ganguly-joins-hands-with-edtech-startup-classplus/articleshow/91961705.cms">BCCI President Sourav Ganguly joins hands with edtech startup 'Classplus'</a>

Tech startups lay off over 20k employees amid economic slowdown and Russia-Ukraine war: report

Bengaluru, July 14 (IANS) Bengaluru-based edtech platform Unacademy on Tuesday announced that it has led a strategic investment of $5 million (approximately Rs 37.7 crore) to acquire a majority stake in Mastree, a leading K12 learning platform. Started in October 2019, Mastree recognised the gaps in foundational learning and the challenging transition to middle school for both students and parents. Founded by Shrey Goyal and Royal Jain, the company's mission is to help bridge this gap by strengthening the foundation and inspiring students to achieve excellence. Mastree is building a one-stop subscription product for STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) courses, for classes 5-8, which will include Live Classes in small groups for mathematics, science, public speaking, creative writing, Vedic mathematics, and others. Along with Live Classes, students can also utilise various features like doubt solving, unlimited personalised practice, Live quizzes, etc. "Unacademy and Mastree have a shared vision, and together we want to create an impact and make quality education accessible and affordable," Gaurav Munjal, Co-Founder and CEO, Unacademy, said in a statement. "Mastree is building a highly impactful subscription product, and it will change the way students learn. We are very happy to have Mastree as part of the Unacademy Group." With this investment, Mastree will join the Unacademy Group, which consists of Wifistudy, Kreatryx, PrepLadder, and CodeChef. In addition to the investment, Unacademy has provided Blume Ventures an exit. --IANS gb/na

You Searched For "lead edtech platform" and got 8 results

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You Searched For "lead edtech platform" and got 8 results

A lawsuit accuses Bain Capital's PowerSchool of trafficking in student data. The edtech giant says everything it does is legal.

Laura Italiano

The CEO of edtech startup Headway breaks down how the company used AI tools to improve its ad performance by 40%

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Ahead of Teacher's Day, LEAD turns the spotlight on the challenges faced by school owners in these testing times

BI India Partner

IAMAI establishes India EdTech Consortium to uphold Code of Conduct by EdTech Platforms

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About 27K employees lost jobs at Indian startups to date, over 8K this year

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Parents beware: Coaching classes and edtechs make the most false claims

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Tech startups lay off over 20k employees amid economic slowdown and Russia-Ukraine war: report

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Unacademy leads $5mn investment in learning platform Mastree

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