Incubating High-IMPACT New Generation EdTech Disruptors for Inclusive & Personalised Learning

Project Information

IMPACT EdTech

Grant agreement ID: 871275

DOI

10.3030/871275

Project closed

EC signature date 5 November 2019

Start date 1 December 2019

End date 31 October 2022

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

Total cost

€ 7 196 778,13

EU contribution

€ 6 997 730,00

Coordinated by

EUN PARTNERSHIP AISBL
Belgium

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - IMPACT EdTech (Incubating High-IMPACT New Generation EdTech Disruptors for Inclusive & Personalised Learning)

Reporting period: 2021-06-01 to 2022-10-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Education is a cornerstone of society which provides fundamental impact to the human experience, but is often undervalued, with low investment rates in education and a lack of advancement towards modernised and digitalised education systems. As such, improving and modernising education systems is an essential priority for the EU. A focus on a digital transformation of education is key, to ensure that education develops towards more inclusive and personalised models, and to help foster the development of digital competencies needed for life and work going forward.
The IMPACT EdTech project commenced in December 2019 and addresses this key priority. It has created a vehicle which fosters the development of disruptive education technology, leading to more innovative, human-centred education.
The core objective of IMPACT EdTech was to support European digital learning disruptors to move from promising prototypes towards viable products, by setting up an EdTech-specific incubation environment which offers both business & go-to-market support, and access to an education ecosystem providing expert knowledge, resources, and data. Three Open Calls were launched to select disruptors developing promising and innovative personalised digital learning solutions aiming to shape the education of the future.
To achieve the core project objective, the IMPACT EdTech Programme comprised a mix of business and digital learning mentorship, networking services, and training, tailored to fit the needs of the disruptors selected to execute EdTech trials. IMPACT EdTech built a 9-month hybrid incubator–accelerator that supports start-up and SME solutions which are developed for K12 education and B2C content-based solutions which focus on education for any age group and/or level of education. Each EdTech solution uses digital technologies to address a key educational challenge: inclusive education, personalised learning, or skills development.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

IMPACT EdTech activities can be grouped into four types. We provide here a summary of the work performed and main results achieved:
1) IMPACT EdTech Communication and Dissemination Activities
• The IMPACT Edtech project website https://www.impactedtech.eu/impact-edtech/ launched in April 2020, and has had over 74,000 visitors by the end of the project.
• The IMPACT EdTech social media channels were created in January 2020:
o Twitter: Profile / Twitter
o Facebook: IMPACT EdTech - Accueil | Facebook
o LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/34752602/admin/
o YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIOQoA-ZfMxthBICI1hlDww
• A Digital Learning Stakeholders Group (DLSG) involved 30 active members. The networks of EUN and ISDI are also continuously updated on project activities and engagement opportunities.
• Press releases and blog posts to disseminate news on the latest project updates and events can be found at https://accelerator.isdi.education/impact-edtech/impact-edtech-news/
• 30+ public events have been organised: 10 info days, 2 info corners, and 21 webinars. Visit the IMPACT EdTech website or YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIOQoA-ZfMxthBICI1hlDww
• 13 newsletters have been sent.
2) Open Call Management
• 3 Open Calls have been launched, including the extraordinary Remote Schooling Open Call (2nd Open Call).
• The project supported applicants in submitting proposals by creating a guide for applicants and an FAQ document for each Open Call.
• 750 applications were received during the 1st Open Call (OC1) and the Remote Schooling Open Call (OC2).
• 3 evaluation processes were organised.
• The project opened 3 helpdesks (1 per Open Call) to support applicants in their applications.
• FSTP was managed with 43 selected beneficiaries during the three open calls.
3) IMPACT EdTech Incubation Stage for Batch 1 and Batch 3 (Stage 1)
• 32 Stage 1 Individualised Mentoring Plans (IMPs) were created, each with 4 educational and business KPIs, and 4 educational and business deliverables.
• 2 Bootcamp events organised, with a total of 15+ sessions each.
• 2 MVP (Minimum Viable Product) Testing event was organised, where 32 MVPs were validated by digital learning experts.
4) IMPACT EdTech Acceleration Stage for all three batches (Stage 2)
• 26 start-ups have participated in Stage 2.
• Each had business mentors, educational mentors, and specialised mentors that were matched with each start-up during Stage 2.
• 26 Stage 2 IMPs were created, each with 4 educational and business KPIs and 4 educational and business deliverables.
• 3 Bootcamp 2 events were organised, with 15+ sessions each.
• A total of 60 teachers and educators (12 during the 1st Open Call, 33 during the Remote Schooling Open call and 15 during the 3rd Open Call) were involved in the strand A piloting of solutions. This includes 2 solutions which focused on SEN.
• 5 solutions carried out B2C go-to-market testing, receiving expert-in-residence support.
• 7 solutions received Best-in-Class nomination, including two on SEN.
• 11 start-ups participated in portfolio management, receiving the opportunity for funding support and pitch advice.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

IMPACT EdTech has fostered innovation in education throughout Europe, despite in-person meeting restrictions and school closure during the pandemic. The impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic was challenging in terms of the planning of alternative events and face-to-face activities but managed to updated the programme to include a third open call on remote schooling and took all necessary measures to adjust itself and support entrepreneurs and teachers in their shift to an online working process. Overall, the situation had positive outcomes; for example, the response to the pandemic meant that the project had a greater outreach regarding dissemination and online events and more broadly utilised available business and pedagogical expertise across Europe.

Also, the IMPACT EdTech accelerated start-ups managed to reach almost 2,000 students with ground-breaking solutions. The solutions turned were a strong asset for schools as they helped teachers secure a pedagogical continuity in their teaching, while ensuring that no child was left behind, despite the school closures and blended learning situations in most European schools.

Finally, thanks to the developments made during the three open calls, and to the diligence and flexibility of all stakeholders involved, IMPACT supported promising digital learning disruptors, whilst improving the overall process and the organisation of project activities to ensure that the project could deliver strong results and impact.

All the lessons learned can be seen in the summary video: https://youtu.be/i67MpxPKjuc

Impact EdTech best in class

Stage 2: Acceleration

Remote School end of Acceleration webinar series

Screenshot from the IMPACT EdTech website: webinar series