FROM BEACONING H2020 PERVASIVE PLATFORM TO AIRBEACON START UP
HYBRID LEARNING AWARD
This prize will be given to the best electronic learning project.
We seek any innovative new technological tool, or any project that uses existing electronic learning tools in an innovative way.
Such projects should facilitate and support learning through the use of information and communications technology.
Past Winner E-Learning Award: BioBeyond
BioBeyond is an innovative, engaging courseware whose primary objective is to improve learner success in entry-level Biology for disengaged students. It does not start by outlining a syllabus and list of lesson objectives, but encourages students to use ‘Big Questions’ as a hook. Leading research universities contributed to the course design.
inspark.education/biobeyond
Past Winner E-Learning Award: Pedago
Pedago is a new edtech startup disrupting online learning by offering a free, fully-mobile MBA degree program, eliminating debt and minimizing the opportunity cost for students. Upon completion, students will be connected to relevant employers through an interactive recruiting platform, where companies can browse, schedule interviews, and hire optimum candidates.
http://pedago.com
Arizona State University, United States
The Sanford Inspire Program is reimagining how teachers experience professional development (PD) by creating engaging, research-based, personalized, online professional development experiences called OnDemand Modules. Rather than requiring teachers to participate in workshops with variable quality, cost, and effectiveness, these modules allow teachers to exercise autonomy over their own professional development. http://www.asu.edu
Cogent Education, United States
To encourage a needful problem-solving approach to the teaching of scientific disciplines, Cogent Education identified leveraged gamification to engage younger learners. Their proprietary software authoring system interfaces with a unique 3D videogame engine to produce gamified educational modules for any device, with real-time data empowering educators to intervene as necessary. www.cogenteducation.com
Expii Inc., United States
Founded by Carnegie Mellon mathematics professor Po-Shen Loh, and guided by Michelle Newstadt, former researcher at the University of Pittsburgh School of Education, Expii use a unique combination of quantitative algorithms and an interface inspired by Google Maps to solve the problem of personalized learning as student-teacher ratios continue increasing. www.expii.com
Osmosis: Knowledge Diffusion
Osmosis is a web and mobile learning platform designed to assist medical students worldwide with understanding and retaining the vast amounts of content necessary for success in their course. Reaching over 29,000 students from over 300 medical schools worldwide, Osmosis’s mission statement is to make medical school easier. To this end, it has drawn on a series of empirically verified insights from neuroscience and educational theory, with a team containing a mix of PhDs, practicing clinicians, and medical students. This has ensured that the learning strategies Osmosis users employ are based on sound cognitive techniques that help create optimal learning outcomes.
Its resource database includes tens of thousands of flashcards, videos, and questions, organized into a series of custom quizzes based on recently learned classroom material, and appealing gamification formats. Osmosis’s reliance on concrete intellectual foundations is illustrated by the success of its research team, which has published peer-reviewed papers in, for example, the Annals of Internal Medicine. It is also currently actively engaged in research, having received a Stemmler Grant from the National Board of Medical Examiners.
Osmosis also won our 2015 Overall Award.