Edtech Conversations with Fexingo: Online Learning, Schools, and Education Software

Khan Academy's new AI tutor, Khanmigo, is changing how students do homework. Instead of giving answers, it guides students through problems with Socratic questioning. Lucas and Luna explore how this tool works, its impact on learning outcomes, and the challenges of integrating AI into classrooms. They discuss early data from pilot schools, teacher feedback, and what this means for the future of pe...

Episode 77 of Edtech Conversations with Fexingo dives into OpenStax, the nonprofit that has saved students over $2 billion on textbooks. Lucas and Luna explore how OpenStax started at Rice University, why it gives away peer-reviewed college texts for free, and how it now reaches over 60% of U.S. higher education institutions. They also discuss the economics behind the model — sustained by foundati...

In this episode of Edtech Conversations with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore the quiet revolution in teacher professional development: microcredentials. Instead of the traditional one-day workshop or master's degree, teachers can now earn stackable digital badges for specific skills like trauma-informed instruction or using data to differentiate math lessons. The hosts dig into one specific case —...

In episode 75 of Edtech Conversations, Lucas and Luna explore how schools are turning to technology to solve the problem of cellphone distraction in classrooms. They focus on Yondr, a company that produces lockable pouches for phones, and examine the data from schools that have adopted the system. Lucas shares that some schools report a 30 percent drop in disciplinary incidents after implementing...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how AI chatbots are being deployed in US high schools to handle routine mental health check-ins and college application questions, freeing up human counselors for deeper work. They focus on a specific case: the partnership between Roseville Union High School in Ohio and the chatbot platform 'EdNavigator AI' (a composite case based on real trends). The conver...

Today, Lucas and Luna dive into the rise of corporate microschools — a trend where companies are creating their own small, employer-run learning pods for employees' children. They explore how Guild Education, a Denver-based workforce learning platform, is helping employers like Chipotle and Walmart offer tuition benefits for K-12 microschools. The hosts discuss a specific case: how Guild's partner...

Episode 72 of Edtech Conversations with Fexingo. Lucas and Luna explore how H5P, an open-source content collaboration framework, is quietly replacing static PDFs and slides in thousands of universities and schools. They trace H5P's origins at a Norwegian edtech nonprofit, its integration with major learning management systems like Moodle and Canvas, and how a single interactive tool — the branchin...

In this episode of Edtech Conversations, Lucas and Luna explore how Labster, a virtual lab simulation platform, is bringing hands-on science experiments to underfunded high schools. They discuss Labster's partnership with Los Angeles Unified School District, which rolled out 5,000 VR headsets in fall 2025, and the company's shift from university to K-12 markets. The conversation covers cost saving...

Lucas and Luna explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping the way elementary students learn to read. They focus on a specific case: Amira Learning, an AI-powered reading tutor that listens to children read aloud, detects errors in real time, and provides personalized feedback. The discussion covers how the tool supports teachers without replacing them, the evidence from a 2023 study showing...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna dive into Duolingo's unique approach to language learning that has turned it into a billion-dollar public company. They discuss the company's gamification mechanics, the Streak feature, and how AI powers its adaptive lessons. The conversation also touches on Duolingo's expansion into math and music, and the business model behind its freemium offering. The hosts brea...

In episode 68 of Edtech Conversations, Lucas and Luna explore how a Kathmandu-based startup is tackling one of education's toughest barriers: language. Nepal has 123 languages, but most digital learning content is in English or Nepali. This startup uses voice-first AI to deliver math and science lessons in Maithili, Bhojpuri, and Tharu. Early results show 40 percent higher engagement and 25 percen...

In this episode of Edtech Conversations, Lucas and Luna explore how Prodigy Education built one of the most engaging math platforms for elementary students by gamifying curriculum-aligned practice. They break down Prodigy's freemium model, how it keeps kids playing for hours, the controversy around in-game purchases in classrooms, and what the company's 2025 teacher survey revealed about usage pat...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how ClassDojo evolved from a simple behavior-tracking app into a global classroom culture platform used by millions of teachers, students, and parents. They dig into the company's unexpected origin story, its freemium business model, and the privacy controversies that shaped its growth. Specific numbers include ClassDojo's 95% US school adoption rate and its...

Lucas and Luna explore how a small edtech startup called FutureFit is leveraging AI to analyze student skills and interests, then match them to real-world career paths. The episode dives into the algorithm's design, how it processes behavioral data from classroom tools, and why school districts in three states are already piloting the platform. Lucas interviews a former teacher turned product lead...

Episode 64 of Edtech Conversations explores Vooks, a streaming service that animates children's picture books and has quietly embedded itself into K-2 classrooms across 80,000 schools in North America. Lucas and Luna unpack the company's business model — annual subscriptions for teachers and parents, its partnerships with publishers like Scholastic and Penguin Random House, and how it aligns with...

Episode 63 of Edtech Conversations explores how artificial intelligence is reshaping special education in U.S. public schools. Lucas and Luna dive into the story of Presidio Education, a startup using AI-powered tools to create individualized education programs (IEPs) in minutes instead of hours. They discuss the specific challenge: special education teachers spend up to 40 percent of their time o...

Lucas and Luna explore how GoGuardian, a Los Angeles-based edtech company, quietly became the dominant platform for managing school-issued Chromebooks and keeping students safe online. With over 20 million devices under management in 2026, GoGuardian has evolved from a simple monitoring tool into a multi-product ecosystem that includes classroom orchestration, mental health alerts, and data privac...

This episode unpacks how Satchel One, a British edtech company, became the dominant school communication platform in the UK, serving over 3,000 schools. Lucas and Luna explore the founder's origin story, the pivot from homework tracking to a full school OS, and the surprisingly old-school sales strategy that won over headteachers. They discuss why Satchel One succeeded where US giants like Remind...

Lucas and Luna explore how a small Kathmandu-based startup, Karkhana, is using low-tech tools and local languages to bring science education to rural Nepal. They discuss the challenges of scaling in a country with 123 languages, the clever use of offline-first tablets, and why this model might matter for edtech in the Global South. A concrete look at how one founder is navigating infrastructure ga...

Lucas and Luna break down the playbook that edtech startups are using to land contracts with K-12 school districts, a notoriously difficult and slow-moving market. They focus on the specific case of Nearpod, which used a freemium model and teacher-led adoption to get into over 10,000 schools before being acquired by Renaissance Learning. The hosts discuss why most edtech startups fail at B2G sales...

Lucas and Luna examine the rise of AI-powered tutoring platforms, focusing on Khan Academy's Khanmigo. They break down how this generative AI tool provides personalized, Socratic-style guidance to students while keeping teachers in the loop. The episode drills into specific usage data—Khanmigo has facilitated over 10 million tutoring sessions since its pilot in 2023—and explores whether AI can tru...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how Outschool, a marketplace for live online small-group classes, carved out a unique niche in edtech by targeting homeschoolers and supplementing traditional K-12 education. They trace its growth from a 2015 startup to a platform with over a million classes taught across 100+ countries. The conversation focuses on Outschool's marketplace model, its pivot du...

For over a century, the high school diploma has been a simple summary: four years of seat time, a minimum GPA, a checklist of credits. The Mastery Transcript Consortium — a nonprofit founded by over 300 private and public high schools — is trying to replace that with a dynamic, competency-based digital record that shows not just what courses a student passed, but what they can actually do. In this...

Proctorio, the remote proctoring software used by hundreds of universities, faced a massive student privacy backlash in 2020-2021. In this episode, Lucas and Luna examine how the company navigated lawsuits, negative press, and a coordinated student campaign to emerge with a revised business model and stricter data practices. They dive into the specific incident where a student reverse-engineered t...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna examine how DreamBox Learning, a K-8 math platform acquired by Discovery Education in 2023, has driven measurable gains in elementary math classrooms across the US. They dive into the company's core innovation: a patented intelligent adaptive learning engine that adjusts each lesson in real time based on over 48,000 data points per hour per student. Lucas explains h...