Edtech Insiders

Send us Fan Mail Vijay Thakkar is a visionary entrepreneur, educator, and the CEO & Co-founder of FotonVR . He’s transforming the way children learn by bringing immersive Virtual Reality experiences into classrooms around the world. With a deep passion for innovation in education, Vijay has pioneered immersive Virtual Reality solutions designed specifically for school learning.  Nisha Panchal...

Send us Fan Mail Join hosts Alex Sarlin and Claire Zau , a Partner and AI Lead at GSV Ventures as they explores the latest developments in education technology, from AI agents to teacher co-pilots, talent wars, and shifts in global AI strategies.  ✨ Episode Highlights  [00:00:00] AI teacher co-pilots evolve into agentic workflows. [00:02:15] OpenAI launches ChatGPT Agent for autonomous tasks. [00...

Send us Fan Mail Tammy Wincup has served for over 25 years as a business executive at the intersection of technology and education. Tammy is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Securly , the leading digital safety and wellness company serving over 22,000 K-12 schools globally to keep students safe, secure, and ready to learn.  Before Securly, Tammy was a partner at Rethink Education, an impac...

Send us Fan Mail Join hosts Alex Sarlin and Ben Kornell as they explore the latest developments in education technology, from AI showdowns to immersive learning pilots and funding updates. ✨ Episode Highlights: [00:02:00] OpenAI announces $28M K-12 AI training initiative with AFT, UFT, and Microsoft [00:04:34] Gallup-Walton poll reveals 68% of teachers lack AI training despite high usage [00:07:1...

Send us Fan Mail In this special episode, we speak with the founder of Edthena and five outstanding educators who were honored as 2025 Teacher Leader Impact Award winners. Each guest shares how they’re shaping the future of professional learning, using technology in smart and supportive ways, and leading from the classroom and beyond. 💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode: Why teacher leadershi...

Send us Fan Mail Sam Whitaker is the Senior Director of Social Impact and Institutional Development at StudyFetch , an all-encompassing AI learning platform for students. His primary focuses are bringing advanced AI education to underserved communities around the world and developing safe and responsible K-12 AI solutions. 💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode: How StudyFetch is redefining AI a...

Send us Fan Mail Join hosts Alex Sarlin and Ben Kornell with guest Jacob Kantor as they explore a transformative Week-in-Edtech, from Google’s AI-powered classroom revolution to major political shifts affecting schools nationwide. Episode Highlights: [00:03:17] Google launches 50 AI tools for educators through Classroom and Gemini [00:05:47] Startup funding threatened as Google expands free AI fea...

Send us Fan Mail Matt Miller is the CEO and Co-Founder of OKO Labs , an innovative EdTech company developing human-centric, pro-social AI to power collaborative learning in K-12 classrooms. With a background as CTO and VP of Labs at Amplify Education and VP of Product at Flatiron School, Matt brings deep technical expertise and a passion for leveraging technology to solve real-world educational ch...

Send us Fan Mail Join hosts Alex Sarlin and Ben Kornell for a thought-provoking summer edition of Week in Edtech, featuring headline debates on AI in education, a rare look into PBS KIDS’ funding crisis, and grassroots innovation in ocean learning from Ecuador. ✨ Episode Highlights: [00:03:16] MIT study raises alarms about AI's impact on student thinking [00:07:42] AI cheating scandal hits n...

Send us Fan Mail Jerome Pesenti is the founder of Sizzle AI , an AI-for-learning company whose mission is to make learning amazing for everyone. Jerome has worked in AI for the past 25 years, including as VP of AI at Meta, co-CEO of BenevolentAI, VP at IBM Watson, and co-founder of Vivisimo (sold to IBM). 💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode: How Sizzle AI uses bite-sized, adaptive learning to...

Send us Fan Mail Join hosts Alex Sarlin and Matt Tower as they explore the evolving edtech landscape—from rising AI use to old-school solutions for modern challenges. ✨ Episode Highlights: [00:00:20] Banning AI boosts student engagement and brings back handwritten assessments [00:03:23] Gallup finds AI use in the workplace has doubled in two years [00:06:15] OpenAI’s college push sparks backlash...

Send us Fan Mail For this Week in EdTech Part 2, Alex Sarlin interviews two visionary founders tackling early education and classroom AI from the ground up—with a focus on teacher support, inclusive innovation, and practical AI implementation. [00:02:12] Yesi Sevilla, CEO of CHALK on why early education must start with supporting teachers [00:30:55] Ed Buckley and Marlee Strawn, Co-founders of Sch...

Send us Fan Mail Eric Swanson currently holds the position of Senior Vice President of Practice and Instructional Products at Renaissance Learning . In this capacity, he works with educators, technologists, and researchers to build best-in-class practice products and experiences that improve academic outcomes for students and educators. Working with the Renaissance Next, myON, Accelerated Reader,...

Send us Fan Mail Join hosts Alex Sarlin and Ben Kornell as they explore the latest developments in education technology, from AI breakthroughs to high-stakes funding rounds and institutional shifts in AI strategy. ✨ Episode Highlights: [00:02:45] OpenAI’s $10B Annual Run Rate: ChatGPT drives unprecedented growth [00:05:12] Anthropic CEO criticizes proposed 10-year ban on state AI regulation [00:0...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Mike McKenna is the Senior Advisor at Tuck Advisors and also serves as the Chief Academic Officer for one of the largest school districts in Pennsylvania.  With deep expertise in curriculum development, special education, and teaching and learning, Mike brings a proven track record of building inclusive, high-impact academic programs. In addition to his work in K-12 education,...

Send us Fan Mail Juan Zavala joined New Markets Venture Partners in 2019 and is a Partner. He is responsible for sourcing, evaluating, and executing new investment opportunities as well as supporting existing portfolio companies and firm operations. He serves as a Board Director for Brains and Motion Education, Nexford University, and CreatorUp, and as a Board Observer for App Academy, BetterLesso...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Margaret Honey joined the Scratch Foundation as the organization’s President & CEO in January 2024. She is widely recognized for her work using digital technologies to support children’s learning and brings decades of non-profit leadership experience and expertise to the Scratch Foundation. Prior to joining the Foundation, Dr. Honey led the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI)...

Send us Fan Mail Join hosts Alex Sarlin and Ben Kornell as they explore the latest developments in education technology, from AI breakthroughs to new VC investments and edtech reports. ✨ Episode Highlights: [00:02:10] Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn says AI is more scalable than teachers, sparking debate on the future of educators [00:10:45] Google I/O 2025 introduces Gemini 2.5, Project Astra, and rea...

Send us Fan Mail David Bleicher is the Co-Founder and CEO of Jotit , a company on a mission to bring handwriting back to the forefront of education in the digital age. By blending proven learning methods with advanced technologies, Jotit enhances student outcomes and executive functioning in the classroom. 💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode: Why handwriting remains essential in today’s tech-...

Send us Fan Mail Join hosts Alex Sarlin and Ben Kornell as they explore the latest developments in education technology, from AI in classrooms to workforce shifts and EdTech innovation across the globe. ✨ Episode Highlights: [00:03:16] Ezra Klein podcast brings AI and education to mainstream conversation [00:07:20] Alex and Ben compare and critique GPT-4, Claude, Gemini, and other AI tools [00:09...

Send us Fan Mail This is a very special episode featuring our sponsor, Starbridge . Justin Wenig, Founder and CEO of Starbridge, joins us to discuss how school spending creates barriers to EdTech innovation. Justin previously co-founded Coursedog, scaling it to over 300 institutions and a nine-figure exit. With Starbridge, he’s now helping EdTech businesses navigate public sector procurement using...

Send us Fan Mail MacKenzie Price is a Stanford grad, mom of two, and the Co-Founder of 2 Hour Learning - a revolutionary learning platform that harnesses the power of AI to give kids a 1:1 personalized learning experience. Her students excel in academics while spending most of their day learning life skills that set them up for future success. She founded the first Alpha School ten years ago in Au...

Send us Fan Mail Join hosts Ben Kornell and Alex Sarlin as they explore the latest developments in education technology, from AI breakthroughs and policy shakeups to new funding rounds and workforce shifts shaping the future of learning. ✨ Episode Highlights: [00:00:00] Silicon Valley debates the rise of “AI Slop” and the impact of vibe coding. [00:03:36] Columbia student suspended for AI cheatin...

Send us Fan Mail Mike Yates is a Senior Designer at Teach for America's Reinvention Lab , with over a decade of experience at the intersection of technology and learning. A former classroom teacher and founding member of Alpha School, he now leads the Lab’s AI initiatives, creating workshops, coaching educators, and prototyping innovative AI solutions. Mike has built partnerships with organiz...

Send us Fan Mail Join host Alex Sarlin alongside special guest co-hosts Ben Wallerstein and Anna Kimsey Edwards , Co-Founders of Whiteboard Advisors , as they break down: [00:03:00] Trump’s AI Executive Order launches cross-agency education task force [00:05:00] 27 states already advancing AI education policy [00:07:00] Workforce EO targets 1M AI-related apprenticeships [00:10:00] Accreditation EO...