EdTech Startup Showcase

In this episode, Eric Makelky continues his conversation with Christine Braun, Chief Creative Officer at Cresconova Labs, digging deeper into how families can apply the Labs framework at home. Christine shares practical, low-cost ways to teach concepts like geometry and systems thinking through kids' existing interests—from tessellation patterns in fashion, sports jerseys, and Lego architecture to...

Host Eric Makelky talks with Christine Braun, Chief Creative Officer at Cresconova, about the framework behind Cresconova Labs, the organization's new in-person innovation space. Christine shares her path from furniture designer to Harvard Makerspace director to leading Cresconova Labs, then unpacks the core teaching philosophy: starting with beautiful, open-ended questions, moving through systems...

In this episode of the Cresconova Global podcast, host Eric Makelky sits down with Katie Kelly and Sarah Merkt to explore how Cresconova Global's online enrichment program fits into a child's broader educational journey. Katie and Sarah dive into the personalized support parents receive—from initial learning consultations to ongoing communication and student-facing narrative feedback reports that...

Host Eric Makelky sits down with Katie Kelly and Sarah Merkt, of Cresconova Global, an online (and in-person, via Cresconova Labs) enrichment program serving students across five continents. Katie and Sarah unpack their concept of "inspired learning" — designing classes around curiosity-sparking questions rather than rigid skill-based standards — and share real examples, from a class on designing...

Summary What if education began with the child—not the factory model, the timetable, or a standardized ceiling? In this episode of the EdTech Startup Showcase, Eric Makelky talks with Cresconova founders Yen How Tai and Barbara Yu about building a more personalized, creativity-centered learning experience for children. Yen and Barbara explain why they created Cresconova Global and Cresconova Lab,...

Today we're sharing part three of the implementation series from Family Engagement Lab. Elisabeth O'Bryon of Family Engagement Lab and Rayna Flye of Illustrative Mathematics join us to discuss: When families say "this isn't how I learned math," what are they really reacting to? What teachers understand about today's math instruction that families never get to see Why the disconnect often starts wi...

Today we're sharing part two of the implementation series from Family Engagement Lab. Co-founders Vidya Sundaram and Elisabeth O'Bryan join us to discuss: When schools launch family engagement initiatives, what typically happens over time? What does it mean to "fail quietly?" What it typically looks like when a strong idea starts to lose momentum in a school system The most common (and least visib...

Today we're excited to bring you part one of a series from Family Engagement Lab. Co-founders Vidya Sundaram and Elisabeth O'Bryan join us to discuss: How the common idea of “family engagement” differs from what families actually need The “missing instructional layer” in school-home communication The difference between communication that informs families and communication that actually supports le...

In this episode of the EdTech Startup Podcast, host Jeff Bradbury interviews Mike Cronley, co-founder and CEO of Class Composer and former third-grade teacher. Mike shares his journey from the classroom to entrepreneurship, sparked by a casual conversation with his school's music teacher about students being incorrectly placed together. This "aha moment" led him to develop Class Composer, a softwa...

In this EdTech Startup Showcase episode, host Jethro Jones interviews Vidya Sundaram (CEO) and Elisabeth O'Bryon (Chief Impact Officer) from Family Engagement Lab. The conversation explores how their platform bridges the gap between classroom learning and home support through bite-sized, actionable text messages that help families understand what their children are learning and how to reinforce th...

Jamie Rosenberg is a two-time founder of technology platforms, including education philanthropy platform AdoptAClassroom.org, and the subject of today’s conversation, ClassWallet. We discuss: Jamie's entrepreneurial background and how he got into education The problem ClassWallet is aiming to solve How many states, districts, and schools ClassWallet is working with If Jamie was starting the compan...

Ben Gustafson, founder of Classroom Mosaic, returns to the show along with Jeff McCoy, associate superintendent for Greenville County Schools in South Carolina.  Jeff and Ben discuss: How Greenville "electronicized" observation with Classroom Mosaic  Greenville's objective to get more insight into classrooms and transform instruction Helping principals become better instructional leaders and the i...

It's a delight to be joined by Kali Frederick, Professional Learning Designer with the High Tech High Graduate School of Education who has 20 years of teaching and designing learning experiences in PBL classrooms at High Tech High and NYC. In this insightful episode, she and Scott discuss: How Inkwire supports collaborative curriculum design at High Tech High How Kali learned the necessity of rele...

Today we're thrilled to introduce Class Composer, the newest startup to join the show. We speak with CEO and co-founder Mike Cronley.  Class Composer is a software solution designed to create balanced and equitable classroom assignments. Mike shares his journey from being a third-grade teacher to developing a tool that addresses the challenges of inequitable class assignments. The conversation exp...

Priten Shah, the founder and CEO of Pedagogy. Cloud and Pedagog.ai, returns as guest. He gets us caught up on the company's latest work, sets the context for ethics and AI, and discusses some of the key questions educators need to be asking about AI.  Hear about: Embracing tech for a meaningful purpose Finding new uses for AI and being realistic about some of the persistent challenges Priten's upd...

We're excited to have Christel Reaves, founder and CEO of Connected Class, back on the show. Today she shares some of the big developments with Connected Class over the past six months and a lot more: Hear about: Earned insights on scaling a startup Knowing your strengths as a founder and building the right team around yourself Providing resources that give parents options to support their child's...

In this episode, we welcome back Scholar Education co-founder Marlee Strawn for a deep conversation about developing "good AI" that solves pressing challenges for educators. Marlee and Scott discuss: Going from teacher to administrator to founder Starting Scholar Education and building BaxterBot Generating meaningful data insights Putting real education expertise and context behind the data An AI...

In this episode, Barb Flowers speaks with Dr. Shannon Putman. Shannon is owner of Putman XR Consulting, focusing on immersive technology education, training, and support. She was a special education teacher in Jefferson County Public Schools (KY) for 15 years.  Hear their conversation about: Using VR for virtual field trips and job shadowing Understanding how virtual reality gives students the rea...

Adrienne Usher, Assistant Superintendent of Bullitt County Public Schools in Kentucky, is today’s guest. She discusses her work to bring engaging project-based learning to her district and more: Profile of a graduate and building key competencies into academics Creating authentic learning experiences focused on productive collaboration and innovative problem solving Change management through simpl...

Welcome to this special episode of the EdTech Startup Showcase, part of our National Literacy Month series of podcasts , presented in partnership between the Be Podcast Network and Reading Is Fundamental (RIF). Our guest today is Kyle Wallgren, a startup coach, investor, and CEO of Edsoma , whose AI-powered app unlocks the science of reading.  Hear about: Kyle’s entrepreneurial background and moti...

Joel Backon is the editor-in-chief of Educate AI Magazine , a new platform dedicated to supporting those who seek to enhance learning through artificial intelligence. The Be Podcast Network is collaborating with Educate AI to share podcasts and other content advancing educators’ understanding of AI tools and trends.  In this bonus episode, you'll hear about: How Joel got involved with Educate AI a...

Today, we’re discussing the skill-based economy, modern career and technical education, and redefining college and career pathways with CareerViewXR’s Matt Chaussee and Richard Kincaid from the Maryland State Department of Education.  Hear about: Career is the goal. College is one of several ways to get there.”  Redefining College and Career Pathways How career exploration can help define goals an...

Bonny Lorenzo, an instructional specialist with Connected Class, is today’s guest. Bonny has more than 35 years of teaching and leadership experience at the elementary and high school levels.  Integrating classroom technology that doesn’t distract from the learning experience Tailoring instruction to individual student needs Using technology to give teachers choice Helping educators balance in-per...

In this episode, you’ll hear insights on valuable applications of AI for teachers. Find out how to use AI tools to create better assignments, enhance students’ critical thinking skills, save time on various tasks, differentiate instruction, and more.  About today’s guest Nina Bamberg is Director of Curriculum and Instruction for Pedagogy. Cloud and Director of Programs at United 4 Social Change. ...

Today we’re excited to welcome a new company to the Showcase, Scholar Education, in this conversation with  Marlee Strawn, the company’s co-founder and Head of Education. Hear about: Vision and goals of Scholar Education Who Scholar Education’s solutions are designed to support in schools The challenges the company is solving Marlee’s career in education What educators are sharing about their expe...