EdTech startups in Oakland
Updated: May 1, 2019
Last month, the Oakland School district teacher strike ended after teachers, students and parents petitioned for improvements. It’s a stark reminder of how teachers are undervalued and how there’s an apparent lack of investment in public schools (California is one of the states that spend the least on each student). Bottom line is that education cannot be an afterthought and technology can help. In the past decade, there have been a slew of K-12 education startups (3000+ globally), most notably, ClassDojo and Newsela. What about Oakland?
Here are 3 EdTech startups worth checking out:
Turnitin
Turnitin promotes authentic writing and prevents plagiarism. Turnitin’s software checks and investigates students’ writing for originality. On top of that Turnitin’s tool set includes personalized feedback. Headquartered in Oakland
and recently acquired by Advance publications, Turnitin is used by 30 million students at 15,000 institutions spread across 140 countries.
Booknook
Booknook improves students’ reading capabilities through their web application. Booknook features over 800 lessons mapped to 100 literacy standards and boasts adaptive technology which segments students by skill level to collaborate on small group exercises. Headquartered in Oakland with a total funding of 3.2M.
Sown To Grow
Sown to Grow empowers students K-12 to set goals, reflect, and learn how to learn. Instructors are able to track performance, provide feedback, and apply learning strategies. Sown to Grow’s team boasts several years of education experience in private and public school districts.
