Transcript: Australian Education Technology
Transcript
Transcript
Australian Education Technology
Marie Spies, Head of Digital Learning Futures, Navitas Ventures
Edtech traditionally is any technology that supports or enhances any part
of the education system or learning. But over the past couple of years,
really the term edtech has been used to represent those disruptive forces
to education.
Navitas Ventures has recently launched its global edtech landscape
representing 5,000 edtech companies around the world and 40 billion
dollars’ worth of investment and it’s been fascinating to see the clusters
of innovation and investment, across the whole sector.
We’re seeing still a lot of activity in alternative credentialing models,
the move towards personalised learning through gamification, AR, VR etc.
Over the last couple of years, there’s been a convergence of edtech and
talent tech, lots of activity in the learning to work space and alternative
models such as boot camps, MOOC 2.0, and learn now pay later models.
Australia generally punches above its weight in education and we’ve been
trying to solve the problem of distance learning for 50 plus years.
Riley Batchelor, Chief Executive Officer, EduGrowth
We have a very strong and established education industry, so we have the
talent, the expertise and the knowledge. We also have a very strong and
fast growing start-up technology industry across the country. We’re
strategically located right next to Asia and a number of large and strong
markets that are right next door to us.
Ben Cochrane, Startup Program Manager, EduGrowth
I think that Australian edtech companies are particularly strong as a
result of the cultural diversity that Australia has. We have many different
spoken languages within any given classroom and the strength of the edtech
product has to rise to that level
Dr Stephanie Fahey, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Trade and
Investment Commission
Because of Australia’s geography we have a very strong history in distance
education and that’s translated into online education. We currently have
1100 firms who are currently offering courses online. So it’s not
surprising, given our expertise in ICT, that we’ve been able to develop
very vibrant edtech companies.
The potential for edtech for Australia is enormous. Currently we have half
a million international students in Australia. The Deloitte Access
Economics Report projects that there’s going to be a billion students
internationally by 2025. If the Australian education sector is going to
connect with those students it’s imperative that we engage in edtech.
Riley Batchelor, Chief Executive Officer, EduGrowth
The key characteristics of the Australian edtech sector are that there’s
about 350 companies across the country and the majority of those companies,
about 65% to 70% of them, are focused on the K-12 market, with the
remainder focused on the tertiary sector, early childhood and vocational
sector as well.
Dr Stephanie Fahey, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Trade and
Investment Commission
Austrade is fiercely ambitious on behalf of edtech companies in Australia.
We’ve helped to pull the industry together through the formation of
EduGrowth, which is an accelerator but also a peak body for those involved
in edtech.
Ben Cochrane, Startup Program Manager, EduGrowth
EduGrowth is Australia’s peak edtech body. We are here to drive innovation
for edtech companies within Australia. EduGrowth’s international network is
a unique one. From day one in our full-time accelerator program we have
pushed our start-ups to be internationally focused. We recently went to the
ASU GSV Conference, which is the largest edtech conference in the US.
Dr Stephanie Fahey, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Trade and
Investment Commission
Within Australian International Education 2025, we have the ambition of
having more than a million students in Australia by that time but we also
have, as part of that road map, that we want to be able to touch more than
100 million students around the globe. So, Australia is absolutely focused
on delivering quality education but enhanced by edtech solutions.
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