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Thursday, January 19, 2012

A Geographer Looks at EdTech - Part 10 - Biz of Ed Tech

--- This post is the tenth, and last, in a ten part series examining top 2011 trends in education technology in the context of GIS and geography education. ---

The tenth theme Audrey Watters identified in her top ten list of ed tech for 2011 is the educational technology business itself. There are myriad of startups tackling all sorts of old and new problems in education. And, of course, many mainstream companies have education "arms" - including Esri and Google.

EdTech in GIS has clustered around the biggest player, Esri, though a few other packages with associated materials are available. I'm thinking of My World GIS, for example. But, with the platforms such as the Web and mobile phones for teaching and increased interest in teaching (and use) of open source software, the GIS Ed Tech market is poised for growth.

2011 saw the launch of a non-profit that's not exactly "Ed Tech" but is tapping into the updated "service focused" education model. Have a look at a piece I did on GeoContribution. I'll be keeping an eye on the newest GIS/geography Ed Tech for 2012.