INDEX INCLUSION: If you’re reading this article, our hope is that you have used our EdSurge Edtech Index. It's a free, online encyclopedia of 1500+ products that anyone can use to search for the latest edtech tools. The site makes it easy to filter and find products that fit the needs of teachers and administrators.
The content on the Index is produced solely by EdSurge. Companies submit data that we use to create profiles, but they do not directly edit the pages. We want to share only the most relevant information in these profiles and try to keep them free of jargon and market-speak. This is a critical reason that administrators and teachers use the Index to find, compare and select products to try or buy. (For example: A company that bills itself as a “multi-integrated, longitudinal student achievement reporting system” could be described on the Index as “an online gradebook that integrates with a school’s SIS.” Much simpler.)
But keeping the Index up to date is time and labor intensive. Over time, a backlog of write-ups to complete has developed. And our Index team is small. Very small. In fact, here is a picture of the entire team.
Recently, we’ve found a partner to help us keep the Index up to date. Over the summer, the Jefferson Education Accelerator (JEA), a research accelerator for edtech companies, approached us with an offer to underwrite the cost of an Index writer for the second half of 2015.
JEA’s commitment matched our own desire to provide quality, timely information to decision makers around edtech. “We are committed to identifying solutions that support great teaching and make a profound impact on student outcomes,” wrote Bart Epstein, CEO and Managing Director of JEA. “We are regularly interacting with hundreds of edtech companies looking to put their products and tools to the test… Working with EdSurge reflects our commitment to equipping K-12, higher education, and corporate learning decision makers with clear information about the growing market of tools and solutions.”
Our hope is that, through partnerships like this one, we can improve both the depth of information and breadth of products represented on our Index. This will in turn create a better resource for every teacher, administrator, entrepreneur and other education stakeholders.
Frequently asked questions about the Index:
- How does EdSurge ensure quality control? EdSurge writes Index profiles using information provided to us by the company, as well as what we can find on the company’s website and other public sources. In this case, members of team EdSurge directly supervise the activities of the writer provided by JEA.
- What does JEA get from this partnership? In return for their underwriting, JEA will receive a free sponsored article on our site.
- How do I get my product on the Index? We’re adding new companies to the Index every day. Just fill out these two surveys and we’ll get your product on the site as soon as possible.
Thoughts on this Index initiative? Have an idea for an Index improvement that you’d like to see? Shoot Michael Winters a note at Michael@EdSurge.com.
