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Ed-tech highlights from SXSWedu

This year’s SXSWedu conference saw the launch of fresh ed-tech start-ups, new educational games, and more.

sxswedu-ed-tech [1]Couldn’t make it to SXSWedu [2] this week? Hey, neither could we–but we’ve still got you covered.

Now in its fourth year, SXSWedu brings together some of the biggest names in education, as well as introduces people and companies whose ideas need more attention. Here are some of the major announcements, products, and trends coming out of Austin this week.

Study abroad, without leaving campus
Hoping to do for language studies what it has already done for political science [3], McGraw-Hill Education launched a new computer game at SXSWedu called Practice Spanish: Study Abroad [4].

The 3D, multi-player game simulates a study abroad trip in Spain, tasking students to use Spanish vocabulary to find their classes, buy souvenirs, interact with a host family, and even seek medical attention for a classmate.

“Short pre-task vocabulary and grammar activities will prepare you to complete the challenges,” McGraw-Hill said. “In the multi-player setting you will have the opportunity to interact with your fellow classmates from within the game, providing you with the opportunity to speak Spanish with your real-world classmates from within the virtual setting.”

(Next page: What ed-tech topic was the subject of more than a dozen different presentations?)Start-ups, start-ups, start-ups
One of the centerpiece’s of this year’s SXSWedu is the LAUNCHedu competition. Ten education start-ups pitched their products and services in front of judges and a live audience on Tuesday. The three winners moved onto the final showdown round on Wednesday.

Those winners are Admittedly [5], an online college advisory platform; Procorio [6], a remote proctoring service; and RobotsLAB [7], an interactive teaching aid that uses robots.

Learning giant Pearson also announced it’s now accepting applications for the second cohort of its Catalyst For Education [8] program. The start-up incubator’s first class — ClassOwl, Spongelab, Actively Learn, Ace Learning and VLinks Media — graduated from the program in December.

Similarly, Instructure, the company behind the learning management system Canvas [9], announced it was awarding $50,000 in education grants “to spur technological innovation from within the education community.”

Some of the winners include Virginia Stewart, who hopes to use problem-based learning and a cloud-based, open source ePortoflio as part of a core curriculum at Alamo Colleges; the University of Southern Indiana’s Katherine Winsett, who has developed a new data collection and analytics tool; and Robin Bartoletti, who plans on creating a blended learning MOOC at Texas Woman’s University that “can evangelize the maker movement.”

DIY and the maker culture
Speaking of the maker movement [10], that creative, do-it-yourself approach to learning was a common theme at this year’s SXSWedu.

“Making — messing around at the crossroads of science, technology, engineering, art and math — is a creative movement at the intersection of the physical and digital,” is the way one panel discussion described this burgeoning movement on college campuses.

From 3D printing to independent publishing, there were no less than 16 presentations devoted to students learning through creation.

Follow Jake New on Twitter at @eCN_Jake [11], and learn more about the goings-on at SXSWedu with the hashtag #SXSWedu. [12]