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HEDLINE: 51Talk raises $55 million Series C led by Sequoia Capital

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51Talk Series C

Chinese online English school 51Talk has raised a $55 million Series C led by Sequoia Capital with participation of existing investors Shunwei Capital and DCM. The round brings the total funding raised by 51Talk to over $70 million including a $12 million Series B in December of last year.

Founded in 2011, 51Talk has currently 50.000 paid users who are taught by over 2.500 English teachers who are mostly home-based in the Philippines. The company plans to ramp up its staff to over 8.000 teachers by the end of 2015 according to 51Talk’s co-founder and COO Shu Ting. He also estimates that there are between 20 to 30 million people interested in learning English in China alone.

Based on the Series C 51Talk will focus on growth and not profit for the next three years according to its other co-founder Huang Jiajia. The funding will be used to upgrade the technology platform, IT infrastructure as well as the core curriculum. Currently 51Talk is targeting adult learners but an expansion into English courses for children and its international expansion are planned among the next steps.

The English language learning space in China has heated up significantly over the past couple of months. Besides several sizeable rounds for smaller startups in the space TutorGroup, a direct competitor of 51Talk in the Chinese ESL space, raised more than $100 million in February and March.

Links

51talk.com


Registration open for upcoming Skype Translator Feature

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Skype Translator

Skype is now accepting applications for previews of its upcoming Translator feature. Demoed at re/code’s Code conference in May, Skype Translator lets people communicate via VoIP even if they speak different languages.

The feature is based on the work of the Microsoft Research team and includes speech-recognition, automatic-translation, and machine-learning technologies. Microsoft acquired Skype in May 2011 for $8.5 billion.

With Skype Translator speech is translated in real time and displayed as scrolling text at the bottom of the call window. During the test period Skype will be supporting translations for Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

People interested in testing the new feature can register via Skype’s website. The feature will only work on PCs, laptops and tablets that run Windows 8.1 for the time being.

Video

Success starts at home: Online Language Learning in Europe

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Language Learning in Europe

As cross-dressing sensation Conchita Wurst belted out her Eurovision Song Contest-winning tune across a room filled with Europe’s hottest tech start-ups, I knew it could only mean one thing: the Europas annual awards evening had officially begun.  From Berlin came Babbel, who have become one of the world’s leading language learning platforms. Used in 190 countries, with over 25 million app downloads to date, they swept to victory in the education category in exuberant style. However Busuu, Babbel’s nearest rival both in market and geography, reached a staggering 50m users this year, proving that Europe has truly emerged as the home of social language learning.

Their success certainly paints a sharp contrast to their most notable competitor Livemocha, who faced an arguably disappointing conclusion to their start-up story early last year which despite its 16m users and their $19m in funding, sold for just $8.5m to Rosetta Stone.  Yet Livemocha had been falling behind for a while, and as Busuu and Babbel’s traffic and user base grew strongly, Livemocha’s seemed to stagnate.  In the social language learning market, managing customer acquisition cost is particularly important as it is an especially low margin (CPA to CLTV) model.  Generating viral growth and identifying low cost acquisition channels is therefore key. Mobile had become a key channel in which to do so and while Busuu and Babbel were quick to launch their (good) apps, Livemocha missed this trend. A discounted valuation was inevitable.

But acquisition isn’t the only issue social language learning companies have to face.  On a standalone basis, Livemocha seemed to have failed to convert is substantial traffic and user base into revenue and profit, and within this lies a fundamental flaw in social language learning business models – they don’t attract serious language learners.

Hobbyist language learners have always actively consumed language learning products, whether to achieve that ever illusive dream of comfortably conversing on a Spanish Holiday with the waiter or perhaps a nostalgic dream of reading Sartre in his native tongue.  These consumers were monetised often the same way; you sell them the dream, then they pay for it upfront, and then the product (historically a book or CD), languishes in the book case after just a few short sessions.  The majority of this consumer group isn’t sufficiently incentivised, or motivated enough to actually engage with the product, hence any company who builds its business model around monetising engagement is going to face an uphill struggle.

In emerging markets, learning English is a route to success rather than a hobby. If a taxi driver in Rio ferrying about tourists during the Olympics and the World Cup – has rudimentary English, he will earn more.  Factor in the emergence of the Brazilian middle class, plus rising internet penetration rates, and these markets not only look attractive, but ripe for disruption.  The caveat is, however, that these consumers need insurance.  If they are going to invest both their time and their money, they need a concrete learning outcome which is often still perceived to be only achieved through structured courses in bricks and mortar institutions.

Unfortunately, social language learning is broad (all subjects), global (all regions), and free, giving the perception (whether justified or not) of low quality.  Without strong evidence-based product efficacy or brand awareness, they are struggling to win the patronage of these specific users who have a high willingness to pay.  Perhaps investing into adaptive learning and personalising user journeys to improve learning outcomes will help in the future.  Either way, it will be a while before the wider populous is up to speed on these benefits.

Two companies however who have managed to successfully engage such users are OpenEnglish in LATAM, and TutorGroup in China. It’s true that both these markets have proved fertile. In China, roughly half of the world’s 1bn language learners will be worth an estimated $21 billion by 2015, whereas in Brazil, the market is thought to already be worth in excess of $2bn. However, these companies have distinctively similar characteristics: they’re both focussed purely on one region, on one subject, and on one high stake user need - to gain competency in English in order to gain a better job and, invariably, a better life.  Both have comparatively inexpensive long term structured courses, focussed on annual subscriptions and the promise of fluency.  Having both raised over $115m, they are putting this money to work differentiating themselves against their offline competitors.

And as these new sites start stealing market share, the dominant offline schools are taking the threat seriously.  For instance, Grupo Multi, an offline ELL chain of schools in Brazil (acquired by Pearson early this year for $721m), has actively snapped up several assets to help them compete in the digital ELL market. One such acquisition is EzLearn, who are digitalizing educational content from Wizard (their legacy ELL business) in order to help them compete in the online learning space.

What is next for these two players in the English language learning world then?  Securing domestic market share looks most likely.  With an estimated ELL market size of $2bn in Brazil alone and strong competition from EnglishTown, EnglishUp (a Digital Education portfolio company) and Voxy, it is highly likely they will have a domestic battle on their hands first.  With China and LATAM heating up, who will emerge as the European champion awaits to be seen, but the probability of it being Busuu and Babbel is minimal. Their global imperialistic strategy spreads them much too thin in such a large and competitive market. And now with countries such as Turkey and Poland displaying similar characteristics sitting right on our doorstep, I couldn’t help but look round the room, and wonder who here was going to seize this opportunity that was so ripe for the taking.


Disclosure: Digital Education is a supporter of EDUKWEST and EDUKWEST Europe.

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How Skype Translator will Revolutionize Language Teaching

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Skype Translator

This week Skype opened up registrations for its upcoming Skype Translator feature which translates speech in real time and displays the translation as captions on the video call. Skype itself markets the feature as a replacement for language learning, albeit as a former language coach I am actually pretty excited about the technology’s potential for language teaching.

Back in the days I always made the point that Skype is all you need as a language instructor. Forget virtual classrooms, interactive whiteboards and all that often unreliable software. Using Skype forces both student and teacher to focus on the essentials and its still best-in-class voice quality makes it perfect for language instruction.

Along with the mentioned voice quality the chat function plays a major role when teaching a language. As a tutor you are using it (or should be using it) constantly as a note book, providing links, explaining vocabulary and giving written translations in addition to the pronunciation.

With Skype Translator language tutors will now be able to even go a step further and offer total immersion, a form of language teaching I personally was never a huge fan of. The idea of total immersion is to teach a student in the target language from day one by only speaking with him or her in let’s say English. With Skype Translator, this concept would make more sense as the student will get a translation right away.

Now I know, people shouldn’t use subtitles to learn a language when watching movies but I believe this form of teaching will prove to become hugely popular. The question being of course whether Microsoft is going to licence its technology one day or if language learning startups will be forced to use Skype as their VoIP client. And one doesn’t have to be a visionary to predict that Google will eventually come up with a similar offering for Google Hangouts as they have the technology to integrate in the form of Instant Translate already.

Skype Translator will also mean that students will have an even broader choice of global teachers to choose from. Today it is necessary that the instructor also speaks the native language of the student, at least in the lower levels. With instant speech translation and transcription this won’t necessarily be the case anymore, opening up a far bigger pool of teachers (and students) to choose from.


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UNESCO launches World Library of Science – Free Online Science Education Resource

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UNESCO World Library of Science

UNESCO officially launched a free online science education resource portal in partnership with Nature Education and Roche. The project is called World Library of Science (WLoS) and aims to provide students with free access to the latest science information as well as a hub to connect and discuss with peers from around the globe.

The World Library of Science wants to especially support students in underdeveloped regions by equalizing learning opportunities, improving the quality of teaching and learning and promoting the use of Open Educational Resources.

At launch the World Library of Science features over 300 articles, 25 eBooks, and over 70 videos from the publishers of Nature. Through the portal students can join classes and create groups to connect with other learners and teachers.

07.11.2014 - UNESCOPRESS UNESCO partners with Nature Education and Roche to launch the World Library of Science: a free online science education resource

UNESCO launched the UNESCO World Library of Science (WLoS), a newly created, free online science education resource for a global community of users. Developed through the joint efforts of UNESCO, Nature Education and Roche, the WLoS was created to give students around the world, especially those in disadvantaged regions, access to the latest science information as well as the opportunity to share their experiences and learning through discussion with their peers in a shared learning environment.

Launched on the occasion of World Science Day for Peace and Development 2014, the WLoS is a science resource library stocked with over 300 top-quality articles, 25 eBooks, and over 70 videos from the publishers of Nature, the most cited scientific journal in the world. It is also a state-of-the-art digital platform that provides a community hub for learning. Users can join classes, build groups and connect with other learners.

Specifically, the WLoS seeks to make science learning accessible to students everywhere in the world by:

  • Helping equalize learning opportunities. The WLoS is open to all at no cost. It provides students with access to high-quality educational material, regardless of geography or economic circumstances. UNESCO will dedicate special attention to training teachers and students in least developed countries in how to use the WLoS, accelerating science learning in disadvantaged regions.
  • Improving the quality of teaching and learning. The WLoS supports teachers and students worldwide by giving educators concrete ideas about how to present complex scientific concepts and students resources to fuel and complement their learning. The website provides a searchable database of content that is peer-reviewed.
  • Strengthening science education. Scientific understanding is the foundation of sustainable development and prepares learners for employment.
  • Promoting the use of open educational resources. The WLoS content is open. It can be tailored and shared for any educational or non-commercial use. The WLoS is founded on the idea that educational content and scientific knowledge should be free and accessible to all.
  • Connecting communities of students and teachers. The WLoS is more than just a traditional library: it is a dynamic resource that allows users to collaborate with others, personalize their learning experience, pose and answer questions, and collaborate with others while exploring scientific concepts. The WLoS fosters knowledge-sharing and peer-learning.

“The world needs more science and more scientists to face today’s global challenges, ”

said UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova.

“Achieving this requires better and more accessible science education. The UNESCO World Library of Science is a remarkable and exciting new tool that will help provide it, not only to students, but also to education planners and teachers, wherever they may be.”

Mariette DiChristina, Executive Editor, Nature Publishing Group and Editor-in-Chief of Scientific American, added:

“Science is the engine of human prosperity that powers and enables a better future for us all. That is why it is so important to widen access to high-quality information about science and to science teaching, and why we are tremendously proud to be involved in this effort to open up high-quality content from Nature, the world’s leading science journal, and other quality sources. As we continue to add to the UNESCO World Library of Science over time, we will help share scientific knowledge and the wonder of discovery with students and teachers all over the world.”

Dr. John C. Reed, Head of Roche Pharma Research and Early Development, said:

“As a research-focused company, we are firmly committed to promoting excellence in science across the world. The UNESCO World Library of Science is an excellent platform to enable future generations of scientists, particularly those in disadvantaged regions of the world, to have access to the latest science information and educational resources. This is why we proudly support the project as Enabling Sponsor.”

**** Press contact: Agnes Bardon UNESCO Media Relations Tel: +33 1 4568 1764; a.bardon@unesco.org Notes for Editors: 1. About UNESCO: UNESCO was founded in 1945, in the aftermath of World War Two, to develop the “intellectual and moral solidarity of mankind” as a means of building lasting peace. It strives to build networks among nations that enable this kind of solidarity by: mobilizing for education so that every girl and boy as access to quality education; pursuing scientific cooperation to create knowledge and understanding , and to build sustainable and greener societies; foster intercultural understanding; safeguard cultural heritage; and protect freedom of expression.. For more information about UNESCO’s work in the fields of science and education, visit: www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences.of building lasting peace. Its pioneering work has helped change the way people everywhere 2. About World Science Day: Established by UNESCO in 2001, the World Science Day for Peace and Development is celebrated worldwide on 10 November each year. The day offers an opportunity to mobilize various partners to highlight the important role of science in society and to engage the wider public in debates on emerging scientific issues and the relevance of science in their daily lives. The theme for the 2014 World Science Day for Peace and Development is promoting Quality Science Education: ensuring a sustainable future for all. 3. About Nature Education: Nature Education was formed in 2008 with a primary mission of connecting the research and discovery community with science education and innovative publishing strategies. Nature Education publications are written by scientists, and meant to explain research discovery as well as spark curiosity about what we still do not understand. With these publications, Nature Education aims to push the boundaries of science publishing and breathe new life into the global science education landscape. For more information on Nature Education, visit:http://www.nature.com/nature_education. Nature Education is part of Macmillan Science and Education. To find out more visit: www.se.macmillan.com. 4. About Roche: Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is a leader in research-focused healthcare with combined strengths in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. Roche is the world’s largest biotech company, with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, immunology, infectious diseases, ophthalmology and neuroscience. Roche is also the world leader in in vitro diagnostics and tissue-based cancer diagnostics, and a frontrunner in diabetes management. Roche’s personalised healthcare strategy aims at providing medicines and diagnostics that enable tangible improvements in the health, quality of life and survival of patients. Founded in 1896, Roche has been making important contributions to global health for more than a century. Twenty-four medicines developed by Roche are included in the World Health Organisation Model Lists of Essential Medicines, among them life-saving antibiotics, anti-malarials and chemotherapy. In 2013 the Roche Group employed over 85,000 people worldwide, invested 8.7 billion Swiss francs in R&D and posted sales of 46.8 billion Swiss francs. Genentech, in the United States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche is the majority shareholder in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan. For more information, please visit www.roche.com.

HEDLINE: Course Hero raises $15 million Series A

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Course Hero Series A

Class notes and peer learning community Course Hero has raised a $15 million Series A led by GSV Capital Corp. and IDG Capital, with participation of existing investors SV Angel and Maveron.

GSV Capital is one of the most active investors in education technology counting startups like 2U, Coursera, Declara, Knewton, General Assembly, Parchment, Dreambox Learning to its portfolio. IDG Capital recently invested in a $15 million Series C of Chinese test preparation platform Yuantiku.

Founded in 2006 by Andrew Grauer at Cornell University, Course Hero previously raised around $2 million in seed and angel funding in three rounds. The new funding will be used to grow the team and user base.

Class notes marketplaces have become a popular service among students even though there is still a notion that sharing or even selling class notes and other study resources is borderline cheating and should therefore be banished.

Nevertheless, edtech startups like Course Hero have managed to build sizeable audiences, raise venture capital and get exits. Notehall got acquired by Chegg, NoteUtopia and Moolaguides got acquired by Flashnotes, which itself is a class notes marketplace.

Course Hero’s $15 million Series A from two leading VC firms shows that the vertical is on the upswing as it also fits well into the broader theme of the sharing economy which is represented by so called unicorns like home rental platform airbnb and ride sharing provider Uber.

It might also be seen as a reaction to Brainly’s entrance in the US market. Founded in 2009 in Krakow, Poland Brainly has created a global network of homework help sites across Europe and Asia, totaling more than 30 million students. Brainly raised a €9 million Series A last month and opened an office in New York City.

Course Hero has over 5 million users at universities and high schools worldwide which have access to more than 7 million course-specific notes, study guides, and practice tests via the site as well as homework help from expert tutors and customizable flashcards.

Video

Links

coursehero.com | Twitter

HEDLINE: Pluralsight acquires Skill Test Platform Smarterer for $75 million

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Pluralsight Smarterer acquisition

Pluralsight, an online training platform for professionals in the tech sector, has acquired skill test platform Smarterer for $75 million. Smarterer raised $4.6 million in four rounds from various angel investors, True Ventures, Rethink Education, Google Ventures and Boston Seed Capital. The Smarterer team will remain in Boston.

Founded in 2010, Smarterer created an algorithm that can assess a test taker’s skills with 10 questions, taking not more than two minutes. Having had problems finding growth in the consumer space early on, Smarterer started targeting employers in 2012, resulting in a 1250% growth in the first week.

Earlier this year the startup launched Flock, a business-focused version of its product. With Flock companies can assess the skill set of their current employees to get a better understanding of what they know, where the company needs to offer training and who are its most knowledgeable workers. On the other hand, employees can use the platform to keep pace with the current trends in the digital workplace.

Smarterer also partnered with the leading freelance marketplace Elance to assess the skills of 2.8 million online workers that offer their expertise on the portal. After the acquisition, Smarterer will continue to operate as an autonomous but aligned company. To date, Smarterer’s community has answered more than 56 million questions across 1.7 million test sessions.

The acquisition of Smarterer is Pluralsight’s fifth in the past 15 months, and comes just three months after a $135 million Series B led by Insight Venture Partners with participation of ICONIQ Capital and Sorenson Capital. The WSJ expects the revenue of Pluralsight to surpass $85 million by the end of 2014.

Pluralsight will incorporate Smarterer in its subscription based online training platform, replacing Pluralsight’s current assessment system. Smarterer will also be linked to the Pluralsight course catalog, enabling learners to follow an individualized learning path based on the skill test.

“We are excited to fuel Smarterer’s growth and help establish an industry standard for skill assessments and measurement. Smarterer’s distinctive technology paints a clear picture of true skill level, and creates opportunities for more efficient workforce planning and individual self discovery.”

states Aaron Skonnard, co-founder and CEO of Pluralsight in the press release.

The acquisition also marks a change in strategy as it is the first outside of the content space. Pluralsight aims to create an industry standard for skills measurement based on the expertise of its expert community who will contribute to the crowdsourced tests.

Links

pluralsight.com | smarterer.com

Further Reading

LinkedIn launches Add-to-Profile for Certifications

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LinkedIn Add-to-Profile Certifications

One year after the launch of the Direct-to-Profile Certifications pilot LinkedIn announced the launch of Add-to-Profile for Certifications, opening the pilot to any professional education provider interested in offering the service to its learners.

Through the program, education institutions are able to add a certification widget to their courses. Learners can then simply add the certification to their LinkedIn profile with the click of a button once the course has been completed successfully.

LinkedIn also introduced a new ranking of the top certification providers on the network which is based upon the number of professionals displaying those certifications in their profiles.

The top spot on the list currently goes to Microsoft followed by MOOC platform Coursera. From the other launch partners we find lynda.com in ninth place, Pearson VUE in 33rd place, edX in 39th and takes Udemy the 67th spot. The ranking also features an overview of top certifications by occupation.

Links

addtoprofile.linkedin.com

Further Reading


New Approaches to Open Access from The Gates Foundation and Macmillan

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Open Access

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation published its new Open Access Policy last week which requires all recipients of grants from the foundation to make their published research accessible to the general public.

The new policy comes into effect as of January 1, though the foundation commits to a “two-year transition period” during which publishers can apply for a so called 12-month embargo period to limit the accessibility of research as well as underlying data sets.

The new policy is rather straight forward and contains five main elements:

  1. the research must be meta-tagged and thus be searchable on the web
  2. it must be published under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 or a similar license which covers unlimited copy and redistribution of findings and data
  3. the foundation will pay what they call “reasonable” fees to a publisher
  4. the publications will be open and accessible immediately
  5. the underlying data will be open and accessible immediately

The latter two with the exception of the embargo period mentioned above.

Over the past 24 month the voices in higher education and from journalists have become louder to get more and unrestricted access and reuse of peer-reviewed published research. Of course, the big scientific publishers certainly aren’t enthusiastic to make this happen. As a researcher your need to publish your work in one of the big journals, and of course publishers are interested in keeping their cash cow.

From what I know and have read, if a researcher wants to make his or her research accessible to the general public journals often charge them USD $2,000 to $3,000. And everybody who needs to access those papers knows that it can quickly cost you several hundreds of dollars for one publication.

It remains to be seen what the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation determines as reasonable fees. The global STM (science, technology and medicine) market in 2011 was estimated at $23.5 billion by Outsell. And journals are the a big piece of this market with $9.4 billion. So why change such a profitable system?

The scientific publishers might look at their colleagues in the global newspaper publishing industry who have struggled to keep up with technological changes over the five years to 2014.

One might say that scientific journals are one of the last niches virtually untouched by change. It is somewhat comprehensible that publishers want to keep things the way they are as long as possible.

Although this reasoning might still be dominant among STM publishers, I recommend to read the article in The Scholarly Kitchen about Elsevier’s market position and the acquisition of Mendeley, there might also be some first signs of rethinking the situation. Annette Thomas, CEO of Macmillan Science and Education, gave the Independent an interview published yesterday in which she discusses open access to data.

“Scientists have better tools to share their personal photographs or to collect their music than they do to actually share and access data,”

she states.

Under Thomas’ leadership Macmillan has opened up to the idea of open access and invested in related startups such as Figshare and Readcube. Nature, the publisher’s leading science journal, is also a founding partner of the UNESCO’s World Library of Science which aims to provide students with free access to the latest science information as well as a hub to connect and discuss with peers from around the globe.

Disclosure: Macmillan Digital Education, part of Macmillan Science & Education,  is a supporter of EDUKWEST.

Further Reading


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Nature makes its Article Archives Free to View

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Nature.com open access

Macmillan Science and Education announced today that from now on it will enable subscribers to journals on nature.com to share articles with colleagues not having a subscription. The same is true for readers of 100 media outlets and blogs from around the world who can now direct their readers to the original paper via a link.

The links can be shared via email or on social media, though the articles come as read only hosted on Readcube, meaning they come without the possibility to copy or print them. Institutional subscribers can share any article since the first issue of nature in 1869, individual subscribers, however, are limited to the years from 1997 on. 

Commercial use is excluded, instead the focus is on fostering collaboration as the possibility to annotate text is enabled in the read-only versions. 

Macmillan Science and Education says nature.com has more than 10 million monthly unique visitors and this new way of opening up the journals would benefit more than 6,000 universities and organizations worldwide.


Articles on nature.com to be made widely available to read and share to support collaborative research

Macmillan Science and Education, one of the leading publishing and technology companies in the world, today announces the launch of a groundbreaking publishing initiative that will make it easy for readers to share an unprecedented wealth of scientific knowledge instantly with researchers and scientists across the globe.

Subscribers to 49 journals on nature.com can now legitimately and conveniently share the full-text of articles of interest with colleagues who do not have a subscription via a shareable web link on nature.com. In addition, Macmillan Science and Education will take a lead on opening up public engagement with scientific knowledge to society at large by giving access to the same content to readers of 100 global media outlets and blogs.

Two initiatives are being introduced:

  1. Subscribers to 49 journals on nature.com will be able to share a unique URL to a full text, read-only version of published scientific research with colleagues or collaborators in the most convenient way for them, e.g. via email and social media. Included are the world's most cited scientific publication, Nature; the Nature family of journals and fifteen other quality science journals. This new initiative will be available to scientists and students at more than 6,000 universities and organizations worldwide, and serve the more 10 million monthly unique visitors to nature.com. This sharing is intended for personal, non-commercial use. To further aid collaboration, forthcoming annotation functionality will enable subscribers to share comments and highlighted text with their colleagues.
  2. 100 media outlets and blogs across the globe that report on the findings of articles published on nature.com will be able to provide their own readers with a link to a full text, read-only view of the original scientific paper. Thousands of high-quality scientific papers will be available. Nature has published some of the leading scientific stories of our time, such as the Human Genome; the structure of DNA; Dolly the Sheep; the invention of the laser; the identification of the AIDS virus and the discovery of the hole in the ozone layer.

Annette Thomas, CEO of Macmillan Science and Education said: "We exist to serve the information needs of researchers, to help them in their work, and ultimately in making discoveries in order to improve the way we all live. We have, over many decades, published a wealth of world-leading scientific knowledge through our family of journals. Today we are able to present a new way to conveniently share and disseminate this knowledge using technology from one of our innovative and disruptive divisions - Digital Science - to provide a real solution to the global problem of how to efficiently and legitimately share scientific research for the benefit of all."

Steven Inchcoombe, CEO of Nature Publishing Group added: "Scientists have always shared their work, it is essential to advancing progress. Nature was established in 1869 to help scientists share, and to bring science to the public. In today's global, internet-enabled world, we think we can meet the needs of science and society better. We know researchers are already sharing content, but not always optimally. We're committed to adapting to meet the needs of the community, and to basing our decisions on an evidence-based approach. We are conducting our own "experiment" to understand how best to help sharing of knowledge in a sustainable way. Working with authors, readers, libraries and journalists, we hope to learn a lot."

Timo Hannay, Managing Director of Digital Science explained: "We know researchers are already sharing content, often in hidden corners of the Internet or using clumsy, time-consuming practices. At Digital Science we have the technology to provide a convenient, legitimate alternative that encourages researchers to access the information they need and the wider, interested public access to scientific knowledge, from the definitive, original source."

The technology behind this initiative has been developed by ReadCube, a Digital Science portfolio company which develops software to make research literature more accessible and connected for researchers, institutions and publishers. Its publisher technologies have already been adopted by partners such as Wiley, Nature Publishing Group, Karger De Gruyter, Rockefeller University press and many others.

Nature Publishing Group have also today released content sharing principles and a new policy to support this sharing initiative, which will be refined based on usage and community feedback over a one year period. To follow updates throughout the pilot launch, please follow the hashtag #scishare.

-ENDS-

About Macmillan Science and Education

Macmillan Science and Education has more than 5,700 employees in more than 50 markets and supplies high-quality content and innovative digital products and services to customers in 120 countries around the world. It unites all Macmillan's scientific, scholarly, academic and education businesses across the globe. Visit www.learndiscover.com and follow @MacmillanSandE on Twitter.

About Nature Publishing Group (NPG)

Nature Publishing Group (NPG) is a leading provider of scientific journals, magazines, products and services. Publisher of Nature and Scientific American, NPG is dedicated to serving the scientific community and the wider scientifically interested general public. Visitnature.com and follow @npgnews on Twitter.

About ReadCube and Digital Science

ReadCube develops software to make the world of research more accessible and connected. The free ReadCube desktop application for PC and Mac helps researchers in any discipline easily organize and manage existing article libraries, and discover new literature through searches and personalized recommendations. ReadCube is supported by Digital Science, a technology business unit within the Macmillan Science and Education portfolio which serves the needs of scientific research. It offers a range of scientific technology and data solutions, from intelligent knowledge discovery tools to software applications for the laboratory and decision support systems for managers. Visit www.digital-science.com and follow @digitalsci on Twitter. To find out more about ReadCube, visit www.readcube.com and follow @ReadCube on Twitter.

Contact: Grace Baynes Head of Science and Scholarly Communications Nature Publishing Group T: 020 7014 4063 | M: +44 (0) 7540 920 600 g.baynes@nature.com Contact: Lisa Hulme Digital Science and ReadCube M: +44 (0) 7941 232 333 l.hulme@digital-science.com Contact: Sarah MacDonald Head of External Communications Macmillan Science and Education T: 020 7014 6829 | M: +44 (0) 7714 916 798 sarah.macdonald@macmillan.com

Further Reading

Nature makes all articles free to view  

Is Yik Yak the next Facebook?

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Yik Yak

Early rumors of a $75 million round for the anonymous messaging app Yik Yak that were first reported by TechCrunch turned out to be a $62 million round led by Sequoia Capital. Though there is no official statement of the round, TechCrunch dug up the SEC filing yesterday.

It’s the second funding round for Yik Yak this year, having raised a $10 million Series A in June led by DCM.

From the start Yik Yak made people’s eyebrows raise, mine included. An anonymous messaging app for students seemed to be an invitation for disaster, making it easy for bullies to target their next victims.

TechCrunch just reported on a copycat app called After School that was banned from the iTunes App Store today due to cyberbullying and bomb threats posted using the app. The app also targeted high schoolers, a demographic Yik Yak pro-actively banned from using the service earlier this year as a result of similar events.

In the end, the way Yik Yak managed to more or less contain cyberbullying through geo-fencing and other precautions to prevent younger users to access the network while still maintaining a fast growth track has surely been one reason the team attracted sizeable investments.

Nevertheless, $62 million for a messaging app that lets college and university students post anonymous updates that can be seen by everyone in a 1.5 mile radius must be a sign of a tech bubble, right? It’s either this or another clever bet by Sequoia as it surely is not about what Yik Yak is today but about what it might become.

First of all, I find it very hard to understand the need for Yik Yak, and I suppose this is a generational issue. The app seems to make a lot of sense to college students though as the adoption rate of Yik Yak does not show signs of a slowdown, and it now covers 1.000 colleges and universities in the US.

Taking a look at Sequoia’s portfolio you will find a ton of tech companies that in their early days surely didn’t look like the next big thing. Apple, Google, LinkedIn, YouTube, Zappos, Instagram and PayPal are only the tip of the iceberg. And even though Sequoia missed out on Facebook the fund already turned a profit on the social network twice as it acquired Instagram for $1 billion and WhatsApp for $22 billion. The latter racked in a return of over $3 billion from a $60 million investment.

Is Yik Yak the new WhatsApp?

Hence, there is of course speculation if Sequoia thinks that Yik Yak might turn out to be a second WhatsApp. Jim Goetz, the partner who made the deal with WhatsApp will now also join Yik Yak’s board of directors.

Is Yik Yak the new Facebook?

I think here it gets really interesting. In an interview with GigaOm’s Carmel DeAmicis in October, Buffington and Droll stated they were building Twitter for the next generation. And the way Yik Yak works today is indeed pretty similar to Twitter’s stream of updates.

The major difference is that updates are tied to certain locations which makes Yik Yak a hyper-local version of Twitter which could be used in many ways to drive revenue down the line. If a student shares an update about a craving for tacos, restaurants in a 1.5 mile radius could offer coupons to give you just one fairly obvious use case.

Like Facebook pivoted from a location based social network for universities into a global social network, it is not that much of a stretch to predict the same for Yik Yak. It has the potential to become the next big social platform, natively mobile and anonymous.

Mobile First and Anonymous

Facebook is currently having a hard time making the switch from web based app to mobile. If unbundling its different services like messenger and groups on mobile devices will help Facebook to stay relevant is one question, the other one being whether its users still trust the company with their data.

In every survey about trustworthiness and customer happiness Facebook is getting bad results. The only reason people still use it is because their contacts are on there, as well. Looking at the fast growth of Yik Yak one can see that this does not need to be the case five years from now.

One of the reasons Facebook acquired Instagram and WhatsApp was to prevent users from switching to other forms of social networking, may it be around pictures or messaging and the more users Yik Yak will attract, the more relevant it will become over time.

Which leaves us with three scenarios. Either Facebook will shell out a couple of billions and acquire another potential heir to the social network throne, Yik Yak will become a fierce competitor for Facebook, or it will burn out and die.

Further Reading

  • Yik Yak Is Close To Closing On Roughly $75 Million | TechCrunch
  • Yik Yak, Big in Schools, Is a Hit With Investors Too | WSJ
  • Yik Yak’s New Funding Round Confirmed As Sequoia Leads $61M Investment | TechCrunch
  • Yik Yak raises funding to face a surprising competitor: Twitter | GigaOm
  • The dark horse rises: Could Yik Yak be the real winner among anonymity apps? | GigaOm
  • Yakety Sax: Why Yik Yak's Huge New Funding Round Isn't As Ridiculous As It Sounds | Fast Company
  • After School Is The Latest Anonymous App Resulting In Student Cyberbullying And School Threats | TechCrunch

Barnes & Noble buys out Microsoft from Nook Partnership

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Microsoft Nook partnership

In an effort to clear the way for an upcoming separation of its College bookstore and Nook business from its retail business, Barnes & Noble bought out Microsoft’s from their joint venture for $120 million in cash and common stock.

Announced in April 2012, NewCo was planned as a spinoff of Barnes & Noble’s digital and college business and fueled by a $300 million initial investment from Microsoft, representing 17.6% of the joint venture and setting the valuation north of $1.7 billion. Microsoft also agreed to invest another $300 million through 2017.

The separation is planned for August 2015 and Barnes & Noble hopes that the clearer structures will attract new investors for its struggling digital business. Pearson, which acquired a 5% stake in Nook Media in 2013, has also received a buy-back offer under the same conditions as Microsoft.

Both companies state changed circumstances for ending the partnership. For Barnes & Noble the Nook business did not turn into a strong sales channel as initially hoped. In the last quarter, Nook sales fell 41%, digital sales like ebooks 21%. Barnes & Noble also announced a partnership with Samsung to sell color tablets under the Nook brand while laying off most of its own tech staff.

For Microsoft the Nook partnership does not seem to fit into the new focus on its core businesses, either. Signed under former CEO Steve Ballmer, the partnership falls in a time before the acquisition of Nokia and the launch of own hardware like the Surface tablet.

Further Reading

  • Barnes & Noble, Microsoft End Nook Pact | WSJ
  • Barnes & Noble and Microsoft End Nook Partnership | New York Times
  • Here’s How Much Money Microsoft Lost Per Day On The Nook Deal | TechCrunch

Digital Einstein gives Online Access to Thousands of Documents

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Digital Einstein

When Albert Einstein died in 1955 he left the world a treasure trove of more than 80.000 documents, from postcards to notebooks and love letters.

Over the past decades Princeton University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem which is disposed of the copyright by Einstein’s will, have worked together to collect, sort and publish these documents in 30 volumes. Curated by Dr. Diana Kormos-Buchwald, The Einstein Papers Project already published 13 volumes, covering the work and life of the physicist until 1923. The 14th is planned for early 2015 and will contain 1000 documents.

Last Friday Princeton University launched Digital Einstein, a central place on the Internet for everyone around the world to browse the vast archive in digital format. Digital Einstein will also enable visitors to switch between the German and English versions of his texts as well as to download them as all documents are published under open access. Currently the archive features 5000 digitized documents including Einstein’s birth certificate and violin test results.

via The Verge | New York Times

In the Slipstream of 2U’s Success Everspring raises another $10 million

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Everspring

Everspring, a Chicago-based edtech startup that helps universities to get their courses online, has raised a $10 million venture round from Park Loop and existing investors Carrick Capital Partners and Accretive reports Crain’s Chicago Business.

Everspring raised another $10 million earlier this year and currently counts University of Kansas, Kent State University, the College of William and Mary, and Auburn University as its customers.

Founded in 2011 by the former CEO of Kaplan Higher Education Jeff Conlon, Everspring follows the business model of 2U, which was founded in 2008 and had its IPO earlier this year. Both companies invest large sums upfront in the creation and marketing of the online-degree courses and then get a share of the tuition cost.

2U just celebrated its most successful quarter so far with $28.4 million in revenue, 39% more than last year. At a recent talk 2U’s co-founder and CEO Chip Paucek attributed the success of his company to the business model.

"If you are not focusing on the business model, it's easy to innovate yourself to death. I will not take credit for everything at 2U, but I will take credit for keeping it focused.”

Paucek told the audience.

The Landover-based edtech company now has nearly 800 employees but Everspring is also growing fast. One year ago the startup had 10 employees, 30 in May 2014 and today Everspring has a staff of 50.

Other than MOOC platforms like Coursera, edX, or futurelearn and iversity in Europe that add new courses to their portfolio on a regular basis, 2U and Everspring grow much slower based on their selectiveness in terms of partner universities and degrees. Therefore, it will also take a while until they saturate the market and grow into being direct competitors. For now there seems to be enough room for both companies to grow and an Everspring IPO in 2016 or 2017. If 2U does not acquire its competitor, that is.

Further Reading

Skype Translator Preview features Connected Classrooms at Launch

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Skype Translator Preview

Cross-published on Fair Languages.


Skype today officially launched the Skype Translator Preview with a video showing how the technology can be used to connect classrooms across the globe. In the demo a class from Tacoma in the USA and a class from Mexico City play a game of “Mystery Skype”, asking each other questions to determine in which city they are located respectively.

Of course, the technology works very well in the video but we have to keep in mind that this video has been shot in a controlled environment. Nevertheless, the excitement and fun the kids have during the session clearly shows.

At today’s launch, Skype Translator Preview supports two spoken languages: English and Spanish. 40+ other languages work with instant translation in the Skype text chat.

As we mentioned in November, Skype Translator Preview currently only works on devices running Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 and you need to register for the waiting list. The Verge points out that entering the registration code MTT1724 might get you a quicker invitation.

How Skype Translator Works

For those who are interested in knowing more about how the technology behind the Skype Translator works, Microsoft shared some additional info on the Skype blog. Essentially, the more people will use the product, the better it will become as it is based on machine learning and with a global user base of 300 million, Skype will have no shortage of data to mine.

During the preview period, Skype’s algorithm will be trained in the tasks of Speech Recognition and Machine Translation which are essential to translating the spoken language correctly. The algorithm has to learn how to notice and remove disfluencies like “ahs” and “uhms”, how to recognize sentences and where to add punctuation. For a more detailed overview about the process you can head over to the Skype Garage blog or watch the video below.

Those who are worried about what happens to their data on the Internet have to keep in mind that with the Skype Translator Preview their translated calls will be recorded and analyzed as part of the machine learning process. Though the data is not attributed to a Skype ID there will still be a recording stored on Skype’s servers for analysis.

Further Reading

  • Skype Translator Preview – An Exciting Journey to a New Chapter in Communication | Big Blog
  • Skype Translator – How it Works | Garage & Updates

HEDLINE: Science Community Guokr raises $20 million Series C

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Guokr

TAL Education Group, a Chinese K-12 after-school tutoring provider, led a $20 million Series C round in the online science community Guokr. TAL Education led the round, investing $15 million, the remaining $5 million came from existing investors IDG and others.

Guokr is an online community for people interested in science and technology where they can share and discuss articles written by scientists, the Guokr staff or community members. Guokr claims to have 25 million visitors per month on its web portal and related mobile apps.

In 2013 Guokr launched a MOOC platform and partnered with Coursera to translate and promote the courses to its user base. The Guokr MOOC platform currently has over 800.000 registered users. With the new investment Guokr plans to bring more courses from overseas providers to its MOOC portal. Other MOOC platforms in China include XuetangX which is based on edX and Kaikeba.

The company is also expanding into other verticals. Guokr has published a series of books covering science, science-fiction and children books, launched a maternal and baby health app and an air purifier.

TAL Education Group is currently one of the most active edtech investors coming out of China. Besides investments in Chinese edtech startups TAL participated in LTG Exam Prep Platform’s $3 million Series A in August, and in Minerva Project’s $70 million Series B in October.

Commenting on the investment, TAL's co-founder Yachao Liu states

"Through Guokr we can also extend our reach to a complementary customer base, the mostly college-based technology enthusiasts. This extension will solidify Guokr and our common ground in building a social community through MOOC-based science and technology content for young demographics. In addition, we will leverage the Guokr MOOC platform to connect with world class education resources, which is consistent with our recent investment in the Minerva Project, a revolutionary new provider of undergraduate education in the US, as well as our angel investment in Sharkpark, a science education company. Our investment in Guokr is therefore an outstanding opportunity to share our vision and align our interests in building new education models for the future and incorporating self-education on Internet and mobile Internet."

Further Reading

  • TAL Education Group Takes Strategic Stake in Guokr | PR Newswire
  • Science Networking Service Guokr Secures US$20M Series C Funding Led by TAL Group | TechNode
  • Coursera partner in China secures $20M funding to make more MOOCs | Tech in Asia

Links

guokr.com

HEDLINE: NetDragon Online Education Subsidiary Raises $52.5 million Series A

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NetDragon

NetDragon, a Chinese mobile and game developer, raised a $52.5 million Series A for its online education subsidiary Best Assistant Education, valuing it at $477.5 million. Investors include IDG Capital Partners, Vertex Venture and Alpha Animation.

Founded in 1999 NetDragon is behind the popular MMORPGs Eudemons Online and Conquer Online and runs China's leading online gaming portal 17173.com. In 2013 NetDragon sold its smartphone app store 91 Wireless to Baidu in the biggest Internet M&A at that date.

After expanding its game network globally in 2003, NetDragon started to develop content in the online education space. With the new funding the company is planning to build Best Assistant Education into a lifelong learning education ecosystem, covering K-12, vocational, non-academic credential and lifelong educational products. At its core the educational products will be made for mobile users and incorporate gamification elements to make learning fun and engaging.

"We believe the education industry is ripe for a major change. There is a strong and ever-growing need for a mobile educational platform that creates true educational value and makes people want to come back to learn more. We at NetDragon are fortunate to be in a very unique position to build such a product with our proven world-class mobile internet and gaming expertise, large-scale technology resources and team infrastructure that we have built out of scaling several successful businesses over the many years since our inception."

states Dejian Liu, Chairman and Executive Director of NetDragon in the press release.

Though classic brick and mortar education and tutoring are still predominant in China, a growing number of students shows interest in web based alternatives which are perceived as less strict and costly. China is the second major market for US-based MOOC juggernaut Coursera and domestic MOOC platforms like Kaikeba or mobile learning startups like Kuailexue attracted significant funding in 2014.

Further Reading

  • NetDragon Online Education Subsidiary Raises US$52.5 million in Series A Funding | PR Newswire
  • Online learning is becoming more popular | The Economist

Links

ir.netdragon.com

Duolingo launches Duolingo for Schools

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Duolingo for Schools

After announcing a more serious approach to language learning based on behavioural data last month, Duolingo launched its latest feature this week: Duolingo for Schools.

Like the web based portal and the mobile apps, Duolingo for Schools is 100% free to use with no upsells or advertisement which makes it an interesting addition to language learning classrooms in schools, universities or for tutors.

Teachers can track their students through a centralized dashboard and drill down into the performance data of each individual learner. In an interview with Wired Duolingo co-founder Luis von Ahn says that teachers were using the product in classes early on, even though they had to come up with ways to track the data of students by hand.

Based on the new adaptive learning algorithm that is powering Duolingo, language instructors will be able to see how long a student hesitates to give an answer along other insights, helping them to adapt their classroom lessons accordingly. Students will also be able to share their progress with friends and family.

Costa Rica and Guatemala are already piloting Duolingo in public schools, therefore adding a teacher facing feature will only help to further spread the hugely popular language learning app. Of course, there remains a certain barrier when it comes to the availability of computers, mobile devices and Internet connectivity in many of the developing markets.

Duolingo just recently launched a Windows Phone version of the app, making it available on a range of low cost devices in the developing world.

Further Reading

  • A Clever Plan to Teach Schoolkids New Languages With a Free App | Wired
  • Duolingo is Getting More Serious | Fair Languages

Links

schools.duolingo.com

Cengage Learning partners with LearnLaunch

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Cengage Learning LearnLaunch

Cengage Learning announced a partnership with Boston-based edtech hub LearnLaunch which promotes education technology through events, an accelerator program and co-working space.

As part of the partnership Cengage will invest and participate in the LearnLaunch accelerator program as well as sponsor the upcoming LearnLaunch Conference.

Other LearnLaunch sponsors include Pearson and McGraw-Hill Education.

Full press release after the break.

BOSTON, Jan. 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Through a new partnership, LearnLaunch, an organization dedicated to expanding Boston'sedtech ecosystem, and Cengage Learning, a leading education company, are joining forces to boost the Boston edtech community. Recognizing Boston as a center for both excellent education and technology innovation, Cengage Learning has made a commitment to participate in LearnLaunch's Accelerator program, which identifies edtech start-ups and provides them with mentoring opportunities to help them grow.

"Within the last year, we've officially made Boston our home, and we are excited to work with LearnLaunch here to support innovation in educational technology,"

said Michael Hansen, Chief Executive Officer, Cengage Learning.

"At Cengage, we have a new company culture that is entrepreneurial in spirit with students at the heart of what we do. Through collaboration with emerging edtech innovators and the cross-pollination and knowledge exchange opportunities presented through LearnLaunch, we will together inspire improved education for our student end-users."

"Cengage Learning has made a commitment to participate in LearnLaunch's Accelerator, which selects and invests in promising edtech start-ups and provides them with both a learning program and network of mentors to help fuel growth. Cengage Learning 's leadership in education and technology makes them an incredible partner for our start-up community,"

said Hakan Satiroglu of LearnLaunch.

In connection with the strategic relationship with LearnLaunch, Cengage Learning will be making an investment in LearnLaunch Accelerator, Boston's edtech accelerator. Through this investment, Cengage Learning will actively promote and support educational technology entrepreneurship and emerging educational innovations in the Greater Boston area.

Cengage Learning is the platinum sponsor for the upcoming LearnLaunch Annual Conference http://learnlaunch.org/2015conference and George Moore, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Cengage Learning, will be speaking at the event. For more information on Cengage Learning, visit www.cengage.com and for more information on LearnLaunch, visit www.learnlaunch.com.

About Cengage Learning

Cengage Learning is a leading educational content, technology, and services company for the higher education and K-12, professional and library markets worldwide. The company provides superior content, personalized services and course-driven digital solutions that accelerate student engagement and transform the learning experience. Cengage Learning is headquartered in Boston, MA with an office hub located in San Francisco, CA. Cengage Learning employees reside in nearly 40 different countries with company sales in more than 125 countries around the world. www.cengage.com.

About LearnLaunch

LearnLaunch is dedicated to connecting, supporting and growing the education technology ecosystem to drive innovation and transform learning. It offers a vibrant community, educational events, a collaborative co-working space, and a selective accelerator program to promote the growth of the education technology sector in greater Boston, a world education hub. For more information, visit www.learnlaunch.com and follow us on Twitter at @learnlaunch.

Media Contacts:

Josef Blumenfeld Cengage Learning 617-757-8258 Josef.Blumenfeld@Cengage.com SOURCE Cengage Learning

Indonesia plans to replace Textbooks with Tablets

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Indonesia Textbook Tablets

Indonesia is expected to become the fourth largest market for mobile devices, surpassing 100 million active monthly users in 2018, according to a recent report by eMarketer.

To better serve students in remote areas of the country, to cut down cost and to overall improve the quality of education, the Ministry of Education and Culture announced that it will replace physical textbooks with tablets and ebooks in the coming years.

According to Indonesia’s Minister of Education and Culture, Anies Baswedan, there are currently more than 50 million students in the country who are taught by 3 million teachers.

The E-Sabak will be preloaded with electronic textbooks and learning applications. It will have a data connection provided by PT Telkom and be distributed in remote areas at the start of the program with plans to extend the program to all parts of education in Indonesia down the road.

At the moment there is no information available about the device itself, who will be the manufacturer, which operating system it will run, or the pricing for the government. Time will tell if the Indonesian program will run smoother than India’s Aakash tablet which aims to provide students with a low-cost tablet based on Android. DataWind, the manufacturer of the Aakash had its IPO in July 2014.

Back in 2011 the government in South Korea announced a $2.4 billion program to replace all textbooks with e-readers and tablets by 2015. The program was stopped only one year later.

In Europe, the French government announced to provide 45.000 students with tablets by 2016. The devices will be manufactured in France, most likely by Archos, and run either Android or Windows.

via Tech in Asia

Further Reading

  • E-Sabak Ganti Buku Pelajaran di Indonesia | CNN Indonesia
  • 2 Billion Consumers Worldwide to Get Smart(phones) by 2016 | eMarketer
  • Why South Korea Is Putting the Brakes on the Switch to Digital Textbooks | Good

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