We live in extraordinary times.
It's time to create extraordinary EdTech solutions
Our Mission
In response to the upheaval in the world of education, the Unboxing School Movement is setting a Venture Studio to explore, develop, nurture, and share technological-based solutions that fit the "new normal" educational challenges.
We invite interested organizations and corporations to apply and become innovation partners in the Venture Studio, offering specific EdTech solutions that meet six significant educational challenges defined by the Unboxing School Movement. Every year, a selection of six of the applicants, with the experience, vision, and capability, will become partners.
The Challenges
The changes in routine forced on us by COVID-19 are a unique opportunity to change the world of education. The Unboxing School Movement will focus on six challenges identified by its members as having the potential to generate fundamental changes in education:
Social Emotional Learning
Hybrid learning significantly changes the informal social processes of students since the encounters and human connections are reduced to interactions in front of a one-dimensional screen. The range of consequences go from boredom, loneliness, mistrust to screen addiction, violence and depression.
Communication
Our communication ability is essential for integration into society, and for advancing our goals in the world. The crisis has led to a situation where we have encountered new challenges in terms of communication between teachers and students, between students themselves, as well as a growing parental involvement that redefines the parent-teacher-student triangle and the communication channels required for them.
The Independent Learner
The traditional world of learning and teaching, which relies to a crucial extent on frontal learning, is unsuited to a reality that requires independent learning. The lack of independent learning and research skills among students, and the lack of tools for teachers to use to impart these skills, may have a significant impact on learning processes under the new normal.
Attention
Today, learning is increasingly taking place in front of a computer and/or mobile device, and, as a consequence, skills to manage attention and focus have become critical. To do it effectively, we must first delve into exploring in what ways we need to manage our attention, what it means to distribute our attention, and what we as human beings and learners can do about it.
Skills for the Future
The cultural and technological changes in recent years have created a gap in critical new digital skills in the area of the human-computer interaction, such as cyber, data literacy, computational thinking, user experience, and media literacy. Covid-19 presents a great opportunity in creating space for these areas to enter traditional educational systems.
Learning Environments
Before the current crisis, there were physical learning environments
in school and virtual learning environments outside of school. The new reality redefines the boundaries between these two worlds and requires the formulation, creation and adaptation of a learning environment that will suit the new normal built on hybrids, and environmental conditions that are not always linear.
What we are looking for
Outstanding development partners who understand innovation and technology
who identify the potential in the EdTech market, and aspire to influence the world of education.
Partners are required to participate in funding
Target Partners
Partners in approach
The track is designed for organizations with an educational vision relevant to meeting the challenges identified by the Movement. The ideal partner would be a public body or non-profit institution, looking for ways to generate substantial impact.
Knowledge partners
The track is designed for institutions with academic or practical expertise relevant to addressing the challenges identified by the Movement. The ideal partner would be an academic or research institution that developed a cutting-edge idea that can be turned into an EdTech product with commercialization potential.
Technology partners
The track is designed for corporates that wish to investigate the relevance of existing technology to address the challenges identified by the Movement. The ideal partner would be a technology company with an existing product, that is looking into possibilities for applying its technology in the education market.
What We Are Offering
An education technology product
We specialize in the incubation of products for the education field and are offering a smart, rapid development process whose end product is the prototype of an EdTech product, with pedagogic depth, that can serve as the basis for trialing and continued development. The process includes concept consolidation, research, planning, design, initial development, and trialing – led by a carefully selected team, in line with the unique needs of each project.
Investment
An investment in product development worth 100,000$ that includes product development, pedagogy, and design expertise.
An understanding of the users and the environment
Development is carried out with the principal “user” being the focus of work on the product. The development process puts stress on motivating the user, the user experience, and their autonomy as learner or teachers. We work in partnership with major educational systems and organizations, which allows us unmediated access to users as an integral part of the process.
Commercialization and continued investment
The products to be developed as part of the Venture Studio will be jointly owned, with a separate commercial company being set up where appropriate. The Studio’s products are obvious candidates for continued funding, as part of the Movement activity.
Market oriented business development
Product development is carried out hand in hand with the development of the product’s sustainability, continuity and scalability model. Specialists involved in the process bring with them a deep understanding of the global EdTech market and enable connections with leading players and potential markets.
Global exposure
Participation in the process serves as a “Seal of Quality” from the EdTech Global Unboxing School Movement. The Movement is comprised of leading organizations around the world that represent experience, expertise and proven ability in acceleration, development, sales, and distribution of technological solutions for the education world.
Criteria for Selection
Quality of experience
Corporates and organizations with expertise and at least 3 years experience in their field, with the significant scope of activity and the ability to bring professional value to the process.
Commercial potential
The ideas that will be selected will be those that reflect commercial logic and an understanding of key market trends.
Innovation and added value
Ideas that carry with them concrete technologies or knowledge whose implementation in the world of education has not yet been tested or maximized, and partners who are fascinated by the idea of trying out new markets and horizons.
Funding participation
Partners are required to participate in funding. Minimum self-funding is $100,000. Proposals that include self-funding in excess of $300,000 will not be accepted.
Relevance
The EdTech world is undergoing a revolution, and the proposed ideas need to express an understanding of the new normal, the challenges generated as a result, and an attempt to address them.
Overall impression
We are looking for real partners, open to investigation and experimentation, who wish to play an active role and support the development process.
About Unboxing School
MindCET leads the Unboxing School Movement which includes a variety of activities for the different partners:
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An Activist Ecosystem formed by a number of squads defining and targeting specific challenges;
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A Venture Studio that explores, develops, nurtures, and invests in thoroughly selected EdTech Startups;
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Collaborative projects with "Super Users" - schools, educators, local administrations - early adopters wishing to make significant changes.
Contact us
The submission deadline has passed.
Feel free to contact us.