It is a thin line being a protective parent and becoming overly involved in your child’s life. For some time now educators have been dealing with those so called helicopter parents who pay extremely close attention to their children’s experiences and problems. What originally started at often high-priced higher education institutions and earned some parents from the baby-boomer generation notoriety has since turned into a phenomenon and is widely spread over the entire schooling of a child starting from pre-kindergarten, K-12 well into college. In 2011 Tiger Mom’s Chinese parenting style got everyone talking about, in 2012 we heard about the techie father who built a helicopter drone accompanying his son to the bus stop. While the cases mentioned aren’t rare individual cases anymore, the trend still largely depends on one’s own initiative, at least in the US and Europe. Now, some Asian startups see a lucrative market in assisting worried parents track their kids’ whereabouts on their commute to school, taking this whole phenomenon to the next level. Nugrean Thailand-based startup Nugrean helps parents track their kids’ whereabouts when on the schoolbus. The same is true for the kids’ teachers who can also log on and see where the bus is on a map either in the morning driving to school or on the way home. The startup believes that its service will help the safety and quality of life of the children and subsequently the parents as well. Nugrean CEO Shotiwan Wattanalarp already eyes potential internationalization of the app and says the team will add new features like students’ interests and behavior. Video Links nugrean.com BusBuzz BusBuzz, an app from Singapore, is based on a similar concept like Nugrean but was founded by a concerned parent based on personal experience with his child. BusBuzz wants to facilitate the communication between parents and bus operators. With BusBuzz bus operators have a convenient way to take attendance of every child, parents have peace of mind that their child is actually on the bus on the way to or back from school or receive a notification if their child is not in the pick-up zone for one reason, i.e if there is a change of schedule. Video Links busbuzz.com MyBusMate Singapore-based MyBusMate aims to give parents who wait for their children at the bus stop real time updates on their whereabouts so they don’t need to worry in case the bus is late. While children could certainly update their parents via SMS, MyBusMate also has features for school administrators and bus companies baked into the product. Parents benefit from real time tracking and push notifications, schools can message parents and bus operators as well as check student attendance, and bus companies get features like automatic invoicing and student manifest. Links mybusmate.com Although all three solutions are still fairly new and have to prove themselves, their usefulness and usability, but they surely illustrate a new trend in K-12 that, once enough data points are in, will catch the interest of parents and schools in other parts of the world. As protective parents face the same worries and challenges this might actually have the potential to catch on in the US and other countries as well given the infrastructure and organization of everyday life at school are comparable. Further Reading EdTech Startups Asia: easyuni, MyBusMate, SchoolofTutors and Mettl | EDUKWEST Track your kids’ whereabouts with BusBuzz! | e27 Thai startup plans to assuage the anxieties of parents as they track the whereabouts of their children when they’re on the school bus | e27 Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior | Wall Street Journal Helicopter parent: Techy dad builds drone to hover over kid (+video) | Christian Science Monitor Picture License Some rights reserved by Twix

At the end of the school year, past students often come by and make a special trip to see a teacher who has made a difference in his or her life. It is always heartwarming when you receive a card of thank you message from a parent or student as well. The end of the school year is always bittersweet as you look forward to vacation as well as the opportunity to hear from students you had in class in the past. I call those moments of remembrance, "Paychecks of the Heart!". Since I have been working with master’s level students, I have received a few of the special moments via email about how much they appreciate the guidance and feedback I have provided through the course assignments I facilitate. I appreciate those moments too. Please share below any special moment to remember that you experienced this year and share our paychecks of the heart. I can’t wait to read your moments to remember!

One year after John Yoo took over as CEO of Teachers pay Teachers from its founder Paul Edelman, the teacher resource marketplace shuffles its leadership again. Adam Freed, who joined TpT’s board of directors in May as part of its venture round, takes over as CEO. Yoo will go back to his roots as former head of product and focus on mobile strategy and classroom initiatives. Freed was COO at Etsy between August 2010 to December 2012. Given the similarities between Etsy and Teachers pay Teachers his appointment as new CEO makes a lot of sense. Like TpT, Etsy is powered through a group of highly motivated and creative people who sell their handcrafted goods on a global marketplace. The values and dynamics that are shared by the community are probably fairly similar which means that Freed will be able to implement quite some of his experiences from Etsy’s marketplace into the TpT community. Freed also has extensive experience leading global teams and initiatives at Google which should be beneficial for TpT’s international growth plans. UK-based TES Global just recently announced that the next version of its TES Resources platform will introduce paid downloads, making it a direct competitor of TpT. According to TechCrunch, TpT paid out over $86 million to teachers since its launch in 2006, $45 million worth of content was sold in 2013 alone. All in all 22 million pieces of content were traded. Teachers either pay for the material out of their own pocket or from discretionary funds dedicated to school supplies. For comparison, TES Resources sees 4.5 million downloads of its free classroom materials every week and teachers have created a catalog of over 1 million resources. But only a small fraction of the nearly 6 million TES Resources members creates material whereas TpT has 40.000 active sellers compared to 800.000 buyers. Further Reading TpT Welcomes Our New CEO, Adam Freed | TpT Blog Following Its May Financing, Teachers Pay Teachers Names Former Etsy Exec As CEO | TechCrunch Related Links HEDLINE: Teachers Pay Teachers raises from Spectrum Equity, Tiger Global and True Ventures | EDUKWEST Next Version of TES Resources will introduce Paid Downloads | EDUKWEST Europe TES Global acquires Digital Lesson Platform Blendspace | EDUKWEST Links teacherspayteachers.com | Twitter | Facebook

Eight year old Gabriel Dispenziere is a student who interacts with his peers and teachers using a web conferencing application and mobile device. He sits at a desk in his house and participates in the activities from a distance due to an extreme food allergy he experiences. He isn’t allergic to just specific foods. He is allergic to all foods and any remnants on a person so he is unable to attend school or be around others that may have food particles on them. He cannot eat any food and is fed through a feeding tube at night. Gabriel is not able to be around anyone who has food on their hands, body or breath or he will have an allergic reaction due to his rare health condition. Gabriel is very intelligent and skipped first grade. He is unable to attend school as he cannot risk being exposed to food particles on peers or airborne. But this year Gabriel has been to partially experience being part of a classroom for the first time due to the use of technology. Gabriel has an iPad at his desk and there is an iPad mounted to a rolling stand in the classroom so that the students can see and interact with Gabriel as well as with his teacher. Gabriel and the students use Facetime to contact and interact with one another from a distance. He can now raise his face, participate in paired or group activities safely and securely from his iPad at home. Gabriel was diagnosed at age two with eosinophilic esophagitis commonly known as EoE. It is a rare condition that causes the esophagus to inflame from allergic reactions to various food products. Unlike Gabriel, some are only allergic to a handful of foods but Gabriel is allergic to all food products. With the recent addition of using Facetime, Gabriel is able to ‘attend’ school even though he has never been able to set foot in classroom or school building. If he leaves the house he has to be very cautious where he goes to avoid all food products. Gabriel is not allergic to sugar so he gets lollipops as treats and got cotton candy and snow cones on his birthday. You can read the full article at http://riverheadlocal.com to find out more details about his health condition. He has spent a great deal in the hospital and every day he gets to ‘attend’ school is a blessing.   Photo credits: Riverheadlocal.com

Edmodo has raised a $30 million venture round led by Index Partners, bringing the total amount of funding raised to $87 million according to Xconomy. Investors participating in the four venture rounds to date include Learn Capital, Benchmark, Union Square Ventures, Greylock Partners and others. With that amount of money raised it is highly unlikely that Edmodo will ever become an acquisition target which means that all signs are now set on an IPO as we saw with other startups in the edtech space. Chegg raised $252 million in ten rounds. 2U raised $95.9 million in six rounds before its IPO earlier this year. Instructure raised $39.1 million in three rounds and hinted that the next step would be the stock market. There is of course a difference between 2U and Chegg on the one hand and Edmodo and Instructure on the other. Whereas 2U and Chegg had a clear business model from day one, Edmodo and Instructure followed the path of organic growth and adding paid options later on. In the case of Edmodo offering the platform for free brought the product into the hands of over 35 million users, teachers and students, in over 220.000 schools across the world to date. That the platform is now adding premium options like professional development courses and its analytics suite Snapshot is another sign that Edmodo is preparing for an IPO. The team has been famously tight lipped about its business model but EdSurge shared that Edmodo charges $7500 for a six week PD course and that Snapshot is priced between $1275 to $2000 per school per year. If half of the 220k schools signed up for the small plan, Edmodo would be making over 140 million per year. For comparison, Chegg had digital revenue of $18.7 million and 2U reported $24.7 million in revenue for the second quarter of 2014. All in all there is huge potential in Edmodo as it has managed to become more than just another edtech product. In November 2012 I wrote that "A second candidate for an IPO might be Edmodo. Similar to 2U the platform, Edmodo is building a product and not just a feature. It’s a platform that adds new features, and has seen great traction amongst its users." Index Ventures gave a similar reason why it invested in Edmodo in a blog post "There are many characteristics of successful start-ups. But at the core, there are three models that we love the most: businesses that are marketplaces, businesses with network effect and businesses that become platforms for an ecosystem. In Edmodo, we see an opportunity for all three of these models in a sector that has fundamentally been a technology laggard. We’re thrilled to back one of the world’s most promising education startups, and we can’t wait to work side-by-side with the team as they continue to transform the education sector." Further Reading Bringing innovation to our educational systems: Why Index invested in Edmodo | Index Ventures Edtech Companies Foresee Boost from New K-12 Standards | Xconomy Edmodo Raises $30M Round Led by Index Ventures | EdSurge 2U, Inc. Reports Second Quarter 2014 Financial Results | PR Newswire Related Links Chegg outsources Textbook Distribution to Ingram in its Transition to Digital Company | EDUKWEST All is well in Edtech Land | EDUKWEST Links edmodo.com | Twitter | Facebook | CrunchBase

My dear friend and mentor, Miguel Guhlin, wrote a blog post about gamification and how to make learning fun for our students by creating mystery adventure quests. When students are having fun and learning, achievement soars along with motivation and engagement in the learning process. I so appreciate the generous amount of time Miguel spent writing the blog post and sharing amazing feedback about my book and gamification in the classroom. I was hesitant to write the book. Would anyone want to read what I had to say? Would anyone buy the book? I had a lot of fears but pushed through and wrote a manuscript and found a publisher. I do hope people find value in the book and what I share. I explain ways to use lots of technology resources and web tools in the classroom to create mystery adventure quests and general technology lessons. If you feel so inclined to purchase my book know how much I appreciate the support. Enjoy if you purchase the book! Be sure to read Miguel’s blog post regardless of whether you purchase the book or not. He makes some great points about transforming learning integrating technology and gamification into the classroom. His comments are more than feedback on my book. They are priceless.

500 Startups announced its 10th accelerator batch last week. It will be the second batch in San Francisco with 28 startups from across the globe participating. Ten of the startups did not raise money prior to joining the accelerator program, 24 of them are already generating revenue. 500 Startups is among the most active investors in edtech. In this batch three startups are in education technology. Monkimun Monkimun is a Madrid-based educational game studio that specializes in language learning apps for children between 2 and 8 years of age. Founded in 2014 by Cristobal Viedma, former head of platform at Viki, and Marieta Viedma, Monkimun has gathered over 200k downloads in 25 weeks and signed a deal with Telefonica to pre-install the apps in their tablets. In June Monkimun released Monki Chinese Class, the first app in a line of products called Monki Class. Video Links monkimun.es | Twitter | Facebook | AngelList StudySoup Launched in 2012 by UC Santa Barbara students Sieva Kozinsky and Jeff Silverman, StudySoup started as a distribution platform for electronic versions of course material to save students money. In March, StudySoup launched a peer to peer marketplace for study notes, guides and tutoring services, generating over $10k in revenue per month. Links studysoup.com | Twitter | Facebook | AngelList Uguru Launched in April 2014 by Michael Koh and Samir Makhani at the University of Berkeley, Uguru is a marketplace for on demand peer to peer tutoring. Uguru matches learners with peers who have aced the same class with the same professor before. Bookings are on demand and can therefore be scheduled on short notice. The price for one hour of tutoring is between $15 to $20 USD. Links berkeley.uguru.me | Twitter | AngelList Further Reading 500 Startups Announces Batch 10 in San Francisco | 500 Startups

Many educators know and are constantly challenged to introduce new and innovative ways to reach their students and foster enthusiasm for the learning process. As an alternative to the textbook and current events model, global projects provide a unique look at the educational process by introducing students to cultures and classrooms at a global scale. If you have been looking for a way to enrich your curriculum or increase the rigor and relevance of your learning activities, join me Thursday, July 30, 2015, at 7pm EST/6pm CST as we talk about what this strategy entails and easy ways to introduce participation in global projects to re-energize your teaching.

Last week we wrote about the 60+ edtech startups that are in risk of becoming seed orphans and therefore face an uncertain future. edshelf, an imagine K12 alumnus, is on the brink of shutting down but its co-founder Mike Lee decided to make a last stand in order to buy some additional time and turn his startup around. edshelf is a socially curated directory of edtech tools that aims to help educators navigate the huge choice of educational apps, desktop programs and electronic products based on recommendations of its community. Since its launch in 2012, edshelf has managed to gather a core group of users who use the product on a regular basis. The community currently has over 15k members, mostly tech/IT administrators, coordinators, integrators, specialists, trainers, librarians and early adopters. The database covers over 4000 apps and products, 95% of which are ranked or reviewed by the community. When edshelf co-founder Mike Lee broke the news that his co-founders and team already had to leave the startup and that he would have to shut down the site in early July, it was this group that started the Twitter hashtag #saveedshelf to gather support. Based on this Lee decided for a last attempt and started a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. Today with 13 days to go, the campaign has raised $12,343 with a campaign goal of $30,000. At first glance this it is looking not that bad but here is the catch: Lee will only receive the money from Kickstarter if he manages to raise $30k or more. If he doesn’t reach the campaign goal all the money pledged goes back to the funders and edshelf shuts down. I asked Mike if he plans to set up a second campaign if he does not succeed on Kickstarter, maybe on Indiegogo where you have the option of keeping the money you raised without reaching the campaign goal. He told me that he hasn’t any plans to do so. Of course, even if Lee and the edshelf community manage to raise the $30k it just means that he bought himself some extra time because the biggest problem that edshelf is facing is its lack of a business model. According to Lee this is the first thing that he will be working on. I asked him if he already has some ideas to get edshelf to break even and beyond. He told me in an email that the startup has already been offering sponsored listings in the edshelf Weekly newsletter. As a next step Lee plans on offering premium accounts on edshelf to vendors, where they can manage their product listings, get basic listing analytics, etc, as well as sponsored listings in edshelf's search results. He is also going to explore a possible premium "edshelf for Schools" product as some schools have expressed an interest in this. What about charging users directly and create constant, recurring revenue? Lee states that "I've considered charging for a premium service too, though I don't know of any edtech companies that have done that with much success. Within the edtech ecosystem, the parties with the financial means are companies and schools. So far, I've had an easier time reaching companies than schools, so my near-term plan is to keep on doing what has been working, and multiply it. But since some teachers have expressed an interest, I'll certainly explore a premium subscription service too." All in all finding the right business model will remain a tough nut to crack. Kindertown, another edtech startup in the review space was acquired last year, most likely because it wasn’t able to survive on its own. Common Sense Media which goes beyond apps and tools is supported by several foundations including the Gates Foundation. Then there is the option of outside capital. Lee does not want to raise money from investors for the moment but manage to grow organically. "If at some point outside investment can help edshelf grow faster, than I'll consider it. In my opinion, outside investment is best used to help a company grow faster, not to grow in the first place." Right now the future of edshelf is still uncertain. With less than two weeks left and not even 50% of the money needed raised, Lee and his community have to go all in to gather the financial support. If you want to support edshelf, check out the campaign on Kickstarter and share Lee’s story on social media using the hashtag #saveedshelf. Links edshelf.com | Kickstarter | Twitter

This year I did not attend the ISTE (International Society of Technology Educators) conference and participated in the Google+ #notatiste15 community instead. There were some great posts about sessions that were shared live via Periscope and other means of broadcasting sessions live. I learned a great deal even though I didn’t attend in person. Attending virtually felt like I was right there with the other participants thanks to those that live streamed their sessions. The #notatiste15 community was on the ball and shared so many ways to participate virtually. Sue Waters of the Edublogger created a Flipboard magazine which I can’t wait to view. She curated ISTE posts and links and I know it will be an excellent resource. Jen Wagner, Vicky Sedgewick and Craig Yen did great job moderating links, posts, articles, etc. about ISTE and sharing them with the community. I was totally lost until I saw how they were posting and sharing in the community. I even shared a few tweets about events at ISTE for the #notatiste15 community. I learned how to use Google draw to create a virtual ISTE badge with colored ribbons and even made my own ribbon. It is small and difficult to read but I learned how to do it by myself which I am pretty proud of! Simple I know but new to me. The badges were so interesting and creative. I never got my badge in the Google slidedeck but I hope someone will do that for me. I tried but was never successful. My next personal goal and challenge will be to host a Google Hangout (GHO) by myself. I plan to have a specific topic with guests and host a short session with the guest experts and I discussing whatever topic we select. What topic is trending: how to host a GHO, gamification, publishing your own book, creating Flipboard magazines? Leave a comment with your suggestion and I will line it up and schedule it. I am more familiar with hosting webinars in Adobe Connect or Blackboard Collaborate - so much so those come naturally to me. GHOs, not so much. So thank you to all who shared in the #notatiste15 community (https://plus.google.com/communities/102762507417207490264). I learned so much and cannot thank everyone enough. I even got to share about my book, "Kid Detectives Classroom Gamification Learning Activities: Mystery Adventure Quests". That was super exciting for me as I am really proud of this accomplishment. I share all of this to say the past week I stepped out of my comfort zone and tried a few technical things that were new to me and participated in live Periscope sessions that were also new to me. I took some learning risks and it greatly paid off. It reenergized me enough to try new things and expose my vulnerabilities and weaknesses. I am still learning and I hope you are too. Now I am off to edit the expanded version of "Kid Detectives"!