April is here, ASU + GSV is around the corner, and the Edtech world is abuzz with announcements and launches. Edtech Insiders is particularly excited to be breaking the inside scoop on one of the biggest stories in AI + Edtech today:
Anthropic’s Claude for Education
This morning, Anthropic has unveiled Claude for Education, a specialized version of its AI assistant designed specifically for higher education institutions. AI followers may remember that Anthropic founder Dario Amodei was a Vice President of Research at OpenAI for years, where he led the development of large language models like GPT-2 and GPT-3 before leaving over differences in “vision” and his approach to responsible AI development.
This move puts Anthropic in direct competition for higher education with OpenAI’s ChatGPT for education, which already has deals with name brand higher education institutions like Oxford, Wharton, Columbia and ASU.
Let’s break down what is in the initial Claude for Education offering:
For Students:
Claude for Education introduces Learning mode, which is designed to help students develop critical thinking by guiding their reasoning process rather than simply providing answers. Within its project infrastructure, Claude now offers ‘study projects’ and ‘career projects’ pre-trained to support learners, create study guides, visual aids and tutoring conversations. Claude for Education also offers ‘research projects’ that enable students (or faculty) to launch literature reviews with proper citations.
Claude for Education offers project types, like “Study”, “Career” and “Research”
Anthropic is also launching two student initiatives: the Claude Student Ambassadors program and the Claude Student Builders Program, both offering funding through API credits for student projects that use the Claude family of models.
In Learning Mode, Claude users can upload large amounts of reference materials (right), and then ask Claude to create visualizations, study guides, or to “Tutor Me”, as well as converse openly on the grounded material
For Faculty and Admins:
Anthropic has also announced an initial feature set for the educators and admins campus: in the initial press release, they name that “faculty that can create assessment rubrics and administrative staff can analyze enrollment trends”— both designed with the enterprise-grade security that has made Anthropic a B2B leader.
These claims are likely the tip of the iceberg of what will be offered with Claude on campus- Claude’s ‘extended thinking’ mode is a powerful corollary to OpenAI and Google’s “Deep Research”, and Claude’s offers web search, coding support
Partnerships:
According to Steven Syverud, Strategic Product Management at Anthropic:
"Anthropic's goal is to partner with universities as they explore AI enabled modes of teaching, learning, and working. We want to embed in the tools and processes universities already use, rather than being a one-off solution."
To this end, Anthropic has already announced partnerships with widely used Edtech providers like Instructure and non-profit Internet2 to integrate Claude seamlessly into existing academic workflows.
Anthropic has also announced full campus access agreements with Northeastern University, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and Champlain College, making Claude available to all students.
ASU+GSV and the AI Show
Ben’s Top ASU+GSV Summit Picks
I have a confession - while I often INTEND to go to a bunch of ASU+GSV sessions, I have a track record of getting waylaid en route by edtech friends, old and new. In years past, this was a specific objective: as an impact investor, ASU+GSV is a great spot to connect with entrepreneurs who might be a good fit for the fund. My favorite sessions were the ones that tracked macro trends around AI, school funding shifts, and investment trends.
Now that I’m back in the saddle as an operator, my goals for this year’s conference have shifted, but my plan largely remains the same: meet with great entrepreneurs. Instead of searching for the next deal, I’m looking for hard-won advice, insights, and wisdom from leaders I trust. I’m also exploring partnerships ranging from channel to content. ASU+GSV isn’t the place to have THE meeting, but it’s the best place to spark new ideas and collaborations.
With that in mind, I’m more focused this year on sessions that will expand my thinking and help me as an operator in today’s dynamic landscape:
Al and EdTech: The Key to Unlocking a $7T Market (Wed. April 9, 10:10 am - 10:50 am) I’ll be hosting this session that deep dives into AI with amazing guests Adeel Khan of MagicSchool, Chris Curran from TurnItIn, Jagriti Agrawal at Kira.
Early Childhood Education Summit (Mon. April 7, 2:10 pm - 5:10 pm) We are embarking on an early childhood revolution as parents demand more and science tells us more about the importance of early development. Isabelle Hau, Emily Oster, Sara Mauskopf, and Tom Sayer headline this all-star mini-summit.
StageX Tuesday Breakfast (Tues. April 8, 8:00 am - 10:00 am) Kick off the day with a group of education leaders… Sarah Friar (CFO, OpenAI), Michael Moe (Founder and CEO, GSV), Joshua Xu (CEO, HeyGen), Edwin Scholte (President, Articulate), Himanshu Palsule (CEO, Cornerstone), and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon! If a department no longer exists, can it have a Secretary? We’ll find out!
StageX Tuesday Lunch (Tues. April 8, 12:00 pm - 1:50 pm) Lunch with Andrew Ng, John King, and Sam Chaudhary? Sounds like one of those hypotheticals “if you could have lunch with…?”
AI in Education: Your Learning, Transformed (Tues. April 8, 10:30 am - 11:05 am) All-star line-up of Edtech CEOs: Sari Factor of Imagine Learning, Jamie Candee of Edmentum and the elusive Eilert Hanoa of Kahoot!
CareerX at The Show (Mon. April 7, 11:40 am - 1:15 pm) Edtech career exchange featuring Edtech superstars like Jim Shelton, Erin Mote, Michael Horn and Bror Saxberg. Amazing opportunity for Edtech veterans and aspirants to connect and foster the next generation (registration required).
Let’s Get Serious: Pedagogy-First, AI-Enhanced Learning (Mon. April 7, 3:00 pm - 3:40 pm) Julia Wilkoswki, Pedagogy Team Lead at Google, Dylan Arena from McGraw Hill, muckraker Dan Meyer of Amplify, and Sallie Halloway, Director of AI and Computer Science, moderated by Jeremy Roschelle of Digital Promise. An all-star pedagogy expert panel out to ensure that learning remains central to the AI era.
Is Education the Largest AI Application? The AI Era Belongs to the Curious (Mon. April 7, 2:10 pm - 2:50 pm) Fascinating topic with a panel of big tech experts from Adobe, Google (specifically, edtech veteran Katie Kurtz) and Perplexity, moderated by investor and operator Jennifer Lee of GSV - formerly Photomath. Great chance to get a bit outside of the Edtech bubble and think truly big.
Tips From The Insiders
We asked our Edtech Insiders+ group what words of wisdom they have for summit goers! Here is what they have to say:
Hayley Spira-Bauer: Bring comfortable walking shoes, and bring a backup pair. We are talking step counts akin to “Disney trip with kids.”
Aaron Cuny: Talk to as many school leaders and school system leaders as you can. Ask them where they’re seeing traction with AI/tech and where they’re seeing roadblocks or slower-than-expected progress.
Mike Berlin: Mine is the cheat code for finding a meeting location is the 4th floor pool.
Amy Jenkins: Make some of your meetings walking meetings. You will be grateful for the time outside and it’s too pretty to stay inside.
Brett Roer: Have a talk-to-text AI tool and tell it every amazing thing you learned and everyone you met along with key context to have a full recap and action steps. It’s too much to remember. Enjoy every moment. And, offer folks the following ways to take a meeting:
Walking the waterway.
Grabbing a coffee.
Grabbing a bite to eat.
Ask if they prefer being indoors or outdoors.
Use the outdoor balconies and poolside for meetings.
Dan Carroll: “How do I know who will be at ASU+GSV so I can plan meetings?” Assume *everyone* will be there and it’ll be pretty much true!
Jacob Kantor: Keep room in the calendar for randomness to happen. Last 3 years I have booked meetings every 30 mins the whole day. I missed too many random things happening with random people. I always had to say, “Sorry I have a meeting.”
Sunil Gunderia: The lobby bar at the Grand Hyatt offers a Who’s Who of the conference. Don’t miss the opportunity to have a nightcap there and mingle! And, splurge on the seafood tower if your banker or VC is paying.
Gavin Cooney: Go to any party at Puesto. The steak tacos are incredible.
Alyssa Miller: Don't forget to download the app to map out some sessions (and be prepared to stand on line for Stage X lunch)...Especially during these uncertain and transformational times across preK- grey -- ASU GSV is the ultimate 3-day IRL crash course to get a pulse on global industry. And, the main stage is typically televised.- Alyssa Miller
Alvin Crawford: The standing in line bit to get into the main sessions is an ROI killer. Striking the balance between line time for content vs additional meetings is real. - Alvin Crawford
Sandro Olivieri: I’m standing in that line to hear from Sec Ed, but I typically intentionally miss main stage content and line up as many meetings as possible. When I don’t have a meeting, I hang out in the lobby and inevitably see someone I want to meet with within a few minutes. When I do go to a session, it’s because I want to meet the audience, not the panelists.
Ian McCullough: Whatever it is that’s going to happen next — two steps *beyond* what the current hype topic may be — will be simmering across that convention hall. Look for patterns and draw connections in both what you hear everyone saying _and_ what you hear a few people saying. Prioritize sessions where the descriptions raise questions for you over ones that look like they’ll simply affirm what you already believe.
Edd Stockwell: Before each meeting ask, “What do you want them to think, feel and do?”
Josh Engel: I couldn't agree more with Brett Roer and Amy Jenkins about outdoor or walking meetings. Even just suggesting to meet outside the lobby (for example, the north lobby exit by Kettner Blvd) can make it easier to find someone and makes an outdoor/walking meeting an obvious option. And, the conference has a culture of texting (SMS), so just make sure to include your phone number in meeting invites/emails. Hope folks have a great experience!
Ben Kornell: Make a reservation at Sally’s fish house for lunch in advance. Then gather friends while you’re there to join you. There are still reservations available!!
Alex Sarlin:Make room for serendipity! While lots of Edtech folks schedule meetings throughout the day and stay holed up in restaurants and conference rooms, I always make time for walking the floor, stepping into unexpected sessions, chatting with entrepreneurs and vendors, and making space for hallway chats- you meet great people that way, and it’s pretty rare to be in an enormous space where every single person is doing something in your field.
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This edition of the Edtech Insiders Newsletter is sponsored byTuck Advisors.
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The Edtech Insiders Happy Hour at ASU-GSV has become an annual tradition bringing together edtech entrepreneurs, educators, investors, and system leaders. We are grateful to have Google, StartEd, Magic Edtech, Penn GSE, and EDT & Partners as co-hosts, along with our season sponsors Cooley and Tuck Advisors.
Registration for this event is full, but you can join the waitlist in case we have cancellations that open up!
Cooley LLP is the go-to law firm for edtech innovators, from early childhood through workforce. Informed by decades of experience in the education vertical, Cooley created the first edtech practice to provide industry-informed, business-minded counsel to companies and organizations at all stages of the corporate lifecycle. Cooley provides a multidisciplinary approach to client needs, offering seamless collaboration across offices and practices.
To learn more about what Cooley can do for you, reach out to Naomi May.
SchoolAI, a leading AI platform for teaching and learning, announced it has closed $25 million in Series A funding to tackle education’s fundamental challenge: helping teachers provide personalized attention to every student.
While this is nearly old news at this point, it still makes our top headlines list. OpenAI has introduced 4o Image Generation, a feature integrated into GPT-4o that enables users to create photorealistic images through conversational interactions. This advancement allows for refining images within a chat context, ensuring consistency and coherence across multiple iterations.
Brisk has secured $15 million in Series A funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners. The company offers a Chrome extension with over 40 AI-powered tools to assist teachers and students in tasks like lesson planning, grading, and detecting AI-generated writing.
Winnie has expanded its platform from trusted childcare and early education to help families navigate K-12 school options, offering a tool to discover and compare public, charter, magnet, and private schools. This feature goes beyond traditional rankings to connect parents with schools that best fit their children's needs.
5. Instagram Partners with Schools on Student Safety
Instagram has launched a program enabling U.S. middle and high schools to swiftly report and prioritize the removal of student-posted content that may violate the platform's guidelines, such as bullying. Participating schools receive a "school partner" badge on their profiles and access to educational resources for safe app usage.
6. Uplimit Launches AI Agents for Corporate Training
AI-native corporate training suite Uplimit, started by Julia Stiglitz of GSV, Jake Samuelson and Sourabh Bajaj of Coursera, has announced “three sets of purpose-built AI agents that promise to change how enterprises approach learning and development: skill-building agents, program management agents, and teaching assistant agents.”
Campus has secured $46 million in funding to enhance community college graduation rates. Joe Lonsdale, managing partner of 8VC, and Campus CEO Tade Oyerinde discuss the initiative's focus on prioritizing skill development over ideological teachings.
This edition of The Edtech Insiders Newsletter is sponsored by Starbridge.
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Interview: Brent Bushnell, CEO and Founder of Two Bit Circus
We have had some amazing guests on The Edtech Insiders Podcast in the last few weeks. One of our stand-out interviews from this past week is with Brent Bushnell: an entrepreneur and engineer focused on experiences for entertainment and learning. He's the founder of Two Bit Circus, a live entertainment company that builds and exhibits all-ages, social attractions.
Here’s a deep dive on our interview with Brent, and we encourage you to give the full episode a listen for more!
Brent Bushnell, CEO and Founder of Two Bit Circus, believes that play is essential for fostering creativity and engagement. He discusses how immersive, interactive experiences can inspire curiosity and create deeper connections between people.
"When you add interactivity, suddenly the world comes alive in ways that make learning and engagement so much more powerful." - Brent Bushnell
Blending Technology and Storytelling
Brent explores how emerging technologies, from augmented reality to AI, can enhance storytelling. His work bridges digital and physical worlds, showing how innovation can make narratives more dynamic and participatory.
"Technology should never replace storytelling—it should amplify it, making it more vivid, more personal, and more immersive." - Brent Bushnell
The Role of Failure in Creativity
Emphasizing experimentation, Brent highlights that failure is a key component of the creative process. He encourages an iterative mindset, where learning from mistakes fuels innovation.
"We celebrate failure because every misstep is just a stepping stone to something incredible." - Brent Bushnell
Designing for Community and Connection
Two Bit Circus is more than an entertainment company; it’s a space for people to connect. Brent discusses the importance of shared experiences in strengthening community bonds and fostering collaboration.
"The best experiences aren’t just fun—they bring people together in ways that create lasting memories." - Brent Bushnell
Inspiring the Next Generation of Innovators
With a focus on education, Brent advocates for hands-on learning that integrates play, technology, and creativity. He believes that inspiring curiosity in young minds is key to shaping the future of innovation.
"Kids don’t just need to consume technology—they need to create with it." - Brent Bushnell
Curious to Learn More?
You can listen to our full interview with Brent Bushnell, as well as interviews with many other edtech founders, investors, and thought leaders at The Edtech Insiders Podcast! Check it out, and as always, we’d love to hear what you think!
