A new digital education platform has emerged from stealth today with $14.5 million in seed funding and an impressive roster of founders, aiming to capitalize on the rapid shift to remote learning due to the global pandemic.
Palo Alto-based Engageli officially launches its pilot program today with a view toward partnering with higher education institutions in the U.S., U.K., and Israel ahead of a full launch early next year. The company has built what it calls an “inclusive digital learning platform” aimed initially at higher education institutions that want to operate as close to normal as possible where in-person attendance isn’t possible.
The Engageli platform facilitates polls, quizzes, and interactive exercises to test students’ knowledge, while a gallery view with fixed seating arrangements allows instructors to familiarize themselves with class layouts and access real-time engagement data.
Above: Engageli: Gallery view
A major facet of the Engagli platform is that it supports study groups and breakout sessions, allowing for learning material and exercises to be shared in-screen with each group.
Above: Engagli: Instructor view of study groups
Above: Engagli: Virtual tables for team learning
Mix and match
As schools, colleges, and universities have scrambled to adopt whatever digital tools they could access, this has often led to institutions using a sort of “mix and match” approach combining multiple tools, from Google Classroom to Zoom (which wasn’t built with education in mind). What Engagli has done is build a new platform from scratch that is designed to replicate a real-time classroom environment.
The company was founded earlier this year by Daphne Koller, cofounder and former co-chairman of edtech giant Coursera; CEO Dan Avida, a general partner at Opus Capital; CTO Serge Plotkin, also a partner at Opus Capital; and COO Jamie Nacht Farrell.
Source: Read Full Article