French EdTech is emerging

Shiori Kishi
Jul 20, 2017 · 5 min read

What is happening in the EdTech innovation ecosystem in Paris, France?

The term ‘EdTech’ has been buzzing for several years now. EdTech is an abbreviation of education and technology, and refers to various forms of education that utilise technology to achieve personal and organisational goals. Today many people are learning new skills and knowledge from smartphone apps, YouTube videos or eBooks. Many students have now access to online lectures and learning management systems provided by their universities. Even if many of those people have never heard of the term, EdTech is already surrounding us in our everyday lives. In this article, I would like to reflect on the historical development of EdTech in the international context, and discuss the unique emergence of EdTech in France.

Historical development of EdTech

The concept of EdTech started to emerge during the 1960’s in the United States. During this period, Professor Seymour Papert from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the pioneer of Artificial Intelligence application to education, initiated several innovative research on how children learn. He also developed the first computer language for children, LOGO, in 1976. By 1980’s, EdTech has gained academic attention from researchers and educational practitioners in the global context. During 1990’s, the world has experienced a massive development of computer technology, and that has boosted the emergence of EdTech both as a pedagogical tool and as a business field in late 2000’s. Not just business industries but social entrepreneurs and non-profit organisations quickly responded to this trend. Khan Academy is a leading example of social start-ups that utilise EdTech for addressing educational issues. During the 2010’s, the widespread use of smartphones and tablet PCs have significantly expanded the possibility of EdTech. Social media and SNSs have boosted the trends of open education, and that has resulted in cutting-edge EdTech products such as MOOCs. Today, a wide range of EdTech products, including learning apps, games, online videos and eBooks are available at our disposal. People are actively using these technologies to achieve their learning, professional or personal development.

The emergence of EdTech in Europe

It didn’t take so long until the waves of EdTech reached Europe. EdTech in Europe has first flourished in England, and since then, a number of innovative EdTech startups took off from England to the world. In 2016, the EdTech x Europe conference awarded “2016 EdTech x Global All Stars Awards” to the most innovative and influential EdTech startup companies around the world. Remarkably, 9 out of 20 finalists were occupied by British startup companies. One of the success factors may be the significance of the English language in today’s global market; but England also has a long-established culture of distance education and that has also given them a competitive edge. University of London, for instance, has been providing distance learning courses to learners all around the world for more than 150 years. One of the famous students who received their education through distance learning mode include Nelson Mandela, who studied law through the University of London International Programmes during his 27 years of imprisonment in South Africa. UK universities are the world’s pioneers in distance education, and today they are the leading providers of online degree courses including 100% online master’s degrees or even doctoral degrees. Their accumulated know-how in distance education, coupled with their cutting-edge digital technology, is giving the EdTech industry in England a competitive advantage.

Emerging French EdTech

Meanwhile, EdTech in France has also been growing in the past decade but it has not gained a global attention until the EdTech x Europe conference in 2015. In this conference, three French startup companies were nominated as “2015 EdTech Top 20 Finalists”. This is a remarkable achievement, considering that the award recipients were mostly dominated by companies from English-speaking countries. In addition, one of the three finalists, digiSchool, was listed among three winners of the year.

The recent surge of French EdTech startups is supported by the French government as well as academics. In 2013, the French government has launched the first official platform for French-speaking MOOCs called France Université Numérique (France Digital University). It aims to offer quality online courses for French students as well as French speaking students all around the world. The course providers include top-tier universities in France as well as from other Francophone countries, and some of the most popular courses attract more than a hundred thousand students worldwide. These MOOCs are expected to respond to not just individual learning needs, but also to supplement university courses as well as professional development opportunities for those who are unemployed.

French academics has also been a powerful supporter of this trend. In recent years, university-launched EdTech startups have been exhibiting remarkable success. One of the higher-education institutions that host the movement is Centre de Recherches Interdisciplinaires (CRI), a research institution partnered with University Paris Descartes and Univeristy Paris Diderot. The centre offers a two-year Master’s degree programme called “EdTech Master”, where they invite EdTech specialists from all around the world to develop future EdTech leaders. In Paris, there has been an established EdTech ecosystem involving educational institutions, schools, business and learners, and CRI is at the heart of this ecosystem. CRI has been facilitating active collaboration among different stakeholders by launching a series of inspiring events, seminars and educational programmes.

French EdTech has just taken off, but their strong and diverse ecosystem will give boost to their growth in the international market in the future years.

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