The Rise to the Top: How Edpuzzle Became One of the Biggest Educational Content Providers in the World
Edpuzzle Originals are video lessons created by Edpuzzle’s expert team of teachers that cover subjects such as math, science, English language arts, social studies, and digital citizenship, among others. Learn more about how the video learning platform started creating its own content to help make education more equitable and accessible in the interview below with Edpuzzle CEO, Quim Sabrià, and Director of Curriculum, Alex Lochoff.
How did you come up with the idea for Edpuzzle Originals? Was it something you had always envisioned when you created Edpuzzle or was it a new idea you had along the way?
Quim: Not a lot of people know that when I was a teacher I created 300 videos for my students. It was a fun but very time-consuming experience. Not only did I have to learn how to use new tools, but I also didn’t have the design skills to produce high-quality videos for my students. So I always dreamed of having a video production team to surround amazing teachers to produce high-quality content. We always had conversations among the founders, and when we saw the budget to make it happen, we didn’t hesitate.
That is when I started interviewing people to join the journey and Alex applied and blew my mind with his approach. We laughed because his design skills were very much similar to mine, but the quality of his lessons and how he was intentionally using interactivity to lead the learning journey of the students was genius. We needed that innovative approach to lead our efforts.
How did you get started with Edpuzzle? What kind of vision did Quim explain to you?
Alex: Before joining Edpuzzle, I was a fifth-grade teacher who used Edpuzzle on a daily basis with videos I had created for my class. Even though the videos I was making weren’t very pretty, Quim saw potential in how I was designing videos that intentionally used embedded questions. I think it was one of the reasons I got the job!
When I joined Edpuzzle, we didn’t yet know what a perfect video looked like. Still, we wanted to lean into this idea of building videos specifically around Edpuzzle and its features. Our goal was to create a “unique to Edpuzzle” video learning experience.
How did the process of creating the first videos go?
Quim: I remember the first weeks with Alex. I told him, “You have my dream job.” He was getting paid to watch YouTube videos and prototype them differently. We spent almost a year exploring different channels and doing experiments. Fun fact: the YouTube channel where we were posting these videos became a top-10 channel used in Edpuzzle, so we quickly saw the potential of these videos.
Alex: We spent a LONG time prototyping videos because we wanted to ensure that the videos we built were 100 times better than the competition. We created more than 300 prototypes over the course of more than a year before we began producing our first official Edpuzzle Originals. For us, the process was always clear. Quality first, then scale.
How has the team grown since those first videos?
Alex: Over the last four years, our team has expanded massively. We’ve hired over 40 people to our content team, almost all former educators and professional writers. We’ve also hired approximately 100 people to help us build our videos (designers, illustrators, animators, etc.). It takes a HUGE amount of work to produce each of our videos, and it’s a team effort for each one!
How do Edpuzzle Originals incorporate the ideals of diversity, equity, and inclusion?
Alex: One of the most amazing parts of Edpuzzle is the diversity of educators we support. With this in mind, diversity, equity, and inclusion are big priorities. We’ve partnered with DEI experts to develop DEI Style Guidelines that inform our video lessons and regularly consult with subject-matter experts when covering complicated topics. Our goal is that all students can see and hear themselves represented in our videos.
What are you most proud of in terms of creating our own original content?
Quim: My proudest moment is when we are able to hire amazing teachers, animators, and designers, and they work together to produce unique content. That is something we haven’t seen before and it works! So I’m very proud to see that teachers can have a real impact beyond the classroom, and this team is proof of that.
Alex: My proudest moments are when we hear from educators about how much they enjoy using our videos. As a former educator, I know how hard teaching is, and it’s an absolute honor to be able to support and empower teachers with our content.
What have been some of the major milestones of Edpuzzle Originals?
Quim: I love to see the percentage of curriculum coverage. That gets us closer to providing an excellent lesson to any teacher who joins Edpuzzle.
For example, we currently cover 100% of the elementary math curriculum. We are the #1 video provider of elementary math content in the world in just one year. That is extraordinary. This speaks volumes about the hard work the team is putting in to push quality content at scale.
What is even more surprising is that we can do the same for other subject areas: U.S. history (~100% of the curriculum covered), elementary science (~100% covered), and ELA grammar (~100% covered). We keep working hard to make sure the list keeps going.
Oh! And one more thing, we are translating most of this content into 17 different languages.
The hard work this team is putting in is transformative.
Alex: We’ve done so much that it’s hard to pick, but a few significant milestones have been crossing the “1,000 videos published” threshold at the end of last year (we’re now up above 2,000!).
The second milestone is coming up soon, but in the next month or so, we’re expecting to surpass 100,000 classrooms using Edpuzzle Originals. This is an unfathomable number of teachers and students and a huge accomplishment.
Is there anything else you want the community of Edpuzzle teachers to know about Edpuzzle Originals?
Quim: Try one video. The product will speak for itself. This is a present from Edpuzzle for all teachers. Once you understand how unique these videos are and how much better they are for teaching difficult concepts, you will copy the whole library. These videos should make your life much easier and help your students retain information better.
This is not another screen-recorded video, these are designed by teachers with the student learning experience in mind.
Alex: People don’t often get to see this, but one of the most unique parts of our program is how a former educator writes every single lesson. At Edpuzzle, we deeply value the skills and experiences of teachers. Our team has collectively spent almost 200 years working with students, and this experience shines through in each one of our lessons. If you haven’t watched any of our videos yet, I highly recommend them and am confident you’ll see the difference.
Where are Edpuzzle Originals headed?
Quim: Edpuzzle Originals will provide the best video library for educators in any language.
Alex: I don’t want to spoil all the secrets, but we have BIG plans over the next year. We’re continuing to press the accelerator and plan to add over 1,000 new video lessons to our library over the next year. These will cover a wide range of topics from high school math to Shakespearean analysis and more! There are so many grade levels and subjects we’re looking to build for that there’s no shortage of room to expand.
Explore the free library of Edpuzzle Originals which is constantly growing with new video lessons you can use in your classroom today.
