Media: Another Cash Infusion For EdTech Cheerleader

I still haven't seen anything critical (or even skeptical) coming out of EdSurge, the 18 month-old newsletter/website out of Silicon Valley, but that hasn't stopped the Washington Post, NSVF, and a few others from kicking in $400,000 to go with whatever startup money the Gates Foundation provided to fund EdSurge's expansion.

In its press release, EdSurge is described as being independent and journalistic, which -- yikes (Washington Post, NewSchools Venture Fund Back EdSurge).  While generally positive, TechCrunch's blog post talks about how educators need to "sift through the BS" and warns that "being a cheerlader only goes so far." (A Resource For All Things EdTech). 

No doubt about the need, but I'm still not sure about whether EdSurge is going to be that vehicle.  Will EdSurge link to stories like "Five Reasons Why School Tablet Rollouts Can Stumble – Or Fail" (Mindshift) much less write their own? The folks behind EdSurge keep saying that they're going to be independent and skeptical, but ... when?

 Previous Posts: Wanting A Little More From EdSurge, Not Another EdTech Cheerleader, New Blog To Hype Blended Learning Bubble.

Comments

[Leonard]

Howdy Alexander,

Leonard here from EdSurge. Be sure to subscribe to our ES-Instruct newsletter geared towards educators. At the end of July, we linked to an article from The Journal titled "5 Things Not To Do During an iPad Rollout." You can also search our site for 'ipad rollout' without signing up or subscribing to find the same blurb (which also includes "5 pearls of wisdom" from the BYOT network).

Thanks for your feedback. We agree there should be more original content and are working diligently on this end. If you have more detailed feedback, feel free to reach out -- we're all ears and active hands. Stay tuned!

[Sarah]

While it might be true that EdSurge hasn’t necessarily justified the investment, it’s a bit unfair to say it hasn’t been worthwhile in some respects. I’ve seen worse startups, inside and outside the field of education.