LDE-CEL initiates EdTech challenge
The University incubators ECE Rotterdam, Plnt Leiden and YES!Delft assist the selected EdTech startups to kick off and execute their plans by coaching them. They will be supported and advised by educational experts of the universities and business experts. Access to test groups, pilot clients and funding options will be made possible as well.
Timo Kos, director of Educational and Student Affairs (ESA) at TU Delft, was managing director a.i. of the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Centre for Education and Learning in the preceding year. In this role he initiated the EdTech challenge.
Timo: “The reason for the EdTech challenge is the priority of educational innovation at the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Centre for Education and Learning. We expect this is an effective way of organising educational innovation. In international settings, e.g. in Boston and Lausanne (Swiss EdTech Collider), successful cooperation between universities, incubators and enterprises is established to stimulate and facilitate educational innovations. EdTech has grown into a 3 billion dollar per year market; this indicates the high pace of innovations. As Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Centre we can and should take part in this evolution; we might even become one of the forerunners in this field.”
Leiden-Delft-Erasmus: an excellent ecosystem for EdTech
“As Leiden-Delft-Erasmus we have a strong position. The universities have an excellent reputation in research and education. In the Centre for Education and Learning, the educational innovators, Centre 4 Innovation in Leiden , the TU Delft Teaching Academy and the Erasmus Community for Learning are united. Cooperation between the three incubators created a great ecosystem for EdTech.”
Incubators and executive parties go for technological educational innovations.
“Cooperation with the incubators YesDelft, PLNT and ECE could help the universities incorporate ideas from the outside world. The incubators also benefit from this challenge. For them it is the first step into the world of EdTech, an interesting expanding market. Executive parties like the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the Association of Universities in the Netherlands and SURF (Collaborative organisation for ICT in Dutch education and research) are all shaping policies in the field of technological educational innovations. Startups which are helping shape these policies are very wanted!”
Online Learning is a theme of the VSNU-programme The Digital Society.
“An additional benefit is that Online Learning theme lead of the Digital Society programme of the VSNU, Professor Marcus Specht, recently started as the scientific director of the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Centre for Education and Learning. This will be another opportunity to bring in new knowledge and vision.”
Viable propositions
The TU Delft Teaching Lab will facilitate the EdTech initiatives by hosting the validation programme, during which the incubators such as YesDelft! will guide them through developing an education idea into a viable proposition. The validation programme will take place during the last months of this year. By bringing this EdTech initiative into the teaching lab we aim to bring new developments in an early stage closer to our teachers and students and create solutions which fit the current and future needs of TU Delft education. We cannot expect innovations only coming from our own TU Delft staff, via this initiative we hope to bring in possibilities which can support your educational developments.
If you’re interested to stay up to date about the pilot projects emerging from this pilot project or would like to get involved yourself, please send a message to teachingacademy@tudelft.nl.