This Week in Edtech with Ben Kornell, 1/28/22

Send us Fan MailTopics This Week:1) Labor Shortages Loom in K12Almost half of all teachers are thinking of leaving their jobsParticularly hurting struggling readers2) College Enrollments Dropping, Higher Ed Making Digital ShiftsColleges have seen the biggest drop in enrollment in 50 years Some are adapting to a new future with Hybrid College Classrooms 3) School Districts Getting more Cyberattacks and RansomwareCyberattacks on school districts getting more frequent across the countryGeorgia to provide cybersecurity platform to all schoolsExperts are recommending more preparation and more attention be paid despite limited resourcesThe 2020 K12 Cybersecurity Act is intended to help4) Mergers and AcquisitionsSoapbox labs partners with McGraw HillLiterati Acquires Follett Book Fairs 5) Omicron Stimulus Money Being spent on Virtual TutoringBack to School, but Still Learning Online (NYT)NOTE: A few important things happened this week after recording, which can be read below and will be covered in next week's episode.1) Spain-based Domestika, an online platform for creatives, received a $100m round at a $1.3b valuation, becoming the latest Edtech Unicorn.2) Fourthrev, a UK-based career accelerator program, announced an $8m Series A.3) Brighteye Ventures put out its 2022 European Edtech Funding Report. Breakdown from Brighteye head of research here.4) Singapore-based college application platform Cialfo received a $40m funding round.5) Singapore-based personalized coaching and mentoring platform Ascend Now received a $2.1m seed round.