In this episode of All Things Marketing and Education, we’re tackling one of the hottest topics in the world right now—AI, specifically generative AI, and its impact on education.

Elana sits down with EdTech expert and long-time friend, Mary Beth Hertz, who has spent decades thinking critically about the role of technology in education. Known for her thoughtful approach, Mary Beth isn’t swayed by the latest trends or flashy innovations. She asks the tough questions that keep us all grounded—ensuring that technology is always used with the ultimate goal of improving learning outcomes for students.

Together, they dive deep into the current state of AI in education, discussing how it can be leveraged effectively without losing sight of what truly matters: the students. Beyond AI, they explore the broader landscape of EdTech and what the industry must do to better support both educators and learners during these rapidly changing times.

If you're navigating the complex world of EdTech and wondering how AI can play a role in enhancing education, this conversation is for you. Tune in for an insightful discussion that will leave you with practical takeaways and a fresh perspective on the future of technology in education.

Here's the full episode show notes.

In this episode of All Things Marketing and Education, Elana sat down with Thor Prichard, President & CEO at Clarity Innovations—a mission-driven, K-12 education-focused professional services and consulting firm. Clarity Innovations specializes in everything from education strategy and content creation to engineering and design solutions.

You may remember Thor from our last conversation about the challenges of creating effective EdTech products and the importance of designing with learning outcomes in mind.

Thor shares his insights on some of the most fascinating trends and innovations in education technology. Elana and Thor discuss the impact of generative AI, the importance of integrating EdTech products into the everyday practices of educators and students, and the different business models shaping the industry. They also explore the evolving role of family-school partnerships and future trends in product development.

Thor concludes the conversation with thoughts on what he believes are the keys to creating lasting and impactful products in education. This episode is packed with valuable insights and is not to be missed. Enjoy!

Questions Asked:

• What types of products and services have you and your team developed in the EdTech space, and at what stages of product development do you typically focus?
• From your experience, what are the most critical elements that a product needs to have during the design and development process?
• How do you ensure that a product achieves product/market fit, effectively meeting the needs of buyers, users, and the business?
• How do you approach prioritizing feature development, and how do you determine when a product might have too many features?
• Is it better to develop a product that excels at one or two key functions or one that offers a broader range of features? How do you balance depth versus breadth?
• How do you continuously evolve your product to stay aligned with the changing needs of users and buyers, while also meeting your firm's and clients' objectives? Can you share any examples where things didn’t go as planned and any warning signs to watch for?
• What’s something you’ve read or watched recently that has inspired you?

In this week’s episode of All Things Marketing and Education, Elana got to chat with Lawrence Korchnak, a Founding Partner of BLOQQ, a consulting firm that specializes in helping organizations scale in the education market.

As EdTech marketing execs, Elana and Lawrence have years of experience selling in the EdTech space. In this conversation, they get into busting some common EdTech marketing myths, such as, “starting with a freemium model is a sure way to guarantee B2B sales,” or “once I sell to a school, they’ll probably always use my product.” They also explain some of the nuances to marketing to an education audience, including some of the pitfalls that marketers without an education background might not catch.

You might remember Lawrence from our last episode with him, where we covered the challenges of EdTech go-to-market strategies.

Lawrence doesn’t sugar coat things or hold back — we appreciated his candid tone backed by years of executive experience. Enjoy this episode!

Myths Busted:

• Education marketers can sell to one decision maker.
• Freemium models guarantee B2B sales down the road.
• You can sell or market your EdTech product at any time of the year.
• Once you are adopted by a school or district, churn is low.

Here's the full transcript of Lawrence’s podcast episode.