The 3 next big things in education technology for 2024

There’s a lot of talk lately about the intersection of schools and technology, often focusing on devices as a distraction. But these three companies showcase how valuable technology can be for education. From the classroom, to study guides, to online learning, they’re taking the most cutting-edge ideas and applying them to learning, ensuring that no one is left behind.

Clear Touch
For making it easier to deploy technology in the classroom
It might seem like a small thing—the fact that most TVs and monitors have their speakers at the bottom of the device. But when these devices are used in an educational setting, that means all the audio goes toward the floor, making it challenging for crowded, boisterous classrooms to hear the instruction. Clear Touch aimed to counter that with its 6000A+ Series Interactive Panels, which have speakers located at the top. It also streamlined the devices’ functionality, ensuring that educators don’t need to juggle multiple pieces of hardware and can instead focus on teaching and engaging with their students.

Coursera
For using AI to translate courses into 21 languages
Coursera is well-known for its thousands of online courses that teach everything from UX design and data analytics to psychology and Greek mythology. But until recently, many of those courses were only available in English. This year, it expanded those offerings, using artificial intelligence to translate nearly 5,000 courses and more than 50 professional certifications into 21 languages. After realizing that no third-party options could provide what it needed, Coursera built an AI model in house. Crucially, this expansion is an effort to address the skills gap, ensuring that those who will most benefit by advances in technology aren’t left behind.

Junction Education
For creating an AI chatbot that helps college students study
Imagine you’re a college student, working your way through a dense textbook to prepare for a test the next morning. What you wouldn’t give to have someone helping you through the material, highlighting what’s most important and putting the reams of information in context. That’s where Junction Education comes in. The edtech company trained an LLM on hundreds of textbooks, teaching notes, and other ancillary materials so that the AI chatbot can function as a real-time tutor for college students, providing explanations, practice problems, examples, and other resources. Junction is currently partnering with Oxford University Press and Kendall Hunt, as well as a handful of institutions, to test the program; it plans to roll it out more broadly next year.

The companies behind these technologies are among the honorees in Fast Company’s Next Big Things in Tech awards for 2024. See a full list of all the winners across all categories and read more about the methodology behind the selection process.