1. Dash
2. Vocabslam
3. ReturnOnWhatYouLearn
4. Kinobi
5. NfoShare
6. Teachspace.me
7. Bundle
8. Spriggle
9. Hidden Gems Uncovered
10. Lean Pickup Lines
11. AbroadIn
12. VentureBoard
13. Mystro
14. Classroom Blueprint
15. TeamTime
16. Fate of Civilizations
17. PenPalNews
18. Student Dashboard

Follow @SWeduNYC and #NYCEDU on twitter for the live play-by-play!

1. The Optimal Classroom
2. Fate of Civilizations
3. Pen Pal News
4. Digital Resource Library
5. Dash
6. Open My Edu
7. Abroaden
8. Solved By Me
9. Rate This One
10. Kenobi
11. Student Dashboard
12. EduROI
13. VocabSlam

Teacher Approved™

1. Math Workbook 2.0
2. Dash
3. Digital Resource Library
4. Livebooks
5. YogaTube
6. Home
7. Fate of Civilization
8. Pen Pal News
9. Solved By Me
10. Expertly
11. Rate This One
12. Stylish Schooling
13. Student Dashboard
14. Kenobi
15. Abroaden
16. Quiz Dashboard
17. Optimal Classroom
18. VocabSlam
19. Venture Board

1. Matthew Camp, Joe Lishi, Dan: VocabSlam – Urban Dictionary for the SATs
2. Laluca Simple: Math Workbook 2.0 – math embedded in stories / historical context
3. ChalkUp – free online education for developing countries
4. Cavaughn Noel: BeMentor – kudos for insight & mentorship
5. Practicamos – ESL & language learning facilitation
6. Alia: Dash – create a playlist of parents to call from the road
7. Max: Beyond Category – video professional development platform
8. Champan Snowden: feedback for teachers – Kenobi
9. Avi Eisenberger: bring the college community online to foster entrepreneurship – VentureBoard
10. Jeff: peer evaluation of student writing with feedback – RateThisOne
11. Carrie: travel abroad guide – Abroaden
12. Michael – Students’ Voice
13. Open my edu – making education more affordable
14. Teachers overspend, environment matters – Optimal Classroom
15. A.J.: classes are discrete, need comparative intel to balance student workload, cross-curricular collaboration – EdEQ
16. David M: digital narrated graphic novels to improve ESL – GraphicLiteracy
17. Andrew Morrison: QuizDashboard
18. James: create interactive lessons from any YouTube video KnowHub
19. Joe G: Fate of Civilizations (game-based learning for global citizenship)
20. Tamara: search for curriculum & crowd-source quality   – Digital Resource Library
21. Rebecca: Cypal
22. Nidhi: Tutroid
23. Carolina: SproutBox subscription curation service for age-appropriate learning products/toys
24. Rob Steir: better sexual education for kids PhysioWorks
25. Nicole: the younger, hipper, female Bill Nye; concept: content + role-playing + science – Stylish School
26. LA: connect communities for learning (experts + parents) The Village
27. Michael Bernstein: pen pals talking about news PenPal News
28. Stephen T: educational aggregation & content indexing service Edugation
29. Jared: online support community to make schools safe for GLBT students Home
30. Alex Carter: Spotify for intellectually stimulating content Smartify
31. Andre: YouTube for yoga for student behavioral improvements YogaTube
32. Darren: EasyEval (Ezval?)
33. Elizabeth: Portal for neuroscience & education content + science fiction the links the two communities Neuroeducate
34. Marjan: connect friends, parents, and teachers to create social reading Biblionasium
35. James: SnapGoods for teachers to trade teaching supplies HelpATeach (for now)
36. Lawrence: KidClassSearch find and rate classes nearby & signup
37. Aaron: connect experts to students & teachers Expert.ly
38. Eli: Where to Go better college discovery
39. Kevin: Student Dashboard save time by not logging into eleventy billion different things
40. Brian + Rob: EduROI
41. Max: online learning platform where parents can assign & incentivize student learning objectives Yapato
42. Liza: Netflix for e-learning Mystro (digitally orchestrating all of your e-learning needs)
43. Brian V: SolvedByMe online platform where teachers post problems and students post & share solutions
44. John B: post ideas, crowdsource ratings that incorporate voters’ expertise EdLabNYC
45. EachStudentNeeds: web tool to rally resources for educators
46. Juice: experiential education, platform for starter kits After The Bell
47. Jed: financial literacy for children & adults FinEd Project
48. Scott: Livebooks choose your own adventure for the digital-social student set
49. Melissa: web platform to target the unconscious brain Boucho

Here are the top eleven, starting with EDUCATION specifically:

Education in the U.S. (and many places in the world) may be one of the human rights issues of our time. Kids deserve access to an excellent education. Education as an entrepreneurial space has recently gained much traction and interest, including interest and backing from the venture and incubator community, but there’s still much work to be done with not enough bright spots of success. We believe that if we bring you — our educators, developers, designers, business people – together and help facilitate your collaboration in new and innovative ways, we can help contribute to the growing movement to close the achievement gap.

Education/professional development:
Startup Weekends are all about learning through the act of creating. Don’t just listen to theory, build your own strategy and test it as you go.

Build your network:
This isn’t just a happy-hour. Startup Weekend attracts your community’s best makers and do-ers. By spending a weekend working to build scalable companies that solve real-world problems, you will build long-lasting relationships and possibly walk away with a job or a even an investor.

Co-founder dating:
We all know it’s not just about the idea – it’s about the team. Startup Weekend is hands down the best way to to find someone you can actually launch a startup with.

Learn a new skill:
Step outside of your comfort zone. With a whole weekend dedicated to letting your creative juices flow, Startup Weekends are prefect opportunities to work on a new platform, learn a new programming language, or just try something different.

Actually launch a business:
Over 36% of Startup Weekend startups are still going strong after 3 months. Roughly 80% of participants plan on continuing working with their team or startup after the weekend.

Get face time with thought leaders:
Local tech and startup leaders participate in Startup Weekends as mentors and judges. Get some one-on-one time with the movers and shakers in your community.

We cover what you need for the weekend (and it can pay off for long after):
Your ticket covers seven meals, snack, access to exclusive resources, possible sponsor swag, all the coffee you can drink, and more.

Join a global community:
Join over 30,000 Startup Weekend alumni, all on a mission to change the world.

Who you’ll meet at Startup Weekend EDU

Startup Weekend EDU’s mix is roughly 40% developers and coders, 20% designers, 20% business/marketing, and 20% educator/education space. Twenty nine percent of Startup Weekend participants attend an event to network, 20% attend to develop/build a product, and 13% attend to learn how to create a new venture. Roughly 80% of attendees plan on continuing to work on their startup after the weekend.

The above was adapted/borrowed by Nihal ElRayess from here.

Good for you for taking the entrepreneurial plunge! Startup Weekend-­‐EDU promises to be an exhilarating, mind-­‐expanding, and yes, exhausting experience. Expect to learn about lean startups, about project management, and about working with teammates (most of whom may be strangers). The journey really counts here. And of course, you’ll get to network with others interested in edtech entrepreneurship.

So to help you make the most of it, EdSurge, your handy-­‐dandy source for what’s happening in edtech, has pulled together the wisdom of some smart folks and compiled this Cheat Code for you. Many thanks to our experts, including:

• Justin Su, an entrepreneur with Goalbook and consultant with Stellar K12
• Frank Catalano, author, consultant with Intrinsic Strategy, and veteran 
analyst of digital education and consumer technologies
• Audrey Watters, technology journalist, blogger for HackEducation
• Betsy Corcoran, editor with EdSurge

Top Ten Tips for Triumphing at StartupWeekendEDU

1. Bring: several ideas, an open mind, flexibility and an extra toothbrush.
2. Plan to pitch an idea: This isn’t a spectator sport.
3. Be willing to morph: if your idea isn’t lighting up people, jump to a team 
that sounds more promising.
4. Do some homework before you come about the “EDU” part. Expect to 
validate your market.
5. Learn from the educators.
6. Use the mentors -­-­ but wisely.
7. Get to know the judges.
8. Practice your pitch. Practice your pitch. Practice….
9. Network: Bring business cards and contact info.
10. Have fun!

Top Ten Tips for Triumphing at StartupWeekendEDU (extended play version)

1. Bring: several ideas, an open mind, flexibility and an extra toothbrush.

StartupWeekend is a DIY ideafest. Bring raw but interesting ideas. It can be an idea that you’ve tried out on some friends. What you should leave at home: an ironclad determination to find “code monkeys” who will build your vision. You’re in learning mode here: expect to end the weekend with some radically different ideas than the ones you brought with you. And yes, although you are likely to get home to sleep, you’ll be spending a lot of time in a relatively small room-­‐-­‐so mind your hygiene!

2. Plan to pitch an idea: This isn’t a spectator sport.

Pitching is part of the learning experience: You will learn a lot about your idea and yourself if you are brave enough to stand up and pitch an idea. Ideas love company, so arrive with several. Even if an entrepreneurial enterprise isn’t fully thought out, that doesn’t mean it’s not worth pitching. Sometimes, simply hearing others pitch may change or crystallize one worthwhile concept out of two or three in your head.

3. Be willing to morph: if your idea isn’t lighting up people, jump to a team that is sounds more promising.

Past StartupWeekends suggest that between two to three times as many ideas get pitched as wind up with teams. Listen carefully to the rest of the pitches. Who would you enjoy getting to know this weekend? Who has an idea that clicks with what you know about education? Successful entrepreneurs share one particular trait: they are enormously persistent, with a fail-­‐and-­‐try-­‐again mentality. If your pitch doesn’t win fans, you’ll likely get inspired to rework and improve the idea, or think up a different idea that’s way better. Or you may end up working with such an awesome team during the weekend that you join them. Either way, as long as you’re fully engaged, you will learn-­‐-­‐and that is why you’re here.

4. Do some homework before you come about the “EDU” part. Expect to validate your market.

The biggest single failing of edtech entrepreneur wanna-­‐bes is naïveté about the edtech market. “Education” is not a single market even if it’s all lumped into one Startup Weekend. There are big differences between customers and buying behavior across K-­‐12, higher education, continuing education and lifelong learning. 
So do a little homework (flip through past copies of EdSurge) or come with allies. Bring an educator, instructor of professor along for the weekend. Let people know you’re attending a SWEDU and find out if you can call, tweet or contact them on Saturday for input. Customer validation is golden: if you can reach a group of educators or students on a Saturday, you will be a very valuable player on any team and make many friends. 
Once your team gets rolling, be ready to validate the idea. If you can’t demonstrate value to customers, the judges will tear you apart. Such validation will improve your idea, too: Justin recalls how a mentor once directed his team to prove its business model could really hold up. “We cold-­‐called and interviewed a dozen potential ‘customers’ and half of them told us straight up they wouldn’t pay. We ended up retooling our business model and our pitch was much stronger in the end (and the judges commented on how they liked our market validation).”

5. Learn from the educators.

You remember being a student? Guess what: that doesn’t count as “on the ground” experience in the classroom. Customers also have to be willing to pay for products. Use StartupWeekend as an opportunity to meet school leaders and teachers and learn from them. In many cases, they are likely to be your customers and users. And the difference between your perspective and their’s might surprise you. Remember, they are breathing their school and interacting with the “digital natives” every day.

6. Use the mentors -­-­ but wisely.

The mentors can be amazingly helpful. They can also be distracting. Use them thoughtfully. Read all of their bios beforehand and understand their expertise. Proactively reach out to them when you want help in their areas. Mentors will often offer advice on every aspect of your idea: after talking with five or six, you might feel more at sea than when you started. Think of their advice as data points. Remember that when it comes to the actual core problem you’re trying to solve, you and your team probably know more about it than anyone else in the room.

7. Get to know the judges.

The judges will probably be hanging around for part of the weekend prior to the pitch competition-­‐– so talk to them! Get their thoughts on what you’re working on.

This isn’t about gaming the system-­‐-­‐it’s about getting very relevant feedback. If the judges are making themselves available and are willing to give advice, you should definitely reach out to them.

8. Practice your pitch. Practice your pitch. Practice….

The pitch matters. The last thing you want is to spend 54 hours doing everything right, fleshing out an awesome idea and building a sweet prototype only to deliver a mediocre pitch that doesn’t get anyone excited. Start working on the PowerPoint early. Keep refining it through the weekend. Practice delivering your pitch to anyone who’ll listen. The little things matter: pace of speech (don’t go too fast), eye contact, confidence, enthusiasm. Get constructive feedback and keep practicing. If you’re really brave, video yourself. Watching yourself will feel intensely awkward and embarrassing but nothing will drive the points home harder. Also plan for what might go wrong: do you have something to say if your slides have to be rebooted?

There are infinite ways to deliver an effective pitch. Be yourself. Everyone has his or her own style. Go with your strengths and your own personal style. Authenticity counts. Likeability does, too: Who wants to give money to jerk?

Devote one slide to your team: If you can convince the audience that you and your team are the best ones to tackle the problem and you’re worth listening to, then they will be that much more attentive to everything else you say. So start there – convince everyone in the audience that you are the shiznit and grab our attention!

9. Network: Bring business cards and contact info.

The people you meet during StartupWeekend will become a lifelong resource for you. These are future co-­‐founders, employees, employers, mentors, advisors, partners, investors or friends. Carry business cards; share your Twitter and LinkedIn accounts. You won’t want to forget-­‐-­‐or be forgotten-­‐-­‐by these people.

10. Have fun!

OK, even though this sounds a bit rah-­‐rah it’s true: enthusiasm will help carry the day. You’ve come to this event to find your passion and figure out what to do about it. Be passionate. As long as you’re enjoying the ride, you’re probably doing the right thing. Besides, these events are as addicting as potato chips: you’ll be back for more!

1. All of the pitches on Friday and companies demoed on Sunday will be designed to solve problems in the education space, broadly defined–not restricted to K-12 or other “formal” education.
2. EDU events add a fourth crucial participant category: educator. Who better to speak about problems in education than teachers? In fact, they’re so well-suited to this task that we give them the authority to “teacher approve” Friday night pitches before they’re opened up to general voting and team selection!

You may still be thinking, “As interesting as that sounds, I don’t know how a regular Startup Weekend runs.” If so, here’s the scoop:

Startup Weekend is no ordinary event. It where like-minded entrepreneurs gather for a weekend of company creation. In 54 hours, you take an initial idea from the Friday night pitches through to a mind-spinning startup company at the Sunday night finale.

Just don’t think it’s only developers; this isn’t a mere hackathon. Hackthons produce products or features; Startup Weekends produce companies. Startup Weekenders are marketing maestros, design gurus, business development wizards, legal geniuses, and the specialists of startups, the jack of all trades coming together as one, creating a harmony that can only be envied by the corporate world.

OK – so that may be slight sales mode, but it truly is all about bringing together knowledge of the local entrepreneurship scene and helping those in need find their footing in the world of startups.

Friday night is all about networking and the pitches. Those with an idea who are brave enough will stand in front of 150 strangers and give a 1-minute elevator pitch to the crowd. The ideas that people like–and want to work with–then get created over the remainder of the weekend (and often beyond). You and your self-selected team will have approximately 48 hours to deliver a product and plan that can stand up to the harsh light of day. Mentors will be on hand throughout the time to help you fine tune the idea from a fledgling concept into a working company with huge potential in less than two days.

Sounds intense? It is!

Sunday night is where the jury panel comes in. Seasoned professionals who have been through the startup mill many times over will scrutinize and find the holes in the plan to evaluate your chances of real world succession.

From there? Well, it’s all up to you. Startup Weekend can only help you start your dream. It’s up to you to live it out.

Go on, what are you waiting for? Head over to the ticket section here to find out for yourself what it’s all about! After all, the best way to learn entrepreneurship is by doing.

All of us at Startup Weekend are very gratified to see that the impacts of our Education vertical are already being felt in the wider world of tech innovation.  In an article published by Innovation Daily, Startup Weekend EDU is commended for giving the “ecosystem of innovation…the fuel it needs.”  The EDU vertical is still a young one and all of us are looking forward to seeing the successes that come from events where business folks, makers, and educators work together to solve problems in the education industry.

Read the full article here.

Startup Weekends are weekend-long, hands-on experiences where entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs can find out if startup ideas are viable. On average, half of Startup Weekend’s attendees have technical backgrounds, the other half have business backgrounds.

Beginning with open mic pitches on Friday, attendees are encouraged to bring their best ideas and inspire others to join their team. Over Saturday and Sunday teams design and develop business plans while constantly streamlining their startup vision. On Sunday evening teams demo their prototypes, listen to judges’ feedback and in some cities, win prizes.

Startup Weekends are specifically designed for entrepreneurs interested in receiving feedback on an idea, looking for a co-founder, or who want to learn a new skill. We also welcome anyone looking to test the entrepreneurial waters. Startup Weekends are risk-free environments where everyone is expected to roll up their sleeves and dive into the exhilarating world of startups.

Startup Weekend EDU focuses on building a web or mobile application that could result in a credible education technology business over the course of a weekend. The weekend brings together people with different skillsets – primarily educators, software developers, graphics designers and business people – to build applications and develop a commercial case around them.