A close look at the vendors and new technologies at the Bett ed-tech conference highlighted esports, social-emotional learning and interoperability as K-12 market areas to watch.
6 Smart Strategies for Education Companies in Digital Marketing
Vendors Can Apply Social Media, Voice Technologies, and Other Tools in Fresh Ways

New technologies, and new approaches to using existing platforms, are creating opportunities for education providers willing to think creatively.
Weld North is expanding from offering supplemental academic resources to core curriculum through the acquisition of LearnZillion. The firm has acquired a number of education companies in recent years.
5 Types of Products That Will Drive the Special Education Market
Districts Are Looking to Ease Teacher Workloads and Prepare Students for Life Outside of School

Product developers, investors, and researchers who advise vendors describe emerging areas of demand in serving special needs populations.
How K-12 Vendors Are Adjusting to a Tough State Data-Privacy Law
Connecticut's Policy Sets a High Bar, But the State Is Trying to Help Companies Change Behavior

Some vendors have lost contracts in K-12 districts throughout Connecticut for failure to comply with the state’s stringent data privacy law.
Pearson makes its first acquisition in three years, Guild Education raises a Series D round of funding, and NeighborSchools, which seeks to support daycare providers, raises $3.5 million.
A new report examined 6,000 RFP submissions and found K-12 RFPs and submissions to be the longest by page of any public sector studied, but the shortest award time.
AWS is expanding its EdStart accelerator program to include ed-tech companies with less than $1 million in revenue, and few or no customers.
A new competition for education and workforce technology entrepreneurs is accepting applications through Dec. 1.
The Milken-Penn Graduate School of Education Business Plan Competition awarded more than $140,000 in prizes to ed-tech startups this year on its 10th anniversary.