👧🏽 Edurino: Reimagining Education in the Age of AI
FemWealth Springboard
Edurino’s Co-founders Irene Klemm and Franziska Meyer on Reimagining Education in the Age of AI
What is the future of education in the age of AI? How can we equip children to thrive in a fast-paced, uncertain world? What skills and learning goals should educators and parents prioritize in children’s early education?
In a new edition of FemWealth Springboard, Irene Klemm and Franziska Meyer, co-founders of Edurino, a Munich, Germany-based edtech startup, help answer these pressing questions.
Why have you founded Edurino, and what is the company’s mission?
Edurino: Education is the future of our children. Especially with the emergence of new technologies such as AI and an ever-faster developing world, we have to equip our children with future skills at an even earlier age. We realized in the global pandemic, how left-behind children are in their digital education journey and decided that we want to become part of the solution. With our hybrid learning system, we equip children with the skills they are going to need to master all sorts of challenges and uncertainties.
What value does your product offer and who are your core users?
Edurino: We combine a digital learning app with an ergonomic input pen and real figurines. As soon as kids place the figurine on the screen, the journey begins. With their magic pen children navigate the app and practice the correct pen hold. Since conscious and safe use is especially important to us, parents can regulate screen time in a separate parent area. They also get an overview of the children’s learning progress, information about the pedagogical concept, and tips from our experts on various (digital) education topics.
Edurino © With Edurino, we reach children, their parents as well as educational institutions. After only one year, we have sold more than 150,000 products to families and Edurino is used daily for digital pre-school lessons in over 300 nurseries and institutions. Our goal is to support the education sector in the global digitization of preschool and to accompany children sustainably as they grow up in the 21st century.
From your perspective, what skills and learning goals should educators and parents prioritize in children’s early education?
Eduriono: Major core competencies that prepare children for the future are responsibility, authenticity, and creativity. It is important that children learn that they bear responsibility and have an impact on this world. Be it in their interaction with other children, with our environment, or with their own behaviour, such as their own use of the media.
Authenticity begins in our role as role models, continues with the child’s own self-perception, and ends with all the influences that are piling up on us these days. Be it advertising, social media, content, or goals that our meritocracy demands from us every day. It is important to learn that you don’t always have to compare yourself, but that it is better in the long run to find your own values and then live according to them. Lastly, creativity should not be underestimated. While we give our children a lot of room for creativity in the beginning, this seems to decrease more and more in adulthood. However, it is important to retain this space. Only if we are creative and innovative can we enrich the world with new ideas and make it a better place.
How can tools such as Edurino complement the kindergarten and school curricula?
Edurino: In order to prepare children for the digital world of tomorrow, new digital education solutions are needed. Combining learning and play is ideal for children, as concepts are learned in a contextual setting and this deeper understanding allows them to apply their knowledge to different situations. Learning concepts like Edurino help to introduce children to digital media responsibly and teach them important skills for the future. The weekly tests in our several hundred partner nurseries show that Edurino can be excellently integrated into everyday nursery life, as children can play and learn independently.
Our educational content is always developed on the basis of the curricula and standards of the German education system. We cover an extensive range of traditional school subjects from mathematics, literacy, English, science, and social science, to subjects that are growing in the importance of a child’s future development such as socio-emotional development, creative arts, and 21st-century skills. The educational contents that we create are designed to be an excellent complement to the school curricula. We include classical school skills (such as literacy, and numeracy), and enrich the curriculum with new content, such as logical thinking and coding.
What are your plans for the company in the next 6-12 months?
Edurino: After a successful launch in the DACH region with more than 150,000 products sold, we plan to enter other European markets. German-language learning content for preschool and elementary school children is set to double this year and features for parents and educators, such as insights into learning progress, will be expanded. Over the next few years, Edurino aims to become the first global personalized learning platform for parents and children, accompanying them as they grow up in the 21st century and supporting them according to their individual strengths and interests.
How do you imagine the future of education in the new era of AI?
Edurino: AI entails massive opportunities for the future of education. Personalized learning, intelligent tutoring systems, and intelligent content creation are only a few areas where the impact will be great. The new era, however, also entails a new responsibility to teach children, very early on, how AI can be used and where potentials and limitations lie. It will be crucial that children learn to classify knowledge and information correctly and reflect on it, rather than being able to only remember information. Therefore, key skills such as critical thinking, creativity, social intelligence, digital literacy, and flexibility will be particularly important for children to unlock the potential with AI.
Stay tuned for the next edition of FemWealth Springboard!
💌 If you’re a female or non-binary founder of a venture-backed, early-stage company and would like to be featured in a future edition, please email me at femwealth@substack.com.