2020 was filled with adversity and challenges, but amongst the mayhem, silver linings appeared that demonstrated the tenacity, commitment, and innovation of our nation’s school districts and educators. As a committed partner, advocate, and friend to the education community, CatchOn has had the privilege of working alongside these remarkable leaders to overcome obstacles and create new opportunities for the students and staff we serve across the country.  

As we look forward to all that 2021 has to offer, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on what was achieved this past year, provide a sneak peak of what we have in the works for this year, and extend our gratitude and support for our nation’s education communities.

Unprecedented growth and product innovation

As districts rapidly transitioned to remote learning, CatchOn fast-tracked the development and release of its groundbreaking student-level data module to give educational leaders the visibility they required into how and when each student was using their school-owned device and online tools and resources outside the building. It is remarkable to see how educators have used data to improve student engagement and ensure learning continuity. The number of engagements per user per day has nearly doubled from pre-pandemic levels.

Student data privacy leadership

With millions of students using their school devices to access eLearning tools and platforms from home, schools need to help ensure these students are learning in safe cyber environments. CatchOn is committed to providing districts the tools and information they need to safeguard student data.

• This past year, CatchOn collaborated with Reg Leichty, Founding Partner of Foresight Law + Policy, and the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) to publish a student data privacy guide, Establishing a Robust Student Data Privacy Culture―Action Ideas for School Districts, which also includes ten state-specific guides that summarize each state’s student data privacy laws and regulations. CatchOn is also an active member of the student data privacy community, signing the Student Data Privacy Pledge and supporting the efforts of organizations like the Student Data Privacy Consortium and IMS Global Learning Consortium.
• CatchOn added a new app management feature that gives districts access to each application’s privacy policies and terms of services as well as notifications if those policies or terms change. Additionally, CatchOn provides users the ability to mark and categorize their applications as approved or not approved by the district.

The channel

CatchOn expanded its channel program to meet increased customer demand, adding partners who are committed to the mission of education and share CatchOn’s passion for serving school districts. CatchOn looks forward to continuing to cultivate these relationships to equip school districts with the actionable data they need to produce positive outcomes.

New partnerships and community recognition

edWeb Communities: In partnership with edWeb, CatchOn hosted and participated in numerous sessions around student data privacy, eLearning, usage analytics, and Google Data Studio. CatchOn also created two professional learning communities on the edWeb platform―Analytics in Action and Data Analytics and Google. These communities foster the sharing of knowledge about successful data analytics practices, strategies for monitoring student engagement, and successful applications of technology. To join our community, visit our Community Forum.

Launch of new pilot program with Digital Promise: In August 2020, CatchOn partnered with Digital Promise, a non-profit organization committed to expanding learning opportunities for all students, to leverage the power of data analytics to improve student outcomes nationwide. The purpose of the program is to identify and share innovative best practices and disseminate how real-time data insights can help schools address priority challenges that were identified in the Digital Promise Challenge Map report released in 2020. A report examining the findings from the pilot will be released in May 2021.

Google for Education partnership:  CatchOn joined the Google for Education Integrated Solutions Initiative to help districts gain more visibility into the applications being used on their school devices. These integrations with Google Data Studio enable educational leaders to leverage usage analytics to better inform instruction as well as identify and track correlations between their benchmark assessment results and EdTech investments.

Community recognition for innovation and excellence: CatchOn received multiple awards recognizing its innovative approach to delivering actionable data to improve online learning. Awards and recognitions include the following:

• Winner of Tech and Learning’s Best of Show Award at ISTE 2020
• Winner of Tech and Learning’s Award of Excellence in the category of “Software: Curriculum and Instruction Solution”
• Co-winner of the 2020 Learning Impact Bronze Award from IMS Global Learning Consortium for “Leveraging Actionable Data to Transform and Safeguard Learning Environments” with Mashpee Public Schools
• 2020 SIIA CODiE Award Finalist in three categories: “Best Emerging Education Technology Solution for Administrators,” “Best Education Cloud-based Solution,” and “Best Data Solution”
• 2020 EdTech Trendsetter Awards Finalist