News that the FDA has cleared iRobot’s medical robots for use in hospitals stoked interest across the web, but ‘robodocs’ are just one way telemedicine could keep healthcare costs down, improve care and increase access to patients. Read more »
Google Ventures-backed MindSumo, a marketplace that helps companies recruit college students and generate new ideas through real-world competitions, has launched in public beta with clients including Facebook, Chegg and Microsoft. Read more »
LabDoor, a San Francisco-based startup backed by digital health accelerator Rock Health, on Thursday launched web and mobile apps to help people research dietary supplements. Read more »
Canadian ed tech company Desire2Learn has acquired Degree Compass, a course recommendation engine developed at Austin Peay State University with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Read more »
A group of educators, including online course startup Udacity, today released a “Bill of Rights” meant to protect the interests of students in online education. Read more »
As companies in education technology, as well as health care and clean tech, pursue both market- and mission-driven agendas, B Lab co-founder Andrew Kassoy argues that it’s important to remember that these industries are “cloaked in nobility.” Read more »
New York-based Schoology is challenging Student Information Systems to create APIs to streamline the open exchange of data in education. Read more »
According to venture capital database, CB Insights, education technology companies raised a total of $1.1 billion in 2012, with about one-third of the funding going to about ten companies. Read more »
Backed by the founders of Jawbone and others in education, entrepreneurship and career readiness, New York-based Modern Guild aims to connect college students with professionals for fee-based online career readiness courses. Read more »
This week, the Department of Health and Human Services said it made the most “sweeping changes” to the HIPAA privacy and security law. But though the industry has expected the changes, companies are all over the map when it comes to being prepared. Read more »
After an $8 million Series A round in July, Toronto-based education startup Top Hat Monocle said it has accepted $1.1 million in funding from Felicis Ventures. Read more »
Audax Health, a Washington, DC-based digital health company that partners with insurance companies to offer social, personalized heath management support to consumers, has raised nearly $21 million, according to a recent filing with the SEC. Read more »
Mobile diabetes-management startup Glooko has hired its first CEO, former Intuit Health executive Rick Altinger, launched a new product in the U.S. and recently received FDA clearance to sell its products to patients over the counter. Read more »
According to GE’s annual Innovation Barometer, business leaders around the world ranked improving education and encouraging a more entrepreneurial school environment as priorities in encouraging innovation. Read more »
For at least a third of American adults, the internet — and, in particular, search engines — is a diagnostic tool. But physicians are only slowly adapting to this new reality. Read more »
As new online learning startups have attracted media attention and investor dollars, lynda.com, a veteran of the industry has remained relatively quiet. But on Tuesday the company said it raised $103 million in its first venture round since launching in 1995. Read more »
According to a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 8 in 10 Internet users say that their last health-related search began with a search engine – a figure that has not changed since Pew last asked that question in 2000. Read more »
Online education company Minerva, which has raised $25 million in venture capital and is backed by former Treasury Secretary and Harvard president Larry Summers, is creating a new non-profit arm to explore and create new programs for financing students’ education and develop top-level teaching talent. Read more »
Even if we have the best intentions for keeping in contact with old friends, former colleagues and random acquaintances, as our social networks grow, it can be hard to follow through. Here are five apps that try to make it a little easier. Read more »
What does the boom in digital health mean for the health care industry overall? As a new PricewaterhouseCoopers report lists the top issues in health care, we take a look the ways in which technology could shape the industry in the coming year. Read more »
Chegg, best known as a textbook rental site, is set to launch its first paid app, for Windows 8, on Thursday. As the company expands into a broader “student hub,” the app will help students answer problem sets in the most popular textbooks. Read more »
To help its students learn by doing, Codecademy is partnering with several popular websites and services for a new track of lessons on building with APIs. Supplied by the companies, the lessons teach students how to build apps around YouTube videos, NPR newscasts and more. Read more »
Online education startup Coursera has announced that it will charge students $30 to $100 for “verified certificates” that authenticate students’ identity and provide a more valuable credential. At launch, the program includes four universities out of the company’s nearly three dozen partners. Read more »
At the Consumer Electronics Show on Tuesday, McGraw-Hill Education unveiled its SmartBook, an adaptive e-book that tailors the reading experience to each students’ pace and mastery level. It guides students through the material, frequently assessing their retention, and highlights content on which they should focus. Read more »
Corporate giant GE appears to be taking a greater interest in early stage digital health startups. On Tuesday, the company’s $6 billion health care initiative, Healthymagination, announced a three-year program with Startup Health to support health entrepreneurs. Read more »
According to health tech accelerator Rock Health, investors poured $1.4 billion into digital health companies last year, which is up 45 percent from 2011. The major areas of interest include healthcare purchasing tools for consumers, personal health tracking, Electronic Medical records and hospital administration. Read more »
Athenahealth, a provider of Electronic Health Records software and other online services for doctors and hospitals, on Monday said that it plans to acquire Epocrates, a drug reference app used by about half of the country’s doctors. Read more »
PatientSafe, a San Diego-based medical technology company, on Monday announced that it had raised $20 million in a Series C round of financing led by health care giant Merck’s Global Health Innovation Fund. Read more »
As startups and consumer advocates push for more transparency in health care pricing, a study in the Journal of Consumer Research looks at how the price of medication can influence consumers’ perceived health risk. Read more »
StudyBlue, a Madison, Wisc.-based education technology startup, on Friday announced that it has raised $9 million in funding from Great Oaks Venture Capital, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and other investors. Read more »
Craftsy’s bread and butter may be classes on quilting and sewing, but its success among students who tend to be less tech-savvy could be interesting to all kinds of online learning startups. Read more »
Inspired by Codecademy’s learn-to-code CodeYear initiative, New York-based Greatist this week launched HealthYear to help people take a more proactive approach to their health. Read more »
The rise of electronic health records, other digital health platforms and connected devices has made healthcare more vulnerable to security breaches almost any other industry, according to a recent investigation by The Washington Post. Read more »
It’s easier said than done to stick to New Year’s resolutions for getting more sleep, exercising regularly or undertaking any other health-related routine. But a growing set of apps help people improve habits through activity tracking, design and networking with communities of peers or experts. Read more »
Preparing to compete with on-demand car service Uber, London-based Hailo is reportedly raising $30 million in a round of venture financing that could value the startup at $140 million. Read more »
Mobile health is on the upswing but, to date, consumers have mostly gravitated to apps for fitness tracking and general wellness. In 2013, however, the field could make its biggest strides yet in the actual delivery of healthcare services. Read more »
On the heels of a new set of project-based courses, New York-based Codecademy on Monday launched CodeCards, a program that enables anyone to create and share their own online holiday cards. Read more »
One of the latest startups aiming to bring comparison shopping to health, PokitDok this week launched a new mobile app that lets consumers search for local healthcare and wellness providers to find prices that match their budgets. Read more »
With more than a dozen projects raising more than $1 million (some in less than a day), 2012 was a banner year for Kickstarter. Here are GigaOM’s favorite campaigns from the worlds of connected devices, open-source technology and publishing. Read more »
SecondMarket, the New York-based online platform for trading shares in privately-held companies, on Wednesday announced that it is partnering with AngelList to enable qualified investors on its site to invest amounts starting at $5,000 or less in early stage tech startups. Read more »
