Edtech startup Quizling recently put Australia on the map, as the only Australian startup chosen out of ten finalists from around the world to pitch at the SxSWedu Launch competition in Austin, Texas this March.
Quizling was selected for the unique way its quiz-based app connects learners of all ages with the whole educational ecosystem (not just schools and classrooms), including museums, cultural tourism, thinktanks, and educational corporations.
“Drawing on resources from galleries, museums, institutions, science enthusiasts, and a whole range of experts and aficionados in all types of fields creates learning opportunities that are inevitably far richer than traditional textbook learning,” said Dion Oxley, Co-founder and COO of Quizling.
“As a classroom teacher, I couldn’t always create the type of lessons I wanted to teach on my own, which inspired me to create a way to connect teachers with all these amazing libraries, galleries, and cultural institutions.
“To now be recognised by such a high caliber advisory board of teachers, investors, founders, and educational leaders at SxSWedu, and be able to share our commitment to innovation in education, is truly humbling.”
What exactly does Quizling do?
Quizling is a quiz-based app that enables anyone to create, play, and share educational quizzes – from grade two students all the way up to museum directors. This is based on the belief that education should involve the whole education ecosystem – not just schools and classrooms, but also museums, cultural tourism, thinktanks, and corporations.
It connects this entire ecosystem with learners of all ages through a fun and engaging platform. Some of Quizling’s partners include the National Gallery of Australia, the National Library of Australia, the Royal Australian Mint, the National Sports Museum, TEDx, Inspiring Australia, and the ABC’s Behind the News.
The SxSWedu Launch competition is part of the annual ten-day SxSW festival, one of the US’s foremost stages for tech startups to showcase innovations from across the globe. Finalists receive significant exposure to the SxSWedu community of around 14,000 potential investors, partners, and fellow edtech entrepreneurs.
Quizling is now hoping to use this exposure to successfully launch its quizzes in the US, to add to its thousands of users all over Australia, and to the quizzes that have been played in the Gaza Strip, Turkey, Portugal, the US, UK, France, Ireland, NZ and Uruguay.
According to Phil Tripp, Senior Development Manager of SxSW for Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii, Australian edtech and educational products are increasingly gaining recognition as uniquely valuable exports.
“Education is now just as important as music, film, and interactive disciplines have been in our creative content economy as export resources,” said Phil Tripp.
“Where our previous exports were more mineral and agricultural based, education is emerging as a key export earner and we in Australia are leading the market in this area.”
