Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

7 reasons AP automation is the antidote to finance department burnout

Education institutions are forced to do more with less, putting extra stress on employees. Without realizing it, schools often have processes that create even more work, particularly in the business office. Fortunately, accounts payable (AP) automation can cure fatigue from overwhelming manual workloads and give AP staff more time to focus on something much more important: the students.

Challenges in the business office:

Without the help of automation, AP specialists spend several hours each day on tedious, repetitive tasks such as keying invoice data, pushing paper, fixing typos, chasing down information, and responding to calls and emails from suppliers and stakeholders about the status of invoices and payments. All the while, school business officers also juggle additional responsibilities impacting their institution and student outcomes.…Read More

Digital Tools Key to Financial Literacy,According to Study by Certell and Project Tomorrow

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The vast majority of high school students are not financially literate but respond well to economics and personal finance courses that include digital tools in their curriculum, according to a new study by Project Tomorrow and Certell, creator of the Poptential™ family of free, award-winning social studies course packages. Click to tweet.

According to the study, just 10% of teachers say that their students are at a level of proficiency higher than basic when beginning an economics course, and 53% report students at below basic proficiency levels.

“This lack of financial literacy among high school students shows why basic economics and personal finance courses should be required in high school,” said Fred Fransen, CEO of Certell. “Today, just 25 states require that students take an economics course in order to graduate, and just 15 require personal finance. If students don’t improve their understanding of economics and finance at the high school level, they may never be exposed to it.”…Read More

Toilet Paper Hands: Empowering Students With Skills-Based Economic Education to Accelerate Financial Literacy

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, Calif. (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Creators of Toilet Paper Hands Online Educational Program are responding to exploding demand for online education with innovative edutech: changing the game in economic education so students can keep up with the acceleration of web3 in a post-pandemic economy, redefining what it is to be financially independent.

CULTIVATING 21st-CENTURY SKILLS

TPH is the only pre-packaged economics curriculum currently available for students and educators that includes content on decentralized finance. Through human-centered storytelling and gamified learning, TPH creators deliver lessons in financial literacy, blockchain technology and investing concepts to bridge the gap between current economic education and the opportunities of web3.…Read More

Osmo From BYJU’s Appoints Jonathan Naseath Chief Operating Officer To Lead Next Phase of Growth

Palo Alto, CA–Feb 23, 2022–Award-winning STEAM brand, Osmo from BYJU’S, announces Jonathan Naseath’s appointment as Chief Operating Officer, effective immediately. With extensive experience in finance and operations, Naseath, CPA, CFE and CISA, will further Osmo’s global growth, creating operational excellence across the company and scaling the company’s vision of making a broader impact to education. 

“Jon is an energetic and passionate executive who will help take Osmo and Powered by Osmo businesses to the next level by solving complex issues of large scale organization management such as supply chain, logistics, finance, and creating centers of excellence,” says Cherian Thomas, Senior Vice President of International Business at Osmo from BYJU’S. “Furthermore, Jon will be instrumental in setting up our multidisciplinary teams for success in carrying out Osmo’s vision for the future.”

Naseath arrives at Osmo from Google Cloud, where he served as Cloud Value Advisor Senior Principal, and assisted the office of Google Cloud CFO to define the financial opportunity of cloud digital transformation. Between 2018 and 2020, Naseath was Chief Financial Officer and Transformation Leader at PCH International, which provides supply chain distribution and software as a service (SaaS) platforms to leading global brands. He advised on matters ranging from developing and implementing cash strategies, to overseeing global accounting, financial reporting, tax, compliance and regulatory teams. …Read More

Texthelp Names Christine Mullin as Chief Operating Officer

WOBURN, Mass., Dec. 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ —  Texthelp, a global leader in literacy and accessibility technology, announced that it has named Christine Mullin as its Chief Operating Officer. Mullin will be the first chief operating officer in the twenty-five-year history of Texthelp.

Christine brings to Texthelp more than two decades of experience in growing and developing technology businesses across multiple roles, including strategy, business development, finance, and customer operations. Most recently, she served as COO/CFO and a Board Director of Dext, a UK-based global SaaS business that provides productivity software solutions for accountants and was successfully sold to Hg Capital earlier this year. Prior to Dext, Christine was the COO/CFO of MetaPack Limited, an e-commerce delivery mgt SaaS business that was sold to Stamps.com in August 2018.

Previous roles include being the COO of Microsoft UK’s Advertising and Online division and the Finance Director of AOL UK. Christine started her career at Arthur Andersen in London where she qualified as a Chartered Accountant and has a BA (Hons) in Mathematics from Trinity College Dublin. She currently resides in London, England.…Read More

ParentSquare Appoints Derick Sutton as Chief Financial Officer

Santa Barbara, CA — Dec. 6, 2021— ParentSquare Inc., provider of the premier unified school-to-home engagement platform for K-12, announced that Derick Sutton is joining the company as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO). In his new role, Sutton will lead the company’s accounting, finance, and human resources functions.

Sutton has extensive experience as a financial leader at high-growth technology companies. Before joining ParentSquare, he served as CFO for software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies such as Simplee (now part of Flywire Corporation) and SCI Solutions as well as the training solutions provider NAVEX Global (formerly Employment Law Training).

Sutton also held several executive roles at the financial software and SaaS company Intuit. As CFO of Intuit’s international division, he helped re-establish its small business accounting software market leadership. Additionally, Sutton served as the vice president of finance and investor relations for the biotechnology firm Codexis, contributing to that firm’s IPO.…Read More

Prioritizing school funding in the midst of multiple crises

Faced with fast-changing instructional models, varying infection rates, decreasing revenue sources, and a variety of natural disasters, how can education finance officials meet the short-term needs of their districts as well as longer-term school funding requirements?

During a recent edLeader Panel, four experts shared their recent experiences and current perspectives on the issues and challenges that school districts have been coping with during the past six months. They also discussed interim solutions and plans for the future, all of which are continuing to evolve.

Related content: Using title funds for STEM education…Read More

Best and worst states for the subject every school should be teaching

Comprehensive report details state progress (or lack of) in teaching finance and economics in K-12

states-finance-economyIn the midst of the country’s slow climb to economic recovery, there’s been an outpouring of support from communities to teach today’s students the one subject that could perhaps prevent future economic woes: personal finance and economics. However, though states are making progress, there’s still work to be done.

“The number one problem in today’s generation and economy is the lack of financial literacy,” said Alan Greenspan, economist and former chairman of the Federal Reserve.

And the Council for Economic Education (CEE) agrees. The CEE’s report, “Survey of the States: Economic and Personal Finance Education in Our Nation’s Schools 2014,” conducted every two years by the CEE and collects data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, highlights the best and worst states for teaching personal finance literacy. It also reveals some startling facts about student struggling with finance.…Read More