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February 7, 2024
After four action-packed days at the Future of Educational Technology Conference (FETC) 2025, our team compiled a list of the most innovative vendors we encountered. These companies are pushing the boundaries of education through cutting-edge technologies. We’ve organized our favorites into key categories to highlight how each solution enhances the classroom experience. Additionally, we know teachers and schools budgets are quite different, so we included pricing where eligible.
FETC’s Top AI Teacher Tools
AI is fundamentally changing how educators approach teaching and learning. These innovative vendors are utilizing artificial intelligence to streamline lesson planning, provide real-time feedback, and enhance student engagement. By incorporating AI-driven tools into their classrooms, teachers are able to focus more on personalized instruction while ensuring every student gets the support they need to succeed.
- Kami – Best Whole-Class Annotation Tool
Kami’s platform allows for seamless collaboration in the classroom through real-time annotations. Students and teachers can interact with learning materials, providing teachers with instant insights into student progress and understanding. It’s a great way to encourage collaboration and improve learning outcomes.- Price: Free base with $99/yr option or District/School Pricing
- Curipod – Best AI Lesson Generator
Curipod is revolutionizing lesson planning with its AI-powered tool that transforms outdated lessons into interactive, student-focused activities. Teachers can create engaging lessons with minimal effort while AI ensures alignment with educational standards and topics. Curipod makes reading, writing, and test prep more exciting for students while giving teachers valuable data to track progress.- Price: Free base with District/School Pricing
- Brisk Teaching – Best AI-Powered Learning Assistant
Brisk Teaching AI offers a unique tool that analyzes students’ written work against academic standards. Teachers can input papers, set specific learning goals, and receive personalized suggestions to improve their students’ work. Brisk AI is an excellent tool for streamlining the grading process while ensuring students meet key learning objectives.- Price: Free base with upgrade to $10/mo or District/School Pricing
- Suno – Best Musical AI Tool for Classrooms
Suno offers an innovative AI-powered tool that allows teachers to generate music based on class topics. This tool makes learning more engaging by incorporating music into lessons, providing students with a new way to interact with and retain information.- Price: Free with tiered upgrades from $10 to $30/mo
- Notebook LM – Best Discussion Tool
Notebook LM offers a way for teachers to create podcasts and foster class discussions on assignments within Google Classroom. This tool provides a fresh format for assignments, helping to keep students engaged while offering a more interactive way to engage with the material.- Price: Free
FETC’s Best Subject Area Specialty Tools
When it comes to subject-specific learning, these vendors offer tailored solutions that target key areas such as math, science, early childhood education, English Language Arts (ELA), and even fitness. These tools help educators create dynamic learning environments, where students receive personalized support and are encouraged to engage with the material in new and exciting ways.
- Smartschool – Best Math AI Tool
Smartschool offers AI-driven tools that help students master math by providing personalized learning paths and feedback. Whether it’s helping struggling students or enhancing the learning experience for others, Smartschool’s math tools are designed to make math more accessible and enjoyable.- Price: Free Teacher option with tiered student options from $20 to $49.99/mo or School & District Pricing
- Snorkl – Best Math and Science Feedback Tool
Snorkl stands out with its voice-driven feedback system for math and science. Students can speak their answers and receive immediate feedback, enhancing their learning experience. This interactive feature helps students improve their understanding of complex subjects quickly and effectively.- Price: Free with School and District Upgrades
- KinderLab – Best Early Childhood Learning Tool
KinderLab makes learning fun for younger students in pre-kindergarten through second grade with its interactive scanning boxes. This tool helps engage young learners in educational content while promoting hands-on learning in an exciting and accessible way.- Price: $1580+ for Classrooms
- Shortanswer – Best ELA Assessment Tool
Shortanswer offers an innovative approach to assessing student responses in English Language Arts. Students submit answers to prompts, which are reviewed by peers, and a leaderboard shows the best responses. This peer review process not only helps students learn collaboratively but also provides teachers with a unique insight into student understanding.- Price: Free with $75/yr upgrade or Group Pricing
- Lu – Best Fitness Technology
With technology often keeping children indoors, Lu is bringing physical play back with its interactive, gamified projection system. Lu offers over 200 activities, allowing students to compete in fun games like monster basketball and target practice. This fitness technology makes exercise more engaging and exciting, ensuring students get moving while having fun. We cross shopped competitors like ActiveFloor and were quite impressed by the software Lu offered.- Price: Estimated $32,000. Includes Install and 1-Year Subscription (Title I and IV Funding Eligible)
- CodeKambat – Best Coding and Esports Integration
CodeKambat merges coding with esports, allowing students to engage in coding challenges through competitive gaming. This unique combination of learning and gaming makes coding more exciting, especially for students who might not traditionally be interested in technology.- Price: $14.99/mo with School/District Options
FETC’s Best School Information Technology Tools
As schools increasingly rely on technology, managing devices and safeguarding networks has become a critical concern. These vendors provide innovative tools designed to help schools manage their digital infrastructure efficiently while also protecting students and staff from cyber threats. From device management solutions to cybersecurity training platforms, these tools ensure that schools can stay ahead in the digital age.
- Jarsystems – Best Chromebook Charging Solution
Jarsystems impressed us with its Chromebook charging cart that features a modular design and the ability to charge up to 16 devices simultaneously. This flexible and efficient solution helps schools manage their growing fleets of Chromebooks, ensuring devices are ready for use when needed.- Pricing: From $379 and up.
- Cybernut – Best Cybersecurity Training for Schools
Cybernut stands out for its comprehensive cybersecurity training platform designed for schools. This platform educates students and staff about online safety, ensuring everyone is equipped with the knowledge to stay safe in an increasingly digital world.- Pricing: Quoted by School/District
- Ubiquiti – Best Total School IT Ecosystem
Ubiquiti amazed us with their revised wide-reaching ecosystem for schools; including network, voice, access control, and management. They showcased their new 42U rack and AI-camera lineup, in addition to discussing their newly released Enterprise support offerings. Ubiquiti stepped up its game in the UniFi lineup with Proofpoint backing their Enterprise Fortress Gateway (Firewall) with your choice of support options. We really like the functionality and user interface of their network management platform. Best yet, for Enterprise grade products, they are priced exceptionally well, and you can generally save year over year by the typical avoiding device licensing.- Pricing: Access Points $99-$500, Firewalls: $149-$1500, Switches: $300-$2000, Cameras: $129-$1600. Support: $100-$1500 per site.
Honorable Mentions:
While these innovators didn’t quite fit any of our categories, we thought they were exciting enough to mention, and look forward to seeing their new developments next year.
- Avid – New ‘Early Childhood Mic’ Headphones
- PlayVS – K12 eSports Incubator
- Stingbox – Affordable Honeypot
- incidentIQ – K12 Focused Helpdesk
- Cybernut – Cybersecurity Training. Think Knowbe4 for Schools.
The Future of Educational Technology Conference (FETC) 2025 showcased a remarkable range of innovations that are shaping the future of education. From AI-driven tools that make lesson planning and grading more efficient, to interactive learning solutions in math, science, and fitness, these vendors are transforming how educators engage with students and manage classrooms. Whether through enhancing student collaboration, offering personalized learning experiences, or improving school IT infrastructure, these technologies provide valuable tools that make education more engaging and effective.
Our team has been working with schools for over 15 years, improving their sites and IT infrastructure. If you’d like an audit or partner for your school, work with Tim Nethers, School IT Coach, who can partner with your Technology Team to enhance their vision.
As schools continue to embrace technology, it’s clear that these solutions not only enhance the learning experience but also support the crucial work of educators in managing and securing their digital environments. The vendors highlighted in this post are at the forefront of this shift, offering products that make classrooms more dynamic, secure, and future-ready. As we move forward, it’s exciting to think about how these tools will continue to evolve, helping to create a more efficient and enriching educational landscape for both teachers and students.
