AWS Highlights Educators’ Work in Digital Transformation

Educators across the United States are finding creative ways to use technology in the classroom, for administration, for research, and more. Each year, Amazon Web Services selects about 10 of them to recognize, support, and amplify their work. This year, AWS recognized a dozen whose work includes making data-driven decisions, modernizing cloud infrastructure, supporting medical researchers, and expanding access to digital archives.

CHAMPIONS OF EDUCATION

According to a recent press release, Elizabeth Reilley, executive director of AI Acceleration – Enterprise Technology at Arizona State University, was named this year’s champion for her work using large language models in higher education. Valerie Singer, general manager of global education at AWS, said Reilley’s work could help translate lessons for students who don’t speak English.

“It’s these kinds of challenges that really help communities in really profound ways, which is something we celebrate in our educational initiatives,” Singer said.

Another 2024 winner, Robert Grossman of the University of Chicago, is leading a team building a platform called Gen3. The platform provides open-source software services to manage and share large, complex data sets in the cloud, according to its website. It could help speed up the research process and ultimately increase scientific knowledge and improve lives, the website says.

AWS unveiled the first class of 2022 Education Champions at IMAGINE to celebrate individuals who are championing digital transformation through cloud computing. Winners have their work showcased on the AWS Education Champions community website, participate in a group of education technology leaders, and receive mentorship from AWS experts and access to marketing opportunities and special events.

This year’s 12 AWS “Education Champions” winners are:

• Gwinnett County Public Schools, Georgia.
• Michigan Association of Secondary School Administrators
• Educational Service Center Region 4, Texas
• San Antonio Independent School District, Texas
• Dan Alig of the University of Pennsylvania
• Sarah Christen of Cornell University, New York
• Robert Grossman, University of Chicago
• Julian Mino, University of St. Thomas, Minnesota.
• Shruthi Sreenivasa Murthy, Saint Louis University, Mo.
• Elizabeth Reilley, Arizona State University
• David Schober, Northwestern University, Illinois.
• Jon Shaw, Vanderbilt University, Tennessee.

Previous winners have creatively used technology to manage the data of 73,000 students even during power outages, amassed over 150 TB of library storage, collected data from thousands of streams across a university campus to better understand and serve the student body, and even created one of the first cloud-based clinical genomics workflows—a toolkit that breaks down human genome sequences commonly used in genetic disease research.

The recognition is part of the overall AWS Champions program, which recognizes local and state governments, as well as education. This year, AWS added categories for education technology and government technology. While Education Champions are primarily individual educators or educational institutions, EdTech Champions this year are all companies.

ED-TECH MASTERS

Among the five companies recognized by AWS as EdTech Champions, Gaggle is a software company that uses analytics to detect and flag disturbing content on students’ school accounts and school-issued devices. Last year, Gaggle added a hotline to connect students with trained Gaggle consultants via phone, text, or web chat. According to Gaggle’s website, 95 percent of district partners say the company has identified students who no one knew were depressed.

Vocareum, another winner, offers virtual learning labs in machine learning, data science, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and other areas requiring strong digital skills. Instructors can integrate Vocareum into their institution’s learning management system and use it for automated grading, learning analytics, on-platform messaging, and more.

The other three winners, Pluralsight, Udemy Inc., and Ellucian, help teachers accelerate technical skill development, gain insight into their student populations, and increase engagement.

The 10 winners in the EdTech and GovTech categories include:

• Acentra Health
• CentralSquare Technologies
• Ellucian
• Gaggle
• Mark 43
• Wildcard view
• Rekor Systems
• Tyler Technologies
• Udemy Inc
• Competition