Technology is called to transform all areas of society, including education. Futuristic stories that spoke of holographic classes, virtual reality experiences, and robots in the classroom are starting to not be so futuristic, and Catalan companies and institutions want to play a role in outlining the education of the future.
In fact, companies dedicated to technology applied to education have tripled since COVID: they have gone from fewer than 100 then to more than 300, after a pandemic and a lockdown that suddenly pushed the educational sector towards digitalization. According to a study by the Government through Acció, in collaboration with the Edutech Cluster, these more than 300 companies generate 4,500 jobs and nearly 900 million euros in annual turnover.
"Barcelona is a technology hub, also in the educational field," defends Alicia Berlanga, the director of the Edutech Cluster, which brings together companies and institutions focused on technology applied to education. The cluster, based in Barcelona, includes edtech players at a national level, with a hundred in total and about 70 of them in Catalonia.
The sector encompasses companies ranging from publishers to software providers, management platforms for educational centers, and specialized consultancies. Together, the sector is positioning Catalonia in this field internationally, in a process in which, according to Berlanga, the "commitment to bring technology to classrooms" by administrations has been crucial, as well as the pulling capacity of large fairs such as the Mobile World Congress, the ISE and Smart City, as well as resources such as those from the Next Generation: "The perfect scenario is being created for Barcelona to position itself."
Now, in addition, the sector is detecting "an interest from European companies to set up in Barcelona." This growing international interest will also be perceived at the Edtech Congress, which is held at the Montjuïc venue of Fira de Barcelona between this Tuesday and Wednesday, organized by the cluster with the aim of laying the foundations for the future of education. The congress, which "has been held for 11 years but has grown in recent editions," also wants to contribute to internationalizing the companies of the Catalan ecosystem, as Berlanga details.
In this context, she is convinced that "Barcelona can strongly position itself in the edtech sector." The city aspires to do so with a sector that, by turnover volume, is led by traditional publishers that are committed to a transition towards digital content, representing 58% of the business volume in the edtech field in Catalonia. With 20%, infrastructure and equipment providers also stand out, and with 8%, software and digital support tools providers. The sector is completed by companies such as consultancies, digital content creation companies, and comprehensive management platforms for educational centers.
Within this ecosystem, the use of technological tools such as artificial intelligence, robotics, gamification, virtual and immersive reality, cybersecurity, and big data stand out. In fact, Berlanga assures that artificial intelligence has already been integrated into the educational sector: "Many centers already use AI in areas such as data management, programming, and even virtual tutors. We may not yet be aware of it, but the educational sector is already using it."
Virtual and immersive reality will be the next to strongly land in the educational field, according to the cluster director. "Immersive reality will be fundamental in education," with applications such as immersive and dynamic learning similar to that of the work environment in the case of Vocational Training.
This commitment to integrating education and technology is approached without forgetting or underestimating potential risks. For this reason, "from the educational sector, companies, foundations, associations, and administration, we all work aligned to promote the responsible and healthy use of technology." In this vein, measures are being promoted such as the one recently taken by the Government to prohibit mobile phones in Primary and ESO. "We work to create mechanisms and to raise awareness about the responsible use of technology to ensure digital well-being," Berlanga guarantees.
And digital well-being and mental health is something that can also be pursued from technology itself, as the Catalan startup Miinta does. Integrated into the cluster, it offers an emotional support chat for adolescents and young people, and goes further: it has tools to improve the well-being of students and families, with individual sessions, training for teachers, specific programs, diagnostic tests, and early detection.
Also with the purpose of facilitating the detection of difficulties and potentialities in children, the edtech Dide has developed a non-invasive tool to delve into their characteristics and development. Through a simple questionnaire that the family answers based on observation, Dide evaluates 35 key indicators, as explained by its CEO, Elena Betés. The tool is offered to both schools and families, and this year it has tripled the number of centers it works with, up to 70: "Our ambition is to grow, and this year we have to at least double it," defends Betés, also founder of Rastreator.
Another of the great objectives of edtech companies is to facilitate students' acquisition of digital and technological competencies, ranging from device use to robotics and programming. In this area, the company CodeLearn has 11 years of experience training in computational thinking through programming. Until now, it had done so with a network of 30 locations where they teach extracurricular activities and online, and now they have made a place for themselves within the school schedule. "We have adapted to the educational and curricular field," highlights CodeLearn director, Lluís Julià. With this learning system, they are present in 35 educational centers, where they also train teachers. "We offer a turnkey solution to learn computational thinking and programming," defends Julià, who sets the goal for the 2025-2026 academic year to sell 300,000 CodeLearn licenses.
The edtech sector is determined to transform education from all its anglesBut the sectoredutechnot only aspires to train in new technologies, but also to apply them to transform the way in which basic subjects and knowledge are taught. This is the objective of PictoEscritura, which teaches language using images and drawing as a tool to learn to read and write, while developing creative thinking and progressively mastering language. It does so by proposing projects that motivate students to create and write, as explained by its founder, Roser Ballesteros:"The goal is for all boys and girls to enjoy reading and writing and to finish Primary school with a competence that allows them to access any type of text". The initiative, which has brought its proposal to some 200 centers nationwide and has carried out multi-year studies to test its methodology, is now focusing on adapting its platform not only to each student's level, but also to their learning style, to maximize its inclusive nature and attention to diversity.
Through initiatives like these, the edtech sector is determined to transform education from all angles, to transform not only the way it is taught and learned, but also classroom and center dynamics, the management of centers and the relationship with families, and even the evaluation of the educational system itself. All with the ultimate goal of improving the system, streamlining it, opening it to new knowledge, and seeking effective yet attractive methodologies that maximize student learning.