TechRound – the UK’s independent voice for startups – caught up with Kortext’s CEO and founder, James Gray, at Kortext’s sun-drenched Bournemouth office to discover more about his entrepreneur journey and what the future holds for hybrid learning technology.
From its Bournemouth HQ, Kortext has evolved from being the first eTextbook provider trusted by UK universities, to a full learning and engagement platform, used by 1.7m of the UK’s 2.5m university students.
Soundbites from the James Gray interview
Inspired by my experience at Ingram and the potential of technology to support and enhance digital learning in the HE sector, I came back to the UK and founded Kortext in 2013 with a mission to empower the next generation of difference makers through teaching and learning.
In just five years, we became the leading learning experience and engagement platform working with over 4,700 publishers to supply over 2 million eBooks and digital content to students in over 100 countries.
One of the most exciting things we’ve been able to be at the forefront of is how hybrid learning creates new opportunities for those with non-traditional lifestyles, and for whom being on campus all day, every day isn’t an option.
Hybrid learning and technology go hand in hand, with study platforms like Kortext Arcturus providing a structured digital study space for students to access and engage with their learning content away from their face-to-face lessons. This kind of technology is needed to support the ‘anytime, anywhere’ nature of the remote aspect of hybrid learning.
Ultimately, Kortext offers access to more books and publishers than any other platform, and our customer-driven roadmap means that every platform development we make supports universities’ teaching and learning strategies.
…our market leading learning analytics enable universities to view student engagement in real time. We provide each academic with an analytics dashboard that delivers data on content usage from number of pages read to number of searches made, right down to individual book or student level.
…thanks to the technology and data analysis advancements we’ve been able to develop, we can now recognise when a student’s engagement is falling away, which is a proven predictor of potential anxiety and other mental health issues.
You can read James’ interview in full on the TechRound website.
