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Employee Rewards Platform Bonusly Raises $18.9M in Series B Round

Employee Rewards Platform Bonusly Raises $18.9 M in Series B Round
Employee Rewards Platform Bonusly Raises $18.9 M in Series B Round

Bonusly, an engaging recognition and rewards platform connecting teams and enriching company culture, has recently secured $18.9 million in its Series B round led by Ankona Capital. The funding round also witnessed participation from existing investors, including FirstMark Capital, Access Venture Partners, and Next Frontier Capital.

Launched in 2013 by Raphael Crawford-Marks, Bonusly provides engagement software that enables companies to build connections among and between teams, increasing collaboration and innovation among their workforce. Additionally, the platform offers exclusive individual, team, and company insights, empowering managers to make informed decisions regarding culture, professional growth, performance management, and employee retention.

With the new fundraising, the startup will enhance its recognition platform, continue to build its analytics capabilities further, and invest in sales and marketing to expand go-to-market activities.

Bonusly’s platform attempts to capture and analyze data on how organizations work and connect, informing HR teams and managers. Every month, employees get an allowance to give small bonuses to their colleagues to recognize their contributions. Bonuses appear in a feed so everyone can see the work happening across their team.

As for the bonuses, they can be spent on gift cards from popular brands like Amazon and Hulu, as well as on cash and charitable donations. Crawford-Marks says that Bonusly users receive an average of two recognitions from peers and managers every week.

Commenting on the investment, Founder & CEO of Bonusly, Raphael Crawford-Marks, said:

This new capital will enable us to expand and build on the strong foundation we have in place, allowing the companies to meet the constantly changing people challenges of today’s volatile economy. Since our Series A, we have seen our valuation more than triple, despite the multiple compression that has occurred in today’s market — a strong recognition of the value we already provide and the even greater opportunity that lies ahead. We’re just getting started.

According to Crawford-Marks, as of the end of January 2023, the company has 3,175 current customers and 396,813 current users. Newth Morris, Partner, Ankona Capital, added:

Bonusly customers see significant, measurable improvement in employee engagement and morale with Bonusly. The organizational network data that Bonusly provides is both powerful and unique. But just as important is the leadership team’s approach to managing the company with incredible capital efficiency. Raphael founded and bootstrapped the company for nearly three years before raising capital, and that culture of making every dollar count continues today. It puts the company in a very strong position to address the challenges companies face in motivating, retaining and understanding their workforce in a rapidly changing economic landscape.

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Moodle Users – Add a ChatGPT based Help Desk support in your Moodle

Moodle Users - Add a ChatGPT based Help Desk support in your Moodle
Moodle Users - Add a ChatGPT based Help Desk support in your Moodle

Moodle and the ChatGPT is one of the most exciting point of discussion among the Moodle educators and administrators. Recently, I have posted about the integration of ChatGPT based question creation tool which can automatically create questions in Moodle Question Bank. In this post, we will see a new Moodle plugin – OpenAI Chat Block.

The new OpenAI Chat Block Moodle plugin is based on ChatGPT 3 text completion AI which means that it can be easily used to create a 24/7 chat support portal in your Moodle. So, instead of creating a FAQ page for common answers, you can directly make this block responsible for answering Students queries on the same. You can also be creative and think for other areas where this plugin can make wonders.

You can download the OpenAI Chat Block Moodle plugin from the official Moodle plugins directory here. This plugin requires a commercial subscription via a paid OpenAI account.

You can add the OpenAI Chat block to any Moodle page and configure it through Site Administration > Plugins > Blocks > OpenAI Chat Block before starting to use it. The options are:

  • Restrict chat usage to logged-in users: If this box is checked, only logged-in users will be able to use the chat box.
  • OpenAI API Key: This is where you add the API key given to you by OpenAI
  • Completion prompt: Here you can edit the text added to the top of the conversation in order to influence the AI’s persona and responses
  • Agent name: This is the name that the AI will use for itself in the conversation
  • User name: This is the name that will be used for the User in the conversation. Both this and the above option can be used to influence the persona and responses of the AI.
  • Source of truth: Here you can add a list of questions and answers that the AI will use to accurately respond to queries.

The plugins provides an interesting use of ChatGPT in Moodle LMS. You can also give it a try and share your views about this plugin in the comments section below.

For regular updates about Moodle, eLearning and edtech industry, please visit us regularly at https://lmsdaily.com. You can also like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, or Subscribe our YouTube Channel.

Moodle Admin Alert! Moodle 4.1.2, 4.0.7 and other minor versions released

Moodle Admin Alert! Moodle 4.1.2, 4.0.7 and other minor versions released
Moodle Admin Alert! Moodle 4.1.2, 4.0.7 and other minor versions released

New minor versions of Moodle LMS have been released today. The new version includes Moodle 4.1.2, 4.0.7, 3.11.13 & 3.9.20. The new versions include general fixes, improvements and security fixes. You are advised to update your Moodle site to latest version as soon as possible after proper testing.

You can download the latest version of Moodle from the official downloads page here or through Github.

Here is the complete list of changes in each Minor version released today:

The next Major Moodle LMS version i.e. Moodle 4.2 is scheduled to be released on 24 April 2023. In case you are planning to upgrade your Moodle site, please check out the release calendar as below:

For regular updates about Moodle, eLearning and edtech industry, please visit us regularly at https://lmsdaily.com. You can also like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, or Subscribe our YouTube Channel.

Join CoSN 2023 from March 20 – 23, 2023 in Austin, Texas

Join CSON 2023 from March 20 - 23, 2023 in Austin, Texas
Join CSON 2023 from March 20 - 23, 2023 in Austin, Texas

Get ready to join the CoSN 2023 from March 20 – 23, 2023 in Austin, Texas. The EdTech conference of the year will be one of the most engaging and exciting event of for the educators. The theme for this year’s event is Reimagine, Redesign, Renew.

The Consortium for School Network (CoSN) is the premier professional association for school system technology leaders. CoSN provides thought leadership resources, community, best practices and advocacy tools to help edtech leaders succeed in the digital transformation.

You can still book your seat for the CoSN 2023 through this link. Check out this page to know more about the fee details. All CoSN 2023 registrants will be able to access the recorded, live-streamed and pre-recorded sessions, until December 31, 2023.

If you are unable to attend in person, there will be CoSN 2023 virtual program also, which will have over 30 live-streamed and pre-recorded education sessions.

For complete details, please check out the CoSN 2023 website page here – https://www.cosn.org/cosn2023/

For regular updates about Moodle, eLearning and edtech industry, please visit us regularly at https://lmsdaily.com. You can also like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, or Subscribe our YouTube Channel.

Recruitment SaaS Company Fount Global Raises $8M In Series A Round

Recruitment SaaS Company Fount Global Raises $8M In Series A Round
Recruitment SaaS Company Fount Global Raises $8M In Series A Round

FOUNT Global, a recruitment SaaS startup, recently announced that it has secured $8 million in its Series A round led by Lavrock Ventures with participation from existing investors Osage Venture Partners and Grotech Ventures. The company has raised $10.75 million in total funding since it spun out of the employee experience (EX) consultancy, TI People, in January 2022.

Co-founded by Christophe Martel and Volker Jacobs in 2022, FOUNT Global helps companies identify the root of employee dissatisfaction and prioritize what to fix in their work environment. The platform offers software-as-a-software (SaaS) solutions that remove friction from work and help increase productivity. Its origins in the EX-space give the company a unique perspective into the complexity of measuring countless and cumulative points of friction that cause employees to disengage and leave. Its customer base represents some of the world’s leading organizations at the forefront of friction management, including Adidas, Siemens, Baloise, Northwell Health and TEKsystems.

With the latest investment round, the Washington-based firm intends to launch new features targeting key talent segments and further advance the product and technology infrastructure. Commenting on the investment, Co-founder & CEO of FOUNT Global, Christophe Martel, said:

Our solution addresses a challenge shared by both HR and Business leaders – to reduce the headwinds people encounter at work. FOUNT data provides insight that empowers customers to know where to take specific action and realize a quantifiable ROI. We are fortunate to have such a supportive group of investors who share our vision to make work less of a drag.

Daniel Hanks, General Partner of Lavrock Ventures & Member of the FOUNT Board of Directors, added:

Post-pandemic shifts in employee expectations and CEOs prioritizing efficiency across their global organizations have pressured HR leaders to look for smarter ways to hang on to the people most important to their business and remove friction from their daily work. FOUNT has made significant traction in large enterprises by seizing on these trends and addressing a business issue that is both timely and timeless. We are thrilled to be partnered for the ride.

According to the company, the SaaS solution complements their employee survey tools, such as Glint, Qualtrics and Medallia, by identifying solvable points of friction that are most important to employees.

David Gill, VP, Team Member Culture and Experience at Northwell Health, commented:

As one of the nation’s Best Places to Work, Northwell Health is committed to fostering a healthy workplace and improving individuals’ well-being. With FOUNT’s solution, we see an opportunity to dig deeper and expand our current listening methodology to build a consistent and sustainable experience for our team members. We’ve been very impressed with FOUNT’s capable and engaging Customer Success team and their commitment to furthering our goals.

For regular updates about Moodle, eLearning and edtech industry, please visit us regularly at https://lmsdaily.com. You can also like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, or Subscribe our YouTube Channel.

GrayQuest Raises $7M in Series A Equity Funding Round

GrayQuest Raises $7M in Series A Equity Funding Round
GrayQuest Raises $7M in Series A Equity Funding Round

GrayQuest, India’s largest education-focused fintech startup offering a suite of products spanning SaaS, payments and BNPL use cases for educational institutions nationwide, has raised $7 million (INR 56 crore) as part of its Series A equity funding round led by Pravega Ventures.

According to the company’s statement, it plans to utilise the fresh capital to enhance its product offerings and scale distribution across the education ecosystem. Started by Rishab Mehta in 2017, GrayQuest offers educational institutions a unified payment platform to digitise and boost their fee collection. It also enables institutions to provide multiple tailor-made payment options to the parents of the students, including a convenient monthly payment option to pay annual education fees without bearing any extra costs.

The startup claims to serve over 5,000 education institutions and over 3 Mn students across the country, including the top 10 chain school networks.

he funding round also saw participation from existing investors such as the family offices of Ashok Wadhwa, founder of Ambit Capital, and Yogesh Mahansaria, managing director of Mahansaria Tyres. The round also saw participation from family investors such as Weizmann Group, Telama Family Office and Apurva Parekh (Pidilite Family Office).

Last December, GrayQuest raised $3.75 million (INR 30.95) in a Series A round led by Pravega Ventures with the participation of VIC Enterprises, Stallion Ventures, and existing backers. Before that, the startup had raised $1.2 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by Foundation Holdings. Mahansaria Family Office, Jeejeebhoy Family Office, Ashok Wadhwa’s Family Office, Samir Bhatia, and Rohit Dhoot, amongst others, also participated in this capital raised.

For regular updates about Moodle, eLearning and edtech industry, please visit us regularly at https://lmsdaily.com. You can also like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, or Subscribe our YouTube Channel.

Get Ready for SakaiCon 2023 from July 18-19 2023

Get Ready for SakaiCon 2023 from July 18-19 2023
Get Ready for SakaiCon 2023 from July 18-19 2023

Sakai LMS will be hosting the SakaiCon 2023 on July 18-19 2023. This year the edtech conference will be held in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. The conference will be full of exciting sessions covering vast variety of edtech topics. This year the edtech conference is expected to be returning back to in-person event.

As per the official Sakai LMS twitter handle, the SakaiCon 2023 will explore how Sakai is Great for Learning. Here is the official tweet:

Sakai is a free, community-driven, open-source educational software platform designed to support teaching, research and collaboration. It is an open-source learning management, communications and collaboration platform and is part of the Apereo Foundation.

We will post more updates about the SakaiCon 2023 in upcoming weeks once it is finalised. Please stay tuned for the updates.

For regular updates about Moodle, eLearning and edtech industry, please visit us regularly at https://lmsdaily.com. You can also like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, or Subscribe our YouTube Channel.

University of Massachusetts Amherst opted for Canvas as Single LMS

University of Massachusetts Amherst opted for Canvas as Single LMS
University of Massachusetts Amherst opted for Canvas as Single LMS

Canvas LMS has become the preferred Learning Management System (LMS) for University of Massachusetts Amherst. In an official announcement, the UMass Amherst mentioned the news of choosing Canvas LMS for on-campus and online courses.

The announcement mentioned:

Canvas, a leading digital learning platform among public research universities, will become the single learning management system (LMS) at UMass Amherst starting in fall 2023. Canvas will gradually replace Moodle and Blackboard courses over the next two years.

The announcement further added:

The move to Canvas was based in large part on feedback from students and faculty. Canvas will provide a more consistent, flexible, and dynamic teaching and learning experience to the benefit of students and instructors

Canvas LMS Features:

The Canvas features as highlighted by the UMass team are as follows:

  • Mobile-first. Canvas offers students true flexibility in how and where they learn. Canvas delivers industry-leading mobile applications combined with a fully responsive interface that enables students and instructors to access the platform from the device of their choice.
  • Multiple personalization options, such as pronoun listing and name pronunciation recording, align with our university’s commitment to making all members feel welcome and included. Students can choose the online identity they wish to present to their instructors and classmates.
  • A seamless learning experience. The Canvas API (application programming interface) integrates with tools like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Adobe, and hundreds of other technology partners to deliver one centralized learning hub.
  • 24-hour phone and chat support for instructors and students from Canvas. In addition, as the university’s single LMS, Canvas allows the campus to streamline support as well as technical and infrastructure resources.
  • Unlimited file size. Students and instructors can upload as much audio, video, and visuals as needed to enrich the class experience.
  • Course analytics. Instructors have access to data insights on how students are interacting with course materials to help them optimize student engagement and pivot as needed.
  • Cloud-based. This means no downtime due to updates. You can log in for instant connection from anywhere, any time, from any computer or mobile device.
  • IMPACT Messaging. Impact by Instructure helps institutions improve technology adoption and evaluate the impact of educational technology, while helping faculty and students seamlessly navigate new platforms.
  • Calendar. The Calendar is a great way to view everything you have to do for all your courses in one place. You can view calendar events by day, week, month, or agenda list. The calendar also includes access to the Scheduler, which is an optional scheduling tool in Canvas.

Check out the complete announcement here. What’s your opinion about University of Massachusetts Amherst’s decision to switch from Moodle/Blackboard to Canvas LMS.

For regular updates about Moodle, eLearning and edtech industry, please visit us regularly at https://lmsdaily.com. You can also like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, or Subscribe our YouTube Channel.

Want to use ChatGPT to create your Moodle Quiz Questions? Check out this Python Script

Want to use ChatGPT to create your Moodle Quiz Questions? Check out this Python Script
Want to use ChatGPT to create your Moodle Quiz Questions? Check out this Python Script

ChatGPT is a chatbot language model developed by OpenAI. It is a variant of the GPT-3 language model, specifically designed for conversational language generation. Since its launch in November 2022, ChatGPT has changed the world by its endless capabilities.

There are many creative uses of ChatGPT in all sectors. There are tools like Mote’s Conker AI which can create questions easily for you. On the other hand, there are tools like GPTZero which can detect any content created by the ChatGPT. There are other plagiarism detector tools which can detect if a piece of content is created using ChatGPT.

In this post, we will see about a new tool (which is still a work in progress) developed by Heikki Wilenius who is an eLearning specialist at the University of Helsinki. He created a Python script which uses ChatGPT to create Multiple Choice Questions in Moodle XML format. As an educator, all you need to do is to enter the topic of your choice and the tool will do the rest.

I can see multiple benefits of using this tool as Moodle educator. It can help you in saving a lot of time, create lot of practice questions in the question bank. As of now you are not suggested to use the questions directly for high stake assessment quizzes.

All you need is an OpenAI key and a Python development environment to get started with the ChatGPT Question Creator. In the prompt, you need to use:

python moodle-quiz-xml-creator.py "Question topic goes here" n

Where

  • “Question Topic Goes Here” need to be replaced by your topic.
  • “n” stands for the number of questions to be generated.

Seems Interesting!!! Check out the discussion and share your views with Heikki in the forum thread here – https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=444739

For regular updates about Moodle, eLearning and edtech industry, please visit us regularly at https://lmsdaily.com. You can also like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, or Subscribe our YouTube Channel.