Twinkl

Last updated

Twinkl
Company typePrivate company
IndustryEducation, Technology
FoundedFebruary 2010;14 years ago (February 2010)
FoundersJonathan Seaton, Susie Seaton and Andrew Seaton
Headquarters,
England
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Jonathan Seaton
(CEO)
ProductsEducational resources, teacher planning materials, teacher assessment content, teacher training material, AI educational tools, AI teacher assistant, phonics teaching materials, children's fiction books, resources for learners with SEND
Website https://www.twinkl.com/

Twinkl is a global educational publisher and solution provider, used extensively by educators and parents across the UK and America, as well as in over 190 countries and territories around the world.

Contents

The company was founded in Sheffield, UK, in 2010, with the mission of ‘helping those who teach’. Today, Twinkl offers over one and a half million teacher-created and checked learning resources and tools, covering most major subjects and educational needs across all pre-school, school and college age groups. [1]

History

Twinkl was founded by husband and wife Jonathan and Susie Seaton. [2] [3]

Susie, a primary school teacher, had noticed there was a lack of ready-made, high-quality educational materials and classroom content available to teachers. To help save educators time, Jon and Susie began making resources in 2010 from a spare bedroom in their Sheffield home, steadily growing the business to meet more educator needs.

The company moved to its current headquarters in Sheffield, UK, in 2014.

Products and solutions

Twinkl offers an ecosystem of resources, tools and solutions to teachers, education leaders, schools and multi-academy trusts to help solve challenges across resource, assessment, professional development, staffing and compliance - as well as giving parents and home educators ways to build skills outside of the classroom.

Twinkl is best known for its online library of digital, curriculum-linked educational materials, accessed by teachers and schools around the world via its website. [4] Resources include content for primary and secondary education, Kindergarten through 12th grade, parents and home educators, English as a second language, and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). [5] [6] [7] [8]

Twinkl AI: The company also provides educators with a suite of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, allowing teachers to generate lesson plans, write reports and quickly create other forms of classroom content such as tests, quizzes and word searches. [9]

Twinkl Phonics: In 2018, Twinkl launched Twinkl Phonics - a UK Department for Education (DfE)-approved phonics scheme that helps children learn to read and write. The scheme has since been rolled out to the US and Australia. [10]

Twinkl Symbols: a Nasen-assured platform and app designed to give learners with special educational needs and disabilities an alternative way to communicate through visuals, in everyday situations.

Twinkl Originals: Going beyond digital resources, Twinkl Originals is a library of physical books, created by Twinkl writers and illustrators, to help children develop their vocabulary, language comprehension, and empathy.

Partnerships and collaborations

Twinkl partners with many of the world’s leading companies and brands to develop even more engaging educational content - including Ferrari F1, Santander, Paramount (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and Sony Pictures Entertainment (Garfield, Spider-Man, Ghostbusters)

Twinkl runs a start-up accelerator programme called Twinkl Hive - providing space, investment, mentoring and support to innovative education companies.

Recognition and achievements

In April 2018, Twinkl received The Queen's Award for Enterprise [11] for the company's work in international trade. Twinkl was awarded a second Queen’s Award for Enterprise in 2020, for innovation. [12] [13]

Jonathan Seaton, co-founder and CEO of Twinkl was awarded a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for Twinkl’s services to Technology and Education during the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020. [14]

With Covid-19 forcing the closure of schools around the world, Twinkl made all of its resources freely available to help support educators, as well as partnering with BBC Bitesize to supply educational materials to boost home learning.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phonics</span> Method of teaching reading and writing

Phonics is a method for teaching reading and writing to beginners. To use phonics is to teach the relationship between the sounds of the spoken language (phonemes), and the letters (graphemes) or groups of letters or syllables of the written language. Phonics is also known as the alphabetic principle or the alphabetic code. It can be used with any writing system that is alphabetic, such as that of English, Russian, and most other languages. Phonics is also sometimes used as part of the process of teaching Chinese people to read and write Chinese characters, which are not alphabetic, using pinyin, which is alphabetic.

Special education is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual differences, disabilities, and special needs. This involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials, and accessible settings. These interventions are designed to help individuals with special needs achieve a higher level of personal self-sufficiency and success in school and in their community, which may not be available if the student were only given access to a typical classroom education.

<i>TES</i> (magazine) UK trade publication

TES, formerly known as the Times Educational Supplement, is a British weekly trade magazine aimed at education professionals. It was first published in 1910 as a pull-out supplement in The Times newspaper. Such was its popularity that in 1914, the supplement became a separate publication selling for one penny.

This is an index of education articles.

BrainPop is a group of educational websites founded in 1999 by Avraham Kadar, M.D. and Chanan Kadmon, based in New York City. As of 2024, the websites host over 1,000 short animated movies for students in grades K–8, together with quizzes and related materials, covering the subjects of science, social studies, English, math, engineering and technology, health, arts and music. In 2022, Kirkbi A/S, the private investment and holding company that owns a controlling stake in Lego, acquired BrainPop.

Educational technology is the combined use of computer hardware, software, and educational theory and practice to facilitate learning. When referred to with its abbreviation, "EdTech", it often refers to the industry of companies that create educational technology. In EdTech Inc.: Selling, Automating and Globalizing Higher Education in the Digital Age, Tanner Mirrlees and Shahid Alvi (2019) argue "EdTech is no exception to industry ownership and market rules" and "define the EdTech industries as all the privately owned companies currently involved in the financing, production and distribution of commercial hardware, software, cultural goods, services and platforms for the educational market with the goal of turning a profit. Many of these companies are US-based and rapidly expanding into educational markets across North America, and increasingly growing all over the world."

An Individualized Education Program (IEP) is a legal document under United States law that is developed for each public school child in the U.S. who needs special education. It is created through a team of the child's parent(s), the student and district personnel who are knowledgeable about the child's needs. IEPs must be reviewed every year to keep track of the child's educational progress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mainstreaming (education)</span> Placing disabled students in regular classrooms

Mainstreaming, in the context of education, is the practice of placing students with special education needs in a general education classroom during specific time periods based on their skills. This means students who are a part of the special education classroom will join the regular education classroom at certain times which are fitting for the special education student. These students may attend art or physical education in the regular education classrooms. Sometimes these students will attend math and science in a separate classroom, but attend English in a general education classroom. Schools that practice mainstreaming believe that students with special needs who cannot function in a general education classroom to a certain extent belong in the special education environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inclusion (education)</span> Where disabled students spend most of their time with non-disabled students

Inclusion in education refers to including all students to equal access to equal opportunities of education and learning, and is distinct from educational equality or educational equity. It arose in the context of special education with an individualized education program or 504 plan, and is built on the notion that it is more effective for students with special needs to have the said mixed experience for them to be more successful in social interactions leading to further success in life. The philosophy behind the implementation of the inclusion model does not prioritize, but still provides for the utilization of special classrooms and special schools for the education of students with disabilities. Inclusive education models are brought into force by educational administrators with the intention of moving away from seclusion models of special education to the fullest extent practical, the idea being that it is to the social benefit of general education students and special education students alike, with the more able students serving as peer models and those less able serving as motivation for general education students to learn empathy.

An edublog is a blog created for educational purposes. Edublogs archive and support [[dibu] and teacher learning by facilitating reflection, questioning by self and others, collaboration and by providing contexts for engaging in higher-order thinking. Edublogs proliferated when blogging architecture became more simplified and teachers perceived the instructional potential of blogs as an online resource. The use of blogs has become popular in education institutions including public schools and colleges. Blogs can be useful tools for sharing information and tips among co-workers, providing information for students, or keeping in contact with parents. Common examples include blogs written by or for teachers, blogs maintained for the purpose of classroom instruction, or blogs written about educational policy. Educators who blog are sometimes called edubloggers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TeacherTube</span> Educational resources sharing website

TeacherTube is a video sharing website. It is designed to allow those in the educational industry, particularly teachers, to share educational resources such as video, audio, documents, photos, groups and blogs. The site contains a mixture of classroom teaching resources and others designed for teacher training. A number of students have also uploaded videos that they have made as part of K-12 and college courses. As of July 2008, the website contained over 26,000 videos. In October 2010, TeacherTube had over a million members and over 400,000 educational videos. It has found favor with educators from institutions where YouTube content is blocked by content filtering systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reading</span> Taking in the meaning of letters or symbols

Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of sight or touch.

The Sheffield Business Awards is an annual event, held in Sheffield to recognise and reward Sheffield City region business success.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evidence-based education</span> Paradigm of the education field

Evidence-based education (EBE) is the principle that education practices should be based on the best available scientific evidence, with randomised trials as the gold standard of evidence, rather than tradition, personal judgement, or other influences. Evidence-based education is related to evidence-based teaching, evidence-based learning, and school effectiveness research.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Differentiated instruction</span> Framework or philosophy for effective teaching

Differentiated instruction and assessment, also known as differentiated learning or, in education, simply, differentiation, is a framework or philosophy for effective teaching that involves providing all students within their diverse classroom community of learners a range of different avenues for understanding new information in terms of: acquiring content; processing, constructing, or making sense of ideas; and developing teaching materials and assessment measures so that all students within a classroom can learn effectively, regardless of differences in their ability. Differentiated instruction means using different tools, content, and due process in order to successfully reach all individuals. Differentiated instruction, according to Carol Ann Tomlinson, is the process of "ensuring that what a student learns, how he or she learns it, and how the student demonstrates what he or she has learned is a match for that student's readiness level, interests, and preferred mode of learning." According to Boelens et al. (2018), differentiation can be on two different levels: the administration level and the classroom level. The administration level takes the socioeconomic status and gender of students into consideration. At the classroom level, differentiation revolves around content, processing, product, and effects. On the content level, teachers adapt what they are teaching to meet the needs of students. This can mean making content more challenging or simplified for students based on their levels. The process of learning can be differentiated as well. Teachers may choose to teach individually at a time, assign problems to small groups, partners or the whole group depending on the needs of the students. By differentiating product, teachers decide how students will present what they have learned. This may take the form of videos, graphic organizers, photo presentations, writing, and oral presentations. All these take place in a safe classroom environment where students feel respected and valued—effects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teaching for Change</span> Non-profit organization

Teaching for Change is a non-profit organization founded in 1989 and based in Washington, D.C., with the motto of "building social justice, starting in the classroom." This organization uses publications, professional development, and parent organizing programs to accomplish this goal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MediaSmarts</span> Canadian non-profit organization and registered charity

MediaSmarts is a Canadian non-profit organization and registered charity based in Ottawa, Ontario, that focuses on digital and media literacy programs and resources. In particular, the organization promotes critical thinking via educational resources and analyzes the content of various types of mass media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MobyMax</span> Educational technology website

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Inclusive Classroom is a term used within American pedagogy to describe a classroom in which all students, irrespective of their abilities or skills, are welcomed holistically. It is built on the notion that being in a non-segregated classroom will better prepare special-needs students for later life. In the United States, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 guaranteed civil rights to disabled people, though inclusion of disabled students progressed slowly until the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, after which almost half of US students with disabilities were soon in general classrooms.

Newcomer education is the specialized teaching of refugees, migrants, asylees and immigrants who have resettled in a host country, with the goal of providing the knowledge and skills necessary to integrate into their country of refuge. Education is the primary way by which newcomers can adjust to the linguistic, social, and cultural environments of their new communities. Newcomer education aims to empower newcomers with a sense of self-efficacy and social integration, as well as giving them the skills to pursue employment or higher education. Newcomer education also aims to help address trauma, culture shock, and other negative effects of forced displacement. Education for newcomers can provide long-term prospects for stability of individuals, communities, countries and global society.

References

  1. Stubbs, Rachel (2 January 2019). "Top four teaching resources for supply teachers and teaching assistants". FE News. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  2. "LDC". www.ldc.co.uk. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  3. "EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2018 North finalists announced". The Big UK Newsroom. 20 April 2018. Archived from the original on 21 December 2018. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  4. "Digital publisher Twinkl is rising star across the globe". ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  5. "How to teach ... 3D shapes". The Guardian. 6 January 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  6. "Online Guide". www.qaeducation.co.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  7. "Sheffield publisher expands into new market with product for parents – unLTD Business". 8 August 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  8. Drabble, Emily (24 September 2013). "How to teach... ancient Greece". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  9. "Can AI Help Parents Manage The Domestic Load?". Grazia. 26 September 2024. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  10. Ellis, Jamie (10 February 2022). "Twinkl's DfE approved Phonics scheme: a very cost-effective training programme". FE News. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  11. "Queen's Award like rocket fuel for Twinkl - The Queen's Awards for Enterprise". queensawards.blog.gov.uk. 3 August 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  12. "Twinkl Has Won a Second Queen's Award for Enterprise and We Want to Thank YOU!". Twinkl. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  13. "Queen's Awards for nine elite South Yorkshire firms". www-thestar-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  14. "The Queen's birthday honours list 2020 in full". inews.co.uk. 13 October 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2021.