Our news roundup for the week of December 12-16. Read for the latest and most in depth stories in education technology compiled by the Dreamit team.

Check out the latest news and funding announcements in health tech for the week of Dec. 12-16 curated by the Dreamit team.

Engagement is a huge problem in the American workforce. In 2015, Gallup found that 50.8% of employees were not engaged and almost 18% were actively disengaged. Big firms experience this problem more acutely than startups, but founders often see the disparity between their level of excitement and their employees as well. Learn how to keep employees engaged by building a community within your startup. 

The latest news in health tech compiled by the Dreamit team. 

Part-time piecemeal work is replacing internships in some cases. Udacity just launched a program to help graduates from its programs find short term work from potential employers. Read More

This op ed in EdSurge encourages teachers to collect student impact data on edtech products to stop the problem of gimmicks in education products. Read More

As a founder, one of the most important things you must worry about is your sales pipeline. These are the people who will buy your products and inevitably build your brand. It’s up to you to build a solid pipeline that continues to flow freely for many years to come. Here’s a guide to doing just that. 

Where does healthcare go from here? The POLITICO podcast looks at what an Obamacare repeal could look like.

Telehealth is shifting toward provider driven models as consumers do not respond to payer-driven models. Health systems are making a bigger attempt to reach customers when they are actually looking for information, i.e. when they are searching online. This makes intuitive sense. Payers are the last place consumers want to go when finding information. 

Partnerships usually entail a long term purchasing agreement. Goals tend to be mutually beneficial to both parties. And the parties in partnerships work toward a common purpose. For a successful partnership, it’s crucial that this technology complements the technology that is already in place at the larger organization and makes the product better because of it. 

The latest news and articles focused on education technology. 

We spoke with Jeanne Allen of the Center for Education Reform during a recent #Get2A webinar event.  During the course of our conversation, the panelists referenced a number of important ways to keep your finger on the pulse of what is happening in education reform and edtech. 

What is the Series A Crunch?

The Series A Crunch  is a well documented phenomenon in venture capital.  With the rise of micro VC firms and the growing popularity of sites like Angel List and FundersClub, it became relatively easy for startups to raise seed capital. However, there was no concomitant increase in funding options at the Series A stage. Lean financing documents at the seed stage offered a shorter runway, and the consolidation of large venture funds forced investors to look to larger investments at the Series A stage. The Series A Crunch  is a well documented phenomenon in venture capital.  With the rise of micro VC firms and the growing popularity of sites like Angel List and FundersClub, it became relatively easy for startups to raise seed capital. However, there was no concomitant increase in funding options at the Series A stage. Lean financing documents at the seed stage offered a shorter runway, and the consolidation of large venture funds forced investors to look to larger investments at the Series A stage. 

Tips on how to approach public relations for startups at the earliest stages. Whether you are announcing a product launch, event, or partnership, these lessons can be applied.

Higher education is expensive in the U.S., especially for international students who don't have access to federal student loans. It's a problem that inspired Manu Smadja and Mike Davis, to found Washington, D.C.-based MPOWER Financing. The two-year-old startup connects students to loans from investors without the need for a co-signer, attracting Indian venture capital firm Zephyr Peacock to lead a $6 million funding round. Previous investors also joined the round, including area-firms 1776 Ventures and VilCap Investments.

EdSurge looks at how educators are using data in classrooms. They highlight the startups EdPuzzle and PearDeck. More

Teachers appear to be lining up behind Hillary Clinton as Trump calls to slash the department of education. More

All screen time for children is not created equal. Quality programming is very different from children zoning out watching less quality shows. More

A partner at Google Ventures discusses what it would take for them to invest in a wearable startup. MedCity

Regenerative medicine has the potential to make a huge impact on healthcare by keeping costs down, improving quality of life, and changing the role of the doctor. MedCity

Digitally managed clinical trials are poised to accelerate results and reduce costs. Workflow and regulatory questions remain. Read More

This panel dives into the new regulations for schools that impact education technology startups. How is regulation impacting the ability of edtech companies to operate within schools? Is regulation hampering innovation in public schools compared to the innovation in private/charter schools? Panelists will give an overview of the big trends in education reform and provide a overview of opportunities and hurdles for founders in edtech.

If you are one of the dwindling number of people who still think that social media in sales is a waste of time, you should be aware of the power of social selling techniques. Social selling is changing the way that sales occur. Social selling is the intersection of three different types of sales processes. 

As startups move beyond their first few pilots and initial customers, they need to learn how to manage multiple customers in a more scalable fashion while still delivering high-touch customer services. This panel dives into how successful founders built processes to scale.

Building your sales pipeline requires a strategy that will vary from startup to startup, but it is always one of the most complicated and stressful parts of building a company. We'll be hosting a webinar on October 26 on the topic of building and maintaining a sales pipeline, but here are a few tips in advance.