How Can Tech-Driven Personalized Learning Help Tackle Educational Inequality?

 
There has been much talk about utilizing technology for fighting against educational inequality with personalized learning, especially amidst the remote teaching that arose from the pandemic. Cambium is one company that has disrupted this sector and provides education technology and supplemental PreK–12 solutions through digital-centric products and services.

What, exactly, does Cambium offer to schools, and how are they addressing learning gaps and educational inequality through their work?

On today’s episode of DisruptED, host Ron J. Stefanski spoke with Kemi Akinsanya-Rose, COO, John Jorgenson, CMO; and Ashley Andersen Zantop, CEO, all of Cambium Learning Group, to talk about the progress being made in the educational sector with learning gaps and technology and the actions that still need to be taken to continue working to close these gaps.

Rather than replacing the role of teachers, technology can enhance content delivery in the most appropriate manner for each student to complement their teaching. It can also help bridge the gap between students with lower scores and those with higher scores.

Andersen Zantop explained, “When we think about the ultimate power of technology as a possible transformational agent to allow us to really personalize instruction… we have to start by recognizing that students learn differently. Not all students learn the same way.”

Stefanski, Akinsanya-Rose, Jorgenson, and Andersen Zantop also discussed…

● What is working and where we are seeing progress being made in the classroom with teachers and administrators

● How a district can make sure students have equal access to education

● How the Cambium Learning Group is disrupting educational inequality

Akinsanya-Rose commented on the ways she has seen equality gaps diminished in the city. “In terms of how to bridge that gap and those issues, it was working with communities to help bridge the gap. And so, the biggest gains I’ve seen were in the Bronx, where principals work with community organizations, work with other nationwide organizations like Teach for America, and that sort of thing to figure out how you build a pipeline of teachers.”

“I’m thinking about community in another way as well, which is the community of these education and edtech companies that we’re a part of. As a leading company in this space, we have a responsibility as a leader to lead by example and to push us forward,” Jorgenson said of the role edtech companies play in making an impact in classrooms.

Kemi Akinsanya-Rose is the COO of Cambium Learning Group and the founder and owner of Puravida Leadership Group. She attended Northwestern University, where she earned her BA in Economics; The Wharton School, where she earned an MBA in marketing/strategy; and Broad Center for Management Systems, where she earned a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership.

John Jorgenson is CMO of Cambium Learning Group and was previously CMO at Carnegie Learning and SVP, Marketing in Cambium Learning Group. He holds a BA in English from Purdue University.

Ashley Andersen Zantop is CEO of Cambium Leaning Group and was previously COO of Cambium. She is currently on the Government Affairs Council for the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA). Andersen Zantop has an AB in English Literature from the University of Michigan, an MFA in creative writing from Fairfield University, and multiple certificates from Harvard’s Business School and Graduate School of Education. She also holds an AB.ED from the University of Michigan in Education

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

community
Bringing Community into the Transformation of K-12 Schools: The Impact of Mentors, Local Voices, and Student Entrepreneurs
July 24, 2025

As K-12 schools across the U.S. struggle to recover from the learning loss and emotional fallout of the pandemic, a deeper reckoning is underway—one that challenges the very foundation of who’s responsible for educating our children. Despite billions in federal relief, a third of U.S. students are not even reading at a basic level…

Read More
9 Proven User-Generated Content Strategies That Actually Work
July 24, 2025

User-generated content has become the backbone of modern marketing—but most advice focuses on theory rather than execution. We asked nine marketing leaders who’ve built successful UGC programs to share exactly how they do it, what works, and what doesn’t. Here’s what we learned from their real-world experience. Start With Direct Customer Outreach Kyle Bernard, who…

Read More
Blending Intuition and Metrics to Elevate Sterile Processing
Smarter Sterile Processing Starts with Data—Boosting Efficiency, Cutting Costs, and Improving Patient Care
July 24, 2025

In a healthcare ecosystem increasingly driven by data, sterile processing departments (SPDs) find themselves at a crossroads—balancing precision and pace, safety and speed. As hospitals look to reduce inefficiencies and protect patient safety, analytics tools are transforming sterile processing from an often overlooked backroom function into a vital, data-enhanced frontline of care. Research shows…

Read More
college success
Freshman Year Survival Guide: How Overlooked High School Lessons Lead to College Success
July 24, 2025

Nobody warns you that college success isn’t just about brains — it’s about balance, too. In this refreshingly honest episode of Professional Quotient: Conversations that Build Equity, hosted by Jason Winningham, high school teacher Jacob Mutchler reunites with two of his former students, Lilly Salcedo and Oscar Davila, to reflect on what really mattered…

Read More