202505 | Google x LessonUp | Google Cloud Summit '25 | DG
Stories from Retail and the Classroom
Daan Giesen - LessonUp
When tech meets teaching
Lesson duration is: 35 minItems in this lesson
Stories from Retail and the Classroom
Daan Giesen - LessonUp
When tech meets teaching
Goal
This presentation explores parallels between retail and education, and how platforms like LessonUp aim to guide this transformation with purpose.
LessonUp is an online platform for educators to create and teach interactive lessons
We were founded in 2015 and today we work with 45+ employees to improve LessonUp every day
1000+
Schools
92%
would highly recommend LessonUp to colleagues
±2M
lessons in our public library
200+
LessonUp Ambassadors
150+
Countries
150K
Teachers
What do you know about ‘digital education’?
Pt I: when retail went digital
Source: bol.com
Data, personalization, seamless UX
Today every pixel, every click teaches us what customers need
Source: LessonUp
The day we saw data confirm...
What changes in your school time have felt like a disruption?
Lesson #1: disruption feels scary but opens doors
Pt II: education's turn
Curriculum first, student second
One size fits all: still a mismatch between theory and reality
Source: Springest
Emerging: student-paced, flexible and connected
But how does that match the target audience: teachers?
Source: LessonUp - Het Grote Docentenonderzoek 2025
Every teacher walks a daily tightrope juggling the emotional labor
Nurturing every learner
Overcoming resistance to new ideas
Maintaining effective classroom management
What makes a great teacher in 2025?
Lesson #2: tech should amplify teacher expertise, not replace it
Pt III: What we got wrong
What we (still) get wrong
Source: Google
Source: bol.com
Overload and fatigue
Where has tech added friction or slowed you down?
Lesson #3: simplicity
and integration
matter
Pt IV: What we got right
Our focus: a roundtrip for the teacher
Prepare lessons with ease
Teach engaging lessons without distractions
Track student progress
Prepare: get inspired by 2 million lessons made by other teachers or our partners
Teach: less passive learning, more interaction
Teach: empower and give even the most silent student a voice
Real-time insights
Get insights on progress and participation during the lesson
Reports
Get student-level insights after the lesson
Track student progress and results
With LessonUp
Without LessonUp
Source: University of Twente 2021
Result: lesson engagement
Lesson #4: design for humans, not users
Which benefit of EdTech excites you the most?
Pt V: What's next
Source: LessonUp - Het Grote Docentenonderzoek 2025
Source: LessonUp - Het Grote Docentenonderzoek 2025
We build with teachers, not for them
The WHY
Essential for LessonUp and for education
Make every class better than the last
We all went to school. Some of us enjoyed it, others less. Yet we all have one thing in common: that one special teacher who truly inspired us to go the extra mile and who believed in us. The inspiration that led to the foundation of LessonUp.
Thank you!
