202505 | Google x LessonUp | Google Cloud Summit '25 | DG

• newEditor
• Business Administration
• Higher Education (degree)

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!