Dive Brief:

• Zaption — a San Francisco-based start up that allows users to add text, images, and annotations to videos — has raised $1.5 million in seed revenue in a round led by NewSchools Venture Fund, Redcrest Enterprises, and Telegraph Hill Capital.
• The ed tech company has also raised an additional $1 million via the U.S. Department of Education's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants. 
• The startup hopes to turn passive educational video watching into an active experience. 

Dive Insight:

Utilizing a freemium model, Zaption's basic functions let users add six interactive elements to their videos, while subscribers can add as many as they want and also access a discussion board. So what exactly do those elements include? Users can draw on videos or create open response questions associated with certain segments, as well as multiple choice, branching, or numerical questions.

In many ways, Zaption harnesses a lot of the power of many of the digital literacy programs out there that propose questions as students read, but in a video format. As the world becomes more digital, it makes sense to push younger learners to think critically, regardless of the content's medium.