Digital Discourse / Archives for Lindsay Harman

New SIIA California State Report Highlights Impact of Prop 30 and Other California Programs

February 20, 2013 By

After many years of budget crisis, California schools and colleges are expecting a much needed funding increase after voter passage in November of California Proposition 30.  The measure increases taxes on the highest earners in California and distributes those funds into the “Education Protection Account.” A per-pupil increase of at least $200 is expected, though it is unclear if funds will simply go into the general education fund or will be earmarked for specific programs.  In recent years, school districts have received funding flexibility in light of funding cuts, freeing up many previously restricted funds to be used for many locally-determined purposes, including for technology, content and software.  SIIA’s recently released California State Report includes details of key state programs and funding.

Governor Brown released his budget plan in January 2013, calling for continued and increased funding of education mostly through additional flexible funds provided through Proposition 30.  Look for an upcoming SIIA State of the States report for a summary of proposals by Governor Brown and governors in the 15 largest states.

The SIIA California State Report is the first in a new SIIA series of reports detailing the educational programs within the largest states.  As the more populous state in the U.S. and the home of Silicon Valley, California is certainly one of the major education technology markets. While funding for education initiatives has been generally tight in California, this report contains valuable information to help companies navigate these murky waters.  This report summarizes the key funding that local districts rely on, including for educational technologies and instructional resources.  It also outlines the state agency structure with specialized programs, contact information, links, and descriptions of certain key policies and procedures such as around instructional materials.

This report is designed to be a one-stop navigation tool for member companies interested in operating within California.  The California State report is available to SIIA members only.  Look for more State Reports and updates from SIIA on our Education Policy Page.  We also encourage members to register for SIIA’s Ed Tech Government Forum, April 9-11 in Washington, DC which will also address the role the of the state in education policy and funding.

Lindsay HarmanLindsay Harman is Market and Policy Analyst for the SIIA Education Division.

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Filed Under: Ed Tech Government Forum, Ed Tech Industry Summit, Education, Education Policies, Education Policy, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , ,

SIIA at TCEA

February 15, 2013 By

Last week in Austin over 8,000 educators, district leaders, ed tech companies, and other industry insiders gathered at the 2013 TCEA conference.  With a busy show floor and sessions, the event was a great opportunity for the various groups to interact and connect.  Several SIIA members had booths on the show floor and many more were in attendance.  The show floor was busy and many members had productive and busy booths.

SIIA’s own Karen Billings was a featured speaker and hosted a session on the Vision K-20 project on Thursday, February 8th. This session focused on the development of the Vision K-20 goals and metrics as well as the results of the 2012 survey. The 2013 survey was launched on February 7th and educators in attendance were encouraged to participate in the sixth survey cycle.  This session also allowed SIIA to share valuable data with the TCEA community.

SIIA also hosted its member breakfast on Thursday February 8th and had a turnout of over 25 people who were able to hear about the latest SIIA initiatives, network and enjoy a hearty breakfast. The results of the 2011 Market Survey were presented and the attendees were given a chance to view the full report. Members are encouraged to participate in the 2012 iteration of the survey for a free copy of the report.  The breakfast also highlighted the launch of the Vision K-20 survey and encouraged companies to help us get the word out about the survey to educators.  Opportunities and upcoming events were also highlighted including the Ed Tech Government Forum and the Ed Tech Industry Summit. We hope to see you at the next SIIA member breakfast or event!

Lindsay HarmanLindsay Harman is Market and Policy Analyst for the SIIA Education Division.

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Filed Under: Ed Tech Government Forum, Ed Tech Industry Summit, Education, Education Events, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , ,

What’s new in Common Core Standards & Assessments?

February 13, 2013 By

Common Core State Standards (CCSS) continue to be a core driver of educational policies and practice, including for education technology and digital learning. As the deadline inches closer, more decisions are being made, steps taken and information made available. To help SIIA members better track the details and trends, SIIA is launching a new series of monthly reports for SIIA members on the newest and most relevant information, aggregated and summarized.

Notable releases from the SIIA January 2013 report include new system framework guidelines and accommodation policies by the two assessment consortia. Also included are studies with data supporting implementation and recommendations to both developers and school districts as they create their plans for the transition to CCSS.

The SIIA monthly series will  contain information on both the major assessment organizations, Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC), as well as on the standards definitions and implementation.  As information is released, it will be added as well, creating a one-stop resource for SIIA members working to ensure their products and services help meet education common core related needs.

Look for more updates by SIIA Education Policy in a month!

Meanwhile, SIIA members can review past SIIA webinars on CCSS, SBAC and PARCC, as well as register for SIIA’s Ed Tech Government Forum, April 9-11 in Washington, DC featuring several sessions addressing these issues.

 

Lindsay HarmanLindsay Harman is Market and Policy Analyst for the SIIA Education Division.

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Filed Under: Ed Tech Government Forum, Ed Tech Industry Summit, Education, Education Events, Education Policies, Education Policy, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , ,

Hope for Ed Tech

January 18, 2013 By

On January 16th, DC Ed Tech and YEP DC (Young Education Professionals DC) cohosted an event entitled “Hype or Hope? An Exploration of Emerging Education Technologies” and attended by 80 educators, innovators, and members of the Washington, DC education and technology community. The panel of Dr. Elias Carayannis,  Abbey Goldstein, Laurel J. Horn (Special Education Teacher at Thurgood Marshall Academy), Kijana Mayfield, and Maura Marino discussed innovation and its purpose in education, debating the value of the much maligned and praised role of technology in education. The presentations that followed showed exactly how the innovation was being implemented.

The panelists generally agreed that technology is not a “fad” for education, and as an industry it is important to show how to successfully implement new technologies and methods in schools. Technology is not going away and has a real opportunity to revolutionize education; however it should not be implemented solely because it is technology, but to solve a problem.

There are many problems and struggles in education that would benefit from new solutions, but applying an innovative technology just because it is innovative is generally ineffective. The teacher on the panel mentioned several instances where she was asked to utilize something just because it was new and innovative and it didn’t work. However there were other instances where technology had simplified classroom procedures or created solutions for teaching and learning difficulties. Ms. Horn’s examples of successful technology implementation included the use of Mimio boards, Kindles (used for the reading impaired) and blended school software like Education Elements.

Presentations by DC-based companies Naviance, AlwaysPrepped, LearnZillion, and SchoolForce capped off the evening. These four show-and-tell style presentations gave an opportunity for companies to show off their products to the gathered crowd of education industry enthusiasts. Several of the presentation/discussions allowed teachers and developers the opportunity to interact and understand the role of each in the classroom. Some of the presenters were in fact teachers previously and had developed their products to solve a need within their own classrooms; LearnZillion was created by a principal at a DC school looking to solve communication problems between classroom and the home.

So, is Ed Tech hype or hope? SIIA members say hope, but the key is solving educational problems and making products that teachers and schools need and can use. For the past five years SIIA has run an Innovation Incubator Program that reviews many applicants like those companies who presented at the Hype or Hope event. We see many great products that give hope to students struggling to learn and the industry at large.  Look for the new innovations we find at our Ed Tech Industry Summit in May!

Lindsay HarmanLindsay Harman is Market and Policy Analyst for the SIIA Education Division.

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Filed Under: Ed Tech Industry Summit, Education, Education Events Tagged With: , , ,

SIIA Estimates $7.76 Billion US Market for Educational Software and Digital Content

December 19, 2012 By

The Education Division released the “2011 U.S. Education Technology Industry Market: PreK-12 Report” today. The report values the overall PreK-12 non-hardware education technology market at $7.76 billion, compared to last year’s valuation of $7.5 billion.

This year’s report shows a strong response from content companies but also from companies offering testing and assessment and professional development products and services.

Data in the report was collected directly from service providers, publishers, and developers to show a supply-side view of the market not available through traditional customer data collection techniques. This report is important in showing a comprehensive view of the PreK-12 market with real data.

Consulting Services for Education Inc. (CS4Ed) used the results of the survey and publically available data to determine the size and scope of the market. The revenues and products were divided into four major market segments: content; instructional support; platforms and administrative tools; and a special segment that includes advanced placement, special education, and English language learner materials. Using these resources, the team was able to create a cohesive view of the education technology market and the trends in it over the past year.

The CS4Ed team of John Richards and Leslie Stebbins authored the report, which was made possible by the input of 105 contributing companies.

For more information visit the SIIA Market Survey Report page.

Lindsay HarmanLindsay Harman is Market and Policy Analyst for the SIIA Education Division.

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Filed Under: Education

Ed Tech Opportunities in China

November 9, 2012 By

The large population and growing attention to education make China an enticing and interesting market for education technology expansion. SIIA’s recent webinar on China  outlined opportunities and challenges associated with entering this market.  Thought leaders Charles Callis(Vice President, Waterford) , Chris Livaccari(Associate Director of Education and Chinese Language Initiatives, The Asia Society) and Jim Teicher(President,  Cybersmart! Education Company) spoke in depth about their experiences with the Chinese market and country.

Five takeaways from the webinar:


  1. Do not think of China as one homogenous market. The country is geographically diverse, and each region is, in effect, its own market. In addition to geographical segmentation, there are differences between schools and grades, as well as between institutions and informal learning outside of school. Much of the purchasing is done on a local level, and large scale purchases by provinces is not common.


  2. English language learning is a huge market in China. There are approximately the same number of English speakers in China as there are in the US.  China and the United States are becoming more intertwined and shared language exchange is key in the view of many Chinese.


  3. Among the biggest drivers in the Chinese market are parents. With the one child policy and other cultural norms, it is common that parents will invest their own resources heavily in their child’s education.  These investments include private schooling (in the US and China) as well as heavy investment in after school study tools and programs.


  4. Tablets are increasingly popular in China because of their lower price point and enhanced capabilities, but infrastructure is the more challenging part of the equation.  Finding quality content to place on the tablets is increasingly important.


  5. In the near future, 70% of the population of China will be urban, causing stress on city schools and infrastructure and forcing options for distance and computer-based learning to become more common.

 

The SIIA Global Working group produces country specific webinars on a regular basis to expand SIIA members’ knowledge of global trends in education.  Any SIIA member interested in learning more about the China market or any prior spotlight country should visit our webinar archive.

 

 

Lindsay HarmanLindsay Harman is Market and Policy Analyst for the SIIA Education Division.

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Filed Under: Education, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , ,

Highlights from SIIA Education Division Webinar Turning SIS/LMS Data into Action – Vendor Implications

October 18, 2012 By

This SIIA  webinar  presented data from the Closing the Gap: Turning Data Into Action project and provide valuable insights for SIIA members and others interested in SIS, LMS and related technologies, use of data for K12 instruction, and K12 technology purchasing and implementation issues.

The project was funded by the Gates Foundation, and the research was conducted by Gartner, Inc. in collaboration with the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) and the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN). The project has 5 major deliverables coming in the future months; see the Closing the Gap: Turning Data Into Action website for more information.

The project solicited input from many school districts and teachers around the country to get an on the ground view of the how LMS (Learning Management Systems) and SIS (Student Information Systems) are being implemented and used. It also provided information on how vendors can best work with districts to improve their usage.

Five takeaways from the webinar:

  1. Teachers, as the end user of most of the systems, need to have a role in the selection and implementation of both SIS and LMS platforms (as well as other technologies designed for their use).  But the survey found that most often is not the case. When asked about the district LMS or SIS, teachers often do not know the difference or even their purpose. Those that do know often are underutilizing the systems and using only basic functionalities such as grade reporting.
  2. Students & Parents want to have access to individual student data tracking progress and grades.  Several studies have shown that giving students access to their individual grades and allowing them to track progress produces better results.
  3. Integration and multi-device platforms are essential.  Schools, districts, and teachers want to be able to access the data from any location and device. There is also critical need for  interoperability  so that different applications work together to share data.
  4. Educators agree that the traditional model is not working anymore.  The industrialized classroom is poised for change.
  5. Predictive and/or prescriptive analysis in systems is key. Presenting and summarizing data is insufficient, and SIS, LMS and related technologies must provide actionable information. The importance of improving student activities and system use is high, and the systems need to produce outputs that can either predict positive changes or prescribe them when needed.

The project leaders conclude that the overall the impact of SIS and LMS systems in school districts has great possibility, but is under-delivering due to challenges with product features, selection and implementation.  The webinar and project resources provide much more information on the role of data collection and include helpful links, templates, and charts detailing the features of market-leading products. SIIA members who want to learn more can view the webinar or download the slides on SIIA’s webinar archive site.

Lindsay HarmanLindsay Harman is Market and Policy Analyst for the SIIA Education Division.

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Filed Under: Education, Personalized Learning, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , ,
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