Digital Discourse / Ed Tech Industry Summit

SIIA Releases 2012 Guide to the E-rate Program

April 11, 2012 By Mark Schneiderman Leave a Comment

SIIA today released an updated guide to the E-rate program in partnership with Funds For Learning. The guide will help companies navigate the complex E-rate program during a time when technology use in schools is evolving rapidly, and E-rate demand is outpacing available funding nearly two to one.

Using E-rate funds, libraries and public and private schools receive a 20-90 percent discount for telecommunications services, Internet access, and internal connections technology. Between 1998 and 2010, over $59 billion in E-rate funding has been requested.

The SIIA E-rate Guide will help software and technology companies – and their education customers – manage changes to this ever-evolving program. The Guide provides background information on E-rate rules and eligible services opportunities for software publishers, as well as an analysis of both the current E-rate market and how E-rate funds affect school technology purchases.

Since its inception in 1998, the E-rate program has helped close the digital divide, especially for students in high-poverty and rural communities.. However, while demand for E-rate funds has increased by 108 percent from $2.36 billion in 1998 to $4.65 billion in 2011, the available funding has remained nearly the same at $2.25 billion plus inflation starting in 2010.

Now, more than ever, it is vital for software and technology companies to understand the nuances of the E-rate program. SIIA remains focused on helping schools and libraries access needed technologies through the E-rate, and will continue to work with education, government, and industry leaders to support the stability and growth of the E-rate program.

GUIDE: SIIA’s “Guide to the E-rate” is available in SIIA’s eStore for free to SIIA members and for a fee to other software and technology companies. The Executive Summary is available for free to everyone. Visit http://www.siia.net/estore/.

WEBINAR: SIIA, in partnership with SellingtoSchools.com, will host a free webinar on April 26, 3-4 p.m. EST, providing all software and technology companies with an update on the E-rate program and an overview of the SIIA Guide. Visit http://siia.net/events/.

Mark SchneidermanMark Schneiderman is Senior Director of Education Policy at SIIA.

Filed Under: Ed Tech Government Forum, Ed Tech Industry Summit, Education, Education Policy, Policy

SIIA Announces Finalists for 2012 CODiE Awards in Ed Tech

March 19, 2012 By Laura Greenback Leave a Comment

SIIA today announced the finalists for its 27th annual CODiE Awards in education technology categories. The winners will be announced on Monday, May 7, at the CODiE Awards Reception and Dinner held each year in conjunction with the Ed Tech Industry Summit.

This year, for the first time, all nominated products were reviewed solely by educators, who evaluated products through live demonstrations, trial access, and supplementary documentation. Educators selected the 128 product finalists in 23 categories (see the full list).

This year’s highlights include:
• The Best K-12 Instructional Solution category had the highest number of nominations.
• The Best Educational Use of a Mobile Device category had the second highest number of nominations, with nearly double the submissions from the 2011 CODiE Awards.
• Pearson had 11 product finalists, the highest number of any company.

“We’re thrilled to see so many excellent educational technology products making it to this year’s finalist round,” said Karen Billings, vice president of the SIIA Education Division. “We look forward to honoring the winners at our awards dinner in May.”

SIIA members will now select the winners from among the finalists during the SIIA member voting phase of the program from March 26-April 13. SIIA members include software, digital content, and other technology companies that address education needs, as well as the financial and other professional services providers who support the industry. As such, the CODiE Awards are the industry’s only peer-reviewed awards program.

The CODiE Awards, originally called the Excellence in Software Awards, were established in 1986 by the Software Publishers Association (SPA), now SIIA. The original awards program was created so pioneers of the then-nascent software industry could evaluate and honor each other’s work. Today, the CODiE Awards continue to showcase the software and information industry’s finest products and services, and to honor excellence in corporate achievement.

Laura Greenback is Communications Director at SIIA.

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

Ed-Tech Innovators: We want you!

February 15, 2012 By Karen Billings Leave a Comment

SIIA’s Education Division is now seeking applications for its Innovation Incubator program. Developers of innovative K‐12 and postsecondary, technology‐based educational products or services will be reviewed, and ten participants (along with one alternate) will be selected to participate in the annual Ed Tech Industry Summit this spring. The deadline for applications is March 9, 2012.

The Innovation Incubator Program connects developers of promising new technologies with industry leaders, potential investors, and established companies seeking partnerships or acquisition candidates. The program is open to applicants from academic and non‐profit institutions, pre‐revenue and early‐stage companies, and long‐ standing companies with newly developed educational technologies.

While prototypes and very early‐stage innovations will be considered, products or services submitted must be past the conceptual phase. Applicants will be assessed on a broad range of selection criteria.

Participants selected for the program will present their innovations during the Business Profiles Presentations that open the Ed Tech Industry Summit in San Francisco on May 6. Immediately following these presentations, they will be on hand to provide product demonstrations during the Innovation Showcase & Welcome Reception. Throughout the Summit, Innovation Incubator participants will receive recognition, peer‐to‐peer mentorship, and access to hand‐ selected prospects for partnership, acquisition, financing, and veteran advice.

SIIA is again partnering with Blackboard Inc., lead Innovation Incubator sponsor, to give elevated visibility and support to the finalist that best exemplifies technology innovation in service to education. One Innovation Incubator participant will be selected by Blackboard to receive a year‐long membership as a Blackboard Building Blocks partner in the Blackboard Partnerships program, subject to additional terms and conditions.

The program is also sponsored by Texthelp Systems.

Karen BillingsKaren Billings is Vice President for the Education Division at SIIA.

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

SIIA Education Division Calls for Participants in 2012 Vision K-20 Survey

February 9, 2012 By Karen Billings Leave a Comment

The fifth annual Vision K-20 Survey is open today! The survey, sponsored by the SIIA Education Division, gives educators, administrators, and faculty members from K-12 and postsecondary educational institutions the opportunity to evaluate their current technology use. This year, a new addition to the survey asks respondents to identify what they judge to be the “ideal” scenario for technology use.

Focusing on goals outlined in our K-20 Vision roadmap—21st Century tools, accessibility, differentiated learning, assessment tools, and enterprise support—schools, districts, two-year colleges, four-year colleges, and universities will be able to use the Vision’s benchmarks to document their progress. Survey takers can return to the survey periodically to evaluate their progress toward the Vision for K-20 education.

Our member organizations worked together to develop the Vision K-20 initiative as a guide for educational institutions to implement technology district-wide and campus-wide. This survey aims to collect additional data that will broadly assist educators in taking this important project to the next level of knowledge and success.

We’ve developed a vision for K-20 education to ensure all students have access to a learning environment that prepares them to compete globally and lead the world in innovation. This year, in addition to reporting progress over the last 5 years, for the first time we will add the dimension of what educators across the country think of as the ‘ideal’ scenario.

The survey closes May 24, 2012. Initial aggregated results will be released at ISTE 2012 in San Diego, with a final report available late summer 2012.

We value the support of our partners and their commitment to improving students’ preparedness for an innovative and global economy. Partners committed to supporting the Vision K-20 initiative and survey include: 1105 Media, the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), edWeb.net, and eSchool Media. The project’s lead partner was MMS Education. MMS Education provides market research, marketing, sales, and technology solutions for a wide range of education technology companies.

Karen BillingsKaren Billings is Vice President for the Education Division at SIIA.

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

Ed Tech Industry Summit: Bridging K12 and Postsecondary

January 27, 2012 By Karen Billings Leave a Comment

Selecting a program focus for the Ed Tech Industry Summit is one of the most valuable, yet most difficult, part of the planning process.

However, given the trends we see occurring within the education institutions and the ed tech companies, this year’s program focus “Bridging K12 and Postsecondary,” was relatively easy.

Closing the Chasm
Historically, there has been a major divide between K-12 and Postsecondary institutions. Years ago, there was little articulation or communication between high schools and colleges. Students in high school chose courses within a college or vocational track, graduated with the required credits and grades, then went off to a two-year or four year school where you started at ground zero with their course requirements.

Nowadays, students are earning college credits while in still high school – either to remain challenged, save money or both. For educational and economic reasons, high schools are becoming more ‘linked’ through:

  • The tremendous growth of Advanced Placement courses and exams, where students can earn college credit while in high school
  • The focus by US Dept of Ed and the current Administration on having high school students “college and career-ready”
  • The development of state and local programs, like:
    1) Jump Start to College and Concurrent Enrollment, where students take courses at their high school AND in nearby 2 year or 4 year institutions in the same semester.
    2) Early College High School where, in one program, the students take courses that meet high school graduation requirements and provide credit for the courses normally taken during the first two years of college.

The Industry Parallel
The vehicles for acceleration, exam credits and dual enrollments have paved the way for ed tech companies to transition their products and services from one market into an adjacent market.

For some companies, it’s:

  • Selling course materials originally designed for postsecondary into the high school market (i.e. changing sales and distribution strategies and sending sales teams into high schools or district administration).
  • Repurposing high school content and context to fit postsecondary course needs (i.e. Transitioning Algebra I and II courses into Developmental Math courses).
  • Discovering that their professional development programs and assets fit faculty needs, whether it be elementary, secondary or postsecondary levels (i.e. providing video PD segments about pedagogy to pre-service as well as practicing teachers or selling “how to” segments for using a software application to faculty at any level).

In conclusion, we are confident that this year’s theme, “Bridging K12 and Postsecondary”, will:

  • help distinguish the program content from previous years.
  • provide a basis for selecting the best speakers and contributors.
  • exemplify a trend in the education institutions and the industry.
  • highlight successful strategies for growing an Ed tech business.

Join us this year on May 6-8 and find bridging strategies that grow your business and customer relationships.

See you in San Francisco!
Karen Billings
VP Education, SIIA
202-789-4487

Karen BillingsKaren Billings is Vice President for the Education Division at SIIA.

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

Vision K20: Achieving Personalized Learning through Public-Private Partnership

January 26, 2012 By Mark Schneiderman Leave a Comment

[This blog was also published January 26, 2012 by the Alliance for Excellent Education, sponsor of Digital Learning Day.]

The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) is pleased to be among dozens of education and technology organizations partnering to promote Digital Learning Day (DLD), 2/1/12, sponsored by the Alliance for Excellent Education. SIIA is promoting DLD to its high-tech member software, digital content and online services companies, and asking them to promote DLD through their networks. 

For those with the vision and successful use of digital learning, the idea of a DLD awareness campaign — showcasing how technology supports students learning and teacher instruction – may seem unnecessary.  But the reality is that too many of our educators and education leaders have not been provided the support they need to understand what is possible, nor the resources to make it happen.  This shift is not simply about replacing print with digital or giving every student a computer.  This shift is about reimagining how we teach and learn, and creating more customized, engaging, and productive learning made possible through technology and through public-private partnership with high-tech innovators.

SIIA has developed a series of resources to assist education stakeholders in this process, including:

For SIIA member and other high-tech companies, we encourage you to support Digital Learning Day:

  • Sign up and be counted in this effort
  • Add the DLD button to your website, and promote DLD to your customers and partners
  • Provide access to your online teaching and learning resources for the day
  • Showcase success stories of how teachers and students are using technology
  • Visit the DLD toolkits for more ideas and resources. 
  • Promote SIIA resources for educators, including Vision K20 and Software Implementation Toolkit
  • Use your imagination and creativity to promote education technology and Digital Learning Day

Thank you to the Alliance and all DLD partners for this important effort and for including SIIA and the high-tech industry. We look forward not only to A successful day on February 1st, but more importantly to THE day soon when all students will have access to the most relevant, engaging and effective learning opportunities that meet their personalized needs anytime and everywhere.

Learn more about Digital Learning Day at http://www.digitallearningday.org.

Mark SchneidermanMark Schneiderman is Senior Director of Education Policy at SIIA.

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

Karen Billings Announces 2012 CODiE Nominations Now Open

August 8, 2011 By Laura Greenback Leave a Comment

Nominations are now open for the 2012 CODiE Awards – until October 7th. Nominate today and check out the 2012 CODiE website for more information.

Filed Under: CODiEs, Ed Tech Industry Summit, Education
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