The SIIA Innovation Incubator program identifies and supports entrepreneurs in the development and launch of innovative learning technologies. The program began in 2006, and has helped dozens of companies enrich education through the use of software, digital content, and related technologies. The Innovation Incubator program employs a peer-review process to identify the most promising digital education products. Successful industry leaders and peers also provide one-on-one mentorship to support the growth and success of identified innovators.

All education technology companies are encouraged to apply – from start-ups to established innovators. A panel of SIIA member judges, consisting of prominent education technology industry professionals, will review and score each innovation, and collective scores will determine finalists and an alternate. Finalists will be asked to give webinar presentations to educators and administrators nationwide for the Educators’ Choice Award. Finalists will also present their products live for Education Business Forum attendees. One winner will be honored with the Educators’ Choice Award based on educator scores. An additional winner and one runner-up will be chosen for the “Most Innovative” and “Most Likely to Succeed” categories based on the scores submitted by Forum attendees.

For more information about the Innovation Incubator program, or to apply, go to siia.net/ebf/2013/incubator.asp or contact me at Lportorreal@siia.net.

SIIA strongly supports expansion of the E-Rate program, and applauds both President Obama and Senator Rockefeller for their proposals and leadership. Expanding the E-Rate program will help transform the educational experience for the nation’s students by expanding the availability of high-quality digital learning opportunities. Swift action on this initiative is also critical to support full implementation of new college- and career-ready standards and aligned online assessments.

SIIA President Ken Wasch commented today:

“The nation’s students and schools require modern tools to compete in an increasingly digital, connected and competitive world. SIIA applauds President Obama for his proposal to enhance the E-Rate program to ensure all students and educators can realize the educational benefits made possible by technology. SIIA calls on the Federal Communications Commission to act swiftly to ensure these increased resources can quickly and effectively be directed to teaching and learning objectives.”

SIIA supports and has championed increased public investments in education targeted to both improve access to, and enhance the use of, educational technologies. Learning technologies are needed to improve educational opportunities, student engagement and the personalization of learning. Yet, SIIA’s soon to be released 2013 Vision K-20 educator survey results found that, while their goal for access to robust bandwidth is 3.98 (on a 1-4 scale), educators rate their actual access as only 3.14. Similarly, their need for ubiquitous, wireless access to resources and services ranks as a 3.89, but their actual access is only a 2.64.

Mark Schneiderman is Senior Director of Education Policy at SIIA.

Most significantly, “The President is calling on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to modernize and leverage the existing E-Rate program [to] . . . within five years, connect 99 percent of America’s students, through next-generation broadband (at speeds no less than 100Mbps and with a target of 1Gbps) to, and high-speed wireless within, their schools and libraries.” E-Rate funding has been relatively flat at $2.25 billion since its creation in 1996, while the need for, and the demand for, connectivity has grown dramatically.

The President’s proposal also directs the U.S. Department of Education “to make better use of existing funds to get this technology into classrooms, and into the hands of teachers trained on its advantages,” including especially around teacher professional development through Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).

Notably, the President’s propsoal identifies the need to “Build on Private-Sector Innovation” to “allow our teachers and students to take full advantage of feature-rich educational devices . . . and high-quality educational software (including applications) . . .”

Federal support is also growing in Congress. Representative George Miller, Ranking Democrat on the House Education & the Workforce Committee, has introduced the Transforming Education Through Technology Act (HR521) to support school technology readiness and teacher professional development to ensure all students can access and benefit from technology. And Senate H.E.L.P. Committee Chairman Tom Harkin includes a number of related programs and provisions in his recently introduced Strengthening America’s Schools Act of 2013. The Harkin proposal builds on legislation (S1087) recently introduced by Senators Hagan, Murray and Baldwin.  At SIIA’s April policy forum (in conjunction with CoSN, ISTE and SETDA), FCC Commissioner Rosenworcel announced a related package of proposed changes to the E-Rate to increase its funding and improve its administration.

SIIA supports and has championed these federal proposals to increase investments in education targeted to both increase access to, and enhance the use of, educational technologies. Learning technologies are needed to improve learning opportunities, engagement and personalization. Yet SIIA’s Vision K20 educator survey and other data shows that access to and use of these technologies is limited.

SIIA calls on the FCC and Congress to advance these and related initiatives needed to ensure all students and educators can realize the educational benefits made possible by technology.

As the President’s proposal articulates: “From digital textbooks that help students visualize and interact with complex concepts, to apps and platforms that adapt to the level of individual student knowledge and help teachers know precisely which lessons or activities are working, this technology is real, it is available, and its capacity to improve education is profound.”

Mark Schneiderman is Senior Director of Education Policy at SIIA.

The CODiE Awards have been the premier award for the software and information industries for 28 years. The awards program has three tracks organized by industry focus: Content, Software and Education.

Highlights of this year’s program:

Content: The Content CODiE Awards showcase the information industry’s finest products, technology and services created by, or for, media, publishers and information services providers.

* Fourteen new and updated categories reflect new technology and business models in the content industry including: Best Crowd Sourced Solution, Best Editorial Outsourcing Solution, Best Semantic Technology Solution and Best Social Media Platform
* The Content CODiE Awards will be presented Jan. 31, 2013 during the Content Division’s annual conference for information industry leaders, the Information Industry Summit

Education: The Education CODiE Awards showcase applications, products and services from developers of educational software, digital content, online learning services, and related technologies across the K-20 sector.

* The new Best Personalized Learning Solution category highlights the major educational shift toward individual, tailored learning plans for students. Three new top-level categories will reward the best of the best of PK-12, postsecondary, and overall education nominees.
* Education winners will be announced in San Francisco on May 6, 2013 during the Ed Tech Industry Summit.

Business: The Software CODiE Awards showcase applications, products and services that are developed by independent software vendors (ISVs) for use in business, government, academic, or other organizational settings.

* Twelve new and updated categories reflect the continued growth and evolution of cloud computing, mobile, big data, and video. Highlights include: Best Cloud Platform as a Service Solution, Best Big Data Solution, Best Mobile Device Application for Consumers, Best Mobile Device Application for Enterprise, and Best Video Tool.
* Software winners will be announced in San Francisco on May 9, 2013 during the software industry’s premier ISV conference, All About the Cloud.

Learn more about the nomination process.

Wendy Tanner is CODiE Awards Coordinator. Follow the CODiE Awards on Twitter @CODiEAwards

Of 425 total nominations, 113 products from 80 companies were selected as finalists. Nominated
products underwent an extensive review by judges via live demonstration, trial product access, and
analysis of product documentation. With 14 nominations moving to the second round, Pearson garnered
the most finalist slots for one company in all CODiE Awards categories this year.

Of particular note, several categories experienced dramatic increases in participation during the entry
period, reflecting trends seen in the education technology market. They include:

Best Virtual School Solution for Students – nominations up almost 270 percent
Best Corporate Learning Solution – nominations up 100 percent
Best Postsecondary Instructional Solution – nominations up about 90 percent
Best Reading/English Instructional Solution – nominations up about 70 percent
Best Education Community Solution – nominations up about 60 percent

Karen Billings, Vice President of the SIIA Education Division, commended the companies that qualified as
finalists: “The CODiEs reflect excellence and innovation in the education technology industry. We are
pleased and proud to have so many companies participating this year and to have so many moving on to
the member voting phase.” Billings continued, saying, “We have a diverse range of companies
represented, which reflects the overall health of the industry.”

Winners will be announced Monday, May 23rd at the CODiE Awards Reception and Dinner as part of the 2011 Ed Tech Industry Summit.

Just as the floppy shook up the computer industry in 1971, new mediums like distance learning and cloud computing are redefining how our technology products and services are consumed and interpreted. With the invention of the floppy, ed tech developers suddenly had a quick, inexpensive way to distribute its software on a massive scale. This technological development, however, meant that the market came to expect faster software updates, and new business models were required to keep pace.

Cloud computing is bringing us to a similar juncture. As companies head for the cloud, they will have to find ways to adapt their content and adjust their revenue models to the new medium maintain a viable business. When music went digital, for example, the bottom fell out of the market as the aptly named Pirate Bay and others pioneered the no rules, no royalties model. How our industry decides to manage the growth of e-books or open source LMS may likewise define the fate of our own digital products and services down the road.

What we know for sure is that the education delivery medium is going digital in every direction: from
textbooks to student performance data to interactive whiteboards. As this transition creates new
possibilities, the question is: how will this affect our message and how will we manage the medium?

Posted by Karen Billings, VP Education, SIIA and Alec Wescott, Education Intern, SIIA