CODiE Education Judges Revealed: Everything You wanted to Know About Education CODiE Judges……But Were Afraid to Ask!

With the CODiE Awards deadline just 10 days away, I’ve been thinking a lot about what makes the awards program so special. In my 12th CODiEs cycle, I’ve come to realize that the educators and members who judge the awards are truly the backbone of this notable program. After all, an award is only as credible as the judges who determine the winner. That’s why I decided to share more about the educators and SIIA members who bring so much influence and integrity to the CODiE Awards as judges.

Who actually judges the products we nominate for the CODiE Awards?
In the first round or judging, your products are reviewed by educators and administrators who work in K-12 or postsecondary education institutions. The ratings from these education leaders will determine the finalists in each category.  The finalist products are then reviewed by representatives from SIIA Education Division member companies.  One person from each company, regardless of size, can vote. For example, one person from Pearson gets to vote, just as one person from Avant Assessment gets to vote.

Why do educators and administrators review our products?
SIIA wants educators–the true experts in the field–to review your products because it gives the judging process high credibility and it gives you, the nominating companies, pertinent and valuable information.  The educators and administrators know the ed tech field, are familiar with competing products, and have first-hand experience using products in the category they are reviewing.

What do we gain from having educational leaders review our products?
You gain the validity of participating in a credible awards program that has an almost 30-year history in education technology. Educators and administrators who review your products not only provide valuable feedback for product revision, but you build relationships with educators who are potential customers.  Their experience makes them great judges of what will work in educational institutions, so when they provide high marks for your product, you can truly say that your product is the best.

How does SIIA find these educators and administrators?
The Education Division staff leverages its relationships with professional associations, educational media, and online communities to find judges that have expertise in each category.  We also take referrals from current and past judges. They can directly reach out to their members or education readers and let them know about the opportunity to judge

How does SIIA select the first round judges who will review our products?
Each applicant fills out an extensive survey that asks about their relevant experience, degrees, and current work in the category they want to judge. The process is quite competitive in the popular categories, as so many educators apply. But with so many applicants, we can select those with the best qualifications to be the judges for your products.

How do they judge the products that we nominate?
SIIA recommends that judges first participate in a live demo with the nominating company, or listen to a pre-recorded demo, then use the product for a time to become come fully acquainted with it.  The judges then go online and fill out a rubric specifically designed for the products in each category.  They will rank the product on a numerical scale within that rubric and are urged to provide comments in the feedback areas.

What to the educators and administrators gain from judging our products?
Judges tell us they enjoy the process and find that it is a learning experience. It gives them a chance to not only see new products, but also to provide feedback to the companies that could prove useful in revising the products.  They consider the judging process to be a contribution to their field.

Learn more about the CODiE Awards judges or nominate before the September 20 deadline (October 4 extended deadline) at www.siia.net/CODiEs.


Karen BillingsKaren Billings is Vice President for the Education Division at SIIA. Follow the SIIA Education Team on Twitter at @SIIAEducation

20 new insights for publishers from PPA Conference

The magazine industry seemed less defensive about print and more open to new ways to expand media brands onto web, mobile, events, retailing and more at the PPA annual Conference on 8 May.  Carolyn Morgan shares her top 20 insights from the day.

Nial Ferguson Future at PPA Conference

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SIIA Announces CODiE Award Winners for Education Technology Industry

SIIA presented the 2013 CODiE Awards in education technology tonight during a special awards reception and dinner, held during SIIA’s annual Ed Tech Industry Summit. Overall, 28 winners were recognized for their products and services deployed specifically for the education technology market.

All of the education technology nominated products and services were first reviewed by a group of tech-savvy educators from across the nation, whose evaluations determined 82 finalists. SIIA members then reviewed these finalists and voted to select 28 CODiE Award winners, listed here by category, company, and product/service:

Best Classroom Management Solution Stoneware LanSchool 7.7
Best Corporate Learning/Workforce Development Solution GlobalEnglish GlobalEnglish Product Suite
Best Cross-Curricular Solution SoftChalk LLC SoftChalk Cloud
Best Education Community Solution ConnectYard, Inc. ConnectYard
Best Education Game or Simulation Triad Interactive Media, Inc. PlatinuMath: An Online Formative Assessment Math Game for Preservice Elementary Teachers
Best Education Reference Solution PBS PBS LearningMedia
Best Educational Use of a Mobile Device School Improvement Network PD 360 Mobile
Best Instructional Solution in Other Curriculum Areas Florida Virtual School- Global Services Division Mawi Leadership Course
Best K-12 Course or Learning Management Solution CompassLearning CompassLearning Odyssey
Best K-12 Enterprise Solution Schoology, Inc Schoology
Best Mathematics Instructional Solution DreamBox Learning DreamBox Learning Math
Best PK-12 Personalized Learning Solution DreamBox Learning DreamBox Learning Math
Best Postsecondary Course or Learning Management Solution Pearson OpenClass
Best Postsecondary Enterprise Solution McGraw-Hill Higher Education Group McGraw-Hill Tegrity Campus
Best Postsecondary Learning Solution Atomic Learning Tech Skills Plus Training Package
Best Postsecondary Personalized Learning Solution Cengage Learning MindTap
Best Professional Learning Solution for Education Pearson Pearson Compass Suite
Best Reading/English/ELL Instructional Solution Learning A-Z ReadingA-Z.com
Best Science/Health Instructional Solution Cengage Learning myNGconnect
Best Science/Health Instructional Solution ExploreLearning.com ExploreLearning Gizmos
Best Social Sciences Instructional Solution ABC-CLIO American Government
Best Solution for Special Needs Students Brighter Futures for Beautiful Minds Wonkidos Animated Social Skills
Best Solution for Special Needs Students Learning A-Z Raz-Kids.com
Best Student Assessment Solution Curriculum Associates i-Ready Diagnostic & Instruction
Best Virtual Learning Solution Adaptive Curriculum Adaptive Curriculum

Three top winners were also chosen during the awards ceremony:

Best K-12 Solution PBS PBS LearningMedia
Best Postsecondary Solution Atomic Learning Tech Skills Plus Training Package
Best Education Solution Atomic Learning Tech Skills Plus Training Package

SIIA’s 2013 CODiE Award winners show that innovation and growth is alive in many areas of the educational technology industry. Among these 26 visionary winners, you’ll find the many of the most exciting ed tech products and services out there. I look forward to seeing the impact they have on the PK-12 and postsecondary markets.

For more information about the CODiE Awards, visit http://www.siia.net/codies/2013/


Karen BillingsKaren Billings is Vice President for the Education Division at SIIA. Follow the SIIA Education Team on Twitter at @SIIAEducation

SIPAlert Daily: The 2013 SIPAwards set to take center stage

To accompany our big announcement that the 2013 SIPAwards are ready to go, I was looking for an appropriate quote. Maybe Mark Twain, I thought, Socrates, Jane Austen. But then I remembered—okay, it’s impossible in today’s culture to forget—that it’s Valentine’s Day. The mission became how to find an all-encompassing quote. No problem, thanks to Dove Chocolate:

“When two hearts race, both win.”

I like that because I feel like everyone who enters the SIPAwards is a winner. Entering serves as a testament to the deep levels of talent that SIPA possesses. It also adds to our overall knowledge center. Judges—esteemed members in the field—read and evaluate your work. Staff and the board get new ideas to discuss at the Conference and to build future webinars and sessions around. I’m looking everything over to see what I should be covering more, and getting new names for member profiles and ideas for SIPAlert Daily and Hotline.

It really is a win-win proposition. To that end, we have added new categories for a total of 22. We’ve broken down the Best Newsletter/Ezine category into 5 sectors, added a Best Sales Campaign, Marketing Launch and Smartphone App, and kept all the traditional categories that SIPA members hang their journalist/publisher hats on. Here they are (descriptions are on the website):

EDITORIAL
The David Swit Award for Best Investigative Reporting
Best Spot News or Single News Story
Best Interpretative or Analytical Reporting
Best Instructional Reporting
Best Scientific Writing or Technical Reporting
Best Blog or Commentary
Best Daily Publication
Best One-Topic Special Publication
Best Newsletter or Ezine (non-daily, 5 categories)
• Financial/Investing
• Public Sector/Government
• Health/Medical/Fitness
• Arts/Travel & Leisure/Sports/Culinary
• Business/Marketing

MARKETING
The Margie Weiner Award for Best Marketing Campaign of the Year
Best Editorial and Marketing Collaboration
Best Marketing Launch for a New Product

BUSINESS/SOCIAL MEDIA
Best Social Media Success Story
Best Use of Video
Rising Star of the Year
Best New or Relaunched Website
Best Sales Campaign of the Year
Best Mobile Smartphone App (Native)

The forms to enter are being finalized and should be posted next week on our new SIPAwards site. The deadline for entries is Friday, April 5. We will also be asking for members to join us in Washington, D.C. for an on-site judging day. This was very successful last year in bringing members together to network and judge the best of the best. Winners will then be announced around the end of April in anticipation of the June 5-7 Annual Conference, where they will be celebrated at an early-evening reception.

Brochures will also be mailed to SIPA member companies. I think we had around 30 companies enter last year for a total of just over 200 entries. We would love to increase that total this year. If you’ve had success with social media or a video, launched a great campaign, published an excellent story, started a new daily, then now is the time to take the credit! Let us know by entering.

There are also other benefits to winning an award. Said this past winner: “Winning after being judged by a jury of your peers is very satisfying in itself, but frankly and perhaps more important, is that the award is a distinction that has helped me build credibility with clients, which is important in this extremely competitive field.”

Remember, you can’t win if you don’t enter. See you at the SIPAwards and have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!

Subscribe to the SIPAlert Daily for more specialized publishers industry news.


Ronn LevineRonn Levine began his career as a reporter for The Washington Post and has won numerous writing and publications awards since. Most recently, he spent 12 years at the Newspaper Association of America covering a variety of topics before joining SIPA in 2009 as managing editor. Follow Ronn on Twitter at @RonnatSIPA

CNSX Markets Named Outstanding Data Provider by FISD

FISD presented the 2012 Outstanding Data Provider Award to CNSX  Markets Inc.,  operator of the Canadian National Stock Exchange and Pure Trading. The award was presented at the FISD General Meeting in New York on December 18.

This award was created by the FISD Service Level and Communications Working Group to recognize the exchange or data provider that most closely adheres to the Working Group’s Best Practice Recommendations. These recommendations are guidelines for communication and notification sent by exchanges and information providers to their customers and downstream distribution partners for events such as system upgrades, administrative and policy changes, new product introductions, and unplanned interruptions.

Other nominees for this year’s award were BATS Chi – X Europe, Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and Oslo Bors.


Laura Greenback is Communications Director at SIIA. Follow the SIIA Public Policy team at @SIIAPolicy.

You Be the Judge: Call for SIIA CODiE Awards Judges in Ed Tech Categories

SIIA today announced its call for judges for the 2013 CODiE Awards in Education categories. For the past 27 years, the CODiE Awards have celebrated excellence in the education industry, and finalists and winners have later garnered market share in U.S. classrooms.

The Education Division is looking for educators and administrators to review 3-5 products each between mid-November and late January. Sign up to be a judge at the CODiE Awards web site.

“The educators are the real experts,” said Karen Billings, vice president of the Education Division at SIIA. “They know what other products are out there, and they have probably used a number of different products in their category, so they have the expertise. They are the best judge of what is going to work in the classroom, and that is a big part of what we mean when we say a product is the best.”

This year, there are 22 education categories, which include:

* Best Classroom Management Solution
* Best Corporate Learning/Workforce Development Solution
* Best Cross-Curricular Solution
* Best Education Community Solution
* Best Education Game or Simulation
* Best Education Reference Solution
* Best Educational Use of a Mobile Device
* Best Instructional Solution in Other Curriculum Areas
* Best K-12 Course or Learning Management Solution
* Best K-12 Enterprise Solution
* Best Mathematics Instructional Solution
* Best Personalized Learning Solution
* Best Postsecondary Course or Learning Management Solution
* Best Postsecondary Enterprise Solution
* Best Postsecondary Learning Solution
* Best Professional Learning Solution for Education
* Best Reading/English/ELL Instructional Solution
* Best Science/Health Instructional Solution
* Best Social Sciences Instructional Solution
* Best Solution for Specials Needs Students
* Best Student Assessment Solution
* Best Virtual Learning Solution

For more information on the CODiE Awards, visit http://www.siia.net/codies.


Angel Scott Angel Scott is Awards Program Coordinator at SIIA. Follow the SIIA CODiE Awards on twitter at Share|

An Honor to Present Education Awards to Industry Veterans

Presenting this year’s education awards during the recent Ed Tech Industry Summit in San Francisco was very special for me personally. It was great to be up on stage with two very key people in our industry as we honored them with SIIA’s education awards. We presented Charles Blaschke with the Ed Tech Impact Award, an honor we started just four years ago. We then presented Dr. Patrick Suppes with a Lifetime Achievement Award, the first time this award has been given at the Summit.

Each of these awards were given after reviewing quite a list of candidates. Our education technology industry has a growing number of veterans who have contributed ideas, products, and services for some decades– and some for over 50 years!

Our Ed Tech Impact Award went to Charles Blaschke, Founder and President of Education TURNKEY Systems, Inc., an education industry veteran whose work goes back over four decades. He is president of his Washington D.C.-based firm, where he provides data and analysis about Federal funding policies and K-12 technology spending, including Title I, IDEA/Special Ed, the new ARRA stimulus funding, and other related Federal programs.

Many of those in the audience raised their hands when he asked if any were or had been his clients. I raised my hand, remembering how I would get his monthly reports that my company had subscribed to. I would then share those reports with our sales reps who were always interested in Charles’s specific state-by-state funding information.

It’s become a tradition for the new Ed Tech Impact honoree to receive the award from the last recipient. The first awardee, Ellen Bialo (IESD), presented it to Tom Greaves (The Greaves Group) two years ago and Tom presented it to Kathy Hurley (Pearson) last year. This year Kathy, now with the Pearson Foundation presented it to Charles Blaschke, this year’s awardee and her husband!

For the Lifetime Achievement Award, we chose Dr. Patrick Suppes, now the Lucie Stern Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Stanford University. Suppes began conducting research using computers to teach students in the 1960s and even though he recently turned 90 years old, he is still doing online instructional development! He founded Computer Curriculum Corporation (CCC) in 1967, and served as CEO for many years, while maintaining a large class schedule at Stanford University.

We were lucky to have Ron Fortune, a colleague and CEO at CCC, introduce Dr. Suppes by providing background information about his 50+ years of experience in education technology. Dr. Suppes accepted the award from SIIA President, Ken Wasch, and gave very insightful comments about how far we’ve come – and haven’t come – in our industry. He pondered on the effects of cross-age tutoring via online, as well as the opportunities with voice recognition technologies. After his award, many in the audience came up to congratulate him and request pictures; some were SIIA members who had worked at CCC at the same time as Suppes and Fortune.

Few attendees with start-ups and early stage companies attending this year’s Ed Tech Industry Summit likely knew either of these men – or were aware of their work – before we presented them with the awards. Jenny House, President of RedRock Reports who sponsored the awards luncheon, remarked afterwards that the audience at the Summit luncheon was ‘getting older and – at the same time – younger’.

But we also agreed that whether young and old, the audience really appreciated the accomplishments and contributions the two awardees have made to our industry. It was truly an honor to introduce Patrick Suppes and Charles Blaschke to everyone in the audience, but in particular, to those very young companies who will grow and advance the use of technology in K-20 education.


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