Education Technology Pioneers Announced as Participants for SIIA Innovation Incubator Program

The SIIA Education Division is excited to announce the latest participants in the Innovation Incubator Program. The program will be held during the 12th annual Ed Tech Business Forum, Nov. 26-27, at its new location, the McGraw Hill Conference Center in New York. Twelve products and services will be featured during the event, and awards will be presented to the Most Innovative and Most Likely to Succeed based on votes of conference attendees. New this year, one innovator will be presented with the Educator’s Choice Awardbased on votes from educators in New York and around the country.

SIIA’s Innovation Incubator Program identifies and supports entrepreneurs in their development and distribution of innovative learning technologies. The program began in 2006 and has provided incubation for dozens of successful products and companies in their efforts to improve education through the use of software, digital content and related technologies. The program is open to applicants from academic and non-profit institutions, pre-revenue and early-stage companies, as well as established companies with newly developed technologies.

Innovation Incubator Program participants were selected from the applicant pool based on key selection criteria, including:

  • The extent to which their innovation represents a “sea change” in thinking
  • Potential to positively impact education by way of enhanced student achievement, teacher effectiveness, cost reduction and efficiency
  • Education focus and end-user impact/market need for the innovation
  • Representation of K-12/postsecondary market levels
  • Level of originality and innovation

All Innovation Incubator participants will present during the Business Profiles Presentations on Nov. 26, which is immediately followed by the Innovation Showcase & Networking Reception where they will be available for in-depth discussion. After a first round of voting, supported by Turning Technologies, finalists will present during the morning general session on Nov. 27 to a review panel of representatives from SxSWedu, University of Pennsylvania, GSV Advisors, and NewSchools Venture Fund, and approximately 200 attendees.

Innovation Incubator Program participants are:

C8Kids
C8Kids, based on proprietary IP developed in 15 years of research at Yale, is a cloud-based, web-delivered neuroscience-based cognition improvement program that has the potential to solve some of the most significant problems in education and mental health.

Classroom, Inc.
Classroom, Inc., a nonprofit with 20 years experience closing the achievement gap for students, has developed a new blended-learning product that is a promising, research-based use of technology to help high-need students learn ELA and math Common Core State Standards and 21st century skills.

Clever
Clever provides a modern set of APIs that allow ISVs to for the first time plug directly into a schools existing data infrastructure.

iCAN
iCAN is a web-based, student and teacher tool for learning, engagement, evaluation and measurement of achievements to standards.

iPrompts
iPrompts is a suite of interactive tools for iOS and Android devices, designed to help students with autism understand tasks, remain attentive, learn socially appropriate behaviors, and transition to new activities.

KLEOplatform
Whether it’s a school, teacher, student or PTA raising money for a project, or an individual giving money, or a foundation, corporation, school district, PTA, government agency or nonprofit distributing money, Kleo simplifies all matters relating to managing funds for educational needs.

LearnSprout
The LearnSprout API is a universal data connector that plugs into multiple SISs.

Mathalicious
Mathalicious is rewriting middle- and high-school math around real-world topics that students care about.

mSchool
mSchool provides a combination of distance training, hardware, and software to existing community after school programs allowing them to open a “microSchool,” which replaces core instructional time in a traditional classroom.

Reading Kingdom
Reading Kingdom is a patented, adaptive, common-core aligned English language arts program that teaches children to read and write to the third-grade level.

RecoVend Collaborative Purchasing Platform
RecoVend makes it easy for school administrators to work together to discover, research and buy the products and services they need.

STEMscopes
STEMscopes is a K-12 comprehensive online science curriculum program that provides hands-on inquiry activities, assessments, problem-based-learning, intervention tools, acceleration materials, and teacher support resources.

PlatinuMath (alternate)
This suite of Web-based games strengthens the procedural and conceptual mathematics understanding of pre-service elementary teachers.

SIIA is partnering with Innovation Incubator Program sponsors BLEgroup and Texthelp to host these developers of new technologies at this hallmark conference. For more information about the Ed Tech Business Forum, visit www.siia.net/etbf.


Liderby Portorreal is Program Manager for the SIIA Education Division. Follow the SIIA Education Team on Twitter at @SIIAEducation

Top 11 SIIA Moments of 2010

SIIA branched out in 2010. We met dozens of new members, spearheaded new events and initiatives, and contributed new research to the industries we serve. Looking back on 2010, it’s exciting to see how much SIIA — and the entire digital landscape — grew and evolved in one year.

Here are our favorite SIIA moments from 2010:

  • The intellectual property team filed an amicus brief in a U.S. Supreme Court case that led to one of the most important IP decisions of the decade. Bilski v. Kappos addressed the question of which things and activities are eligible for patents. SIIA’s brief argued that software should remain eligible for patent protection–and due to the decision, it will continue to be.
  • The education and policy teams launched a new initiative based on the Personalized Learning movement, which advocates a flexible, project-based educational system. SIIA hosted a symposium on the model in August, and used the findings to create a groundbreaking report in partnership with the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development and the Council of Chief State School Officers.
  • The Software Division spearheaded a report which revealed some welcome news: small and midsize software companies are emerging from the recession stronger than ever. Revenues grew about 15 percent from 2008 to 2009, with even higher growth coming from small SaaS firms, says the report, developed in partnership with OPEXEngine.
  • The globetrotting Financial Information Services Division (FISD) held meetings on five continents last Spring. For the first time, they hosted events in Dubai and Brazil. Both meetings attracted over 100 financial industry players, who hashed out the challenges and opportunities facing global financial markets. [Read more...]