SIIA: Software & Information Industry Association

The National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) today released  the much anticipated, first official public draft of the K-12 standards as part of the Common Core State Standards Initiative.  The standards in (1) English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies & Science and (2) Mathematics are expected to be finalized in early Spring.  Initial reviews, as expected, are a mix of praise and skepticism.  SIIA notes the inclusion in the standars of student digital/media literacy, use of technology to enhance writing, and use of technology to visualize and represent mathematical concepts as important ways the standards reflect 21^st century learning, knowledge and skills. 

At last week at SIIA’s Ed Tech Government Forum, representatives from CCSSO, Achieve and the Council of Great City Schools presented to more than 150 publishers and developers about the Common Core timeline and impact on curriculum, assessment and publishers.  They noted the key role played by publishers and developers, as well as the extended timeline and investment that will be needed to transition to the new standards. 

SIIA, along with session co-host the Association of American Publishers, took that opportunity to release a joint statement to support implementation of the Common Core state standards:

“The Association of American Publishers (AAP) and the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) support the voluntary Common Core State Standards Initiative for education and its implementation through our members’ development of instructional, curricular, professional development, assessment and other resources, both digital and print, that align to the standards and are necessary for the teaching and learning of those Standards.  AAP, SIIA and our member publishers and developers look forward to the final approval and adoption of a set of Common Core Standards that ensure students gain the knowledge and skills necessary for their success in the 21st century. We expect the commonality of standards will reduce some burdens on our education system, resulting in enhanced opportunity for curriculum innovation and personalized learning to ensure all students are college and career ready.”

In so doing, SIIA and AAP affirmed that we and our member publishers and developers look forward to continued work with education agencies and other stakeholders to provide instructional resources aligned to state standards.  AAP and SIIA members collectively develop and publish a large majority of textbooks, software, online content, assessments and other primary and supplemental materials and related professional development used by educators and students in virtually all states and school districts across the country.

2010-2011

SIIA Board of Directors Elections

The SIIA Board of Directors is the team that makes decisions and sets priorities for the Association at large.  These are your representatives, and you will want to have the best possible advocates for your interests.

SIIA prides itself in having an open process for electing its volunteer leadership.  The process for getting elected to the SIIA Board of Directors is simple: any full member of SIIA who feels they can commit the time and energy is eligible to run for a seat on the SIIA Board of Directors.  Members are self-nominated according to the process outlined below.

The SIIA Board has seventeen seats. In the upcoming election, we will elect nine (9) new Board members to two-year terms.  The nine (9) new Board members will join the returning six (6) members.  This new Board will then appoint two additional Board members to one year terms. The two Board-selected members are usually picked for balancing purposes, since elections may leave one or more segments of our membership under-represented.  For your reference, the returning Board members are:

Suresh Balasubramanian, Director, Worldwide Anti-Piracy, Adobe Systems, Inc.

Daniel Burton, Senior Vice President, Global Public Policy, Salesforce.com

Kenneth Glueck, Vice President, Oracle Corporation

Bernard F. (Bernie) McKay, Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Intuit

Tom Rabon, Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Red Hat, Inc.

Ken Wasch, President, Software & Information Industry Association

If you, or a person from your executive team, are interested in running for the SIIA Board, please have a brief campaign statement (not to exceed 200 words), sent to Marnel Williams (mwilliams@siia.net) no later than Friday, March 26, 2010.  The campaign statements will be bundled together and emailed to the principal contact at each SIIA Full Voting member company.  Members will be able to vote online through a password secure system.

2009-2010 SIIA Board of Directors Elections

The following current Board Members’ terms are expiring:

Cindy Braddon, Vice President, The McGraw-Hill Companies

Joseph T. FitzGerald, Vice President, Legal Deputy General Counsel, Symantec Corporation

Kathy Hurley, Senior Vice President, Strategic Partnerships, Pearson School Companies

Steven Manzo, Vice President, Government Affairs, Reed Elsevier, Inc.

Randy Marcinko, President, MEI

Fiona O’Carroll, EVP, Product Development Digital Products Research & Development, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Scott Schulman, President, Financial Information Services, Dow Jones & Company

Timothy Sheehy, Vice President, Worldwide Intellectual Property & Standard Policy, IBM Corporation

Best Document Management Solution
CNG-SAFE

Cabinet NG (CNG) provides document management and workflow software to a variety of industries. Its document management software moves manual paper-based processes into efficient electronic workflows across the small enterprise. As a result, businesses can increase productivity, reduce paper, save money and meet compliance requirements. CNG’s intuitive, secure and affordable filing approach provides a way to achieve a paperless office that scales with business growth. Patent pending integration technology ensures smooth workflow and seamless connection to many existing Windows and web-based applications. CNG software supports interdepartmental collaboration allowing users across the company to accomplish tasks more efficiently.

CNG-SAFE supports local client server and hosted SaaS models, plus the flexibility of switching between models should the customer’s preference change. CNG-SAFE’s filing structure mimics the physical filing environment to ensure the transition to paperless is accomplished smoothly and quickly without disrupting existing processes.

CNG-SAFE is based on industry standard Microsoft SQL Server and .NET technology which results in easy installation, maintenance, and integration with other applications. Electronic filing cabinets are completely configurable and support secure access rights at the repository, cabinet, folder and document levels. Document retention, integral auditing, and automated naming templates help businesses meet compliance regulations and shorten audit processes.

Best Collaboration Solution
Wimba Collaboration Suite 6.0

The Wimba Collaboration Suite 6.0 combines interactive technologies such as voice, video, instant messaging, and application sharing to enable dynamic interaction for online and blended learning. This platform increases student retention, improves student outcomes, and connects learning communities while saving money and time by offering greater flexibility, portable content, and online meetings.

Best Educational Use of a Technology Device
SPARKvue

SPARKvue software allows students to use sensors to collect and analyze data so they can have a hands-on science learning experience. SPARKvue was designed to be a solution for science students of all levels — simple enough for elementary-level learners but with the features to suit the needs of advanced physics, chemistry, biology or environmental science students.

The U.S. Department of Education today released a draft of the National Educational Technology Plan titled, “Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology.”  U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan previewed the plan March 3rd during SIIA’s Ed Tech Government Forum in his first speech centered around technology-enabled teaching and learning.  SIIA staff and members were pleased to be invited to provide input into the draft plan, including an SIIA member focus group held in June 2009.

The Plan is not merely a technology plan; it is importantly a plan for the future of teaching and learning. The described model of 21st century learning, powered by technology, is very consistent with SIIA’s Vision K-20. It calls for “personalized learning instead of a one-size-fits-all curriculum, pace of teaching, and instructional practices,” “technology-based assessments,” and “using technology . . . [for] enabling a shift to a model of connected teaching.”  The plan also recognizes that technology can make our education system more productive, as it has done in most other sectors, as well as that “an essential component of the 21st century learning model is a comprehensive infrastructure.”

The Plan’s release comes on the heels of the Obama Administration’s FY2011 budget, which proposes, among other changes, to eliminate funding for the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program and instead infuse technology into other programs.  SIIA is working to understand the details and implications of this policy shift and has shared some early thoughts (here and here).

SIIA has little doubt those few communities with the vision, capacity and resources will continue to pursue the model outlined in the Plan, but what will happen to those without absent this federal investment?  How credible and viable will the Plan and federal leadership be without matching targeted resources? Failing to adequately plan has slowed our nation’s progress toward a technology-enabled 21^st century education system, but absent the enabling investments, this important initiative could amount to no more than planning to fail.

Upon initial review, SIIA supports the Plan’s vision, and many of the recommendations.  We are very pleased that the Obama Administration has put forward such a bold model for the transformation of our educational system.  And we look forward to working further with our members, education stakeholders and the Obama Administration to not only further refine the Plan to ensure it is appropriate and actionable, but more importantly to ensure the critical investments in technology are made and systems changed to realize the Plan’s successful implementation and the continued competitiveness of our education system.

Written by Tom Bishop, Conformity
Submitted by Conformity

Once upon a time I read a very good marketing paper that began with the statement: “People buy quarter-inch drill bits, but they want quarter-inch holes.  The biggest mistake most tech companies make in marketing their products is they talk about the features of their quarter-inch drill bits, not the quality of the quarter-inch holes that can be made, or how the features of that hole are relevant or important for how the hole is going to end up being used.”  Assuming you accept this, I make the following observations about how most companies in “the cloud management space” are making it harder for their markets to understand what they do rather than easier.

Specifically, the concern I have is that “managing the cloud” or “the cloud management market” or “managing cloud computing” is going to look markedly different depending on where you sit.  In particular, I think there are actually four cloud management markets or segments, with overlapping requirements to be sure, but still different enough that any company, vendor, or IT organization trying to “manage the cloud” should think about positioning itself in that context.  I also believe much of the confusion (or FUD) around “the cloud” and “cloud management” is because people use similar terms to mean very different things, each valid in its own right, but very, very different.

Read the rest at: SaaS Management: The Challenges of an On-Demand World

Best Education Reference or Search Service
eLibrary

eLibrary is an engaging user-centric interface that is united with 2,100 full-text magazines, newspapers, transcripts, and e-books plus more than four million images, maps, websites, videos, and interactive simulations not found in any other online reference resources. Content is built around the most-studied topics, and editorially selected results expose the best content to direct users in the discovery process.

Best Web Services Solution
SC Pro

SC Pro ensures district and school goals such as, effective communication, improved image and community engagement, are realized through a best practices web environment. SC Pro begins with a strategic planning and analysis phase based on best practices and combines it with scalable technology, reconstruction of the school or district website, custom design and ongoing support.

Best Student Assessment Solution
Acuity InFormative Assessment

The easy-to-use Acuity InFormative Assessment solution features assessments, reports, instructional resources, and customization tools aligned to a state’s standards and designed to help educators boost student achievement. Acuity Assessments can be easily delivered using student response devices with the new Acuity UnWired. Test items also can be automatically imported from ExamView Item Bank.