Sharebar?

Learning Impact Blog

 

1EdTech Leaders Blog | July 2022Sonia Gupta, Associate Director of Marketing, Magic EdTech

Contributed by:

Sonia Gupta, Associate Director - Marketing, Magic EdTech

 

 

How Open Digital Ecosystems Enable Transformative Solutions in Education

Transitioning to a digital learning ecosystem has unlocked abundant innovative opportunities for students, educational institutions, and educational publishers. The traditional model of learning has its own set of benefits and challenges. However, blending it with digital tools has enabled access to huge volumes of data that can be used to make data-driven decisions for innovation in teaching methods, curriculum design, and learning experiences.

One of the most important legs of a digital learning ecosystem is 1EdTech's Learning Tools Interoperability® or LTI® standard. It works as a single framework that enables the integration of any Learning Management System (LMS) with any learning application. This empowers educators and students to quickly yet safely navigate the digital ecosystem and ease education delivery.

A Single Platform to Ease Innovation

Enabling interoperability could have proven to be an almost insurmountable challenge had it not been for the innovative solutions offered by digital learning platforms. Such a platform offers three key functions to ensure a seamless digital ecosystem for education:

  1. Content and Activity Management
    A digital learning platform can allow for student-content interactions through creating and delivering lessons, additional learning resources, multimedia assets, and assessments. It ensures quick creation, deployment, grading, and tracking of assessments. Further, educators are empowered to offer individualized, data-driven support to students for enhanced academic outcomes.

  2. Engagement Management
    Student-faculty and student-student interactions are enabled with the help of collaboration tools, such as message or discussion boards, chats, and video conferencing. For instance, single-sign-on (SSO) is enabled via integration with third-party systems, such as Clever. Plus, there is flexibility for custom integrations. 

  3. Learning Management
    The digital learning platform should support the management of rosters, grades, analytics, and outcomes reporting. Publishers can create curriculum-aligned assignments, while educators can save a huge amount of time in deploying and grading these assignments. Students have the facility to complete assignments asynchronously and receive personalized feedback. With this, educators can offer immediate feedback, create personalized learning paths, and maximize academic outcomes.

An open digital learning platform offers multiple advantages, including adaptability, data cohesion, and increased growth. These benefits present themselves in the digital ecosystem through:

  • Streamlined User Experience for Students: It can streamline enrollment into learning apps and automatically sync students’ grades to the grade book of record in the digital learning platform. 

  • Easy Data Extraction and Analysis for Educators: It gives more control to educators. They can integrate third-party resources, applications, and tools on the platform at any time and gain more in-depth and reliable insights from the data. Students can also rest assured that their assignments and grades will automatically sync. In addition, they can receive immediate feedback to identify strengths and weaknesses and guide learning.

  • Simplified Support Services: It aids in integrating the school’s existing ecosystem with multiple other systems and tools. However, students need to sign in to only one system to access the entire gamut of resources. 

  • Minimal Data Security Concerns: Compliance with the latest security model adopted by 1EdTech, based on industry best practices, ensures optimal user privacy and security. It not only protects sensitive data but also improves consistency between 1EdTech standards while enabling enhanced support for mobile implementations.

  • Ease of Procurement: It helps improve the digital learning ecosystem by making it more intuitive for educators. They get easy and real-time access to data to individually guide students in the right direction to maximize academic outcomes.

The LTI Standard and Why It Works

The 1EdTech LTI standard plays a vital role in quickly and securely connecting learning apps and tools with learning management systems on-site or in the cloud.

LTI has been a crucial part of the evolution of the digital learning ecosystem. Not only does it establish a secure connection and confirm the tool’s authenticity, but its extensions can also be used to add several features, such as facilitating the exchange of assignments and results between an assessment tool and the school’s LMS-based grade book.

The level of integration on the digital learning platform will depend on the version of LTI being used and the compliance of the learning app. With the right fit, users can access digital learning resources, apps, and tools within any LMS with a one-click, seamless connection.

Driving Innovation

LTI is helping to shape the new learning environment in several ways:

Strengthening the Teaching Approach

LTI-compliant digital learning platforms have enabled educational publishers and educators to focus more effectively on students’ learning outcomes. They can develop courseware, software, and web services at an institution and make them available for prompt use elsewhere. Students can access learning resources on multiple devices and platforms from anywhere and at any time.

Creating More Space for Personalized Learning

Under the personalized learning model, students benefit from learning at their own pace and preferred style while reducing learning gaps. COVID-19 has severely disrupted academic progress and worsened the longstanding disparities in educational outcomes between white students and students of color. But, the increasing use of digital learning tools has played a crucial role in ensuring inclusivity for students from all backgrounds and modifying the learning process to cater to their individual needs.

Improving Assessment Efficacy

Every educator understands the importance of tracking student progress. LTI allows them to deliver easy-to-administer formative, summative, adaptive, and standards-based assessments to evaluate the current academic level of each student. Thus, educators can ensure that the needs of students are properly catered to and necessary interventions are deployed at the right time.

Promoting Inclusivity

Ensuring digital equity has always been a big challenge for the education industry. It is estimated that nearly 35% of households in the United States with school-age children and an annual income of below $30,000 do not have access to high-speed internet. Students cannot be brought at par with learning if such disparity exists in access to learning resources. They are in dire need of access to authentic learning resources.

With the recent influx of federal dollars in the American Rescue Plan, more students will finally come online. And LTI will give them the advantage of accessing these resources on different platforms, even offline, once they are downloaded.

Transitioning to Outcome-based Education (OBE) and Competency-Based Education (CBE)

A robust LTI-compliant digital learning platform has proven immensely helpful in supporting OBE and CBE. For instance, educators have used these platforms to create adaptive assessments and offer detailed and actionable feedback on student performance on specific skills. It has helped them identify students’ strong and weak areas and empower them with practical skills.

Interoperability gives everyone in the industry access to a scalable ecosystem that can bring all the benefits of digital tools on a single platform. Educators, publishers, parents, and students, all stand to gain much from data interoperability to take education into the future.

 

About the Author
Sonia heads marketing for MagicBox, a SaaS platform by Magic EdTech that serves more than 6M users globally. Magic EdTech is a 1EdTech Contributing Member.

 

Tags:

 

Sean DeMonner, Executive Director of Teaching & Learning, University of Michigan1EdTech Member Stories

Contributed by:

Sean DeMonner, Executive Director of Teaching & Learning, University of Michigan

 

Supporting Innovation in Teaching and Learning Through Standards

The University of Michigan faculty are among the best in their disciplines, and the students they attract are likewise extremely high achievers. It stands to reason, therefore, that the U-M community expects the digital teaching and learning environment to be similarly world-class.

As academic technologists, we need to be responsive, adaptive, and well-versed in the latest developments in technology-enabled scholarship, all of which can be challenging, particularly at scale. We attempt to meet these high expectations by using technical standards like Learning Tools Interoperability® (LTI®) and Caliper Analytics® to ensure fast and efficient interoperability.

LTI is the industry standard for application integration, and Caliper is for learning event data collection and aggregation. Both standards are critical to effectively running a modern digital learning environment that supports innovation and data-informed decision-making via learning analytics at scale.

Supporting Pedagogical Exploration

For various reasons, it is important to say “yes” when faculty requests to integrate a new digital tool they are evaluating. When the tool in question is compliant, or better yet certified, with the relevant standard, we can quickly and confidently respond affirmatively to faculty who want to explore new teaching and learning capabilities.

Sometimes those explorations do not result in the outcomes the faculty member is looking for, and we can quickly move on to evaluating other options. But, if the evaluation is successful, we can deploy the tool widely with the confidence that a standards-based integration will improve over time as our digital learning environment evolves.

This rapid-evaluation, iterative cycle leads to a more innovative teaching and learning environment and results from the low-friction integration process that technical standards facilitate.

Creating New Opportunities Within and Beyond the Institution

In addition to facilitating pedagogical innovation through the rapid evaluation of new tools, technical interoperability standards help ensure that the tools we develop in-house are more robust and easily adoptable by local and external audiences (like other institutions).

Over the past several years, a number of groups at the University of Michigan have adopted LTI and Caliper standards to ensure their work is robust and easily integrated. In addition to Information and Technology Services-built tools like My Learning Analytics (MyLA), the University of Michigan’s College of Engineering, University Library, Center for Academic Innovation, and several faculty-led research projects have all leveraged the power of LTI and Caliper to expand the value and audience of their work.

Because we have built up institutional expertise with these standards, it is not uncommon for us to provide consultative support for students and other entrepreneurs in our community who are building edtech tools. Of course, it is also great to be able to point these folks to the relevant 1EdTech documentation and working groups when their consultative needs exceed our capacity.

Sean DeMonner is responsible for enterprise academic technology and directs the ITS Teaching and Learning team at the University of Michigan, a 1EdTech Contributing Member since 2000.

 

Tags:

 

Daniel Ralyea, Director of the Office of Research and Data Analysis, South Carolina Department of Education1EdTech Member Stories

Contributed by:

Daniel Ralyea, Director of the Office of Research and Data Analysis, South Carolina Department of Education

 

South Carolina Prioritizes Student Data Privacy and Equitable Access to Resources

As a state department of education, part of our mission is to find efficient ways to support the diverse needs of our unique districts, schools, and students. To do that, we look for solutions we can tailor for our districts without adding to the already heavy workload of educators.

Identifying secure resources

One of the challenges districts across the country face is finding secure resources that benefit teaching and learning while protecting student data privacy.

The size of their district should not determine a student’s online security. While large districts may have multiple trained personnel to vet and implement different educational tools, smaller districts may only have a few, or sometimes only one IT person. That employee may have their hands full with technical support and still be burdened with reading contracts and legal procurement procedures for the use of applications.

Add to that the teachers Googling curriculum materials to supplement their lessons, and the quality of education a student receives becomes dependent on an educator’s technical skills rather than their teaching abilities.

These practices were not equitable or sustainable as digital learning became more and more prevalent in our schools.

Leveling the playing field

To help level the playing field for our students, educators, and staff, South Carolina’s Department of Education acquired 1EdTech memberships for 82 Local Education Agencies (public school districts, state schools, and charter districts).

The primary goals of the memberships are to:

  • Support technology initiatives as the districts moved to the digital space

  • Integrate platforms and tools to help make it easier for teachers to access high-quality resources regardless of technical knowledge

  • Vet applications, so educators, students, and families are aware of a tool’s privacy rating based on the 1EdTech data privacy rubric

  • Help ensure an overall secure digital experience

This allows us to have a minimum expectation for the quality and security of resources for all students in South Carolina.

I also take heart knowing that people working in education, including K-12, created the vetting rubric. They know what is important when it comes to student privacy and security, so we know they are accounting for the same concerns we have.

Making a difference

As more of our districts sign on and take advantage of these resources, we hear stories about how it makes a difference.

1EdTech has more than 7,000 (and counting) applications vetted for student data privacy. Without much extra work, our districts can review and compare the various resources available to them.

As soon as a district activates its membership, the administration can start building a curated list of approved applications for use in classrooms. If an educator has a tool in mind, there is transparency to the application’s privacy policies and rubric results.

It’s an effective and efficient way to improve choice and provide equitable resources to our students now and into the future.

 

Tags:

 

1EdTech Chief Architect Dr. Colin Smythe1EdTECH TALK

Contributed by Dr. Colin Smythe, 1EdTech Chief Architect

 

Finally Final: The QTI 3.0 Release

After more than seven years of development, we've published version 3 of the 1EdTech Question & Test Interoperability® (QTI®) specification. The QTI standard defines a structure for exchanging tests and questions to enable the authoring, distribution, and delivery of online assessments. In January 2015, we began work on the Charter for QTI 3.0, and in May that year, the Charter was authorized by the Technical Advisory Board. Finally, in May 2022, the core Assessment, Section & Item (ASI) features were completed and published as a Final Release specification. Why, in January 2015, after more than 15 years of development and a successful QTI 2.2 release, was it deemed necessary by the 1EdTech membership to create yet another new version? Feedback from our members identified three primary reasons:

  • QTI 2.2 was too complex, particularly in the handling of alternative content definitions for the various accessibility use-cases

  • Small but backward-incompatible changes were needed to the content model to support more of HTML5, to prepare for rendering using Web Component approaches, and to enable native delivery of the QTI Exchange Markup Language (XML) instances

  • New best practice defined layout control was needed to enable clear interoperability of that layout (essential for high-stakes oriented assessment)

We also realized that these changes would significantly improve the suitability and ease of adoption for QTI in non-high-stakes-based assessment/quizzing, thereby establishing a much greater opportunity for adoption of QTI.

The key changes in QTI 3.0 are:

  1. Support for transform-free authoring-to-delivery

  2. Reworking of the accessibility features introduced in previous versions of QTI and the Accessible Portable Item Protocol (APIP) 1.0

  3. Enrichment of the HTML-based content model to include more HTML5, Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA), and Cascading Stylesheet (CSS) features

  4. Simplification of the structure of the XML-based QTI-instances and adoption of a Web-Component friendly naming convention

  5. Definition of an extensive set of layout controls using CSS-based approaches

Together, all of these features create a non-backward compatible version, but we have been able to develop a simple migration path from QTI 2.x to 3.0 (more of this later).

The documents and artifacts released as part of the QTI 3.0 Final Release are:

  • Overview document (this explains how the document set fits together and guides the reader on how to use the rest of the documentation set)

  • Terms & Definitions document

  • Conformance & Certification document (formal definition of what an implementation must demonstrate to prove compliance with the specification)

  • Beginner's Guide document (a short introduction to creating QTI packages)

  • APIP to QTI 3.0 Migration document

  • Best Practice & Implementation Guide document (an extensive set of examples and the first document software developer should read)

  • Metadata Specification document (a single standalone document that defines and describes QTI-specific metadata and how it is used in QTI Packages)

  • Assessment, Section & Item Information Model document (only of interest to those who want a non-XML based formal description of the specification)

  • Assessment, Section & Item XML Binding document (software developers should use this as the formal reference manual)

  • The set of XML Schema Definition (XSD) files (these are also used in the 1EdTech Online validator)

  • An extensive set of examples of QTI Packages and Response Processing Template files

Newcomers to QTI should read the Beginner's Guide document. This introduces the key concepts of QTI Items, QTI Sections, QTI Tests, and QTI Packages with some simple examples. It includes the creation of a multiple-choice question: the "Hello World" example for QTI. The next step is to read the new Best Practice & Implementation Guide. While this is a lengthy document, it is well structured with a substantial set of clearly explained examples. All the examples are available as downloadable QTI Packages—they are a great starting point for creating your own QTI instances.

While QTI 3.0 is not backward compatible with QTI 2.x, migrating to 3.0 is not difficult. All the examples described in the QTI 2.x best practice documents and examples are covered with their equivalents in the 3.0 documentation. Much of the migration can be automated: our Contributing Member, ETS, has developed an XSLT-based simple migration tool, which is available for our Members in the GitHub Repo: https://github.com/IMSGlobal/qti3p0upgrader. This tool is NOT formally supported, nor is it fully featured. Instead, it is a starting point for migrating from QTI 2.x to 3.0.

Certification of compliant products is essential to the 1EdTech specification support process. We use a proprietary online XML validator for certification. Unlimited access to this validator is available to all members, and many extensively use this benefit as part of their content development validation process. The core QTI ASI XML Schema Definition (XSD) is 35,000 lines. All of the QTI XSDs (eight are used to validate a QTI Package) are available to the public as part of the Final Release documentation and are also available through our PURL server (https://purl/www.imsglobal.org/spec/qti/v3p0/schema/xsd/). Details for Certification are provided in the Conformance & Certification document.

My last blog covered the broader Digital Assessment in 1EdTech Ecosystems landscape. QTI is just one crucial part of this landscape. Now that the ASI component has been published, the next steps for QTI 3.0 are the completion and publication of:

  • QTI 3.0 Results Reporting

  • QTI 3.0 Usage Data & Item Statistics

  • Portable Custom Interaction (PCI) 1.0 – the definition of a JavaScript API that is used to connect proprietary Items, also commonly known as Technology Enhanced Items (TEIs), with a QTI-compliant assessment. This enables the set of predefined QTI interaction sets to be extended.

If you want to learn more about QTI, join us in Nashville from 13-16 June at Learning Impact 2022. We have several assessment activities, including a QTI Bootcamp/Hackathon, several presentations on various QTI and QTI-related specifications, and a Specification Surgery where you can have one-on-one sessions with the 1EdTech technical team. It is an excellent opportunity to meet the QTI experts. Hopefully, I'll see you in Nashville.

 

Tags:

Header for Learning Impact blog (May 2022) with Rob Abel's photo and title: We are 1EdTech. What About EdTech Inspires You?

In this post, during the run-up to Learning Impact 2022, June 13-16 in Nashville, I’d like to take the opportunity to summarize the 1EdTech brand and the 1EdTech community with a single word: Inspired. 1EdTech is both an inspired and, we hope, inspirational brand.

But first things first. 1EdTech. We have arrived! We have officially moved to the 1EdTech brand as the outward-facing brand!   

Now let’s review.

With this information as the backdrop, my more than 16 years leading the organization, and our growth to 750 organizations (we’re now adding about 90-100 new members a year), I believe it all comes down to what is at the heart of why we have given so much to this cause: Inspiration.

I came to this position with a very simple inspiration about the need for edtech stakeholder organizations to collaborate in a way that would help accelerate the progress in this relatively new field. For me, it has been a puzzle to bring together market forces to accelerate technology that enhances educational leadership. Improving learning is the challenge that underlies all other challenges humankind faces. A very powerful and sustainable collaboration was my goal from the beginning, but I also had to be realistic about the possibilities. Indeed, the organization is now about 4x larger than I once estimated this community would get (at one of our Board meetings in the early years).  

Right now, I feel that the potential for this community—built on the idea of a committed collaboration providing the foundations for an open, innovative, and trusted edtech ecosystem—is endless. Together there are no limits to what we can do.

But what keeps us together will be our mutual and complementary inspirations. Only by being inspired for a greater good with tangible outcomes can we face the challenges of each day and the long road ahead.

What inspires us as a community today? Our impact on learning and education has been enormous. We are now capturing those inspirations, aspirations, and impacts using the stories that 1EdTech members have brought us to share as part of this rebranding. We have only just begun, but let me point out a few:

1EdTech image collage of four leadership imperatives

We are inspired...

...when faculty and learners find that technology makes their hectic lives more efficient and opens new possibilities for how they want to teach or what they want to learn. From an institutional perspective, we are inspired when technology better supports academic goals and strategy. Here are some examples that may inspire you.

We are inspired...

...when we can provide faculty, learners, and administrators a foundation for innovative instructional models, personalized learning, and diverse pathways that open up new educational possibilities. From an institutional perspective, we are inspired when we have ensured maximum choice, inclusion, and sustained support for innovation. Here are some examples that may inspire you.

We are inspired...

...when we help all students achieve more during their educational experiences and when those achievements open opportunities for fulfilling careers (as most learners have multiple careers) and life. From an institutional perspective, we are inspired by setting up the foundation for enabling an expanded set of verifiable achievements and records that learners can manage, add distinction to the institution, and employers can use for hiring and talent development. Here are some examples that may inspire you.

We are inspired...

...when faculty, learners, advisors, and administrators can get timely insights that help improve the trajectory of success for students and faculty. From an institutional perspective, we are inspired by establishing a foundation for a learning data ecosystem that makes data availability and use easier for all our stakeholders. Here are some examples that may inspire you.

 

We hope you will join us at Learning Impact 2022 in Nashville, June 13-16, to share what inspires you and our very unique community!

 

Tags:

 

Sketch: student data privacy (May 2022)

Contributed by Kevin Lewis and Dr. Tim Clark

 

Think About IT! Seven Reflections on Student Data Privacy

  • With the continual influx of digital applications available to support teaching and learning experiences in various contexts and at all levels, educators have to be committed to providing a safe environment that protects students.

  • One aspect of that protection is ensuring student data privacy when using those applications.

  • It’s challenging to balance the freedom of teachers to select the best digital resource to engage student learning while simultaneously protecting student data.

 

Here are seven thoughts and suggestions on student data privacy you need to think about.

1 All personal information should be protected.

The Department of Homeland Security defines personally identifiable information (PII) as any information that permits the identity of an individual to be directly or indirectly inferred, including any information that is linked or linkable to that individual. All information about students should be protected. That includes general PII, such as a first name, age, etc, as well as Sensitive PII, such as a social security number, driver’s license number, etc. Remember that even general personal information about a student can be grouped by an application to start building a profile, so the collection of data points can reveal a lot about the user.

 

2 Students don’t naturally care about protecting their own data.

If students see a link or an application, they will want to access it. Devices and applications that harvest student data are designed to be appealing and user-friendly. Data privacy has to be taught and encouraged. Think about a young child crossing the street. Parents have to teach the child about the potential dangers and the steps to use to stay safe. Teachers often have to assume responsibility for what the students are sharing and their applications in the classroom. Districts can assist by ensuring that a process is in place to help teachers with this responsibility.

 

3 Parents should be engaged in the process of protecting student data.

Parents may be unaware of the strategies necessary to help protect student data privacy. Parents usually put their trust in the teacher. If the teacher recommends an application for student use, the parents will assume that it is safe. Districts and schools need to include training and communication for parents in student data privacy just as they support other initiatives related to student learning. Likewise, parents may be a good resource for schools when addressing student data privacy concerns, as many may have experiences and expertise that can be shared among the school community.

 

4 Just because an application appears to have an educational use doesn’t mean that it’s safe.

Teachers may experience a false sense of security when an application promotes that it’s for educational purposes, like teaching the alphabet, for example. Also, if another teacher recommends an application or if it’s marketed at a conference, it can appear safer than it really is. There’s an assumption that a standard is in place for branding something like an educational application. Look at its target audience, the information requested, and the amount of advertising, and approach the use of all applications with caution.

 

5 Free is never really free.

An application may seem to be a bargain when it is advertised as free, but it’s free at a cost. At a minimum, It may be harvesting personal information to use to target advertising to users. Furthermore, it may be using a technique called behavioral advertising, whereby it follows users and tracks their browsing trends across the Internet and retains their demographics and behaviors.

 

6 Educators must speak up about what they need regarding data privacy.

Legitimate suppliers of educational technology applications don’t know what they don’t know. Including them on a private list of banned applications doesn’t help those suppliers to make the necessary changes to better protect student learning. When application providers are genuinely dedicated to improving student learning, they also want to provide safe learning experiences. Schools and districts need to ensure that their suppliers know the requirements for ensuring student data privacy.

 

7 Data privacy isn’t just for students.

A culture of data privacy needs to be proactively developed and practiced by everyone in a learning environment. Think about data privacy as an umbrella, covered by federal laws to provide structure and guidance, which are supported by states and educational agencies that also provide additional support. Districts can assist their schools and teachers with policies, processes, and programs for vetting and approving applications. Finally, teachers need to research and evaluate the applications they use in their classrooms with their students. Everyone, at all levels, should learn and practice the skills necessary for protecting data privacy.

 

A Community Built Solution: TrustEd Apps

As a baseline for a district’s data privacy culture, 1EdTech (formerly known as IMS Global Consortium) assists member districts by vetting applications and certifying them for data privacy by utilizing a community-developed open rubric as part of its TrustEd Apps™ program and through the use of its TrustEd Apps dashboard.

To find out more information about TrustEd Apps, visit www.TrustEdApps.org. Join 1EdTech by visiting www.imsglobal.org/join and completing the online membership application.

 

Kevin Lewis, 1EdTechKevin Lewis is the Data Privacy Officer for1EdTech and facilitates its TrustEd Apps program
 

 

Tim Clark, 1EdTechDr. Tim Clark is the Vice President of K-12 Programs for 1EdTech

 

 

Tags:

Header for Learning Impact blog (April 2022) with Rob Abel's photo and title: The Non-Profit, Member-Guided Goodness of 1EdTech

As we close in on the official transition from IMS Global Consortium to 1EdTech, I wanted to add to my previous posts about the 1EdTech brand to explain the value of having two affiliated organizations under the 1EdTech brand: the 1EdTech Foundation and the 1EdTech Consortium.

Image of Value of 1EdTech Consortium and 1EdTech Foundation

The Role of 1EdTech in Public and Private Benefit

1EdTech logo with taglineThe 1EdTech brand promise is to power learner potential through a united community dedicated to an open and trusted educational technology ecosystem that makes life better for all stakeholders. Yes, it’s a bold statement, but one made with humility given the 25-year history of enduring impact we have already made, with much more to come.

My friend, colleague, and mentor of many years, Dr. Bill Graves, would often talk about how education is both a “public and private good.” This simple phrase has deep meaning. It is a source of pride for those in our community who have given themselves to the world of education. It means that in education, there is both public benefit (the positive impacts on society) and private benefit (the positive impacts on the individuals). You don’t need to think too long to realize they are both needed in our world. The phrase also means that we recognize that there is a compact with society to serve more than private gains.

The reality of public and private benefit is reflected daily in the work of the 1EdTech Consortium.

Publicly owned organizations work shoulder to shoulder with privately-owned organizations as equal partners. They are all held to the same high standard of enabling the foundation for an open and trusted ecosystem. Most importantly, this high bar is reinforced with a Board of Directors that cut across the various types of organizations and is charged with taking responsibility for achieving the community goals, including overseeing the community-based consensus-driven approach that has been a key to the success of organizations like ours.

The Non-Profit Status of 1EdTech and 1EdTech Consortium

There are many types of non-profit organizations and many ways that for-profit organizations can be related to non-profits. Different kinds of non-profits can be associated with each other. In the world of standards and edtech associations, there are different types of non-profits and even for-profit organizations. I will explain here the reasons that 1EdTech Consortium will continue to be organized as 1EdTech was, as a 501c6 non-profit.

A 501c6 is generally characterized as an “industry league” or “chamber of commerce.” It is exempt from taxes but not a charity (a contribution is not considered deductible as a charitable donation by the IRS). The other potential non-profit designation in the 1EdTech/1EdTech by-laws is a 501c3. A 501c3 organization is a charity. 1EdTech Consortium/1EdTech Consortium is clearly operating for the public good and would pass any IRS test in that regard, and that is why it could operate as a 501c3. For clarity and transparency, we feel that the 501c6 designation is a better fit for a membership organization in which the members have voting rights, and a majority of the Board of Directors comes from the members.

The Value of Adding a Non-Profit Charity as an Affiliated Organization

1EdTech Foundation logoI spent many hours discussing how to best manifest the ideas of public and private good into the business structure of 1EdTech.  This led to the (relatively quiet) formation several years ago (but, unfortunately, after Bill’s passing) of the 1EdTech Foundation, a public charity dedicated to supporting the mission of 1EdTech (this type of relationship is supported by what the IRS refers to as a “Type I” supporting organization). It’s a very simple idea to create a public charity that utilizes philanthropic funding to advance work that can accelerate the open and trusted edtech ecosystem that is managed more directly through our organizational operations.

The 1EdTech Foundation has already attracted some very generous funding from various sources but has really just begun. Moving IMS Global Consortium to the same brand of 1EdTech (technically the 1EdTech Consortium) makes the connection clearer.

You might wonder why this is necessary, as many know that IMS has received grants from some of the major foundations in the past? The short answer is that many philanthropic sources prefer giving to 501c3s. The longer answer is that separating the operational aspects of the mission and the policy aspects of the mission can be a good thing, which is why we envisioned this setup.

In my next post of the series, I will discuss some specifics of our philanthropic work.

Tags:

 

Sandra DeCastro, 1EdTech Vice President, Community Programs5 Reasons Why for HED

Contributed by Sandra DeCastro, Vice President of Community Programs

 

Top Five Reasons for Higher Ed Leaders to Attend Learning Impact

I like to think that every one of our Learning Impact conferences is remarkable. It's always the place where leaders—among our members and in the edtech sector overall—can focus and collaborate on solving the top-of-mind issues facing higher education. It's where we hear from experts about where we're heading and what we need to plan for in the 1-5 years to keep the learning going. And it's where we get inspired by our peers and colleagues for their work advancing teaching and learning technology.

This year is no exception, especially since it will be our first as the 1EdTech Consortium.

If you haven't yet, be sure to check out our comprehensive program for higher ed at the 2022 Learning Impact Conference, June 13-16, in Nashville. Here are some highlights and things to look out for when you're there!

 

#1: Digital tools to recruit, retain, and reengage students

Institutions face many of the same challenges like attracting students and families who may question the value of what we offer and keeping them engaged and successful once they arrive. Adjusting to new technologies and bringing students back from the pandemic adds to those challenges, but they also offer opportunities for innovation. The 1EdTech community is already implementing these innovations to improve the student experience and is ready to share them with you.

Attendees will learn about:

  • Student expectations for technology in a post-pandemic world as they transition from K-12 into college
  • Effective applications of artificial intelligence in the classroom to support student success initiatives
  • How digital tools allow for more personalized pathways and equitable experiences for learners and educators
  • Tools designed to track and measure academic engagement without increasing the burden on faculty

 

#2: Strategies to turn data into actionable insights and improve student success

While interoperable edtech can enhance learning experiences, it can also lighten the lift for researchers and administrators who need data to make recommendations for improving student engagement, retention, and success or simply to report out to various funding and regulatory organizations. 

The 2022 Learning Impact will kick off with a half-day workshop for higher education academic and technology leaders to share institutional use cases for collecting and processing learner data, leverage these open processes to drive student success, and collaborate with your colleagues to identify and work on breaking through barriers institutions face when implementing analytics initiatives to drive student success. 

 

#3: Aligning learning outcomes and employer needs

One of the top reasons college students say they want to attend college is to learn the skills and competencies for a successful career. 

We'll take a closer look at a study examining how institutions align and measure learning outcomes with workforce trends and the implications of the findings. Get examples of how other institutions match learned skills with employer needs and implement upskilling programs to help make the cultural changes you want to see in your institution. 

 

#4: Creating meaningful digital credentials to help learners sell their skills

One trend we see is that the traditional transcript no longer communicates everything a learner can do. Digital credentials are quickly becoming an effective solution to that challenge and can help students and professional learners sell their skills to find future success. 

1EdTech is already involved in the work. Our members are ready to share lessons learned, whether you're looking to capture skills gained in and outside of classrooms, help your learners sell their skills, increase the value of your existing digital credentials, want to bring your program to scale, recognize your employees, or are just trying to figure out where to start.

 

#5: Ways to stay ahead of the edtech curve

If there is one thing we know about technology, it's constantly changing, and we need to keep up with it through innovation. While we celebrate what we've accomplished over the past few years, we also want to be sure we continue to look ahead.

Plus, hear from thought leaders like University Innovation Alliance CEO Bridget Burns, who will share her insights on innovative practices to expand access, address costs, and promote completion for students of all backgrounds.

I hope to see all of you in June Learning Impact! You can find the full conference schedule and registration information here.

 

Tags:

 

Tim Clark5 Reasons Why for K-12

Contributed by Dr. Tim Clark, Vice President of K-12 Programs

 

Top Five Reasons for K-12 Districts to Attend Learning Impact

You've all been hard at work these past few years, just trying to make sure your students don't fall through the cracks. While it's been stressful, exhausting, and a little scary, we're seeing some significant innovations as a result of your efforts—many that can benefit everyone.

This is why I'm looking forward to reconnecting with all of you at the 2022 Learning Impact Conference, June 13-16, in Nashville. I hope we can use this time to reflect, share, and look to the future, with all of us engaging in the conversation.

If you haven't had time to check out our program, or you're on the fence about whether to attend, here are our five favorite reasons why you should join us, courtesy of the 1EdTech→1EdTech K-12 and Statewide Programs team.

 

#1: Learn valuable lessons from districts creating innovative digital ecosystems that align with their curriculum

If the pandemic taught us anything, it's that there is no escaping the need for technology that educates and engages students in classrooms and at home. One key to success is aligning the mission of the academic and curriculum departments with the technology teams.

While some districts are creating digital curricula, others are still trying to decide where to start, and even more fall somewhere in the middle. Regardless of where you are on your journey to creating a digital ecosystem for your district, there is no reason to start from scratch or repeat the challenges others have already faced.

At Learning Impact, you'll see how district leaders are improving teaching and learning through:

  • Customizable and embedded lessons and assessments
  • Ensuring digital tools align with academic standards
  • Creating systems that allow teachers, students, and families to track a learner's progress together

 

#2: Get clarity on how educational technology can help address equity gaps in your district

We know that to have a truly successful curriculum, it must fit the needs of all students and address equity gaps in our districts.

Digital apps and resources provide a unique opportunity to create rigorous, engaging, and culturally relevant curricula in all academic spaces and will be a key focus of this year's Learning Impact Conference.

We will hear from none other than Gloria Ladson-Billings, the go-to expert on culturally relevant instruction.

Conference-goers can also attend panel discussions with institutional leaders who are already addressing the equity gap with exemplary digital curriculum models, hear from one state department of education that is addressing inequities with a long-term plan using 1EdTech standards, and find out how districts are using standards to adapt their curriculums to meet constantly changing learning standards for diverse populations of students.

 

#3: Find innovative edtech to help you achieve your strategic goals (and meet the supplier partners who can help you get there)

When tackling major systemic challenges, you want to be sure your changes and the systems you put in place are actually making a positive impact on your students' education.

One benefit of an interoperable digital ecosystem is that the data is there and accessible for you to use. Hear from your peers on:

  • The importance of and how to create robust data cultures to move your strategic plans forward
  • How to turn the data you collect into actionable insights
  • Ways to use data to drive curriculum innovation, identify areas of improvement for individual schools, and understand the environmental factors impacting student learning
  • Measuring financial and academic returns on investments in digital learning products

Plus, learn how districts created their ecosystems through partnerships with suppliers and find the suppliers that will best fit your needs.

 

#4: Prioritize protecting student information

One of the main concerns in moving teaching and learning online is how to keep personal information safe.

The number of digital tools available for teachers to choose from continues to grow, and sometimes it's difficult to know if a tool is set up to both educate and protect students. Add to that a district's need to collect information in order to ensure its effectiveness, and it can feel overwhelming.

To address those concerns, we're making sure that protecting learner information is a consideration in all of our standards as student information moves from one platform to another. In addition, we have our TrustEd Apps certification that makes it easy for educators to identify tools that adhere to standards specifically designed to protect student data privacy.

Still, as technology advances, so does the need to stay on top of learner privacy. That's why attendees have the opportunity to learn about existing 1EdTech standards and tools and make their own voices heard as we consider new recommendations and standards for the future.

 

#5: Network with other forward-thinking leaders, and get ahead of the edtech curve

Rob Abel likes to say, "The best way to predict the future is to invent it."

At Learning Impact, we'll hear expert views on where edtech is going in the next 1-5 years, take a closer look at the trends that are determining how we assess student learning, and how best to leverage open standards to move the needle toward our future goals. You need to be part of this.

I hope to see all of you in June Learning Impact! You can find the full conference schedule and registration information here.

Tags:

1EdTech CEO Rob AbelRob Abel, Ed.D. | March 2022

 

 

 

1EdTech: Accelerating Four Educational Leadership Imperatives for Our Times

In this third of a series to introduce the coming 1EdTech brand out of the evolution of the IMS Global Learning Consortium, I want to discuss the future we hope to create together.

1EdTech logo with Power Learner Potential taglineIn the first post of the series, I discussed the simple idea behind the brand, namely a community united toward an open edtech ecosystem that accelerates innovation in education. In the second post, I enumerated the "pillars" that our community has excelled and upon which the brand relies, culminating in the brand promise of lifting every learner: Together, we power learner potential.

1EdTech is a forward-looking collaboration. It is about establishing the foundation for the next generation of education and learning.

Over more than two decades of experience, we have learned that getting ahead of the future also benefits us all greatly in the present. As "together" is by far the most important concept that enables our progress, I offer here a brief summation that reflects what we see in our members' works and forward directions. We have purposely used wording for educational leaders to understand our community's impact on some of our most noteworthy educational (HED, K-12, lifelong) leadership opportunities to invent a better future. Most importantly, our community has a direct impact on making these possible. Our community engagement aims to accelerate your strategies toward these ends for educational leaders.

Leadership imperative #1

Transformative digital learning

There is some excellent work and leadership on digital transformation these days, especially from our close partner, EDUCAUSE. There are many aspects of transformation that our work helps enable, ranging from seamless access to blended delivery to better agility to more accessible data to ensuring a trusted ecosystem of educational apps.

At the core, our members are leaders in enabling learning experiences that rise above the norm. Our members have thoughtful and purposeful designs that align the tech (IT) with the mission (academics). Every day, we see it in our members doing a fabulous job applying technology to create impact by working across academic (instruction, curriculum, faculty) and IT leadership. Most importantly, the combination of alignment with agility enables an organization poised for the future, as implied by the following imperatives.

Leadership imperative #2

Personalized learner journeys

We've been exchanging great ideas for many years on what tech can mean for enabling a virtuous cycle of data-informed, adaptive learning and instruction to help each learner succeed. 1EdTech members are leaders in designing and implementing personalized and student-centered learning. The fundamental challenge is a program design that provides the rigorous core of aligned instruction plus the options required to create or tailor relevant learning experiences for diverse learners with diverse goals.

The 1EdTech community has already enabled an unparalleled ecosystem of partnerships, platforms, tools, and digital resources to configure an ecosystem that enables personalization at many levels. We have many examples of how this was accomplished at a fraction of the cost we could have imagined even a few years ago. One of the most powerful application examples is improving curriculum equity by enabling access that is not only inclusive but also enables schools, programs, and faculty to tailor to their needs. We see additional growth of the ecosystem and more collaboration on curriculum equity across our membership into the future. Emerging competency-based outcomes frameworks and verifiable digital microcredentials will work in tandem with curriculum alternatives to increase the pathways available to learners of all ages.

Image showing the four 1EdTech educational leadership imperatives

Leadership imperative #3

Achievement, opportunity, and employment

Receiving a diploma is an important accomplishment. However, the shareable official record of that diploma, the transcript, is not typically that useful in terms of helping the learner tell their story in a way that connects them to opportunities. Today, the overwhelming majority of employers do not even consider transcripts in the sorting or decision process.

1EdTech members are leaders in helping learners capture their achievements and competencies to go way beyond the traditional transcript in helping each student tell their story. They are doing this by leveraging a revolution in digital microcredentials, and learner-owned lifelong achievement records developed and supported by the 1EdTech community. By leading this revolution, educational institutions are enabling new connections between the world of work and the world of education. The 1EdTech community is leading the practical application of these ideas in ways that enhance learner opportunity, institutional brand, and lifelong relationships between institutions and learners.

Leadership imperative #4

Learner success, retention, and outcomes

Certainly, this is a major focus for all educational leaders today. So, why include it in the forward-looking leadership imperatives? The reason is that establishing new levels of achievement and greater personalized learning pathways enables new opportunities for defining student success. Strategies for aligning tech with the academic mission, personalized pathways, and recognizing achievement lead to the need to "design in" the "smart data" that all stakeholders can use to understand if the strategies are working. The future of data-informed learning and education is going to be much more precise than it is today. Improving student success in the future is about having the right information that helps to validate and improve the design.

The 1EdTech community is working together to ensure that data access is built into the ecosystem. Effective use of data in education will require real-time availability and analysis of big data from many sources used in conjunction with small data exchanged among just a few systems that faculty and students rely upon. 1EdTech members are getting ahead of this rapidly evolving field through deep collaboration on harnessing the power of data. It is a collaboration on making the best use of the data we can get today while working on a better data future for all educational stakeholders.

f

Tags:

Pages