Education Industry Leaders Encourage K-20 Educators and Administrators to Boost Technology Use

Software & Information Industry Association Announces Vision K-20 Initiative to Help Students Succeed in Global Marketplace

WASHINGTON, March 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- American students use 21st Century technologies in their personal lives everyday to learn, create content and communicate with peers. To help educators and administrators integrate technology tools into day-to-day instruction and decision-making, the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) has launched its Vision K-20 Initiative. SIIA education companies worked together to develop the Vision to serve as a guide for educational institutions to implement technology district and campus-wide.

The Vision K-20 Initiative calls for a coalition of education stakeholders -- including teachers, administrators, university leaders, business executives and policymakers -- to prepare our students to thrive in an increasingly competitive and global marketplace. "To remain relevant in today's economy, Americans must rebuild our competitive edge and revitalize our education system. This initiative will help stakeholders to make progress toward creating a truly 21st Century learning environment," said Ken Wasch, President of SIIA. The Vision K-20 promotes the combination of proven, well-implemented and well-supported technologies with solid educational approaches to sharpen America's innovative edge and increase the opportunity for every person to fulfill their promise through education.

This Vision is the first to go beyond an acknowledgement of the need for 21st Century learning and offer clearly-defined goals and benchmarks that will lead to large-scale, systematic change. It outlines seven goals that address educational technology and five ways for academic institutions to measure their progress toward these goals on an annual basis. From anytime/anywhere access to differentiated learning and assessments, the next three to five years should see increased accessibility to technology and efficient administration become standard. With those and other guidelines in place, K-20 institutions can use educational software and e-learning tools to support instruction and assessment, while motivating students through deepened learning and extended opportunities for creativity and collaboration.

SIIA has partnered with several organizations to promote the Vision and encourage educators and administrators nationwide to review and incorporate these goals into their institution's mission. "With help from our partners, we will give every education institution in the United States an opportunity to take a short, online survey to evaluate their current technology use," said Karen Billings, VP of Education for SIIA. "We appreciate the support of our partners and their commitment to improving students' preparedness for an innovative and global economy." Institutions will be able to use the Vision's benchmarks to monitor their progress and can complete the survey periodically as they work towards this Vision for K-20 education. SIIA will release the aggregated results and implications of this survey annually, beginning in 2008.

To celebrate and announce the Vision K-20 Initiative, SIIA's partnerships and the survey to monitor progress, SIIA hosted a dinner at the National Press Club on Wednesday, March 12, 2008. Special guests included the partners committed to supporting SIIA in the Vision implementation: American Association of School Administrators (AASA), Campus Technology, Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), eSchool News, International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), Project Tomorrow, Schools Interoperability Framework Association (SIFA) and T.H.E. Journal. Education industry leaders from around the country and attendees of SIIA's Ed Tech Government Forum attended and showed their support for cooperation in building a competitive education system that prepares students through 21st Century learning.

For further information on SIIA's Vision K-20 Initiative, including the survey and additional resources, visit www.siia.net/visionK20.

About SIIA

The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) is the principal trade association for the software and digital content industry. SIIA provides global services in government relations, business development, corporate education, and intellectual property protection to more than 700 leading software and information companies. For further information, visit http://www.siia.net.

About the SIIA Education Division

SIIA's Education Division serves and represents more than 150 member companies that provide software, digital content and other technologies that address educational needs. The Division shapes and supports the industry by providing leadership, advocacy, business development opportunities, and critical market information. SIIA provides a neutral business forum for its members to understand business models, technological advancements, market trends, and best practices. With the leadership of the Division Board and collaborative efforts with educators and other stakeholders, the Division undertakes initiatives to enhance the use of educational technology and the success of SIIA members.