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6/4/2008
The Software & Information Industry Association this week issued a final call for its Vision Survey, part of the SIIA's "Vision K-20" effort toward developing a technology-based educational framework for K-12 schools, colleges, and universities. The survey runs until June 9.
According to the SIIA, "Key to rebuilding America's competitive edge globally--and renewing our 'can do' spirit nationally--is the revitalization of our educational resources, practices and schools. To remain relevant and effective in a century marked by rapid innovation and global competition, the education community must understand how learning can be improved through the use of new technologies, and use the data gathered with help from these technologies, to guide educational decisions. Until now, the investment in technology has led to the discovery and development of 'best practices,' but these success stories have not yet led to large-scale systemic change."
Further information about SIIA Vision K-20 can be found here.
The survey itself consists of 25 questions related to 21st century learning, differentiated instruction, mobile/online access, assessment tools, enterprise support, and demographics. It's meant to be used as a benchmarking tool for individual institutions while also compiling aggregate data for a national report to be released at a later date. (Those who participate in the survey can sign up to receive the final report as well.)
According to the SIIA's Karen Billings, "As an education leader at either a classroom, school, or district level, you can use the Vision Survey to check your organization's progress towards attaining the SIIA Vision goals. At the end of the survey period, SIIA plans to summarize all Vision survey data into a report that will be available to those who participated in the survey. SIIA will conduct this survey in subsequent years, so that you will be able to see your annual progress toward achieving the Vision."
The survey can be accessed directly here.
About the author: Dave Nagel is the executive editor for 1105 Media's educational technology online publications and electronic newsletters. He can be reached at dnagel@1105media.com.
Have any additional questions? Want to share your story? Want to pass along a news tip? Contact Dave Nagel, executive editor, at dnagel@1105media.com.
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