Education

SIIA Awards Point to Shift of Focus Toward Ed-Tech

By Ian Quillen — April 12, 2011 1 min read
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Need proof that the technology industry is shifting more of its attention toward education? Look no further than the entry numbers for the 2011 CODiE Awards.

Finalists for the awards, bestowed by the Software & Information Industry Association, or SIIA to recognize leaders in the software field, were announced Monday, and winners will be announced on May 23. But after taking a look at all 425 nominations in 24 categories, it was clear education categories had experienced the biggest growth in entrants, according to an SIIA press release.

Among the categories experiencing large increases in nominations for best of categories in:
• Virtual school solution for students (almost 270 percent increase)
• Corporate learning solution (almost 100 percent)
• Postsecondary instructional solution (about 90 percent)
• Reading/English Instructional Solution (about 70 percent)
• Education Community Solution (about 60 percent)

“We are pleased and proud to have so many companies participating this year and to have so many moving on to the member voting phase,” said Karen Billings, the vice president of the SIIA’s education division. “We have a diverse range of companies represented, which reflects the overall health of the industry.”

It’s worth noting that an increase in educational entries doesn’t necessarily mean an increase in the average quality of those entries, but only that software businesses see education as a fruitful market.

A version of this news article first appeared in the Digital Education blog.