Feb. 3, 2009
Agilix Labs Inc., United States
Agilix Labs is a leading provider of distributed learning systems worldwide. The Agilix GoCourse Learning System (GLS) is built on the Microsoft platform and provides very affordable and highly scalable learning solutions that are optimized for emerging markets and institutions with limited, occasional or no Internet connectivity. GoCourse is designed to support rich, interactive learning experiences and is the first learning platform to include the Semblio runtime player.
“Agilix is very focused on improving teacher productivity and increasing student engagement, and has been working closely with Microsoft for many years to fully leverage Microsoft platforms and technologies for this purpose,” said Curt Allen, president and CEO, Agilix. “We believe that the Semblio SDK and the engaging learning experiences it enables are a perfect complement to the personalized learning solutions delivered by our local channel partners.”
Agilix Labs press contact: Curt Allen, (801) 376-5251
Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom
Cambridge University Press has published continuously for 425 years. Today, it has offices around the world distributing print and electronic works. Cambridge is the founder of the Global Grid for Learning, which makes it possible for educators to find and download digital material in a variety of formats from a library of more than a million resources. Cambridge is working with the Semblio SDK to make it simple for educators to search for digital resources directly from the Semblio environment.
“Even after more than four centuries of innovation, Cambridge University Press is passionate about finding the most effective way of creating and distributing learning resources,” said John Tuttle, managing director, New Directions Group. “The Semblio SDK is a great way for us to use cutting-edge technology.”
Cambridge press contact: Richard Hollis, +44 (0)1223 325898
Cornelsen Publishing, Germany
Cornelsen is one of the leading publishers of educational media in Germany, developing materials and services for teachers, schoolchildren and adults.
Cornelsen will use the Semblio SDK to package together resources from the company’s extensive library of material. The Semblio packages will be developed in two types: teacher-customizable presentations for classroom use on whiteboards or projectors and teacher-customizable learning resources for students, including assessments.
Cornelsen Publishing press contact: Christine Hauck, +49 30 89785-525
Editis, France
Editis is a French publisher of educational textbooks, educational games, pedagogical manuals and preschool manipulatives.
Editis is developing digitally enhanced textbooks and learning resources helped by the interactive XPS tool developed by Microsoft Corp. on the Semblio platform. In a first phase, these books will retain the layout of the print companion, with enhanced multimedia and presentation capabilities made possible by Semblio.
“Editis and its educational publishing houses Nathan and Bordas have an objective of all their educational content being eventually available in a digital format,” said Catherine Lucet, managing director of the Education and Reference Division at Editis. “Our plan isn’t just to re-create textbooks on a computer, it is to enhance them first as classroom presentation resources and, further down the road, as interactive learning tools for pupils. The Semblio software helps us do that.”
Editis press contact: Fabienne Rubert, +33 1 45 87 5364
The Educational Company, Ireland
The Educational Company (EdCo) is Ireland’s leading publisher and distributor of educational books, materials and resources for the primary and post-primary markets.
EdCo is investigating the use of the interactive XPS tool to create digital versions of textbooks for use as classroom presentation hubs.
EdCo press contact: Julie Glennon, +353 01 4299261
Educational Testing Service, United States
Educational Testing Service (ETS) is an independent, nonprofit research and testing organization best known as the assessment developer of the College Board’s SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test), and as the company behind the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language).
ETS is using the Semblio SDK to develop a suite of activities and quizzes that will help students (and their parents) determine their individual learning styles and, through this, provide suggestions and guidance on habits and practices to improve performance. The service will be available through popular social networking sites and distributed through nonprofits interested in furthering learning and self-discovery.
“Insight into the needs of the individual student is a key to effective, personalized learning,” said Charles Cascio, vice president, Partnership Expansion at ETS. “Through Semblio, we have a new way to deliver these unique assessments in environments students use every day, and because of this, we have the potential to immediately impact their education.”
ETS press contact: Jason Baran, ETS Media Relations, (609) 683-2428
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Co., United States
Boston-based Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company is a global education leader and the world’s largest publisher of educational materials for pre-K–12 schools. The Research and Development group at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is exploring new product opportunities with the Semblio SDK.
“The educational publishing industry is changing quickly, and we’re always looking for innovation to stay ahead,” said Fiona O’Carroll, executive vice president at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. “With Semblio we see opportunity to quickly try new approaches without heavy investment — something particularly important in difficult economic times.”
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt press contact: Wendy Colby, (630) 467-6122
Intel® Performance Learning Solutions, Ireland and the Intel World Ahead Program, part of Intel Corporation, USA
Intel’s skoool™ learning and teaching technology program (http://www.skoool.com) offers hundreds of high-quality, free multimedia learning content objects in several languages to teachers and students across several countries. Using the Semblio SDK and Microsoft .NET, Intel has collaborated with Microsoft to build an application that lets teachers and students easily adapt skoool’s professionally created content to meet their individual needs to generate a customized experience playable online or offline.
“There are many advantages to using the Semblio SDK. For our purpose, the fact that the content we create is still compatible with other programs is invaluable to our goal of providing a product that is easily customizable for each end user, and enables teachers to adapt content for their purposes or even to translate to local language or dialect,” said Peter Hamilton, head of Education Development, Intel Performance Learning Solutions.
http://www.intel.com/worldahead
Leszynski Group Inc., United States
Leszynski Group has provided software consulting and development IT services for more than two decades. For the Tablet PC, Leszynski Group developed the Physics Illustrator application that allows users to create visual models to simulate how forces such as gravity and friction act upon objects.
Leszynski Group has built a new version of the Physics Illustrator using the Semblio SDK. It will allow educators and publishers to incorporate immersive visual exploration of physical forces along with lessons and presentations.
“Science educators are always looking for innovative ways of making the subject hands-on,” said Stan Leszynski, president of Leszynski Group. “With the Semblio SDK, application developers can contribute to educational content without having to build end-to-end products themselves.”
Leszynski Group press contact: Stan Leszynski, (206) 786-6587
SMART Technologies Inc., Canada
SMART Technologies provides easy-to-use interactive whiteboards and other group collaboration tools, including a family of award-winning SMART Board interactive whiteboards and a variety of integrated hardware and software products aimed at enhancing the teaching and learning experience around the world. SMART uses its own software called SMART Notebook for creating, teaching and managing interactive lessons on SMART Boards.
Microsoft has worked with SMART to enable easily native support for Semblio-generated content in SMART Notebook, thereby helping the content to be accessible in classrooms.
“We think Microsoft Semblio is a natural addition to our products,” said Nancy Knowlton, CEO, SMART. “Incorporating Semblio content into our SMART Notebook application allows for even greater resources enabling educators to deliver high-impact lessons that bring learning to life.”
SMART Technologies press contact: Marina Geronazzo, (403) 407-5088, [email protected]
Wolfram Research Inc., United States
Wolfram Research in the United States, makers of Mathematica, is creating the opportunity for teachers to easily add interactive visualization elements built from Mathematica to projects supported by Semblio.
Wolfram Research press contact: Jennifer Peterson, (217) 398-0700
Young Digital Planet SA, Poland
Young Digital Planet (YDP) is an educational e-content publisher and e-learning technology provider based in Poland. The company provides content services to several top European publishers and has an online library of content objects that it makes available to schools. Using the Semblio SDK and Microsoft .NET, YDP and Microsoft collaborated to build a utility to transform YDP’s library of Flash-based objects into Semblio files that can take advantage of the innovations announced today, including content customization.
“YDP is pleased to work with Microsoft to provide content for use in the Semblio SDK,” said Artur Dyro, director of Research & Development, YDP. “From our standpoint, using Microsoft’s established platform is a huge advantage to help make our library of content objects available globally.”
YDP press contact: Artur Dyro, +48 58 768 2 200
