Lesson 12
Jake Ramirez

This week, I visited my homepage where I keep a section linking me to various education sites. A new site, PowerSchool, promised to link me to a consort of education and private sector focused on student centered learning approaches. California-based PowerSchool, Inc. "produces the highly-respected web-based student information system (SIS) that enables districts and schools to record, access, report and manage their student data and performance in real-time."

"PowerSchool also offers a valuable educational portal available to anyone using the Internet - not just school community members on the PowerSchool system. PowerSchool's educational portal offers all Internet users a single source for over 800 safe, reviewed links and reference sites for families."

PowerSchool cites three affiliates: first, the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), a non-profit professional organization promoting the appropriate use of technology for K-12, "home of the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) Project and the National Center for Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology (NCPT3), ISTE also represents and informs its membership regarding educational issues of national scope through ISTE-DC. ISTE supports a worldwide network of Affiliates and Special Interest Groups (SIGs), and offers members the latest information through our periodicals and journals."

"An organization of great diversity, ISTE leads through presenting innovative educational technology books and programs; conducting professional development workshops, forums, and symposia; and researching, evaluating, and disseminating findings regarding educational technology on an international level."

Second, the Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF) "is an industry initiative to develop an open specification for ensuring that K-12 instructional and administrative software applications work together more effectively. SIF is not a product, but rather an industry-supported technical blueprint for K-12 software that will enable diverse applications to interact and share data seamlessly; now and in the future."

Third, the SchoolTone Alliance, "is a global partnership of leading education service providers who collaborate to create web-based portals. These portals, or windows to the Internet, provide affordable and easy-to access Internet content, communication tools, and applications specific to the needs of the education community worldwide."

"Companies who have elected to join the SchoolTone Alliance have come together to evangelize the concept of portal computing. Portal computing is the model whereby schools lease access to sophisticated computing applications that are made available via the web. The service provider business model is an effective, cost-saving tool that schools worldwide can implement by calling upon companies like the members of the SchoolTone Alliance."

PowerSchool and affiliates provide direction, training, and experience to K-12 schools interested in going in developing a web-based educational plan.