Innovation Incubator Program

New this year, the Innovation Incubator Program was designed to locate and provide visibility to innovative developers of education technology products or services. The Program idea was created by SIIA's Education Division Innovations Working Group and the Program elements were implemented by the Ed Tech Business Forum Steering Committee.

The many applicants to the program came from entities housed within academic or non-profit institutions or from young companies at pre-revenue stage. After applications were reviewed by SIIA's Innovation Working Group, 16 Innovators were selected to participate in the Ed Tech Business Forum. At the Forum, they can participate in the Innovator's Showcase, Innovator's Introductions, and the One-to-One Business Connections.

The Innovation program is partially funded by the Forum Innovation Incubator Sponsors: Adacamic Business Advisors, Apple, and SMART Technologies.

2007 Innovation Incubator Participants

• Adaptive Curriculum
  Ahmet Eti, CEO, Sebit, LLC
  Dr. Gary Bitter, Professor/Executive Director, Technology Based Learning & Research, Arizona State University

  Adaptive Curriculum products are online learning environments for teaching science and math concepts to middle grade students of varying abilities and backgrounds. Using state-of-the-art graphics, visualization, and interactivity, highly engaging environments develop content knowledge and skills. From simulations, to challenges, to controlled experiments, students make choices and decisions as they delve into the standards-aligned activities.

• Adopt-A-Classroom
  James Rosenberg, Founder, Executive Director, Adopt-A-Classroom

  Adopt-A-Classroom is pursuing commercial opportunities to extend its proven technology platform to meet fundraising needs of all education stakeholders. Phase I opportunity to be industry leader in $2B education philanthropy market. Phase II revenue opportunity by extending philanthropic element to such education-related transactions as back-to-school shopping ($17 billion) and teacher out-of-pocket spending ($4 billion).

• ArchieMD, Inc. - Interactive Health and Science Content
  Dr. Robert Levine, President, Michele Wornow, VP Sales and Marketing, ArchieMD, Inc.

  ArchieMD Inc., a physician-led education company with a library of thousands of 3D animations/models and enterprising CGI interactive modules created to inform students, consumers and health professionals through the use of dynamic multimedia. We plan to integrate our stunning health and science imagery into content-rich comprehensive interactive learning modules designed by our team of educators, programmers and instructional design experts. Our emerging products will consist of interactive learning games, education modules, and 3-D simulations.

• Children’s Technology Workshop
  Darryl Reiter, President, Children’s Technology Workshop

  Children’s Technology Workshop is curriculum and software that focus on supplemental instruction, including a multi-media, multi-disciplinary Early Literacy Program for K-2 focusing on storytelling and early reading skills and phonemic awareness as well as an after school/summer camp applied-technology programs in animation, robotics and video game design.

• Cosmo’s Learning Systems
  Corinna Lathan, Board Chair and CEO, AT KidSystems, Inc.

  Cosmo’s Learning Systems (CLS) introduces an innovation in learning for children of developmental age 2-to-8 years with and without disabilities. CLS features Mission Control and Cosmo’s Play and Learn software. Mission Control is a computer interface device that enables a child to interact with Cosmo’s software and other software products. Cosmo’s Software motivates the child with entertaining activities that are designed to meet individual goals.

• EDRoom
  Ellen Bialo, President, Jay Sivin-Kachala, Vice President, IESD Inc
  Glen McCandless, President, Focus Marketing

  Focus Marketing, Inc. and Interactive Educational Systems Design, Inc. are introducing a new joint venture, EDRoom—a virtual, asynchronous conference room where providers of educational products and services can meet with a group of decision-makers for a deep discussion and meaningful exchange of ideas—across a week or longer, about any topic. Each participant has the time to consider the comments and responses of other participants, without interruption, and to contribute fully at times and places of his or her convenience.

• eSach Corporation
  Kevin Tran, Founder, eSach
  Pat Walkington, President, Pat Walkington Sales and Marketing

  eSach Corp. intends to develop and manufacture hardware devices to enable more effective and efficient presentation and access of digital content. Our target market is instructors and students attending universities and colleges. We are currently validating our product concepts, market concepts, and we are searching for more market information on the development and distribution of digital content for faculty and students and the key elements of a business model that an investor would look for in bringing a product to market.

• Flink Learning
  Peter Dublin, President, Maestro Learning

  Flink Learning™ is an innovative K-5 publishing business, whose patent-pending technology enables parents and teachers to easily find, buy, and organize engaging, 99¢, downloadable interactive learning activities. Flink Learning includes thousands of proprietary, skills-targeted activities initially in Math and Spelling, as well as branded content from other publishers. School districts can pre-purchase activities in quantity which teachers can then download at no cost to them. A user-Generated Content extension of this business enables members of the Flink Learning community to author and sell their own learning activities.

• Kiddix Computing
  Michael Gualtieri, Founder & CEO, Kiddix Computing, Inc.

  Kiddix Computing is a startup specializing in creating a safe, fun, and easy-to-use computing environment for children through a software platform and media content. The platform is a Linux based OS that is a complete solution for children ages 5-10 on the PC, and includes a customizable desktop, applications, games, educational software, parental controls, internet filtering, and security software. We pair this with a media subscription to pipe high-quality content direct to the kids desktop.

• MathEX/Lexicon
  Donald DeLand, President, Integre Technical Publishing Co.
  Mimi Jett, VP Business Development, Integre Technical Publishing Co.
  Leslie Galeu VP Production, Integre Technical Publishing Co.

  With support from the NSF, Integre is developing native XML authoring for STEM that will enable collaborative learning communities, dynamic and data-driven instructional content, and free-response math assessment. MathEX is a full-featured MathML equation editor that supports multilingual math-to-speech, customizable notation, and modes of interaction that can be adapted for students at all grade and skill levels. Lexicon extends the MathEX framework to arbitrary XML markup, so that content, interactions, grading logic, and sequencing can all be captured within a single wysiwyg authoring environment, then delivered to students as dynamic instruction

• nSyte from Acadium
  Rebecca Woulfe, President, Acadium, Inc.

  Acadium is the first in the world to have a patent pending system that revolutionizes distance learning. The Acadium system combines televisions, video enabled mobile phones, and geosynchronous satellites to create a live classroom for every distance learner. Acadium’s technology is designed to capitalize on advancing distance learning technology and benefit from exponential growth by focusing on two opportunistic technologies currently under-addressed – television and mobile phones.

• Real Lives - Life Simulation Software
  Bob Runyan, Owner, Educational Simulations

  Real Lives is a unique, interactive life simulator that enables you to live one of billions of lives in any country in the world. Through statistically accurate events, Real Lives brings to life different cultures, political systems, economic opportunities, personal decisions, health issues, family issues, schooling, jobs, religions, geography, war, peace, and more! Real Lives is popular in schools. It needs further investment to take the product and company to the next level.

• The River City Project
  Jody Clarke, Project Director, Harvard Graduate School of Education

  Now in its 8th year of NSF funding, River City is a technology-based middle school science curriculum designed around national standards content in epidemiology, biology, and inquiry. RC is delivered via a multi-user virtual environment, an interface like Second Life or World of Warcraft. Students travel back in time to figure out why residents of an historically accurate virtual city have fallen ill. Studies with over 8000 students have shown RC is effective, engaging, practical, and scalable.

• StudyCurve.com
  Lisa Snyder, EVP Communications & Business Development, StudyCurve.com
  Aaron Allina, Founder, StudyCurve.com

  StudyCurve.com is a unique online “academic” social network created for academic development for students, teachers and administrators. StudyCurve.com offers an easy-to-use platform with an academic component of hundreds of subjects. Given the need for educators to communicate with students, plus a much-sought-after social-networking connection for students K-12, higher education and beyond that reaches across the globe, StudyCurve.com is a win/win. Membership (free to all) creates virtual study buddies, and a Q&A to the entire network of members.

• UNICHIN- Universal Chinese
  Aaron Etra and Dr. Lan Huang, Founders and Managing Directors of UNICHIN Associates

  UNICHIN- Universal Chinese is a breakthrough, proprietary and expeditious method for teaching Chinese, much in demand but one of the most difficult languages to master. Developed over 10 years in China, with and for resident local and foreign pre-k, UNICHIN is ready to be adapted and introduced in all age, linguistic and geographical markets outside of China, building on the experience to date with Chinese and foreign children and applying the lessons learned from teaching supplementary languages throughout the world.

• WeAreTeachers - Knowledge Marketplace
  Sandy Fivecoat, Founder and CEO, WeAreTeachers.com
  Bob Carlton, VP of Business Development and Product Strategy, WeAreTeachers.com

  WeAreTeachers Knowledge Marketplace is an entrepreneurial community for teacher members to market themselves, their products, and services. WeAreTeachers enables collaboration of like-minded teachers using community tools such as blogs, wikis, and forums. Teachers can create, publish and sell their own content, and manage teaching and tutoring services using the WeAreTeachers online tools. Teachers also review and recommend commercial products. Teachers augment their income through products and services they sell and recommend.

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