The key industry association for software and information businesses has launched a program and related survey to help educators integrate 21^st century learning into day-to-day instruction.

Known as the Vision K-20 Initiative, the mission is to go beyond an acknowledgement of the need for 21st Century learning and offer clearly-defined goals and benchmarks that will lead to large-scale, systematic change. It outlines seven goals, or "means of change" on the web site, that address educational technology and five ways for academic institutions to measure their progress toward these goals on an annual basis.

By the end of the decade, says the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) release, we believe that every K-20 institution can-and should-have an instructional and institutional framework that embraces technology and e-learning in order to:

• Increase student engagement and achievement
• Provide equity and access to new learning opportunities
• Document and track student performance
• Empower collaborative learning communities
• Maximize teaching and administrative effectiveness
• Build student proficiencies in 21st Century skills

As technology experts, the SIIA membership is in a position to lend considerable assistance to schools on issues such as enterprise management and the potential for new tools. They will be researching curricular and assessment issues on behalf of educators, and they encourage stories from schools and families. They also seek participation in a survey that education stakeholders are encouraged to complete online.

As a teacher, professor, district or campus administrator, community member and parent, you can use the Vision Survey to check your organization's progress towards the SIIA Vision. You'll be asked to respond to 20 questions. At the end, the survey will utilize correlations between your reported technology use and educational outcomes to provide you with an individual progress report.

Source: SIIA press release, Vision K-20 Initiative Site