An Interview with Bob Longo: Study Wiz Spark!

Michael F. Shaughnessy - May 26, 2009
Senior Columnist EducationNews.org
Eastern New Mexico University
Portales, New Mexico

1) 

Bob, first of all, could you tell our readers a bit about your education, and your educational concerns.

Sure.  I grew up in a very education-minded family.  My undergraduate and graduate background was in communication.  I built a communication curriculum for a high school in Parma, Ohio and also taught language arts.  I then taught full-time and

part-time at the university level in communication, business and education.  My oldest brother is on the faculty of the School of Education at the University of Pittsburgh and was a Superintendent for 20 years and my youngest brother has been one of the education leaders at Cisco with their well-known Network Academies and now strategic K-12 projects. I was one of the early pioneers at Apple who helped to build their K-20 dominance in the 80’s.  Finally I spun-out Carnegie Learning from Carnegie Mellon and was their CEO and then I returned to Apple to be the President of Apple PowerSchool before it was sold to Pearson.

2) Now, what are you currently working on or promoting?

We see mobile learning as a huge and exciting opportunity for educators in the K-12 space and as a result we’ve made significant investments in our R&D to develop an online education platform for mobile devices that allows learning to take place anytime, anywhere.  

The ability for students to access their classwork, download homework, take tests, participate in polls and chatrooms within a closed and secure online environment on a mobile device is extending learning outside the classroom and enabling students to become more independent learners.

Mobile devices provide affordable and convenient ways to allow teaching to take place everywhere on any number of low cost devices whether that is on the bus home or on a field trip. Importantly, we find that students are more engaged in learning using these communication mediums that are familiar to them and are of everyday use.

We’re currently working with Delphian eLearning research company and schools in the US, Australia and Singapore to investigate the potential for iPod Touches to increase student engagement and motivation as well as researching the impact mobile learning has on teacher pedagogies.  The mobile learning research project is the first of its kind in the world and the interim findings released in January this year indicate that mobile devices have a significant and improved impact on student attendance, participation and engagement.

The US school participating in the project, Southgate Community Schools, near Ann Arbor, Michigan, has recently received funding from the National Center for Technology to extend the project out to a larger population of students in the district - which has significant academic potential for student success!

3) In your mind, what is wrong with the current educational scene?

Well, we all know that this is a very complex question and there are no simple answers (the alleged “Magic Bullet”).  But one challenge that really bugs me is that K-12 is the only major segment that is constantly required to justify the importance of technology in its environment.  Would we question the need for a college student to have a laptop or cell phone? Our grocery stories, kitchens, automobiles, and military backpacks have more technology than we have in many K-12 classrooms.  Our children have integrated technology in all aspects of their daily lives, except often in school.  In the 21^st Century, ready access to information, enhanced by technology is equivalent to other expected school facilities/utilities such as water, bathrooms, heat, electricity.  We need to stop this crazy debate and move on with determining best practices and ways to integrate.  We also must learn how to replicate great models.  Our funding should not only focus on innovation but replication of great innovation.  Our old mentality that somehow copying is cheating is archaic and silly.

We need to find safe ways for our kids to access the rich resources available to them on the web and clever ways to incorporate what our kids are learning by being connected to technology into our curriculum and assessment frameworks.

The reality and challenge for schools is that new technology and innovative pedagogies are only successful if they are teamed with sound pedagogical discussions, strong school planning and classroom based support. Research from the UK on ICT support for schools identifies that ICT support programs should include all aspects of curriculum and technical support to ensure successful implementation of new technology.

There is a lot that can be learned and applied from successful procurement models in other countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, Singapore and Scotland to ensure that our education agenda successfully achieve its targets and to help schools implement a new world class education system.

4)  Now tell us about this STUDYWIZ SPARK stuff.

Studywiz Spark connects kids to their own personal dynamic learnspace. They can login anytime through the internet on computers or on handheld mobile devices like an iPod Touch and not only access their work but be safely engaged with Web 2.0 learning tools such as discussion groups, student-rate galleries and chats.

It provides an online space for teachers to collect, organize and manage curricula. Its powerful assessment and collaborative tools help improve individual and class-wide instruction and support parental participation in learning. It works on any platform - Mac, Windows or Linux - and complies with global standards such as SCORM, Shibboleth and SIF.

Studywiz Spark has dedicated interfaces for different stages of elementary learning and it can be personalized for students with special needs or multiple language needs. It offers a mobile interface for the Apple iPhone, iTouch and other mobile devices.

However, what makes Studywiz Spark unique is that it is designed specifically for K-12 schools with a global footprint. It is the only non-European product selected by the British Education Communications Technology Agency (BECTA) to be one of ten products approved for purchase by 29,000 government schools in the UK. Further, the Cayman Islands Ministry of Education has implemented Studywiz countrywide in all government schools and it is supporting the world’s largest laptop program to all middle schools in the State of Maine.  

5) A few years back, I spoke at the University of Sydney, Australia, and I understand that your stuff is marketed there- how did you become such a world wide entrepreneur?

Studywiz Spark is developed and marketed by Etech Group, a 15 year-old Australian-based education technology company. The company started out in Melbourne, Victoria and now has offices in New Jersey and California in the USA as well as the UK and China.

The overseas growth of the company, particularly in the USA, has been facilitated through strategic alliances and integration partnerships. We have a strategic alliance with Apple Inc. who scoured the world to select a classroom management system to increase the functionality of their products in the schools market and selected to resell Studywiz Spark under the name of the Apple Instructional Management System.

Our experience in implementing learning systems into education institutions around the world such as the Kingswood Partnership in the UK, United World College of South East Asia in Singapore and Lyon University in France has enabled us to develop strong ties with the leading international ‘thought leaders’ in education and provided us with an in-depth insight into emerging trends, opportunities and challenges in the global education market.

Some of the global innovations in education and technology we have seen include:

Department of Education, State of Maine, United States

·       The world’s largest 1:1 laptop program providing 40,000 students in years 7-8 with laptops. this statewide initiative is widely applauded for its professional development, leadership programs and unique technical support model.

Lasalle College of Fine Arts, Singapore

·       A new $80 million campus driven by the Singapore Government to make Singapore the education hub of Asia. Lasalle’s contemporary architecture, systems and curriculum are designed to attract the world’s best art students and houses state of the art technology.

The Kingswood Partnership, Bristol, United Kingdom

·       The Kingswood Partnership uses an extranet to deliver curriculum to more than 7500 students over six secondary schools, one college and a special needs school. The partnership is heavily involved in UK curriculum reform and the UK Pathfinder Project.

6)  A lot of current educational materials are bells and whistles and some is dull and boring. Tell us about your materials.

We are really excited by our Studywiz Spark Mobile product, which last week won a SIIA (Software Information Industry Award) CODiE Award for Best Mobile Solution and was the only education product nominated in this category.

Studywiz Spark Mobile provides a personalized education space where students can connect to their classes online to access a huge range of interactive and media rich content to actively engage in learning anytime, anywhere.

It is extremely popular with schools that use Studywiz Spark Mobile to upload class lessons and access student data for class field trips and emergency or contingency plans.

We recognize that students are not only experts in using mobile devices but that they also crave using them and as a result schools are seeing a changed landscape with Studywiz Spark Mobile. One in which students take more control of their learning outcomes as well as encouraging innovative teaching strategies by allowing educators to embed 21st century learning resources into a 24/7 Dynamic K-12 LearnSpace. Parents can also keep up to date with their child’s school life by accessing assignments and viewing galleries through Studywiz Spark on their mobile device.

7)  What age, grade are they for and what subject areas?

Studywiz Spark products are uniquely designed specifically for K-12 learners across all subject areas with different interfaces for lower and upper elementary as well as high school. We are always hearing from teachers the new and innovative ways in which schools are using the system to support the 21^st century classroom. For example, I was recently told by an elementary teacher that they uses Studywiz Spark in art class to feature student artwork in the virtual gallery.  Kids can view the class work, comment on pieces and give their favorite designs a star rating. Parents also have access to the system so they are able to view class artwork as well.

8)  What question or questions have I neglected to ask?

We strongly believe that the learning platform must be extremely flexible.  That is why we have designed Studywiz as a web-based, platform independent, and multi-content friendly and agnostic system.  All K-12 standards are endorsed including SCORM, SIF, and QTI.  Interoperability or compatibility with other learning systems is also a big issue that is facing schools. The emerging importance of learning platforms, virtual learning environments and other related services has sparked an explosion of product solutions that is available for schools. Studywiz Spark is working closely with service and content providers to provide schools with integrated and enhanced learning solutions to meet their future needs and requirements. This flexibility is critical in creating a transformational bridge to future learning advancements.  K-12 will be a blended or hybrid learning environment for a long time and for some good reasons.  The ability to use a flexible platform in both a traditional “bricks & mortar” classroom and for online learning is growing more and more critical.

We don’t have to look any further than the recent Swine Flu scare, to see that having system like Studywiz allows schools to extend the education process beyond the walls of the physical school building.  This is key and should be transparent.

I would be also interested to know from readers what they think will make the biggest impact on future teaching and learning?  One of the lessons I learned from working for a Steve Jobs-run company 3 times in my career is not only to listen to the market but to understand that the population who you are trying to serve are THE EXPERTS at describing their problems.  They must help technology companies clearly define their needs. The technologists on the other hand hold knowledge and skills beyond what education practitioners have access to and must creatively solve these problems with the best available and affordable technologies.  It is no accident that Etech is partnering with some of the smartest technology companies, like Apple, as our Studywiz solutions have been developed from the beginning in collaboration with K-12 customers.

9)  Do you have a web site where people can get more information?

Readers can find more information at www.studywiz.com