IMS Global Learning Consortium (IMS Global), the world leader in edtech interoperability and innovation, announced its annual award winners on Thursday, May 18, to a gathering of more than 500 education technology leaders during the Learning Impact Leadership Institute in Denver, Colorado.

Dr. Charles R. Severance, clinical associate professor of information at the University of Michigan School of Information, was awarded the 2017 William H. (Bill) Graves Leadership Award.

Named after the late Dr. Bill Graves, one of the founders of IMS Global, this award honors an individual who is making an extraordinary difference in realizing the mission of IMS Global Learning Consortium to advance technology that can affordably scale and improve educational participation and attainment.

“We are pleased to recognize Dr. Charles R. Severance for his many contributions to the IMS Global community, in particular over 10 years of work dedicated to making the Learning Tools Interoperability® (LTI®) standard a reality,” said Dr. Rob Abel, chief executive officer, IMS Global Learning Consortium. “The success we are seeing with LTI is a testament to Dr. Severance’s vision and pioneering work in the edtech community.”

The annual William H. (Bill) Graves Leadership Award includes a $10,000 monetary prize.

In addition to the Leadership Award, IMS Global announced the winners of the Learning Impact Awards competition. The Learning Impact Awards program is the only global competition that recognizes outstanding, innovative applications of technology at an educational institution to support and improve learning based on evidence of impact.

Projects were evaluated by an expert panel using eight criteria for determining learning impact. Attendees of the Learning Impact Leadership Institute, as well as the public, were invited to cast a vote on the finalists, with their combined vote counting as one judge vote. Out of the 38 projects that competed as finalists in this year’s competition, five medalists were selected in the New/Research category for projects implemented within the last 12 months, and four medalists were selected in the Established category for projects that have been deployed for at least 24 months.

The following institutions and organizations were recognized with a 2017 Learning Impact Award for their outstanding achievement:

2017 Winners - New/Research Projects

  • Platinum Medal: IBM's Open Badging Program - Pearson Acclaim and IBM (Video, Paper)
  • Gold Medal: Texas Gateway CMDS - Trinity Education Group and Texas Gateway CMDS (Video, Paper)
  • Silver Medal: Connect2 Open Learning Platform for Higher Education—International - McGraw-Hill Education (Video, Paper)
  • Bronze Medal: The IMDA Singapore PlayMaker Programme: Unleashing Creative Confidence in Children through Play and Maker-Centred Learning - Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore, Tinkertanker PTE LTD, Preschool Market (Video, Paper)
  • Bronze Medal: Bluepulse 2—Integrated - eXplorance (Video, Paper)

2017 Winners - Established Projects

  • Platinum Medal: Universal Design Online content Inspection Tool (UDOIT) - University of Central Florida Center for Distributed Learning (Video, Paper)
  • Gold Medal: HISD's Analytics for Education (A4E) Dashboards and PowerUser Reporting Environment (PWR) - Houston Independent School District (Video, Paper)
  • Silver Medal: InQuizitive use at State College of Florida - W.W. Norton & Company and State College of Florida  (Video, Paper)
  • Bronze Medal: PowerUp: Taking Technology Integration to the Next Level in K-12 - itslearning and Houston Independent School District (Video, Paper)

2017 Honorable Mentions

  • Access Manager - McGraw-Hill Education (Video, Paper)
  • Behavioral Analytics Driving Student Outcomes - Echo360 and University of Cincinnati (Video, Paper)
  • Building an Ecosystem Using IMS Standards - Pearson Realize and Berkeley County School District (Video, Paper)
  • College for America at SNHU: Degree Programs that Work for Working Adults - College for America at Southern New Hampshire University (Video, Paper)
  • CTU Mobile by Colorado Technical University - CTU Mobile and Colorado Technical University (Video, Paper)
  • Development and Verification of an e-Learning System that Augments Interest and Inner Motives - Kumsung Pub. and purunet.com (Video, Paper)
  • FLVS Playbook - Florida Virtual School (Video, Paper)
  • Follett Discover Suite of Products to Support Academic Success - Follett (Video, Paper)
  • Hawkes Learning Partners with the University of Louisville on an Emporium Approach to Intervention Courses in Algebra - Hawkes Learning and University of Louisville (Video, Paper)
  • HigherEd.org–A New Learning Ecosystem and Portal for Personalized Competency-Based Education - HigherEd.org New Learning Ecosystem and Lord Fairfax Community College (Video, Paper)
  • Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA) Lab on Wheels - Info-communications Media Development Authority of Singapore (Video, Paper)
  • Integrated Learning Analytics for Video using LTI and Caliper - Kaltura and Blackboard (Video, Paper)
  • KANTAN (Easy) cloud-based e-learning authoring and delivery service - NetLearning (Video, Paper)
  • Learnosity Assessment APIs - Learnosity (Video, Paper)
  • LIVE (Learning Immersion in a Virtual Environment) Effectively Reaches Global Audience and Measures Engagement - Ingram Micro (Video, Paper)
  • LMS Dynamic LTI Handler - University of Phoenix (Video, Paper)
  • LMS LTI Integration with Adobe Connect Virtual Classroom Platform - eSyncTraining and Pasco eSchool (Video)
  • M2B System for Data-Driven Education and Learning-Learning Analytics Center - Kyushu University (Video, Paper)
  • MyInternshipBuddy@WORK at Republic Poly - Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore, Republic Polytechnic of Singapore, Coursepad Pte Ltd (Video, Paper)
  • Nebula: A New Design For Canvas Discussion Boards - Northwestern University (Video, Paper)
  • Norming student essays using Turnitin Revision Assistant to inform instruction at Newport-Mesa USD - Turnitin and Newport-Mesa Unified School District (Video, Paper)
  • Nudging Student Success with UMBC's Check My Activity (CMA) LMS Feedback Tool - University of Maryland Baltimore County and University of Maryland Baltimore County Division of Information Technology (Video, Paper)
  • OpenSALT - PCG Education and Houston Independent School District (Video, Paper)
  • Penn State Digital Badging Platform - Penn State University TLT Studio and Penn State University Libraries (Video, Paper)
  • Pilot on IoT@Schools - Promote Inquiry-based Learning with Real-World Data - Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore and Sciencescope Limited (Video, Paper)
  • Robots for Early Childhood Education - Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore, Robotics Research University, Nanyang Technological University, SoftBank Telecom Singapore (Video, Paper)
  • Scope by Purdue: A lesson in using the Caliper Specification - Purdue Teaching and Learning Technologies (Video, Paper)
  • Texas OnCourse CBE Micro-credential System - Learning Objects and the University of Texas at Austin (Video, Paper)
  • Transforming learning at scale: How Saint Leo University unified its learning ecosystem for better results - D2L and Saint Leo University (Video, Paper)

An analysis of the 2017 winning projects will be provided in the annual Learning Impact Report, which will be released in the fall. Nominations for the 2018 competition will open early next year.