Coming Soon... the new simCEO !

Greetings teachers, students, and simCEO fans,

It's been a busy couple of months, and we just wanted to share a quick update of what we've been up to recently.

Our biggest news it that we've been able to secure funding to be able to take the simCEO platform to the next level.

1. Be on the lookout for a whole new site design and new features galore. And, we'll showcase those new features right here - one by one.
SPOILER ALERT: When we make the transition, it means that the current "free demo" version will no longer be available. So, tell your friends to stock up on free simCredits now ! We'll honor them for the new site.   

2. In connection with our newly remodeled Educational Site, we will be launching a Public Site. So... to all of you  who requested to play simCEO - even if your instructors wasn't ready to play - we now have a solution. You'll be able to test your investing and entrepreneurial skills with other users all around the world ! Stay tuned.

3. simCEO was selected as one of 50 companies to be featured on the DOCENT Platform, offered by the non-profit folks at Digital Promise showcasing innovative Ed Tech Products and providing an avenue to foster research into their effectiveness. The Digital Promise approach is shared below, and we're thrilled to play a part in helping research and document best practices.

There are more than 14,000 school district “consumers” in the U.S. Decision-makers and users lack reliable information. Developers lack access to current research on learning theory that should inform product design and development. Current procurement processes were designed to handle print-based resources, not learning technology tools and services.

Through our Marketplace initiative, Digital Promise is working to foster a dynamic, efficient K-12 market where informed consumers and innovative developers collaborate to create tools that improve the opportunity for all students to learn. We identify problems, conduct research, and create solutions that result in smart demand, smart supply, and simplified procurement processes.

SimCEO signs agreement with EduTone & Intel's Global Grid for Learning

We're pleased to announce our agreement with Edutone's Single Sign On (SSO) Marketplace.  This is a part of Intel Education's rollout of best in breed, web enabled content and software.

CEO of Edutone, Julian Mobbs share that “We believe the world of gaming and simulation is growing rapidly and simCEO is an excellent product to lead the way,”

Through the agreement, simCEO's reach into the classrooms will increase. We're thrilled to be a part of the agreement and look forward to increased opportunities and collaboration with Intel and Edutone.

Further details can be found in the full press release.

SimCEO earns EdTechDigest Cool Tool Award

Some of you may have noticed our newest award (because we shared the bright yellow sticker on our home page!)

We're thrilled to be considered a finalist for the EdTechDigest Cool Tool Award for the Academic Gaming Solution category.

It's always nice to get a pat on the back. You can learn more about the award and read about other recipients as well right here.

Dept. of Education Grant Completed: Your ideas on the horizon

It's been a busy few months for simCEO. You may have seen a few new twists to our site, and we're thrilled to have added some experienced folks from the Ed-Tech industry to the Jetlag Learning Advisory Team. Check them out here. And, we've added a new award and some exciting business developments. (MORE ON THAT LATER.)

But as the subject line gives away... we've (finally!) completed a grant from the Department of Education in which we're sharing our plans for the next steps in our development; we need to say thank you to all of you who continue to share your ideas and feedback. In a later post, we'll give a shout out to the some of the specific people who helped write letters of support for the grant.

A grant from the Department of Education is steeped in research on the educational effectiveness. We're additionally grateful to the teachers who have signed on to be a part of the pilot research program.  If our grant is successful, we can then better measure the impact that simCEO (and the new features we develop for it) has on student learning. Because that's our purpose - to change the way learning happens by giving students more opportunities to experience an authentic, open-ended, dynamic environment that better resembles the real world by not focusing on "correct answers".

We hope independent research will help us better understand that process and further improve. We still have spots available for our pilot study. Learn more.

We are looking for educational innovators willing to share ideas. Here's why:

1) Contribute to the development of a  a new model in games-based learning aimed at skills needed for the 21st century while developing entrepreneurship and financial literacy.
2) Build your professional resume.
3) Connect with other innovative educators to share ideas.
4) Earn 500 simCredits of the new site for your district.
5) OPTIONAL: Have your name immortalized (well, printed on our site) as a innovator and contributor towards the development of the new site.

As always, stay in touch.

(1/25/14) New simCEO Release - and it's now FREE

Have you noticed the new home page (and some other pages as well)?  We've given a face lift to a few pages and changed our "About Us" page to reflect a number of new folks who have joined the Jetlag Learning team over the last few months. We've added much more diversity to the team to help us navigate the future.

Oh... and the updates to the pages are minor compared to what we have in store. We're slowly (sometimes painfully slowly !) creeping toward getting all the pieces in place for a major site revision to make simCEO much more interactive and add many of the features you have asked for.  We have a few collaborative partnerships in the works and are currently seeking various sources of funding to put it all together and get the new site rolling in the next couple months. In the meantime, the current site - as you probably noticed - is completely free.

We continue to be fueled by your feedback. (And make no mistake, we need that fuel because launching an innovative simulation into the education sector is not as easy as any of us envisioned!)  We recently received a kind "pat on the back" from Wendy W. who used simCEO with her Gifted and Talented 4th grade students in New Jersey.

The students are loving your site and so are we as teachers.  This was all the parents talked about during our parent teacher conferences…they are loving what they are seeing their students doing. EVERY parent in the class that is using simCEO mentioned how excited their students were about their companies and trading at parent teacher conference time.  They were all amazed at how accessible it has made the learning for their child and wished they had this kind of exposure to the stock market when they were in 4th grade!  Our students have actually now built websites to support their companies and have created commercials using green screen.  They are loving it and I do keep throwing curve balls their way.  

It's great to hear from High, Middle, and Elementary level teachers who sharing ideas for how they creativity engage students within the simCEO framework.  Thanks Wendy !

And lastly, we'll put out a few of our customary requests for help.
1. If you think simCEO is an innovative tool, share it with a friend. (It's free after all!)
2. If you want to play an active part in our site re-design, providing us with feedback and suggestions, consider joining one of our pilot groups.

Happy New Year

Just wanted to wish everyone a happy 2014.
We've got plans for new year.  Follow our updates. Share your insights of our current site, and suggestions for features for our next version.
We're excited by what the new year brings, and hope you are too.
Onward...
Derek