From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Concentric Sky
Company type Privately held company
Founded2005; 19 years ago (2005)
FounderWayne Skipper
Headquarters
ServicesSoftware Design & Development
Number of employees
 (90 employees (2022))
Parent Instructure
Website concentricsky.com

Concentric Sky is a software development company located in Eugene, Oregon. The company was founded in 2005 by Wayne Skipper, [1] and grew to nearly 90 employees prior its sale to Instructure in April 2022. [2] [3] In 2015, Cale Bruckner was promoted to President of the company. [4] Skipper continued to serve as CEO until the company's sale. Concentric Sky is the maker of Badgr and is a well-known contributor to the development of open technology standards focused on advancing equity outcomes for learners and workers.

History

Concentric Sky grew steadily from its founding in 2005. [5] [6] In 2008, the company announced a partnership with GoldMoney to create an iPhone app to allow the transfer of digital units of gold. [7]

In 2009, the company formed a partnership with Encyclopædia Britannica to launch a series of iOS apps for the K-12 education market. [8] [9] [10] That same year, the company released the official iOS app for NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] and also developed the website for film maker Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story. [16]

In 2010, Concentric Sky Founder Wayne Skipper was asked to submit expert testimony to the Federal Trade Commission regarding Google's acquisition of Admob. [17] [18] That same year, the company partnered with the World Bank [19] to develop a series of data visualization apps and partnered with National Geographic to design and build a series of official study apps for the National Geographic Bee. [5] In 2010, the Internet Engineering Task Force voted to make the company a development partner. [20]

In 2011, the company partnered with the United Nations to develop a data visualization app to support the UN's annual reports. [21] That same year, the company was named "the only App Developer officially endorsed by Mashable." [22]

In 2012, the company designed and built an iPad version of the Encyclopædia Britannica. [23] The app received widespread recognition, [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] including an Appy Award. [29]

In 2013, products featuring Concentric Sky's work for partner Cengage Learning won 2 Codie awards. [30] That same year, the company's work resulted in a US patent for usability improvements to electronic medical records. [31]

In 2014, the company joined the Open Badges movement and launched the Oregon Badge Alliance with partners including Oregon State University. [32] Later that year, the company released an open source Android viewer app for Khan Academy content. [33]

In 2015, the company led the development of Open Badges 2.0 in partnership with MacArthur Foundation spin off, Collective Shift. [34] [35] That same year, the company launched the Badgr project with partner edX. [36] The use of Badgr grew rapidly, [37] and by early 2018 the product had grown to serve nearly 10,000 organizations around the world. [2]

In 2016, the company announced a broad partnership with Collective Shift focused on advancements in education technology and workforce readiness. Under this partnership, the company developed LRNG Archived 17 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine and took over development of GlassLab Games, which included the educational variants of several popular video games including Civilization and SimCity. [38] GlassLab Games was shutdown at the end of 2018, and Concentric Sky worked to release many of the games open source. [39]

In 2017, the company became a founding member of the IEEE Industry Consortium for Learning Engineering, [40] and announced partnerships with the California Community Colleges System, [41] Georgia Department of Education, [42] and SURFnet. [43] [44] The success of the company's Badgr product led to Founder Wayne Skipper being interviewed broadly in the education community, [45] [46] [47] [48] [49] as well as Badgr's inclusion in the European Commission Joint Research Centre's 2017 "Blockchain in Education" report. [50] That same year, the company offered digital badges to commemorate The Great American Eclipse, [51] and another product featuring the company's work for partner Cengage Learning won a Codie award. [52]

In 2018, the company expanded the digital badges ecosystem by releasing an open technology standard called Open Pathways, [53] [54] [55] [56] and by creating a program to award digital badges to learning content aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards. [57] That same year, Mozilla announced the retirement of the Mozilla Backpack and the migration of its users to Badgr, [35] [58] the company announced a new suite of open source tools for edX, [59] Badgr was selected as the native badging solution for the Canvas Learning Management System, [60] the company announced a 4-year partnership with the community college system of Washington state, [61] and products featuring the company's work for partner Cengage Learning won another 2 Codie awards. [62] Later that year, the company's EdRec initiative was named a winner of the US Dept of Education Reimagining Higher Education Ecosystem Challenge for its blockchain-based approach to digital transcripts, [63] [64] and the company's work was featured in the book "The Interconnected Individual.” [65] [66]

In 2019, SURFnet announced a plan for The Netherlands to adopt a national digital credential strategy based on the company's Badgr platform, [67] the company launched a series of tools in partnership with the California Community Colleges System designed to help prospective community college students and their families identify regional educational programs and employment opportunities, [68] [69] [70] and company founder Wayne Skipper was invited to speak at SXSW EDU on the topic of “Open Standards & the Quantification of Learning." [71] During 2019, the company's work was featured by Digital Promise, [72] EdSurge, [73] Educause, [74] IBM, [75] The Inter-American Development Bank, [76] and the Technology Association of Oregon. [77]

In 2020, Microsoft announced the integration of the company's Badgr product into Microsoft Teams, [78] the company co-founded the Open Skills Network with partners including Western Governors University and Walmart, [79] [80] the company's Badgr product was included as part of Learning and Employment Record pilots presented by Salesforce and Walmart to the United States Department of Commerce, [81] [82] the company launched a first-of-its-kind comprehensive learner record with the University of North Texas, [83] [84] and the company announced partnerships with The International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET), [85] Credential Engine, [86] and Emsi. [87] In December 2020, Concentric Sky and partners including Instructure and Zoom wrote a public letter to the incoming Biden administration urging an immediate focus on education equity in order to address ongoing issues impacting the US education system. [88] [89]

In 2021, the company announced a proposal for version 3.0 of Open Badges, [90] bringing together the company's work across the World Wide Web Consortium and Decentralized Identity communities, [91] [92] the company released the Open Skills Management Toolkit in partnership with Western Governors University, [93] and the company announced several new partnerships including Blackboard, [94] Postman, [95] and Open eLMS. [96] During 2021, the company's work was featured by the American Institutes for Research, [97] Futuro Health, [98] and numerous other organizations around the world. [99] [100] [101] [102] [103] [104]

In early 2022, the company announced partnerships with the National Student Clearinghouse, [105] and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). [106] In April 2022, the company was acquired by Instructure. [3]

The Radiance Orb at the National Academy of Sciences.

Culture

Named as one of Oregon's Top Workplaces of 2021 by The Oregonian, [107] Concentric Sky is known for its creative company culture. [6] [108] [109] In 2012, the company dubbed its local metro region the Silicon Shire, [110] and hosts Shire-themed events to promote the region [111] [112] [113] [114] [115] including the annual Shire for the River fundraiser in partnership with the McKenzie River Trust. [116] In 2013, members of Concentric Sky launched an award-winning technology design team known as Light At Play. [117] In 2015, this team developed a series of LED-powered art installations that were showcased in several events around the world as part of the International Year of Light, including displays at the Smithsonian and the National Academy of Sciences. [118] [119] [120] [121]

References

  1. ^ "Wayne Skipper: Executive Profile & Biography". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 10 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Badges of honors: Eugene company gives personal achievements digital life". The Register-Guard. 7 January 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Concentric Sky Welcomed Into Instructure Family". www.instructure.com. 14 April 2022.
  4. ^ "Business People". The Register-Guard. 5 October 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Tech company aiming high". The Register-Guard. 15 June 2010.
  6. ^ a b "Creativity, beauty mingle at Concentric Sky". The Register-Guard. 7 October 2013.
  7. ^ Herpel, Mark (7 December 2010). "2011 Observations on the Digital Currency Industry". SSRN  1721076.
  8. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. (14 September 2010). "New Britannica Kids Apps Make Learning Fun" (Press release).
  9. ^ Britannica Apps. 24 February 2014 – via YouTube.
  10. ^ "Britannica Kids apps now on iPad". Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 2 December 2010.
  11. ^ "About APOD". NASA.gov.
  12. ^ "A rundown of the best iPad astronomy apps". The Christian Science Monitor. 24 May 2010.
  13. ^ "Worth a thousand words: 6 beautifully designed tablet apps". VentureBeat. 25 April 2012.
  14. ^ "Astronomy Picture of the Day (for iPad)". PC Magazine. 21 March 2013.
  15. ^ Gill, R. M. & Burin, M. J. (2012). "Enhancing the Educational Astronomical Experience of Non-Science Majors with the use of an iPad and Telescope". The Society for Astronomical Sciences. 31: 219. Bibcode: 2012SASS...31..219G.{{ cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ( link)
  16. ^ "Web firm lands big contract". The Register-Guard. 10 October 2009.
  17. ^ "Merger Review in Technologically Dynamic Industries: An Analysis of Google-AdMob" (PDF). Cornerstone Research.
  18. ^ "Mobile app developers talk Google-AdMob". Google Public Policy Blog. 10 May 2010.
  19. ^ "INCHING UPWARD". The Register-Guard. 20 February 2011.
  20. ^ "Minutes of the IETF Administrative Oversight Committee". IETF.org. 11 February 2010.
  21. ^ "Concentric Sky and U.N. Release UN CountryStats for iPhone and iPad". PRWeb. 27 March 2012.
  22. ^ "Thanks to Mashable's Socially Savvy Supporters". Mashable. 4 November 2011 – via Yahoo.
  23. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica for iPad. 24 February 2014 – via YouTube.
  24. ^ "Encyclopædia Britannica Now Fits Into an App". AllThingsD. 28 September 2011.
  25. ^ "Encyclopædia Britannica new iPad app". The Chicago Tribune. 24 November 2011.
  26. ^ "App Of The Day: Encyclopædia Britannica For iPad". The Huffington Post UK. 18 April 2012.
  27. ^ "Encyclopædia Britannica reinvents itself for iPhone and iPad". The Telegraph. 18 April 2012.
  28. ^ "Britannica App Can't Get No Love". Upstart Business Journal. 26 March 2012.
  29. ^ "Encyclopædia Britannica App Wins Appy Award". Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 26 March 2012.
  30. ^ "Cengage Learning wins two SIIA CODiE Awards". Publishing Professionals Network. 9 May 2013. Archived from the original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  31. ^ "US Patent 8775213". Google Patents.
  32. ^ "OSU joining "badges" movement, new concept in education credentials". Oregon State University. 7 August 2014.
  33. ^ Concentric Sky (9 September 2021). "android-viewer-for-khan-academy/README.md". GitHub.
  34. ^ "MacArthur Spins Off Digital Media & Learning Work with $25 Million Seed Investment". MacArthur Foundation. 6 October 2015.
  35. ^ a b Surman, Mark (15 August 2018). "An Update on Badges and Backpack". Medium.
  36. ^ Mukta G (15 June 2015). "Digital Badges On the Open edX Platform". edX Blog.
  37. ^ "Instructure Partners with Concentric Sky's Badgr to Offer Digital Badge Compatibility within Canvas". Instructure. 6 October 2015.
  38. ^ "Eugene tech firm plans for growth from partnership with national nonprofit education group". The Register-Guard. 18 December 2016.
  39. ^ Yowell, Connie (18 December 2018). "GlassLab Transitions to LRNG". Medium.
  40. ^ "IEEE Consortium for Learning Engineering is Attracting Leading Charter Members". edCircuit. 30 December 2017.
  41. ^ "21st Century Skills Badging: A Bridge from Education to the Workforce". via Medium. 20 October 2017.
  42. ^ "Total Learning Architecture Project". via Youtube. 30 October 2017.
  43. ^ "Concentric Sky and SURFnet announce collaboration to explore the digital learning environments of the future". PRWeb. 26 November 2017.
  44. ^ "Badgr selected as platform for proof-of-concept with open badges". SURFnet. 1 September 2017.
  45. ^ "Badge Issuing and Recruiting Platforms: Using Open Standards to Connect Educators, Learners and Employers". EDUCAUSE. 12 July 2017.
  46. ^ "Forging Open Pathways with Wayne Skipper". Leading Learning. 31 October 2017.
  47. ^ "Recognizing Learning And Growth With Open Badges". TeachThought. 8 November 2017.
  48. ^ "The Evolution of Educational Credentials". edCircuit. 8 November 2017.
  49. ^ "Open Badging and the Future of Educational Assessment". Education Talk Radio. 2 January 2018.
  50. ^ Gretch, A. & Camilleri, A. F. "Blockchain in Education" (PDF). European Commission Joint Research Centre.{{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ( link)
  51. ^ "We badged the eclipse!". Badgetheeclipse.com. 21 August 2017.
  52. ^ "Cengage Wins Two CODiE Awards for Innovative EdTech Solutions". Cengage Learning. 27 July 2017.
  53. ^ Skipper, Wayne (27 March 2018). "Creating an Open Pathway for the Next Generation of Learners". Educause Review.
  54. ^ Introducing the Future of Stackable Credentials: Open Pathways. 15 September 2017 – via YouTube.
  55. ^ Geisel, Noah (23 April 2018). "Digital Badge Credentials + the Future of Pathways". Medium.
  56. ^ Day, Erik (15 August 2018). "A Simple, Free, Powerful Badging System". Getting Smart.
  57. ^ "Achieve Announces NGSS Design Badge for High-Quality Science Units". Achieve.org. 13 March 2018.
  58. ^ Mozilla (15 August 2019). "The Mozilla Backpack is Transitioning to Badgr".
  59. ^ Proversity (22 June 2018). "Proversity and Concentric Sky enable Open Badges for Open edX".
  60. ^ "Canvas Announces Badges Powered By Badgr For All Canvas Users". PR Newswire. 25 July 2018.
  61. ^ Kelly, Rhea (11 July 2018). "Digital Badges Initiative to Support Professional Development in Washington State". Campus Technology.
  62. ^ "Cengage Wins Two SIIA CODiE Awards". Cengage Learning. 19 June 2017.
  63. ^ Skipper, Wayne (27 March 2018). "Can Education Keep Up with Technology?". Educause Review.
  64. ^ "Announcing the Winners of the Reimagining Higher Education Ecosystem Challenge". Medium. 11 October 2018.
  65. ^ Hastings, Hunter & Saperstein, Jeff (7 June 2018). The Interconnected Individual. Business Expert Press. ISBN  9781631574900.{{ cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ( link)
  66. ^ "Wayne Skipper on Open Standards, Badges, and Certification for Skills Development". interconnectedindividuals.com. 11 December 2018.
  67. ^ "Edubadges: national approach to badges in education". SURFnet. 24 July 2019.
  68. ^ "New 'Pathways Mapper' Lets Students Visualize, Streamline Their Degree Progress". California Community Colleges News Center. 27 February 2019.
  69. ^ Quick Tips: Program Mapper. Cypress College. 1 November 2019 – via YouTube.
  70. ^ "Orange County Leads State with Innovative Career Education Tool". California Community Colleges Career Education Center. 31 October 2019.
  71. ^ Open Standards & the Quantification of Learning. 7 March 2019 – via SXSWedu.com.
  72. ^ Bajor, Rob (21 May 2019). "What You Need to Know About Micro-credentials Open Badges". Digital Promise.
  73. ^ deLaski, Kathleen (31 October 2019). "As the Microcredential Market Booms, Don't Forget the Learner". EdSurge.
  74. ^ Skipper, Wayne (29 January 2019). "Is Blockchain Ready for Prime Time in Education?". Educause.
  75. ^ Leaser, David (16 September 2019). "Badges Need Rigor! (Or do they really?)". IBM.
  76. ^ Porto, Stella (5 June 2019). "Building learning pathways with digital badges". Inter-American Development Bank.
  77. ^ "Techlandia: Navigating the Cloud". Technology Association of Oregon. 16 September 2019.
  78. ^ "Create and award digital publicly verifiable badges in Teams". Microsoft Tech Community Blog. 14 April 2020.
  79. ^ "New Network to Accelerate Skills-Based Education and Hiring". Open Skills Network. 16 September 2020.
  80. ^ "Marni Baker Stein on What's Next For Higher Education". Getting Smart. 2 December 2020.
  81. ^ "Digital Credentials: A Better Way To Capture And Communicate Learning". Forbes. 25 November 2020.
  82. ^ "Learning and Employment Records Enable Skills-based Hiring at Scale". Badgr.com.
  83. ^ "Concentric Sky and UNT Launch a First-of-Its-Kind Comprehensive Learner Record". PR Web. 10 April 2020.
  84. ^ "CECE Talent & Workforce Case Study Spotlight: Piloting Learning and Employment Records at the University of North Texas". aplu.org. 31 August 2021.
  85. ^ "IACET Announces Partnership with Badgr for the Open Digital Badge Experience Course". PR Web. 23 April 2020.
  86. ^ "Credential Engine and Concentric Sky combine forces to connect education, individuals, and the workforce by exporting stackable, skills-aligned credential pathways into the CTDL registry". Credential Engine. 29 September 2020.
  87. ^ "Badgr and Emsi Partner to Enable Skill-Based Microcredentials". Emsi. 8 September 2020.
  88. ^ "An Education Proposal to the Biden-Harris Administration". Instructure.com. 16 December 2020.
  89. ^ "Tech companies ask Biden for more education support". Edscoop.com. 21 December 2020.
  90. ^ "Open Badges 3.0" (PDF). Concentric Sky Github. 6 July 2021.
  91. ^ Lemoie, Kerri (11 June 2021). "Open Badges as Verifiable Credentials". Medium.com.
  92. ^ Lemoie, Kerri (16 June 2021). "The Future of Open Badges is Verifiable". Medium.com.
  93. ^ "Western Governors University Releases Open-Source Code to Facilitate Universal Skills Language". Western Governors University. 16 November 2021.
  94. ^ "Blackboard and Concentric Sky Partner to Make Badgr Micro-credentials and Stackable Pathways Available to More Learners". Blackboard.com. 25 May 2021.
  95. ^ "How We Automated Postman Student Programs with the Badgr API". Postman.org. 25 June 2021.
  96. ^ "Badgr Integration Brings Badges to Open eLMS, further expanding Gamification Functionality". Learning News. 1 July 2021.
  97. ^ Curnow, C. & Calderón, C. & Riley, T. & Carvajal, C. R. & Trevino, S. & Amin, S. (9 June 2021). "Measuring Skills at Work, Lessons from the Field" (PDF). American Institutes for Research.{{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ( link)
  98. ^ "Wayne Skipper, CEO of Concentric Sky: Future-Proofing with Digital Badges". Futuro Health. 25 July 2021.
  99. ^ KCTCS Faculty Institute on Teaching 2021. 30 April 2021 – via YouTube.
  100. ^ "School's microcredentialing program prepares kids for the future". The Educator. 5 May 2021.
  101. ^ Adam, Nick J. (11 October 2021). "As the Microcredential Market Booms, Don't Forget the Learner". TechiLive.
  102. ^ Fain, Paul (9 September 2021). "Charting better maps to degrees". Open Campus Media.
  103. ^ Morrin, Matthew & Glazatov, Trelisa (6 November 2021). "The Chaffey College Instructional Revolution". California Community Colleges.{{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ( link)
  104. ^ Fain, Paul (11 November 2021). "A college-wide approach to accelerating student careers". Open Campus Media.
  105. ^ "Myhub Announces Integration with Badgr". www.studentclearinghouse.org. 26 January 2022.
  106. ^ "Drive Student Success With a Digital Badging Program". www.iste.org. 16 February 2022.
  107. ^ "Here are the 119 best places to work in Oregon and SW Washington: Top Workplaces 2021". The Oregonian. 27 September 2021.
  108. ^ "Eugene based Concentric Sky's creation gains notoriety through the International Year of Light". Silicon Florist. 17 March 2015.
  109. ^ "Oregon workers help trim costs by working from home". Oregon Live. 11 May 2009.
  110. ^ KMTR Silicon Shire. 24 January 2014 – via YouTube.
  111. ^ "Silicon Shire connects faculty and students with local tech industry". University of Oregon. 28 February 2013.
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  114. ^ "Tech Community Develops App To Help Homeless Youth". Eugene Weekly. 2 June 2017.
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  117. ^ Light at Play's Radiance Dome - winner of the 2013 LuciteLux© JUST IMAGINE Awards. 26 November 2013 – via YouTube.
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External links

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Concentric Sky
Company type Privately held company
Founded2005; 19 years ago (2005)
FounderWayne Skipper
Headquarters
ServicesSoftware Design & Development
Number of employees
 (90 employees (2022))
Parent Instructure
Website concentricsky.com

Concentric Sky is a software development company located in Eugene, Oregon. The company was founded in 2005 by Wayne Skipper, [1] and grew to nearly 90 employees prior its sale to Instructure in April 2022. [2] [3] In 2015, Cale Bruckner was promoted to President of the company. [4] Skipper continued to serve as CEO until the company's sale. Concentric Sky is the maker of Badgr and is a well-known contributor to the development of open technology standards focused on advancing equity outcomes for learners and workers.

History

Concentric Sky grew steadily from its founding in 2005. [5] [6] In 2008, the company announced a partnership with GoldMoney to create an iPhone app to allow the transfer of digital units of gold. [7]

In 2009, the company formed a partnership with Encyclopædia Britannica to launch a series of iOS apps for the K-12 education market. [8] [9] [10] That same year, the company released the official iOS app for NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] and also developed the website for film maker Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story. [16]

In 2010, Concentric Sky Founder Wayne Skipper was asked to submit expert testimony to the Federal Trade Commission regarding Google's acquisition of Admob. [17] [18] That same year, the company partnered with the World Bank [19] to develop a series of data visualization apps and partnered with National Geographic to design and build a series of official study apps for the National Geographic Bee. [5] In 2010, the Internet Engineering Task Force voted to make the company a development partner. [20]

In 2011, the company partnered with the United Nations to develop a data visualization app to support the UN's annual reports. [21] That same year, the company was named "the only App Developer officially endorsed by Mashable." [22]

In 2012, the company designed and built an iPad version of the Encyclopædia Britannica. [23] The app received widespread recognition, [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] including an Appy Award. [29]

In 2013, products featuring Concentric Sky's work for partner Cengage Learning won 2 Codie awards. [30] That same year, the company's work resulted in a US patent for usability improvements to electronic medical records. [31]

In 2014, the company joined the Open Badges movement and launched the Oregon Badge Alliance with partners including Oregon State University. [32] Later that year, the company released an open source Android viewer app for Khan Academy content. [33]

In 2015, the company led the development of Open Badges 2.0 in partnership with MacArthur Foundation spin off, Collective Shift. [34] [35] That same year, the company launched the Badgr project with partner edX. [36] The use of Badgr grew rapidly, [37] and by early 2018 the product had grown to serve nearly 10,000 organizations around the world. [2]

In 2016, the company announced a broad partnership with Collective Shift focused on advancements in education technology and workforce readiness. Under this partnership, the company developed LRNG Archived 17 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine and took over development of GlassLab Games, which included the educational variants of several popular video games including Civilization and SimCity. [38] GlassLab Games was shutdown at the end of 2018, and Concentric Sky worked to release many of the games open source. [39]

In 2017, the company became a founding member of the IEEE Industry Consortium for Learning Engineering, [40] and announced partnerships with the California Community Colleges System, [41] Georgia Department of Education, [42] and SURFnet. [43] [44] The success of the company's Badgr product led to Founder Wayne Skipper being interviewed broadly in the education community, [45] [46] [47] [48] [49] as well as Badgr's inclusion in the European Commission Joint Research Centre's 2017 "Blockchain in Education" report. [50] That same year, the company offered digital badges to commemorate The Great American Eclipse, [51] and another product featuring the company's work for partner Cengage Learning won a Codie award. [52]

In 2018, the company expanded the digital badges ecosystem by releasing an open technology standard called Open Pathways, [53] [54] [55] [56] and by creating a program to award digital badges to learning content aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards. [57] That same year, Mozilla announced the retirement of the Mozilla Backpack and the migration of its users to Badgr, [35] [58] the company announced a new suite of open source tools for edX, [59] Badgr was selected as the native badging solution for the Canvas Learning Management System, [60] the company announced a 4-year partnership with the community college system of Washington state, [61] and products featuring the company's work for partner Cengage Learning won another 2 Codie awards. [62] Later that year, the company's EdRec initiative was named a winner of the US Dept of Education Reimagining Higher Education Ecosystem Challenge for its blockchain-based approach to digital transcripts, [63] [64] and the company's work was featured in the book "The Interconnected Individual.” [65] [66]

In 2019, SURFnet announced a plan for The Netherlands to adopt a national digital credential strategy based on the company's Badgr platform, [67] the company launched a series of tools in partnership with the California Community Colleges System designed to help prospective community college students and their families identify regional educational programs and employment opportunities, [68] [69] [70] and company founder Wayne Skipper was invited to speak at SXSW EDU on the topic of “Open Standards & the Quantification of Learning." [71] During 2019, the company's work was featured by Digital Promise, [72] EdSurge, [73] Educause, [74] IBM, [75] The Inter-American Development Bank, [76] and the Technology Association of Oregon. [77]

In 2020, Microsoft announced the integration of the company's Badgr product into Microsoft Teams, [78] the company co-founded the Open Skills Network with partners including Western Governors University and Walmart, [79] [80] the company's Badgr product was included as part of Learning and Employment Record pilots presented by Salesforce and Walmart to the United States Department of Commerce, [81] [82] the company launched a first-of-its-kind comprehensive learner record with the University of North Texas, [83] [84] and the company announced partnerships with The International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET), [85] Credential Engine, [86] and Emsi. [87] In December 2020, Concentric Sky and partners including Instructure and Zoom wrote a public letter to the incoming Biden administration urging an immediate focus on education equity in order to address ongoing issues impacting the US education system. [88] [89]

In 2021, the company announced a proposal for version 3.0 of Open Badges, [90] bringing together the company's work across the World Wide Web Consortium and Decentralized Identity communities, [91] [92] the company released the Open Skills Management Toolkit in partnership with Western Governors University, [93] and the company announced several new partnerships including Blackboard, [94] Postman, [95] and Open eLMS. [96] During 2021, the company's work was featured by the American Institutes for Research, [97] Futuro Health, [98] and numerous other organizations around the world. [99] [100] [101] [102] [103] [104]

In early 2022, the company announced partnerships with the National Student Clearinghouse, [105] and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). [106] In April 2022, the company was acquired by Instructure. [3]

The Radiance Orb at the National Academy of Sciences.

Culture

Named as one of Oregon's Top Workplaces of 2021 by The Oregonian, [107] Concentric Sky is known for its creative company culture. [6] [108] [109] In 2012, the company dubbed its local metro region the Silicon Shire, [110] and hosts Shire-themed events to promote the region [111] [112] [113] [114] [115] including the annual Shire for the River fundraiser in partnership with the McKenzie River Trust. [116] In 2013, members of Concentric Sky launched an award-winning technology design team known as Light At Play. [117] In 2015, this team developed a series of LED-powered art installations that were showcased in several events around the world as part of the International Year of Light, including displays at the Smithsonian and the National Academy of Sciences. [118] [119] [120] [121]

References

  1. ^ "Wayne Skipper: Executive Profile & Biography". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 10 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Badges of honors: Eugene company gives personal achievements digital life". The Register-Guard. 7 January 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Concentric Sky Welcomed Into Instructure Family". www.instructure.com. 14 April 2022.
  4. ^ "Business People". The Register-Guard. 5 October 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Tech company aiming high". The Register-Guard. 15 June 2010.
  6. ^ a b "Creativity, beauty mingle at Concentric Sky". The Register-Guard. 7 October 2013.
  7. ^ Herpel, Mark (7 December 2010). "2011 Observations on the Digital Currency Industry". SSRN  1721076.
  8. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. (14 September 2010). "New Britannica Kids Apps Make Learning Fun" (Press release).
  9. ^ Britannica Apps. 24 February 2014 – via YouTube.
  10. ^ "Britannica Kids apps now on iPad". Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 2 December 2010.
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