Schoology Launches Integration Platform to Streamline the Exchange of Data With Student Information Systems

NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwire) -- 01/22/13 -- Schoology, the leading cloud-based, collaborative learning platform for K-20 classrooms, today announced the release of its SIS Integration Platform, a turnkey solution that enables the Schoology collaborative learning platform to integrate with any Student Information System (SIS) that provides a web-based Application Programming Interface (API) for greater efficiency, collaboration and information sharing that improves the learning lives of students. PowerSchool from Pearson, the fastest-growing, most widely used SIS, supporting more than 10 million students in all 50 states and more than 65 countries, is the first SIS to be integrated with Schoology using the SIS Integration Platform. In conjunction with the SIS Integration Platform, Schoology has issued a $250,000 Open SIS challenge to other SIS vendors.

The Schoology SIS Integration Platform is the latest innovation by the company in its ongoing quest to promote the open exchange of data by the education technology market. In June 2012, Schoology announced the release of the Schoology API and developer platform which allows third-parties to interact with, and extend, the features and functionality found in Schoology, including the ability to build applications that run directly on the Schoology platform -- resulting in a seamless and integrated experience for the nearly two million educators, students and administrators that use Schoology to connect and collaborate every day.

While it has been possible for vendors to build individual integration applications on their own using the Schoology API, the SIS Integration Platform provides a unified user interface that provides consistent, and cross-vendor provisioning and management in real-time with the Schoology platform. Pre-built with monitoring, scaling and auto-healing services, the Schoology SIS Integration Platform is an attractive solution for any organization looking to integrate their SIS, and for any SIS looking to integrate with Schoology.

Vendors are usually hesitant to build integrations with specific companies because of the development time and effort, as well as maintenance requirements. The goal of the Schoology SIS Integration Platform is to alleviate that pain by taking the bulk of the work away from vendors and allowing them to focus their time on building robust API's that can be used by everyone. With the Schoology SIS Integration Platform and functionality provided by the SIS vendor, data can flow bi-directionally and in real-time. Similarly, Pearson has developed an open API for PowerSchool and is enabling integrated technology solutions to be deployed by educators. For instance, with the PowerSchool integration, new updates from PowerSchool are pushed to Schoology immediately. Similarly, assignments and grades entered in Schoology are pushed back to PowerSchool immediately.

"Pearson is committed to working with partners such as Schoology to deliver integrated solutions to our customers. We have invested significant time and resources into developing and releasing an easy-to-use API built on the RESTful architecture to enable data integration with PowerSchool," said Oliver Wreford, Director of Business Development at Pearson. "It is encouraging to see the immediate use of our API by Schoology. It's a great example of the industry working together to optimize the use of technology by education stakeholders and contributors."

"At Schoology, we are outspoken advocates of openness in educational data and have long promoted collaboration among education vendors, developers and educators through the openness of our platform and product features designed to leverage the efficiency and quality of community-driven content," said Jeremy Friedman, CEO of Schoology. "The Schoology SIS Integration Platform is so robust and extensible, that we are willing to wager $25,000 for up to 10 SIS vendors, that we can have complete system-to-system integration up and running in just days. We applaud Pearson for their efforts and hope it will spur other vendors to do the same."

The Open SIS Challenge
The Schoology Open SIS Challenge will take place now, through May 2013. Schoology has issued a bounty of $25,000 for up to 10 SIS vendors. The idea is quite simple: If you are an SIS vendor, Schoology challenges you to provide access to a Web API. Once provided, Schoology will use its SIS Integration Platform to build a system-to-system integration within 10 business days. If Schoology is successful, it will provide payment of $25,000 to the SIS vendor. Participating SIS vendors must provide a Web API and correlating documentation. For real-time bi-directional information flow, the vendor must also provide an event notification API or some Webhook capability. For additional information about the Open SIS Challenge, how to sign up, and terms and conditions, go to: www.sischallenge.com.

Visit Schoology at FETC 2013, booth #811, Jan. 28-31 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.

About Schoology
New York City-based Schoology is the developer of a K-20 collaborative learning platform that incorporates online learning, classroom management and social networking in one platform. The cloud-based solution is available as both a free, stand-alone product and as a fee-based, integrated enterprise-class solution for schools and districts. Schoology integrates seamlessly with existing school/district technologies to create a single, scalable interface where educators can teach, assess, administer and analyze student progress. Schoology has transformed how educators communicate and collaborate with students, parents and peers. The platform expands the educator's support and resource network by enabling meaningful academic collaboration through the sharing of best practices and digital content via school-to-school networking and an easy-to-access centralized resource library. For more information visit www.schoology.com or follow the company on Twitter @schoology.

About Pearson
Pearson (NYSE: PSO), the global leader in education and learning technology, aims to help people make progress in life through learning. Pearson's leadership spans preK-12, higher education, and corporate learning globally. Pearson's other primary businesses include the Financial Times Group and the Penguin Group. For more information about the K-12 Technology group of Pearson, visit www.pearsonschoolsystems.com.