SETDA | A clear picture of state education policy and practice

A clear picture of state policy and practice

Sharing state’s regulations and process for acquiring digital instructional materials

CHALLENGE

Several years ago the State Education Technology Directors Association (SETDA) developed an online database called the State Education Policy Center which housed data related to state policies on broadband access, online assessments and professional learning. Both the website’s public user and administrative interfaces were clunky and hard to negotiate such that it was difficult for SETDA staff to keep the site up-to-date with current information. With a large amount of new policy information recently gathered and more on the way, SETDA asked Blue Marble to create a new website that would make the data more accessible and easier to manage.

INSIGHTS

The most significant aspect of the project was the data that resulted from a survey SETDA had issued to all 50 states and two US territories. It was a huge amount of information concerning the procurement of digital instructional materials that is constantly changing. The data needed to be housed in such a way that users could understand the big picture as well as pull out detailed data points as needed. Both SETDA and BMC teams worked hard to comb through and organize this data into a computer-readable format.

Because SETDA intends to add additional topics to the site, it was also important to develop an information architecture that would would allow the site to expand and layer multiple data sets.

A central component of the new website is a data-driven interactive map that helps users easily see what’s happening across the nation with various topics related to digital instructional materials. From this map users can access a detailed profile of their particular state. A comparative table enables users to select up to five states to run a side-by-side analysis and ultimately understand the policies, requirements, and process for online content procurement as it relates to their particular situation.

RESULTS

Making policy data accessible and useful

• State and district leaders better understand policies related to procuring instructional materials in order to best meet student needs and potentially impact policy changes.
• With this information, publishers, technology developers, and funders know which states are open to innovations and understand individual states’ processes for acquiring digital instructional material.
• State profiles and data sets can easily be shared, exported or printed.
• SETDA staff have been able to easily adjust data points within the website’s CMS.

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CLIENT

State Education Technology Directors Association

SERVICES

Website design and development

FOCUS

Education

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SETDA | Improving education through technology

Improving education through technology

Uniting multiple initiatives under one brand umbrella

CHALLENGE

State Education Technology Directors Association (SETDA) is a national nonprofit helping build and increase the capacity of state and national leaders to improve education through technology policy and practice. When we first began working with SETDA, the organization had recently completed a strategic planning process that included a brand identity refresh. Yet SETDA’s website remained outdated, and was a poor example of the organization’s technical focus and innovation — a concept that is core to SETDA’s mission. The site’s content was poorly organized, the messaging lacked clarity, and staff could not easily make updates. In addition, SETDA project initiatives that warranted individual websites were not integrated into the parent website, creating an information gap and disjointed user experience.   

INSIGHT

As important as having a clean, modern website and content management system (CMS) was having a seamless interface between SETDA’s parent website and its microsites. All of these interconnected websites needed to have a consistent look and one CMS. By using a WordPress multi-site install, we were able to establish a single database from which all sites originate and that allows for a multi-faceted search across all SETDA websites. The SETDA team had long been frustrated with the disorganization of their website content and their inability to efficiently manage it so it was critical for us to create custom modules in the CMS that would reduce staff members' level of effort.

RESULTS

Stakeholders are well connected

• In the absence of compelling photography, the new website leverages typographic contrast, a bold color scheme, and strategic use of white space to denote information hierarchy, improve readability, and allow for easy navigation. 
• Numerous customized editors in the CMS give SETDA staff a high level of control over their content and makes website administration much more streamlined than ever before.
• A powerful search allows users to search SETDA’s parent website and its microsites at once, and delivers comprehensive results.

FORGING AHEAD

Since the launch of the parent website, Blue Marble has developed additional microsites that operate independently but share important database and stylistic features that bring cohesion to front- and back-end user experience.

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CLIENT

State Education Technology Directors Association

SERVICES

Website design and development

FOCUS

Education

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