ODX and D2L Introduce Think Data-Driven Education, the First ASN(TM) Open Data Challenge

KITCHENER-WATERLOO, ON--(Marketwired - April 19, 2016) - Canada's Open Data Exchange (ODX) and D2L, a global learning technology leader and founding member of ODX, are pleased to announce that the Think Data-Driven Education -- The ASN™ Open Data Challenge, is being launched today. The Challenge goes beyond a hackathon and celebrates that the Newfoundland and Labrador K-12 curriculum standards are being added to the Achievement Standards Network™ (ASN™), adding to the standards recently published for Ontario and British Columbia.

The ASN provides educators with one of the largest open digital catalogues of government, workplace, and professional standards, enabling them to view, search, and download the appropriate standard and automatically apply it to the current curriculum. This allows educators to ensure that learning experiences are directly aligned to learning outcomes, making outcomes more measureable. The ASN contains the standards for every school district in the United States, overseas datasets, and now Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, and British Columbia.

"Educators are faced with an increasing number of standards that they have to incorporate within their curriculum every year. ASN makes mapping to these standards easier and faster and will be a welcome addition to teachers in these three provinces," Jeremy Auger, Chief Strategy Officer of D2L. "This Challenge is exciting as it will enable participants to develop new and creative applications, content, and learning activities that are directly aligned with provincial standards today."

ABOUT THE THINK DATA-DRIVEN EDUCATION -- THE ASN™ OPEN DATA CHALLENGE:

The Challenge is a six week coding challenge open to entrepreneurs, post-secondary students, faculty, and researchers that reside in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, and British Columbia. The contest will demonstrate students' development skills and ideas to employers like D2L and entrepreneurs and faculty can enhance their tools and techniques for commercial or research purposes. All participants are eligible to win the grand prize of a laptop.

ABOUT THE ASN:

ASN was founded with support from the National Science Foundation and received subsequent support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. ASN currently has a repository of more than 1,300 federal, state and provincial government, corporate, and professional association standards. D2L is committed to maintaining ASN as an open service that is available for integration with all learning technologies, including D2L's Brightspace platform.

More details about the prizes and full contest rules can be found at asnchallenge.devpost.com. The organizers hope that the success of this challenge leads to more hackathons across more Canadian provinces in the future.

ABOUT ODX

Canada's Open Data Exchange (ODX) is a private-public partnership. Its mandate is to make it simple to access and use any open data for commercial purposes. ODX connects those who need data with those who have data. It develops tools to share data, facilitates a partner network to accelerate commercialization, and leads a national initiative to strengthen Canada's technology brand. ODX is turning open data into real wealth. Learn more at codx.ca.

ABOUT D2L

D2L is the software leader that makes the learning experience better. The company's cloud-based platform -- Brightspace -- is not a common one-size-fits-all learning management system (LMS). It's easier to use, more flexible, and smart. With Brightspace, you can personalize the experience for every learner to deliver real results. The company is a world leader in learning analytics: its platform predicts learner performance so that you can take action in real-time to keep them on track. Brightspace is used by learners in higher education, K-12, and the enterprise sector, including the Fortune 1000. D2L has operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, Brazil, and Singapore. www.D2L.com

© 2015 D2L Corporation.

The D2L family of companies includes D2L Corporation, D2L Ltd, D2L Australia Pty Ltd, D2L Europe Ltd, D2L Asia Pte Ltd, and D2L Brasil Soluções de Tecnologia para Educação Ltda.

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