ABOUT THE A4L COMMUNITYAccess 4 Learning CommunityA4L_37a58ad6-8b0e-11ea-88d0-278df782ea00The Access 4 Learning (A4L) Community, previously the SIF Association, is a unique, non-profit collaboration composed of schools, districts, local authorities, states, US and International Ministries of Education, software vendors and consultants who collectively address all aspects of learning information management and access to support learning.A4L Board of DirectorsThe Access 4 Learning Community is governed on both global and local levels. Although the Global Management Board of Directors is responsible for the overall direction and strategy, each locale is responsible for day-to-day management and running of locale activities focused on address locale-specific needs. Dave BurnsQueensland Department of Education & TrainingSteve CurtisKimonoGeorge GatsisFollett School SolutionsSimon MaizelsNSW Department of EducationStuart McGrigorMinistry of Education, NZBen SilberglittCedarLabsSteve SmithCambridge Public SchoolsTim MagnerDirector EmeritusPatrick PlantDirector EmeritusAustralian (AU) CommunityAU A4L Community members elect officials every year for terms on the AU Management Board, as well as the AU Technical Board. Elected AU Management Board members serve a two-year term. Elected AU Technical Board Members each serve a one year term.AU Management BoardDave Burns(Chair), Queensland Department of Education & TrainingMichael HaighNational Catholic Education Commission (NCEC)Paul QueeneyAssociation of Independent Schools NSWNimit RawalAustralian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA)Barry WallettIndependent Schools Council of Australia (ISCA)Blake GarrettSchool BytesGrant GrosserEducation Horizons Group AU Technical BoardACT Education DirectorateGreg Shuhardt, Bill WilliamsonAustralian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA)Rajesh Kandpal,Navneet KumarAustralian Government Department of Education, Skills & Employment (DESE)Dennis Beissner, Tony Davison, John KoulourisCatholic Education Office - MelbourneChandika GunawardanaDepartment of Education - WAMichael Cheung, Anthony YipDepartment of Education & Childrens Services, SASharon Rowett, Raj SrivastvaDepartment of Education & Training (VIC)Robert Clissold, Mark van Raalte, Damian VujicicDepartment of Education & Training (Queensland)Martin Banks, David FranzmannDepartment of Education (Northern Territory Government)Tim EganDepartment of Education, TasmaniaStephen Brain, Trevor HillEducation Services Australia (ESA)Ben Chadwick, Andrej Hribernik, Stuart MitchellMiles CarrickVendor Member -- InstructureJames HamiltonVendor Member -- Sentral EducationJoerg HuberVendor Member -- Systemic Pty LtdDavid JonesVendor Member -- Sempahore ConsultingSangeetha MohanVendor Member -- CivicaJames OverellVendor Member -- Education Horizons GroupLiam PearceVendor Member -- Timetabling SolutionsMark VanderkleyVendor Member -- SIMON SchoolsIndependent Schools Council of Australia (ISCA)Maurice Cummins, Ian QuartermaineNSW Department of EducationGonzalo Chasling, Nilani Eugnan, Sandra ScennaNorth American (NA) CommunityNA A4L Community members elect officials every year for terms on the NA Management Board of Directors. The NA Technical Board is comprised of the Lead of each Working Group and Task Force, as well as up to four At-Large members, elected by the membership. The NA Technical Board Members each serve a one year term.NA Management BoardAndrea BennettCITEPeter DrescherVermont Agency of EducationMichelle EliaCPSI, Ltd.George GatsisFollett School SolutionsJessica KallinUtah State Board of EducationJim McGlynnPublic Consulting GroupAllen MiedemaNorthshore School DistrictMike NutterVinson ConsultingJay PenningtonIowa Department of EducationBen SilberglittCedarLabsNA Technical BoardAlex JacklBardic SystemsDanielle NortonMassachusetts Executive Office of EducationRoger PetersenIowa Department of EducationTQ White IIcmERDCA4L United Kingdom (UK) CommunityA4L Community Members elect officials every year for a two-year term on the UK Management Board, and for a one-year term on the UK Technical Board. The UK Technical Board is comprised of up to six members elected by the membership (one year term), the Chair of each Functional Group and/or Task Force, and up to four Appointed Representatives (non-voting).A4L CommunitySchoolsSchool DistrictsLocal AuthoritiesStatesUS Departments of EducationInternational Ministries of EducationSoftware VendorsConsultantsEducatorsBackground Information and International History -- In response to demand from educators, a series of meetings began in July 1998 between Microsoft Corporation in partnership with 18 other companies, on the topic of interoperability between education applications. Their primary conclusion was that the best solution was for interested parties to collectively define standards that all software vendors could adopt. These standards would define common data formats, naming conventions, and rules of interaction between applications.MicrosoftBill GatesThese informal meetings became the SIF Association, which was officially launched in a speech by Bill Gates on 22 February 1999.School AdministratorsEducation is a complex activity that is part science and part art… With this in mind, education, parents, and school administrators must have access to state-of-the-art tools populated with up-to-date information in order to make effective use of a myriad of diverse resources. These resources, when combined effectively produce an effective learning environment for all students. Seamless integration of a broad a spectrum of instructional, administrative and communication tools is an essential foundation for an environment that addresses the needs of all learners.LearnersStudentsParentsTeachersStudents, teachers, and institutions have different needs, requiring solutions to be customizable and scalable.Public InstitutionsAdoption of new processes and technologies driven by these solutions must accommodate existing procedures and infrastructure. Long term, sustainable change is systemic in nature and involves consecutive successful steps designed and implemented through collaboration between public and private sector stakeholders.Private SectorJohn LovellTechnology Director, Access 4 LearningSchools will be enabled to better utilize learning information_37a58cca-8b0e-11ea-88d0-278df782ea00To enable implementation of technology in a manner that leverages the promise and capabilities of interoperability between disparate applications_37a58e1e-8b0e-11ea-88d0-278df782ea00LearningTechnologyInteroperabilityLearning InformationCollectively address all aspects of learning information management and access to support learning._37a58f5e-8b0e-11ea-88d0-278df782ea00SpecificationsAllow for management and access to learning information simply, securely and in a scalable, standard way regardless of the platform hosting those applications_37a59094-8b0e-11ea-88d0-278df782ea001The A4L Community is “Powered by SIF” Specifications as its major technical tool to allow for this management and access simply, securely and in a scalable, standard way regardless of the platform hosting those applications.CommunityUnite education technology end users and providers._37a591ca-8b0e-11ea-88d0-278df782ea002Education Technology UsersEducation Technology ProvidersThe Access 4 Learning Community has united these education technology end users and providers in an unprecedented effort to give teachers more time to do what they do best: teach.1999-02-222020-04-30https://www.a4l.org/page/AboutA4LOwenAmburOwen.Ambur@verizon.net