Junior Achievement USA

Digital Strategy
Task Force
Recommendations
In the not too distant future . . . It’s 7:00 p.m. on Thursday and Julie logs-off her computer
after a two-hour virtual meeting with the other officers of her JA Company Program. Julie became
involved in this Junior Achievement high school business simulation for the hands-on experience
it provides. Julie and a number of her classmates have formed a company and are learning how a
real business operates by producing and selling a product. She and her company teammates have
been working on a design concept for their product using a 3-D printer provided by their company
sponsor. Two of the volunteer advisors, one who works locally and one located in another part of
the country, have just provided a web-based tutorial on how the students can use this technology
to create a prototype of their product prior to production. As the president of her company, Julie is
particularly interested in how to take this new information and use it to conduct market research
of their product. She will reach out to other company members by posting the information she
just received on Junior Achievement USA’s JA Company Program Facebook site. Her posting will
include a link to the web presentation that was recorded and the three video demonstrations that
the volunteer advisors referenced during their tutorial. The volunteer advisors also scheduled a
follow-up web presentation with all of the JA Company Program members to assist them in setting
up an e-commerce option to facilitate sales of their product nationwide. The officers of the company
believe their product will have a great market among high school students located in coastal areas of
the United States.

Introduction
This envisioned future for the use of technology as a teaching and learning resource provides a
compelling goal as Junior Achievement USA works to achieve its core purpose to inspire and
prepare young people for success in a global economy. To that end, the Junior Achievement
USA Digital Program Strategy Task Force was launched on February 16, 2010, to help expand
Junior Achievement’s impact as the U.S. thought-leader for the development and delivery
of relevant, responsive, and innovative programs that build young people’s capacity to spur
economic development and contribute to America’s global economic competitiveness.

JA equates being relevant, responsive, and innovative with its ability to develop and deliver
programs that engage young people actively
in the teaching and learning process. JA
programs provide youth with new learning
that is reinforced through hands-on,
real-life activities. By focusing its
programs on entrepreneurship,
financial literacy, and work readiness,
JA’s three “pillars of student success,”
Junior Achievement develops and
reinforces the knowledge, skills,
and attitudes young people need for
future post-secondary education and
career success.

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 To position itself for a new generation of learners, Junior Achievement embraces the
challenge of developing a digital strategy to guide its future program development and
delivery. JA realizes that, because the teaching and learning landscape is changing, it also
must change.

The task force was formed to address two, key deliverables:

• The multiple mediums through which young people learn, both in and out of
school, is much different today than in the past. The array of technological tools
available to them changes almost daily. Junior Achievement continues to develop
and deliver most of its programming using a print-based format but must identify
ways to effectively use multiple, digital mediums in its program development. By
doing so, JA will be able to enrich its program content and keep it both relevant and
engaging to young people.

• Junior Achievement’s primary area of differentiation is its use of business volunteers

to teach JA program content to students. While maintaining the use of the volunteer
is critical, JA’s student reach is limited by the number of volunteers it can recruit
and place in the classroom. JA envisions the use of technology to provide options to
expand the reach of the volunteer by connecting with more students and increasing
both the relevance and depth of experience JA programs provide to young people.

At its initial meeting, the task force was presented with a number of key challenges that face
Junior Achievement USA as it looks for ways to increase its impact on students.
• How can JA programs reach more middle and high school students?

• How does JA maintain its relevance in an increasingly digital world?

• What are the most efficient and effective strategies to infuse technology into
JA’s programs?

• Is JA’s current volunteer-delivery model scalable and sustainable?

• How does JA measure the effect of its programs on students?

• How will the implementation of a digital strategy affect JA’s program and
business model?

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 Through its initial day-long discussions, the task force identified four major areas of
investigation to direct its future work.

Program Content
• Explore technologies that can/should be used as vehicles for the development of
programs – gaming, social networking, online instruction, iTouch technology,
E-Readers, and others.

• Determine how technology can supplement, be integrated into, and/or replace

existing Junior Achievement programs.

Program Delivery
• Identify ways technology can be used to bring to scale JA’s ability to involve a
volunteer in the delivery of programs.

• Look at how the use of simulations, video delivery, online instruction, and other
virtual means can be used to involve volunteers in different ways.

Connectivity
• Consider ways technology can expand the ability of Junior Achievement to link
young people globally to promote JA’s core purpose.

• Determine how technology can be leveraged to further JA’s ability to establish

global initiatives designed to position it as an “Education, Youth, and Economic
Development” organization.

Measurement of Impact
• Identify how the impact of digital program experiences can be measured
to demonstrate their effectiveness on the acquisition of knowledge and the
development of skills, attitudes, and behaviors in students.

• Determine the best ways technology can be used as a tool to measure the
impact of Junior Achievement programs on students.

Members of the task force organized into work groups to pursue these
four areas of investigation and met over the next three months through
conference calls to develop preliminary recommendations around
each area of investigation. Those preliminary recommendations were
reviewed and refined at a final face-to-face meeting of the task force,
held May 26, 2010. What follows are the recommendations
developed by the task force.

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 Junior Achievement USA – Belief Statements
At its February 16, 2010, meeting, the task force went through a “grounding” process in
preparation for its work to define a digital strategy for Junior Achievement USA. A number
of beliefs about the organization were identified upon which to base its recommendations.
These beliefs were formulated as task force members considered a historical overview of the
organization provided by JA associates. Both the present culture and overall organizational
structure of JA were described as part of this overview.

Based on this initial orientation and through further discussion, the task force identified the
following belief statements to guide its work.

Junior Achievement USA believes that:

• the impact of the “JA experience” that students receive through its various program
initiatives positions it as a national thought-leader in the education, youth, and
economic development arenas.

• its programs help prepare young people for the real world by showing them
how to generate wealth and effectively manage it, how to create jobs that make
their communities more robust, and how to apply entrepreneurial thinking
to the workplace. Students put these lessons into action, and help strengthen
their communities.

• the relevance of its program content provides the bridge students need to
understand how what they learn in school relates to the knowledge, skills,
attitudes, and behaviors they will need for success in both post-secondary education
and careers.

• the infusion of 21st century skills as defined by the Partnership for 21st Century
Skills into JA program content provides students with transferable knowledge and
skills for their post-secondary education and career pursuits.

• for learning to be relevant, young people must be self-directed and actively engaged
in the teaching and learning process. The integration of hands-on, experiential
activities adds the educational relevance that young people need to understand the
importance of mastering JA’s program content.

• the use of business volunteers to deliver JA program content to students

differentiates it from other national organizations that provide similar curriculum.

• the experience currently provided to young people through its programs can be
enhanced through the infusion of technology by bringing to scale its ability to
reach more students through a variety of “point of entry,” “core,” and “legacy”
level experiences.

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 • learning should not end when a student completes a Junior Achievement program.
Opportunities to reinforce and extend learning need to be provided and can be
facilitated through the use of technology.

• as part of a global organization with the core purpose of inspiring and preparing
young people for success in a global economy, young people from around the
globe must be provided with opportunities to learn about each other’s cultures
and customs, governments, and economic systems through a common learning/
networking platform.

Task Force Recommendations

As a result of its discussion and deliberation, the task force identified the following
10 recommendations that serve as a starting point for Junior Achievement USA’s
implementation of a comprehensive digital program strategy.

Recommendation One
Junior Achievement should provide a continuum of options in the development and delivery of
its programs. Continuing to provide its content in a print-based format, as well as a variety of
digital formats, will provide both teachers and volunteers with flexibility in delivering Junior
Achievement content to students.

The task force identified an “and” rather than “or” proposition around both the development
of program content and the delivery of that content to students. JA should continue to
provide its programs using the existing print-based format taught face-to-face to students
by the volunteer, while also identifying alternative forms of development and delivery, using
digital applications to address specific situations that presently constrain its ability to bring
its programs to students.

Further, in delivering content, it is important to assess the capabilities of schools

to provide content digitally. While many schools are equipped to deliver digital
content, others are not. This fact simply reinforces the need for JA to provide
content in multiple formats.

The task force acknowledges that, while technology is the wave of the
future, JA shouldn’t rush in, but rather, create a blueprint to guide it in
the direction of digital development and delivery. The blueprint should
identify a few options that JA can develop as a starting point with
ample time for pilot before expanding further.

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 Recommendation Two
As part of the program development process, Junior Achievement program content should be
created through an Instructional Systems Design (ISD) framework. Doing so will ensure that
content continues to be current and relevant to students. This process will help JA define both what
it wants the learning experience for students to be and how technology can be leveraged to deliver
that experience. In addition, Junior Achievement should add an Instructional Systems Design
Specialist to its Education Group staff to direct the ISD process.

Before creating or revising its programs, it is important that Junior Achievement adopt
a framework to determine what content it should include in its program offerings. By
using an ISD framework, JA can evaluate the content presently offered across a variety
of learning experiences, categorized at the “point of entry,” “core,” and “legacy” levels. At
each of these levels of experience, each content area – financial literacy, entrepreneurship,
and work readiness – can be built around different delivery models. By analyzing all of its
current program content against the latest research in education and applied to a common
framework, JA can identify where it already has content in place, where content should be
revised, and where new content should be created.
Utilizing a sound methodology is critical in the systematic design, development and
delivery of program content. A number of ISD models can be considered for use by Junior
Achievement. One is the ADDIE model. This acronym stands for the five phases contained
in the model:

• Analyze – analyze learner characteristics, task to be learned, etc.

• Design – develop learning objectives, choose an instructional approach.

• Develop – create instructional content.

• Implement – deliver the program content to students.

• Evaluate – measure the impact of the program to insure it achieve desired goals.

ISD methodology can be implemented in tandem with a LCMS. When implemented

together, the LCMS and ISD tools and methodologies support one another throughout
the program development and delivery process. These tools enable a streamlined design,
development, and revision cycle. This cooperative development approach allows all
members of the instructional design team to actively
participate where and when appropriate. This is
critical to designing, growing, and maintaining a
scalable digital initiative.
More discussion about instructional system design
is included in Appendix A of this report.

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 Recommendation Three
JA should identify and adopt a Learning Content Management System (LCMS) to manage the
development and delivery of its programs. Using a LCMS as a framework, JA should review each
of its programs and identify where it is appropriate for technology to be integrated.

As defined in the context of this report, a LCMS refers to a multi-user environment in

which developers may create, store, reuse, manage, and deliver digital learning content from
a central repository. LCMS applications allow users to create, import, manage, search for
and reuse digital learning content. This content may include media files developed using a
variety of authoring tools, assessment items, simulations, text, graphics or any other objects
that make up the content of a program being created. Using a LCMS provides a structured
environment, specifically designed to make creating content more efficient.

The application of a LCMS is generally carried out in four phases or tiers. The tiers of this
process consist of:
• Pre-Instructional Design – Instructional system designers work directly with content
experts to create a structured outline of program materials. This outline forms the
basis of the program for content experts to write to.
• Content Creation – Content experts work as part of an instructional design team to
create the appropriate content for inclusion into the program. This is typically text
with notations for rich media.
• Instructional Media Plot – All members of the instructional design team work
through a dedicated process to explore and document instructional strategies across
all of the program content. This process allows all members of the team to not only
express ideas, but to become intimately engaged in all aspects of the program design.
• Development – All program materials, including digital applications, are created and
integrated into the final program content.

More discussion about content management systems is included in Appendix A of

this report.

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 Recommendation Four
To both increase the number of students served and the impact of the experience on those students,
Junior Achievement should create multiple options for the involvement of volunteers in the delivery
of program content. Keeping in mind that a continuum of program development and delivery
options should be included as part of its overall program portfolio, Junior Achievement should
conduct an audit of that program portfolio to identify appropriate instances in which the volunteer
can be involved with students virtually in addition to, or in place of, face-to-face contact. Based
on this analysis, Junior Achievement should invest in the development of the digital options that it
determines will provide meaningful volunteer-student interaction.

To determine ways in which the volunteer can be meaningfully involved in the delivery
of Junior Achievement programs through the use of technology, the task force identified
a number of options that JA should explore. The task force acknowledged that there are
numerous ways in which digital delivery of program content can be executed. Based on
their experiences working with students in virtual environments, some members of the task
force shared their belief that involving the volunteer virtually can provide the same or greater
impact on student engagement as learning through face-to-face involvement.

As Junior Achievement proceeds along the path of exploring alternatives to its existing
model of volunteer involvement, a number of options should be explored and then piloted
to determine which provide the kind of impact JA requires. As part of the pilot process, JA
should conduct research to measure the impact alternative methods of volunteer involvement
has on students’ JA experience. Measuring the impact of the volunteer using a variety of
digital delivery methods will provide valuable insights upon which JA can base its future
program delivery.

As an outcome of its discussion, the task force did not recommend a specific type(s) of digital
delivery to pursue as it identifies an overall strategy for leveraging the use of the volunteer in
presenting program content. Rather, it identified a number of options Junior Achievement
should explore as it defines specific approaches to take to accomplish this goal.

A summary of the options identified is provided in Appendix B of this document.

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 Recommendation Five
Junior Achievement should provide a safe web platform that students can access both during and
after their participation in Junior Achievement to reinforce and extend their learning and to
provide a vehicle for networking with each other. This learning/networking platform also should
provide the means through which volunteers and teachers can network with each other and
with students.

A successful learning/networking platform would engage students in relevant activities

that would first attract and then keep them coming back. A platform most likely to attract
students would offer them opportunities to engage their peers to address “real world”
content, in which they identify key questions and solve problems. The platform also would
provide students with a place to complete projects, either individually or as part of a group,
publish and share their accomplishments with peers, and participate in competitions in
which they are rewarded for their efforts through a variety of means including monetary
awards, such as scholarships.

The task force strongly believes that students need to be producers as well as consumers of
information. To facilitate this belief, Junior Achievement should explore the opportunities to
leverage existing learning and networking sites, e.g., Facebook, Oracle’s ThinkQuest, Apple’s
iTunes University, or Microsoft’s Partners in Learning.

In addition to creating a resource for students, the platform would serve as a vehicle for JA
volunteers to network with each other to share strategies and ask and answer questions to
and from each other. Junior Achievement has a vast network of volunteers but no real way
to access them. Volunteers could join individual program or grade-level groups or become
part of a larger group of all JA volunteers. Junior Achievement also could use the site to post
information important for the volunteer’s work in the classroom, as well as to engage them in
any of a number of initiatives.

A similar web-based platform can be established as a vehicle for teachers to

communicate with each other as part of a worldwide network. The same
outcomes can be accomplished through the creation of a
platform for JA teachers as has been described for JA
volunteers.

Finally, Junior Achievement should facilitate appropriate

ways to link students to volunteers and teachers to extend
learning opportunities and the mentoring that begins
in the classroom. This type of online mentoring
could provide students with information, advice,
and inspiration. For example, Junior Achievement
can broaden its scope in this regard by establishing
“international e-mentors” where, instead of being
bound by geography and classroom, students could
create meaningful virtual relationship with business

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 volunteers anywhere in the world, e.g., a young person in Alabama could be mentored by a
Middle Eastern businesswoman. JA can facilitate these kinds of high-quality connections.

The task force believes that middle and high school students want to feel that their choices
and ideas count, so JA should create opportunities for students to have critical online
choices. JA needs (in partnership with youth) to facilitate structured “international e-mentor”
activities through online forums, assignments, missions to be accomplished and then shared,
and readings that would bring the student and mentor together, and continue to keep JA
relevant.

After the learning/networking platform is put in place, a marketing effort must be

carried out to attract students, teachers, and volunteers to the site and engage them
in such a way that they will return. JA must develop and then execute a marketing
initiative as part of its strategy.

Further discussion of the learning/networking platform is included in Appendix C of

this report.

Recommendation Six
To successfully implement programs developed in a digital format, Junior Achievement staff must
possess the understanding necessary to train volunteers and teachers to deliver that content. A staff
training program should be developed and then implemented across the organization to equip JA
staff with the capabilities necessary to adequately prepare volunteers and teachers to deliver Junior
Achievement’s digital program content.

Using digital resources is not always intuitive. As a result, JA must have employees
who possess the knowledge and skill necessary to implement program content
developed in digital formats. A key part of this implementation will be through
the volunteer. To a lesser degree, the classroom teacher must also understand how
digitally delivered program content can be most effectively presented to students.

As part of its digital strategy, Junior Achievement must provide its JA Area Office
staff with the training necessary for successful implementation of program content.
The JA staff, in turn, must provide its volunteers and teachers with the knowledge
and skills they need to present JA program content to students.

As JA Area Offices provide volunteer and

teacher training, Junior Achievement
USA must work with those areas
to identify “best practices.” The
incorporation of these best
practices into the training model
will better ensure the successful
delivery of JA digital program
content to students.

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 Recommendation Seven
To effectively evaluate the impact of program content presented to students digitally, Junior
Achievement must first identify and articulate the core competencies that it expects students to
acquire. Junior Achievement should conduct an audit of its program portfolio to identify the
knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors it expects students to demonstrate as a result of their JA
program experience.

Teachers, volunteers, and funding partners expect to see that there is a return on investment
for their efforts. As a result, measuring the impact of the Junior Achievement program
experience on young people should be a key element of the digital strategy. The identification
and articulation of core competencies that should derive from all JA programs establishes
a foundation for implementing a comprehensive evaluation process. Once identified,
JA should develop metrics to assess these competencies, which should be included in all
evaluations. A sub-set of measures would be developed per program to address specific
program objectives.

In its evaluation design, Junior Achievement should develop assessments that utilize
questions requiring respondents to apply the content to real-world examples and
move beyond assessing short-term knowledge transfer to higher-order thinking and
application.

As it develops the evaluation protocols that it will use and creates the actual
assessment instruments, Junior Achievement should include in its initial work
measuring the impact on students of its paper-based curriculum delivered face-to-
face by the volunteer compared to the delivery of content and engagement of the
volunteer in a digital format.

Further discussion regarding the evaluation of student impact is included in

Appendix D of this report.

Recommendation Eight
To collect real-time qualitative and quantitative data that measures the impact of its programs,
Junior Achievement should establish an online system for acquiring student, teacher, and volunteer
feedback during the formative stage of the program development process and the summative stage
of program implementation.

Beyond the evaluation protocols that are

developed for measuring the impact of its
programs on students’ acquisition of knowledge
and development of skills, attitude, and behaviors,
Junior Achievement should rethink the way
evaluations are conducted to maximize the use of
digital resources.

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 Through the use of technology, evaluations can be conducted more efficiently, with larger
samples, to demonstrate the long-term impact of program participation on students. To
accomplish this, JA must look for ways to leverage emerging technological solutions.

In addition to evaluation studies conducted by Junior Achievement USA, resources should

be provided to JA Area Offices to conduct their own local evaluations. To that end, Junior
Achievement USA should create online access to national assessments and establish a system
that will provide disaggregated data to local JA offices.

Recommendation Nine
Junior Achievement should implement an online registration mechanism to facilitate the collection
of data to support the longitudinal evaluation of the impact the JA program experience has on
students over time.

Junior Achievement should implement an online tracking mechanism for JA

students (following the parameters from COPPA (http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2000/04/
coppa1.shtm) to facilitate longitudinal evaluation of the impact the Junior
Achievement experience has on them over time. This will allow JA to begin tracking
participants to measure long-term outcomes of program participation. These data
will be key in demonstrating the return on investment for those supporting Junior
Achievement as volunteers, teachers, and funding partners.

In addition to its ability to conduct longitudinal studies of the impact of the Junior
Achievement experience on students over time, tracking students also would serve as a vehicle
for the establishment of an alumni organization so “JA kids” could be tapped later in life as
volunteers and donors.

Recommendation Ten
As Junior Achievement implements its digital strategy, it must identify a business model that allows
it to recapture the investment it makes in the development and delivery of digital content.

As the model for the development and delivery of its programs expands to the use of digital
formats, Junior Achievement USA must identify the impact of digital delivery on its business
model. Because it now relies on the sale of print-based, kit materials as a major source of
revenue, alternative methods of generating revenue must be explored.

This shift should take into consideration

the fact that, whether in a print-based
or digital format, Junior Achievement
USA is investing a great deal of resources
in developing its programs. It needs to
recapture the value of its investment in this
intellectual property regardless of how the
content is delivered to students.

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 Summary
This report provides a strategic direction for Junior Achievement USA as it develops and
delivers digital program content. After final recommendations are adopted by its Board of
Directors, the Junior Achievement USA Student Impact Implementation Team will proceed
into the next phase of work to implement the recommendations by identifying actionable
goals and tactics around each.

Junior Achievement USA shares a special thank you to Graham Spanier, President of
The Pennsylvania State University and Mary Cullinane, Worldwide Director of Strategic
Initiatives and Innovation, Microsoft Corporation, for co-facilitating the task force. A
thank you also goes to the 18 other task force members who provided their expertise to the
development of these recommendations. It is important to note that all of the task force
members covered their own travel costs to attend the two task force meetings and received
no compensation for their efforts. This was a dedicated group that believes very strongly in
Junior Achievement’s core purpose to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global
economy. A complete list of task force members is included at the end of this report.

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 Appendix A
Learning Content Management and Instructional Design Systems

Importance of Learning Content Management and Instructional Systematic Design

As a core tenant of any successful e-Learning design, successful development and delivery
rely on a combination of a robust learning content management toolset and a systematic
instructional design process. In an ideal situation, these tools and processes are designed to
support and complement each other. With the emergence of multiple platforms for delivery,
it is of the utmost importance that content be designed and managed in an environment that
allows it to be easily published as:

• Traditional print-based materials.

• Static web pages that can be embedded in Learning Management Systems or be
delivered as standalone content.
• Dynamic content that can be commented upon and interacted with.
• Mobile compatible material for use on smart phones and tablets.
• As e-Book ready formats for potential delivery on new breeds of devices.

Fundamentally, designing materials that can be delivered in multiple ways is critical in

making existing and future JA decisions. Materials should be designed so that they can be:

• Delivered in a fully online model in which students would interact with material
solely through a web browser, and communicate with mentors/teachers through an
online toolset.
• Delivered in a blended or hybrid format in which students would interact with some
of the materials online, but still take part in face-to-face activities.
• Delivered in a solely face-to-face environment.

This process relies on four phases, or tiers, and is built on a revision foundation. The tiers of
this process consist of:
• Pre-Instructional Design – Instructional designers work directly with content experts
to create a structured outline of course materials.  This outline forms the basis of the
course for content experts to write to.
• Content Creation – Faculty content experts work with the instructional design team
to create the appropriate content for inclusion into the course.  This is typically text
with notations for rich media.
• Instructional Media Plot – All members of the design team work through a
dedicated process to explore and document instructional strategies across all of the
course content. This process allows all members of the team to not only express
ideas, but to become intimately engaged in all aspects of the course design.
• Development – Media and all supporting course materials are created and integrated
into the final course module according to the outcome of the Instructional
Media Plot.

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 While there are a number of LCMS options available to Junior Achievement, the following
discussion is designed to provide the reader with an understanding of the value of adopting
a CMS. In this case, the LCMS described is open-source and serves as an example of other
similar tools that can be locally installed and customized to fit the needs of the organization.

Drupal and Custom Modules to Create, Manage, and Reuse Content

Junior Achievement can utilize a customized version of the open-source content-management

system, Drupal (http://drupal.org) to author structured learning materials. Drupal is an
open-source content-management platform that can support a variety of websites ranging
from personal blogs, corporate brochures, and large community-driven websites. It also
can be adapted with a number of custom-designed modules to make it an ideal eLearning
authoring package. A Drupal-powered toolset can be used to create fully online and hybrid
programs.

Program materials are authored in a flexible, yet structured fashion to facilitate rapid
e-Learning design and development. The ability to outline a program within the system and
quickly populate content creates an opportunity to focus on the actual design of the program
content and not on the technology behind it. Each program developed using this toolset
can be published in multiple formats to allow for the greatest degree of customization. This
toolset not only allows for the easy publication of web content best viewed in a browser, but
also can be reformatted and exported for mobile devices, printable materials, and content
published in e-Pub format. These additional formats allow JA a great deal of flexibility when
delivering to diverse populations.

The environment looks much like an online version of Microsoft Word, so designers and
content specialists can focus energy on the content and not on the learning technology.
Published content can be live edited with a click, making it easy to manage revisions.

In addition, a learning content-management platform such as Drupal allows for easy

integration of multiple media types. Digital video, audio, and images can be uploaded and
managed within the system or embedded from websites such as Flickr, Vimeo, and YouTube.
Using embeddable media would enable Junior Achievement to manage media in existing
social networks (Flickr, Vimeo, and YouTube) to expose that media to a wider audience and
easily reuse that media from within their program content.

Content can be authored once so that JA can customize materials to meet the needs of local
audiences. Because the entire environment is GPL open-source licensed, JA could download
and install the entire toolset within their own environment.

The toolset not only allows for program material design and publishing, but also can serve
as a team-based communication environment. Each screen of program content has several
layers of meta data associated with it so that the design team and content providers can
use the course authoring environment as an integrated team-communication and project-
management space.

The preceding discussion is not necessarily the only solution. There are dozens of comparable
content-management tools that can serve many of the same needs.

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 Appendix B
Digital Delivery Tools and Resources

The types of available technologies are generally divided into two groups: synchronous
and asynchronous. Synchronous technology is a mode of delivery in which all participants
are present at the same time. Web conferencing is an example of synchronous technology.
Asynchronous technology is a mode of digital delivery in which participants access
information on their own schedule. Students are not required to be together at the same
time. Message board forums, email, and recorded video are examples of asynchronous
technology.

As a starting point, options to explore include:

• Online Instruction/Distance Learning

Online instruction (eLearning) is essentially the computer and network enabled
transfer of skills and knowledge. eLearning refers to using electronic applications
and processes to learn, including Web-based learning, computer-based learning,
virtual classrooms, and digital collaboration. Content is delivered via the Internet,
intranet/extranet, audio or video tape, satellite TV, and CD-ROM. It can be self-
paced or instructor led and includes media in the form of text, image, animation,
streaming video, and audio.

• Web-Based VoIP
Web-based VoIP is founded on the concept of “click to talk,” in which a person
clicks an object (e.g., button, image, or text) to request an immediate connection
with another person in real-time either by phone call, Voice-over-Internet-
Protocol (VoIP), or text. Click to talk requests are most commonly made through
websites but also can be initiated by hyperlinks placed in email, blogs, wikis, flash
animations, or video, and other Internet-based object or user interface.

• Web Conferencing (Webinars)

Web conferencing is used to conduct live meetings, training, or presentations
via the Internet. During a web conference, each participant sits at his or her own
computer and is connected to other participants via the internet. This can be
either a downloaded application on each of the attendees’ computers or a web-
based application in which the attendees access the meeting by clicking on a link
distributed by email (meeting invitation) to enter the conference.

• Video/Audio On-Demand
Video on Demand (VOD) or Audio Video on Demand (AVOD) are systems that
allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand. IPTV
technology is often used to bring video on demand to televisions and PCs.

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 • Live Streaming, Interactive Video
Streaming media are multimedia that are constantly received by, and normally
presented to, an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider (the term
presented is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video
playback). The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather than to the
medium itself. The distinction is usually applied to media that are distributed over
telecommunications networks, as most other delivery systems are either inherently
streaming (e.g., radio, television) or inherently non-streaming (e.g., books, video
cassettes, audio CDs). The verb “to stream” also is derived from this term, meaning
to deliver media in this manner. Internet television is a commonly streamed
medium.

• Teleconferencing
A videoconference or video conference (also known as a videoteleconference) is a set
of interactive telecommunication technologies that allow two or more locations to
interact via two-way video and audio transmissions simultaneously. It also has been
called “visual collaboration” and is a type of groupware.

• Virtual Learning Environments

A virtual learning environment (VLE) is a software system designed to support
teaching and learning in an educational setting, as distinct from a Managed Learning
Environment (MLE) in which the focus is on management. A VLE will normally
work over the Internet and provide a collection of tools such as those for assessment
(particularly of types that can be marked automatically, such as multiple choice),
communication, uploading of content, return of students work, peer assessment,
administration of student groups, collecting and organizing student grades,
questionnaires, tracking tools, etc. New features in these systems include wikis,
blogs, RSS, and 3D virtual-learning spaces.

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 Appendix C
Learning/Networking Platform

A number of research studies were reviewed by the Connectivity work group of the task force
to support its recommendations. One such study, conducted as part of the Pew Internet &
American Life project, found more than half of all teens have created media content, and
roughly one-third of teens who use the Internet have shared content they produced with
others. These teens are actively involved in what this study termed “participatory cultures.”
The report goes on to identify a growing body of information that suggests a number of
benefits to youth from membership in this participatory culture, including opportunities for
peer-to-peer learning, a changed attitude toward intellectual property, the diversification of
cultural expression, the development of skills valued in the workplace, and a more empowered
conception of citizenship.

Within this culture, young people are able to participate in a variety of ways.

• Affiliations – memberships, formal and informal, in online communities centered

around various forms of media, such as Friendster, Facebook, message boards,
metagaming, game clans, or MySpace.

• Expressions – producing new creative forms, such as digital sampling, skinning and
modding, fan videomaking, fan fiction writing, zines, and mash-ups.

• Collaborative Problem-solving – working together in teams, formal and informal,

to complete tasks and develop new knowledge (such as through Wikipedia,
alternative reality gaming, and spoiling).

• Circulations – shaping the flow of media (such as podcasting, blogging).

To leverage this participatory culture and maximize connectivity, JA can put
students in the drivers-seat by having have them write blogs, lead online forums
(with their teacher or volunteer), and conduct online trainings for other students.
By doing so, JA can support, guide and incent students’ work, shifting more
content-related interactions to students.

Among other things, Junior Achievement is in the youth development business. Youth
development conveys a sense that youth are empowered and have a voice. Evidence of youth
voice needs to be infused in an obvious, supported, and structured way throughout all of
JA programs and planning. JA could create online spaces for youth to provide ongoing input,
feedback, and discussion about JA’s programming.

Youth development also conveys that JA’s work is “youth centric.” JA needs to find
ways to go to where the youth are, e.g., online games and forums. JA can become the
broker and reviewer of conversations and engage students with questions/ideas/next
steps in this online universe where the youth already are.

While the group was unanimous in its belief that Junior Achievement should establish a
learning/networking platform for its students, the way in which the platform is established
was a key point in the discussion. Depending on the age of the student, the platform must be
secure in the sense that students are placed in a protected environment, free of external dangers.

18 Junior Achievement | www.ja.org

 Appendix D
Measurement of Impact

Currently, the evaluation of program effect is conducted at two distinct phases: 1) Formative
(pilot) conducted during curriculum development, and 2) Summative (Impact) conducted
immediately after the program is finalized and released for use across the organization.
During the formative phase, vital information is collected about a program’s clarity, relevance,
satisfaction, and engagement via student, teacher, and volunteer data, such as surveys, focus
groups, and classroom observations. During the summative phase, the program is evaluated
to measure the impact it has on student knowledge and attitudes in comparison to students
who have not participated in the program. This evaluation stage relies on student pre- and
post-testing of participating and comparison students, volunteer surveys, teacher surveys,
and focus groups for all stakeholders. Both the formative and summative evaluations are
completed within a six-month time frame and are conducted with a sample of classrooms
recruited by eight to 15 JA Area Offices.

Current Issues
The existing process for measuring the impact of JA programs on students has its limitations.

Sample - Both of the evaluation methodologies depend on recruiting a sufficient

sample of JA offices that are willing and able to participate in the evaluation process.
This process is often difficult given the significant resources that it takes for a local
office to coordinate an evaluation with JA Worldwide and/or an external evaluation
firm. Often times, the evaluation is left with a small pool of offices that are willing to
conduct the evaluation, but may not be reflective of the overall student population
that JA serves. Therefore, the external validity of the results can be called into
question.

Timing - An evaluation typically takes four to six months to complete. During the
formative stage, information is provided on a rolling basis, but isn’t always available
in time for JA’s program developers to use it effectively in the revision process.
Whether JA uses its own staff or hires a third-party firm to conduct an evaluation,
valuable recommendations sometimes come too late to be incorporated into the
final version of a program because of development timeline constraints. A different
problem exists with the timing of the summative evaluations. Because of the time
required to effectively complete a summative evaluation, results are often not
available for up to six months after a program is released. For offices to market a new
or revised program locally, they need to demonstrate the impact a program has on
participants. The timing of the existing evaluation process prevents this awareness of
impact and may delay local implementation.

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 Focus – The issue of what is being measured becomes critically important,
particularly for a summative evaluation. Because summative evaluations are a point-
in-time measure, the type of data collected has been limited to short-term outcomes
related to knowledge and attitudes. While this information is important, it does not
allow JA to understand the “stickiness” factor of program content and how students
use the information moving forward. There is no tracking system in place

to measure if students retain the information being taught and how this knowledge
acquisition translates into skill development and behavioral changes. Another issue
related to evaluation focus is that the current evaluation process measures the impact
of a specific program, but does not measure the outcomes associated with JA in
general. This challenge becomes very apparent when trying to articulate the overall
impact of JA program participation. To try to address this issue, JA has incorporated
a set of core measures that are present across all the evaluations, but these items
are primarily focused on attitudinal impact and lack the competency measures
important for educators and donors.

Measurement – The current evaluation process has evolved to utilize the most
rigorous evaluations standards, such as collecting both qualitative and quantitative
data and the use of random assignment into treatment and control conditions. This
method is extremely effective in measuring the impact of the program on student
knowledge and is considered the “gold standard” in the education research arena.
However, the impact of the program on student attitudes and skill development is
often limited to self-reported measures by the students. In an attempt to validate this
information, teachers and volunteers are asked to report the impact of the program
on these measures as well. Yet, these measures are still not the best indicator of the
application of the content.

Overall, the main concern in relation to formative assessment is timing and measurement.
The type of information being collected is appropriate for testing the relevance, clarity, and
satisfaction of the program content. However, formative evaluation results are not being
provided to developers in a time frame that maximizes the use of the information.

Concerns also are present regarding sample, timing, focus, and measurement in the current
summative evaluation model. While the type of information being collected does provide
useful information about the short-term outcomes associated with a specific program, it does
not allow JA to capture data that is critical to demonstrating the long-term outcomes for JA.

20 Junior Achievement | www.ja.org

 Digital Strategy Task Force Members

Task Force Co-Chairs

Mary Cullinane – Worldwide Director of Strategic Initiatives and

Innovation, Microsoft Corporation

Graham Spanier – President, The Pennsylvania State University

Task Force Members

Karen Bruett – Senior Director, Strategic Alliances and Marketing,

Council of Chief State School Officers

David Byer – Senior Manager, Education Leadership and Policy, Apple Inc.

Cole Camplese – Director of Education Technology Services, The

Pennsylvania State University

Dale Ferrario – President, Freshbrain

Frank Gallagher – Director, Education and Media Literacy, Cable in the

Classroom

Jack Harris – President, Junior Achievement of Georgia

John Harwood – Senior Director, Technology & Learning with Technology,

The Pennsylvania State University

Amy Kaslow – Senior Fellow, Council on Competitiveness

Allyson Knox – Academic Program Manager, Microsoft Corporation

Michael Levine – Executive Director, Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame

Workshop

Gale Lightfoot – Senior Staff Program Manager, Scientific Atlanta, A Cisco

Company

Bob McIntyre – Chief Technical Officer, Scientific Atlanta, A Cisco

Company

Robert Naylor – Chief Technical Officer, U.S. Small Business

Administration

Kimberly Quinn-Hutchinson – Vice President, School Development, K12

21 Financial Literacy | Work Readiness | Entrepreneurship

 Robert Reeg – President, Global Technology and Operations, MasterCard
International

Bernie Trilling – Global Director, Oracle Education Foundation

Randy Wilhelm – CEO, THINKronize, Inc.

John Wilson – Executive Director, National Education Association

Junior Achievement Staff

Jack E. Kosakowski – Executive VP/COO, JA Worldwide-President and

Chief Executive Officer, Junior Achievement USA

Stephanie Bell – Director, Marketing and Media Relations, JA Worldwide

Gina Blayney – President, Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest, Inc.

John Box – Senior Vice President, Education, JA Worldwide

Allison Farr – Senior Director, Program Development and Implementation

Support, JA Worldwide

John Hancock – President, Junior Achievement of Oregon and Southwest

Washington, Inc.

Cynthia Hofmann – Senior Vice President, Marketing, Communication &

Creative Services, JA Worldwide

Tom Inscho – Interim Senior Vice President, Information Technology,

JA Worldwide

Buzzy Thibodeaux – Executive Vice President, Junior Achievement USA

Melissa Turlip – President, Junior Achievement of Northeastern

Pennsylvania, Inc.

Shannon Wendt – Senior Director, Evaluation, Research and Innovation,

JA Worldwide

22 Junior Achievement | www.ja.org