History of thereNow

In September of 2004, thereNow and Spectrum Education Group helped Weber School District in Ogden, Utah to obtain funding from the U.S. Department of Education to conduct research on teacher professional development.

The research project was led by Dr. Shawn Edmondson, CEO of thereNow, and is documented in-full in his doctoral dissertation, which can be downloaded here as a PDF document.

In June, 2007, thereNow was funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences to further develop the observational component of thereNow's cognitive apprenticeship model.

The objective of this $850,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant is to design and research the hardware and software necessary to enable classroom observation. This system is called IRIS Connect.

IRIS Connect is now commercially available in the UK and the US.

thereNow Press Releases and News Articles

• (2008) Learn Connect (News story, Utah Public Radio.)
• (2008) IRIS Connect on Utah Public Radio (News story, Utah Public Radio.)
• (9/25/2007) Small Business Innovation and Research (Press Release, thereNow.)
• (9/25/2007) Ogden City School District (Press Release, thereNow.)
• (5/6/2005) Spectrum Education Group Brings thereNow Holographic Internet 2 Technology To Train Teachers In Utah (Press Release, thereNow.)
• (5/2/2005) DVE Establishes thereNow® as a Premiere Solution Partner (Press Release, Digital Video Enterprises, Inc.)
• (7/4/2005) thereNow Unveils New Technology for Teacher Training (U.S. Department of Education, The Education Innovator)

thereNow Videos

• (3/4/2005) Fox News story about thereNow. [Quicktime video clip]
• (7/8/2005) Rachel McAnallen model-teaching via the Virtual Teacher. [Windows Media video clip]
• (7/15/2005) Video presentation of the Telepresence equipment. [Windows Media video clip]
• (3/1/2006) Weber School District's students, teachers, and administrators talk about thereNow. [Windows Media video clip]

People

R. Shawn Edmondson, CEO

Shawn received his Ph.D. in Psychology (Research & Evaluation Methodology) from Utah State University. His doctoral dissertation is entitled: Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Telepresence-Enabled Cognitive Apprenticeship Model of Teacher Professional Development

He served as the Principle Investigator on Spectrum Consulting's Department of Education Small Business Innovation and Research Phase I / Phase II Fast-Track project. This project began in June, 2007 and will end in December, 2009. In this capacity, he has overseen the development of IRIS Connect and has supervised the current research into its efficacy.

He has 15 years of experience in academic research and ten years of experience in program evaluation. As the Associate Director of Research and Evaluation at Spectrum Consulting, he evaluated national and international programs with cumulative funding of approximately $23.5 million.

Tom Shuster

Tom received his Ph.D. in Psychology (Research and Evaluation Methodology) Utah State University. He created Spectrum Consulting, a highly regarded research and evaluation firm specializing in education-based projects that currently handles the evaluation of over 100 million dollars in funded projects for clients across the United States and in Puerto Rico.

He also has worked in public education for 20 years, serving in a variety of capacities including teaching, curriculum specialist, administration, and research and development.

Jason Murri, Chief Technology Officer

Jason received his M.S. in Business Information Systems from Utah State University. Mr. Murri served as the Technology Director on thereNow, Inc. / Spectrum Consulting's Department of Education Small Business Innovation and Research Phase I / Phase II Fast-Track project. As Technology Director, he has helped develop and implement the hardware and software technology of IRIS Connect.

Jason has eight years of experience in the information technology industry. This experience includes software development, systems administration and large scale roll outs of software and hardware infrastructure for thousands of users at Utah State University.

Clint Eliason

Clint received his Ph.D. in Psychology (Research and Evaluation Methodology) from Utah State University. From 1996 to 2002, directed a consortium of informal education programs through Utah State University Extension. He currently coordinates Spectrum Consulting's and thereNow's Federal affairs and special appropriations efforts. Clint the Director of Evaluation at Spectrum Consulting and serves as lead evaluator on a variety of education projects across the country.

Debbie Hobbs, Education Consultant

Debbie received her Ph.D. in Administration, Curriculum, and Instruction from the University of Nebraska. Dr. Hobbs serves as the lead evaluator at Spectrum Consulting on a wide variety of projects in school and public health settings across the United States.

Dr. Hobbs was an Associate Professor of Elementary Education at Utah State University from 1990 to 2003. As a professor, one of Dr. Hobbs' duties was to supervise student teachers. Dr. Hobbs served as the National Director of Talents Unlimited from 1986 - 1990.

thereNow partners

Spectrum Consulting

Spectrum Consulting provides research, evaluation, and development services to clients in education, public health, non-profit service, local government, and business.

Spectrum's works with clients across the United States and Puerto Rico: school districts, public health entities, state offices of education and health, universities, community-based organizations, tribal governments, etc.

Spectrum Consulting is a woman-owned small business, serving clients since 1997.

Spectrum Health Policy Research

Spectrum Health Policy Research (SHPR), a division of Spectrum Consulting, is led by Dr. Ryan Loo. SHPR provides a range of services to public health programs across the United States. SHPR uses advanced theoretical methodologies and progressive technology solutions to serve clients in the following areas:

• Development, Design, Implementation, and Oversight of Research and Evaluation
• Scientific, Technical, and Expert Advice on Business Functions and Business Improvement Efforts
• Translating Research into Public Health Practice
• Curriculum/Intervention/Program Development
• Strategic Planning, Priority/Goal Setting, and Developing Performance Measures/Indicators
• Data Collection, Analysis, Interpretation, and Reporting Results
• Survey (and other instrument) design; sampling; database administration; reliability and validity analyses; data collection methodology (in person, mail, phone, web); quantitative and qualitative approaches (includes interviewing approaches and focus groups).

Deepwell Data Services

DeepWell Data Services provides powerful, web-based tools to collect, store, analyze and report vital data. DeepWell supplies the information tracking tools you need to help you manage and evaluate your programs. DeepWell serves clients across the United States in government, education, business, and non-profit sectors who administer federal- or state-funded programs. The services DeepWell provides are customized and targeted to the needs of your specific program. DeepWell Data Services will ensure that your program data is managed as efficiently as possible so you can focus on the needs of your participants.

thereNow Europe

thereNow Europe is the exclusive European Distributor for thereNow, Inc.