Semblio Platform Complete with the Launch of Office 14

The Microsoft Semblio platform will be complete only with the advent of the next iteration of the office system, the company revealed, failing to offer a specific deadline, but the first component of the solution is already available. The Semblio software development kit (SDK) went live on February 3, 2009, with the software giant announcing that global content solution professionals are already showing strong support for the new education platform designed to incorporate rich media into educational content.

“Feedback from the education community regarding where the content marketplace is headed has been clear,” explained L. Michael Golden, corporate vice president for the Education Products Group at Microsoft. “In today’s digital reality, Microsoft Semblio will help content providers adapt and thrive as they build more dynamic and engaging educational material and reach new consumers with fewer resources.”

The availability of the Semblio SDK was announced at Microsoft's fourth annual Global Education Partner Summit, with the company emphasizing that educational content publishers worldwide were ready to use the SDK in order to build and package new content solutions for educators. According to the software giant, the following publishers are ready to embrace the Semblio SDK (and implicitly the .NET Framework): Cambridge University Press in the United Kingdom, Editis in France, Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the United States, Intel Performance Learning Solutions in Ireland, a division of Intel Corporation, USA, SMART Technologies Inc. in Canada, and Wolfram Research Inc. in the United States.

With the launch of Office 14, the successor of Office 2007, Microsoft will offer the remaining two components of the Semblio platform, formerly codenamed Grava. On top of the SDK, customers will also be able to take advantage of an assembly tool designed to create multimedia packages and a runtime media player.

“While content solution providers in education realize that the digital landscape is continually evolving, it is hard for many to keep up,” said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT Inc. “Incorporating interactive multimedia in teaching and learning materials serves to enhance the value of their educational assets and extend their reach among a variety of audiences.”

Microsoft Semblio SDK is available for download here.