contributions to the education technology industry

After spending eight years in the classroom and as a department chair and technology director, Brekhus identified a gap in availability of interactive, digital resources. He was previously VP and chief marketing officer for PLATO Learning, president and COO of Learning Elements, and education program director for MCI WorldCom, where he helped build and implement the renowned Marco Polo program.
“SIIA’s 2017 Company CODiE Awards recognize the teams that are at the forefront of business innovation. These companies are shaping the future of how we conduct business, and it is truly an honor to recognize these individuals and teams through the Company CODiE Awards.” said Rhianna Collier, vice president & managing director, SIIA Software & Services Division & TechCouncil of Southern California.
Brekhus built myON out of the resources of Capstone and has served as the president of myON since 2009. The company provides more than 13,000 digital titles to more than 7.5 million students worldwide, and has played a role providing personalized literacy environments to build a community of readers in cities across the nation.
In recent years, Brekhus coined the term Measure Reading with Reading™ to encourage educators to use real-time data and Lexile® scores to assess students’ literacy growth. In 2016, myON launched myON NEWS to provide daily multimedia news articles for K–8 students in many languages and at a range of Lexile levels. Brekhus has played a pivotal role in growing the company in a variety of areas, including attracting new customers, nurturing existing customers, and spreading the word about myON’s digital literacy environment via thought leadership opportunities.
The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), the principal trade association for the software and digital content industries, announced the full slate of CODiE winners during a global web announcement on December 1.
To learn more about myON and its industry-leading personalized literacy solutions, please visit about.myon.com.
About SIIA
SIIA is an umbrella association representing 800+ technology, data, and media companies globally. Industry leaders work through SIIA’s divisions to address issues and challenges that impact their industry segments with the goal of driving innovation and growth for the industry and each member company. This is accomplished through in-person and online business development opportunities, peer networking, corporate education, intellectual property protection, and government relations. For more information, visit SIIA.net.
About myON
Since launching in 2011, myON has established itself as the fastest-growing digital literacy company for the K–12 education market. More than 7.5 million students have access to myON throughout 49 states and 20 countries worldwide. myON students have access to a personalized Literacy Ecosystem that offers unlimited reading in a curated library of more than 13,000 digital books and daily news articles dynamically matched to each learner’s reading level and interests.
myON is an award-winning personalized literacy environment that incorporates a state-of-the art learning platform, enhanced digital reading content including five daily news articles written for students, The Lexile® Framework for Reading, cutting-edge literacy tools, and embedded metrics to monitor activity and growth. Robust professional development ensures that educators have the support needed to effectively implement myON. Together, these components power a Literacy Ecosystem that is built upon five pillars: personalization, unparalleled content, unlimited access, collaboration, and success.