"A hybrid approach truly captures the best of both worlds," says Dennis E. Wisnosky, Wizdom Education Founder and President. In our day-to-day practical applications, this has proven to be the most efficient and effective approach to the IEP forms management process."

Web-based Applications
The white paper reveals that while 100% web-based applications can deliver precise and current content to the application and process, the local PC must be connected to the internet or intranet 100% of the time. This can be a problem, because the application are only as reliable as the connection, and are dependent on the speed of the connection, among other things.

PC-Based Software Applications
The white paper reveals that an advantage of PC-based applications is that they can go wherever the user goes, and can be used whenever the user wants, without being tied to the web or network. In addition, when there is a need to match physical and electronic signatures, PC-based applications provide the only practical means of accomplishing this task. However, PC based applications to not lend themselves well to environments where teamwork is required, such as the IEP team. Because IEP teams must constantly exchange information, and the information must be up-to-date, PC-based applications may prove slow and unwieldy.

Hybrid Application Software
The white paper introduces Wizdom LiveIEP! - an IEP management hybrid which preserves the benefits of PC-based and Web-based software, while introducing some further advantages:

• Wizdom LiveIEP! uses the exact MS Word forms that teachers and case managers already use - on the PC whenever and wherever they want to use them.
• The forms are downloaded from a web-based repository prior to their use, and then uploaded afterwards, so that they are accessible to other members of the team - anytime, anyplace.
• Because Wizdom LiveIEP! features a web-based repository, data sent to the user's PC is always complete and accurate.
• Data contained in the forms can become part of the School District's already implemented Student information System, regardless of what it is.

The LiveIEP! user enters his/her password,
and is then taken to the LiveIEP! site.

The LiveIEP! user accesses, uses and downloads IEP forms, contacts fellow team members and manages students from the main LiveIEP! console.

"High Tech + High Touch = High Success!"
The white paper concludes that the answer to improved effectiveness and efficiency is not technology as such. The first answer is to match the inherent nature of the situation with the technology. The second answer is to provide education and training in the exact use of the application software. Because Wizdom LiveIEP! uses the exact forms the teachers already use, thus rendering it an easy process.

About Wizdom Education.
Wizdom Education is a Division of Wizdom Systems, a Naperville-based company that has been providing government and corporate clients with business process reengineering, instructional design, and special education software and services since 1986. Wizdom’s LiveIEP! is an easy-to-use IEP program that puts the power of the web into the hands of special education case managers, and lets case managers and other school staff do work without depending upon network availability. Wizdom TransPlanner!, developed with funding by the U.S. Department of Education, helps students with disabilities, their case managers, and their parents do effective transition planning, and bridges the gap that often exists between schools and community service providers.