Articles Posted in K12 Publishing

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Success SignWhen educators choose new classroom materials their first challenge is to sift through dozens of options and narrow the search down to four to five options. In other words before they say “yes” to one solution they need to find reasons to say “no” to a host of other options.

Prior to Common Core the most significant filter was “alignment to state standards.” If a company couldn’t provide a correlation that showed substantial or complete compliance with a particular state’s requirements it never got past the first meeting. No one really used the correlations once the product was purchased, but it was a useful filter to help narrow the field of choices.

In the last six months I have noticed a significant shift in this process. Most districts now require some flavor of “technology” in any curriculum resource they purchase. Like standards correlations they don’t particularly care what it is – but they won’t consider products that don’t have a technology component.

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Home Ebook CoverThe role of textbooks in a rapidly digitizing world is an open question. The publishing industry needs to develop a new paradigm for commercially produced instructional materials or it faces extinction.

These and many more questions haunt the dreams of educational publishing professionals.

Now, thanks to the folks at Nature (a division of MacMillan) and their new eTextbook Principles of Biology, I glimpse a promising path forward. As is so often the case with paradigm shifts once it “clicks” in your head it is so simple that you wonder that you didn’t get it earlier.

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EyeinforestJohn Scalzi was interviewed by Library Journal recently. Among other things he addressed ePublishing, copyright, and the role of libraries in our culture. As always he dispatched wisdom with a solid dose of wit.

The whole article is here – it will be a well spent 10 minutes to get your week started.

On the cultural relevance of libraries:

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Will e-publishing kill traditional publishing houses? The following is presented as an antidote to this meme.

John Scalzi is not only an extraordinarily good science fiction writer he is also a pioneer in e-publishing and a very funny blogger. I loved this piece because it encapsulates so much of the current self-absorbed silliness and wishful thinking that poses as strategic thinking in publishing and those trying to kill it.

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Take a deep breath and ask the questions deeply about what it means and you will see how wrong most of these statements are.

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bookres-lamp-20110216-094132What is good product development? The answer is deceptively simple to answer and devilishly difficult to pull off. Basically people want three things – better, faster, cheaper. All the complicated analysis in the world boils down to these three fundamentals. Get them right and your odds of success go way up.

You need to nail at least two of them, preferably all three. You need hard evidence to prove you are doing them – and the definition of success must be from the customer’s perspective.

While it is easy to see how this plays out in technology (better/cheaper = iPad 1 vs laptop, better/faster = iPad2 vs iPad 1, cheaper/faster = Netbooks vs. iPad) it is more difficult to suss out what this means in education.

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NFImageImportWhat are the missing skills needed in education publishing to create 21st Century products for 21st Century learners? I penned a thought experiment for EdNet on this topic.

Education Publishing’s Own 21st Century Skills Gap – Change Begins At-Home Edition

Fun Architects, Content Marines, Talent Wranglers, and Shibboleth Hunters all get shout outs.

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778689_grillA fresh batch of piping hot links that may be of interest to those in educational materials.

Are game mechanics the key to great social media marketing? The following link weaves some fascinating connections between the world of gaming and the world of encouraging people to try new things (the essence of marketing).

Everything I ever learned about marketing I learned from Dungeons and Dragons by Ian Lurie at Conversation Marketing.

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tableskaterWhat is the best way to break into education publishing? If you are young and starting out what launching pads set you up well for a career in the world of instructional materials and software?

I’m bullish in the industry and think we are in one of the most creative and fascinating eras as traditional print publishing blends with digital production and distribution. There is going to be a huge amount of disruption but there will be an enormous amount of opportunity in the midst of all the changes.

In the first part of this series I focused on the best ways to prepare and organize your search. Today I turn the focus on what kinds of jobs industry entrants should consider.

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card953How do you find a job in education publishing or technology?

Recently I was asked for my thoughts on entering our industry by a mid-twenties alum of my high school. In the course of the conversation I found myself getting re-excited by all the great prospects in our industry. It also spurred me to turn my own experience over and reflect on what worked for me 25 years ago when I was in his shoes.

I’m grateful I was asked to help because it brought my focus back to why we do what we do.

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Do you have a bright idea for new education business? Today’s guest post is from the team over at the Zell/Lurie Institute’s Social Media Fund. Note that the deadline for submission is February 18th – shake out those fingers and warm up the keyboard.

By Darrin Nagengast

SvF_logo.jpgThe Social Venture Fund at the University of Michigan is one of the world’s first student-run venture capital firms focused on supporting social entrepreneurs. We’ve been covered in the Wall Street Journal and Businessweek and are currently looking to make an investment of up to $250,000in a groundbreaking social enterprise.

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