By Kim Kleeman
President, Shakespeare Squared
Enough iPods have been sold worldwide to arm almost half of the United States. Never before has a single brand so completely overtaken the market. The ubiquitous white earphones are present on every bus, train, and school campus across America. iPods can be used for pure pleasure, but we can also view them as a tool. As educational publishers, we may not be able to create that next amazing global gadget, but we can reap the benefits of its ever-present use, especially among today’s youth–our prime market.
While there are multitudes of ways educational publishers can use these technologies to their advantage, there are three distinct advantages for doing so: podcasting and vodcasting are cheap, easy, and accessible. With today’s technology, anybody can be content creators.
Podcasting, or audio recording, can be done on the computer with a $20 microphone. Anyone can do it, and there’s no fancy software to master. Macs come with Garageband while the ultra-low-key users can use the Sound Recorder program on all Windows PCs. The audience potential is huge: More than 125 million iPods have been sold–not to mention the fact that anyone can use iTunes as long as they have a computer. Podcasts are easily adaptable and changeable with no printing or paper costs.
Vodcasting, or video recording, can be done with a simple $50 Web cam or the iSight camera, which is built into some Macs. Production values and fancy cameras are not necessary. Thanks to YouTube, viral videos and vlogs (video blogs) are huge. The audiences for YouTube, Google Video, etc., are growing exponentially. And again, this technology is easily adaptable and changeable with no inventory or distribution deals to worry about.
However, although (and partly because) it’s so cheap to make, such “viral” tools will not be huge revenue generators. If you want people to pay to see your vodcasts, for example, you will need high production values, which translates into expensive equipment and a knowledgeable staff. However, cheap vodcasting and podcasting are phenomenal marketing tools that get the word out, expose your company, showcase your products, and generate publicity.
When I created UpGrade Education, Shakespeare Squared’s sister company, I wanted it to be a pioneer in digital publishing, and I felt vodcasting was the perfect way to do that. After hearing Apple speak about education on iTunes, I decided to take action on a new concept I was developing. It’s a really unusual thing to see trendy digital products in a traditionally paper-heavy industry. Already, the response has been huge. It has generated even more interest for UpGrade, as well as opened up more avenues for Shakespeare Squared; more and more clients have been asking about it.
Because vodcasting was such a new route to pursue, I chose to bring in a professional staff with expensive equipment. The content, however, was repurposed from the collective knowledge at Shakespeare Squared–not from a product we had already done. Our vodcasts are all about how to understand and break into the educational publishing industry. We used our staff’s collective knowledge to create these great videos, which offer advice to individuals trying to get into the industry. It’s something so simple, but a great way to let our market know we are out there. If we have a successful company, then we must know what we’re doing. How do we get even more mileage out of that knowledge? Share it around in a new and unusual way.
The same can be said for any area of educational publishing. I was the type of student that did not perform well on assessments. I just froze! But I was lucky enough to have a wonderful English teacher who was the first to allow me take my exams after class and answer the questions orally. I couldn’t believe how well I performed. I knew every answer. Learning, as we are all embracing today, can be achieved in many ways. Educational companies know that content in print, online, in an e-book, or on a video can be used to achieve the same goal–to educate successfully. A variety of options, or an alternative method, may be just the approach the teacher or parent or tutoring center needs to break through to a struggling student. These can all feature the same content–just in different platforms!
Educational publishers can repurpose their existing content to the podcast format. Podcasting is a great way to expand differentiated instruction programs. Advanced learners can take on harder lessons without occupying valuable teacher time. Struggling students can listen to a lesson for a second time, while English Language Learners can practice their vocabulary. Publishers can create more in-depth and useful tutorials for their products for teachers and parents through many small, easily digestible podcasts instead of a huge tutorial program.
Whether created for marketing purposes, revenue generation, or free tools for teachers, podcasting and vodcasting provide a unique way for educational publishers to reach their audiences. These technologies provide a great way to break into multimedia and the digital age without spending a ton of money or needing a lot of expensive equipment, and they can provide a really valuable service for your company and customers. So, join in, get your ticket now, and make sure you don’t miss this exciting train!
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Kim Kleeman is president of Shakespeare Squared, the innovative, full-service educational development company that provides editorial services to both textbook and trade book publishers. As “the educated choice,” Shakespeare Squared meets its clients’ individual needs. Kleeman graduated from Loyola University of Chicago with a bachelor’s degree in English and a 6-12 teaching certificate. Before co-founding Shakespeare Squared, she spent five years instructing elementary and secondary school students. Inc. magazine identified Shakespeare Squared as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the United States. Working Mother Media also recognized it as one of the 25 Best Small Companies for working parents. Kleeman continues to develop unique ways to support education. She recently founded UpGrade Education, a publisher of multimedia educational products, and the Shakespeare Squared Foundation, a not-for-profit that offers student teaching scholarships. For these reasons and more, Kleeman is an agent of change in education and in educational publishing.
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