Do Educators Get What They Pay For?

On May 27, AEP hosted the free webinar, “Do Educators Get What They Pay For?” sponsored by Follett Digital Resources. A prelude to the discussion for AEP’s 2009 Summit “Publishing in the World of Free,” the webinar examined the new role of instructional materials publishers from the educator’s perspective and discussed how our industry can stay relevant in the digital age.

The event, moderated by Deb deVries and Bridget Foster, featured Sheryl Abshire, Ph. D., Chief Technology Officer, Calcasieu Parish Public Schools (LA), and John A. Vaille, Ed.D., Chief Technology Officer, Lake Washington School District (WA). Here are highlights from their discussion.

Current Usage of Digital Materials

Both agreed that 100% of their teachers are using some sort of digital material in their classroom, especially because of the vast number of resources available on the web. And they only see the amount of time teachers use the digital material in the classroom increasing.

Hall of Fame Portrait: Nelson B. Heller, Ph.D., Part 1

On December 3, 2009, AEP will induct Nelson B. Heller, Ph.D, MDR; Michael Ross, Encyclopaedia Britannica; and Pleasant Rowland, Rowland Reading Foundation and American Girl into the Educational Publishing Hall of Fame. Here in his first installment, Nelson B. Heller, Ph.D., President, EdNET at MDR, discusses the people who had the greatest influence on him and the advice he would give to those choosing educational publishing as a career.

Who has had the biggest influence on your career and why?

I’ve been fortunate in my career to have had many mentors so it is very hard to single out just one. Names that come to mind include Dick Roberts, Corp VP at SFN where I had my first job in K-12 educational publishing; Dick Morgan, president of Scott Foresman and, later, of the Macmillan/McGraw-Hill Joint Venture and, still later, of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, for whom I first worked and later was a consultant; my wife Pam who worked alongside me at The Heller Reports for many years and from whom I continue to learn; Andy Lacy, former president of QED and now Senior Leader, Professional Services at MDR, whose broad vision for The Heller Reports as a part of QED and now MDR provided a broader canvas for me and the firm; and Vicki Bigham and Anne Wujcik, my stalwart colleagues at The Heller Reports, who taught me so much about schools, teachers and the people in our industry.

Publishers Still Need to Police Web for Digital Piracy

Although the recent convictions of the Pirate Bay founders and financier were a victory for copyright protection, this is only one out of many file-sharing, self-publishing, and peer-to-peer sites on the web. And while some sites like the Pirate Bay proudly and vocally violate copyright law, there are also sites like Scribd.com and esnips.com that say they support copyright, but they do not actively search for illegal materials. Unfortunately, as many AEP members have discovered, the onus is still on the publisher to monitor the web for infringement.

What cost-effective marketing strategies might my company use in these challenging economic times?

In this new blog series from AEP, “What’s Keeping You Up At Night?, experts offer their advice on the most pressing issues facing the educational publishing industry. AEP members may sign up for a free half-hour consultation with the experts for 30 days after their entry is posted.

The following question was posed to our current featured expert, Gerry Bogatz of MarketingWorks, Inc.

Q. What cost-effective marketing strategies might my company use in these challenging economic times?

A. The tendency of many companies in and out of the education sector is to pull back on marketing when times are tough.  After all, isn’t marketing one of the few areas of a budget that can be reigned in without hurting the bottom line “too much?”  While this may be true in the short run, sales a few months from now can be hurt significantly if a company isn’t putting itself in front of its prospective customers continually.

Here are just a few of the cost-effective ways that a company can market its products in tough times.

How do you get your content discovered once you create an e-strategy and deliver your content online?

In this new blog series from AEP, “What’s Keeping You Up At Night?, experts offer their advice on the most pressing issues facing the educational publishing industry. AEP members may sign up for a free half-hour consultation with the experts for 30 days after their entry is posted.

The following question was posed to our current featured expert, Sameer Shariff of Impelsys Inc.

Q. How do you get your content discovered once you create an e-strategy and deliver your content online?

A. In the electronic space where more and more people are reading online, viral marketing tools like widgets and book previews provide good opportunities for publishers to market their titles across the web. Here are few ways you can use widgets and book previews to get your content discovered online.