How to create a new revenue stream by developing content for interactive whiteboards

SMART Technologies, the inventor of the SMART Board and industry leader with over 64 percent market share in North America, has posted an on-demand webinar to show publishers different ways to create new revenue streams using interactive whiteboards. Here are some highlights from the presentation.

Publishers are facing many challenges in the current education climate, including a decline in print product demand as educators’ needs shift from paper-based to electronic content. Other challenges include:

1. Free content proliferation
2. Changing distribution channels
3. Shorter product cycle times
4. Need for new revenue streams

Lessons on Injecting Yourself into the Online Conversation

During the MarketingProfs Digital Marketing World Virtual Conference on Sept. 17, Tina Brown, author and founder of TheDailyBeast.com, gave the keynote address, “Engaging with Customers Where they Are, with Content they Value.” In addition to discussing her transition from the print to the blog world, she talked about what makes one blog’s content more valued than another’s. Here are highlights from her session.

FCC Works on National Broadband Plan for Education as More Schools Move Toward Open Digital Texts

On August 20 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) held a National Broadband Plan Workshop on education to receive ideas for the plan, which is due 181 days from the date of the hearing. National broadband development focuses on ways that technology and telecommunications infrastructure can further the national priorities of education, job training, energy, environment, health, the economy and public safety. The FCC seeks collaboration on developing the plan, and hopes to obtain exemplars, best theories, data, research and evidence.

Learning Platforms for the 21st Century and Beyond

The 2009 AEP Summit session “Learning Platforms for the 21st Century and Beyond,” presented three different cutting-edge technologies that could be used to deliver content to students. Jeff Keltner from Google, Laura Porco from Amazon.com, and Michael Riordan from the Open Publishing Lab at Rochester Institute of Technology discussed why classroom technology is 10 years behind the consumer world and how their products could be used in the education market.

All speakers agreed that the students are the biggest driving force behind advancing the technology in the classroom. Keltner said that for every generation, technology is what is invented after the students were born. Reflecting the advancements of iPhones, laptops, and social media sites, students expect their education to be mobile, use multimedia, and have the ability to involve the community. Riordan concurred that students are asking their teachers to use educational technology that lets them learn together; they want teachers to abandon podium-style lectures for a dialogue.

How Fair Use Enables Media Literacy to Thrive

When educational publishers hear the term fair use, they often brace themselves for the argument that teachers should be able to copy, post, and reuse the material without permission as long as it’s for educational use. However, when Renee Hobbs of Temple University’s Media Education Lab and Peter Jaszi of the Washington College of Law, American University, spoke at the 2009 AEP Summit they explained that while the principle of Fair Use is important in education and educational materials, it does not trump a publisher’s copyright. In fact, in their breakout session, “How Fair Use Enables Media Literacy to Thrive,” they presented a compelling case for how Fair Use can actually help publishers enhance their own products and resources.

Over the last 25-30 years copyright has become a dynamic field. Copyright lasts longer, covers more material, and the penalties are much higher. The courts–including the Supreme Court–have said, though, that what keeps copyright from impinging on free speech and the First Amendment is fair use.
Fair use is a legal doctrine that allows for the unlicensed, unauthorized, and uncompensated use of copyrighted material when the social and cultural benefits exceed the costs imposed by private parties. While there are four parts to fair use–nature of use, type of use, amount used, and the economic effect–Jaszi said that the courts really look for two critical standards when applying the concept.