New Survey Looks at K-12 Educators’ Social Media Use

Preliminary results from the  Survey of K-12 Educators on Social Networking and Content-Sharing Tools, co-sponsored by AEP members edWeb.net, MCH, and MMS Education, show that 62% of respondents have joined a social network and see a high value for this technology in education. Sent to 70,000 K-12 principals, teachers, and school librarians, the purpose of the study is to benchmark educators’ use and attitudes about Web 2.0 collaborative technologies like social networking, blogging, wikis, video-sharing, and more. According to the survey, Facebook is currently the leading social network that educators have joined—86% of educators who have joined a social network have joined Facebook. 

Mining Social Media for Market Intelligence

Janet Eden-Harris, Vice President, Marketing, J.D. Power and Associates, spoke at the 2009 AEP Summit about how publishers should gather information and interact with customers on blogs, chat rooms, and other forms of new media. Here are highlights from her session, “Mining Social Media for Market Intelligence.”

Using social media to gather market intelligence is about listening in on the conversation. Whereas the traditional method for gathering data was doing a survey—asking the customer questions and hoping they would answer back—new media marketing involves finding people who are already discussing your products or areas of interest online. The power has shifted to the consumers, and they want to tell you what they think on their own time and in their own way.

Learning in the World of Free, Part 1

Kimberly Worthy, 2009 DC Teacher of the Year and Chair for Curriculum Development at Howard University Middle School of Mathematics and Science; Larry Lezotte, Ph.D., Consultant for Effective Schools Products, Ltd.; and Margery Mayer, President, Scholastic Education for Scholastic Inc., spoke about Learning in the World of Free at the 2009 AEP Summit. The panel presentation, moderated by author and consultant Suzanne Barchers, Ed.D., discussed the needs of today’s teachers and the valuable role that authoritative, vetted content plays in providing all students with access to a high-quality education.

In part 1 of a report on this session, Kimberly Worthy explains what materials educators need in the classroom.

1. Leveled reading materials–Students are entering her classes at various reading levels. She needs the same content for each student but at a level they can understand.

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.

What can I do to make more sales from my web site?

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, Ben Weintraub of Merit Software.

Q. I have a great education related product that I want to sell to schools.  What can I do to make more sales from my web site?

A. Your web site is your most important marketing tool.  Anyone who is considering buying anything from you will spend a lot of time on it. There are many steps publishers can take to make their web site more effective.