Hall of Fame Portrait: Nelson B. Heller, Ph.D., Part 3

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 third installment, Nelson B. Heller, Ph.D., President, EdNET at MDR, discusses the greatest challenge facing educational publishing in the next five years.

The Heller Reports news and conference activities have provided me with a marvelous platform for observing the evolving impact of technology on educational publishing’s products and services, not to mention its back-office operations. The advent of the Internet and web 2.0 have greatly expanded this digital imperative, but for a host of reasons, including still limited hardware penetration in schools and the cautious response of most school systems to widespread adoption of technology, we’re still looking for critical mass and sustainable business models.

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.

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.

Thoughts Heading Home from Abu Dhabi

First of all, I want to thank Charlene for pulling this off…it was no small feat. I believe all the publishers are grateful – I know Capstone Publishers sure is – Thanks Charlene!

It seems we are in the relatively early stages of opportunity here in this region of the world, and as with other Int’l sales/mktg efforts, one will need to figure out the “nuances” of this region to be successful, and doing it early vs later is critical. This does seem to be a push for both export and rights opportunities.

Abu Dhabi and Dubai are special places in the world…I felt like I did as a child exploring with awe in a brand new environment…almost speechless on many levels here. To attempt to grasp the changes that have occurred here in one generation…from thatch or tent type homes to Lamborghinis, is mind boggling.

Thanks again Charlene, I would not have made this trip without your leadership.

Tom Ahern

Capstone Publishers

Key Principles for Publishing for the Digital Future

Over the past year experts in the educational publishing industry contributed to the AEP series, “Publishing for the Digital Future.” From trends in the classroom, to marketing and pricing strategies, to professional development in the new era, the series focused on highlighting actions that publishers could take now. Below is a list of action principles culled from the series. You can comment on any of the principles or read the entries in this blog under the category Publishing for the Digital Future.