Publishing for the Digital Future AEP Summit 2008 Alternative Business Models Education Publishing...

Publishing for the Digital Future

AEP Summit 2008

Alternative Business ModelsEducation Publishing 2.0 (or 1.9)

Summit 2008

Why Look At New Models?• Commoditization of core businesses because of standards– Differentiation is increasingly difficult

• New disruptive technologies are changing models at the margin– Wait and it will be too late

• Expectations outside of education are changing expectations of buyers

• A window in on early stage innovation

Summit 2008

Our Panel• Subscriptions – Mark Tullis, Learning.com• iTunes & Ad Network – Joe McDonough, Hotchalk.com

• Open Source – Martin Knott, Moodlerooms.com• Micro-Distributorships – Lee Wilson, WeAreTeachers.com

• Embedded Sponsorships – Lee Wilson, Whyville.net

Summit 2008

Format• Brief presentations by panelists

– 8-10 minutes each– Covering what, why, results

• Q&A 20-25 minutes– Take notes, challenge us!


AEP Summit 2008

04/19/23

The Association of Educational Publishers www.AEPweb.org

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Pricing 2.0

Mark Tullis VP Strategic Relations Learning.com

Summit 2008 04/19/23

The Association of Educational Publishers www.AEPweb.org 6

Modular Cost Effective Flexible Engaging

Subcription + Digital Pros

Summit 2008 04/19/23


Subscription + Digital

Student Usage &

Performance

CompareU&P

Assess

Customize

Pattern Match

Recommend Best Practice

Analyze

= Data

Summit 2008 04/19/23


Subscription + Digital • Pros:

– Cost effective for customers (Goal: pay for use)– Instant & universal updating – Can be customer-customized

• Cons: – Some schools unfamiliar with model (this is improving)– Renewal dependent on customer service (+ or -)– Champion turnover risk– Other renewal risks

Summit 2008 04/19/23


$60 - $24 = $36


AEP Summit 2008

iTunes and Ads

Joe McDonoughHotchalk.com

04/19/23


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Summit 2008

• HotChalk.com: Content-agnostic, Web 2.0 sales point for classroom instructional content. Offers a single distribution portal and purchase point for content from multiple publishers, such as NBC News, PBS, McGraw-Hill, National Geographic and more.

• HotChalk Network: Network of over 50 education-focused Web sites that offer free, ad supported content. Currently reaching over 7 million unique visitors and growing and is the #2 education property online as rated by comScore.

Summit 2008

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MyLibrary Content Management & Distribution BenefitsPublisher:

• New distribution point for added sales• Be part of a successful grass roots

education movementSchool/Districts:• Choice of on demand content from top

publishers• Simple to set up and use… multiple

Systems no longer needed• Saves districts thousands in monthly

broadband costs• Teachers weave content into their

curriculum in seconds• Added classroom discussion materials

aligned to state standards

Summit 2008

HotChalk Network BenefitsPublisher

• Concentrate on doing what you do best: Publish Great Content• Be part of a much larger education property and attract

larger advertisers• Education-focused ad network-only appropriate ads for your

audience are placedAdvertiser• Huge audience reach• Targeting options for specific demographics• Options: Optimize performance with access to many sites at

once for best results• Manage marketing buy from one location instead of dozens• Online tracking ability for best ROI

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AEP Summit 2008

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Moodlerooms, Inc.

Martin G. KnottCEO1101 East 33rd StreetSuite C 301Baltimore, Maryland 21218443-451-7225 DD410-250-7335 [email protected]

Summit 2008

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What is an LMS

Administrators, advisors, registrars, & parents have specified system roles to review progress

Instructors can build or copy courses, create and distribute assignments, as well as tests, deliver lessons, provide feedback, and manage records anytime from anywhere

Students access, class work, course content, review, and submit homework, assignments, collaborate with one another, and participate in discussions on-line.

Summit 2008

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What is MoodleMoodle is an Open Source Learning Management

System (LMS) developed by Martin Dougiamas, in 2001.

Moodle is growing at unprecedented rates because: It is

1. Very user friendly 2. Meets all accessibility requirements,3. Scalable from the individual user and with

the assistance of Moodlerooms (MR) to an enterprise solution,

4. Highly integrated and richly functional, and

5. Allows teachers, students and administrators in academia, corporate, and government to communicate seamlessly.

Summit 2008

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Why Moodle?• Moodle is a proven, fully functional, flexible, free open source online learning management system

• Moodle extends the classroom to an online environment using collaborative social interaction to improve the learning process

• The users of Moodle directly contribute to its upgrades and enhancements

• Moodle is a community that listens to its users

• Moodle has 20 million users in 196 countries and is available 75 languages

Summit 2008

Why Moodlerooms?• Moodlerooms provides Moodle training, support,

hosting, customizations, tools, and course conversions.

• Moodlerooms unique hosting platforms ensure each customers Moodle runs on redundant, load balanced, enterprise class servers and can handle 1 million concurrent users.

• Moodlerooms, the world’s largest Moodle Partner, returns 10% of its revenue back to the Moodle community.

• Moodlerooms solutions along with Moodle provide a platform that is not locked or limited by a single vendor.

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Summit 2008

Pricing Model• MR delivers Software As A Service (SAAS)

• Our price is on a per user per year basis

• There are three tiers and each one adds more tools and a higher level of service– Basic– Standard– Premium

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Summit 2008

Selection of Pricing Model• We spent the first year and a half testing the market and gathering data on similar companies

• The data demonstrated that clients were seeking other services and wanted them incorporated in a single price point.

• Also, some customers were afraid of the low cost of our services

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Summit 2008

Implementation Problems• Determining what service to place in the specific tiers.

• Making sure we addressed what the market was telling us

• Working out the transition from the old to the new with existing clients

• Reconfiguring the Web site to accommadate the changes

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Summit 2008

Results• Too early to tell but the initial reaction is mostly positive, especially the price per user

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Summit 2008

Lessons Learned• Do not under estimate the value of a youthful Director of Marketing

• Look at a host software products and Web configurations

• Chose these products cautiously and do not place unreasonable time constraints upon the selection and launch timetable

• Do not be afraid to use a focus panel. The BLE Group was superb and worth every penny

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Summit 2008

Partial Client List• Louisiana State University• Rutgers University• Cornell University• Santa Cruz, CA Schools

District• Killeen, TX Public Schools• District 206, IL• Intel• The Lubrizol Company• University of Mary

Washington • Thunderbird School of

Global Management• Norwalk Public Schools• City College of San

Francisco

• New Jersey Institute of Technology

• Medical College of New York• Frederick County Public

Schools• San Mateo Community College• Wicomico County Public Schools• University of Louisiana Monroe• Cisco• Baptist Health System• Wabash College• St. Paul’s School• Xavier High School• Cranbrook Schools

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AEP Summit 2008

Micro-Distributorships

We Are Teachers

Summit 2008

Definition Micro-Distributorships

• 50% of sales at every education company I have worked at is from an educator reference– No sales, no marketing, no contact

• Enabling teachers to act as sales agents• Web based social networking• They can sell their own materials

– The 1% rule

• They will sell publisher materials– Ideal for long tail products (back list)

Summit 2008

Why? - We Are Teachers• A new business model to formalize an informal aspect of the market– 15% commission

• Reward teachers for what they have always done

• Leveraging the power of social networking specifically for education

Summit 2008

Challenges

• The value of a network is logarithmic– Building it quickly is important– Wholesale membership from associations– Facebook Widget

• Publisher willingness to place products in an open environment

• Helping publishers configure their presence• Sorting out the e-commerce interface

Summit 2008

Results• 17,000 teachers in the network• 80 publishers across many disciplines

– 2,000+ products in the catalog

• 42,000 teachers in the Facebook widget


AEP Summit 2008

Embedded Sponsorship

Whyville.net

Summit 2008

Why Whyville?• A frontal assault on reforming Science Education in California failed (CAPSI)

• Social worlds harness the power of identity creation– Tweens turning outward

• Allowing kids to connect directly with each other is a natural path to engagement

Summit 2008

Whyville• Virtual world for Math and Science• Founded 1999• 3 million+ users• 70% girls• Sponsorship driven

Summit 2008

Embedded Sponsorship Defined

• Not banner ads• Sponsors build activities that engage learners with content they care about

• Toyota Finance – Virtual cars• Texas Workforce – Bioplex• 6 months to 36 months• Development fees up front with maintenance fees ongoing

• Measured in CPM – but on deep engagement

Summit 2008

Results• A new media company• Going global• Sustained engagement with math and science content– After 10 visits kids stay involved for 18 months

– 150-250k active users per month

• “It isn’t about eyeballs – it is about eyeballs connected to brains”


AEP Summit 2008

Q&A

04/19/23


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Publishing for the Digital Future AEP Summit 2008 Alternative Business Models Education Publishing...

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