Fueling the National Conversation about Education Reform
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One of the wonderful aspects of working in the education marketplace is that partnerships between public and private entities regularly form for the purpose of research. Often, the research is freely shared for the benefit of the entire education community and marketplace.
Such are the new study results on assessment from the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) a not-for-profit committed to child-centered education and Peter Grunwald and Associates, a public relations and research practice focused on children, families, technology and education.
The factor that sets this K-12 study apart from others is that it adds a new voice to the conversation – parents. Most studies about assessment focus on students and educators only. As the study points out, parents are the primary consumers of assessment information and foot the bill for the assessments through taxes.
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Why is Digital Learning Day Important for Educators, Policy Makers, K-12 Publishers and EdTech Companies?
Yesterday was the first-ever national Digital Learning Day organized by the Alliance for Excellent Education headed up by former WV governor, Bob Wise. 15,000 educators and 1.7 million students from 39 states participated in this remarkable event. In addition, an untold number of education advocates, enthusiasts, reformers, policy wonks, journalists, consultants and K-12 vendors also participated via web broadcast and social media.
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski kicked off the national town hall meeting with an announcement that the Obama administration wants digital textbooks to be implemented in every U.S. public school within 5 years. Yes, 2017. Continue reading
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Social Proof: What is It and Why Do Educational Publishers Want It?
Wikipedia defines social proof as a psychological phenomenon where the actions of others are indications of correct behavior around a particular situation.
In social media, social proof is reflected in the number of Twitter followers you have; the number of fans on your Facebook page; the number of RSS readers your blog has; the number of views for your YouTube videos, etc.
Why is this important? It’s a clear indication to your prospects that you have content worth reading – that your opinions will be important to them. Continue reading
BufferYou Only Get 9 Seconds to Make an Impression (Sally Hogshead video)
It used to be that you had 1 minute to grab your prospect's attention. Then it dropped to 30 seconds. Now, because of our fractured attention span, it's dropped to only 9 seconds. Obviously this has huge implications for our… Continue reading
Does the New 80/20 Content Rule Apply to Educational Publishers?
Yesterday I read that companies should plan to give up to 80% of their content away for free and generate sales and profits from the remaining 20%. As publishers, that seems an unrealistic metric.
Content is our stock and trade. We've invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in developing the best-of-category, and now we should give it away for free?
How is that a viable business model?
Yet more and more companies are allocating larger amounts of their resources each year to this effort as reported by the Content Marketing Institute. Continue reading
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What exactly IS an attraction strategy?
Now we know that the role of marketing has shifted from broadcast mode to networking mode. We can see this playing out all around us both in publishing and in other industries.
The way we communicate with customers and prospects is now more interactive and multidimensional.
Marketing has shifted from interruption mode (broadcast) to invitational (attraction).
But what does this mean to K-12 marketers in a practical way?
ATTRACTION STRATEGY = INBOUND MARKETING = CONTENT MARKETING
No matter what we call it, this new way to market products and services is about providing value and earning customer loyalty. Continue reading
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3 Reasons K-12 Publishers Need to Accelerate Development of Mobile Content Delivery
It's well established that technology is disruptive. K-12 schools have certainly found this to be true. But the next wave of disruptive technology for schools has already begun.
Across the country schools and districts are struggling to develop and implement BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policies.
Protecting school and student data is a concern.
Overcoming the objections of administrators and educators who have to give up some control of the learning process is another.
Parents are putting pressure on schools to allow their children to use mobile devices in school. In many cases the students have better technology than the schools including more and more tablets. Continue reading
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Authentic Marketing 101 for K-12 Publishers
Teachers have long been savvy consumers of educational products.
They can spot marketing jargon and marketers from 100 feet away, and do what they can to avoid both.
K-12 educators don’t generally have a lot of brand allegiance. Their primary concern is - does the product work in the classroom?
Given that educators are particularly resistant to marketing, how should educational publishers begin the marketing and sales process? Continue reading
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Inspiration, Affirmation, & Motivation from Educational Publishing Hall of Fame
Each year in the week following Thanksgiving, K-12 educational publishers gather in New York for annual events sponsored by three different organizations scheduled together for convenience. And who doesn't love seeing New York City decked out for Christmas?
The Educational Publishing Hall of Fame is sponsored by the Association of Educational Publishers (AEP). It honors those industry leaders and visionaries whose integrity and achievements have inspired us and whose work leaves a lasting legacy. Past inductees have included Mr. (Fred) Rogers of PBS fame and Dick Robinson who heads Scholastic Publishing. Continue reading
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