Memento Mori: Why the Chegg IPO is Not About Textbooks
http://www.edukwest.com/chegg-ipo/
About 80% of the revenue still comes from renting textbooks, which might seem a bit outdated with everyone talking about tablet deployments and digital textbooks.
Though heavily funded and with more than 225,000 digital textbooks in its library, the startup was sold for pennies on a dollar to Intel Education last week.
With the Internet and tablet devices, publishers themselves can now go directly for the students through digital products. There is no need for physical bookstores or other middlemen to distribute the textbooks. Also professors are now able to sell their own textbooks directly to students.
This IPO is not so much about the current business of renting physical textbooks but about the time after paper-based textbooks. Chegg apparently does not see a future with publishers or professors by their side, and they will probably choose more direct sales channels in order to balance out sinking margins.
From Books to Bytes: How Educational Technology is Engaging Students and Enhancing Learning
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Sponsored By: VitalSource |
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This presentation will begin on Tuesday, August 18, 2015 at 11:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time. |
http://event.on24.com/eventRegistration/EventLobbyServlet?target=lobby.jsp&eventid=1030139&sessionid=1&key=65FED8F873D5F1BF695F2E0D8A27ADCF&eventuserid=123437779
moderated by Linda Briggs
David Kent Director VOLSHOP (official bookstore) U of Tennessee, Knoxville
Lisa Kiefer, Managing Director Wakefield ResearchCindy Clarke Vice President Marketing, Vital Source Technologies
stats from presentation available here: http://web.stcloudstate.edu/informedia/blog/bytes_books.pdf or http://wcc.on24.com/event/10/30/13/9/rt/1/documents/slidepdf/vitalsource_campustechnologywebcast_finalslidedeck.pdf
methodology: 519 students from 4 years college and u/s
close to what keynote speaker at MN eSummit 2015 shared https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2015/07/29/mn-esummit-2015/ David Wiley, MN Learning Commons
students want formally taught life skills: interview for a job, balance checkbook and do taxes, how to take out and pay for student loans
Tennessee:
traditional 4 year school. cost is part of the program, not charged as a course fee. all materials avaiable first day of school and available in perpetuity. way below rental books prices. via LMS (BB). no printed textbooks. few books through websites, for books, which do not subscribe for the program. ebooks offered at the store. increasing titles selection. cost, learning outcomes. the outlook for digital in the future: already digital, but open for further development. expand courses offered, launching more programs with materials bundled and online course.
digital is easier to work with, deliver to customer,
business partnership (this is different now from https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2015/07/29/mn-esummit-2015/ David Wiley, MN Learning Commons). working closely with provost, cio, vital source. working with publishers to make sure that content is available>
business model: program bundle all the content and deliver to students and advertise periodically to students
the course fee model: charged to student account semester by semester bases. also student-paid method. all access model is better for everyone.
ebooks are important for the interactivity, collaboration
Q and As:
what was the students’ reaction moving to digital books. how traditional faculty are accepting the change. A: pilot group of several faculty and gradual roll out. early adopters influencing others.
does the content open on all devices? A: yes, device-agnostic. dedicated apps for iOS, Android, and Windows
disability? A: enhanced apps, migrate all PDF format to proprietory platform. epub and PDF content. user added epub content. Center for accessible material innovation, American Foundation for the blind, Tech for All etc
libraries do not provide course materials for students. clean division between campus store and library
BB admin is loading the codes in the LMS, but the idea is to load the information straight into BB. cio in charge. helpdesk support for vital provided by the cio department.
cost savings in percent for students digital to print. student pay model, ebooks can vary to new book price. ebooks even more expensive. with the course fee, 70% off rental. 3rd party operator may add 30%. all parties must be looking for reasonable margin. greater digital adoption results in lower costs for students.
digital alleviates dropout rate.
what course which don’t fit digital materials. life sciences and mathematics, science and engineering is landing itself well
how much interactive content and links to social media is incorporated.
How to Host and Promote a Twitter Chat
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-host-and-promote-a-twitter-chat/
listen to the show: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/?powerpress_pinw=86452-sme-show
#1: Define the Objective
Always start by defining the objective of your Twitter chat. Find a topic that will appeal to your target audience.
The chat needs to provide value to your audience to be successful. Don’t make it just about your company; tailor it to how you can help your community. For example, if you’re in the photography industry, invite guests to discuss photo editing tips, black-and-white photography, photography inspiration, etc.
An added benefit is that you can repurpose all of the chat contributions into a future blog post. Those who participated in the chat will appreciate having a summary of it, and readers who missed it will enjoy the insight.
#2: Identify Similar Chats
Once you’ve established an objective for your chat, find at least five Twitter chats similar to yours to gather ideas. You can find Twitter chats with tools like TweetReports and Gnosisarts.
TweetReports shows the scheduled times for chats on various topics.
Learn how these chats work. Observe how the host controls the flow of conversation and directs topics. Also find out which guests are invited, how many questions are posed, what times the chats are held and how they’re promoted.
Be sure to participate as well. Answer questions and engage with others. This allows you to build your expertise and gives you insight into what it’s like to participate in a Twitter chat.
#3: Set the Date and Time
#4: Choose a Hashtag
Now comes the fun part: naming your Twitter chat. Typically every chat hashtag ends with “chat” (for example, #mediachat, #influencerchat and #blogchat). Adding the word “chat” signals to people that it’s a Twitter chat instead of a regular hashtag or an event.
When choosing a hashtag, make sure it fits your brand. Also, check that it’s not a Twitter username and hasn’t been used as a hashtag previously.
Use Twitter search to see if your chat hashtag has been used before.
Brainstorm at least 15 chat names and then pick the best one. You might want to seek input from your co-workers.
After you select a hashtag, make sure that you register the Twitter username. You can use this account to hold your chats.
#5: Invite Guests
Next, make a list of at least 20 guests you want to invite.
Ideally, you want someone who has experience being a guest and is interested in holding Twitter chats. If you have an influential user who loves your company, consider inviting that person to be a guest, too.
#6: Prepare Questions
Once you have everything in place and have secured at least four guests in advance, start preparing questions. You’ll need about 7 to 10 questions for your guests. Send these questions to them at least 72 hours prior to the chat so they can prepare their responses.
During the chat, spread out the questions about 6 to 8 minutes apart. Ask your last question about 10 minutes before the end of the chat to allow time for the community to discuss it.
#7: Promote the Chat
The key to making your Twitter chat stand out is to promote it. Here are some ways to do that:
Partner With Other Chats
Partner with other chats to co-promote your chats.
Invite Fans
Promote your chat 12 to 24 hours prior to the event.
Send a Facebook event invite as another way to ask people to join your chat. This is a great way to make sure people will come and remember the date. You can also get word out by sending an email blast through your newsletter.
#8: Run the Chat
On the big day, you’ll need an outline to work from. Here’s a basic script for a Twitter chat.
Five Minutes Before the Chat
Our chat will start in a few minutes. In the meantime, please introduce yourself and what you do [#chatname].
Start of the Chat
It’s time for our [#chatname]! Tonight’s guest is @_____ from _____ who will share _____ with us.
Everyone, please welcome our guest _____ from @_____ to our [#chatname] tonight!
Two to Three Minutes Before the Chat Ends
Everyone, please thank @_____ from _____ for adding so much value to our [#chatname].
Next week we’ll have @_____ from _____, who will be discussing _____. See you next week!
Don’t forget to join (other Twitter chat that you partnered with) now! They have @_____ as their guest.
The easiest way to manage your chat is to use a tool like TweetChat. You can hide retweets so you see mentions only from people, which enables you to respond quickly. TweetChat also automatically adds the chat hashtag to your responses.
#9: Track Results
Digitised Necrophilia: Technology and Psychosocial Orientations in the Age of ISIS and Drone Strikes
https://www.academia.edu/14778214/Digitised_Necrophilia_Technology_and_Psychosocial_Orientations_in_the_Age_of_ISIS_and_Drone_Strikes
If ISIS’s images and drone strikes are symptoms of a necrophilous orientation in human-computer interaction today, what implications are there for those of us who maintain that digital technologies should be advanced toward a biophilous orientation that“ wish[es] to further growth, whether in a person, a plant, an idea, or a social group” (Fromm, 1973, p.365)?
Can Crowdfunding Pay for Teacher Professional Development?
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/the_startup_blog/2015/08/crowdfunding_feedback_for_teachers.html
Crowdfunding as a movement gained initial traction among platforms such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo, where people began soliciting a high volume of small donations to fund a litany of causes, ranging from starting a new comedy club, to funding innovative new products
For educators, platforms like DonorsChoose.org and PledgeCents can similarly be used to crowdfund donations for education-related causes.
Recently, however, I and many of my colleagues have been put off a bit by the proliferation of countless GoFundMe crowdfunding campaigns on Facebook, where individuals seek funding for their college tuition and personal debt. Does the spread of questionable personal campaigns make the general public less willing to invest in worthy campaigns
Content May Be King, But Branded Video Content Rules Marketing Tactics
http://www.inc.com/kelly-hoey/content-may-be-king-but-branded-video-content-rules-marketing-tactics.html
According to a study by Cisco:
- The number of mobile-connected devices exceeded the world’s population in 2014 and by 2019 there will be nearly 1.5 mobile devices per capita
- By 2019, more than half of all devices connected to the mobile network will be “smart” devices.
- Mobile video viewing was responsible for 55% of total mobile data traffic in 2014 and 72% of the world’s mobile data traffic will be video by 2019.
Vooza, Radimparency
Pizza Hut’s “Danger of Self Sticks PSA” which has been viewed nearly 4 million times on YouTube as well as Vooza’s “Startup Class” video
- Start with the audience. Figure out who you’re trying to reach with your content and then reverse engineer from there. For example, we like going after Apple because Apple fans are so insane about their products.
- Expect to roll out a lot of content consistently over time. It takes a while to build up an audience.
- Get an email list going–it’s still the best way to reach fans.
- Answer this question: “Why would people want to share this?” Because if people don’t share it organically, it probably won’t go far. For example, designers love sharing this CEO video with each other because they can all relate to the know-it-all CEO who thinks he/she knows best how to design a logo.
- The more heavy-handed you are with the sales pitch, the less likely people are to share it. Let the funny lead the way whenever possible.
- Don’t be so fearful to push people’s buttons. Have some edge. Make fun of people. HBO is great because there are no advertisers who say, “Don’t say that.”
- Find your intersection. What’s the thing that you can make that no one else can? That’s your island. For Vooza, it’s funny plus tech.
- Make it findable. Think about how people search for things online and get into that stream with the right headlines, keywords, etc.