Publishers Must Adapt as New Technologies and Theories of Learning Drive Major Changes in K-12 Education Market

October 9, 2007 -- K-12 textbook and education technology consultant Lee Wilson explores the sea change transforming the educational services industry in a 3-part series on his Education Business Blog. Wilson points to technology as the catalyst driving the new trends in the market. These changes, he asserts, are “…affecting every aspect of our business including how products are created, priced, sold, packaged, promoted, and even what the basic definition of a product is.” Guest blogger Paul Schumann of Glocal Vantage, Inc, notes that three major changes to the K-12 market are underway: (1) new theories of learning; (2) utilization of social technologies; and (3) collaborative user-generated content. As part of their discussion of the trends in the industry, both Wilson and Schumann explore the growth of technology-based, open content as a potential threat to the publishing industry, as well as the increasing substitution of technology-based supplemental materials for the print-based materials more common in the past.