iD8-TripleSSS is Off and Running in 2013!

(image courtesy of Times Union, Albany, NY)

Our New Year started with a flurry--both literally and figuratively. iD8-TripleSSS Media Development is located in the beautiful upstate New York area, and  literally, our winters are full of flurries and less than balmy yet we are made of hearty stock. Figuratively, an exciting new client invited us to submit proposals for creating content and developing several substantial online courses that are due to start imminently. One has already been awarded to us.

These opportunities both surprised and thrilled us, as our journey into digital educational content and course development is now well established. This burst of unexpected new business was so encouraging that it raised our confidence about meeting and possibly exceeding our 2013 goals.  We invite you to talk to us about it!

A new business model, however, has emerged for us to add to our company. It is service as a product and with it increased ways for us to expand. Service may mean creating custom products for specific clients or it may mean providing “everything content” while also starting to offer our own courseware—blended class/online learning will be required in all markets within in two years. This is an exciting initiative for us that creates opportunity that does not compete with our current client base.

We invite you to share in our goals, which include:

1.  Continuing to provide development and content to all our clients in the digital space as well as the print/blended spaces.

2.  Breaking into new markets while acknowledging existing business has evolved almost wholly into digital opportunities.

3.  Meeting face to face with and listening to our clients’ needs, present and future.

4.  Talking with educators and administrators in the K-12 market-space as well as our postsecondary spaces, and trying to determine how best to meet those needs.

5. Relying on our staff, the very heart of our business, to grow and learn with us, as we create the content that will always serve as the fabric of educational publishing.

As the business climate of educational publishing has shifted, so have the opportunities for us to grow. Growth is never something we take lightly, especially in this still-struggling economy coupled with the excitement of digital transition in educational publishing. As an organization based on a service model, we pride ourselves on being  flexible, customer focused and devoted to quality. 

Thank you for trusting us on this educational journey. We are there and ready to take those next steps with you. 

In Attendance at EdNet2012

Earlier this month I attended EdNet2012, a major networking conference for professionals involved in the educational market-space. There were lots of technology organizations there. Large organizations such as Kno and Overdrive, and up-and-comers like us, iD8-TripleSSS, who were there to learn and make new contacts. Although the conference saddled the educational market-space, the sessions and companies were dominated by players in the K-12 market.

Several promising connections were made at EdNet, especially with technology partners that build or have functional products essential to our future service offerings.  We had meetings with companies that have state-of-the-art platforms for e-learning, m-learning and everything in between. We also met with some fun companies that may not be a direct fit, but have really wonderful products meant to engage kids of all ages-including me. The company that particularly stands out is FableVision.  Check out their Mayan Mysteries social studies adventure that is hot off the press.

iD8-TripleSSS has always been strong in higher education and, the vocational and career markets. We have a smaller, but steady flow of business in K-12 including key areas such as STEM and several of the health professions. We are currently creating content for the lower grades for a 2013 App release and some other smaller products. Perhaps our biggest take-away from EdNet is that it has motivated us to move swiftly towards some new business initiatives in the K-12 area that will transition some of our services into a “service- as - product model” - stay tuned for more on this in later posts.

There were specific themes that came up over and over in EdNet and I want to share them:

• Implementing the Common Core on a state-by-state basis
• New online models
• Digitally enhanced learning
• Assessments, data, analytics
• Adaptive testing
• Interactive textbook platforms
• Blended learning solutions
• School options
• Solutions for the special needs population
• Models of instruction and design

Over the next few months we will elaborate more on these themes and bring in some guest bloggers to share their thoughts. I continue to be excited, motivated and grateful to work in educational publishing at a time when there is so much opportunity to innovate and set new standards in learning. 

Marion