May 26 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)
Q & A `UNPLUG' LEARNING
JORGE CAUZ, president, Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc, transformed the 246-year-old company from a publisher primarily of printed reference works into a developer of digital education products. Cauz talks to Malini Sen
You have taken Britannica beyond its traditional base in reference into broader educational markets, such as curriculum, e-learning and language instruction. Could you share your journey with us?
The story of our journey can be explained in two different ways.
One is what is relevant for the Encyclopaedia Britannica brand -a brand that was created in 1768. Back then the mission of the company was to bring expert knowledge to as many people as possible. Obviously, back then, it took the shape of our print set. To bring expert knowledge to as many people as possible, one would have to be independent of the print medium, and be fully digital so that we can expand.The other part of the journey is our digital technologies that have allowed us to create new channels where Britannica can provide more meaningful prod ucts and add value. We are active participants in the learning process, and are going beyond the general reference and trying to educate students in more basic skills -English language, mathematical or science. So, we have created a different product line within the Britannica name.
Why did you feel the need to move from printed reference material to digital educational resources?
Print has limited space and to keep in tune with the times we needed to move beyond simply reference material. We needed to enter the educational resources market offering solutions at every level.
Technology has revolutionised every part of our lives, we needed to harness the potential of technology and move into e-resources globally where there are no limits, no boundaries.
The move from printed encyclopaedia to digital education resources has to do with the fact that educational resources are compliant with the Britannica brand where the main vision and mission of the company is to help our users and readers to improve the understanding of the universe in which we live.
We are becoming more of an everyday provider of informa tion and learning resources in classrooms. Before, we used to have only editors at Britannica.
Today, we have learning specialists, teachers, curriculum specialists and instructional designers that are building with us and helping us build new learning solutions for the market, where adaptability, interactivity and personalised learning are important.
How has the role of the teacher changed with the advent of technology?
The role of the teacher is more to coach than instruct.
Teachers and students can both modify and transform the e-content to suit their needs. The learning material is not that rigid any longer.
The role of the teacher has changed significantly and will continue to change over the coming years. In the past, the teacher was the person responsible for delivering instructions.
In the future, we will have more sophisticated digital teaching solutions, in addition.
Could you elaborate on the strategy for India and the role Britannica is playing?
Our strategy for India is quite robust. India was one of my first assignments at Britannica. We are keen to provide learning solutions. India is an important market and a place where we can actually create content.
Since 2009, Britannica Learning has been designing and developing curricular learning solutions in India, consisting of textbooks, interactive student and teacher resources, and providing teacher training to achieve desired learning outcomes and promote higher order thinking skills in the preK-10 segment for English, maths, science, social studies, general knowledge and IT.
Britannica Digital Learning is leveraging its extensive, mediarich global digital repositories, which are level and topic referenced, to enable enquiry-based and exploratory learning within the classroom and at home. The interactive content and games bring fun to learning. We also ensure that the resources are contextualised to be relevant to the Indian market.
How do you propose to `unplug' the library and take it to the classroom and homes?
The library has already been unplugged. A library is everywhere and is becoming a portable entity that is readily accessible to each one of us.
Before, knowledge was limited, but today it is readily available to us through a simple click of a mouse or a touch of a screen.
We have to distinguish between knowledge and other information. The library has not been unplugged by anyone; it now coexists in the classroom today in the digital devices students bring in the classroom as well as those that are available at home. I think the library now is omnipresent. One of the things we are noticing today is that the traditional library building is transforming itself into many other things, such as a community centre, and technology centre, into a place where knowledge sharing takes place. The new form of library is becoming an important part of knowledge and learning environment as these are the places where professionals are concentrated and there is guidance with important tips as to where a person needs to go to find reliable and trustworthy information.
What is your vision for the company in the next five years?
My vision for the company in the next five years is to continue to grow beyond 15% a year and our digital solutions in the K-12 market. We need to improve and continue creating new learning solutions. The main focus of our company today is to be a premier player in the K-12 learning space and for that we have been creating new digital solutions and a full line of curriculum products. And the other part is the traditional goal of Britannica -that of satisfying the knowledge needs of the intellectually curious person that we call the casual learner. We are proactively asking users and experts to participate with us in the creation of new content. So, the focus is twofold -the casual learner market as well as the K12 learning space.
The story of our journey can be explained in two different ways.
One is what is relevant for the Encyclopaedia Britannica brand -a brand that was created in 1768. Back then the mission of the company was to bring expert knowledge to as many people as possible. Obviously, back then, it took the shape of our print set. To bring expert knowledge to as many people as possible, one would have to be independent of the print medium, and be fully digital so that we can expand.The other part of the journey is our digital technologies that have allowed us to create new channels where Britannica can provide more meaningful prod ucts and add value. We are active participants in the learning process, and are going beyond the general reference and trying to educate students in more basic skills -English language, mathematical or science. So, we have created a different product line within the Britannica name.
Why did you feel the need to move from printed reference material to digital educational resources?
Print has limited space and to keep in tune with the times we needed to move beyond simply reference material. We needed to enter the educational resources market offering solutions at every level.
Technology has revolutionised every part of our lives, we needed to harness the potential of technology and move into e-resources globally where there are no limits, no boundaries.
The move from printed encyclopaedia to digital education resources has to do with the fact that educational resources are compliant with the Britannica brand where the main vision and mission of the company is to help our users and readers to improve the understanding of the universe in which we live.
We are becoming more of an everyday provider of informa tion and learning resources in classrooms. Before, we used to have only editors at Britannica.
Today, we have learning specialists, teachers, curriculum specialists and instructional designers that are building with us and helping us build new learning solutions for the market, where adaptability, interactivity and personalised learning are important.
How has the role of the teacher changed with the advent of technology?
The role of the teacher is more to coach than instruct.
Teachers and students can both modify and transform the e-content to suit their needs. The learning material is not that rigid any longer.
The role of the teacher has changed significantly and will continue to change over the coming years. In the past, the teacher was the person responsible for delivering instructions.
In the future, we will have more sophisticated digital teaching solutions, in addition.
Could you elaborate on the strategy for India and the role Britannica is playing?
Our strategy for India is quite robust. India was one of my first assignments at Britannica. We are keen to provide learning solutions. India is an important market and a place where we can actually create content.
Since 2009, Britannica Learning has been designing and developing curricular learning solutions in India, consisting of textbooks, interactive student and teacher resources, and providing teacher training to achieve desired learning outcomes and promote higher order thinking skills in the preK-10 segment for English, maths, science, social studies, general knowledge and IT.
Britannica Digital Learning is leveraging its extensive, mediarich global digital repositories, which are level and topic referenced, to enable enquiry-based and exploratory learning within the classroom and at home. The interactive content and games bring fun to learning. We also ensure that the resources are contextualised to be relevant to the Indian market.
How do you propose to `unplug' the library and take it to the classroom and homes?
The library has already been unplugged. A library is everywhere and is becoming a portable entity that is readily accessible to each one of us.
Before, knowledge was limited, but today it is readily available to us through a simple click of a mouse or a touch of a screen.
We have to distinguish between knowledge and other information. The library has not been unplugged by anyone; it now coexists in the classroom today in the digital devices students bring in the classroom as well as those that are available at home. I think the library now is omnipresent. One of the things we are noticing today is that the traditional library building is transforming itself into many other things, such as a community centre, and technology centre, into a place where knowledge sharing takes place. The new form of library is becoming an important part of knowledge and learning environment as these are the places where professionals are concentrated and there is guidance with important tips as to where a person needs to go to find reliable and trustworthy information.
What is your vision for the company in the next five years?
My vision for the company in the next five years is to continue to grow beyond 15% a year and our digital solutions in the K-12 market. We need to improve and continue creating new learning solutions. The main focus of our company today is to be a premier player in the K-12 learning space and for that we have been creating new digital solutions and a full line of curriculum products. And the other part is the traditional goal of Britannica -that of satisfying the knowledge needs of the intellectually curious person that we call the casual learner. We are proactively asking users and experts to participate with us in the creation of new content. So, the focus is twofold -the casual learner market as well as the K12 learning space.
