Responding to community needs and inquiries, Penguin Random House formally stated on Tuesday that it is “permitting teachers, librarians and booksellers to create and share story time and read-aloud videos and live events,” according to publicly posted guidelines. Teachers and educators providing distance learning in a virtual classroom setting can conduct story time or read-aloud videos with PRH books through closed educational platforms (such as Google Classroom, Schoology, Edmodo and Discovery Education.) Videos posted to YouTube must be designated as “unlisted” when uploading, and then can be linked to from within a closed educational platform. The permission lasts until the end […]
Education
Education: Epic! Shares, Publishers Change Permissions For Sharing During Crisis
Epic!, which operates a digital learning platform for educators and students, is expanding free access to their collection of over 40,000 books, audiobooks, videos and more. The company is allowing all registered educators and librarians the ability to extend free remote access to the platform to their students, through the end of the school year, June 30. Educators need to send digital invitations to their students to participate (which means they need to know how to reach their students or their parents by email). The company says over a million educators, in over 90 percent of US elementary schools, already […]
Educational Publishers Offer Free Resources for Home Learning
With schools closing around the world — including system-wide closures in 33 states in the US and Washington, DC — and districts racing to develop remote learning programs, educational publishers, booksellers, and nonprofits are helping families and educators with free offerings. Scholastic has curated a Learn at Home resource for families, teachers, and administrators. The “free digital learning hub” is “designed to support virtual learning plans” and has four offerings: preK and kindergarten; grades 1 and 2; grades 3 to 5; and grades 6+. It provides “approximately three hours of learning opportunities per day, for up to four weeks of instruction,” […]
DOJ Ready to Deal on Cengage McGraw-Hill Merger, Sources Say
The DOJ plans to approve the merger of Cengage and McGraw-Hill, if the companies agree to divest some overlapping assets, unnamed sources told the NY York Post. “There’s going to be a deal. The parties are doing the work so they understand the package that needs to be offered,” the source said. “Any areas of overlap,” such as business textbooks, “will have to be sold to get Justice’s stamp of approval, sources added.” A representative for the companies declined to comment on the story. According to the companies’ financials, before any divestitures the combined entity would have $3.16 billion in […]
Australian Antitrust Commission Has Some Concerns About Cengage McGraw-Hill Merger
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) released a 17-page statement of issues regarding the planned merger of Cengage and McGraw-Hill, the result of a review begun in September. The report outlines two primary “preliminary concerns”: First, that the merger will result in “higher prices, reduced quality or a more limited product range for students in Australia”; and second, that it will “further reduce the already limited number of major publishers with whom higher education authors can publish their works.” Interested parties have until January 20 to submit comments and information, with a final decision due from the commission March […]
College Store Trade Group Tells Cengage It Opposes the McGraw-Hill Merger, But Hasn’t Yet Told the DOJ
The College Store Trade Group has expressed opposition to the Cengage/McGraw-Hill merger, according to a letter obtained by the Capitol Forum. Previously, the Trade Group, which represents more than 3,000 college bookstores, had told the DOJ it was neutral on the merger. That position apparently changed when Cengage informed bookstores that it was revising its pricing structure for certain digital-access products. Formerly, bookstores received a 20 percent discount on some products, allowing the bookstores to make a profit while still matching these products’ pricing on the Cengage site. But as of December 14, Cengage no longer will offer stores the […]