3 min read
2016/10/17
Traditional book fairs — and the education that drives them — are changing, and Avallain is proud to be part of the process. Almost a dozen companies with solutions powered by Avallain will attend the 68th Frankfurt Book Fair (FBF) this year.
A 17th century tradition, updated.
As the digital world grows, so does the number of educational technology conferences: Edtech and e-learning fairs are sprouting up all around the world in places from Hong Kong to Brazil.1 But the folks at these new tech fairs aren’t the only ones showcasing the latest in digital learning resources. Many traditional book fairs are getting in on the technological action, too.
The London Book Fair, for example, sponsors Tech Tuesdays throughout the year, and the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair offers an eZone for its participants. The Frankfurt Book Fair, one of the largest and oldest book fairs, and with a story more than 500 years old, now promises to grant access to “the full spectrum of digital trends and technological developments in the publishing industry.”2 With technologically focused “Hot Spots” in a centuries-old book fair, it’s clear that the traditional book fair has evolved.
By combining our strengths, we are experts together.
At Avallain, we aim to help our customers evolve in much the same way that the book fairs have evolved — by utilizing experience and existing didactic materials as a foundation from which to expand into the digital world. Some of our customers, such as Oxford University Press (OUP) and Cambridge University Press (CUP), have hundreds of years of experience and published didactic material to build upon. We combine those strengths with our strengths in education technology and digital publishing to help them excel digitally and offer unified cross media content to their users.
Our collaboration with Westermann, for instance, resulted in Denken und Rechnen(“Thinking and Numeracy”), a primary maths learning environment that supports differentiated learning by allowing teachers to respond to the needs of individuals. This resource was created based on Westermann’s existing textbooks and also includes enhanced, interactive versions of the books. It was delivered by Avallain Author and developed on the Avallain Unity platform, integrating the best in both print and digital to support teachers and students alike.
Avallain Author and Avallain Unity add a dynamic digital dimension.
Westermann will be exhibiting at the Frankfurt Book Fair, as will many of our other customers, including OUP, Difusión, Macmillan Education, CUP, Pearson Education, Cornelsen Verlag, Deutscher Volkshochschul-Verband (VHS) and Jouve, all of whom benefit from enhancing their portfolios with either or both Avallain Author and Avallain Unity.
OUP uses Avallain Author and Avallain Unity to power Kerboodle, the largest teaching and learning service supported by Unity, and Oxford Owl, a 2016 Bett Award winning website for primary schools. Difusión adds a digital dimension to their print repertoire by offering Avallain-powered Spanish teaching resources to their users. And Macmillan Education has combined more than 5,000 of their high quality resources3 with Avallain technology in order to bring Macmillan English Campus to English learners around the world. We are delighted to be part of our customers’ wonderful products, and to have our technology be showcased through some of them at the fair.
We wish our clients and partners great success at the Frankfurt Book Fair, and we look forward to meeting some of you there. We are excited at the prospect of having discussions about edtech and the latest digital publishing trends in the halls of one of the world’s oldest book fairs.
