Magic Studio

Five years ago, in the Summer of 2003, the Department for Education and Skills published a document entitled ‘The Value Chain for Digital Learning Content in England’.

The purpose of the document was

to provide a commonly understood model and language for the Digital Learning Content market in England. It represents the value that is added to digital learning content through the key stages from conception to use. It also depicts the key roles undertaken by organisations involved in these stages (p.3).

The document focuses on a linear model of economic value throughout the chain.

So, why are we revisiting it now?  Well, a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then.  The report was commissioned as part of the Curriculum Online Programme – COL has since come and gone, and is widely regarded in some quarters as not having fulfilled its potential as a ‘content marketplace’. 

But more significant are the rapid changes in technology that have and are impacting on the so-called economic value chain for digital content. 

It’s worth revisiting some key elements of the original document; it provided a summary of the top level Value Chain, where digital learning content flows through stages, with actors at each stage (in bold) adding more value and creating a new ‘output’.  In brief:

1. Education Needs Market Analysts take policy objectives, educational aims and performance data (as Curriculum Information) and Management Information and Usage Feedback from the use of digital learning content from learners, teachers and parents. They identify gaps between policy objectives and actual performance. These are then fed into the Commissioner as Unmet Needs.

2. The Commissioner takes this input and provides a Commissioned Brief that addresses the Unmet Needs to the Producer.

3. The Producer takes a Commissioned Brief and, through a combination of Existing Content acquired from Rights Owner(s) and newly created content and various production processes, delivers Produced Content to the publisher.

4. The Publisher takes the Produced Content and publishes it through a combination of the use of their brand (in the role of Imprint Owner) and by cataloguing it as a product for sale (in the role of Product Cataloguer) as Published Content.

5. In the broadest sense, the role of a Retailer in the market is to take Published Content and ‘take it to market’ and thereby enable it to be Acquired Content by customers. Whether purchased or unpaid for, it is released in some way, possibly without restriction or alternatively subject to registration or other licence conditions.

6. Once customers have Acquired Content, the role of the Fulfilment Agent is to get the product physically to the end user as Delivered Content.

7. Physically Delivered Content can then be used by an Educator to transfer knowledge, skills and understanding to learners.

As a linear economic value chain, this model appears to stand the test of time and a lot of valuable digital learning content is being produced and delivered within this framework. 

However, what has changed in the meantime is the emergence of enabling technologies that effectively support every stage in the value chain in one place. 

More specifically, the evolution of Web2.0 style services and Web Applications means that we have a scenario where this entire value chain is conflated and compressed so that a single individual can fulfil each stage and role within a matter of minutes.  And this can all be done from within the end users’ own ‘delivery environment’ i.e. through the web browser.

As an example, a teacher is working with a browser-based learning platform that is pre-loaded with the necessary curriculum information.  Using a re-use tool (e.g. Magic Studio Pro!), the teacher can select raw assets (freely available and copyright-cleared) that they want to use to prepare or create digital learning content.  Whilst they are building the resource on the interactive whiteboard in the classroom it is also delivered simultaneously to learners, providing an immediate feedback loop.  When they are happy to do so, the teacher chooses to ’share’ these same resources with other teachers for them to re-use.  All from within the same browser pages.

So, they assess the learning requirement, commission and produce the resource, provide it to learners and take their feedback, publish and deliver it to the market.  In the space of a few minutes.

As an alternative model, this offers the potential for empowerment, flexibility, sustainability and all very cost-effective and time-efficient.

The value chain for digital learning content in today’s Web2.0 world is more relevant than ever … it’s just that now we can all participate to a much greater extent than previously in each stage and role – and we can conflate it all down into a process of a few minutes.   Doing so therefore gives the end user much greater control and influence.  The value chain becomes a value-for-money chain.