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On a turning point
“the school world
is changing and
learning materials need to change accord-
ingly. We are at a turning point, seeking a
new direction and learning new things,” says
Katriina Laturi
, Product Manager for
comprehensive school and upper second-
ary school materials. “Learning materials are
reshaping and extending their borders. They
are no longer comprised of a text book and
the teacher’s material only, but encompass
various electronic materials in addition to
the traditional printed material – exercises
related to the textbook, for instance.”
In 2011, Edita Publishing published a network-
based refresher course for history and a
demo version of online learning materials
for Finnish language and literature, for grades
7–9 of high school. Currently the company is
preparing electronic exercise material for the
new history textbook series for grades 7–9.
“Electronic learning materials require
both authors and the editorial staff to adopt
a new way of thinking,” Laturi says. “In com-
parison to textbooks, electronic materi-
als have a particular structure, requiring the
usability and functionality of the product to
be designed carefully. A good concept is not
enough – the product must be of high peda-
gogical quality and genuinely benefit the stu-
dent. Whether it is a printed book or elec-
tronic material, the content is the key.”
•
Truly needed books
edita publishing’s unit
for vocational
learning materials and vocational informa-
tion produces materials for students in high
school and higher educational institutions.
Learning materials for social and health care
services are produced with the future in
mind. “In the next few years, our clientele
will keep on growing,” says Development
Manager
Sanna-Mari Hovi
. “As the popu-
lation ages, more and more nursing and care
services will be needed. The number of stu-
dents at the educational institutions of this
sector will be increased, and consequently
the number of students using these materi-
als will grow.”
In learning material production, the
recruitment of authors is a crucial suc-
cess factor. The best authors can be found
through networking, meetings with teachers
and keeping an eye on progress in the sector.
“We actively gather feedback and user infor-
mation on our books,” Hovi says. “One of
the successes in 2011 was a book that helps
young students find their place in health
care and society at large. Another book that
has received extremely good feedback is a
Finnish textbook for health care students
and professionals. The success of the book
is an indication that the number of health
care students and patients who do not speak
Finnish as their native language is growing.”
Competition in the field is tough but neces-
sary. “ Competition keeps you wide awake
and focused. It is great to produce books that
are needed.”
•
Good message works
“good content functions
well,
regardless of the distribution channel,“ says
Mikko Taivainen
, Managing Editor at
Edita Publishing’s publication services. ” First,
you consider what your message and target
groups are, then you select the appropri-
ate channel: printed or electronic media or a
combination of the two.”
In 2011, publication service business area
was developed in many ways. The service
concept of stakeholder publications was
refined with “the content is the decisive fac-
tor” approach, in order to redirect attention
from the distribution channels back to the
content.
”If the content is not what it should be,
the distribution channel will not save the
day,“ Taivainen says. ”First, you should think
carefully about what you want to say and to
whom. After that, you choose the channel
for this target group.“
Since customers are reflecting on the
roles of printed and digital publishing in their
communications, stakeholder publication
processes were fine-tuned to better meet
the requirements of multichannel publishing.
Digital competence was developed by inten-
sifying cooperation with Citat and by training
the staff.
Other focus areas were sales and bringing
in new customers. The main new customer
acquisition of 2011 was the pharmaceuti-
cal distributor Tamro. Services provided to
Tamro include the Tampuriini magazine, pub-
lished 20 times a year.
•
Katriina Laturi
Sanna-Mari Hovi
Mikko Taivanen
bus i ness
publ i shing
22
edita’s year 2011