Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Unveils HMH Marketplace: A New Online Destination to Discover, Share and Sell Digital Learning Tools and Teacher-Created Content
BOSTON, MA —Global learning company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) today announced HMH Marketplace — an online destination for educators to discover, share and sell resources that enhance the teaching and learning experience. Launching in early 2016, the beta version of HMH Marketplace will feature applications created by edtech developers and start-ups, from digital learning tools to games and classroom resources, as well as original content made by teachers for teachers, such as lesson plans and instructional materials.
For educators, the HMH Marketplace will streamline the search for supplementary education applications that integrate with and support core curriculum, as well as provide an opportunity to market and sell their own original instructional tools and content. For edtech start-ups, developers and teacher-sellers, the HMH Marketplace will offer innovative and interoperable solutions in one seamless offering for teachers.
“The goal of the Marketplace is to provide a simple way for educators to find applications and resources that add value to the learning experience, without the hassle of an exhaustive search, additional log-ins or technical integration with their existing platforms,” says Brook Colangelo, Chief Technology Officer at HMH. “By leveraging HMH APIs through our newDeveloper Portal, developers can also ensure that their solutions connect seamlessly with HMH’s ecosystem, providing a tailored solution for educators in a unified Marketplace experience.”
HMH Marketplace, designed by HMH Labs to fuel third party innovation, follows the May 2015 launch of HMH’s online Developer Portal, in which edtech developers, designers and educators can leverage HMH APIs to create learning applications that meet the evolving needs of today’s students, teachers and parents. To date, over 200 developers have signed up to the Portal, including Spritz, a digital reading technology designed to enable enhanced comprehension and focus.
“Through access to HMH APIs, we are now able to create a custom Spritz reader for HMH content that will support learners who experience challenges with traditional reading methods,” commented Frank Waldman, CEO and Co-Founder of Spritz. “HMH Marketplace provides us with a channel to reach HMH’s extensive customer base with an integrated, supplementary tool that enables more effective teaching and learning.”
Almost 100 developers participated in the Company’s inaugural Curious Codefest, a 24-hour developer challenge in the Company’s HQ city of Boston in June 2015. To mark the launch ofHMH Marketplace, HMH will host a second challenge, Curious Classroom, an online contest for teachers designed to spotlight effective and original resources that have fostered curiosity in the classroom. Beginning October 1, each entrant will be invited to share a video at curiousclassroom.hmhco.com showcasing the impact of their resource, with public voting beginning in November. Winning entries will receive technology and resources, including Google Chromebooks, SMART Boards and HMH content, as well as the opportunity to be featured in the HMH Marketplace beta program.
“By featuring solutions from both edtech developers and experienced teachers in the Marketplace, we can offer a unique combination of content that we believe will help transform the learning experience for our customers,” added Claudia Reuter, VP of HMH Labs. “For example, an educator searching for an engaging lesson plan to help teach literacy skills will also be able to explore digital games or other edtech applications that could tie in with their core reading curriculum — all in one place. We’re excited about the possibilities and think the participation of several companies already, including Spritz and education.com, is a good indicator of what’s to come.”
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (NASDAQ:HMHC) is a global learning company dedicated to changing people’s lives by fostering passionate, curious learners. As a leading provider of pre-K-12 education content, services, and cutting-edge technology solutions across a variety of media, HMH enables learning in a changing landscape. HMH is uniquely positioned to create engaging and effective educational content and experiences from early childhood to beyond the classroom. HMH serves more than 50 million students in over 150 countries worldwide, while its award-winning children’s books, novels, non-fiction, and reference titles are enjoyed by readers throughout the world. For more information, visit www.hmhco.com.
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