Use technology and innovative business
models to lower costs, increase access,
and personalize learning worldwide.
Jeff Shelstad
Founder and CEO
Flat World Knowledge
(845) 825-9501
jeff@flatworldknowledge.com
Who is Flat World Knowledge?
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Five (5) year old educational start-up
20 miles due north of NYC
Focused on higher education segment
Well funded (BDMI/RHI/Bessemer +)
Publisher: A content and platform company
• Live, exclusive content from authors
• Personalized MIYO content for faculty
• Choice of format/device agnostic - students
– Leading on access and affordability
– Changing an industry
"All rights reserved"
a phrase that originated in
copyright law as part of
copyright notices. It indicates
that the copyright holder
reserves, or holds for their
own use, all the rights
provided by copyright law,
such as distribution,
performance, and creation of
derivative works; that is, they
have not waived any such
right.
Most --- Restrictive --- Least
Rights/Licenses
“4R’s of Open-ness”
Reuse - right to copy and use verbatim copies
Revise - right to adapt, rework, and improve
Remix - right to combine into new OERs
Redistribute - right to share derivatives
Open Content Options
So what do we really do…..
Flat World Business Model
1.
great authors….
great content (textbooks)
fully
supported
top
authors
professionally
developed
Digital First – Six (6) Formats!
Pass CONTROL to the
Local Expert
2.
Faculty/Institution
openly licensed
openly
licensed
MIYO
4 R’s
Pass CONTROL to the
Local Expert
Our Core Principles:
q Core value for professor (course owner) is control;
q All professors personalize, most via syllabus;
q Intuitive User Interface can scale personalization;
q Economics of “1” in business (faculty/student);
q Professor derivatives will feed the “long tail” – catalog.
“In all the years I’ve been a professor,
we’ve never had the perfect book.
Now we do—and it’s affordable.”
– Dr. Scott Hunt, Econ Committee Chair, Columbus State CC
The Magic of MIYO…
1. Professor creates a derivative and publishes…and
2. MIYO rebuilds the book (toc, index, pagination, etc.)
3. MIYO generates multiple learning formats (6)
• Web-Books (HTML)
• Soft Cover Books (PDF High-Res)
• Print-it-Yourself Books (PDF Low-Res)
• Mobile Reader Books (ePub & .mobi for iPad, Kindle, etc.)
• Accessible Books (Daisy-Readable and Digital Braille)
• Audio Books (.MP3); delivered in browser (ReadSpeak)
3.
Access + Affordability + Choice = Learning
Two Models of Student Consumption:
• “Freemium”
• Institutional
Freemium
• Access = Learning
• Recent Study – 70% students forego at least 1 text
• 78% know it will impact their performance
• Flat World - Free HTML access from Day One
• Affordability and Choice
• All Access Digital Pass (AADP) = $34.95
• Bookstore Product → Discounted
• From FWK site → $34.95
• HTML + PDF + ePub + Mobi + Audio + SA
• Soft Cover Books (POD) = $34.95 B&W + S&H
• Discounted to student w/ purchase of AADP
• Bookstore POD can also be discussed
Institutional Licensing
1. One fee per student per course (100% enrollment)
2. Starting at $24.95/student with 2,000 students/2 years
3. Digital Access for this $24.95 fee (or lower)
• Web-Book (HTML)
• Print-it-Yourself Books (PDF)
• Mobile Reader Books (ePub & .mobi for iPad, Kindle, etc.)
• Audio Books (.MP3)
• Digital Study Aids (Quizzes; Flashcards; Audio Study Guides)
4. Print options also available
5. Consistent experience across all students
• 150+ Authors; 55 titles
• 65 available by March 12
• 50%+ from competitors
• 2,000+ Total Faculty
• 1,200+ Institutions
• 420 / 1,160 / 2,500
• 350,000+ Acad. Yr. 2011;
• 800K+ in Acad. Yr. 2012
• 44 countries worldwide
U
Income
Start with Quality
Free Access
Market Share
Make it Better (or not)
Affordable Choices
Customer Retention
Control New Editions
Fit to Learning Style
Social Impact
Affordability & Access
Improved Outcomes!
Our results
Specific Title Availability
Flat World was founded on Business School books.You'll love our
authors and our books with titles ranging from Accounting to
Marketing. (56)
Humanities and Social Sciences - Our MIYO customization
platform and reasonable price points make this is our fastest
growing publishing area. Check out our super star authors and
great texts. (23)
Sciences - The demand is high, and you'll see why from the
great authors and titles we have listed here today. (5)
Professional and Applied Sciences - Books for courses like the
"Freshman Experience" and "Career Success" (3)
Kicking off Mathematics with Algebra texts, online homework
and testing software. (3)
Case Studies
Current SJSU Users – THANKS!
Elizabeth Grace – Baranoff RM/Insurance
Tina Lim – McLean Business Communication
Jeffrey Gaines – Gallaugher Info. Systems
Mike Jerbic – McLean Business English
Cerritos College
Remote Learners Have Access
case studies
“…the pilot was a
tremendous
success. The
retention rate was
90.2 percent,
representing an
increase of 10 to
15%... For an
educator, it does
not get any better
than that.”
Prof. Bob Livingston - Cerritos
• Lastly, in my Retail Management (RMC)
FastTrack program...the BA115 Business
Management class last semester with a $200+
textbook: 55% retention.
• I just completed the same course last week
using the Flat World Knowledge textbook:
80.7% retention.
• That’s a 45% improvement!
Cerritos College
Starts with One (1) Pilot Adoption (Intro to Business) in Fall 2008…..
From Bob Livingston (Professor) in December 2011:
On another note: I'm setting up classes for next semester and I'm astonished at how many FWK books we are now
using or are in the process of using. Of the 61 sections we are offering in the Spring 2012, 42 (69%) will use FWK
books...that's amazing. Three books that we most recently adopted have replaced $150-$200+ books: International
Business, Human Resources, and Small Business Management. Here's what it looks like:
1. BA100 Fundamentals of Business (12 sections), Exploring Business, Collins
2. BA101 International Business (3 sections), International Business, Carpenter & Dunung
3. BA106 Human Resources (5 sections), Human Resource Management, Dias
4. BA107 Human Relations (3 sections), Organizational Behavior, Bauer & Erdogan
5. BA110 Advertising (1 section), Launch! Advertising & Promotion in Real Time, Solomon, et al
6. BA114 Marketing (4 sections), Principles of Marketing, Tanner & Raymond
7. BA115 Management (5 sections), Principles of Management, Carpenter, et al
8. BA120 Management Accounting & Control (3 sections), Essentials of Managerial Accounting, Heisinger & Hoyle
9. BA121 Sales (1 section), The Power of Selling, Richmond
10. BA153 Small Business Management (2 sections), Small Business Management, Cadden & Lueder
11. BA156 Motivational Presentation Skills for Managers (1 section), Business Communication for Success, McLean
12. BA157 Public Relations (2 sections), Business English for Success, McLean
13. BA200 Principles of Banking and BA201 Money & Banking (offered Fall), Money & Banking, Wright & Quadrini
14. BA204 Project Management (offered Fall), Project Management, Darnall & Preston
15. BA210 Managing Green Sustainability, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship, Larson
16. BCOT 45 Business Writing for Managers (offered Fall), Business English for Success, McLean
Ability to Modify
Affordability
Before
Now
Quality is equivalent
Save $171 per person
$206.67
•
$34.95
Saved > $100,000
per semester
(680 students)
What Did Students Choose?
Bought print book
31%
Bought pieces (PDF chapters,
study guides)
64%
5%
Didn't buy book
Impact on Learning
Final Percentage in Class
89
89
88
Difference was statistically
significant even after we
controlled for incoming GPA
Course Percentage
87
86
85
85
84
83
82
Purchased Print (n=203)
Didn't Purchase Print (n=427)
Possible Explanations
1. “Free” might translate to less effort
2. Marking-up and note-taking not the
same yet
3. Studying on devices presents more
distractions
4. Can’t “see and feel” accomplishments
Virginia State University
Institutional Licensing
case studies
Since Fall of 2010:
• VSU students have registered for 3,000 FWK textbooks;
• Received unmatched digital access and exposure; and
• Saved almost $300,000!
• 15% Increase in Retention
• 20%+ Increase in Course GPA