Posts by Ross Battaglia
Future-proofing with diacriTech
Smarter conversion strategies and delivery mechanisms, intelligent workflow automations and tools, and tactical solutions to production challenges: these are the top essentials to address the growth prospects, changes, and latest trends in the global content publishing market, which is witnessing huge transformations.
As the publishing landscape has evolved, so have we at diacriTech (a leading Publishing Solutions provider for Content Transformation and Digital Content Services—specialising in the Education, Scientific, Technical, and Medical [STM], and Trade industry) through developing effective niche content strategies. Read on to understand how we operate in the hybrid world of print and digital by balancing technology and knowledge perspectives: to serve the top segment of the largest publishing groups worldwide.
Future-proofing is imperative to the digital disruption caused by mobiles. It is no surprise that mobile is the fastest growing media platform in today’s increasingly connected world of disruptive technologies and digital-savvy consumers. What is important to keep in mind is the larger opportunity available for capitalising the demand for high-value communication
At diacriTech, we help publishers do just that: succeed in the move beyond print to digital, and also sustain longer term future growth by handling everything from simple eBooks that are identical to their printed counterparts to eBooks that are apps in their own right using Augmented/Virtual Reality technologies. As consumer demands drive changes in publishing formats, our digital strategy ensures that the needs of publishers are met across all channels, geographies, and even the type of device used—ranging from laptops to smartphones and portable tablets.
Integrating day-to-day editorial workflow activities using a standardised approach is critical to improving productivity and simplifying business processes. At diacriTech, our cloud-based proprietary enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform, Functional Management System (FMS) has been especially effective in streamlining production tasks and ensuring workflow adherence by linking all the stages and resources involved in a completely digital process. It provides customers with real-time status information for all the projects in production.
X-Edit Pro: Next-level workflow management
X-Edit Pro—an entire digital publishing suite offering a collaborative environment for all stake holders from editorial, production, authors and issue managers to work together seamlessly. A book and journal production workflow management system that is flexible yet controlled by the publisher to push content quicker to market. It is cloud based, supports both XML and HTML, and enables authoring to be integrated into the production workflow to ensure high-quality structured content right from the source, increased workflow efficiency, improved content consistency, and reduced version control errors. It delivers final files in multiple output formats. Leading publishers globally have taken up this new platform as it solves a lot of their challenges.
True automation
Automation is the silver bullet to enhance the publishing workflow. Our true XML-first workflow InXML tool is capable of automating a majority of layout tasks related to pagination while leveraging Adobe InDesign’s capabilities for document composition. Better yet, the platform is agnostic to document type definition (DTD) and schema, and can use any client-specified mark-up language. It also supports simultaneous delivery of print, online, and EPUB files. This tool takes care of the many challenges accompanying complex style elements, an attribute common to design-oriented school texts with layouts built around pedagogical methodology. It eventually helps to alleviate a potentially higher workload incurred in the latter stages of production.
The best content or learning management system for publishers does not stop with the creation and management of content assets. Modularity, flexibility, customisation, and the ability to refresh and reuse content from existing publications to meet the evolving needs of publishing deliver a host of advantages. This is what we offer besides content hosting, creation, authoring and accuracy checking, digital assets and rights management, content population/migration services for collaborative learning platforms, traditional LMS, or simply digital content hubs that share quality information and provide more relevant content experience in a number of ways.
New technologies mean new opportunities in creating a reality for the future of eLearning. Education in an augmented or virtual reality world is not just another fad. It is a revolutionary concept that brings untapped possibilities to teaching and learning with its advanced visualization and immersive capabilities. Many books and magazines have taken the reading engagement to the next level by creating a virtual animation of their pictures using the growing phenomenon of Augmented Reality. This not only increases the audience engagement, but also it adds a new dimension to the publisher’s revenue generation strategies. Taking this into account, we have developed significant expertise in devising Augmented, Virtual, and Mixed Reality solutions that offer immersive and realistic educational experiences. In addition, for publishers who are keen to create truly next-generation digital content, we provide the way forward. We help them to take full advantage of HTML5 digital capabilities starting from content development to interactive eBook creation services, including Flash to HTML5 transition.
Over the years we have come a long way on our digital publishing journey, providing solutions to production challenges, shaping digital workflows, and crafting immersive experiences in the educational space. We, with our customers’ support, hope to continue this journey delivering more and better content of the highest quality across digital and print platforms that stand testimony to outstanding educational value. We look forward to more opportunities to serve our existing and new customers.
Learn more about diacriTech here.
Interview with Chief Judge Angela Carbone
We asked Angela Carbone, Chief Judge, about the final judging day, her take on the state of the educational publishing industry and her new role at Swinburne University. Here’s what she had to say:
What is your role in the judging process?
I’m the Chief Judge and I work very closely with the panel of judges. The panel is split into assessment teams that review entries submitted in each of the following categories: Primary, Secondary and Tertiary/Vocational. Each team has a lead judge, and I collaborate with the lead judges to make the final decisions.
There is much talk around final judging day. Could you tell us a bit about the process?
Prior to judging day, all the assessors review each
Angela Carbone, Chief Judge, at the 2017 EPAAs.
submission, evaluate the entry based on the judging criteria and write a few comments to justify their assessment.
On final judging day, the panel comes together to discuss their assessments, sharing their ratings and rationales. During this moderation period judges can change their assessment. They continue this process until a consensus is reached on the ranking of applications. Eventually, the panel nominates the top 2–3 titles with a ‘commendable’ or ‘highly commendable’ award, and they present their top-ranked entries to the rest of the judges.
As part of the final stage of the judging process, the lead judges share their top 2–3 entries with me and together we decide the winner. During the day, I immerse myself in the table discussions as listening to the judges’ rationales assists me in making a considered decision.
How has judging changed from last year?
We have revised the judging criteria this year based on feedback from last year’s judges. We have made the criteria clearer. The distinct criterion includes: publishing contribution; educational rigour; relevance, cohesion and suitability; flexibility and adaptability; and clarity, design and engagement.
A significant change was to select one winner for each category (Primary, Secondary and Tertiary/Vocational). Last year, there was considerable concern from the judges, including myself, around judging resources fairly. Comparing a primary school resource with a university resource was like comparing apples and oranges! So, this works much better this year and has been well received.
All resources are judged for excellence, innovation and originality. How do you think this year’s entries fared against the judging criteria?
Entries are improving each year. Publishers are more cognisant of the changes occurring in the way students learn and are fully exploiting the affordances of technology.
In the past twelve months, you’ve moved to Swinburne to become the Associate Dean (Learning Innovation) for the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology. Could you tell us a bit more about your role and what responsibilities you have?
As Associate Dean Learning Innovation, I am primarily charged with the responsibility of leading strategic development and overseeing the operational implementation of strategies relating to learning, teaching and scholarship . I hold overall accountability for ensuring the implementation of the university’s Learning and Teaching strategy within my Faculty. Often this includes facilitating leadership of teaching and learning innovation, driving specific agendas and ensuring the quality of courses and programs.
I’m also leading education in the faculty at an operational level. I supervise a number of teams that ensure our courses are of a high quality and are accredited by professional bodies. Among other responsibilities, they also ensure that student resources and learning environments are up-to-date and contemporary, and that students have pathways to change courses.
What are some challenges you think educators face in today’s learning environments?
Educators have to really think about ways to engage students by giving students authentic learning experiences. Learning today doesn’t just happen in the classroom or from a textbook. Students may not be receptive to a passive, didactic teaching delivery. Instead, we need to focus on creating active learning environments which give students engaging and rich experiences. We want students to talk about the issues discussed in our classrooms with their peers outside of the classroom.
Is there anything you’d like to add in the lead up to the 2018 EPAAs?
The publishers are doing a great job. They’re operating in an educational environment that is changing rapidly. Advances in technology, providing online resources in which students can assess their knowledge and skills at the own pace and in their own time are becoming more and more prevalent. Yet, many teachers still see the value in teaching from textbooks.
We’re at an interesting point in time in education, where traditional textbooks are still valuable, but online adaptive delivery is becoming more accessible and intuitive and provides teachers with timely learning analytics at their fingertips. It will be interesting to see what further advances will occur in the next couple of years.
The resources that are being published in both print and digital are fabulous.
The finalists and all the winners have done an exceptional job. Compared to last year – as good, if not even better I would say.
We hope to see you all at the industry event of the year at The Pavilion, Arts Centre on Thursday, 20 September 2018.
Interview with Gregory Crocetti, Scale Free Network
We caught up with Gregory Crocetti, the Co-director at Scale Free Network, about The Invisible War: A Tale of Two Scales, to see how things have panned out since winning the Most Outstanding Resource of the Year Award at last year’s Educational Publishing Awards Australia (EPAAs). Here’s what he had to say:
After taking out the gong for ‘Most Outstanding Resource of the Year’ at the 2017 EPAAs, the resource has generated considerable buzz. Did you expect the response for The Invisible War: A Tale of Two Scales to be overwhelming positive?
Cover artwork for The Invisible War. Artwork by Ben Hutchings.
From the start, we knew we had a unique idea, but we couldn’t be sure of how it would be received. The team (Ailsa, Ben, Briony, Jeremy and I) worked really hard to weave the diverse elements of the story together in an engaging way, and to do justice to the history and the science content. We felt proud of the work before we started getting validation from independent sources, but I think we have all been surprised at just how well it has done. It feels great to see the creative risks we took, pay off. Considering that for most of the team, The Invisible War is our first graphic novel, we’re doubly pleased that the response has been so positive, not just from an educational publishing perspective but also from the book design and literary world. Perhaps there’s something to be said for coming to a genre fresh, with no set idea about what a comic should or should not be able to express.
How has winning an EPAA award made a difference to Scale Free Network?
It’s really been an amazing ride for Scale Free Network (SFN) since the EPAAs in late 2017. With this award under our belt (and the sticker on the cover of our graphic novel), we have felt more confident in our interdisciplinary approach and developments have been happening at a faster rate. We might not be able to call ourselves a micro-publisher much longer! First off, we’ve finalised a deal with CSIRO Publishing to co-publish four titles in our picture book series, Small Friends Books, and recently we received support from the Australia Council for the Arts to travel to the Frankfurt Book Fair. Concerning The Invisible War, I am excited to announce that earlier in 2018, we signed the North American rights to Graphic Universe, an imprint of Lerner Books – the largest independent publisher in the USA – who will release a US hard-cover edition of the book around April/May 2019.
Excerpt from The Invisible War (micro-scale). Artwork by Ben Hutchings.
Could you tell us what this North American deal means for the future of the book?
Our immediate hope is that we can now capitalise on the momentum from North America to pursue other foreign rights deals at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October. We would particularly love to see The Invisible War published across Europe and Asia. Of course, the upcoming US release also means a wider audience for our story. Ultimately, we want as many people to read the book as possible – and to journey into the amazing (and radically underappreciated) world of microbes that call our bodies home.
Perhaps most significantly, we also now feel we have a strong case to take the ideas and concepts behind The Invisible War from one book, and turn them into a series of graphic novels, set across the microscopic landscapes of the human body. The working title for this series is Planet Human…Stay tuned!
For those that may not know, could you tell us a little more about Scale Free Network? And the wins and challenges of being considered a micro-publisher in Melbourne.
SFN is a Melbourne-based, art-science collective and micro-publisher originally founded by conceptual artist Briony Barr and myself, having stepped back from my research as a microbial ecologist.
Since 2007, we have developed our interdisciplinary methodology through workshops (co-developed with artist Jacqueline Smith), participatory installations and exhibitions inspired by the ‘invisible majority’ (microbial communities and physical forces beyond human perception). Our projects aim to ‘visualise the invisible’ and to question the human-scale lens through which we relate to the world. We have presented work at science and art institutions throughout Australia and internationally, including at the 2017 Melbourne Festival (Experimenta Make Sense), World Science Festival Brisbane and Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art in Korea.
In 2014, we expanded our practice to include the co-creation and publication of the Small Friends Books series. The series – now co-published with CSIRO Publishing – explores the ubiquitous phenomenon of cooperation between microorganisms and larger life forms. Each story is created in collaboration with writer Ailsa Wild, illustrator Aviva Reed in consultation with scientists and educators.
How does The Invisible War improve educational outcomes for students?
Excerpt from The Invisible War (human scale). Artwork by Ben Hutchings.
I find it amazing that 99% of the biodiversity on Earth, including the diversity on and inside our bodies, is invisible to the naked eye. There’s all of this amazing new scientific research revealing the roles that microbes, especially bacteria and viruses, play every day in keeping our bodies and minds healthy. Ultimately, we hope The Invisible War will help spark curiosity in the minds of readers – both young and old – about the microscopic world, encouraging people to take a less human-centric perspective about our place in the natural world. We can talk about STEM or STEAM resources as much as we like, but in my humble opinion, the best science education finds engaging ways to inspire a sense of wonder and get people asking questions…
Taking a broader view of education, there has been lots of talk of cross-curriculum priorities and interdisciplinary resources in recent years, but high school classrooms and textbooks largely remain within their content silos. I’d like to think that The Invisible War might help nudge more teachers to think about the possibilities of working more across disciplines – for example, using science to help think about history, literature to think differently about science and so on.
How does your resource approach the course material in a different way to others in the market?
The Invisible War is clearly an unconventional resource. On one hand, it only covers a limited amount of science and history content. But on the other, feedback from teachers suggests that it has much greater potential to engage a broader range of students in learning than a typical textbook. As a species, we’ve learned through telling stories for thousands of years, so why not use that to our advantage in the classroom as much as possible – particularly in Science classrooms – where the content can often be difficult to bring to life…and where so many students give up trying, having decided they “don’t get it”.
We hope to see you all at the industry event of the year, held at The Pavilion, Arts Centre Melbourne on Thursday, 20 September 2018.
Celebrating 25 years of EPAA Overall Winners
To celebrate a quarter of a century of the EPAAs, let’s walk down memory lane and take a look at the past winners for the Award for Excellence in Educational Publishing.
Stroll down memory lane from last year’s The Invisible War: A Tale of Two Scales, published by Scale Free Network, to Mathematics From Many Cultures, published by Mimosa Publications, all the way in 1994.
And the winners are …
Award for Excellence in Educational Publishing
2017
The Invisible War: A Tale of Two Scales
2016
English Stars (Years 4-6)
2015
Pearson Lightbook
2014
Oxford Literacy Assess
2013
Joint winners:
PM Oral Literacy
Annette Smith, Debbie Croft
and
Jacaranda World History Atlas
2012
Oxford Big Ideas History 7-10 Australian Curriculum
Sadais, Smith, Carrodus, et al
2011
Joint winners:
Yarning Strong Literacy Series
Larissa Behrendt et al
and
Jacaranda myWorld Atlas
2010
Physics in Focus Preliminary Course and HSC Course
Xiao L Wu and Robert Farr
2009
Sharing our Stories
2008
Geography Focus 1 (for Stage 4) & 2(for Stage 5), Teacher’s Edition
Sue van Zuylen, Glyn Trethewy, Helen McISaac & Ray Handley
2007
Fast Forward
Thompson Nelson (now Nelson Cengage)
2006
Macquarie Atlas of Indigenous Australia – Culture and Society
William Arthur and Frances Murphy (general editors)
The Macquarie Library
2005
Joint winners:
Nelson Numeracy Assessment Kit
Anne Giulieri, Lynn Davie and Jay Dale
Thomson Learning Australia (now Nelson Cengage)
and
Science Edge 1, 2 & 3
Jenny Sharwood et al
Thomson Learning Australia (now Nelson Cengage)
2004
Fundamentals of Pharmacology 4th Edition; Fundamentals of Pharmacology Instructor’s Resource CD-Rom
Alan Galbraith, Sharne Bullock, Elizabeth Manias
2003
Biology Options Series: Communication; The Human Story: Genetics: The Code Broken?
Glenda Chidrawi and Marilyn Mercer; Stephanie Hollis; Leonie McLaughlin and Stephen Hitchings
2002
Joint winners:
Papunya School Book of Country and History
Papunya School
and
Go Facts Animals, Plants and Oceans
Paul McEvoy, Katy Pike, Sharon Dalgleish, Garda Turner and Maureen O’Keefe
2001
Joint winners:
Heinemann Science Links
Helen Cochrane, Jacinta Devlin and Gary Simpson
Heinemann
and
Bradshaw Art of the Kimberley
Grahame L Walsh
Takarakka Nowan Kas Publications
2000
Maths Quest Series
Jenifer Nolan, Geoff Phillips, Ross Allen, David Phillips, Jenny Watson, Caroline Denney, Sonja Stambulic and Elena Iampolsky
1999
Geography For Global Citizens
Brian Parker, Late Lanceley, Debra Owens and Rebecca Reeves
1998
Aboriginal People
Barlow, E. Djandilnga, J. Lucas, I. Clayton and Y. Best
Heinemann Library
1997
Science Quest 1 and 2
Graeme Lofts & Merrin J. Marett
1996
Invasion and Resistance: untold stories
Board of Studies, NSW
1995
Joint winners:
Design and Practice for Printed Textiles
Biology
1994
Mathematics From Many Cultures
Dr Calvin Irons & James Burnett
Mimosa Publications
We hope to see you all at the industry event of the year, held at The Pavilion, Arts Centre Melbourne on Thursday, 20 September 2018.
Book your earlybird ticket now.
Keep up with the latest EPAA news @EPAs_Aus or join the conversation #EPAA18
The 25th Educational Publishing Awards Australia Shortlist
It is with great pleasure that we announce the 25th Educational Publishing Awards Australia (EPAA) shortlist!
Organised by the Australian Publishers Association and sponsored by Copyright Agency, the prestigious EPAAs recognise excellence and innovation within the educational publishing industry. This year’s entries are of a high standard, and are a testament to the tremendous effort that goes in to creating educational resources for Australian educators and students.
Chief Judge Angela Carbone said the entries were “exceptionally high and innovative, and the decision was not easy to make”. In total, 117 entries were received so we would like to thank those who submitted their titles for consideration.
Many thanks to our fantastic judging panel, and, finally, a big congratulations to those shortlisted!
The EPAA 2018 Shortlist
PRIMARY
Student Resource – Arts/Science/Humanities/Social Sciences/Technologies/Health and Physical Education/Languages
BaseCamp – A fun-filled program about managing anxiety
Quirky Kid
STEM Projects Box
R.I.C. Publications
Oxford Atlas+
Oxford University Press
Student Resource – English (Literacy/Literature/Language)
English Stars (Year 3)
Firefly Education Pty Ltd.
Flying Start to Literacy – Middle/Upper Primary
Eleanor Curtin Publishing
Student Resource – Mathematics (Numeracy)
The Maths Box – Foundation
R.I.C. Publications
iMaths Online
Firefly Education Pty Ltd.
Teaching Resource
Handwriting Today – Teacher Guides and Teacher Resource Book
R.I.C. Publications
Bounce Back! A Positive Education Approach to Wellbeing, Resilience and Social-emotional Learning
Pearson Australia
STEM Investigations for Upper Primary
Macmillan Education Australia
Challenging Mathematical Tasks
Oxford University Press
Educational Picture or Chapter Book
Ten Pound Pom
Black Dog Books, an imprint of Walker Books Australia
Alphabet Robot: The A to Z of Robotics for Clever Humans
Stem Robotics Australia
Koala
Walker Books Australia
Student or Teaching Resource (Adaptations)
No shortlisted entries.
SECONDARY
Student Resource – Junior – Mathematics/Science
ScienceWorld Western Australia
Macmillan Education Australia
Maths Pathway
Maths Pathway
Student Resource – Junior –English/Humanities/Languages/Arts/Technologies/Health and Physical Education
Ecco! Second Edition
Pearson
Tapis Volant 1 & 2 4E
Nelson – A Cengage Company
Digital Technologies for the Australian Curriculum Workbooks
Nelson – A Cengage Company
Student Resource – Senior – Mathematics/Science
Series: Pearson Physics Western Australia and Pearson Chemistry Western Australia
Pearson
Series: Pearson Biology 11 New South Wales and Pearson Chemistry New South Wales and Pearson Physics 11 New South Wales
Pearson
Science in Focus 2E – Year 11
Nelson – A Cengage Company
New Century Maths Mathematics Standard 2E – Year 11
Nelson – A Cengage Company
Student Resource – Senior – English/Humanities/Languages/Arts/Technologies/Health and Physical Education
Media Reframed VCE Units 1–4
Cambridge University Press
Nelson Visual Communication Design VCE Units 1–4 4E
Nelson – A Cengage Company
Access and Justice Legal Studies for VCE Units 1 & 2 Student book + obook assess and Justice and Outcomes VCE Legal Studies Units 3 and 4 Student book + obook assess
Oxford University Press
Nelson Product Design & Technology VCE Units 1–4 4E
Nelson – A Cengage Company
Key Features of Modern History 1 Year 11 Student book + obook assess
Oxford University Press
Food Tech Focus Stages 5 & 6
Nelson – A Cengage Company
Teaching Resource
Antiquity 1 Year 11 4E Teacher obook assess
Oxford University Press
Series: Pearson Biology 11 New South Wales Teacher Support, Pearson Chemistry 11 New South Wales Teacher Support and Pearson Physics 11 New South Wales Teacher Support
Pearson
Reference Resource
Jacaranda Atlas 9th Edition
John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Australian Concise Oxford Dictionary Hardback 6E
Oxford University Press
TERTIARY AND TAFE
Tertiary (Wholly Australian) Teaching and Learning Resource – print
Child Development in Educational Settings
Cambridge University Press
Powers of Curriculum: Sociological Perspectives on Education
Oxford University Press
Community & Human Services: Concepts for Practice
Oxford University Press
Teaching Quality Health and Physical Education 1E
Cengage
Australian Literature for Young People
Oxford University Press
Tertiary (Wholly Australian) Teaching and Learning Resource – blended learning (print and digital)
Learning Law
Cambridge University Press
Learning to Teach in a New Era
Cambridge University Press
Abnormal Psychology: Leading Researcher Perspectives
McGraw Hill Education Australia
Mental Health: A Person-centred Approach
Cambridge University Press
Tertiary (Wholly Australian) Teaching and Learning Resource – digital only
Cambridge LANTITE Edge
Cambridge University Press
Bachelor in Applied Information Technology
Didasko
Tertiary (Adaptations) Teaching and Learning Resource – print or blended learning (print and digital)
Management: a practical introduction
McGraw-Hill Education
Contemporary Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing: Partnerships in Care
Pearson Australia
Atrill’s Accounting
Pearson Australia
Tertiary (Adaptations) Teaching and Learning Resource digital only
Management 6e MindTap
Cengage
Revel
Pearson Australia
TAFE & Vocational Education Teaching and Learning Resource – print or blended learning (print and digital)
SHB Units of Compliance for Beauty and Hair Training
Skin Deep Learning
Beverage Services Skills 1e
Cengage
TAFE & Vocational Education Teaching and Learning Resource – digital only
Diploma in Events
Didasko
Early Childhood Education and Care Microlearning Modules
Aspire Learning Resources
We hope to see you all at the industry event of the year, held at The Pavilion, Arts Centre Melbourne on Thursday, 20 September 2018.
Book your earlybird ticket now.
Keep up with the latest EPAA news @EPAs_Aus or join the conversation #EPAA18