By Gerry Hanley, Chief Academic Officer
Introducing the Innovation Marketplace
The design and services of the Innovation Marketplace (IM) are based on decades of experiences among academic and EdTech leaders who together are building communication and decision-support processes that enable both commercial providers and higher ed institutions to efficiently and effectively evaluate and adopt innovations. At Partner in Publishing (PIP), the Innovation Marketplace leverages partnerships with different organizations committed to shared goals. Together, PIP, MERLOT, SkillsCommons, and the United States Distance Learning Association have combined their strengths to create the Five Pillars of the Innovation Marketplace.
Pillar 1: Trusted communications and partnerships with higher education leadership and influencers:
Together, USDLA and MERLOT-SkillsCommons represent large-scale, trusted communication channels that raise higher education’s awareness of products and services that support their goals. For more than 25 years, MERLOT has built a global community of educators and learners that share their needs and collaborate on solutions. Bottomline: The Innovation Marketplace provides an efficient and large-scale collaborative communication pipeline to higher education stakeholders.
Pillar 2: Trusted communication and partnerships with commercial providers:
Pillar 3: Higher Education’s Critical Needs Focus Innovation Marketplace Priorities:
Pillar 4: Thought Leadership Guiding Strategic Actions for Innovations:
Pillar 5: Provide a Marketplace for Innovations to be Conveniently and Systemically Available for Evaluation and Adoption:
MERLOT-SkillsCommons, USDLA, and PIP will create virtual and on-site “marketplaces” that facilitate higher education exploring, evaluating, and executing agreements with commercial providers in a more convenient, timely, and cost-effective manner. The Innovation Marketplace will present options and opportunities to compare the variety of offerings from commercial providers aligned with strategic challenges facing higher education so higher education decision makers can make informed decisions. The Innovation Marketplace will provide a level of openness and transparency that will help innovations scale across higher education more efficiently and effectively.
Our Challenge:
Managing a marketplace of innovations that makes it easier for all the stakeholders to collaborate and improve higher education will be a challenge. Our capabilities will mature over time as the strengths of our partnerships produce effective and efficient change management and project management, resulting in beneficial outcomes for all. I hope you will join us and benefit from our collective learning to innovate in ways that best suit YOU.
About the Author
Gerry Hanley, PhD serves as Chief Academic Officer at Partner in Publishing (PIP). With nearly 40 years of experience in higher education, Gerry collaborates with educators and EdTech companies to develop and implement meaningful learning technologies.
