Annual Report 2001/02

Learning

We inspire learning in all age groups and nationalities around the world

BBC Worldwide Learning uses a dynamic mix of broadcasting, publishing and new media to inspire all age groups and nationalities around the world, providing resources for learning at school, home and work. An area of major growth for the future, BBC Worldwide’s learning business combines three exciting areas – lifelong learning, children’s learning and language teaching – and brings quality products to students of all ages.

Our recently-developed website, www.bbclearning.com, will offer visitors practical guidance and independent advice on effective lifelong learning, giving a further dimension to the branded blocks of BBC Learning programmes that have been made widely available through BBC Prime over the last year. The site will support professional development, studies, special interests and language learning and feature a searchable directory of international distance learning and online courses.

In children’s learning, BBC Worldwide is a leading schools publisher. Last year it was the UK’s largest schools supplier of videos and the UK’s top-selling publisher for geography, history, religious education and music for primary schools.

Much of our output in this area is aimed at creating innovative ways of supporting core learning skills in young age groups, using a combination of traditional publishing and interactive technology to help children learn both at school and at home. Earlier this year, we joined forces with Spark Learning to create new interactive CD-ROMs and books for the home learning market, featuring games and fun activities and incorporating key National Curriculum numeracy and literacy objectives for 3-11 year olds.

Greater use of information technology in primary schools has led to an agreement between BBC Worldwide and Sherston, a leading education software supplier in the UK, to develop a new range of core subject CD-ROMs for primary schools (ages 4-11). The CD-ROMs will feature some of the most popular characters from the BBC Schools learning programmes and will cover core subjects including literacy, history and geography. The initial titles include Magic Pencil, Words and Pictures, Magic Grandad and Barnaby Bear. We expect to add further titles to the range in 2003.

We have also harnessed the popularity of television drama to meet the growing demand for English as a foreign language. In spring 2002, we launched Search, a contemporary international learning package for adults, based on a powerful television crime thriller filmed in the UK, Latin America and the USA.

Drawing on the international obsession with football amongst the world’s teenagers and young adults, we launched Goal, an integrated learning package consisting of television series, books, comics, video and a games-based website. It has already been licensed to publishing and broadcast partners in more than 10 countries including Japan, South Korea, China, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Argentina. BBC Worldwide is negotiating further agreements for Goal across Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

This year we retained our position as market leader in the adult education sector for foreign language learning in the UK. Popular titles such as The French Experience, Sueños World Spanish, España Viva, Italianissimo and the BBC Talk short courses continue to dominate this sector.

We are now working on an exciting new generation of internet-led and audio CD courses, as well as the next version of the popular Get By In series, which will help us continue our strong market position in language learning for years to come.