Learning had a
strong year, increasing sales by 10% with
the launch of some innovative products. The
business has been very effective in children’s
learning (both in school and at home); adult
learning (for business, academic study or
home interest); and in language study. Great
progress has been made in developing partnerships
with major educational institutions and publishers.
New partnerships include the creation, with
the Open University, of the UK’s first
comprehensive online professional development
service for teachers, teachandlearn.net, launching
in January 2004. A partnership with four UK
universities, the Lifesign project, makes
groundbreaking BBC science programmes such
as The Human Body available on broadband for
all students in UK further and higher education. |
BBC Worldwide
has developed bbclearning.com, which guides
overseas learners to direct or distance learning
opportunities from a wide range of UK and
international course providers, including
a partnership with UKEU, the UK’s e-university.
Services such as these, in conjunction with
BBC Learning branded blocks on TV, build recognition
for BBC Learning around the world.
In February 2003, Texas approved BBC Worldwide’s
and Public Media Inc’s World 21 as part
of the state’s core geography curriculum.
Overall, BBC Worldwide almost doubled revenues
from its children’s learning retail business
through products such as GCSE Bitesize, AS
Guru Guides and ReviseWise. A new range for
5 –11 year-olds, linked to the National
Curriculum for English and Maths, was launched
jointly with Spark Learning. |
