Collaborative Literacy Digital Resources

Client: Center for the Collaborative Classroom

Category: Educational Publishing

Scope: product design, ePUB, courses, video graphics, whiteboard app, and assessment app

Project Objectives: The goal of this project was to create a complete literacy curriculum to compete head-to-head with larger publishers in the highly competitive educational market. Previously Collaborative Classroom had focused primarily on publishing supplemental materials to use in tandem with, or to fill in the gaps of, competitors’ curricula.

Integrating academic and social-emotional learning instruction, this product line is comprised of three programs: Being a Writer^™ (writing), Making Meaning^® (comprehension), and Being a Reader^™ (early reading development). This massive project encompassed the design of all digital resources, as all as all print materials. See the accompanying Collaborative Literacy: Print Materials here.

For more information about this project, see this case study.

Learn more at about the organization and product at collaborativeclassroom.org/collaborative-literacy.

’Berta’s Role

‘Berta worked extensively with cross-departmental team members, as well as outside vendors, to create these resources. Working directly with writers, producers, programmers, print production staff, and key stakeholders, she:

• met with key stakeholders throughout the process to generate creative briefs, sketches, mockups, and final designs—presenting and getting “buy in” at every stage of the process.
• created a branded look and feel to bridge three modular products (two of which existed in previous editions) that can be taught together, or separately.
• continued the branding exercise across all print products including: teacher’s manuals, student books, ancillary materials, and packaging.
• managed all schedules and budgets around design and artwork created for the project.
• coordinated with the Learning Technology team to create and refine interface designs and wireframes.
• provided final assets to developers for product creation.

Final Results and Deliverables

• Collaborative Classroom successfully launched an extensive curriculum offering to complete head-to-head with more established publishers, creating a branded line look that got noticed in the marketplace.
• The organization proved it’s programs can compete against much larger established publishers in the highly competitive educational market by being chosen many times over these publishers for district-wide adoptions.
• Over 80,000 teachers and over two million students use Collaborative Classroom programs in their classrooms.
• The first full year of Collaborative Literacy suite availability yielded record sales of $25 million for the organization—its best sales year to date.