Houghton Mifflin Harcourt To Create Online Marketplace for Educational Resources

Beginning early next year, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) will introduce an online marketplace where educators will be able to find, share and sell educational resources and developers will be able to market and sell their own instructional tools and content.

The company will launch the beta version of HMH Marketplace in early 2016, featuring applications created by educational technology developers and startups, including everything from digital learning tools and games to classroom resources and original content created by teachers, such as lesson plans.

"The goal is to provide a simple way for educators to find applications and resources that add value to the learning experience, without the hassle of an exhaustive search, additional log-ins or technical integration with their existing platforms," said HMH Chief Technology Officer Brook Colangelo.

Designed by HMH Labs to accelerate third-party innovation, HMH Marketplace will follow by about six months the introduction of HMH's online Developer Portal, which offers developers, designers and educators access to its application program interfaces (APIs) in order to create their own learning applications. So far, more than 200 developers have signed up to use the portal.

One of them is Spritz, a digital reading technology intended to enhance comprehension and focus, which also plans to take advantage of HMH Marketplace.

"We are now able to create a custom Spritz reader for HMH content that will support learners who experience challenges with traditional reading methods," said Spritz CEO and Co-founder Frank Waldman, "and now HMH Marketplace provides us with a channel to reach HMH's extensive customer base."

To create interest in the launch of HMH Marketplace, the company will host a Curious Classroom online contest, in which teachers can share videos demonstrating the impact of the resources they have created. Entries can be uploaded beginning October 1 and public voting to select winners will begin in November.

Prizes will include Google Chromebooks, whiteboards, HMH content and the opportunity to have resources featured in the Marketplace.

About the Author

Michael Hart is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the former executive editor of THE Journal.

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