Oxford University Press teams up with Israeli ed-tech startups

The collaboration with startups Total Boox, Tiny Tap, and Kidoz will focus on digitizing books and making them accessible through new technological formats.

By NIV ELIS
Updated: FEBRUARY 3, 2016 00:44
The statue of Britain's former Prime Minister Winston Churchill is silhouetted in front of the Houses of Parliament in London (photo credit: REUTERS)
The statue of Britain's former Prime Minister Winston Churchill is silhouetted in front of the Houses of Parliament in London
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Oxford University Press, the world’s largest university publisher, announced on Tuesday a collaboration with three Israeli education technology startups.
The partnerships with Total Boox, Tiny Tap, and Kidoz will focus on digitizing books and making them accessible through new technological formats.
“Through this relationship OUP is introduced to inventive Israeli startups, which provide us with opportunities to combine our high quality content with ground-breaking technology, “said OUP Director of partnerships Paul Riley. “This allows us to develop innovative products and services that improve the lives of teachers and learners globally.”
Total Boox is an e-book library with a pay-what-you read policy, designed to erase the worry of customers paying for full e-books and then not liking them. The model could prove useful for accessing research or chapters for educational purposes.
Tiny Tap, a platform that allows teachers to create and share interactive lessons, is in the process of making OUP’s multi-chapter visual dictionary available to premium users. The two companies have a revenue-sharing agreement for the content. Tiny Tap plans on incorporating another series on learning how to read, according to its Education Partnerships Director Mara Berman.
Finally, KIDOZ, which creates a safe platform for children to discover content online, will also be adding OUP materials to help kids discover and learn on their own.
The UK-Israel tech hub, which facilitated the collaborations, said that more potential partnerships were in the works, including in the field of Arabic education applications.
The hub has been a leader in promoting technology developed by Arab Israeli entrepreneurs that are aimed at the broader Arabic-speaking world.
Dona Haj Manaa, the Hub’s Creative Industries Manager, said educational technology is a key area of cooperation between Israel and the UK.
“These new relationships demonstrate how innovative Israeli ed-tech startups can grow by working with them,” she said.