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Earlier this year, Marshall Cavendish Education (MCE), a global education solutions provider for Pre-K to 12, unveiled a new brand identity with a keen focus on bringing back the joy of learning. The new brand comes with simplified learning and teaching content designed based on proven pedagogies for educators and students alike, making them more approachable, accessible, and suitable for global use.
Alongside the new brand identity, the corporate logo has been updated with a more distinctive wordmark and a speech bubble-like form to represent MCE’s communication-centric approach. The new website now displays a fresh and modern interface with streamlined content and dedicated pages for students at every education level, as well as educators. Each page encompasses more distinguishable and insightful resources suitable for the targeted group.
Having been in the industry for over 60 years with resources used in over 85 countries, this is the first time MCE has rebranded itself to adapt to a new world of education. The new brand comes with simplified learning and teaching content based on proven pedagogies for educators and students alike, making them more approachable, accessible, and suitable for global use.
Alongside the new brand identity, the corporate logo has been updated with a more distinctive wordmark and a speech bubble-like form to represent MCE’s communication-centric approach. The new website now displays a fresh and modern interface with streamlined content and dedicated pages for students at every education level and educator. Each page encompasses more distinguishable and insightful resources suitable for the targeted group.
Additionally, MCEduHub, the digital learning hub offering streamlined learning and teaching materials, has been refreshed to personalise the learning experience and make resources more accessible.
We spoke to Joy Tan, Head, Learning Solutions at Marshall Cavendish Education (MCE) to explore more about MCE and its objectives in this new phase, the general education landscape and more.
TVM: Having been in the industry for over 60 years with resources used in over 85 countries, this is the first time Marshall Cavendish Education (MCE) has rebranded itself to adapt to a new world of education. What inspired this rebranding?
Ms Tan: Marshall Cavendish Education has been in the education industry for the last 54 years, having started in 1968, first known as Federal Publications. Those who attended school before the 1990s might recall the Federal traveller’s palm design printed on our textbooks. Since then, our brand has undergone several reinventions to reflect the change in our customers’ needs change – the last being to Marshall Cavendish Education in the early 2000s.
With hybrid learning, engaging learners is more challenging than ever. Students have become spatial learners with the increased adoption of digital devices. They have grown accustomed to reading short passages and attention spans are shrinking.
In alignment with the evolution of the education landscape, it was paramount to launch this rebranding exercise to make teaching and learning simple and engaging – instilling the joy of learning in educators and learners.
TVM: How is education evolving today, and how is this rebranding a step towards keeping up (in terms of technology, the pandemic, increasing competition and more)? How will this affect educators using MCE materials in schools? What do you mean by more simplified and accessible education?
Ms Tan: Technology has had a significant impact on teaching and learning. With the increased usage of handphones and digital devices, learners have become more visual, yet limited in attention span, and are accustomed to digesting short nuggets of content. We aim to tackle this challenge by presenting our technical content visually, adopting simple language for our materials, and incorporating activities designed to make learning engaging and effective.
One of our aims was to develop resources such as interactive eBooks and engaging presentation slides to support educators in delivering engaging and effective lessons.
We recognise that every learner is different, and we provide educators with suggested approaches for learners from various levels of learning readiness. Importantly, our educational solutions are underpinned by well-researched pedagogies that have been shown to deliver effective learning.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a catalyst for schools to source innovative digital education solutions due to school closure. Online learning was previously seen as supplementary to in-person lessons. The pandemic uprooted this norm, and online and hybrid learning is now a necessity. As more advanced technology penetrates the education industry, we believe online learning is here to stay beyond the pandemic.
Providing online and hybrid learning solutions play a vital part in MCE’s range of solutions. While technology can make teaching easier and learning more engaging, teachers are hard-pressed and struggle to find the time to learn and incorporate new software tools and content ahead of classroom time. We aim to help them through professional development programmes, digital content, textbook solutions, and lesson ideas complementing hybrid classes. Our easily accessible and bite-sized interactive learning content enables teachers and students to learn anywhere and anytime. In addition, AI tools aligned to specific MCE titles offer personalised learning pathways, allowing students to learn at their own pace.
As we embrace new digital trends with our customers, we hope to instil the joy of learning in educators and learners. This rebranding exercise marks the beginning of our journey toward driving EdTech, and our commitment to aid our stakeholders in the education ecosystem helps us achieve this goal.
TVM: How does this impact students? What are the benefits they’ll get from this rebranding?
Ms Tan: Half the battle is won for the teacher when their students are engaged. By instilling the joy of learning, MCE aims to help students achieve that eureka moment by offering them content that is visually appealing, interesting to read, and simple to understand, all while ensuring effective learning. Through interactive digital solutions, we provide students with greater convenience to learn anytime and anywhere, while making complicated concepts easier to master.
Learning is enhanced through our digital learning platform – MCEduHub – which offers students one-stop access to a plethora of learning resources, including subject-related interactive videos, animations, simulations, quizzes, and games. They will also have access to the aforementioned AI tools aligned to specific MCE titles that offer personalised learning pathways.
TVM: Could you share more about the MCE Cambridge Primary and IGCSE™ series, and the My Pals are Here! series?
Ms Tan: The MCE Cambridge Primary Mathematics and Science and the IGCSE™ series are our first textbook series produced after our endorsement partnership with Cambridge International. Being one of Cambridge International’s four endorsed partners, and the only endorsement partner in Asia is a significant recognition of the quality of our work and solutions.
The MCE Cambridge Primary Mathematics and Science and IGCSE series™ offer the best of both worlds – pedagogies from Singapore, a country with an education system recognised as one of the world’s best, and aligned to Cambridge’s international education framework. The partnership has enabled us to expand our footing globally, beyond Singapore, where our textbooks are adopted in all public schools.
The My Pals are Here! series is our flagship series. First published in 2001 for English, Maths, and Science subjects for primary schools in Singapore, this series is now embraced by more than 80 countries. The fourth edition of the Maths range was released in 2021, incorporating the latest thinking and practices in Maths education in Singapore, focusing on making learning fun for students and having the resources made easily accessible to teachers.
The MCE Cambridge Primary Mathematics and Science and the IGCSE™ series develop critical and creative thinking skills and adopt Singapore pedagogies such as the concrete-pictorial-abstract and inquiry approach. Additionally, the series inculcates 21st-century skills such as communication, innovation, and metacognition, cultivating self-directed and lifelong learners.
As with all our textbooks, both series are accompanied by teacher resources to aid in lesson delivery, ideas for refreshing lessons, and differentiated instructions and assessments. They are suitable for hybrid classroom learning, supported by digital resources designed for teachers and learners.
Joy is an educational leader with more than a decade of experience in the education sector, specialising in partnership and operations management as well as product development. With a unique blend of business and academia, she has proven success in developing print and digital products as well as establishing a loyal network of working partnerships in the education arena.
Joy is currently the Learning Solutions, Head at Marshall Cavendish Education (MCE) where she leads the global editorial team and manages new product development and editorial operations. She has also made history by leading the editorial team in securing the endorsement partnership with Cambridge International which has made MCE the only Asia-based endorsement partner.
