Education is a lifelong passion. Communication is a lifelong passion and, as a natural consequence, so too is publishing.

I started my career in teaching after graduating at Melbourne University in 1974. After almost a decade teaching in Victorian secondary schools, I left to concentrate on interactive multimedia production and professional in-service development for teachers and corporations.

In 1989, I opened my own company, Ryebuck Media, which specialises in the development of education and public awareness programs for educational, community, business and Commonwealth departments. We also organise education and training conferences for youth and adult learners. This was a natural extension from teaching.

An educational author faces the constant challenge of finding new ways to engage the learner whilst not alienating those teachers who might be tied to traditional teaching methodologies. The advent of the digital age has been a fillip for pedagogies. Students can now investigate issues for themselves using a variety of techniques and resources at the fingertips. They can ‘touch’ the evidence and come to their own ‘learned’ conclusions rather than merely accept the secondary accounts of yesteryear.

Even with changing technologies, copyright should be important to everyone. The breach of copyright is theft. Copyright should ensure that all publishers get a fair return for their creative efforts whether these be in film, print, music, artworks, theatre or the Internet.

Copyright payments along with most others go into the production of more resources. Our payments have not been large enough to make a real difference but they do go somewhere towards off-setting the costs of the next project. Forming partnerships I think is now the way of the future. Working out ways to share resources and acknowledge the contributions of peers and competitors are all important strategies for the future success of publishing in its myriad formats.