August 29, 2008
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Changes through learning
After 40 years, AIT keeps rolling as technology advances
By Brian Werth,
Hoosier Times
Bloomington
For 40 years, the Agency for Instructional Technology has been refining and expanding on its mission to do good things for children.
Operating out of modern headquarters built in 1994 next to Arlington Elementary School at 1800 Stonelake Drive, AIT quietly churns out a variety of educational and instructional products for school children, including television programs, books, brochures and magazines, online instruction, CDs and DVDs and instructional software.
The not-for-profit business has about 30 permanent employees, but ramps up to as many as 85 when projects demand it.
The company will be celebrating 40 years in operation throughout the year.
“We’re trying to keep in touch with the community,” said Michael Sullivan, executive director of AIT. “This summer, we will be inviting people from the community to celebrate with us. A lot of people in the community have a link to us—either through working for us or with us or knowing someone who has. We may be putting stickers on our products telling our customers we've been around for 40 years.”
It hasn’t always been easy.
Changing technologies have at times thrown AIT curves. But the company survives today even as scores of private competitors have fallen by the wayside, victims of the dot-com hype and collapse.
“Three or four times now in the past 10 years we’ve been able to reinvent ourselves,” Sullivan said. “It’s rather remarkable that we’re still here, but we have an understanding board of directors that realizes we are more about mission than money.”
For many years, AIT’s bread and butter was the videotape. For a brief time, the video disk came into the picture and AIT developed a strong group of products on that format.
“Now it seems than online technology has already come and gone, in some ways,” Sullivan said. “Companies couldn’t make any money at it. Now we’re focusing on DVDs and new video formats.”
“Everyone is trying to figure out what the next new technology will be,” Sullivan said.
AIT began in 1962 in Washington, D.C., when the U.S. Department of Education financed the start-up of the National Instructional Television Library. In the early years, the group was under the umbrella of the fledgling National Educational Television. In 1965 the organization evolved into the National Center for School and College Television. It moved to Bloomington and was funded by the Indiana University Foundation at the urging of IU Chancellor Herman B Wells.
In 1968 the group’s name was changed again to the National Instructional Television Center. By 1970, the organization became self-supporting.
In 1973, it was incorporated as the Agency for Instructional Television. For many years, the business operated out of a Quonset hut-style building at 1111 W. 17th St.
In 1984, the business changed its name to the Agency for Instructional Technology to more accurately reflect emerging technologies in educational media.
Sullivan said AIT struggles each year to design and develop educational products that will be effective in the marketplace.
“But we don’t compete with commercial companies,” he said. “The positive of being a non-profit is that when we have a down year, we can survive. On the other hand, we can’t tap into the capital markets for money or raise cash through a stock issue. Every year we either have a surplus or dip into reserves to run things.”
Annual sales of products amount to about $3 million, Sullivan said, but the company does more in the areas of product development, sponsoring workshops and publishing, these days.
“Schools aren’t buying as much materials as they used to,” Sullivan said. “The focus on schools now is all on accountability and testing. Until it switches back to curriculum and materials, we will have to do other things.”
AIT’s TECHNOS Quarterly journal is devoted to international education topics and is distributed worldwide.
AIT’s board of directors includes Suellen Reed, the superintendent of the Indiana Department of Public Instruction; John Benson, the superintendent of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction; along with several educators and business leaders from across the country.