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INTERVIEW | by Victor Rivero
A leader in edtech product and curriculum development, Rebecca Earnshaw (pictured) is keenly interested in providing technology solutions that will transform teaching and learning. A former teacher, she now leads World Book’s digital products team to deliver innovative, high-quality content to schools and libraries. She holds degrees in History and Psychology from Agnes Scott College and the University of Southern Mississippi. In this EdTech Digest exclusive, we sit down with the Senior Director of Product to discuss the challenges of education today, the question of a literacy crisis, how a century-old source of knowledge has kept themselves relevant, how their solution addresses literacy and learning, and what the future holds.
There’s a lot happening in education, in technology, and in edtech. From your perspective, what is one of the most significant challenges we face today?
In classrooms today, one of the most significant challenges we face is how to spark curiosity among students. In an age where digital apps are designed to hook and distract rather than inspire and educate, students’ genuine interest in the world around them is drowned by a diet of lightweight content often laced with ulterior agendas. Yet, fostering children’s innate curiosity through reading in our digital reality remains crucial—especially when adolescents are reading less and understanding less.
‘In an age where digital apps are designed to hook and distract rather than inspire and educate, students’ genuine interest in the world around them is drowned by a diet of lightweight content often laced with ulterior agendas.’
My teaching journey spanned the transition from traditional classrooms to online learning, and I discovered that when technology is implemented thoughtfully, it fosters personal connections between students and teachers and has the power to transform teaching and learning.
The school you and I experienced is likely not the same as now. Would you characterize the state of education as in crisis? If so, what can be done about it?
Fast forward to today, and the educational landscape is more complex than ever. Adolescents are reading less, and their comprehension skills are declining at alarming rates. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2024, U.S. students have reached record-low reading scores, with nearly 70% of eighth graders performing below proficient. This crisis points to an urgent need for solutions that support struggling readers and foster literacy across all subjects.
‘This crisis points to an urgent need for solutions that support struggling readers and foster literacy across all subjects.’
Without strong literacy skills, students face significant consequences, both academically and economically. The inability to read proficiently affects not just their education but their future career prospects and participation in society. Jobs that once required minimal reading skills now demand higher proficiency, even in traditionally non-academic fields. If we do not address this crisis head-on, we risk undermining the future workforce and society as a whole.
We must think thoughtfully about how we can take what we know about the science of reading, the power of technology to personalize and connect, and reimagine how we engage students’ innate curiosity in the world.
When I was a child, I actually read the whole set of volumes of the World Book Encyclopedia. We had them in our living room. And back then, there was no ‘scrolling’ or ‘swiping’ on your phone. The phones were still on the wall, and you used a finger to dial numbers that everyone seemed so good at remembering. So needless to say, I did a lot of browsing, enough to realize after a few years that I’d browsed the whole set. Why does World Book matter today?
For over a century, our mission at World Book has always been to provide accurate information that students can rely on. Decades ago, students would turn to our encyclopedias as a research starting point, building a factual foundation before exploring opinion-based content. Today, the need for such credible resources is even more pressing.
One of the key challenges in education is helping students establish a baseline of verified knowledge. Without this foundation, critical analysis of nuanced or controversial topics becomes nearly impossible. This is where World Book’s legacy of accuracy becomes invaluable when teaching students to navigate between fact and opinion.
That’s quite a challenge. How have you addressed it, have you developed any solutions that confront this head on?
To meet these challenges, we developed World Book ClassMate—a tool designed to bridge the literacy gap while fostering curiosity and critical thinking. ClassMate offers a range of features to support literacy development, including informational reading passages, comprehension strategies, and graphic organizers. It integrates literacy skills across all subjects, making it easy for educators to embed reading into every lesson.
One of ClassMate’s most innovative features is the AI-powered reading assistant, Nudge. Nudge acts as a supportive thinking companion, guiding students through texts, prompting them to reflect on their understanding and think critically. Nudge fosters independent thought, helping students engage more deeply with the text, and provides that positive connection between content and experience.
ClassMate incorporates the best of gaming elements like earning keys and collectible cards, giving students a sense of achievement and motivation. As an educator, I know that building small successes is crucial to fostering confidence and a desire to keep learning. When students experience success, they are more likely to persist through challenges, just as in video games, where each level motivates them to keep playing.
‘When students experience success, they are more likely to persist through challenges, just as in video games, where each level motivates them to keep playing.’
When you were a teacher, what sort of problems did you have that you see teachers today also having, and how do you address these sorts of issues?
One of the most significant challenges I observed as a teacher was the difficulty of integrating literacy into content areas like science and social studies. Teachers often spend countless hours searching for reliable content that fills the right gap in order to capitalize on their students’ curiosity. ClassMate offers hundreds of thousands of resources aligned to standards that can be easily infused, through our AI tools, with literacy strategies that encourage language development. Whether discussing Gandhi’s Salt March, the rules of baseball, or the fundamentals of robotics, ClassMate simplifies incorporating meaningful reading and empowers teachers to tap into students’ natural curiosity.
Everyone who cares about children and our future must make literacy a top priority, leveraging tools that seamlessly integrate reading practice across subjects. The science of reading shows that literacy development must extend to every subject and every class—it must be part of every lesson. ClassMate meets this challenge by equipping educators with resources to embed literacy skills throughout the curriculum.
This has been a very interesting discussion! What words of wisdom do you have regarding the future of learning, any final thoughts for educators looking ahead?
As educators and leaders, we must reignite students’ curiosity, empower them with the skills to read, and the discernment to think critically about the world around them. World Book ClassMate is not just a reading tool—it’s a platform for exploration and critical thinking. Whether students are diving into ancient history or exploring contemporary issues, ClassMate equips them with the skills to question, analyze, and understand their world.
‘As educators and leaders, we must reignite students’ curiosity, empower them with the skills to read, and the discernment to think critically about the world around them.’
In this age of information overload, reliable, fact-based content is more important than ever. World Book remains committed to providing that foundation, empowering educators to foster literacy in ways that resonate. Together, we can help students become not just better readers but more discerning and informed citizens.
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Victor Rivero is the Editor-in-Chief of EdTech Digest. Write to: victor@edtechdigest.com
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