How Macmillan Learning’s Intrapreneurs are Helping Shape the Future of Learning

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For centuries, learning followed a simple, structured format. Chalkboards, lecture halls, and the “sage on the stage” model dominated education. In this traditional approach, knowledge flowed one way—from teacher to student—with little room for interaction or personalization. The tools of the trade remained unchanged for hundreds of years, and the idea of innovation in learning was limited to new textbooks or slightly different teaching methods.

In recent decades, the pace of change in education has accelerated. Digital tools, multimedia content, and self-directed learning platforms have redefined how and where we learn. Classrooms are no longer the sole space for education. Learners have become more diverse, and their unique needs, goals, and challenges are being brought to the forefront. 

At Macmillan Learning, we recognize that today’s learning landscape requires more than updated content and platforms—it demands new ways of thinking. For us, this means reaching learners whenever and wherever they’re learning. Whether it’s helping train the workforce of tomorrow, supporting educators as lifelong learners, or finding innovative ways for students to succeed, we leverage our deep expertise to solve the real challenges that stand in the way of learning. And we don’t do it alone—our employees are at the heart of this mission, working together to bring fresh ideas to life.

Intrapreneurship: Redefining Learning from the Inside Out

We believe that the key to innovation starts within our walls, and intrapreneurship is one of the most important ways that we can help inspire what’s possible for learners. We encourage our employees to dream about the big ‘if only’ and ‘what if’ questions that keep educators and student advocates up at night. We ask them to think about what our company can do to help learners realize their full potential. We believe that encouraging entrepreneurial thinking from within is one of the most important ways we look at the challenges facing our industry with fresh eyes.

Through intrapreneurship, we’re drawing on our extensive knowledge to tackle the barriers to effective learning—whether it’s designing a course that drives active engagement, supporting a student with the answers they need, or helping someone who doesn’t feel like they belong on campus. By empowering employees to think outside their day-to-day roles and challenge the status quo, we create space for innovation to happen organically, and with a clear focus on the learner’s needs.

It’s their commitment to innovation that led us to launch our Emerging Business Opportunities (EBO) program. The idea is simple but powerful: we encourage employees to think like CEOs of their ideas, guiding them through a structured process to take those ideas from concept to implementation. It’s about giving our team the tools to dream big and the resources to make it happen—all to improve the learning experience. We want to remove barriers that stand in the way of learning so every student has the opportunity to thrive; by empowering our team to explore new ideas and solutions, we’re driving the future of learning in ways that reflect our commitment to supporting every learner, wherever and whoever they are. 

How Ideas Come to Life

Through our EBO program, we’ve already seen exciting projects emerge, each pushing the boundaries of what it means to be a learner and exploring a different facet of how we can use our own experiences to do better. Executive Research and Development Editor @sherry_mooney is exploring one such idea. Sherry carried an idea with her for years but put it aside because she saw it as outside the scope of her job and not necessarily something our company has done in the past. But with our renewed focus on intrapreneurship through the EBO program, she felt empowered to tackle a problem she’s seen brewing since before the pandemic: systemic student and instructor disengagement. 

She recognized that neither our company nor our industry should keep doing the same thing and that there was an opportunity for our company and industry to explore new approaches. She told me she wanted to “throw her oddball idea out there to see if anyone else thought it could be something.” As it turns out -- we did. We’ve given her (and about a dozen other employees like her) the time and space to explore the kind of ideas that we think can change learning for the better.

Sherry’s project explores how we might introduce gamification into history classes to motivate students through a more engaging learning experience. In her words, we can “bring the fun of what you choose to do in your own time and marry it to a learning resource.” As an intrapreneur, she’s setting aside a few hours each day to dedicate to this project, researching the market and working through its details, and is motivated to learn about the impact it could have. She’s just one of the many employees pursuing different ideas to create new and better learning experiences.

While her project is still in the early stages, a few other employee-driven concepts are underway, including iClicker for Work, which explores how iClicker, traditionally used in classrooms, can be adapted for corporate training and other environments. This expands our definition of a learner to include professionals seeking to grow their careers. (You can read more about how it’s being used here.) and The Institute at Macmillan Learning, which was created to support educators as learners themselves. The recently launched course, Teaching with Gen AI, empowers them to continuously develop their skills and adapt to the evolving educational landscape. You can learn more about the Institute here and more about Symphonie Swift, the intrapreneur who dreamed up the idea, here.

These projects are a few of the many making their way through our EBO. They demonstrate how we challenge conventional definitions of learning and open new doors for growth across diverse environments. They are just the beginning of how we continue to inspire what’s possible for all learners. Our teams understand that innovation doesn’t come from following a single path. It comes from exploring new ideas, asking the right questions, and encouraging our team to challenge the status quo by questioning why we create, not just what we create. 

Whether it's fostering a sense of belonging for students, supporting educators in their continuous development, or exploring how technology can enhance self-directed learning, our intrapreneurs lead the way in shaping these experiences. Ultimately, our mission is clear: to make learning a transformative experience. We believe the best way to achieve this is by harnessing the power of internal innovation because the greatest learning company is one that continually learns itself.