I have updated my “History of Pearson” timeline with the events from 2017. None of these seem to bode particularly well for the education giant. Indeed, I’m not sure how much longer the phrase “world’s biggest education company” will be applicable to Pearson. (Although as I type that, I’m not sure who would become “the biggest” in Pearson’s stead.)

I talk a little bit about Pearson’s future in my end-of-year article on “the power of platforms.” One of Pearson’s problems, I’d argue, is that it’s not a platform. It’s a content company. And it doesn’t seem to be doing that great in convincing folks that its new digital content is worth keeping the company afloat at its historical levels. (Those historic levels were enabled by Pearson the conglomerate. And as Pearson refocuses on digital education, it really has very few assets left to sell off.)