article thumbnail

Pearson Bets on Adaptive Learning (Again) With $25M Acquisition of Smart Sparrow

Edsurge

The deal marks the latest in a series of acquisitions involving digital courseware, the industry parlance for online products that leverage data and technology to personalize the course instruction and feedback that each student receives. Its accounts on Facebook and Twitter are no longer active, as an education industry analyst noticed.

Pearson 107
article thumbnail

As OER Grows Up, Advocates Stress More Than Just Low Cost

Edsurge

For the first time ever, the federal government put forward funds to support initiatives around open educational resources, and recent studies show that faculty attitudes towards using and adapting these openly-licensed learning materials are steadily improving. But fans of OER are increasingly facing a problem.

OER 136
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Wiley to Acquire Knewton’s Assets, Marking an End to an Expensive Startup Journey

Edsurge

In the second eye-raising deal for the higher-ed publishing industry in as many weeks, Wiley, a major textbook publisher, has agreed to acquire the assets of Knewton, a provider of digital courseware and adaptive-learning technologies. Knewton’s Alta, by contrast, is tapping into openly-licensed, or OER, materials.

Knewton 147
article thumbnail

It’s 2020: Have Digital Learning Innovations Trends Changed?

Edsurge

The primary trends identified by the team were: adaptive learning, open education resources (OER), gamification and game-based learning, MOOCs, LMS and interoperability, mobile devices, and design. Delivering these models to a differentiated population of educators and learners requires an adaptive approach.

Trends 206
article thumbnail

Pearson Signals Major Shift From Print by Making All Textbook Updates ‘Digital First’

Edsurge

Even though Pearson is not cutting out print completely, its digital-first update strategy may still alienate some faculty, says Wiley, who is currently the chief academic officer of Lumen Learning, a company that provides digital OER courseware to colleges and universities. “It It doesn’t matter what a publisher wants to sell.

Pearson 167
article thumbnail

Digital Leadership is Not Optional

A Principal's Reflections

Society is now in the midst of the Fourth Industrial Revolution , which was in its infancy as I began writing this book. Personalized and blended learning pathways were proclaimed to be the future of education. More and more schools have gone 1:1 thanks to the cost-effectiveness of the Chromebook and cloud-based tools.

OER 240
article thumbnail

Knewton’s New Business Attracts New $25M in Funding. But Some Things Don’t Change.

Edsurge

The company that set the bar for hyping adaptive-learning technology has had to adapt to new leadership and a new business model. Brian Kibby, CEO of Knewton Getting into the courseware business marks a major pivot for the New York City-based company, which originally licensed its adaptive learning technology to publishers.

Knewton 67