Pearson and McGraw-Hill Education recently unveiled new
approaches designed to help college students learn more efficiently.
Pearson launched its Project Blue Sky search engine,
which is intended to make it easier for instructors to find electronic course
materials. Pearson hopes its search engine will fill a need demanded by
faculty, while making sure its own content catalog is in front of educators
searching for open educational resources (OER).
“We clearly believe our content is superior to OER
content, but we recognize there is a place for OER in the current
environment,” said Don Kilburn, vice chairman of Pearson’s higher education
division, in an Inside Higher Education article. “If we can’t compete effectively
there, we have a bigger problem.”
Then, McGraw-Hill Education unveiled its Digital
Learning Partnership Program, which will be available for implementation by fall
2013. The program is an extension of the pilot program being used this fall at
25 colleges and universities across the country. Instructors can choose
materials from McGraw-Hill’s e-textbook partners and institutions are able to
select e-book vendor, price structure, and length of subscription.
“Finding new ways to make course materials more
affordable to students is a core focus of this program, but the ultimate goal
is helping universities and students transition to digital in ways that
encourage deeper learning, better pass rates, and higher rates of retention,”
said Tom Malek, vice president of learning solutions and services, in a press release.
“Over the last few years, we’ve collaborated on several pilot programs that
have enabled us to learn a lot about digital readiness, preferences, and needs
of institutions and students.”
