Learning technology provider Knewton followed up news
of its expanding relationship with Pearson Higher Education by announcing a partnership
on the English language learning system from Cambridge University Press (CUP). It
will also soon open an office in London to support its efforts in Europe,
Africa, and the Middle East.
Knewton creates a software platform that helps students
learn by providing real-time recommendations based on their work, instructor
guidelines, and information gathered from all students using the technology. Working
with CUP allows the New York-based firm to reach 250,000 more students in 50
countries worldwide, according to a report in eCampus News.
The collaboration with Pearson is an extension of the
work Knewton has been doing with the publisher since 2011, adding accounting,
anatomy, biology and physiology, chemistry, physics, and finance to the list of
courses offered in Pearson’s MyLab and Mastering line of learning tools. The
two companies launched tools in economics, math, reading, and writing in the
fall of 2012.
“We think of these as gateway courses,” Pearson
President Paul Corey told Information Week.
“Getting through these courses is a tough challenge for many of these students.
The success rate, once students get through these gateway courses, is pretty
high.”
Knewton is also talking with publishers in Australia
and Asia, and should be powering learning solutions in Brazil by the end of the
year, according to David Liu, chief operating officer.
“There’s a lot of talk that adaptive learning is really
only useful for math and some of the developmental subjects,” Lui told Information
Week. “As long as there is a rubric for what is right or wrong, we can make it
adaptive.”
