NEW YORK, July 13 /PRNewswire/ -- McGraw-Hill Higher Education, a global education company, today announced that its student knowledge sharing and collaboration network, GradeGuru.com will be presented with a 2010 Effective Practice Award at the 3rd Annual Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C), an association of institutions and organizations of higher education engaged in online learning. The Sloan Consortium Emerging Technologies for Online Learning conference will take place in San Jose, California on Wednesday, July 21, 2010.

GradeGuru (www.gradeguru.com) is a free knowledge sharing network where college students can share their study materials, engage in collaborative learning and get much needed peer-support while building their online academic reputations for rewards, internships and career opportunities. GradeGuru's university and class specific communities are providing a relevant and intuitive social learning environment for thousands of students from more than 300 universities across the country.

The Effective Practice Award that GradeGuru will receive recognizes educators, institutions and organizations for effectively innovating to realize the potential of online learning in higher education. Winners of this award are judged against strict criteria, including demonstrating researched evidence of a significant impact on learning outcomes, broad scope and application in multiple learning contexts, and an overarching test of agreement that "Every institution should be doing this!" The effective practices selected for the award are peer reviewed to ensure quality and are based on their ability to advance the goals of access, learning effectiveness, faculty and student satisfaction and scalability.

GradeGuru is facilitating the practice of collaboration, knowledge sharing, peer review and support and online study groups among college students. GradeGuru's entry for the award included research data showing that by using the tool, students are increasing their engagement with course concepts, building their confidence with their coursework and improving their academic performance. GradeGuru gives students exposure to other learners' perspectives and study methods, thoughtful feedback and encouragement and a sense of pride in their contributions to the community.

"The GradeGuru Team is honored to be an Effective Practice Award recipient. We are thrilled that our work to help students help themselves and each other is being recognized by the academic fraternity", said Emily Sawtell, senior director of Student Innovations for McGraw-Hill Education, representing the GradeGuru Team. Sawtell will also be presenting at Sloan-C in the session titled "Ushering in the academic social web to enhance student engagement and increase retention" and will be accepting the award on behalf of the GradeGuru Team.

About McGraw-Hill Higher Education

McGraw-Hill Higher Education, part of McGraw-Hill Education, is a premier provider of teaching and learning solutions for 21st century post-secondary and higher education markets worldwide. Through a comprehensive range of traditional and digital education content and tools, McGraw-Hill Higher Education empowers educators and prepares professionals and students of all ages to connect, learn and succeed in the global economy. McGraw-Hill Education, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), has offices in 33 countries and publishes in more than 65 languages.

About Sloan Consortium

The Sloan Consortium is an institutional and professional leadership organization dedicated to integrating online education into the mainstream of higher education, helping institutions and individual educators improve the quality, scale, and breadth of online education. Membership in the Sloan Consortium provides knowledge, practice, community, and direction for educators. Originally funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Sloan-C is now a non-profit, member sustained organization. Join with Sloan-C to lead higher education in meeting social needs for affordable access, quality innovations, and teaching and learning excellence. For further information, visit www.aln.org

SOURCE McGraw-Hill Higher Education; GradeGuru

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