Cengage Learning and Moodlerooms Partner to Deliver Interoperability of Moodle and Digital Content and Solutions

STAMFORD, Conn., July 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Cengage Learning, a leading global provider of innovative teaching, learning and research solutions, today announced a strategic partnership with Moodlerooms to allow for integration of Cengage Learning's digital solutions and Moodlerooms products.  The resulting interoperability will improve the customer experience, and faculty and institutions will be able to better leverage rich content to drive engagement, increase retention and raise learning outcomes.

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Specifically, the new partnership will allow for seamless access through single-sign on and will enhance the usability and functionality of Moodlerooms' enterprise e-Learning platform, joule, and Moodle's basic LTI integration so that students and teachers will be able to take advantage of a truly seamless, bi-directional user experience between Cengage Learning and Moodlerooms solutions. For example, the ability to embed direct links to Cengage digital products within Moodlerooms' joule platform greatly enhances teacher productivity; and implementing certain Moodle feature sets, like the collaboration tools, to be exposed as apps within Cengage Learning solutions helps unify the user experience for students while optimizing the use of these kinds of features in the teacher workflow. Cengage Learning and Moodlerooms will work jointly to deliver integration that enables assessment scoring information to be passed from Cengage Learning solutions to the Moodle gradebook. The integration will be largely standards-based.

Moodlerooms' joule enterprise platform provides a sustainable, open, flexible and intuitive platform for seamlessly deploying content throughout the various modules and tools that have been integrated into the e-Learning environment. Plans of this partnership will provide direct access to Cengage Learning's digital content and core curriculum solutions, and overall increased functionality for institutions. Users of Cengage Learning's rich digital learning solutions and content will gain seamless access through automatic sign-on and gradebook integration, creating a simpler and more intuitive user experience for both instructors and students.

"We recognize that today's instructors are challenged to incorporate the best learning technologies and content into the classroom and we are seeking ways to improve this experience for all customers - and our partnership with Moodlerooms will support instructors using Moodle by allowing for a truly seamless solution," said William Rieders, Executive Vice President, New Media, Cengage Learning.

"Our partnership with Cengage Learning ensures seamless, open access to valuable teaching and learning solutions for the more than 40 million Moodle users around the world," says Lou Pugliese, Moodlerooms Chairman and CEO. "This relationship is designed to provide more open, flexible and innovative interoperability that proprietary (closed system) LMS platforms, by design, are not able to achieve."

The partnership will offer a better experience for users of online homework provided via MindTap, CourseMaster products such as Aplia and SAM, as well as CourseMate and course cartridges. The added level of integration is made possible through Cengage Learning's standards-based, interoperable, Web-services architecture (MindLinks) and Moodle. The agreement will also include ongoing interoperability options for Cengage Learning's MindTap program and future product development.

Cengage Learning and Moodlerooms will co-develop new interfaces to expose services within Moodle and both parties will contribute code to the community.

For more information about Moodlerooms, please visit www.moodlerooms.com. For more information about Cengage Learning, please visit www.cengage.com.

About Cengage Learning

Cengage Learning is a leading provider of innovative teaching, learning and research solutions for the academic, professional and library markets worldwide. The company's products and services are designed to foster academic excellence and professional development, increase student engagement, improve learning outcomes and deliver authoritative information to people whenever and wherever they need it. Through the company's unique position within both the library and academic markets, Cengage Learning is providing integrated learning solutions that bridge from the library to the classroom.  Cengage Learning's brands include Brooks/Cole, Course Technology, Delmar, Gale, Heinle, South-Western and Wadsworth, among others. Cengage Learning is headquartered in Stamford, CT.  For more information on Cengage Learning, please visit www.cengage.com.

About Moodlerooms

Moodlerooms provides educators and learners across the globe with adaptable, reliable and affordable e-learning. With turnkey software-as-a-service solutions for Moodle, Moodlerooms' customers receive the benefits of the most widely-used learning management system in the world with the comfort and assurance that come from enterprise-level enhancements, services, and value-added support. With an unwavering commitment to creating a more effective and engaging education community, Moodlerooms is the CHANGE you want e-learning to be. For more information on Moodlerooms, please visit www.moodlerooms.com.

SOURCE Cengage Learning