McGraw-Hill Higher Education Enters Consumer Market by Offering Digital Tutor Directly to Students

NEW YORK, July 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, McGraw-Hill Education announced plans to make McGraw-Hill LearnSmart™ – its industry-leading adaptive learning program that is proven to help students study more efficiently and perform better in class – available for students to purchase directly in time for fall classes. This marks the first time that McGraw-Hill Higher Education, traditionally a business-to-business company that sells to instructors and institutions, has marketed and sold its technology resources directly to students. The move expands access to a proven learning technology and opens new revenue streams for the company.

McGraw-Hill LearnSmart is a super-adaptive learning program that tailors the learning experience to students' individual needs by continuously assessing their knowledge and skills and providing personalized recommendations that help them master basic course concepts and retain their knowledge over time. In a super-adaptive learning system, students use out-of-class study time to answer questions about what they are learning in class. By encouraging students to show up for class prepared, LearnSmart allows instructors to spend less time covering the basics and more time covering more advanced topics and leading rich discussions. For professors, LearnSmart facilitates "just-in-time teaching" by providing them with insight into which topics students are struggling with and enabling them to adjust their lectures accordingly. In a study released last year, LearnSmart was shown to turn C students into B students, and B students into A students.

McGraw-Hill Education will continue to make McGraw-Hill LearnSmart available through its existing distribution channels as a component of the McGraw-Hill Connect platform, including college and university campus stores throughout North America.

"Adaptive study programs like McGraw-Hill LearnSmart have the potential to revolutionize education. We have technology with the power to make possible the type of personalized learning experience that professors have always wanted to provide and that has already been shown to improve student performance," said Brian Kibby, president, McGraw-Hill Higher Education. "Making these study tools available directly to students – and their parents who want to help them succeed – signals a new era for our business as we work to ensure that more students are getting the most out of their college education."

Originally developed in 2007, McGraw-Hill LearnSmart uses a wealth of data to continuously analyze students' knowledge and skills and direct them to the exact material (in their e-book or print book) they need to study. LearnSmart also contains engaging gaming elements to push students to improve their performance by showing them how they rank relative to their peers. This highly effective study tool is perfect for today's multitasking students, whether they are over-achievers seeking an added edge, struggling students who need extra help to prepare for their exams, or students who are simply pressed for time.

McGraw-Hill LearnSmart is currently available in more than 40 introductory courses across every major subject area. As of May 2012, more than 800,000 students have answered nearly 700 million questions with about 1.5 million questions answered on LearnSmart every day. Like Netflix's recommendation engine, super-adaptive learning systems only get better with increased use over time. As students answer more and more questions, the personalized recommendations they deliver will become even more accurate and specific.

"Students come to class prepared and, as a result of LearnSmart, I am able to utilize class time more productively for class discussion and participation," said Gary Brockway, marketing instructor at Murray State University.

In 2011, McGraw-Hill Higher Education released an effectiveness study, "Evaluating the Adaptive Learning Tool's Impact on Pass and Retention Rates and Instructional Efficiencies at Seven U.S. Universities," that outlines the benefits of adaptive learning tools for both instructors and students. The study found that LearnSmart improves pass rates (+12.5%), increases students' class and test preparation outside of the classroom (students who completed all the LearnSmart modules scored an average of 10% higher on all exams), and allows instructors to cover more applied topics and real-world activities in class.

McGraw-Hill LearnSmart can be implemented at the class, course or institution level and can be accessed through McGraw-Hill Connect®, the company's online course management platform that integrates e-books with digital learning solutions and class materials.

For more information on McGraw-Hill LearnSmart, please visit: www.mhhe.com/learnsmart/

About McGraw-Hill Education

McGraw-Hill Education is a content, software and services-based education company that draws on its more than 100 years of educational expertise to offer solutions, which improve learning outcomes around the world. McGraw-Hill is the adaptive education technology leader with the vision for creating a highly personalized learning experience that prepares students of all ages for the world that awaits. The company has offices across North America, India, China, Europe, the Middle East and South America, and makes its learning solutions available in more than 65 languages. For additional information, visit www.mheducation.com.

Contact:
Tom Stanton
McGraw-Hill Education
(212) 904-3214
[email protected]

SOURCE McGraw-Hill Education