McGraw-Hill Higher Education Teams Up With Widget Realm To Create Innovative College Class Prep Tool For Instructors

NEW YORK, March 24 /PRNewswire/ -- If you're a college instructor who needs an easy-to-use tool to prep for classes, a widget may be just what you need. Not just any widget, the McGraw-Hill Economics Widget. It was developed through an alliance between McGraw-Hill Higher Education and Widget Realm, Inc., and provides instructors with computer desktop access to a steady stream of up-to-the-minute information direct from trusted websites and resources, helping them efficiently update their notes, PowerPoint® presentations, news items, and data prior to lecturing in class.  

Instructors also can use the McGraw-Hill Economics Widget as a convenient portal to McGraw-Hill Connect Economics, the most-advanced all-digital teaching and learning exchange for higher education. Connect uses the latest technology and adaptive learning techniques to better connect instructors to their students, and students to the information and customized resources they need to master economics as well as many other subjects.

The McGraw-Hill Economics Widget allows for an easy flow of content and a customizable display for the user. The versatile tool may be accessed via the desktop, mobile phone or a Connected TV with the Yahoo! Widget Platform.

"We're excited to be working with McGraw Hill on this project, and with the launch of this tool, we hope to enable instructors to be the best they can be," said Brian Powell, CEO of Widget Realm.  Kevin Kane, president of McGraw-Hill Higher Education's Business & Economics group, explained, "We're proud to be able to deliver the technology that helps faculty enhance instruction and drive academic achievement, and the McGraw-Hill Economics Widget is one more way to do that. More than thirty percent of our instructors have downloaded the Widget in the past few months. They appreciate the fact that it fits right into their natural class preparation workflow."  

When instructors download the McGraw-Hill Economics Widget they have immediate access to the following resources:

• Weekly newsletters with featured articles and videos for instructors to use in class
• An instant portal to student performance tracking through McGraw-Hill's assignment and assessment platform, Connect Economics
• Archives of news articles written by McGraw-Hill's trusted textbook authors
• Updates on teaching conferences and free online professional development workshops
• Twitter feed by a instructor to his students
• Videos and news clips for students

McGraw-Hill Higher Education is currently working with Widget Realm to develop new class-prep widgets for other academic disciplines, and these tools will be available in the near future.

For more information about the McGraw-Hill Economics Widget and how you can obtain one for a free download, please contact Jennifer Saxton, senior marketing manager, by email.

About McGraw-Hill Higher Education:

McGraw-Hill Higher Education, a unit of McGraw-Hill Education, is a leading innovator in the development of 21st century teaching and learning solutions for postsecondary and higher education markets worldwide. Through a comprehensive range of traditional and digital education content and tools focused on improving student learning outcomes, McGraw-Hill Higher Education empowers and prepares professionals and students 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. Additional information is available at http://www.mheducation.com.

About Widget Realm, Inc

Launched in late 2007, Widget Realm, Inc is a content publishing service with distribution services available for Connected TV sets, mobile devices, and desktop applications. With the launch of the Broadcast-It-Yourself service, individuals and organizations will be able to easily distribute any type of content to their audiences. Widget Realm is based in St Louis, MO and privately funded. For additional information, please visit http://www.widgetrealm.com.

SOURCE McGraw-Hill Higher Education