Pearson, Columbia University Announce Partnership to Design Innovative Online Learning Program using Social Technology

NEW YORK, March 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Pearson and Columbia University's School of Continuing Education today announced a partnership to design an innovative online learning program that leverages Pearson's social technology platform to support cooperative learning.

Beginning with a series of pilots starting this summer, the School of Continuing Education will offer courses via the Pearson LearningStudio platform, including a hybrid Master of Science program in Information and Knowledge Strategy and an online Business Certificate Program. Columbia's administrators and faculty will have access to a range of Pearson LearningStudio's data tools, including Enterprise Reporting to monitor and analyze trends in student performance, and Learning Outcome Manager to track the achievement of learning objectives and goals.

Using Pearson's social technology tools, students can connect and interact in real-time or asynchronously with instructors and peers for a richer online learning experience. As a result, they will be able to build relationships and learning communities; exercise social, team and leadership skills; give and receive feedback on ideas; participate in shared knowledge building; and support one another in the pursuit of shared learning goals.

"We anticipate that this collaboration will yield a model of innovative learning that will serve to advance higher education in the 21st century," said Kristine Billmyer, Dean of Columbia's School of Continuing Education.

"We are very happy that Pearson shares our interest in developing a new learning platform that by design encourages social engagement and 'knowledge networking' through the latest web 2.0 functionality," said Marni Baker Stein, Senior Associate Dean for Curriculum and Instruction at Columbia's School of Continuing Education.

"Our design partnership with Columbia is aimed at forging new ground in how social technology tools and online learning can be merged to provide students with a more robust and rewarding learning experience," said Matt Leavy, CEO at Pearson eCollege.

More information is available at http://ce.columbia.edu/.

About Columbia University's School of Continuing Education

The Columbia School of Continuing Education offers innovative and rigorous programs that integrate knowledge across disciplinary boundaries, combine theory with practice, leverage the combined expertise of our students and our faculty, and connect global constituencies. Through its 13 professional master's degrees, courses for advancement and graduate school preparation, certificate programs, summer courses, high school programs, and program for learning English as a second language, SCE transforms knowledge and understanding in service of the greater good, defined as a just, sustainable and compassionate global society.

For more information, please visit http://ce.columbia.edu/.

About Pearson eCollege

Pearson eCollege is a trusted and innovative leader in powering online learning programs and part of Pearson, the world's leading learning company (NYSE: PSO). Pearson eCollege's flagship product—Pearson LearningStudio—represents the next generation in learning management systems and provides a comprehensive, flexible and fully supported cloud computing environment for online personalized learning in higher education. Serving more than 9 million students around the globe, Pearson LearningStudio provides a comprehensive learning management system with an assessment and analytics suite that helps to improve student achievement and retention. The technology offers a personalized learning environment build on an advanced, scalable and dependable Software as a Service platform. For more information, visit www.pearsonlearningstudio.com.

Media Contact: Susan Aspey, susan(dot)aspey(at)pearson(dot)com or 1-800-745-8489

SOURCE Pearson