Press Release: McGraw-Hill Education Takes Important Step in Open Technology, Enabling Educators to Build Personalized Learning Experiences

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., April 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- (ASU GSV Summit) - Learning technology became more accessible and personal today as McGraw-Hill Education announced a commitment to open technology standards that will lower barriers to integration and allow anyone to build personalized learning experiences that integrate with the company's technologies. The company announced Microsoft Corp. as its first open technology provider in a collaboration that will enable educators to build their own "compound learning objects" through Microsoft Office Mix and seamlessly integrate them into McGraw-Hill Education's learning platforms. Through this vision, educators, students and developers are able to personalize and enhance McGraw-Hill Education's courseware by creating and combining content that leverages the power of the company's adaptive and analytics platforms.

McGraw-Hill Education's embrace of open learning represents one of the biggest steps yet in the company's transition from a publisher to a learning science company delivering intelligent platforms and services alongside content and results-focused course design. The shift supports the increasing demands of educators and students to combine learning elements from multiple sources to create learning experiences that are distinctive, personalized and improve results.

"We know that students and educators want learning experiences that are deeply personal, and often this means combining content from multiple sources, including content they have produced themselves," said David Levin, president and chief executive officer of McGraw-Hill Education. "No two learners or educators have the exact same set of needs. Developing our adaptive technology and platforms in a way that facilitates a digital ecosystem is essential to improving results, and it's something we take as our responsibility. We're committed to becoming the world's foremost learning science company, and we see open technology as a key element of our future."

Defining McGraw-Hill Education's vision for "open learning"
Open learning environments exist with the expectation that educators and students will integrate, mash-up or extend content to make the learning experience more personal. Open learning systems are better able to meet the diverse needs of learners and also allow for creative experimentation-all while keeping data private and secure.