Pearson Launches REVEL™ to Improve Learner Outcomes in Higher Education
Boston, MA (PRWEB) September 29, 2014 -- Pearson today announced the launch of REVEL – an immersive digital learning tool that replaces both the printed textbook and existing online learning tools for General Studies courses. REVEL is designed for the way today’s students learn, think and consume content. It aims to keep students engaged in their study materials and, in turn, get the most out of their courses.
Students attending class unprepared to engage in discussions, think critically and demonstrate a grasp of core concepts is one of the biggest challenges facing educators. These activities help foster what are commonly called 21st Century Skills that have become so vital to subsequent courses and ultimately, employers. This lack of preparation is often due to incomplete reading assignments, lack of effective practice and generally coming to class not fully prepared to do college-level work. For their part, students often say that for many of their courses, and particularly some of their elective courses, the study materials are passive, laborious and not reflective of how they interact with content.
REVEL directly addresses these challenges by interweaving text-based reading material, interactive exercises, infographics, social features and video segments to provide an engaging experience that helps students take an active role in their learning. This design will increasingly draw upon principles of learning design and theory for cognitive load-balancing and retention. With REVEL, educators can track the time students spend on each reading assignment and their performance on assessments, thus providing a comprehensive view of students' engagement and understanding prior to class. REVEL also provides a fully mobile experience, which enables students to read and interact with course material on their devices at anytime and anywhere.
The creation of REVEL incorporates feedback from more than 23,000 educators and students. Pearson gained this feedback over several years to ensure REVEL accurately reflects their preferences for teaching and learning. By listening and leveraging the best thinking in instructional design, and by applying advanced learning and assessment technologies, all of REVEL’s key aspects — from features and content to performance dashboard reporting — were informed by live interactions with educators and students.
East Carolina University Adjunct Instructor, Department of Sociology, Jennifer O’Neill, said, “I adopted REVEL because digital learning is an innovative way to encourage connection with the course material. It reaches students where they live.”
Coastal Bend College Professor, Political Science & History, Karl Clark, said, "REVEL took my classroom to the students. It enlightened their education through immersion, measured their performance and provided extant outcomes. Their success is literally in their hands."
The product will be used by 12,000 students at 50 institutions in fall 2014, and the initial courses will include Introduction to Psychology, Introduction to Sociology, and Public Speaking.
Pearson’s Managing Director, Higher Education, Paul Corey, said, “In many general education courses, we consistently hear faculty lament that students come into class having not read the book or completed the assignment. Reading remains a core and critical foundational skill, and with the ubiquity of information today, it could be argued that "critical reading" is even more important than ever. With all the advances made in technology, pedagogy and learning science, reading can now be augmented with rich media and interactivity to spark engagement, curiosity and the excitement of learning new things in new ways. We created REVEL as a response to what we have heard from scores of faculty and students over the years, and also as part of our public pledge to have all our products and solutions be on a path to demonstrated efficacy. The launch of REVEL, as with all of our "NextGen” technologies, is a first step for which there will be no final one, but rather continuous improvement that will come from customer feedback, advances in technology and in learning science and design."
Corey also added, “Pearson’s market-leading MyLab and Mastering products, which serve more than 11 million learners each year, will continue to innovate and advance as the best in-class online adaptive tutorial and assessment platform with rich data analytics, mobile features and demonstrated efficacy for students, faculty and institutions across the globe.”
For a live demonstration of REVEL, media representatives can visit Pearson booth #701 at the 2014 EDUCAUSE Conference on Sept. 30 and October 1 in Orlando, or reach out to the media contact listed below. To learn more about REVEL, visit http://www.pearsonhighered.com/revel/.
About Pearson
Pearson is the world's leading learning company, with 40,000 employees in more than 80 countries working to help people of all ages to make measurable progress in their lives through learning. For more information about Pearson, visit http://www.pearson.com.
Brandon Pinette, Pearson, http://www.pearson.com, +1 (800) 745-8489, [email protected]
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