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Online learning rockets in coronavirus pandemic, says Pearson Education; Families Now Adapting to Home Schooling
Reuters ^ | 04/01/2020 | Kate Holton, Paul Sandle

Posted on 04/01/2020 2:01:13 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

Britain’s Pearson (PSON.L) has seen an “explosion” in demand for online learning, with traffic across its platforms quadrupling as millions of children start to adapt to home schooling during the coronavirus pandemic, its chief executive said.

Pearson, a leading global education company, has made some programs available for free and expanded others to help teachers, parents and students fill the gap caused by school and college closures that have followed the spread of coronavirus from China to other parts of Asia, Europe to North America.

The company has mobilized resources to train more teachers to deliver lessons online and provide digital content and a learning platform for schools and students, chief executive John Fallon told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.

“We’ve seen a huge increase in the appetite for digital resources,” he said. “Across all our platforms globally we are seeing about a 400% increase in activity (...) and that demand is growing day-by-day.”

Pearson, which provides textbooks, assessments and digital services in 70 countries, trained an additional 24,000 teachers in online learning and gained 500,000 new learners in Italy, he said. Italy is the country with the most deaths, and the second most cases after China, to date in the pandemic.

One of its British products, The Maths Factor, created by TV maths whiz Carol Vorderman for students aged 4 to 12, was made available for free on Tuesday. “We had 41,000 new subscribers just on the first day,” Fallon said.

In the United States, an additional 2,000 places were made available at its Connections Academy online school internationally for free. It has received 70,000 applications.

The rapid shift to digital learning follows an often painful journey for Pearson in recent years as it moved from traditional textbooks to online subscription tools,

(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Education; Society
KEYWORDS: coronavirus; education; onlinelearning; pearson; schools; silverlining

1 posted on 04/01/2020 2:01:13 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

Well, at least ACT and SAT scores will go up if those things are still around afterwards. This quarantine just might break the public schools.


2 posted on 04/01/2020 2:05:28 PM PDT by MrEdd (Caveat Emptor)
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To: MrEdd

The more kids study Math and English and the less they undergo commie indoctrination, the better.


3 posted on 04/01/2020 2:12:07 PM PDT by Sirius Lee (They are openly stating that they intend to murder us. Prep if you want to live.)
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To: SeekAndFind

There was a satirical story in the Babylon Bee about teachers insisting that children return to school before they learn how to think for themselves. Truth is stranger than fiction.


4 posted on 04/01/2020 2:15:56 PM PDT by Oshkalaboomboom
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To: SeekAndFind

*Hint*, parents.


5 posted on 04/01/2020 2:19:20 PM PDT by VanDeKoik
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To: Oshkalaboomboom

Universities are panicked that they can’t bully students into stupidity face to face.


6 posted on 04/01/2020 2:27:13 PM PDT by jjotto (“Blessed are You LORD, who crushes enemies and subdues the wicked.”)
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To: SeekAndFind

The home schooling bonanza would be really good for the polity if the parents can also shuck the State curricula from their computers and TVs and replace with private offerings. Their kids will experience large language and knowledge increases that way.


7 posted on 04/01/2020 2:29:47 PM PDT by arthurus (COVFEFE sooner than later)
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To: SeekAndFind

My wife is an elementary teacher. Her school has gone total distance learning in the last 2 weeks, amazing what they have done. But more importantly, it seems to be working really well for teachers and kids.


8 posted on 04/01/2020 2:31:45 PM PDT by Free America52 (The White guys are getting pissed off. We beat Hitler Hirohito and Krushchev. Obama will be easy.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Hmmm? There is no real need for the brick and mortar school then after this pandemic is behind us?


9 posted on 04/01/2020 2:56:17 PM PDT by eeriegeno
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To: SeekAndFind

“HEY!...Teacher!..Leave them kids alone!”


10 posted on 04/01/2020 3:09:38 PM PDT by equaviator (There's nothing like the universe to bring you down to earth.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Don’t forget Bible study and gun safety classes...


11 posted on 04/01/2020 4:35:37 PM PDT by Libloather (Why do climate change hoax deniers live in mansions on the beach?)
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To: eeriegeno
School shootings hardest hit.

12 posted on 04/01/2020 4:38:05 PM PDT by conservatism_IS_compassion (Socialism is cynicism directed towards society and - correspondingly - naivete towards government.)
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