by Paul Fain, Inside Higher Ed
Adaptive learning is hot. The technology, loosely defined as data-driven tools that can help professors mold coursework around individual students’ abilities, is developing at a dizzying pace. And colleges have been hard-pressed to keep up with the mishmash of adaptive offerings from emerging firms. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is trying to lend a hand. Foundation representatives believe adaptive learning has plenty of potential, both to help more students earn a college credential and to do so more efficiently. So the foundation footed the bill to bring together leaders from a group of a dozen relatively tech-savvy colleges and two associations to share information. Related to the group’s work is a new report that tracks adaptive vendors and what their various offerings can and can’t do. Funded by Gates, the study released this week by Education Growth Advisors analyzed more than 70 adaptive learning companies with an eye toward helping college leaders decide which, if any, of those approaches might be worth adopting for their particular institution’s needs.
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