Academic publisher Pearson this week has announced the creation of a digital math curriculum aligned to the Common Core State Standards, as well as an online program to give teachers a foundation in how to teach a virtual course.
The curriculum, called “digits,” is geared toward middle school students and teachers who are able to collaborate on whiteboards. It’s differentiated to allow students to work at their own pace, which results in more efficient classwork and a doubling of available instructional time for teachers, according to a press release from Pearson.
The virtual teaching program, called “Professional Online Educator,” is focused toward training K-12, higher education, and corporate educators on the nuances of teaching online versus in person. The program consists of a suite of courses, an internship, and a practicum, and is expected to be available during January of next year.
This is just the latest in a string of pushes by Pearson specifically and the academic publishing world in general to get on board with digital learning. Pearson even recently announced a partnership with Florida Virtual School, commonly viewed as an online learning standard-bearer as one of the oldest and the largest K-12 virtual schools in the country.