Adaptive Learning
New Platform Enables DIY Adaptive Learning Course Design
Acrobatiq has introduced a new adaptive learning
platform designed to enable professors to adapt
the presentation of educational material according to students'
learning needs,
as indicated by their responses to questions, tasks and experiences.
The company's new Smart
Author Adaptive Learning Platform will allow higher education
institutions to
develop, deliver and continually update online courses and programs.
Smart
Author facilitates data-driven instructional design with Web-based
tools that
incorporate outcomes models, rich content and assessment, as well as
analytics
tools designed to indicate which students are learning and which are not,
which
content works and where instructors must focus time in making
improvements.
The learning platform also
has pre-built page layouts, an intuitive authoring interface and 25
embedded
activity types that will enable students to receive immediate and
targeted
feedback. By using Smart Author analytic tools, educators can collect
and
analyze student learning data with dashboards that show in real time
which
concepts and objectives students have trouble with, pinpoint at-risk
students
and enable targeted intervention.
Adaptive
learning uses computers as
interactive teaching devices and allocates resources according to the
unique
needs of each learner. Acrobatiq's
technology was
developed through Carnegie Mellon University's Open Learning
Initiative, an
effort started in 2002 to generate free, high-quality online courses
that were
designed with the guidance of the latest learning science. Its approach is based on research in cognitive
science,
human-computer interaction and statistical analysis
"Historically,
building adaptive courseware required partnering faculty with cognitive
and
data scientists and software developers," said Acrobatiq CEO Eric
Frank. "With
Smart Author, we built those functions right into the tool, so we can
now get
out of the way and let institutions and faculty develop their own
data-driven,
adaptive courses."
Smart
Author is a cloud-based
platform that can be purchased as an annual subscription.
About the Author
Michael Hart is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the former executive editor of THE Journal.
