LAS VEGAS, Oct. 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE:
IBM) and Pearson (FTSE: PSON) the world's learning company, today
announced a new global education alliance intended to make Watson's
cognitive capabilities available to millions of college students
and professors.
Combining IBM's cognitive capabilities with Pearson's digital
learning products will give students a more immersive learning
experience with their college courses, an easy way to get help and
insights when they need it, all through asking questions in natural
language just like they would with another student or professor.
Importantly, it provides instructors with insights about how well
students are learning, allowing them to better manage the entire
course and flag students who need additional help.
For example, a student experiencing difficulty while studying
for a biology course can query Watson, which is embedded in the
Pearson courseware. Watson has already read the Pearson courseware
content and is ready to spot patterns and generate insights.
Serving as a digital resource, Watson will assess the student's
responses to guide them with hints, feedback, explanations and help
identify common misconceptions, working with the student at their
pace to help them master the topic.
"With Watson and this incredible collaboration with Pearson, we
are changing the way college students learn. The idea of
having a built-in resource to help tackle the challenging questions
college students get stuck on is amazing," said Harriet Green, General Manager, Watson IoT,
Cognitive Engagement & Education. "Our goal is for
college students to feel empowered, improve study performance and
assist educators with breakthrough academic
content."
"Digital learning opens up exciting new possibilities to improve
access and outcomes in education. Our partnership will use the
power of Watson to help students stay engaged and deepen their
learning, complete their degree and be better equipped for their
careers," said Tim Bozik,
President of Global Product at Pearson. "Teachers are the most
important factor in delivering a great education. The partnership
will support teachers by providing better digital tools and
enabling personalized learning for their students."
The IBM Watson-Pearson collaboration aims to help address the
challenges students face as they balance busy work and course
schedules with the demands of advanced learning. More than 60
percent of all job openings by 2018 predicted to require some
college education1, but 40% of students in
four year public universities don't complete their courses on
time2, and many of these don't complete at
all. This is creating a need for a flexible
virtual resource that college students can access when they need
it. With the combination of Watson and Pearson, students will be
able to get the specific help they need, ask questions and be able
to recognize areas in which they still need help from an
instructor. The goal of this always-available approach to tutoring
is that it may become the difference between a student successfully
completing a required course or dropping out.
Pearson and IBM are innovating with Watson APIs,
education-specific diagnostics and remediation capabilities.
Students will be able to dialogue with Watson in real time by
asking questions on a particular topic. In another scenario,
Watson will be able to search through an expanded set of education
resources to retrieve relevant information to answer the student's
question. During the dialogue with the student, Watson will
constantly assess the student's responses and guide them with
hints, feedback, explanations and identify common
misconceptions. Watson also will be able to support the
student by answering their questions, showing how the new knowledge
they gain relates to their own existing knowledge and, finally,
asking them questions to check their understanding. Students can
respond in natural language to questions Watson asks, and Watson
will use the student's responses to provide help, show areas
they have improved and where they still need to work on.
"I like the accessibility, mastery, reading and learning part of
it. I can't be available 24 hours a day," said Professor
Sherry Grosso, Economics,
University of South Carolina,
Sumter.
"To think that when I'm reading, I could just say, 'Watson, can
you explain this to me a little bit more?' that would be great. It
would be nice to know that it's there," said Shadi Rum, a
Saint Petersburg College student and
aspiring nurse.
The idea of adaptive learning systems delivering personalized
education has been around for a long time. Most of the
current systems, however, use measures such as multiple choice and
fill in the blanks questions that offer only a partial view of a
student's understanding. Through conversation and the use of
natural language, the Watson-based adaptive learning technology
will help students gain a better understanding of the subject
material.
Pearson currently reaches 75 million students of all ages around
the world across its full range of services including books,
software, English language teaching, assessment, qualifications and
online learning. In the US College sector, Pearson reaches 13
million students per year with digital tools and content.
For more information, please go to http://ibm.co/pearson
About IBM Watson Education:
IBM Watson Education is transforming education worldwide with
cognitive computing putting the learner in the forefront. The power
of Watson cognitive computing can ingest volumes of information
from text, audio or video and organize it in a way that becomes
easily personalized to each learner's needs and aptitude. IBM
Watson Education solutions are aimed at improving a student's
performance and empowering educators to personalize education for
every type of student from pre-kindergarten, K-12, higher education
and adult and lifelong learning. For more information about IBM
Watson Education, please visit:
www.ibm.com/watson/education.
About Pearson
Pearson is the world's learning company, with expertise in
educational courseware and assessment, and a range of teaching and
learning services powered by technology. Our mission is to help
people make progress through access to better learning. We
believe that learning opens up opportunities, creating fulfilling
careers and better lives. For more, visit www.Pearson.com.
1 Projection of Jobs and Education
Requirements Through 2018, Georgetown
University. (2010)
2 U.S. Department of Education, National Center for
Education Statistics. (2016)
Media Contacts:
Hanna Smigala
IBM Media Relations
203-512-5497
smigala@us.ibm.com
Jonathan Batty
IBM Media Relations
+44 7880 086571
jonathanb@uk.ibm.com
Laura Howe
Pearson
laura.howe@pearson.com
202-748-3284
Tom Steiner
Pearson
tom.steiner@pearson.com
+44 7787 415 891
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SOURCE IBM