Blog

72 Hours to Move Online: A Conversation with Susan Holechek

8th May 2020

In March of this year, the sober reality of the COVID-19 pandemic forced colleges across the country to quickly move from on-campus to remote learning. For any college, that would be a significant challenge. But for Arizona State University, the stakes were even higher due to its huge population of over 50,000 students. Dr. Susan Holechek, a faculty member in ASU’s School of Life Sciences since 2014, found out about the transition during Spring Break and had three days to work with her team to prepare her 450 students for online learning. Below is an edited version of our conversation with Susan. What was your first reaction to hearing that you needed to move online in three days? That we didn’t have a lot of time! Luckily, students had their exams just before spring break so we didn’t need to worry about that. We held a meeting with our entire…

Akademos and CogBooks Announce Strategic Partnership

29th April 2020

April 28th, 2020 Akademos and CogBooks are pleased to announce they have entered into a new partnership that integrates CogBooks’ engaging adaptive learning courseware into Akademos’ industry-leading online bookstore and course materials platform. In addition to a more comprehensive course materials ecosystem and agile learning environment that keeps students engaged, this strategic agreement will provide higher education institutions valuable tools and insights into student success. “Expanding awareness, distribution and access to our adaptive learning courseware through the Akademos partnership will make a meaningful impact on our ability to deliver engaging personalized learning at scale to benefit the higher education community,” said Jim Thompson, CEO of CogBooks. “Regardless of whether or not college coursework returns to physical campuses in the near term, our expectations for successful course and learning outcomes cannot be compromised. During this time of uncertainty, it’s even more important to ensure that students can experience the same connection…

CogBooks Supports Colleges Moving to Remote Learning by Offering Online Adaptive Courseware at No Charge

16th March 2020

CogBooks, a pioneering adaptive learning company, today announced that it is offering its courseware at no charge for 16 of the most-used topics in higher education to help colleges and instructors with the transition to remote learning as a result of dramatic changes being experienced across campuses nationwide. CogBooks was founded in 2005 and is used by students globally at institutions such as Arizona State University, Portland State University and Georgia State University. In independent studies, CogBooks technology has demonstrated double-digit improvements in course and learning outcomes in online learning settings. In response to the escalating situation, more than 200 colleges and universities in the U.S. are moving all on-campus courses online through spring quarters or semesters; a number that is expected to grow substantially in the coming days and weeks. “This global crisis is creating challenges for many instructors, particularly those for whom remote classes are a completely new…

What Straight A Students Get Wrong

17th December 2018

Recently, the New York Times published a fascinating article about society’s approach to education. The NYT contends that academic grades rarely assess qualities like creativity, leadership and teamwork skills, or social, emotional and political intelligence. Yes, straight-A students master cramming information and regurgitating it on exams.

Digital Transformation with CogBooks

5th December 2018

Whether you’re moving from snail mail to email or having your entire school move to the cloud – digital transformation can be painful. But with CogBooks’ courseware, it doesn’t have to be.