Texas Southmost College (TSC) has partnered with Pearson, a US-based provider of educational content and services, to provide digital content, services and technology in support of its transition to an independent, two-year public community college in fall 2013. The new institution will feature digital delivery of all content for 31 associate's degree programmes and 25 certificate options offered as on-ground and blended courses. TSC's efforts to provide fully digital course material to students on day one reportedly aligns with US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's call for all institutions to move to digital solutions.
Pearson's solutions and support will reportedly enable TSC to quickly scale to serve its expected student enrollment in its first year of independent operations. These solutions include eTextbooks - personalised learning such as MyLab and Mastering; Pearson LearningStudio - a cloud-based learning management system with advanced data analytics applications to monitor and analyse trends in student performance and track their achievement of learning objectives; and course development and instructional design services. Also included are Smarthinking live, an on-demand online tutorial service; and access to the Pearson Instructor Education service for faculty development.
The partnership is seen to reflect TSC's commitment to its new mission of transforming the communities it serves through innovative learning opportunities. It also supports TSC's commitment to providing an accessible, affordable and high quality college education.
