CLOSED FOR CLASS: The doors are closing for Pearson’s learning management systems, LearningStudio and OpenClass, reports Phil Hill of e-Literate. Both tools were the result of acquisitions for which the company paid hundreds of millions of dollars. By 2018, OpenClass, which Pearson once touted as a free alternative to open-source learning management systems like Moodle, will no longer be supported. LearningStudio, used by an estimated 110 institutions and 1.2 million students, will also be shuttered within three years.
According to Hill’s interview with Curtiss Barnes, Managing Director of Technology Products for Pearson Global Higher Education, “the decision to get out of the LMS category was based on Pearson’s continuing efforts to reorganize and streamline the diversified company, and being competitive in the LMS market just doesn’t help meet corporate goals.”
Citing data from Edutechnica, Inside Higher Ed notes that Pearson’s learning management systems were used by only five to 10 percent of higher-ed institutions.
