Pearson, the education services, technology and school solutions firm, has devised a solution to keep students learning in the event that the onset of the H1N1 virus, or other crisis forces schools to close.

 

Company officials they launched a Web site, www.PearsonContinuity.com, which offers print and online resources to students, parents, and teachers. The site is designed to help students continue their education if they are unable to attend school.

 

"We've created the Web site as a central repository where parents, students, and teachers can have access to our dedicated Pearson solutions and tools, and be able to easily link to numerous other resources," Pearson School Solutions President Scott Drossos said in a statement. “Pearson products and services are in almost every U.S. school, and we have created additional offerings for everyone to assist them during this time of crisis."

 

Pearson's Continuity of Learning solutions include the company's data management systems, digital and print-based educational content and additional teacher, parent, and student support resources.

 

For example, Pearson is using a virtual learning model under which students can access middle and high school courses in algebra, advanced algebra, geometry, algebra readiness, reading and writing through the company’s MyLabsPlus online teaching and learning environment.  Already, millions of students worldwide are using the courses, which include homework and personalized study plans, guided solutions, multimedia learning aids, quizzes and tests. The MyLabsPlus Technical Support Helpdesk offers around the clock phone, e-mail, and chat support for
students and instructors.

 

For younger students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, Pearson’s so-called "Knowledge Power" Take Home Learning Kits offer supplemental learning materials in the event that students must spend time away from school. Schools or parents can choose to buy standalone mathematics and
language arts Knowledge Power workbook. Science and social studies readers are also available.

 

About 40 percent of school districts nationwide are using a Pearson student management system. These systems offer district-wide communication, data collection and reporting, and accurate student tracking capabilities, as well as allow collaborative school-to-home outreach, company officials said. With it, parents and students can access school and class announcements, homework assignment details and teacher comments.

 

Pearson is no stranger to providing large-scale disaster help to schools and communities. Through the Pearson Foundation, Pearson has helped Hurricane Katrina victims, as well as people impacted by other hurricane disasters in the Southeast and Gulf Coast. Globally, the company has offered support to victims of hurricanes in Myanmar, earthquakes in Northern China, Pakistan and India, as well as the South Asian tsunami.