Pearson, a provider of education technology and services, reportedly announced plans to integrate Oracle’s (News - Alert) PeopleSoft Enterprise Student Administration Integration Pack with a variety of Pearson products.

 

The products include the Pearson LearningStudio advanced online learning environment and Pearson’s MyLabs and Mastering personalized learning solutions.

 

This planned integration with Oracle is expected to improve the user experience for administrators, faculty, and students. Company officials said that all this will be possible by automating the creation and management of users, enrollments and courses from the PeopleSoft student information system into Pearson’s products--independent of the learning management system used on campus.

 

“Our new relationship with Oracle is another game-changing event in education, offering users easy, one-click access between their student information system and the MyLabs,” said Jim Behnke, chief learning officer at Pearson, in a statement.

 

Behnke said he believes that by not having to manage various unique systems integrations, administrators and educators will save valuable time so that they can focus on what they do best -- educating students.

 

The integration is expected to begin with Pearson’s MyLabsPlus, which is an enhanced program level version of MyLabs tutorial and formative assessment products. Company officials said that it offers convenient administrator tools and dedicated support to allow departments to support their course and programs effectively.

 

Curtiss Barnes, vice president for industry strategy at Oracle Higher Education, said that like Pearson, Oracle believes that interoperability standards like the IMS Learning Information Services specification enable institutions to reduce the cost of delivering instructional technology while opening new opportunities for innovation to support educators and learners.

 

Barnes said that Oracle’s use of LIS in Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise Student Administration Integration Pack is “proof” that there is a way to reduce the hard and soft costs of integrating key administrative and learning applications while improving the ability to provision multiple systems in a controlled manner.

 

“Working together, Oracle and Pearson are extending the value of our solutions for our customers and the industry at large,” Barnes said in a statement.

 

The Pearson integration to Oracle aligns with the IMS Global Learning Consortium's interoperability standards. Company officials said that this will save institutions time and money when connecting to other applications in the future.

 

Pearson offers education solutions to help colleges and universities meet the demands of today's economic challenges in innovative ways, including customized content in print and digital formats, customized online courses, and instructional design services.