Assets Acquired by Wiley in 2019
Self-described as a: “...fully integrated, adaptive learning courseware. A complete course solution, alta is designed to optimize the way students study and learn while completing assignments. All of Alta's content — including instructional text and video, examples and assessments — is organized by learning objective and served up at the precise moment a student needs it.”
Knewton Alta’s assets were recently acquired by Wiley. Wiley has posted a message of excitement for the acquisition and continued support for Alta. However, others are less flattering in their assessment of both Knewton and the acquisition. For instance, McKenzie reports in “End of the line for much-hyped tech company”:
“It’s a fire sale,” said Phil Hill, co-founder of Mindwires Consulting and co-publisher of the e-Literate blog. “In the press release, they don’t say they’re buying Knewton the company, they say they’re acquiring its assets -- they don’t even try and sugarcoat it” (McKenzie, 2019).
They pivoted from their original technology licensing strategy in 2017. As discussed in Hitting Reset, Knewton Tries New Strategy: Competing with Textbook Publishers by Young:
“The move marks a major turn for Knewton, which has raised more than $157 million in venture capital based largely on a promise to provide the high-tech engine inside online textbooks created by publishers and organizations. But in the past few years the company has suffered several setbacks—along with mounting criticism that its founding CEO, Jose Ferreira, overhyped its technology. One tech consultant went so far as to compare Ferreira to a snake-oil salesman” (Young, 2017).
Similarly, when announcing the new direction, commentators shared doubts about the product:
“I don’t see anything in what they’ve released that tells us anything new, and I certainly don’t see anything that makes a specific case for Knewton over the many other mastery learning-based products on the market (whether or not they have whizzy adaptive algorithms),” said Feldstein. He added that in order to gain credibility, Knewton “will need to release original findings in a fully fleshed out and peer-reviewable paper, preferably accompanied by enough of the source data that their work can be checked” (McKenzie, 2017).
In a recent post by Ubell titled “The adaptive learning market shakes out”, there’s some helpful guidance to consider when launching or investing in an adaptive learning company:
“The biggest lesson is that inventing whiz-bang software is not nearly enough. To succeed, vendors must assemble an adaptive Rubik’s cube, snapping four essentials securely in place. The central one, of course, is brilliantly crafted technology, coupled with a deep reservoir of high-quality content, integrated with shrewd assessment tools, embedded with skilled teacher training at each site -- all at scale to secure market share, sustainability, profits and plugged-in implementation at every campus. Not trivial” (Ubell, 2019).
Knewton has shared their 2017 Student Data Insights and also a study from John Hopkins School of Education.
Components of Knewton's technology include their Proficiency Model, Knowledge Graphs, and an overview of how it fits together. And they also highlight the importance of Mastery.
Competitors such as EdReady are free and have access to free content.
Page created by: Lee Ackerman