Dive Summary:
- Desire2Learn announced Thursday that it has acquired the predictive analytics course recommendation tool Degree Compass, which was partially funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
- Bill Gates has compared the app, which was created by Austin Peay State University's Tristan Denley, to Netflix's capabilities when recommending films based on previously observed user activities and interests.
- The technology could give Desire2Learn an added advantage in the learning management system marketplace when integrated with other products and services that it already provides.
From the article:
"... The web-based app, created by Tristan Denley, a mathematician and provost of Tennesee’s Austin Peay State University, helps students select the courses most suited to their strengths and interests. Its algorithms consider a particular student’s transcript and test scores, as well as the performance of hundreds of thousands of previous students, to generate a personalized curriculum. The goal is to help more students actually complete their degree – and in a reduced amount of time. ..."
