This week, news that Blackboard could be eyeing an acquisition of Pearson's PowerSchool made waves. The student information system would certainly strengthen its foothold in the K-12 space, especially following other recent buys. The Advisory Board, meanwhile, further boosted its position in the higher ed space with the purchase of student retention service provider GradesFirst. The company previously brought student engagement and enrollment management solutions provider Royall & Company into the fold in December.

Is MIT pushing to address competition from bootcamp programs and alternative credentialing options like nanodegrees? Its announcement of new "short courses" may very well be a sign of that.

On the ed tech front, Instructure revealed a round of Series E funding estimated to be between $40 million and $70 million, and the cloud-based LMS and course platform provider is expected to announce an IPO in the coming months. Additionally, Cengage Learning announced the addition of Knewton adaptive learning tech to its MindTap platform.

Be sure to check out our look at 5 gamified tools for K-12 classrooms and more in this week's most-read Education Dive posts!

• Adaptive learning comes to Cengage's MindTap: The first round of material incorporating the tech will be for sociology and management courses.
• Instructure raises $40M ahead of looming IPO: According to some reports, the amount of Series E funding raised by the owner of the Canvas learning management platform may be as high as $70 million.
• MIT adds to short-course lineup: Over 40 short courses, which last one to five days and target professionals, are now available from the Ivy League institution.
• 5 gamified tools for K-12 classrooms: Adding elements of gaming to the learning experience is picking up steam, and everyone from NASA to Amplify is jumping onboard.
• Advisory Board buys higher ed startup GradesFirst: The startup helps colleges and universities focus on retaining students at risk of dropping out.
• Is Blackboard planning a PowerSchool acquisition?: As the ed tech giant looks to build a foothold in K-12, it may be toying with the idea of buying Pearson's student information system.

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