Pete Moye’
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Pearson, the education company that provides books and educational technology, will be teaming up with Google to start a new learning management system called “OpenClass,” according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

OpenClass has advanced management tools, as well as an advanced social networking community.

OpenClass would open through Google Apps for education.

Vice President of Faculty Senate and Speech Department Chair Angela Hoppe-Nagao, said, “[OpenClass] is going to have an open architect system that will allow instructors to import whatever materials they want, from books, to YouTube videos and so forth.”

There is no word as to when OpenClass would be usable for Cerritos College.

Hoppe-Nagao also gave her thoughts on the Pearson-ran program.

“I think that anytime Google touches something, it changes the world. And Google is now entering into a market that’s just been dominated by a lot of expensive business,” she said.

She also said, “I think we continually need education, especially in terms of distance education where we need to find all of the best methods possible to reach out to students, but also for traditional classes where we want to continue to use technology to communicate with our students.

“Students today are very technically savvy and technology dependent. And so, as institutions, we embrace some of these changes and offer better options for students, I think the students are the ones the benefit.”