McGraw-Hill Higher Education and eInstruction Bring High Performance Wireless Technology To College Classrooms

Thursday, January 06, 2005

NEW YORK - The larger the class, the bigger the challenge it is for college instructors to evaluate student performance…until now. McGraw-Hill Higher Education, a leading global provider of higher education materials and eInstruction Corporation, a global leader in interactive response pad technology, have joined forces to offer instructors the fastest and most reliable method of capturing students' in-class participation and test results using cutting-edge Radio Frequency (RF) technology.

McGraw-Hill and eInstruction have partnered since 2003 to deliver McGraw-Hill's educational content and more than 300,000 infrared (IR) response pads to college classrooms at more than 600 institutions. The two companies are now focused on bringing RF technology to this market via eInstruction's Classroom Performance System (CPS).

Unlike other wireless technology available in today's college classroom, RF response pads offer significantly more reliable performance. The signal received through these pads is consistently clear and interference free. The CPS's RF technology can support classrooms with as many as 1,000 students with just one receiver unit attached to a PC through a USB port.

"With eInstruction's enhanced technology and our content, we are creating a rich instructional environment that will be of enormous benefit to professors and students," said Ed Stanford, president, McGraw-Hill Higher Education. "The system efficiently records student performance, allowing instructors to concentrate on teaching." Darrell Ward, president, eInstruction Corporation, adds, "We believe many institutions will seriously consider using our products and approach as their standard. With our system, students could be provided with one response pad for all of their classes. At the same time, our wireless technology removes the need for costly wiring of classrooms."

"These response pads are revolutionizing the way I teach," explains University of Cincinnati professor Paul Caron. "Students have complained for more than 100 years about the lack of timely feedback. This technology allows me to give daily feedback and the students simply love it. Students literally hang on every word of the class discussion because they know they will have the opportunity to actually apply the concepts several times during the class hour."

McGraw-Hill is the sole distributor of eInstruction's RF wireless response pads. Through the system, students use the devices to respond electronically to questions, quizzes or exams created by instructors. McGraw-Hill provides questions and presentations that can be seamlessly woven into the system, or instructors can include other content. Presentations and questions are presented to the class via an LCD projector, and instructors receive real-time feedback during the presentation. Student grades are automatically saved in an electronic grade book and the system's tracking system generates reports on each student's progress.

About McGraw-Hill Higher Education
McGraw-Hill Higher Education is a unit of McGraw-Hill Education, the premier provider of teaching and learning solutions for the pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, post-secondary, higher education and professional markets. It is a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, a global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands, such as Standard & Poor's and BusinessWeek. Founded in 1888, the corporation has more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2003 were $4.8 billion. Additional information is available at www.mcgraw-hill.com.

About eInstruction
Headquartered in Denton, Texas, eInstruction Corporation is a leader in the educational technology industry. With the introduction of the Classroom Performance System (CPS) in 2000, eInstruction is now the unquestioned educational leader in real-time, interactive wireless response pad technology with over 1,000,000 response pads now being used in all 50 states in thousands of k-12 schools as well as over 600 universities and 10 foreign countries. eInstruction was founded in 1981, by Dr. Darrell L. Ward, a long-time researcher and teacher. He recognized a significant need in educational institutions for innovative technology-based products. Many years of consistent cutting-edge research and development have earned eInstruction a reputation of excellence in the education market. eInstruction Corporation is committed to providing innovative products that enhance the learning process in corporations and educational institutions through the use of computer-based technology, software, and the Internet.