SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Vocareum, a pioneer in cloud-based learning labs, is pleased to announce the general availability of its integration with edX.org, the leading nonprofit online learning platform created by Harvard and MIT, to enable instructors to deliver more interactive and engaging content than ever before. The Vocareum cloud learning labs and auto-grading capabilities make it possible to administer coding assignment, perform assessment and deliver student feedback at scale and in real time across the over 2,000 online courses and programs offered on edX.org.

Having already been deployed across numerous partners within the edX educational consortium, the Vocareum solution on edX supports a broad range of courses, including Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science, Software Development and more from prestigious schools, including Columbia University, The University of California, San Diego, The Georgia Institute of Technology, and University of Pennsylvania.

“We see edX leading the way with more interactive and engaging content and are excited to be working with them and our school partners to provide the critical lab and assessment capabilities to make it a reality,” said Sanjay Srivastava, CEO of Vocareum.  “For Vocareum, this is a unique opportunity to demonstrate the robust nature of our offering.”

“We are excited to announce this new level of integration with Vocareum,” said Anant Agarwal, edX CEO and MIT professor. “Through our work together, we are able to offer learners, all over the world, with a more enriched, rigorous and personalized online learning experience with online labs and code graders. Our partnership marks an exciting step in furthering our joint missions of increasing access to high-quality education for all learners, everywhere.”

In January 2017, Georgia Tech launched its CS1301x: Introduction to Computing online class on edX.org, serving over 69,000 students to date. As David Joyner, the course’s designer and instructor, points out, “Our course material includes over 300 coding exercises delivered through the Vocareum cloud labs in edX. The reliability and customizability are high enough for us to use for hundreds of for-credit students at Georgia Tech, but the scalability and automated grading let us simultaneously deliver them to thousands of MOOC students around the world — and the experience embedded inside edX dramatically reduces the friction for both audiences.”

Columbia University’s CSMM.101x Artificial Intelligence course on edX.org has enrolled over 160,000 learners since it began in January 2017. “As part of Columbia’s MicroMasters program in Artificial Intelligence, this course provides rigorous, master-level coursework and requires learners to complete in-depth, hands-on programming assignments that were designed on the Vocareum platform,” said Dr. Ansaf Salleb-Aouissi, the course’s lecturer. “Vocareum’s seamless integration with edX and scalability has allowed the design team to provide graduate level programming assignments to thousands of learners globally.”

Key Features of Vocareum available on edX include: 

• Single-Sign-On. Vocareum provides seamless integration through LTI (Learning Tools Interoperability) and a single sign-on for edX users, with no need for a separate Vocareum login.
• Consistent User Experience. edX users stay within the platform’s context, even when working on assignments served by the Vocareum cloud. Simple micro-assessments or programming exercises can occur directly in-line with the rest of the educational content;  more complex programming assignments or exams can launch in a new browser window.
• Automated grading and reporting. With Vocareum’s automated grading capabilities, edX instructors can support massive enrollments and also deliver a much more engaging student experience with hands-on programming assignments and real-time assessment of student work.
• Scalability. The Vocareum cloud lab is built for MOOC-scale and has already been deployed in sizeable edX computer and data science courses, handling millions of live student programming assignments.

Vocareum’s hands-on programming labs and real-time assessments, paired with edX’s platform and educational content, provide tomorrow’s computer and data scientist professionals with the knowledge and tools to create real-world solutions in emerging disciplines.

For more details about the Vocareum + edX solution, please visit https://www.vocareum.com/edx-partnership/