Coggno Responds to Budget Cuts By Offering Free Learning Management System (LMS) to Public Schools

Coggno, a software company that specializes in online learning applications, now offers a free learning management system promotion to respond to difficult economic times.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget cuts in education programs this week reflect the beating public school systems are receiving.

“The two budget proposals the Governor released today offer a choice between devastating and horrific cuts to public schools,” said California state superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell last week, in response to the release of the governor’s May Revision.

However, the cuts are not a phenomenon unique to California. States across the country are announcing harsh budget cuts for education programs. Today, the New York City Education Department announced a $405 million cut--an average of 4.9% per school. School principals will receive the actual figures tomorrow.

As school districts brace themselves to make do with low funds, high school seniors across the country are also faced with tough choices. The annual Princeton Review survey gave a sobering report on the mental state of soon-to-be college students.

According to the survey, which was given to over 15,000 students and parents, about two-thirds of high school seniors have experienced high levels of stress over college admissions this year, and claim the recession has directly influenced where they applied. Thirty-eight percent applied to colleges with lower tuition than they would have otherwise. And nearly nine out of ten respondents said financial aid will be essential to their attending.

With budget constraints looming over school districts across the country, eLearning courses and online collaborative technology offers a cost-effective opportunity for curricula enrichment.

Learning management systems (LMSs) like Coggno are part of a technology-backed educational movement in school districts nationwide.

Across the country, a pedagogical shift is taking place from traditional information-dispensing, to the facilitation of projects and activities that help students develop 21st century skills. Learning management systems are often deployed to organize activities which ask students to gather information and work collaboratively.

Coggno is one learning management system provider that has responded to the need for cost-effective tools in schools. This week, Coggno announced that they will now offer public schools free service, including course creation tools, migration and delivery.

In order to enter into a service-oriented, entrepreneurial, global workplace, students are being called on to develop critical thinking, technological, communication, and analytical skills. Many school systems have tried and found learning management systems and online collaboration tools key to encouraging and developing such skills.

LMSs are an effective means of keeping costs down and students enrolled. Coggno allows public educators educators to easily create, update and distribute courses to students--absolutely free.

“Public schools who want to deploy a learning system for their students can use our LMS to create, migrate, and deploy curriculum,” explains Coggno VP Tod Browndorf.

Coggno’s video and text tools, Apple Podcast Producer, SCORM publisher, question bank and template, quiz and assessment tools make eLearning content completely customizable and versatile. Coggno provides straightforward and useful functionality to help teachers, and an easy-to-navigate interface to make the LMS easily integrated into any school.

Combined with face-to-face instruction, learning management systems like Coggno help to enrich student experience and develop the IT skills they will need to succeed in an increasingly competitive job market.

About Coggno: Based in San Jose, CA, Coggno is an LMS/LCMS toolkit and marketplace which facilitates the transfer of intellectual property between course creators and those who wish to acquire it. Coggno designs and delivers online solutions for e-learning, training, assessments, and courseware for organizations, corporations, associations, academic institutions, and subject matter experts. For more information, visit www.coggno.com.

Contact Information

Robin Green

Director of Marketing

Coggno Inc.

Contact via E-mail