Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google


ACT Acquires Social-Emotional Learning Company

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 07/16/19

Education assessment nonprofit ACT has acquired a company that specializes in the field of social and emotional learning (SEL). ACT purchased Mawi Learning, which produces SEL-focused educator professional development and student curriculum. Terms of the deal were not released.

Mawi was founded in 2003 and has claimed that its products and services have been used by a million students around the world. Those include online and blended SEL courses.

Those subjects are a "key element," according to ACT, of its own Holistic Framework, which covers four domains for helping students prepare for college and career success: core academic skills, "cross-cutting capabilities," behavioral skills and education and career navigation skills.

"Coupled with ACT Tessera, our state-of-the-art SEL assessment program, Mawi Learning's professional development and student curriculum will allow ACT to provide a comprehensive solution for schools and districts," said Suzana Delanghe, ACT chief commercial officer, in a statement.

The acquisition of Mawi Learning is the latest step being undertaken by the organization to evolve into what a "learning, measurement and navigation company." Other moves in this direction have included an affiliation with ProExam, enabling ACT to introduce SEL products; purchase of Knovation and OpenEd for online OER content for personalized learning; investment in Smart Sparrow and its digital course creation platform; collaboration with the NROC Project to create ACT CollegeReady; and acquisition of the National Research Center for College and University Admissions (now known as Encoura) and the American College Application Campaign for their student navigation tools and resources.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Digital cyberspace with particles and Digital data

    Survey: AI Is Moving Faster than Data Trust

    AI agents are already in use or pilot at most organizations, but data visibility, governance and precision recovery capabilities have not kept pace, according to a new survey from Veeam Software.

  • abstract smartphone translucent screen displaying AI interface

    Apple Unveils Redesigned Siri AI

    At its recent Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple announced Siri AI, a redesigned version of its voice assistant that Apple describes in its own announcement as "a profoundly more capable and personal assistant." The update is intended to make Siri more conversational, more context-aware, and more useful across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro.

  • businesspeople in silhouette with colorful network lines

    Report Finds AI Will Reshape Work More than Replace It, but Global Impact Is Uneven

    Richer countries face greater exposure to AI-driven changes than developing countries, which are less exposed to AI but risk being left behind, according to a joint report from the International Labour Organization and World Bank.

  • businessman holding tablet with holographic AI icons

    Google Moving AI Agents into Mainstream Product Portfolio

    At its recent I/O developer conference, Google positioned artificial intelligence agents not as a distant research project, but as a product strategy spanning Search, personal assistants, productivity software, developer tools, and smart glasses.