(July 29, 2014) Tulsa, OK – In a groundbreaking move, Expert TA, a national provider of online education tools, announces that for every new college or university course that purchases Expert TA, the company will donate free access to a high school classroom in need for one full academic year.

“We believe strongly that enhancing STEM opportunities for students before they get to college will ultimately help increase the number of students who graduate with technical degrees,” said Jeremy Morton, Expert TA founder and CEO.

“Our online homework system is designed to help students at both high school and college levels learn. The earlier students become engaged in interesting ways with technical subjects, the more likely they are to continue with their studies when they reach college,” he said.
Expert TA’s high quality physics teaching and learning tools help improve professors’ teaching effectiveness while making it easier for students to learn.

“A big challenge we have with youth is keeping them interested,” said Hector Mireles, associate professor of physics at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA and user of Expert TA. “If we keep them interested, they will stay at it.”

Expert TA’s philanthropic initiative is supplemented with free online textbooks through OpenStax College, a non-profit based out of Rice University.

“OpenStax College textbooks are extremely high quality and comparable to what the leading publishers produce,” said Dr. Morton. “They are written and peer reviewed by educators. The difference is that OpenStax College texts don’t cost students hundreds of dollars every semester.”

OpenStax Collegeis made OpenStax College texts are free online and available in print for about $30 to $50 due to the support of several philanthropic foundations.

Since inception less than two years ago, OpenStax College has seen a surge in adoption. The firm’s first seven books have already saved students more than $9 million and have been adopted by 694 schools, community colleges, four-year colleges, and research universities. Millions of students are using OpenStax College textbooks.

Expert TA’s advanced education software and high quality online physics problems work seamlessly with OpenStax College’s customizable physics text, providing a powerful combination to make physics education more accessible and affordable.

“The job of online homework is to demonstrate and awaken students’ knowledge about the power of physics to demonstrate what physics can do and to awaken and mold new ways of thinking about the physical world,” said Dr. Mireles. “All homework should strive to do that. The Expert TA problems are robust and real and good. They do fulfill my objective of modeling what physics can do for us as scientists and people.”

By working together, OpenStax College and Expert TA are helping schools faced with acute budget restraints. About one-third of OpenStax College adoptions are in high school advanced placement (AP) courses.

“It’s like a version of the TOMS® model for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). Expert TA’s initiative is groundbreaking and will improve access to not only content but technology enablers in the high school market,” said David Harris, OpenStax College editor-in-chief.

“We spend a great deal of time developing high quality materials, and Expert TA provides a world-class problem library and online tools. Thousands of students will benefit from the resources offered by ExpertTA and OpenStax College,” Harris said.
STEM professions are expected to add 2.7 million jobs by 2018.

“We need to step up our rate of STEM graduates by about 30 percent,” Dr. Morton said. “This isn’t someone else’s job. Every educator must do his or her part to interest more students in STEM disciplines earlier. Those of us in industry must continually find ways to make education—especially technical education—more affordable, and accessible.”

Over the next several months, Expert TA will be working with professors and universities to select an in-need high school in their area for this one-for-one initiative.
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About Expert TA
Expert TA is committed to building dynamic online homework grading software for STEM disciplines with a comprehensive library of original content to supplement a range of texts. Expert TA provides an integrated suite that combines an advanced online homework system that is capable of performing in depth analysis to give students meaningful feedback about what they’ve done right and wrong to enhance student-learning outcomes and meet instructors’ assessment needs. Expert TA is used by universities, community colleges, and high schools.

About OpenStax College
OpenStax College is dedicated to improving access to higher education by lowering the cost of textbooks and high-quality learning materials. Textbooks are free online for any student, anywhere, and OpenStax College partners with companies who provide fee-based products and services that enhance the value of the textbooks for both instructors and students. OpenStax College is a nonprofit initiative of Rice University and is made possible by the generous support of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the 20 Million Minds Foundation and the Maxfield Foundation. For more information, visit http://openstaxcollege.org.

Media Contact: Jeremy Morton, PhD
CEO and Founder
(c) 918-978-9695
jeremy@theexpertta.com