The LMS, which powers Kadenze, was Created by Educators, for Educators to Simplify Classroom Management; Currently Used At Stanford, RISD, Goldsmiths, CalArts & More

LOS ANGELES, CA – November 19, 2015 –  Kadenze, Inc. today announced the launch of Kannu, the first Learning Management System (LMS) that is purpose-built for the media-rich content of arts and creative technology education. Kadenze, Inc. built Kannu to address a significant need for this type of LMS as there is currently no other LMS built specifically to handle the robust content required for the arts.

Leading universities, institutions and nonprofits including California Institute of the Arts, CalArts Community Arts Partnership, Goldsmiths University of London, OTIS College of Art and Design, Rhode Island School of Design, CalArts Access, Real Industry, Stanford University; Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA), and Ali Akbar College of Music have all been early adopters of Kannu. Many of these institutions have been using the customized virtual learning environment for registered students on campus for one full year.

Kannu was designed for educators, by educators to simplify classroom management, empower teachers and students, and enhance the education process by providing all the tools needed to teach, create, assess, and communicate in one place. It’s capabilities support all existing media file types across portfolios, quizzes, gradebook, and comments/suggestions and is highly interactive between students and teachers. Kannu’s user-centric design and intuitive interface fulfills the LMS needs of universities, faculty, and students alike.

“Kannu is adding a dimension to online learning, and creating a space for both faculty and students to engage in a way that hasn’t been done before,” said Chris Chafe, Director of CCRMA at Stanford University. “The ability to interact in a media-heavy and capable platform, such as Kannu, has been instrumental for us to bring the traditional classroom experience to life for online students.”

Key benefits for universities, faculty, and students:

  • Universities:
    • Custom design: Every school gets a custom designed Kannu experience, with its own colors, branding, and language.
    • Affordable and flexible pricing model that fits the size of each institution
    • Custom SIS integration: helps administrators integrate course, user, and enrollment data
    • Timely user support to assist with any troubleshooting needs
    • Can track overall student performance and oversee course catalogue
  • Instructors:
    • Easy to use platform that helps teachers seamlessly navigate between students or assignments when grading
    • Can track analytics including: student engagement, attendance, forum activity, what assignments students are submitting, etc.
  • Students:
    • Encourages collaboration and student engagement by asking questions, sharing resources, viewing work from classmates, participating in forum discussions
    • Interact directly with instructor or teaching assistant
    • Ability to track grades and progress, view lecture notes/slides, submit assignments, take quizzes/tests, manage deadlines
    • OS-agnostic: Fully responsive across web and mobile platforms, including Windows and Android
    • Public facing online portfolio

Kannu powers Kadenze’s global online classroom, which currently serves more than ten thousand students from across the globe, daily.

“In order to accomplish what we hoped to with Kadenze, we needed a learning management system that could handle the robust and changing content of arts and creative technology education online, which didn’t exist ,” said Dr. Ajay Kapur, Ph.D, CEO and co-founder of Kadenze Inc. “With Kannu, we’re able to efficiently communicate, share, and grade with an LMS that’s purpose-built for this type of education.”

Kannu’s platform is a customizable solution that goes beyond just higher ed.  Other use cases include K-12 , or businesses and nonprofits, and can be used for small to large groups.  It’s flexible pricing model has enabled nonprofit Ali Akbar College of Music and Media Business Education Non-Profit, Real Industry to use the platform.

About Kadenze, Inc.

Kadenze, Inc. is an education technology company built to address the needs of students and faculty in the arts and creative technology. Kadenze delivers a first-of-its kind creative arts education, providing access to the highest quality online interactive courses and an engaged network of schools, instructors, and students.

Founded in 2013 by Ajay Kapur, Ph.D., Perry Cook, Ph.D., Jordan Hochenbaum, Ph.D, Owen Vallis, Ph.D., and Ashok Ahuja, Kadenze and its supporting technologies are the product of extensive academic experience and research.

Kadenze was conceived by passionate arts and creative technology educators Ajay Kapur and Perry R. Cook. In 2012, they were awarded a National Science Foundation grant to study methods of teaching computer science to non-programmers, specifically art students. Using available online learning platforms, they offered a course that garnered 45,000 enrolled students. This process made it clear to them that there are limited options for these types of courses, and serious challenges involved in effectively measuring students’ work.

The founding and executive team is augmented by others with deep experience in arts technology education, machine learning, and with business and serial entrepreneurial expertise.

To learn more, visit www.kadenze.com and follow us on Twitter @KadenzeOfficial.

Kadenze® and Kannu are trademarks of Kadenze, Inc.