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How to Integrate Computational Thinking with “Look Fors”

Digital Promise has been working with districts and educators from across the United States to integrate computational thinking (CT) and computer science (CS) into K-12 classrooms. We’ve developed “Look for” documents to support teachers and administrators in envisioning how this fusion could work in elementary and middle school classrooms. Interviews with teachers, administrators, and other researchers showed us that “Look for” documents offer teachers and administrators a mutual starting point for collaborative visioning, self-assessment, and collective goal-setting for classroom practice. They remind administrators of “walk through” documents or forms that are often used during classroom observations to help administrators focus on specific elements of instruction so they can provide rich feedback to educators.

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International Studies Abroad (ISA)

International Studies Abroad (ISA) is a leading provider of high-quality study abroad, volunteer abroad and internship abroad programs and experiences for U.S. and Canadian students.

OTHER ARTICLES
Education Technology

Three More Reasons to Turn on Safety Check School Safety Monitoring

Article | July 14, 2022

If you’re using the Relay Filter, you already have Safety Check – a complete student monitoring platform that can help increase your school safety! If you aren’t using it today, you probably don’t know about. This is definitely a case where what you don’t know CAN hurt you. And Safety Check has seen it all. Safety Check uses machine learning to monitor and analyze activity across the web — across platforms, on search, in G Suite, in chat and mail, and more. And it sends real-time alerts on identified safety risks to designated Safety Check administrators (counselors, safety resource officers, administrators, teachers)

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Education Technology, Continuing Education

Why Educational Institutions Need to Implement School Management System

Article | August 8, 2022

Table of Content What is the School Management System? Benefits of Having School Management System Why is the School Management System Required in Educational Institutions? Conclusion Managing the day-to-day tasks of the educational institute is not at all easy. There are thousands of things that need to be tracked regularly. Therefore, software development companies have come up with a technological solution that can help the institutes seamlessly perform their daily activities. The solution is a school management system or we can say an ERP system for schools and colleges. In this blog, we will learn more about it and see how its implementation can be beneficial. What is the School Management System? The school management system is software that manages the complex tasks of educational institutions like schools, colleges, and coaching centers. It is a tool specially designed to automate the education institutions’ management and operations. The school management system is a paperless administration that helps in avoiding costly errors and also saves a lot of time. Benefits of Having School Management System The main advantage of school management software enables the students, teachers, and parents to connect with each other. Besides this, there are some other benefits of implementing the management system in educational institutions and they are - 1. Increases Productivity With the use of the school management system, educational institutions can boost their productivity. The reason behind the increase in productivity is that the system decreases the time to maintain the track records and organize the data. This makes the work progress of the institution very accurate. Besides, the lesser time the institute takes to manage the data, the more productive it becomes. 2. Anywhere Access The school management software can be accessed from anywhere and at any time. It keeps the record of everything and those things are easily accessible. Basically, the software is the way to provide information at the immediate measures. 3. Student-Teacher Collaboration With the use of cloud-based management software, the collaboration between teacher and student becomes beyond the classrooms. It helps to increase the interactions between the students and the institute’s staff members. This interaction happens through the application. 4. Reduces Workload The digital platform reduces the workload of the staff members. They don't have to manually note down the data of the students or create studying materials manually. So be it the administration department or teachers, all can be relaxed and do their tasks digitally with fewer efforts. Why is the School Management System Required in Educational Institutions? School Management System is a digital platform that enables educational institutions to regularly manage administrative and academic activities like admission, online fee payment, attendance, online classes, and more. Besides this, there are some more important reasons that make school educational software an essential element in schools and colleges. They are - 1. Easy & Smooth Communication With the school management platform, the communication between the school authorities and students becomes easy and fast. It makes the communication channel between the teachers, parents, and students very convenient. The school can send fee reminders and student’s report cards to the parents through this school software. 2. Creates School Branding In this technologically advanced world, not having a school management system can make the education institute look underrated. The schools that use this type of software have a positive impact on the parents, students, and teachers. And this positive impact can help in building a good brand value for the school. 3. Transparency The school management platform makes all the information transparent for every user. For instance, if the student is absent for one day then it gets visible on his curriculum. Besides, if parents are busy and cannot attend the PTA meeting, then they can check the meeting details on the application. 4. Student Management The education software allows the institution to save the data related to the student’s promotion, performance, homework, attendance, projects, admissions, and more. This makes it easy for the school to check a particular student’s details as per their grades in one place. 5. Managing Employee & Their Payroll With the help of the school software, the administration can easily manage and keep track of the salary of the teachers and other staff members. Besides, they can also keep a record of the other salary-related works like leaves, deduction, bonus, and more. The software helps in calculating all these things without any error. 6. GPS Tracking The school management system can help the education institute and parents to keep track of student’s safety and security. The software provides GPS tracking of the school bus which can be accessed by the parents and the school administration. They can track the transportation route of the bus and if for any reason the bus is not on time, they can check its location and see to it when the students will reach the school or home. Conclusion As seen in this blog, there are many advantages of implementing a school management system in educational institutes. It facilitates the schools and colleges to manage their operations with ease. And it also covers the loopholes of the traditional education management methods. To sum it up, having a school management platform can lessen the workload and increase the productivity of students, teachers, and administration.

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Online Education

Understanding & Improving the Universal Tier

Article | July 19, 2022

The universal tier is the curriculum, instruction, and assessments that we provide to all students in a grade level in school. This is the instruction that’s guaranteed for all students to receive.Our universal tier instruction typically focuses on grade level standards for our state and school. Schools use universal screening data in order to identify the effectiveness of their universal tier. There are two primary questions that schools ask as they’re doing this work. The first is if 80% of their students are successful. Schools typically use 80% criteria because they have resources to intervene with about 20% of students. If they have more than 20% of students who need additional intervention in order to be successful, their resources may be strained and they may not be able to provide intervention to all of those students.

Read More

3 Remote Learning Technology Must-Haves for Higher Ed

Article | April 11, 2020

Determining a timeline for when higher education will go back to “normal” is an aimless guessing game. Will it be weeks? Months? Years? For colleges and universities, the sudden shift away from traditional classroom spaces has upended typical teaching tactics. Even schools with minimal online infrastructure must now deliver distance learning at scale. For educators who are tech-savvy (and those who are not) to make this transition and develop curricula that support student success, the right resources are critical.

Read More
Education Technology

3 Ways to Recession-Proof the Education Technology Department

Article | July 14, 2022

If you’re using the Relay Filter, you already have Safety Check – a complete student monitoring platform that can help increase your school safety! If you aren’t using it today, you probably don’t know about. This is definitely a case where what you don’t know CAN hurt you. And Safety Check has seen it all. Safety Check uses machine learning to monitor and analyze activity across the web — across platforms, on search, in G Suite, in chat and mail, and more. And it sends real-time alerts on identified safety risks to designated Safety Check administrators (counselors, safety resource officers, administrators, teachers)

Read More
Education Technology, Continuing Education

3 Ways K-12 Can Benefit from Classroom Management Software

Article | August 8, 2022

Table of Content What is the School Management System? Benefits of Having School Management System Why is the School Management System Required in Educational Institutions? Conclusion Managing the day-to-day tasks of the educational institute is not at all easy. There are thousands of things that need to be tracked regularly. Therefore, software development companies have come up with a technological solution that can help the institutes seamlessly perform their daily activities. The solution is a school management system or we can say an ERP system for schools and colleges. In this blog, we will learn more about it and see how its implementation can be beneficial. What is the School Management System? The school management system is software that manages the complex tasks of educational institutions like schools, colleges, and coaching centers. It is a tool specially designed to automate the education institutions’ management and operations. The school management system is a paperless administration that helps in avoiding costly errors and also saves a lot of time. Benefits of Having School Management System The main advantage of school management software enables the students, teachers, and parents to connect with each other. Besides this, there are some other benefits of implementing the management system in educational institutions and they are - 1. Increases Productivity With the use of the school management system, educational institutions can boost their productivity. The reason behind the increase in productivity is that the system decreases the time to maintain the track records and organize the data. This makes the work progress of the institution very accurate. Besides, the lesser time the institute takes to manage the data, the more productive it becomes. 2. Anywhere Access The school management software can be accessed from anywhere and at any time. It keeps the record of everything and those things are easily accessible. Basically, the software is the way to provide information at the immediate measures. 3. Student-Teacher Collaboration With the use of cloud-based management software, the collaboration between teacher and student becomes beyond the classrooms. It helps to increase the interactions between the students and the institute’s staff members. This interaction happens through the application. 4. Reduces Workload The digital platform reduces the workload of the staff members. They don't have to manually note down the data of the students or create studying materials manually. So be it the administration department or teachers, all can be relaxed and do their tasks digitally with fewer efforts. Why is the School Management System Required in Educational Institutions? School Management System is a digital platform that enables educational institutions to regularly manage administrative and academic activities like admission, online fee payment, attendance, online classes, and more. Besides this, there are some more important reasons that make school educational software an essential element in schools and colleges. They are - 1. Easy & Smooth Communication With the school management platform, the communication between the school authorities and students becomes easy and fast. It makes the communication channel between the teachers, parents, and students very convenient. The school can send fee reminders and student’s report cards to the parents through this school software. 2. Creates School Branding In this technologically advanced world, not having a school management system can make the education institute look underrated. The schools that use this type of software have a positive impact on the parents, students, and teachers. And this positive impact can help in building a good brand value for the school. 3. Transparency The school management platform makes all the information transparent for every user. For instance, if the student is absent for one day then it gets visible on his curriculum. Besides, if parents are busy and cannot attend the PTA meeting, then they can check the meeting details on the application. 4. Student Management The education software allows the institution to save the data related to the student’s promotion, performance, homework, attendance, projects, admissions, and more. This makes it easy for the school to check a particular student’s details as per their grades in one place. 5. Managing Employee & Their Payroll With the help of the school software, the administration can easily manage and keep track of the salary of the teachers and other staff members. Besides, they can also keep a record of the other salary-related works like leaves, deduction, bonus, and more. The software helps in calculating all these things without any error. 6. GPS Tracking The school management system can help the education institute and parents to keep track of student’s safety and security. The software provides GPS tracking of the school bus which can be accessed by the parents and the school administration. They can track the transportation route of the bus and if for any reason the bus is not on time, they can check its location and see to it when the students will reach the school or home. Conclusion As seen in this blog, there are many advantages of implementing a school management system in educational institutes. It facilitates the schools and colleges to manage their operations with ease. And it also covers the loopholes of the traditional education management methods. To sum it up, having a school management platform can lessen the workload and increase the productivity of students, teachers, and administration.

Read More
Online Education

Creating SEL Awareness Among Parents

Article | July 19, 2022

The universal tier is the curriculum, instruction, and assessments that we provide to all students in a grade level in school. This is the instruction that’s guaranteed for all students to receive.Our universal tier instruction typically focuses on grade level standards for our state and school. Schools use universal screening data in order to identify the effectiveness of their universal tier. There are two primary questions that schools ask as they’re doing this work. The first is if 80% of their students are successful. Schools typically use 80% criteria because they have resources to intervene with about 20% of students. If they have more than 20% of students who need additional intervention in order to be successful, their resources may be strained and they may not be able to provide intervention to all of those students.

Read More

3 Remote Learning Technology Must-Haves for Higher Ed

Article | April 11, 2020

Determining a timeline for when higher education will go back to “normal” is an aimless guessing game. Will it be weeks? Months? Years? For colleges and universities, the sudden shift away from traditional classroom spaces has upended typical teaching tactics. Even schools with minimal online infrastructure must now deliver distance learning at scale. For educators who are tech-savvy (and those who are not) to make this transition and develop curricula that support student success, the right resources are critical.

Read More
MORE ARTICLES

Spotlight

International Studies Abroad (ISA)

International Studies Abroad (ISA) is a leading provider of high-quality study abroad, volunteer abroad and internship abroad programs and experiences for U.S. and Canadian students.

Related News

Education Technology

The University of Arizona Global Campus (UAGC) Partners with the National Sheriffs' Association to Provide Tuition Benefits to its Members

Zovio | December 24, 2021

The University of Arizona Global Campus (UAGC) proudly announced today a new education partnership with the National Sheriffs' Association. The new partnership offers 35% off tuition for bachelor's and master's programs for qualifying members of the National Sheriffs' Association and their immediate family members. The program is open to its 22,000 members nationwide, and selection is subject to terms and conditions. "We are extremely pleased to welcome the National Sheriffs' Association to the UAGC family. There is no greater power than the power of education, and we take great pride in helping people strive to learn more. We look forward to watching sheriff department members from across the country discover new opportunities by choosing to continue their lifelong learning journey." University President Paul Pastorek Sheriffs' departments work to serve and protect citizens all around this country every day. The new partnership with UAGC provides a flexible online model and class format conducive to the scheduling demands that go along with working in this vital profession. Coursework can be completed from any location and students are afforded the opportunity to take classes that accommodate their lifestyle and schedule. Students can leverage their employer-sponsored tuition program to start or complete a degree through courses that, depending on the degree level, last five or six weeks which enable them to study at the times that work best for them. The program is managed by Zovio Employer Solutions (ZES), which is an important service provided by Zovio. Zovio Employer Solutions helps more than 1,300 companies and organizations across the country optimize usage of their corporate tuition assistance programs in partnership with the University of Arizona Global Campus. This includes full tuition grants and reduced tuition programs through the University of Arizona Global Campus. "Zovio has and will continue to work strategically with UAGC to explore new pathways to support student success," said Zovio's CEO Randy Hendricks. "In partnership with the University of Arizona Global Campus, Zovio Employer Solutions looks to educate and serve more students, including adult learners seeking to reskill and upskill. We look forward to serving the National Sheriffs' Association." About University of Arizona Global Campus The University of Arizona Global Campus ("Global Campus" or "UAGC") is an independent university that is operated in affiliation with the University of Arizona. Global Campus is designed to provide flexible opportunities for working students from diverse backgrounds who seek to gain knowledge and skills that will help them to achieve their life and career goals. Global Campus is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) and is one of the nation's most innovative online universities with approximately 35,000 students. UAGC offers more than 50 degrees at the associate, bachelor's, master's and doctoral levels. About Zovio Zovio is an education technology services company that partners with higher education institutions and employers to deliver innovative, personalized solutions to help learners and leaders achieve their aspirations. The Zovio network, including Fullstack Academy and TutorMe, leverages its core strengths to solve priority market needs through education technology services. Using proprietary advanced data analytics, Zovio identifies the most meaningful ways to enhance the learner experience and deliver strong outcomes for higher education institutions, employers, and learners. Zovio's purpose is to help everyone be in a class of their own.

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Education Technology

EdTech Leader VIPKid Expands its Global Education Platform

VIPKid | December 20, 2021

Today, VIPKid, a leading global education technology company, officially released an updated global platform, which will be accessible to students around the world. The global platform represents the company's commitment to achieving its mission to inspire and empower every child for the future. "This is an exciting day for the VIPKid community. Our new global platform will enable us to connect more students around the world with dedicated teachers for immersive and engaging online learning." Cindy Mi, VIPKid Founder and CEO For nearly a decade, VIPKid, which Cindy founded in 2013 and formally launched in 2014, has inspired millions of children through engaging instruction and created enduring human connections spanning vast distances. Now, as the company looks to the future, learnings gleaned over the past eight years uniquely position VIPKid for continued global success. The company's passionate community of online teachers, and experience delivering over 200 million live online classes to over 1 million students, has proven the platform's depth of capabilities and opens up new opportunities for VIPKid to partner with other edtech platforms that offer world-class learning instruction. The new global platform can be accessed in multiple languages, will enable far more students to benefit from VIPKid's award-winning curriculum, and aims to provide online educators with more opportunities to inspire students around the world. Developed by VIPKid's Research Institute and perfected over 8 years, the company's curriculum was meticulously crafted based on in-depth research to personalize learning for each student and has now been updated to serve both global and regional audiences. "Over the last few months, VIPKid's team has worked diligently to expand our global platform and update our curriculum for new audiences," explains Cindy of the company's new transition. "I want to thank all of our internal teams and vast teacher community for sticking with us as we embark on a new journey, and I want to thank them for their commitment to continue achieving VIPKid's mission as we launch our global platform." About VIPKid VIPKid is a global education technology company and a leader in children's online education. Since its founding in 2013 and formal launch in 2014, VIPKid has connected students with experienced online educators for real-time learning. VIPKid's mission is to inspire and empower every child for the future and is committed to unleashing the power of the world's best educators by bringing their world-class learning product to a global audience. VIPKid envisions a global classroom that empowers students and teachers through personalized learning, connects cultures across the world, and ignites a passion for lifelong learning.

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Continuing Education

Learnfully, a Tech-Enabled Personalized Learning Service, Launches to Bring Personalized Learning to Scale

Learnfully | December 13, 2021

Learnfully, a first of its kind personalized learning platform, today announced its initial fundraising and emergence from stealth.With 1 in 5 students diagnosed with learning differences — and countless more dealing with emotional and developmental obstacles, Learnfully empowers all individuals to gain access to the most effective learning approach for them. Learnfully tailors a programming plan to their needs based on the expertise of educators and connects them with proven specialists to provide individual instruction. "For too long our system has overlooked those who learn differently and left them to fend for themselves, instead of emphasizing their strengths and catering to their unique challenges. We're proud to launch Learnfully to bring personalized learning solutions to scale for all learners and empower them to reach their potential." Letha McLaren, CEO & Co-Founder, Learnfully The launch of the Learnfully platform is especially timely given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as many learners are struggling to adapt to a digital environment. In fact, the Brookings institute found that students may make just 70% of the reading gains this year compared to the progress they'd see in a normal school year; this forecast found the gains would be less than 50% for mathematics. While other offerings only tackle tutoring services or an initial assessment, Learnfully takes a holistic approach to every learner. Its assessment includes human insights which complement its groundbreaking technology platform that analyzes information, responses, and measurable impressions to create and maintain each learner's profile and plan. Based on these inputs, Learnfully creates curated learning plans and provides access to specialized professionals, such as educational and behavioral therapists, tutoring services, insights, and instructions. Once a learner begins programming, Learnfully adjusts the educational approach on the fly through its feedback and progress engine, as behaviors and emotions can change rapidly. This helps learners, parents, and educators ensure that both short- and long-term goals are attainable. The result is the only true end-to-end solution — from assessment to instruction — available. "Learnfully seamlessly helped my two kids from assessment to tutoring plan to finding the right instructor," said Joy Leonard, a California parent of two Learnfully learners. "The highly targeted learning sessions have been invaluable, making an enormous impact on my kids' abilities in a short period of time." Learnfully is co-founded by Letha McLaren and Suchi Deshpande. McLaren has more than 20 years of diverse product management, marketing and business leadership experience in the technology and energy industries. Deshpande previously served as a product leader at MuleSoft, Edmodo, Opya and more. "During the pandemic, parents have a front-row seat to their children's education, and many are realizing that they learn differently — and yet they have nowhere to turn for guidance," says Suchi Deshpande. "As a parent of neurodiverse kids, I know firsthand how challenging it is to navigate the educational landscape. Learnfully helps parents seamlessly get the support they need to unlock all learners' potential." Learnfully raised $1.25 million in initial funding. Investors include Amol Deshpande, CEO & Co-Founder of Farmers Business Network, founder of Divergent Investments. Goodwater Capital, Incite.org, Figure Eight Investments and other investors also participated in the round. "Learnfully is a mission-driven start-up focused on providing technology and specialists to children with learning differences," said Swati Mylavarapu, Founder of Incite.org "At Incite, we’re believers in Learnfully’s mission to better outcomes for neurodivergent learners and their families by empowering them with tailored support. Keely and I are proud to support Suchi and Letha in making this important mission central to the company they’re building.” Learnfully is a win-win for educators and learners alike. “Millennial families seek bespoke, digital-first learning solutions where they can access world class experts from the comfort of their homes,” said Diana Anthony, a K-12 teacher turned education investor, and Co-founder and Managing Partner of Figure Eight Investments. “Learnfully is bringing this model to neurodiverse learners and their families, providing them with unprecedented access to the educators and behavioral specialists that can transform their educational experience.” Learnfully offers great benefits to professionals as well: they are matched with a learner that needs their skills and learns best with their teaching style. These learning sessions cater to the educator's schedule, so they can accommodate additional work. Educators, behaviorists, tutors, and therapists can all apply to join the platform. Accepted professionals gain unlimited support services, content resources, and access to an unparalleled educational community. About Learnfully Learnfully is on a mission to ignite learning and unlock the potential of every learner. Based in San Francisco, Learnfully is a tech-enabled personalized learning service, empowering all individuals to gain access to insights into the most effective learning approach and build a programming plan based on the expertise of educators. Through its groundbreaking tech platform, best-in-class learning assessment, and expert educator network, Learnfully delivers true engagement and tangible results for every learner.

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Education Technology

The University of Arizona Global Campus (UAGC) Partners with the National Sheriffs' Association to Provide Tuition Benefits to its Members

Zovio | December 24, 2021

The University of Arizona Global Campus (UAGC) proudly announced today a new education partnership with the National Sheriffs' Association. The new partnership offers 35% off tuition for bachelor's and master's programs for qualifying members of the National Sheriffs' Association and their immediate family members. The program is open to its 22,000 members nationwide, and selection is subject to terms and conditions. "We are extremely pleased to welcome the National Sheriffs' Association to the UAGC family. There is no greater power than the power of education, and we take great pride in helping people strive to learn more. We look forward to watching sheriff department members from across the country discover new opportunities by choosing to continue their lifelong learning journey." University President Paul Pastorek Sheriffs' departments work to serve and protect citizens all around this country every day. The new partnership with UAGC provides a flexible online model and class format conducive to the scheduling demands that go along with working in this vital profession. Coursework can be completed from any location and students are afforded the opportunity to take classes that accommodate their lifestyle and schedule. Students can leverage their employer-sponsored tuition program to start or complete a degree through courses that, depending on the degree level, last five or six weeks which enable them to study at the times that work best for them. The program is managed by Zovio Employer Solutions (ZES), which is an important service provided by Zovio. Zovio Employer Solutions helps more than 1,300 companies and organizations across the country optimize usage of their corporate tuition assistance programs in partnership with the University of Arizona Global Campus. This includes full tuition grants and reduced tuition programs through the University of Arizona Global Campus. "Zovio has and will continue to work strategically with UAGC to explore new pathways to support student success," said Zovio's CEO Randy Hendricks. "In partnership with the University of Arizona Global Campus, Zovio Employer Solutions looks to educate and serve more students, including adult learners seeking to reskill and upskill. We look forward to serving the National Sheriffs' Association." About University of Arizona Global Campus The University of Arizona Global Campus ("Global Campus" or "UAGC") is an independent university that is operated in affiliation with the University of Arizona. Global Campus is designed to provide flexible opportunities for working students from diverse backgrounds who seek to gain knowledge and skills that will help them to achieve their life and career goals. Global Campus is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) and is one of the nation's most innovative online universities with approximately 35,000 students. UAGC offers more than 50 degrees at the associate, bachelor's, master's and doctoral levels. About Zovio Zovio is an education technology services company that partners with higher education institutions and employers to deliver innovative, personalized solutions to help learners and leaders achieve their aspirations. The Zovio network, including Fullstack Academy and TutorMe, leverages its core strengths to solve priority market needs through education technology services. Using proprietary advanced data analytics, Zovio identifies the most meaningful ways to enhance the learner experience and deliver strong outcomes for higher education institutions, employers, and learners. Zovio's purpose is to help everyone be in a class of their own.

Read More

Education Technology

EdTech Leader VIPKid Expands its Global Education Platform

VIPKid | December 20, 2021

Today, VIPKid, a leading global education technology company, officially released an updated global platform, which will be accessible to students around the world. The global platform represents the company's commitment to achieving its mission to inspire and empower every child for the future. "This is an exciting day for the VIPKid community. Our new global platform will enable us to connect more students around the world with dedicated teachers for immersive and engaging online learning." Cindy Mi, VIPKid Founder and CEO For nearly a decade, VIPKid, which Cindy founded in 2013 and formally launched in 2014, has inspired millions of children through engaging instruction and created enduring human connections spanning vast distances. Now, as the company looks to the future, learnings gleaned over the past eight years uniquely position VIPKid for continued global success. The company's passionate community of online teachers, and experience delivering over 200 million live online classes to over 1 million students, has proven the platform's depth of capabilities and opens up new opportunities for VIPKid to partner with other edtech platforms that offer world-class learning instruction. The new global platform can be accessed in multiple languages, will enable far more students to benefit from VIPKid's award-winning curriculum, and aims to provide online educators with more opportunities to inspire students around the world. Developed by VIPKid's Research Institute and perfected over 8 years, the company's curriculum was meticulously crafted based on in-depth research to personalize learning for each student and has now been updated to serve both global and regional audiences. "Over the last few months, VIPKid's team has worked diligently to expand our global platform and update our curriculum for new audiences," explains Cindy of the company's new transition. "I want to thank all of our internal teams and vast teacher community for sticking with us as we embark on a new journey, and I want to thank them for their commitment to continue achieving VIPKid's mission as we launch our global platform." About VIPKid VIPKid is a global education technology company and a leader in children's online education. Since its founding in 2013 and formal launch in 2014, VIPKid has connected students with experienced online educators for real-time learning. VIPKid's mission is to inspire and empower every child for the future and is committed to unleashing the power of the world's best educators by bringing their world-class learning product to a global audience. VIPKid envisions a global classroom that empowers students and teachers through personalized learning, connects cultures across the world, and ignites a passion for lifelong learning.

Read More

Continuing Education

Learnfully, a Tech-Enabled Personalized Learning Service, Launches to Bring Personalized Learning to Scale

Learnfully | December 13, 2021

Learnfully, a first of its kind personalized learning platform, today announced its initial fundraising and emergence from stealth.With 1 in 5 students diagnosed with learning differences — and countless more dealing with emotional and developmental obstacles, Learnfully empowers all individuals to gain access to the most effective learning approach for them. Learnfully tailors a programming plan to their needs based on the expertise of educators and connects them with proven specialists to provide individual instruction. "For too long our system has overlooked those who learn differently and left them to fend for themselves, instead of emphasizing their strengths and catering to their unique challenges. We're proud to launch Learnfully to bring personalized learning solutions to scale for all learners and empower them to reach their potential." Letha McLaren, CEO & Co-Founder, Learnfully The launch of the Learnfully platform is especially timely given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as many learners are struggling to adapt to a digital environment. In fact, the Brookings institute found that students may make just 70% of the reading gains this year compared to the progress they'd see in a normal school year; this forecast found the gains would be less than 50% for mathematics. While other offerings only tackle tutoring services or an initial assessment, Learnfully takes a holistic approach to every learner. Its assessment includes human insights which complement its groundbreaking technology platform that analyzes information, responses, and measurable impressions to create and maintain each learner's profile and plan. Based on these inputs, Learnfully creates curated learning plans and provides access to specialized professionals, such as educational and behavioral therapists, tutoring services, insights, and instructions. Once a learner begins programming, Learnfully adjusts the educational approach on the fly through its feedback and progress engine, as behaviors and emotions can change rapidly. This helps learners, parents, and educators ensure that both short- and long-term goals are attainable. The result is the only true end-to-end solution — from assessment to instruction — available. "Learnfully seamlessly helped my two kids from assessment to tutoring plan to finding the right instructor," said Joy Leonard, a California parent of two Learnfully learners. "The highly targeted learning sessions have been invaluable, making an enormous impact on my kids' abilities in a short period of time." Learnfully is co-founded by Letha McLaren and Suchi Deshpande. McLaren has more than 20 years of diverse product management, marketing and business leadership experience in the technology and energy industries. Deshpande previously served as a product leader at MuleSoft, Edmodo, Opya and more. "During the pandemic, parents have a front-row seat to their children's education, and many are realizing that they learn differently — and yet they have nowhere to turn for guidance," says Suchi Deshpande. "As a parent of neurodiverse kids, I know firsthand how challenging it is to navigate the educational landscape. Learnfully helps parents seamlessly get the support they need to unlock all learners' potential." Learnfully raised $1.25 million in initial funding. Investors include Amol Deshpande, CEO & Co-Founder of Farmers Business Network, founder of Divergent Investments. Goodwater Capital, Incite.org, Figure Eight Investments and other investors also participated in the round. "Learnfully is a mission-driven start-up focused on providing technology and specialists to children with learning differences," said Swati Mylavarapu, Founder of Incite.org "At Incite, we’re believers in Learnfully’s mission to better outcomes for neurodivergent learners and their families by empowering them with tailored support. Keely and I are proud to support Suchi and Letha in making this important mission central to the company they’re building.” Learnfully is a win-win for educators and learners alike. “Millennial families seek bespoke, digital-first learning solutions where they can access world class experts from the comfort of their homes,” said Diana Anthony, a K-12 teacher turned education investor, and Co-founder and Managing Partner of Figure Eight Investments. “Learnfully is bringing this model to neurodiverse learners and their families, providing them with unprecedented access to the educators and behavioral specialists that can transform their educational experience.” Learnfully offers great benefits to professionals as well: they are matched with a learner that needs their skills and learns best with their teaching style. These learning sessions cater to the educator's schedule, so they can accommodate additional work. Educators, behaviorists, tutors, and therapists can all apply to join the platform. Accepted professionals gain unlimited support services, content resources, and access to an unparalleled educational community. About Learnfully Learnfully is on a mission to ignite learning and unlock the potential of every learner. Based in San Francisco, Learnfully is a tech-enabled personalized learning service, empowering all individuals to gain access to insights into the most effective learning approach and build a programming plan based on the expertise of educators. Through its groundbreaking tech platform, best-in-class learning assessment, and expert educator network, Learnfully delivers true engagement and tangible results for every learner.

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