Education Technology
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
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 | 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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