Talent Development
PRnewswire | July 19, 2023
Lincoln Learning Solutions announced today the release of its Lincoln Content Bank, a multi-modal, educational content library designed with Amazon Web Services and intended to equip teachers with nearly 110,000 rigorous learning assets they can configure and assemble to meet the needs of their students.
"Educators working with pre-K through 12th-grade students need an easy-to-use tool that allows them to personalize learning opportunities," Lincoln Learning Solutions CEO, Bob Clements, said. "Our Lincoln Content Bank gives them the ability to quickly and simply search a huge variety of content to determine the best fit for individual students, small groups of students, or entire classrooms."
The Lincoln Content Bank features a robust search tool allowing teachers to harvest information based on searches of keyword, topic, standard, subject, grade level, modality, and more. Approximately 110,000 learning assets are at their fingertips ready to be incorporated into their courses in Canvas, according to Clements.
Designed by teachers for teachers, the content bank allows them to populate and preview on the same screen and intuitively makes recommendations based on previous searches. It gives teachers the luxury of saving the searched-for educational material in collections for easy retrieval at a later time.
Teachers who provided Lincoln with feedback in the early stages of development said the content bank would go a long way toward helping them close learning gaps, challenge students, ensure alignment with IEPs and 504 plans, and obtain standard mastery, all issues they face regardless of their learning environment.
"A lot went into this launch," Clements said. "The payoff for working with AWS to create this leading-edge teaching tool will come in the form of student success, which is always our top priority.
AWS is proud to have collaborated with Lincoln Learning Solutions on the development of the Lincoln Content Bank," said Annmarie Lehner, K-12 Business Development & Strategy Leader at AWS. "We look forward to seeing how K-12 school districts leverage the tool to personalize student learning in leading Learning Management Systems to improve student success."
LLS designed the tool with AWS so that it seamlessly integrates into the Canvas learning management suite and equips teachers with seemingly limitless access to an immense repository of educational content. Available in Canvas and in the AWS Marketplace, the Lincoln Content Bank will, among other things, provide teachers with: • Perceptive and rapid searching and browsing features • Customizable material for full classes or individual students • Myriad options for supplemental learning • Streamlined access to and application of learning objects targeting different learning modalities • Cross-curricular learning opportunities
School administrators will appreciate the content bank for its ability to streamline and standardize course creation across subjects while allowing individual departments to retain a level of ownership in the scope and sequence of their courses.
About Lincoln Learning Solutions
Lincoln Learning Solutions is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to collaborating with educators and maximizing their talents to facilitate student success. Based in western Pennsylvania, it is the developer of Lincoln Empowered™, a digitally based curriculum that delivers engaging, standards-based, instruction in online and blended learning environments. Lincoln Empowered™ offers a dynamic array of courses in language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, physical education, and the creative and performing arts. Lincoln Learning Solutions currently serves nearly 100 schools in 14 states, and upward of 20,000 students.
Read More
Talent Development
PR News Wire | August 31, 2023
Instructure, the leading learning platform and maker of Canvas, today announced that the Alabama Community College System (ACCS), the system of public community colleges in Alabama, has selected the Canvas learning management system (LMS) as part of a major statewide initiative to transform and modernize its learning experience and increase student success. By unifying the learning experience on Canvas LMS along with Canvas Studio, Impact by Instructure and Canvas Credentials, educators across the state can access foundational, evidence-based edtech solutions to support their instruction.
Comprised of 24 community and technical colleges, ACCS offers 2-to-4-year transfer, dual enrollment, technical training, adult education and community education for Alabama residents. In 2021 ACCS expanded its usage of Canvas to 12 member institutions. After a successful implementation, increased student access due to a robust mobile application, increased reliability due to decreased downtime and an improved user experience, ACCS now expands its investment by choosing a statewide deployment of Instructure Learning Platform solutions.
The proposed solution, which is backed by research and ensures a consistent learning experience across the state, provides a proven approach to extending access at scale. The statewide implementation of the Instructure Learning Platform solutions will be available to all ACCS students by fall of 2024.
The statewide implementation is a key milestone for Chancellor Jimmy H. Baker, whose efforts to modernize and streamline operations has improved the department's focus on the needs of higher education students. By scaling operations, including information security, IT and a consolidated approach to edtech, ACCS can now address challenges in a more effective and efficient manner.
"Anything that Alabama's community and technical colleges can do to consistently deliver higher education and training in an accessible way that leads our residents to finding their best success is why we exist," said Baker. "We have seen through our academic programs and work-based learning programs, such as Skills for Success and Alabama Career Essentials, that a resident's ability to start their student experience on one platform opens the door to a wealth of other training opportunities throughout our community and technical colleges across the state."
"ACCS and the state of Alabama are taking a giant leap forward with accessibility as they address learning deserts, or areas where students traditionally have less access to educational resources and opportunities," said Steve Daly, CEO of Instructure. "We're honored to play a significant role in elevating student success and amplifying the power of teaching throughout Alabama."
Alongside Canvas, ACCS students will benefit from Impact by Instructure, a data and analytics solution that improves adoption and evaluates the impact of edtech. Educators and administrators can use these insights to make informed decisions and evolve educational offerings to best suit the needs of students. With access to this timely data, ACCS can help students accelerate the completion of programs and enable them to take any program at any institution statewide. Extending needed educational moments to students in every circumstance will lead to a new generation of educated learners previously excluded. "As a unified system of community colleges, utilization of a common Learning Management System makes sense," said Cynthia Anthony, President of Lawson State Community College. "One of our goals is to eliminate barriers that hinder seamless student experiences. I think a single LMS is a win-win for our students and colleges. We must look at the big picture and remain laser-focused on student success."
The ACCS investment further magnifies the impact of the ACCS Innovation Center, an ambitious effort bringing together the state's community colleges, business, industry and community partners to deliver rapid, industry-recognized non-credit training within some of the state's most in-demand career fields. Adding Canvas Credentials to the training programs will play a key role in allowing learners to demonstrate skill mastery in a competitive workforce.
"The strategic decision for the Alabama Community College System to have a standardized Learning Management System will simplify the learning process for students that take classes at different community colleges or transfer to another system college, which is significant," said Todd Shackett, President of Southern Union State Community College. "Additionally, it will allow colleges to more easily share faculty and curriculum across schools for better service and more efficiency."
This far-reaching program serves as a model for other states seeking to address complex problems prevalent in modern learning environments, such as equitable access and student engagement. By implementing an all-Canvas Higher Education system throughout the state, Alabama promotes continuity and a consistent mobile-ready learning experience which shrinks learning deserts. The Instructure Learning Platform brings together students, instructors, and tools for a familiar digital learning environment in the physical, blended, or online classroom.
ABOUT INSTRUCTURE
Instructure is an education technology company dedicated to elevating student success, amplifying the power of teaching, and inspiring everyone to learn together. Today the Instructure Learning Platform, comprised of its flagship product Canvas LMS and several products serving K-12 and higher education, supports tens of millions of educators and learners around the world.
Read More
Education Technology
Globenewswire | June 26, 2023
Kaltura, Inc. (“Kaltura”), the video experience cloud, today announced that Kaltura Video Cloud for Education has been selected as the winner of the “Overall e-Learning Solution of the Year” award in the 5th annual EdTech Breakthrough Awards. Organized by EdTech Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence organization that recognizes the top companies and solutions in the global educational technology market, the award recognizes leaders from across the world in EdTech.
Kaltura Video Cloud for Education powers real-time, live, and VOD experiences for online programs and virtual learning and includes a range of products for virtual classrooms, lecture capture, webinars and live events, and advanced video integrations with Learning Management Platforms.
“We are proud to have been chosen for this award, which serves as a strong validation of our success and momentum in helping schools engage students and faculty across a wide range of digital experiences and use cases,” said Matthew Davis, SVP North American Education at Kaltura. “We are honored to continue to serve our customers and power hybrid and online learning programs for students around the globe while ensuring the delivery of video solutions that are accessible to all.”
Kaltura will be traversing the US and bringing the best and the brightest from all walks of higher-ed tech to a campus near you as part of the Kaltura Connect Education Track roadshow. Connect will focus on highlighting how implementing video to all aspects of higher education can help increase engagement, retention, awareness, and revenue for your institution. To attend at a campus near you, please register here.
The mission of the EdTech Breakthrough Awards is to honor excellence and recognize innovation, hard work, and success in a range of educational technology categories, including Student Engagement, School Administration, Adaptive Learning, STEM Education, Remote Learning, Career Preparation, and many more. This year’s program attracted more than 2,400 nominations from over 16 countries worldwide.
“Beyond thinking critically, collaborating, and encouraging creativity, the right technology in a digital classroom is necessary to enhance student learning. Video drives student engagement, interactive learning experiences, and better learning outcomes. Whether virtual classrooms for synchronous instruction and collaboration or VOD for self-paced, anytime learning, the technology is incredibly flexible,” said James Johnson, managing director, EdTech Breakthrough. “The Kaltura Video Cloud for Education is a breakthrough solution in this area, providing a holistic approach to video where each video modality enhances the next. Kaltura's many options and flexibility are all designed to create engaging, personalized, and accessible experiences on campus and beyond. Congratulations to the Kaltura team for taking home our ‘Overall e-Learning Solution of the Year’ award for 2023!”
About Kaltura
Kaltura’s mission is to power any video experience for any organization. Our Video Experience Cloud offers live, real-time, and on-demand video products for enterprises of all industries, as well as specialized industry solutions, currently for educational institutions and for media and telecom companies. Underlying our products and solutions is a broad set of Media Services that are also used by other cloud platforms and companies to power video experiences and workflows for their own products. Kaltura’s Video Experience Cloud is used by leading brands, reaching millions of users, at home, at school, and at work, for communication, collaboration, training, marketing, sales, customer care, teaching, learning, virtual events, and entertainment experiences.
Read More