EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY
Coursera | January 18, 2023
On January 17, 2023, Goodwill Industries International and Coursera announced a collaboration to create the Goodwill Career Coach and Navigator Professional Certificate. The very first certificate of its kind will provide educational content developed from 120 years of Goodwill's history of industry expertise to those who are pursuing a career in workforce development and career navigation.
This self-paced course enables development and learning for Goodwill coaches and career navigators by leveraging the power of Coursera's cost-effective online platform. Workforce development resources and tools are also provided to the Goodwill navigators and coaches to enable them to better assist job seekers across the U.S. and Canada. The online training, based on the expertise and experience of local Goodwill career services teams, prepares professionals for employment in the emerging career coaching and navigation profession.
Career counselors and navigators help over one million people find jobs, education, and necessary support service, playing an essential role in Goodwill's mission. Accessible, career-focused learning courses that lead to professional certificates help job seekers find good jobs, earn a living wage, and boost local economies. Aspiring professionals who are looking to upscale their skills and enhance workforce development, including Goodwill's nonprofit and community partners, can benefit from the Goodwill Career Coach and Navigator Professional Certificate.
Chief Mission Officer of Goodwill Industries International, Martin Scaglione, said, "Goodwill provides career services to help individuals facing barriers reach their potential through the power of work. Employers in local communities find Goodwill to be a trusted source for talent," He further mentioned, "The Goodwill Career Coach and Navigator Professional Certificate not only benefits career services professionals and employers, but most importantly it is a game changer for the individual they both serve, by opening access to opportunity.
(Source – GlobeNewswire)
About Coursera
Launched in 2012 by Stanford Computer Science professors Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng, Coursera's mission is to offer universal access to top-notch learning. With 102 million registered learners as of March 31, 2022, it is one of the world's largest online learning platforms. Coursera collaborates with over 250 leading industry partners and universities to provide a diverse collection of professional certificates, courses, guided projects, specializations, and bachelor's and master's degrees. Coursera is employed by organizations worldwide to reskill and upskill their employees, students, and citizens in areas such as technology, data science, and business.
Read More
EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY
PowerSchool | January 31, 2023
On January 30, 2023, PowerSchool, a provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education, released updates for its PowerSchool Unified InsightsTM and PowerSchool Unified Classroom® solutions. The updates include LearningNav and ContentNav, new data-driven personalized learning products, and a new resource library inside Unified Insights MTSS, providing educators with verified, research-backed tools and strategies. The company also announced time-saving software Clouds, designed to give educators a more connected approach to engaging, planning, and monitoring the unique needs of their students.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress's latest "National Report Card" results show the impact of learning disruptions that students have experienced. It illustrates declines in math and reading for fourth and eighth graders in the United States, with math scores experiencing the greatest drop since NAEP testing began in 1990. Each student is at a different stage in their learning journey, indicating that educators require tools and resources to address individual student needs, personalize learning, and optimize their operations.
The updates, expected to roll out in the first half of 2023, provide the following:
LearningNav, an intelligent platform using machine learning and AI to provide personalized learning paths that adjust to the student's needs. An educator can view a student's starting point, select learning goals, and then review a constantly adapting personalized pathway recommendation for that student. Once the pathway is assigned, students can cover it at their own pace.
ContentNav, an update to Unified Classroom, is a one-stop shop for high-quality, pre-approved content that simplifies access to resources such as district-created materials, curated partnership content, and open education resources, which will support teacher instruction.
Resource Library, released by PowerSchool Unified Insights MTSS to help educators address students' individual needs. This library will provide educators with vetted, research-backed strategies and tools.
The company's new Clouds, that are persona-specific options that have been integrated and built to enhance how educators serve their students by bringing all necessary tools into one centralized location. The six Cloud types offered are Student Information Cloud, Personalized Learning Cloud, Educator Recruitment Cloud, Educator Effectiveness Cloud, Student Success Cloud, and Workforce Development Cloud.
About PowerSchool
Based in Folsom, California, PowerSchool provides cloud-based K-12 education software. Its mission is to supply the education ecosystem with unified technology that enables educators and students to fulfill their potential in unique ways. Schools and districts can manage state reporting and related compliance, finance, human resources, special education, talent, registration, funding, learning, instruction, assessments, grading, attendance, and analytics in one unified platform. The company serves around 45 million students worldwide, with 12,000+ customers, and sells solutions in over 90 countries.
Read More
EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY
Interplay Learning | February 16, 2023
On February 15, 2023, Interplay Learning, e-learning solutions provider for online and virtual training, launched a technology-based apprenticeship program with the Department of Labor's approval. This program solves the growing labor shortage and encourages employers in the skilled trades to join.
This program allows employers to enroll as participating employers in the Department of Labor's Apprenticeship Program of Interplay Learning. It will create a trained workforce, increase employee retention, and eliminate traditional managemental complexities of formal apprenticeship programs.
Employers can offer apprentices on-the-job training (OJT) with Interplay's digital training in a virtual classroom with technical instructions as a part of the program. The apprentices will have an impactful training experience with its video courses and 3D simulations. In addition, they will learn about new skills, effective troubleshooting, and practice in a virtual safe environment on any device like a laptop, desktop, tablet, or virtual reality headset.
Founder and CEO of Interplay Learning, Doug Donovan, said, "We're thrilled to introduce our innovative, tech-forward approach to apprenticeship." He added, "With one of the first digital and off-the-shelf solutions for apprenticeships, we seek to eliminate the pain points existing today for employers, while also providing them with a powerful training solution to address the skills gap problem in the U.S. What has traditionally been complex and especially daunting for small and medium businesses, we have streamlined the process to set up an apprenticeship program and given contractors a tool to build a better-trained workforce."
(Source – Cision PR Newswire)
About Interplay Learning
Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Interplay Learning, an e-learning provider, has been offering digital learning simulations for training, career opportunities and life experiences of customers and employees, across industries like plumbing, electrical, solar and facilities maintenance, and HVAC, since 2016. Its virtual reality interfaces engage skilled trades workers with life-like experiences, making them more confident, professional, and efficient quickly. It provides learning solutions from beginner to mastery level at the same time. It was awarded the AL Breakthrough Award for Best Use of Virtual Reality for Enterprise Applications, AHR Expo – Innovations Awards 2020 and named in the 2020 Inc. Best in Business list.
Read More