EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY
Businesswire | May 16, 2023
Flatiron School, a global provider of technical education, launched a portfolio of new artificial intelligence (AI) training programs designed to empower workforces with the expertise required to leverage powerful, emerging AI tools.
Leading the way with their new AI training programs, Flatiron School is building on their track record of high quality training that meets the industry’s evolving needs. The programs are all instructor-led for optimal learning experience and cover topics such as machine learning, natural language processing (NLP), and data science.
“Artificial intelligence is rapidly evolving and for organizations across the globe it’s now a necessity to stay competitive. Through engaging lectures, demonstrations, and hands-on labs, learners will discover how to implement AI-driven solutions that have the potential to revolutionize their businesses,” said Pete Barth, Flatiron School Chief Product Officer.
Flatiron School’s new programs are designed based on feedback from Fortune 100 organizations and provide fluency as well as the latest AI skills to technical and non-technical learners alike. All programs can be tailored to fit the needs of any organization, such as incorporating specific industry examples, in-person or online instruction, and more immersive offerings. New programs include:
• Detecting Cybersecurity Threats With AI. Learn how to protect and mitigate against emerging threats created by AI products. This four-hour program also covers natural language processing in threat intelligence as well as uncovering hidden patterns with machine learning.
• Prompt Engineering Basics. Discover how to design, evaluate, and refine prompt solutions for ChatGPT. After eight hours, learners will have a deep understanding on how to get effective results from generative AI tools.
• Build & Deploy AI Applications. Build and deploy an AI application, including data preprocessing, model development, and deployment. This 40-hour program also covers deep learning and natural language processing.
• AI Strategy for Business Leaders. Develop a baseline understanding of the concepts needed to move organizations towards AI adoption. During the 12-hour program, leaders will hear use cases in their functional areas as well as learn how to create persuasive presentations when advocating for AI throughout their departments.
“AI is transforming how organizations operate and provide services to their clients, creating the way for new opportunities and growth,” said Nancy Ziser, Flatiron School EVP Enterprise Partnerships. “Our new training programs will quickly give organizations the latest, cutting edge skills needed to thrive in the evolving AI landscape.”
About Flatiron School
Since 2012, Flatiron School has been a trusted solutions provider of high quality technical training to Fortune 100 clients across Software Engineering, Cybersecurity, Data Science, and UX / UI Product Design. Over the past decade, we’ve trained over 10,000 diverse learners from all walks of life. We help organizations save time and money, whether it’s recruiting quality tech talent, an unbiased assessment of talent’s aptitude and/or technical skills, onboarding new hires, upskilling existing talent, or anything in between.
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TALENT DEVELOPMENT
Businesswire | May 10, 2023
XPRIZE, the world’s leader in designing and operating incentive competitions to solve humanity’s grand challenges, hosts a virtual event today to celebrate the grand prize winner of the $1M Digital Learning Challenge, Adaptive Experimentation Accelerator from Raleigh, North Carolina, and showcase the technology developed by the challenge’s three finalist teams, including team Terracotta from Indiana University and team UpGrade by Carnegie Learning.
Launched in 2021, the Digital Learning Challenge incentivized teams to modernize, accelerate, and improve the technology and processes for evaluating and measuring effective learning and education. Using tools like AI methods, big data, and machine learning, teams sought to better understand the effectiveness of specific teaching techniques and practices, with the goal of providing substantial benefit for educators, parents, policymakers, researchers, and the tens of millions of Americans enrolled in formal education every year. The challenge is sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the independent and nonpartisan statistics, research, and evaluation arm of the U.S. Department of Education.
The three finalist teams participating in the Accelerate & Modernize: New Methods to Assess Student Learning Outcomes closing event include:
• Grand Prize Winner: Adaptive Experimentation Accelerator – Raleigh, North Carolina (Partnership between Intelligent Adaptive Interventions lab at University of Toronto, Open Learning Initiative at Carnegie Mellon, & North Carolina State University) o The Adaptive Experimentation Accelerator network aims to involve everyone in using experiments to enhance and personalize education. Our 'MOOClet' toolkit democratizes the contribution of ideas from many teachers, students, and scientists, then experimentally tests which ideas work for which students. Artificial Intelligence algorithms analyze data to adapt experiments in days vs months. This aims to test more ideas more quickly, and to use promising data to more rapidly get better approaches to students.
• Finalist: Terracotta – Bloomington, Indiana (Indiana University)
o Terracotta is an open source plugin to the Canvas learning management system, enabling researchers and teachers to conduct rigorous and responsible experimental studies on learning activities within a course site. Using Terracotta, the team was able to conduct over two-dozen mini-experiments across a variety of courses, ranging from 6th grade to college seniors, where each experiment used local materials and authentic teacher-created assessments.
• Finalist: UpGrade by Carnegie Learning – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
o UpGrade is a free, open-source platform that enables iterative experimental design and deployment of new learning experiences that compare the efficacy of different tools and resources—such as lesson content, interactive elements, videos, algorithms and more—during active student learning. Each experiment measures what works best for whom, advancing the way we understand student learning and engagement and enabling the rapid design, deployment and analysis of large scale studies, including but not limited to complex K-12 school environments.
The final round or demonstration phase of the competition required teams to replicate their experiments at least five times with three or more distinct learner demographics. Based on their demonstration performance, Adaptive Experimentation Accelerator receives the grand prize designation and $500,000, while runners-up Terracotta and UpGrade will each receive $125,000 prizes. The three teams previously shared a $250,000 prize when they were announced as finalists in September 2022.
During the closing event, each of the three teams will present their technology and how it works, followed by a discussion of lessons learned from the Digital Learning Challenge. With the Challenge now concluded, the teams will seek to work with partners across the education and technology sectors to scale the impact and implementation of their solutions.“Through their participation and success in the Digital Learning Challenge, each of these teams has helped make advancements in technology to improve the ways that educators teach and that students learn,” said IES director Dr. Mark Schneider. “These teams have laid the groundwork for a new phase of experiments of frequency, scope and scale not possible through traditional methods of education research, which will ultimately lead to better experiences and outcomes for all learners.”
In the initial pilot phase of the competition, 10 teams had six months to demonstrate the capabilities of their rapid, reproducible experiments in an accredited education institutional setting and then 30 days to launch a replication study with at least one unique learner demographic. A judging panel of education and technology experts reviewed the pilot study technical submissions and selected three teams to move on to the final round and ultimately designated the winner.“We are deeply proud of the achievements of the Digital Learning Challenge finalist teams, whose creativity and commitment to improving education outcomes through technology and experimentation will resonate far beyond the conclusion of the competition,” said XPRIZE Digital Learning Challenge Technical Lead Dr. Monique Golden.“We look forward to working with these teams to forge new partnerships that will ensure they can continue developing and refining their technologies and scale the impact of their solutions.”
The Digital Learning Challenge is part of XPRIZE’s Learning and Society domain which is committed to achieving a future where everyone, regardless of income, race, age, identity, gender, or geography, has access to learning experiences to reflect their unique capabilities, disposition, and aspirations.
About XPRIZE
XPRIZE is a global future-positive movement delivering truly radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. XPRIZE inspires and empowers a global community of problem-solvers to positively impact our world by crowdsourcing solutions through large-scale competitions, tackling the world’s grandest challenges in exploration, environment, and human equity.
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CONTINUING EDUCATION
PRnewswire | April 20, 2023
Interplay Learning, the leading provider of online and virtual reality training for the essential skilled trades, announces a partnership with the Temperature Control Institute (TCI), a unique state-of-the-art skilled trades education program helping underemployed youth prepare for careers in the skilled trades.
TCI offers six-month certification courses in HVAC and commercial refrigeration. All students graduate with at least one job-ready certification, such as EPA 608, OSHA 10 and NATE, and use Interplay's training to help prepare for their exams. Graduates are qualified for entry-level employment, offering employers in Memphis, Tennessee and Southaven, Mississippi skilled and job-ready talent. Qualifying students may also receive free tuition through state funding.
"Interplay Learning is like having another instructor," said Edward York, TCI Director. "We get more effective learning done in less time, and we're also seeing less wear and tear on our equipment. That's going to allow us to grow faster, so we can help even more young people acquire essential skills that enable them to turn their lives around."
Interplay Learning's immersive virtual-reality simulations and robust catalog of technical content enhance TCI's classroom engagement and hands-on training programs. The platform includes expert-led video-based training, knowledge checks, and hands-on 3D simulations to help technicians rapidly develop on-the-job skills and practice troubleshooting in a risk-free, familiar environment. The on-demand courses offer game-like training that provides flexibility so students can practice anytime, according to their learning style, using a tablet, computer, or virtual reality headset.
TCI is currently enrolling students at its Southhaven, Mississippi, location conveniently located near Memphis, Tennessee. TCI plans to increase its class size as it expands to a new facility in Memphis later this year and add additional training programs for plumbing, electrical, and building maintenance.
"Our mission is to help institutions build better training, better careers, and better lives," said Doug Donovan, founder and CEO of Interplay Learning. "Temperature Control Institute is a shining example of how simulation-based technology can engage and support the next-generation skilled workforce more effectively. We're proud to partner with TCI to support the young, underemployed community in Memphis with an innovative strategy that addresses the skilled labor shortage."
Interplay Learning builds better training, better careers, and better lives for its customers and their employees. Its award-winning online and virtual reality training for the essential skilled trades, including HVAC, plumbing, electrical, solar, multifamily maintenance, and facilities maintenance workforces, is scalable and more effective than traditional training methods. By leveraging immersive learning technology, Interplay's customers can train and practice hands-on learning from a desktop, phone, tablet, or in virtual reality, resulting in a highly trained employee who is job-ready in weeks, not years.
About Interplay Learning
Austin-based Interplay Learning offers scalable and effective training for the essential skilled trades that helps business leaders, educators and their teams build better companies, better careers and better lives. Interplay Learning's immersive online and VR training platform for HVAC, plumbing, electrical, solar, hospitality, multifamily maintenance and facilities maintenance workforces includes expert-led video courses, hands-on 3D simulations, knowledge checks and custom learning paths to upskill advanced technicians and help new technicians be job-ready in weeks, not years.
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