How can we monitor education agents more effectively?

university world news | May 11, 2019

Education agent-based international student recruitment is gaining popularity in a number of countries. Even though many of the issues related to this recruitment mode have been widely discussed, significant gaps persist in universities’ and other educational institutions’ understanding of how best to manage their agent relationships. A new study examines one of the key underlying issues in ethical education agent management: how educational institutions can monitor their education agents. It is reasonable to assume that if universities and other educational institutions had the full ability to observe education agents’ activities, agents would be more likely to behave in a manner required by the client institutions. In the same way, agents’ awareness of institutions’ limited ability to observe their behaviour means that we can expect more agent misconduct. Of course, there are other ways to incentivise agents to work in educational institutions’ best interests, such as pre-contract due diligence, the use of contracts and financial incentives.

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Spotlight

Instancy is at the forefront of revolutionizing the eLearning landscape by harnessing the power of Generative AI. Our comprehensive solutions are designed to cater to diverse learning needs, transcending traditional barriers and empowering knowledge workers, trainers, and management alike. For Knowledge Workers, we provide instant access to performance-enhancing information right within their daily workflow. Our system ensures timely and efficient delivery of knowledge, enabling users to perform optimally, right at the moment. For Trainers, our no-code Generative AI-powered tools facilitate rapid and intelligent content creation. This reduces content development costs by over 50% and speeds up the content time by 70%. Our platform's unique blend of smart technology with human creativity offers trainers an unmatched experience in developing blended learning content.

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Corporate Education and Training

Bethlehem Area School District (Pennsylvania) Selects Synergy Education Platform

Send2Press News wire | July 11, 2023

Edupoint® Educational Systems announced today that Bethlehem Area School District (BASD) has selected the company’s industry-leading Synergy® Student Education Platform for its K 12 student data management needs. The district’s solution will include Synergy Student Information System, Synergy Online Registration, Synergy MTSS, and Synergy Special Education, and will be hosted in the Synergy AWS Cloud environment. BASD serves over 13,300 students across 22 schools in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. Bethlehem district leadership assembled a team to explore current industry offerings and evaluate their ability to offer improvements in efficiency and effectiveness. Over a period of six months, 67 participants representing a wide variety of roles at all levels of the organization – including secretaries, teachers, principals, assistant principals, and applications specialists, in addition to the district technology team – contributed feedback on the solutions under consideration. After extensive evaluation, including hosting week-long software demonstrations with three finalists, the team selected Synergy based on a number of key factors, including the following: • Integrated student information, special education, and MTSS management • Streamlining of special education and MTSS processes • Robust query, reporting, and decision support tools • Timely, reliable data • Federal and state reporting capabilities • An established and growing presence in Pennsylvania The district also sought a vendor with a long-term commitment to building and supporting its solutions in-house – a criterion that only Edupoint was able to meet. “We didn’t want multiple separate systems,” said Marie Bachman, Chief Technology Officer at BASD. “We wanted to give our teachers an improved user experience, greater access to students’ special education information, and a better system for MTSS – all of which will enhance their ability to support students. Teachers are excited about these modules, which work together and are built right into the interface that they will already be using for everyday tasks.” With Synergy, Bethlehem Area School District is getting a student data management system that will aid in eliminating unnecessary data-entry and integration busywork so stakeholders can focus their time on higher priorities, including supporting students and improving learning outcomes,” said Rob Wilson, Edupoint’s President and Chief Innovation Officer. “The seamless integration built into Synergy Education Platform will make a significant contribution, as well, to the district’s efforts to improve data governance. We are pleased to welcome BASD aboard as an Edupoint partner. About Edupoint Educational Systems For over 35 years, the leadership of Edupoint Educational Systems has provided well-designed, technologically advanced student data management systems that empower K-12 stakeholders to improve student achievement. Synergy Education Platform by Edupoint is an industry-leading student data management ecosystem built to fit the way educators already work. Synergy is unique among K-12 student data management solutions in providing an array of role-based mobile apps designed to give all stakeholders access to the tools they need when and where they need them. More than 5.5 million students use Synergy in 22 states.

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Talent Development

WuKong Education Awarded "Language Learning Innovation of the Year" By EdTech Breakthrough

PRnewswire | July 24, 2023

WuKong Education, a leading online education technology company with over 300,000 students worldwide, today announced that it has been selected as the winner of the "Language Learning Innovation of the Year" award in the 5th annual EdTech Breakthrough Awards program conducted by EdTech Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence organization that recognizes the top companies and solutions in the global educational technology market. WuKong Education's technological empowerment through game-like interactive homework functions provides students with a fun and engaging way to reinforce their learning. WuKong's scientific teaching method is based on New Zealand's Inquiry-Based Learning methodology and the 5C Core Competence Model, aimed at providing quality education in a more efficient manner. WuKong Chinese formed and followed a Chinese curriculum framework with four core programs: Pre-K Chinese, International Chinese, Advanced Chinese and Basic Chinese, with specialized sessions covering Chinese pinyin, idioms and readings, allowing students from different age groups to learn Chinese in an efficient manner. The company's rigorous teacher selection process ensures excellence, with more than 4,000 certified teachers graduating from top universities such as Harvard and Peking University. In addition, over 76% of WuKong's teachers have at least a master's degree, and most teach bilingually. WuKong is also comprised of a multicultural and multinational team, with employees from 11 countries and regions worldwide. "WuKong Education demonstrates a commitment to quality education, technological innovation, and multiculturalism. Their rigorous teacher selection process along with their scientific teaching method and commitment to empowering students through technology make them our choice for the 'Language Learning Innovation of the Year' award," said James Johnson, managing director, EdTech Breakthrough. "Exposing students to languages results in improved empathy by the introduction of customs and values belonging to a different society. Language learning is not just a means to communicate but helps develop a disposition to explore different perspectives." The mission of the EdTech Breakthrough Awards is to honor excellence and recognize the 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 different countries throughout the world. "Thank you to the EdTech Breakthrough Awards for recognizing the quality of our courses, innovative teaching methods, and accomplished teachers," said WuKong Education's founder and CEO, Vicky Wang. "We ground our courses in evidence-based, child-friendly approaches that instill an initiative for learning, spark interest in the subject matter, and establish a strong foundation for future academic performance. Following the tremendous success of our Chinese courses, we're excited to expand our offerings to provide English courses as well. With our proven technology and expert teachers, we look forward to supporting students across the globe with inquiry-based online education." About WuKong Education</p> Headquartered in Silicon Valley, WuKong Education is the premier online education provider for students 3- to 18-years old. Since 2016, WuKong Education has been the first choice for families who want to provide their children with language and mathematics skills for future success in the 21st century. With more than 4,000 teachers around the globe and a dedicated curriculum team developing original courses for the platform, WuKong Education brings the best of online live classes and self-paced learning together in a single, interactive, engaging platform that is available anytime, anywhere. About EdTech Breakthrough Part of Tech Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence and recognition platform for global technology innovation and leadership, the EdTech Breakthrough Awards program is devoted to honoring excellence in educational technology products, companies and people. The EdTech Breakthrough Awards provide a platform for public recognition around the achievements of breakthrough educational technology in categories including e-learning, student engagement, school administration, career preparation, language learning, STEM and more.

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Entrepreneurs and Leaders

Instructure Reveals Major Product Innovations Across Four Strategic Areas

PRnewswire | August 02, 2023

Instructure, the leading learning platform and maker of Canvas, today announced enhanced and expanded Instructure Learning Platform solutions, further demonstrating the company's ongoing commitment to innovation in edtech and its mission to make teachers' work easier and improve student success. Today the company unveiled enhancements centered around core teaching and learning, advanced analytics, lifelong learning and platform integration during InstructureCon 2023, the company's annual user conference held July 26-28 in Denver. Core Teaching and Learning To better support millions of educators and learners using Canvas around the world, Instructure showcased continued innovation to their core teaching and learning solutions, all designed to save educators time, personalize learning experiences for students and simplify complex tasks for administrators. Today, AI-assisted course templating was announced, giving educators and instructional designers the power to quickly create elegant page layouts using dynamic methods, making courses both more engaging and intuitive. This latest release, soon available in beta, joins the growing list of new functionalities specifically designed to improve educator efficiency and reduce administrative tasks, such as bulk publishing for modules, enhanced Gradebook filters, Course Pacing and the ability to submit assignments on behalf of students. Students also gain a more personalized, equitable experience from Canvas solutions with tailored in-context support, like the beta AI-powered right-and-wrong answer rationale and integration of AI writing tutor Khanmigo, made available through the just-announced partnership with Khan Academy. These tools give instructors supplemental AI-powered tools to support students in and out of the classroom. "This work underscores our continued commitment to build the extensibility and advanced capabilities of Canvas products, while also promoting simplicity for both educators and learners," said Shiren Vijiasingam, Instructure's Chief Product Officer. "With the introduction of AI capabilities into our core products—both with our own innovation and that of our strategic partners found in our beta emerging AI marketplace—we aim to meet the immediate and future needs of our community with substantive improvements that help to drive best practice in pedagogy and curriculum." Advanced Analytics Building upon the rapid adoption of the new data pipeline for Canvas Data 2 and the recently released Canvas Admin Analytics, included in Canvas LMS, Instructure also showcased new advanced analytics solutions now available in beta. This allows administrators to personalize the way they see and interact with their data in a fraction of the time. Injecting conversational AI into Instructure analytics products empowers educators to ask deeper questions of their data using everyday language. This results in more timely, actionable insights to drive better outcomes for students. Lifelong Learning In response to rapidly evolving labor markets and growing demand for alternate educational paths, Instructure's new streamlined offering of Canvas LMS, Canvas Credentials and Canvas Catalog provide institutions with a turnkey solution to diversify course offerings, attract new learners and drive continued institutional growth. As an evolution of this offering, today the company previewed innovative work in credentialing and learner records. Instructure is launching a learner passport in beta designed to empower learners to carry stackable, verifiable evidence of the competencies acquired throughout their learning journey. "We believe the future requires a portable, shareable record to show the skills and achievements an individual mastered with either employers or institutions," Vijiasingam said. "We know that learners are looking for alternative paths to employment and education and this gives them the power to pursue their own unique learning journeys." Platform Integration To realize the company's mission of delivering the most comprehensive, seamless learning platform on the market, Instructure showcased new deep integration between their solutions, like Canvas LMS and assessment management system Mastery Connect, and a seamless learning experience across Canvas LMS, Canvas Catalog and Canvas Credentials. This cohesive platform experience is strengthened by a foundation of data brought to life by advanced analytics. As part of the platform, the Instructure Community, edtech's largest online community, now has PandaBot, an AI-powered chatbot available to all community members. "Whether educators and learners are using Instructure products or other educational technologies on the Instructure Learning Platform, they deserve an experience that puts teaching and learning front and center," said Steve Daly, Instructure's Chief Executive Officer. "Removing the barriers between these solutions allows everyone to navigate freely so they can focus on the content of their education and not the tech. Today we shared our vision of what a cohesive platform experience could and should look like–and our strategy to get there." ABOUT INSTRUCTURECON InstructureCon 2023, Instructure's professional learning event for educators and edtech users, with a 2023 theme of Making Moments, features prominent keynotes from Deepak Chopra, Arianna Huffington and Dr. Jordan Nguyen. With more than 130 sessions from fellow educators and inspiring thinkers, InstructureCon addresses some of the most impactful edtech insights and tips on resilience, wellness and self-care for educators. This year's InstructureCon event takes place July 25-28, at the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center in Denver. 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.

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