CORPORATE LEARNING SYSTEMS
PRnewswire | April 17, 2023
Anthology, a leading provider of education solutions that support the entire learner lifecycle, today announced that its flagship learning management system (LMS) Blackboard Learn is increasingly the solution of choice for institutions worldwide. The growth is attributed in part to significant investment in the product since it became part of Anthology's portfolio in 2021. This investment has driven the availability of more than 200 new features since the merger accelerated development. That feature development is powered by an unprecedented level of client input. Recent competitive wins across the globe and a 55 percent increase year-over-year in the use of courses that unlock the benefits of Blackboard Learn Ultra further demonstrates growing global interest in the new Blackboard Learn.
"Institutions are seeking personalized, data-informed experiences for their students. As they evaluate whether they have the right tools in place, they are increasingly selecting the new Blackboard Learn to drive the future of learning on their campuses," said Jim Milton, Chairman and CEO of Anthology. "With Blackboard Learn, we're providing institutions with a market-leading LMS, where client and user feedback shapes future roadmap. We're focused on delivering the best experience in the industry and these wins and the momentum they represent reflect that commitment."
In April, Anthology will have developed and deployed more than 200 significant features for Blackboard Learn including self-expression tools, an adaptable test-taking experience designed to reduce student anxiety, superior progress tracking tools, and embedded insights. Accelerated feature development is occurring hand-in-hand with an industry-leading level of client and user input. More than 60 focus groups are providing user and instructor-level feedback and 80 percent of the top client and user-identified features are in active development. That user guidance is directing feature development like deeper student progress tracking and a more holistic overview of each student. Enhancements enable instructors to monitor student progress, manage outreach to students who haven't started an activity and provide a comprehensive view of where a student stands, including their overall grade, when they last accessed the course, accommodations, and feedback. Together, they're empowering instructors to have more personalized interactions with their learners to help guide them on their unique journey. In addition to the investments in product features, Anthology has invested significantly in the tools and resources to help clients implement the solution and transition to Blackboard Learn Ultra courses.
"We've redefined the Blackboard Learn Ultra adoption journey with free, easy-to-use resources and tools as well as a dedicated adoption team available to all clients that simplify the process," said JD White, Chief Product Officer at Anthology. "The new Learn Ultra Adoption Toolkit is an end-to-end solution designed to guide campus administrators along every step of the journey to benefit from the powerful tools available in Learn Ultra as quickly and efficiently as possible."
Blackboard Learn continues to build momentum with recent wins across the globe. Anthology's LMS is replacing Instructure Canvas at EC-Council University in New Mexico; the Culinary Institute Lenotre in Houston, Texas; and at the Amity Global Institute in Singapore. Waldorf University in Forest City, Iowa and Transnet in South Africa also recently selected Blackboard Learn following competitive reviews.
The wins run the gamut, from long-time clients continuing their relationship, to current institutions deepening their relationship with additional Anthology solutions, to new clients selecting Blackboard Learn to replace their existing LMS. Colleges and universities are all gaining simpler, more-powerful teaching and learning experiences to support the needs of the modern classroom.
About Anthology
Anthology offers the largest EdTech ecosystem on a global scale for education, supporting more than 150 million users in 80 countries. With a mission to provide dynamic, data-informed experiences to the global education community through Anthology Intelligent Experiences™, we help learners, leaders and educators achieve their goals by offering over 60 SaaS products and services designed to advance learning.
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CORPORATE LEARNING SYSTEMS
PRnewswire | April 04, 2023
Spark Education Group ("Spark"), one of the world's largest provider of small-group online classes for K-12 education, is celebrating 5 years since its first online class in March 2018. With its award-winning programs such as Spark Math, the edtech has served over 650,000 students in more than 100 countries and regions.
Since its inception, Spark Education has focused on prioritizing students' learning experience for optimal education outcomes. Its team of over 1,000 curriculum researchers and designers use research-based, proven teaching methods, focusing on building a strong foundation with deep understanding rather than memorization. The company's investments in interactive technology to create proprietary systems and courseware ensure students are engaged and able to connect in real-time with teachers and peers. Taking a collaborative approach with pedagogy experts, curriculum designers, child psychologists, engineers, and designers, Spark has set out to challenge traditional classrooms and ways of learning, to re-imagine what the optimal learning experience could be for kids. This has resulted in improved academic performance and strong problem-solving skills in Spark's students. Parents have been strong supporters of Spark's programs with about up to 80% annual renewal rate and about 77% of new students coming from current student referrals in some regions.
The launch of the Canadian Spark Education Learning Center coincides with Spark's 5th anniversary. With a student-centric education philosophy, the center will offer fun and engaging classes including math, language learning, problem solving and more. Lessons are designed to empower students to learn, visualize, and connect real-life experiences to classroom content.
"We are extremely proud to launch Spark's first learning center in Vancouver, which has already attracted not only local families but also those who drive from further afield," said Susan Pan, Head of Canada Spark Education Learning Center. "We firmly believe that our interactive learning experience will make learning math and languages more fun and effective for Canadian students, and we look forward to continuing to expand our physical locations to increase our impact."
The center provides an opportunity for students and parents to see and interact with the Spark Education experience, talk with its teachers, and maybe even meet some of the main characters from their class adventures, all in a welcoming and educational space. This marks another step in the edtech's mission to spark passion for learning, igniting lifelong growth.
About Spark Education Group
Founded in 2017, Spark Education Group is headquartered in Singapore. Its portfolio of education brands aims to combine research-based pedagogy with technology to improve the learning experience and education outcomes for students around the world. It was recently awarded "Best Interactive Learning Experience" at EdTech Asia, and recognized as a Parent and Teacher Choice Award Gold Medal Recipient.
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EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY, CORPORATE LEARNING SYSTEMS
Guild Education and Salt Security | March 17, 2023
Salt Security, the leading API security company, today announced that Guild Education, the leader in opportunity creation for America's workforce, has chosen the Salt Security API Protection Platform to secure its growing application programming interface (API) ecosystem. Guild relies on APIs for the exchange of private and sensitive student, employer, and school data across its Career Opportunity Platform. With the Salt platform, Guild gains automatic and continuous API visibility, insights into potential data exposure, and API runtime protection to ensure the safety of its customers' critical data.
"Guild supports workers, companies, and educational organizations to build new career opportunities and address increasing talent shortages. Keeping employee, employer, and school data secure has always been a top priority," said Julie Chickillo, VP, head of security, Guild Education. "The visibility we get with Salt eliminates blindspots, allowing us to better protect the critical and personal information – including employer eligibility updates, student loan reimbursement data, and program applications – being shared via our APIs."
Although Guild looked at other API security solutions, Salt provided the most actionable insights and the most mature platform. Leveraging the robust Salt API security platform, Guild gains:
Discovery of shadow APIs – to ensure a complete and accurate API inventory and understand what unknown APIs might exist that could pose security risks
Attack prevention – the most proven algorithms in API security to pinpoint attacker reconnaissance activity, even drawn out over days and weeks, and stop attackers before they reach their objective
API security testing – to gain vulnerability insights in pre-production, empowering the Guild development team to improve the security posture of its new APIs
The Salt Security platform enables organizations to catalog their APIs, see where they expose sensitive data, detect and block API attackers, scan and test APIs, and provide remediation insights that developers can use to harden APIs and improve the security posture over time. Through its patented API Context Engine (ACE) architecture, the platform can identify the early indicators of an attack, stop attackers from advancing and turn attackers into penetration testers, leading to valuable feedback for security teams to identify and eliminate API vulnerabilities.
About Salt Security
Salt Security protects the APIs that form the core of every modern application. Its patented API Protection Platform is the only API security solution that combines the power of cloud-scale big data and time-tested ML/AI to detect and prevent API attacks. By correlating activities across millions of APIs and users over time, Salt delivers deep context with real-time analysis and continuous insights for API discovery, attack prevention, and shift-left practices. Deployed quickly and seamlessly integrated within existing systems, the Salt platform gives customers immediate value and protection, so they can innovate with confidence and accelerate their digital transformation initiatives. For more information, visit https://salt.security/
About Guild
Guild's Career Opportunity Platform enables forward-thinking employers to invest in their employees, unlocking life-changing opportunities for personal and professional growth through education and learning programs, career development and one-on-one coaching. Guild partners with the nation's largest employers — including Walmart, Chipotle, Discover, Hilton, Macy's, Target and The Walt Disney Company — to create cultures of opportunity that will help them attract and retain top talent, and build the workforce of the future. Using Guild's Career Opportunity Platform full of real-world education and learning programs, employees at those companies can gain the skills, knowledge and guidance they need to build a brighter future for themselves and their families — all without paying for tuition or career services on their own. For more information, visit https://www.guildeducation.com/
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