ICT | May 25, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered an abrupt transition to distance education, training and e-learning.
The crisis has resulted in massive shifts to online platforms and tools for the continued delivery of learning and skills development, which have shown both promising trends.
In the future, skills that can easily be acquired and strengthened via distance learning during this pandemic could change the landscape of work for the coming generation.
The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered an abrupt transition to distance education, training and e-learning. The crisis has resulted in massive shifts to online platforms and tools for the continued delivery of learning and skills development, which have shown both promising trends and troubling signs. Among those signs, the evidence that, while much is being made of digital learning making access more equitable, access to online platforms doesn’t always result in equal quality learning. Women, for example, are being disproportionately cut off from distance learning due to lack of childcare or home help during the pandemic.
These were among some of the main conclusions emerging from a recent E-Discussion on “Continuing online learning and skills development in times of the COVID-19 crisis”, organized by the ILO’s Skills and Employability Branch through its Global Skills for Employment Knowledge Sharing Platform. For more than two weeks, the virtual discussion drew scores of practitioners, representatives of training institutions and policy-makers from around the world who shared their experiences regarding the impact of the pandemic, highlighted challenges that have emerged for education and training and offered solutions for tackling them.
Learn more: COVID-19 SUMMER TO KEEP THE OPPORTUNITY DOORS OPEN FOR EDUCATION COMPANIES
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“Representatives of training institutions and policy-makers from around the world who shared their experiences regarding the impact of the pandemic, highlighted challenges that have emerged for education and training and offered solutions for tackling them.”
~ Policy-Makers say
Challenges included: instructors not properly trained and prepared to deliver online courses. Difficulties in adapting TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) curricula and training to online formats. Lack of access to the internet or ICT (Information and communications technology) equipment to carry out learning or training. Apprentices ready for assessment but who couldn’t be assessed due to COVID-19 issues. Students unable to access the resources necessary to continue their training because they were not familiar with online platforms. Yet, despite these challenges, students, apprentices, providers of TVET, and policy-makers are making the important changes needed when it comes to learning and acquiring skills in times of crisis.
“Continuing online learning and skills development in times of the COVID-19 crisis”, organized by the ILO’s Skills and Employability Branch through its Global Skills for Employment Knowledge Sharing Platform. ”
For example, in Uruguay, INEFOP (Instituto Nacional de Empleo y Formación Profesional) developed a contingency plan calling for proposals from institutions that wanted to work in distance and semi-presence courses. Based on this, a table was created to study the methodology of moving from face-to-face courses to online formats. In Bangladesh, the Skill 21 project, a joint initiative of the government and the ILO, is developing an e-campus which would be the first online learning management platform for the TVET sector in the country. In England, the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) is taking steps to ensure that, wherever possible, apprentices can continue and complete their apprenticeship, despite any break they need to take as a result of COVID-19.
New forms of partnerships are also emerging. In Syria, for example, a partnership established with IECD, a development assistance organization, is being repackaged to include e-learning, and to develop videos on recent training programmes in construction, agriculture and manufacturing.
In the future, skills that can easily be acquired and strengthened via distance learning during this pandemic could change the landscape of work for the coming generation. In the near-term, we need to think about the “new” skills required by industry and employers post-COVID-19 to get people back into employment quickly. These might encompass short courses and/or skill sets that are targeted. In the long-term, hiring remote workers could become more commonplace. One thing seems clear: Giving informal education a more privileged spot in the lifelong learning concept to ensure better validation of skills will be critically important when we emerge from this crisis. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing mega-experiment in distant learning demonstrates that no country has been properly prepared for such a challenge. Schools and universities in both developing and developed countries struggle with the complexity of providing equitable access to education. To address the educational crisis, the most inspiring actions have been taken by individual teachers in both rich and poor countries.
Learn more:
HOW THE REMOTE LEARNING PIVOT COULD SHAPE HIGHER ED IT
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ONLINE EDUCATION
dailyhive | November 02, 2020
Vancouver-based Course Studio is prepared to change the internet learning scene in the wake of raising $1 million from industry insiders to extends its group and administrations.
The organization, which was helped to establish by CEO Tonner Jackson in May, works with course makers to construct "web based learning encounters."
Also, similar to the business they are attempting to stir up, Course Studio is developing quick.
“The number one thing this funding will help us with is hiring. We are kind of bursting at the seams right now,” said Jackson. “Course Studio has access to customer problems and we’re building solutions to solve those problems. The million dollars is effectively allowing us to do that.”
The financing will likewise be utilized to acknowledge Course Studio's guarantee to makers of "you encourage it we construct it." Jackson clarifies that they do this with their redid web based learning encounters.
“Online learning experiences need to be very good at three things. The first is education, so content that people want to pay to learn and that they cannot get for free elsewhere. The second thing they need is entertainment and we have some interesting proprietary ways and philosophies of injecting entertainment into online education. A lot of that is gleaned from Masterclass and our experience of growing some of the world’s most trafficked online classes. And then the third piece is community, when you’re on a browser your distractions are maximized. You have Netflix and social media a tab away. We believe that the community aspect is a big way to mitigate that. We have some novel ways of implementing community inside of an online course that we’re really excited about.”
The Course Studio group is situated in Vancouver, Toronto, New York and San Francisco. It is comprised of individuals who have worked with Masterclass, Blue Wire Podcasts, Metalab and Thinkific. Their aggregate experience incorporates planning a portion of the world's most dealt online classes for people like Malcolm Gladwell, Chris Hadfield, Steph Curry, Thomas Keller and constructing and delivering computerized items for Sam Harris (Waking Up), Microsoft, Atlassian, and then some.
“We have such an interesting group of individuals,” added Jackson. “We have folks who literally built and scaled the most trafficked online course experiences on the planet.
“They have perspectives that very few have and there’s a ton of artistry that people may not realize. Frankly, I think there are more parts art than science when it comes to the design of the curriculum itself.”
The organization is hoping to enlist Vancouver-based creators and designers, incorporating programming engineers with React and Node.js experience just as a senior lead fashioner to lead their plan group.
Course Studio will dispatch their first online classes in mid 2021, including a course for a "extremely persuasive person who is a major commonly recognized name." The organization is likewise chipping away at another innovation they are expanding on top of Thinkific, and working with more modest course makers to refine a portion of the manner in which they work in the administrations business.
“Our ambitious goal is to be cash-flow positive and generating a million dollars of revenue this year,” shared Jackson.
“We probably have 30 or 40 subject matter experts and creators reaching out to us a week right now wanting us to build something with them. Our strike zone customer is someone who has a large audience but has a less than foggy idea about what educational content they want to roll out effectively. We have a very robust process for helping them.”
Jackson’s hope for Course Studio is for the company to become a Vancouver success story.
“I want Course Studio to be a big business in Vancouver that’s generating a lot of impact for this community,” said Jackson. “I was steeped in the entrepreneurial ecosystem here. My first business is still operating.
“Like e-commerce was 10 years ago, our view is that’s where we are at in the life cycle of the online education space. We’re really excited about where we’re going.”
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EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY
yahoo | January 13, 2021
With the difficulties in schooling today, guardians are reimagining their youngster's learning alternatives. They are searching for a balanced and strong educational program, devoted instructor to-understudy uphold and incessant correspondence. Verse International Academy as of late dispatched its philanthropic attendant style online schooling that is pulling in guardians from everywhere the world with its set-up of administrations and customized learning educational program at a reasonable expense.
"We offer a school that is tailor-made to each individual student and nurtured by a support team that includes an academic coach, teachers and tutors to help develop self-disciplined students that are well-prepared to succeed in college," said Dr. Christine Kasitz, Head of School. "Many parents are dissatisfied with distance learning and learning loss, especially for the long-term. We addressed those concerns with a comprehensive and positive experience for student and parents."
The foundation's STEAM-centered educational program for grades 6-12 is intended for understudies who have a wide scope of capacities, interests and learning styles. Refrain, a philanthropic online tuition based school, is worked around a powerful, imaginative learning climate intended to draw in understudies to learn, lead and accomplish in school and life.
Refrain is a dominance based program, so understudies get credits for showing that they comprehend the necessary material, as opposed to time spent sitting in a study hall. They may try out of units they have just dominated or delayed down to invest more energy on new or troublesome subjects. Quickened classes are accessible to understudies who can deal with topic over their evaluation level or for double enlistment school credit.
According to Dr. Kasitz, Stanza students have several hours of intense teacher support per week, daily check-ins and virtual tutoring on demand. "We have found that what students need most to be successful is not dedicated time in classroom seats, but dedicated teacher support. Our intense personalized learning and one-on-one instruction is what differentiates us and why students are finding success with Stanza."
Understudies can select whenever consistently, either on a full-time or low maintenance premise to quicken their examinations or get up to speed with credits. All educators are guaranteed topic specialists and extra instructors are gotten for any courses that understudies demand.
About Stanza International Academy
Stanza International Academy takes online learning to the next level with a proprietary model of personalized, one-on-one learning for grades 6-12. As pioneers of this education model, we provide an exceptional experience for students who have a wide range of abilities, interests and learning styles. Our academic coaches and teachers guide students through flexible, yet structured learning with constant communication and a STEAM-focused curriculum that enhances each student’s strengths.
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