Redefining what it means to be ‘college-ready’

ecampusnews | October 21, 2019

Societal pressures on high school seniors seemingly grow by the year. These days, a student’s level of college and workforce readiness is said to be dependent on their college admission test scores, completing the most rigorous high school classes possible, and obtaining AP credit. But research shows that these are not the sole indicators. ACT recently released a report that claims only 26 percent of 2018 high school graduates were ready for the workforce, but I believe readiness is dictated by so much more than a standardized test score. Related content: Program targets college readiness gap. For example, research from the University of California Berkeley found that high school GPA is the best indicator of grades during freshman year in college as well as college graduation. Of course, I don’t presume that everyone should go to college. When educators say they want students to be “college-ready,” it’s easy to assume we mean a four-year degree. What we really mean is “post-secondary ready.” If an individual wants to earn a family-supporting wage over the course of their work lifetime, they need access to some form of post-secondary education. For example, if their goal is to become a police officer or a firefighter, they’ll have to learn how to move through the ranks. Though college might not be the path for them, they will need to demonstrate proficiency and take coursework. I did a presentation on this topic in southern Illinois and somebody asked, “What if I want to be a family farmer?” Before I could respond, three people piped up, saying that farmers need to understand things like crop rotation, agribusiness, and irrigation. Every profession requires a level of expertise in some niche area. Having access to post-secondary coursework is a way everyone can stay relevant and nimble as an individual who wants to support themselves and possibly a family.

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Spotlight

Join Professor Brian Hallett, an expert in Visual Communication and Branded Content, as he unveils the transformative power of AI in education at IE University. Discover how IE University empowers students to embrace AI as a valuable tool for creativity and critical thinking. Witness real-life examples where AI enhances students' inventions and analyses, raising the bar for excellence. Experience the future of personalized learning, where AI and humans collaborate to create a dynamic and enriching academic environment. Hit play now and unlock your true potential with AI-enhanced education at IE University! IE University

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Corporate Learning Systems

D2L Unveils D2L for Business

PR Newswire | September 21, 2023

D2L, a global learning technology company, today announced the formal launch of D2L for Business – a corporate learning solution designed to maximize return on investment (ROI) in learning and help empower employers to attract, retain, onboard, and upskill their workforce. D2L for Business combines the benefits of an existing network of world-class education providers, skill development solutions, and expert consulting services along with D2L's world class Learning Experience Platform (LXP) and authoring tools, creating one integrated, easy-to-use corporate solution. The 2023 World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report predicts that 44% of workers' skills will be disrupted in the following five years – rising significantly from 35% in 2016. And, according to D2L's 2023 White Paper, 80% of U.S. adults expressed some interest in pursuing additional skills training over the next 12 months. "With recent rapid advancements in AI, the changing nature of jobs, and skills shortages, it's essential for employees to continue to upgrade their skillsets – and for businesses to offer the right learning to remain competitive in the talent market," said John Baker, CEO of D2L. "For over two decades, we've helped hundreds of organizations drive their business forward with the right learning for the skills they need. D2L for Business will help take our customers to the next level with a simple, seamless, and personalized mix of technology and services to help fuel a skilled workforce prepared to take on the future." D2L for Business helps employers maximize organization-wide learning ROI and their workforce's satisfaction, retention, and internal mobility through: Skills Mapping and Pathways: D2L for Business uses AI-driven algorithms and industry experts to help develop a comprehensive skills audit, map skills to careers, and identify custom learning pathways for desired careers and skill sets. This helps businesses create a skills pipeline aligned with business objectives, fill open roles, and close skills gaps. Network of World-Class Education Partners: D2L for Business can help businesses streamline their learning administration through a curated provider network of industry-leading universities, colleges, and training organizations. Employers can easily deploy a centralized catalog of career-aligned programs and courses to talent at every level of the organization. Customized Learning: D2L for Business can help businesses create and deliver their own customized digital learning experiences through D2L's LXP. This can enable organizations to rapidly scale and deploy learning that aligns with their strategic goals. Learning Analytics: D2L for Business offers built-in insights to help maximize businesses' ROI with a birds-eye-view into learner progress and outcomes. Employers can gather integrated, organization-wide data about course completion rates and employee skill development, and then make data-informed decisions to help ensure future-readiness. "When it comes to revamping your learning and development program, it's important to have a plan in place that's going to take your business to the next level, and into the future," said Melissa Stein, Officer of Learning & Development at Tompkins Financial. "Tompkins specifically chose D2L as its corporate learning platform for its flexibility, ability to provide content in all areas of learning, and its two decades of trends-focused, forward-looking innovation." D2L for Business can help empower companies to make their skilled teams a competitive advantage, future-proofing their organization to fuel growth. For more information on D2L for Business, please visit https://www.D2L.com/solutions/corporate/. About D2L D2L is transforming the way the world learns—helping learners of all ages achieve more than they dreamed possible. Working closely with clients all over the world, D2L is supporting millions of people learning online and in person. Our growing global workforce is dedicated to making the best learning products to leave the world better than they found it. Learn more about D2L for K-12, higher education and businesses at www.D2L.com.

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Education Technology

YuJa Inc. Announces New, Enhanced Features Across its Portfolio of Ed-Tech Solutions

Businesswire | July 10, 2023

YuJa, Inc., a leader in ed-tech solutions, has introduced a number of new and exciting features across its portfolio of higher education offerings, which include the flagship YuJa Enterprise Video Platform, YuJa Panorama Digital Accessibility platform, YuJa Engage Student Response System, YuJa Verity Test Proctoring, and YuJa Himalayas Enterprise Archiving Platform. “Our goal is to continually innovate to meet the evolving needs of our customers,” said Nathan Arora, Chief Business Officer at YuJa, Inc. “With these new features, updates, and enhancements, we aim to empower educators and institutions with innovative tools that foster engaging learning environments and enable seamless collaboration. We are dedicated to supporting the ever-changing landscape of higher education and ensuring our products remain at the forefront of educational technology.” Highlighted feature introductions and updates are listed below. YuJa Enterprise Video Platform A number of Enterprise Video Platform improvements were implemented. Highlights include: The need for third-party cookies has been eliminated, which simplified product use and enhances the privacy and security for institutions as they access the Video Platform from within their learning management system. A new umbrella system infrastructure has been deployed to support systems of higher education with multiple campuses or institutions using a single Video Platform instance. Administrators can manage system-level deployment and designate sub-administrators at an individual college level. A new client-side Microsoft Teams app complements the cloud-side Teams integration, which creates a streamlined video-sharing workflow between Teams and the Video Platform. YuJa Panorama Digital Accessibility Platform YuJa Panorama Digital Accessibility Platform has a long list of new features to help streamline accessibility across institutions. Some accessibility enhancements include: A new gradient reader helps reduce unnecessary eye movements and increases the reader’s focus by providing a guiding color gradient to facilitate a smooth shift between lines of text. YuJa Panorama provides “How-to-Fix” guides to help instructors fix accessibility concerns. Now, guides can now be edited with new text, images, and links, and each issue is now accompanied by both a video tutorial and a link to web content accessibility guidelines. The Alternatives Formats Menu has an updated UI and minimized steps to view a preferred format. YuJa Verity Test Proctoring Platform Among the top updates to the YuJa Verity Test Proctoring Platform include the following: YuJa Verity users can now monitor third-party assessments across all learning management systems, which provides secure testing environments within the Verity LTI app. A new lockdown app has been launched. The app works seamlessly with Verity Live Proctoring to ensure students can’t end recordings during an assessment and enforces strict measures to prevent common methods of bypassing proctor settings. Instructors can now create custom profiles for their proctoring settings, which can be applied to upcoming proctored tests. YuJa Engage Student Response System The YuJa Engage Student Response System also saw a host of new and updated features, including: A new mobile application for IOS and Android has been introduced to their respective app stores to provide on-the-go access to polls and results for both students and instructors. Surveys have been updated to seamlessly integrate with the gradebook and new question types have been added. Gradebook results can be manually adjusted within YuJa Engage, which allows instructors to tailor the grading process to better align with individual student progress and ensure accurate evaluation of academic performance. ABOUT YUJA, INC. YuJa is a leader in ed-tech solutions. Our platforms provide organizations of all sizes with the tools to educate, engage, inspire and collaborate. We serve learning enterprises within all sectors, including higher-ed, K-12, government, healthcare, non-profit and corporate. We have legal headquarters in Delaware with primary U.S. offices in Silicon Valley, California, and Canadian offices in Toronto.

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Talent Development

PowerSchool Joins White House K-12 Education Technology Secure by Design Pledge & Announces New Commitments to Education Ecosystem Security

Businesswire | August 08, 2023

PowerSchool the leading provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education in North America, today announced it is joining the K-12 Education Technology Secure by Design Pledge, a voluntary pledge for K-12 education technology software manufacturers, developed by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the U.S. Department of Education. PowerSchool also announced new commitments to further secure the education technology ecosystem by offering free and subsidized security-as-a-service resources to all U.S. schools and districts. “Our primary mission is to personalize education for every student and that journey starts with our responsibility to protect and safeguard the over 45 million students we serve today in the U.S.,” said Hardeep Gulati, CEO of PowerSchool. “That is why we have made significant investments in cybersecurity and successfully defend our districts against over 1 billion cyber-attacks each year. We are honored to sign this pledge and even provide additional free and subsidized security-as-a-service trainings, tools, and resources to support and enable all U.S. school districts to fight against cybersecurity threats.” As part of First Lady Jill Biden’s Back to School Safely: Cybersecurity Summit for K-12 Schools event on August 7th, 2023, PowerSchool CEO Hardeep Gulati will highlight PowerSchool’s cybersecurity leadership and initiatives including cloud infrastructure security, cyber defense, and governance risk and compliance, that secure over 80% of the school districts across all U.S. states, including 90 of the top 100 districts by student population. “Let’s face it: in today’s digital age, our students and their teachers will increasingly use technology in the classroom. Schools have access to more devices and connectivity than ever before, and this technology in education has incredible potential to help students better connect with their learning and achieve, and teachers better engage with their students,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “But to make the most of these benefits, we must effectively manage the risks. Just as we expect everyone in a school system to plan and prepare for physical risks, we must now also ensure everyone helps plan and prepare for digital risks in our schools and classrooms. The Department of Education has listened to the field about the importance of K-12 cybersecurity, and today we are coming together to recognize this and indicate our next steps.” PowerSchool already adheres to several commitments outlined in the pledge, including offering single sign-on for free to customers, providing audit logs to any customer upon request, maintaining a published vulnerability disclosure policy administered by an independent third party, and embracing vulnerability transparency by openly engaging with customers on vulnerabilities, threats, and risks the company identifies. PowerSchool is also taking additional steps to provide industry-leading cybersecurity support to educational institutions. This includes offering free and subsidized security-as-a-service resources, including on-demand webinars, toolkits, and trainings to U.S. schools and districts, as well as offerings from partners including Abnormal Security, Amazon Web Services, and KnowBe4. These resources will be available to any U.S. school or district, regardless of their customer status. “Keeping our students and our schools safe from cyberattacks comes down to equipping schools with three things – knowledge, resources, and people,” said Anne Neuberger, Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technologies. “This week, the White House worked to do just that – mobilizing funding, cybersecurity fact guides tailored for schools, and cybersecurity teams to visit schools and help them fight ransomware. We appreciate the innovative and meaningful private sector commitments in this ransomware fight, as we work together to keep kids cyber-safe online and in schools.” PowerSchool’s significant investment in advanced security technologies, including static and dynamic code scanning, best-of-breed Web Application Firewalls, and more than 30 annual penetration tests, reinforces its unwavering commitment to providing unparalleled protection and trust to districts and schools. As a signatory of the Student Privacy Pledge 2020, PowerSchool adheres to all applicable state, province, and federal regulations and goes beyond those by independently verifying its security management system annually to third-party audited, internationally recognized standards for security management systems, achieving the ISO:27001 certification and SOC2 Type 2 – the gold standard data security certification for business service providers. PowerSchool is also partnered with the Consortium for School Networking (COSN) on their recently rolled-out K-12 Community Vendor Assessment Tool (K-12CVAT) and is an active partner of 1EdTech, focusing on industry standards, interoperability, and data privacy and security best practices. PowerSchool products have been vetted and certified as TrustEd Apps by 1Edtech, based on the organization's rigorous data and privacy rubric. About PowerSchool PowerSchool is the leading provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education in North America. Its mission is to power the education ecosystem with unified technology that helps educators and students realize their full potential, in their way. PowerSchool connects students, teachers, administrators, and parents, with the shared goal of improving student outcomes. From the office to the classroom to the home, it helps schools and districts efficiently manage state reporting and related compliance, special education, finance, human resources, talent, registration, attendance, funding, learning, instruction, grading, assessments, and analytics in one unified platform. PowerSchool supports over 50 million students globally and more than 15,000 customers, including more than 90 of the top 100 districts by student enrollment in the United States, and sells solutions in more than 90 countries.

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