ONLINE EDUCATION
Questionmark | September 08, 2021
New technologies are making workplace training more efficient, accessible and relevant than ever. Though social distancing measures are easing, employers should continue to invest in online learning to equip teams with the modern skills they need, says online assessment provider, Questionmark.
Many employers shifted training online when it became impossible to deliver face-to-face programs. And 18 months later, senior leaders have noted several benefits which make the case not to go back.
These include:
Efficiency – online learning cuts out travel time and can speed up delivery.
Personal relevance – online learning programs do not depend on a critical mass of employees coming together in one physical location. It is easier to tailor content to the needs of an individual.
Frequency and agility – the business environment is constantly shifting. Modular, bite-sized training is often more effective at equipping workers with the modern skills they need. Online training is easier to deliver in small, more regular chunks.
Flexibility – because participants do not need to travel to one place, people can log on at a time that suits their working pattern.
Cost and convenience – there are no time or travel costs, so workers don’t need to down tools while they travel to and from a physical center. Of course, this also saves on the environmental impact of such travel.
John Kleeman, Founder of Questionmark said: “Online training has emerged as a more effective way of upskilling team members and ensuring training is relevant to their constantly-evolving needs. It is essential that during and after the training, leaders test that people have learned what they should.”
By testing participants during and after the training, employers can be confident that it’s worked. Where participants are failing to grasp the subject matter, managers can provide additional support. By testing skills and knowledge before the training, leaders can make an informed call on which team members actually need it. Assessments can reveal individual areas of strength and weakness and ensure training is more tailored.
About Questionmark
Questionmark provides a secure enterprise-grade assessment platform and professional services to leading organizations around the world, delivered with care and unequalled expertise. Its full-service online assessment tool and professional services help customers to improve their performance and meet their compliance requirements. Questionmark enables organizations to unlock their potential by delivering assessments which are valid, reliable, fair and defensible.
Questionmark offers secure powerful integration with other LMS, LRS and proctoring services making it easy to bring everything together in one place. Questionmark's cloud-based assessment management platform offers rapid deployment, scalability for high-volume test delivery, 24/7 support, and the peace-of-mind of secure, audited U.S., Australian and European-based data centers.
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Dictionary.com | October 19, 2021
Dictionary.com, the leading online and mobile English-language educational resource, today announced the acquisition of top-rated learning management system Skillo, an online platform that provides modern and intuitive training and coaching tools to clients.
With more than 70 million monthly users and 5.5 billion word searches annually, Dictionary.com is the premier online dictionary, thesaurus, and education technology platform. The company's suite of educational products promotes learning for English language students, educators, and word lovers worldwide, providing access to millions of definitions, spellings, audio pronunciations, example sentences, and word origins as well as grammar coaching, virtual tutoring, writing activities, quizzes, and learning games.
Recently ranked among the top learning management systems by SoftwareWorld, Skillo builds dynamic online training courses and provides insight with in-depth reporting tools, enabling clients to train their audiences seamlessly and effectively. By integrating Skillo with Dictionary.com, educators will be able to use, create, and share such educational materials as interactive lesson plans, activities, templates, and more for both remote and in-person learning.
"I'm excited to see what Skillo can do with Dictionary.com behind us," said Andrew Colchagoff, Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Skillo. "Dictionary.com's vision for superior learning experiences is perfectly aligned with Skillo's mission to provide the most intuitive platform to facilitate that learning. We look forward to building on our core capabilities as we enter this new phase."
The acquisition marks the next chapter for Dictionary.com as the company broadens its offerings for current users and expands its suite of tools for education and corporate learning. Recent additions to Dictionary.com's services include its Dictionary Academy and Grammar Coach™ in addition to its wealth of educational content across the site.
"Language and education are constantly evolving, and Dictionary.com is proud to lead the charge in creating the ultimate online learning experience. By leveraging the breadth of Dictionary.com's resources with the modern capabilities provided by platforms like Skillo, we will continue to create fun and engaging educational resources that grow with our customers."
Jennifer Stevees-Kiss, CEO of Dictionary.com
About Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com
Dictionary.com is the world's leading online source for definitions, word origins, and a whole lot more. With virtual tutoring, educational word lists and flashcards, and engaging word games driven by the Dictionary Academy™, Dictionary.com opens the door to learning for millions of people.
Thesaurus.com powers millions of writers every day with the world's largest and most trusted lists of synonyms and antonyms, plus expert grammar advice. Whether they're looking for the perfect word or utilizing Grammar Coach™ for help writing that essay, email, or school paper, writers trust Thesaurus.com to help them communicate.
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EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY
Thought | August 08, 2021
Thought Industries, the world's #1 platform for customer learning management (CLM), today announced interactive video assessments from Bongo are now available through the Thought Industries CLM platform. The video assessments build on the platform's scalable education tools, offering experiential learning and soft skill development training within a real-world context to increase confidence and enhance learning outcomes for customers, partners and professionals.
The native Bongo integration reflects the growing demand for customer-centric learning technology to help businesses drive loyalty and revenue growth, and the need to assess skills and progress along the way. Users of the Thought Industries CLM platform can now practice, self-assess, or record and demonstrate competency to an accrediting body or community of peers for feedback and coaching using three modes of video learning:
Individual Assignment: Learners record or upload a video of themselves presenting on a topic or specific skill. Prior to submission, learners incorporate automated machine-driven feedback and insights into the delivery and content of their videos, providing an opportunity for self-assessment, improvement and continuous learning.
Innovate. Coach. Consult (ICC), a technology based, leadership development and outplacement solution firm with 225 offices in 28 countries, is a Thought Industries client taking advantage of the Bongo video assessment integration. The firm, which trains leadership in industries ranging from financial services and manufacturing to healthcare and oil and gas, is using the assessments for role-play scenarios and practice, as well as interview simulations.
"We're constantly searching for the best modalities to keep the learner engaged. The ability to have interactive videos and evaluated videos will be a true selling point for us," said Susan Ruhl, President and CFO of ICC. "Bongo will improve the learner experience through AI features such as filler words and grading against a transcription. The ability for the learner to quickly review their submission with feedback sets our solution apart from those who simply have the ability to record and submit."
"Customer learning can take many shapes and forms, but in the end, it's all about meeting customers where they are so they can get more out of their learning efforts. Increasingly, that means video, and Bongo's video assessments are yet another way for us to provide vital multimodal capabilities for exceptional learning experiences," said Todd Boes, chief product officer, Thought Industries. "Whether they're selecting blended, synchronous and asynchronous options, or employing interactive video assignments and assessments, customers now have another way to measure competency and subject matter understanding."
"Video assessments are a powerful way to measure learning outcomes, but they're only effective if organizations properly incorporate them into their customer learning efforts. Thought Industries provides the scalable learning platform that makes this possible," said Josh Kamrath, chief executive officer, Bongo. "From professional training companies to product companies, organizations of all kinds stand to benefit from enhanced learning experiences. Bongo's interactive video assessments, coupled with the Thought Industries customer learning platform, empower organizations to turn knowledge into action—and to track learner progress at every step."
About Bongo
Bongo is an embedded solution that drives meaningful assessment, experiential learning and skill development at scale through video-based engagement and personalized feedback. Organizations use our video workflows to create opportunities for practice, demonstration, analysis, and collaboration. When individuals show what they can do within a real-world learning environment, evaluators get an authentic representation of their competency.
About Thought Industries
Thought Industries provides the world's #1 software platform for customer learning management (CLM). CLM empowers businesses to create compelling learning experiences for customers, partners and professionals. These experiences help businesses grow revenue, increase customer loyalty, and ensure customer success across technology, manufacturing, healthcare and other industries with complex products and training requirements. Thought Industries was founded in 2014 around the core belief that online learning experiences should be modern, intuitive, engaging, and scalable. Headquartered in Boston, Thought Industries has offices across North America and Europe.
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