CORPORATE LEARNING SYSTEMS
PRnewswire | May 05, 2023
Code Fellows, a premier technical skills training academy offering high-quality job-focused education and training to aspiring learners since 2013, has launched an Education Rescue Scholarship. This scholarship is designed to help students who have invested money in a bootcamp, college or university, and have not received the education, knowledge, or skills needed to find rewarding careers in tech. Prospective students who wish to be considered for the Education Rescue Scholarship must complete an application, be accepted into the program and provide evidence of all payments made towards tuition at a prior educational institution. The amount awarded will be based on the amount of tuition paid and will cover up to the full cost of attending any of the Self-Paced courses offered by Code Fellows.
Code Fellows' Self-Paced courses include access to online learning resources and support from full-time professional instructional staff. These courses are designed to help students gain the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in their careers.
"Too many programs are teaching outdated curriculum that is not in sync with the industry demands of today, leaving students with a mountain of debt and skills that are subpar or obsolete," said Mitch Robertson, SVP of Business Development and Growth at Code Fellows. "Through continuous iteration, we build, refine, and adapt our curriculum to ensure we are keeping up with the demands of the industry and preparing our graduates for the rigorous expectations of a career in tech today and well into the future."
The Education Rescue Scholarship is designed to help students fill in any gaps in their knowledge or skills while equipping them with additional training and skills from industry-leading certified instructors. This may include skills from coding fundamentals to advanced concepts like data structures and algorithms, professional applications and development.
Code Fellows offers students, including those utilizing the Education Rescue Scholarship, a number of other resources and support services which increase student success. This includes career services like resume reviews and employer connections, as well as ongoing educational opportunities.
In today's rapidly evolving technological world, computer science is a highly sought-after field that offers a plethora of career opportunities. However, not all colleges and universities offering computer science programs are keeping up with the changing demands of the industry. Some institutions continue to use outdated curricula and teaching methods, leading to poor outcomes for students and their future careers.
In addition, bootcamps have become increasingly popular over the years, offering an intensive, immersive learning experience in fields like software development, technical operations, and cybersecurity. However, not all of them are delivering on their promises, leaving students without the skills or knowledge they need to succeed in their chosen careers and a mountain of debt.
Many students have been let down by these institutions, leaving them frustrated and disheartened. Code Fellows Education Rescue scholarship aims to provide these students with a solution to their problems.
"Code Fellows is committed to providing high-quality technical education and supporting students who may have been let down by other educational institutions," said Jeff Malek, CEO of Code Fellows. "The Education Rescue Scholarship is an innovative and much-needed initiative that will help bridge the gap between education and employment. We are excited to offer this scholarship to students who are looking for a solution to their educational problems."
The commitment to education and support that Code Fellows demonstrates is a testament to their dedication to their students and to the tech community as a whole. By offering resources and support to students who may have been let down by other educational institutions, they are helping to create a more inclusive and supportive tech industry, while ensuring graduates are exceeding employer expectations.
About Code Fellows:
Code Fellows is the Pacific Northwest's premier technical skills training academy, delivering high-quality live instruction both online and in person to people from all backgrounds. Learners are guided toward vocational change and life transformation through software development, technical operations, cybersecurity and career training. They guide people from all backgrounds to change their lives through fast-paced, career-focused education. They shape passionate learners with immersive training to meet industry needs and improve diversity.Code Fellows has taught thousands of graduates and iterated on their curriculum and format to ensure students receive the most industry-relevant training as effectively and efficiently as possible. Students are immersed in their learning from full-time instructional staff who are seasoned industry professionals with daily lectures, pair programming, weekly presentations, one-week project sprints, and more. Code Fellows graduates work at Amazon, Microsoft, Zillow, Expedia, XBOX, NIKE, Starbucks, Nordstrom, and over 800 other companies.
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TALENT DEVELOPMENT
Businesswire | April 21, 2023
Labster the world's leading edtech platform for virtual labs and interactive science courseware, is rolling out a major free user experience (UX) upgrade that will improve the Labster platform for millions of students in high school and higher education institutions worldwide. The upgrade will be pushed automatically to users when they log into Labster and will impact more than 80% of Labster simulations across all devices and LMS systems, including the Labster app for iOS and Chromebook.
With Labster, students explore interactive simulations in state-of-the-art laboratories from their digital devices. But the advanced scientific concepts and lab techniques that Labster simulations bring to life can sometimes be challenging for students who are not as well prepared. Based on extensive feedback from both users and instructors, Labster has developed a new intelligent “hint and guidance” system that will nudge students in the right direction toward successful completion of their assignments when needed. Among other features, this includes helpful new indicators and suggestions for students who appear to be stuck or struggling.
Leveraging gamification techniques has been proven to boost student enthusiasm, engagement and learning outcomes. Labster offers 300-plus titles in its catalog of STEM curriculum-aligned virtual lab simulations in fields such as biology, biochemistry, genetics, biotechnology, chemistry, and physics. Labster simulations are especially useful for pre- and post-lab assignments, so science department leads can fully optimize the time students spend on-site in high-demand physical laboratories.
“Labster plays an important role in helping students complete challenging STEM courses, so it’s critical that we leverage the power of our platform to support their learning and progress through each simulation,” said Michael Bodekaer Jensen, co-founder and CEO of Labster. “Our ultimate goal is for Labster to increase STEM student retention by encouraging students on their path to becoming the next generation of scientists to change the world. Our thanks go out to the generous educators and students who helped us build this major upgrade by providing valuable feedback and ongoing testing for continuous improvement.”
Better STEM access for all
According to the National Science Board, academic institutions need to dramatically increase the proportion of students in STEM to preserve U.S. economic and innovation leadership. But women and minority students are already underrepresented in STEM education, and inherent design flaws in introductory STEM-subject courses can actually act as a barrier for minority students rather than as a springboard for success, according to a 2022 Pennsylvania State University research study led by mathematics professor Nathanial "Nate" Brown, Ph.D.
“We know that different students have different levels of comfort with online courseware,” said Jolita Kiznyte, Labster’s lead product manager for content. “That’s why we’re continuously working to improve the UX design of Labster’s gamified, interactive science simulations. It’s really important that we accommodate a diversity of user backgrounds and technical skills. These latest updates provide key hints and signals that can offer a helping hand to students where they need it while navigating the learning experience in our simulations.”
Labster has been innovating in science education for more than a decade, providing educators with the ability to digitally explore and enhance their science offerings and supplement their in-classroom activities. In 2022, Labster released five new course packages, including Basic Lab Skills, focused specifically on practical lab skills and simulations. Additionally, more than 150 of the 300-plus Labster simulations are now available in Spanish, with over 100 also in French, German, and Italian. Labster simulations can be played on a variety of the most commonly used desktop, laptop, and tablet computers available to the broadest range of students.
Getting to know (and love) Labster
About Labster
Labster is dedicated to developing fully interactive virtual training simulations that are designed to enhance traditional learning outcomes by stimulating students’ natural curiosity and reinforcing the connection between science and the real world. The simulations can be used in a variety of different ways, from a full lab replacement to a supplemental learning activity. Over 5 million students in high schools and universities in 100 countries have used Labster to perform realistic experiments, learn key science concepts, and practice their skills in a risk-free learning environment. Labster’s team members are passionate about improving science learning, resulting in collaborations with over 3,000 leading educational institutions.
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TALENT DEVELOPMENT
Businesswire | May 10, 2023
XPRIZE, the world’s leader in designing and operating incentive competitions to solve humanity’s grand challenges, hosts a virtual event today to celebrate the grand prize winner of the $1M Digital Learning Challenge, Adaptive Experimentation Accelerator from Raleigh, North Carolina, and showcase the technology developed by the challenge’s three finalist teams, including team Terracotta from Indiana University and team UpGrade by Carnegie Learning.
Launched in 2021, the Digital Learning Challenge incentivized teams to modernize, accelerate, and improve the technology and processes for evaluating and measuring effective learning and education. Using tools like AI methods, big data, and machine learning, teams sought to better understand the effectiveness of specific teaching techniques and practices, with the goal of providing substantial benefit for educators, parents, policymakers, researchers, and the tens of millions of Americans enrolled in formal education every year. The challenge is sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the independent and nonpartisan statistics, research, and evaluation arm of the U.S. Department of Education.
The three finalist teams participating in the Accelerate & Modernize: New Methods to Assess Student Learning Outcomes closing event include:
• Grand Prize Winner: Adaptive Experimentation Accelerator – Raleigh, North Carolina (Partnership between Intelligent Adaptive Interventions lab at University of Toronto, Open Learning Initiative at Carnegie Mellon, & North Carolina State University) o The Adaptive Experimentation Accelerator network aims to involve everyone in using experiments to enhance and personalize education. Our 'MOOClet' toolkit democratizes the contribution of ideas from many teachers, students, and scientists, then experimentally tests which ideas work for which students. Artificial Intelligence algorithms analyze data to adapt experiments in days vs months. This aims to test more ideas more quickly, and to use promising data to more rapidly get better approaches to students.
• Finalist: Terracotta – Bloomington, Indiana (Indiana University)
o Terracotta is an open source plugin to the Canvas learning management system, enabling researchers and teachers to conduct rigorous and responsible experimental studies on learning activities within a course site. Using Terracotta, the team was able to conduct over two-dozen mini-experiments across a variety of courses, ranging from 6th grade to college seniors, where each experiment used local materials and authentic teacher-created assessments.
• Finalist: UpGrade by Carnegie Learning – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
o UpGrade is a free, open-source platform that enables iterative experimental design and deployment of new learning experiences that compare the efficacy of different tools and resources—such as lesson content, interactive elements, videos, algorithms and more—during active student learning. Each experiment measures what works best for whom, advancing the way we understand student learning and engagement and enabling the rapid design, deployment and analysis of large scale studies, including but not limited to complex K-12 school environments.
The final round or demonstration phase of the competition required teams to replicate their experiments at least five times with three or more distinct learner demographics. Based on their demonstration performance, Adaptive Experimentation Accelerator receives the grand prize designation and $500,000, while runners-up Terracotta and UpGrade will each receive $125,000 prizes. The three teams previously shared a $250,000 prize when they were announced as finalists in September 2022.
During the closing event, each of the three teams will present their technology and how it works, followed by a discussion of lessons learned from the Digital Learning Challenge. With the Challenge now concluded, the teams will seek to work with partners across the education and technology sectors to scale the impact and implementation of their solutions.“Through their participation and success in the Digital Learning Challenge, each of these teams has helped make advancements in technology to improve the ways that educators teach and that students learn,” said IES director Dr. Mark Schneider. “These teams have laid the groundwork for a new phase of experiments of frequency, scope and scale not possible through traditional methods of education research, which will ultimately lead to better experiences and outcomes for all learners.”
In the initial pilot phase of the competition, 10 teams had six months to demonstrate the capabilities of their rapid, reproducible experiments in an accredited education institutional setting and then 30 days to launch a replication study with at least one unique learner demographic. A judging panel of education and technology experts reviewed the pilot study technical submissions and selected three teams to move on to the final round and ultimately designated the winner.“We are deeply proud of the achievements of the Digital Learning Challenge finalist teams, whose creativity and commitment to improving education outcomes through technology and experimentation will resonate far beyond the conclusion of the competition,” said XPRIZE Digital Learning Challenge Technical Lead Dr. Monique Golden.“We look forward to working with these teams to forge new partnerships that will ensure they can continue developing and refining their technologies and scale the impact of their solutions.”
The Digital Learning Challenge is part of XPRIZE’s Learning and Society domain which is committed to achieving a future where everyone, regardless of income, race, age, identity, gender, or geography, has access to learning experiences to reflect their unique capabilities, disposition, and aspirations.
About XPRIZE
XPRIZE is a global future-positive movement delivering truly radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. XPRIZE inspires and empowers a global community of problem-solvers to positively impact our world by crowdsourcing solutions through large-scale competitions, tackling the world’s grandest challenges in exploration, environment, and human equity.
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