EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY
Sophia Learning | February 13, 2023
An online-learning and on-demand platform, Sophia Learning provides general education-level courses to higher education level students and recently announced a partnership with one of the world's leading edtech platforms Labster, for virtual lab and interactive science. The partnership delivers college-level science courses incorporating Labster's simulation content designed to meet the higher education needs of Sophia Learning's students and working adults. Sophia Learning is an associate of Strategic Education, Inc., a nonprofit with a mission to reduce the cost of higher education while increasing student success and job readiness.
The American Council on Education (ACE®) recommends the Chemistry lab course made with Labster for college credit. This signifies that many colleges and universities may accept course credit from it towards a degree. In addition, ACE® is looking at other courses to see if they should be recommended for credit. These courses are a good way to get college-level credits in STEM fields at a low cost.
Sophia's Chemistry Lab course was first launched in December with Labster simulations. Sophia Learning will use Labster's simulations to build four more online lab courses in 2023. To help students finish the lab simulations, the courses will have extra Labster content like lab reports, manuals, formative assessments, and introductory videos. Sophia Learning courses with Labster-integrated labs include Introduction to Chemistry, Microbiology, Human Biology, Anatomy and Physiology I and Anatomy and Physiology II.
Labster allows teachers to use the internet to explore, improve, and add to their science lessons and classroom activities. Labster's STEM-related virtual lab simulations catalog now has more than 300 titles. These simulations can be used in more than 50 academic courses. In addition, the browser based Labster simulations can be performed on a range of the most commonly used devices, from desktop computers to iPad and tablets to Chromebooks.
Independent research and case studies show that the gamification techniques and fun, real-world scenarios of the Labster simulations get students more interested and involved. Learners can explore simulations on their own in high-tech labs through their web browsers, eliminating schools from spending millions building new facilities. Students can try out Sophia Learning courses before signing up for a low-cost monthly plan to take college-level courses. In addition, Labster virtual labs and interactive science solutions are available for free to educators.
About Sophia Learning
Sophia Learning offers high-quality online college-credit courses with a curriculum tailored to students and working adults. In addition, the platform provides lots of online, low-cost general education-level courses for college credit that ACE® recommends. Over 1,000 colleges and universities received Sophia's transcripts. The company was established in 2012 and believed in making personal and professional affordable and accessible at every educational career stage.
About Labster
Founded in 2011, Labster is committed to making fully interactive virtual training simulations. These simulations help students learn more by piquing their natural curiosity and showing them how science applies to the real world. The simulations can be used in various ways, from a complete lab replacement to an additional learning activity. As a result, more than 5 million students in high school universities across 70 countries have used Labster to conduct realistic experiments, practice skills in a risk-free environment and learn key science concepts.
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EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY
PowerSchool | January 31, 2023
On January 30, 2023, PowerSchool, a provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education, released updates for its PowerSchool Unified InsightsTM and PowerSchool Unified Classroom® solutions. The updates include LearningNav and ContentNav, new data-driven personalized learning products, and a new resource library inside Unified Insights MTSS, providing educators with verified, research-backed tools and strategies. The company also announced time-saving software Clouds, designed to give educators a more connected approach to engaging, planning, and monitoring the unique needs of their students.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress's latest "National Report Card" results show the impact of learning disruptions that students have experienced. It illustrates declines in math and reading for fourth and eighth graders in the United States, with math scores experiencing the greatest drop since NAEP testing began in 1990. Each student is at a different stage in their learning journey, indicating that educators require tools and resources to address individual student needs, personalize learning, and optimize their operations.
The updates, expected to roll out in the first half of 2023, provide the following:
LearningNav, an intelligent platform using machine learning and AI to provide personalized learning paths that adjust to the student's needs. An educator can view a student's starting point, select learning goals, and then review a constantly adapting personalized pathway recommendation for that student. Once the pathway is assigned, students can cover it at their own pace.
ContentNav, an update to Unified Classroom, is a one-stop shop for high-quality, pre-approved content that simplifies access to resources such as district-created materials, curated partnership content, and open education resources, which will support teacher instruction.
Resource Library, released by PowerSchool Unified Insights MTSS to help educators address students' individual needs. This library will provide educators with vetted, research-backed strategies and tools.
The company's new Clouds, that are persona-specific options that have been integrated and built to enhance how educators serve their students by bringing all necessary tools into one centralized location. The six Cloud types offered are Student Information Cloud, Personalized Learning Cloud, Educator Recruitment Cloud, Educator Effectiveness Cloud, Student Success Cloud, and Workforce Development Cloud.
About PowerSchool
Based in Folsom, California, PowerSchool provides cloud-based K-12 education software. Its mission is to supply the education ecosystem with unified technology that enables educators and students to fulfill their potential in unique ways. Schools and districts can manage state reporting and related compliance, finance, human resources, special education, talent, registration, funding, learning, instruction, assessments, grading, attendance, and analytics in one unified platform. The company serves around 45 million students worldwide, with 12,000+ customers, and sells solutions in over 90 countries.
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EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY
edX | February 06, 2023
Lehigh University, along with edX, an online learning platform from 2U, Inc. (Nasdaq: TWOU), recently announced that Lehigh is the newest member of the global edX partner network. With the new membership, Lehigh will join hundreds of leading institutions committed to growing access to the world's best education. In addition to being the latest member of edX, the university plans to launch its first MicroBachelors® program on edX.org. as a Professional Certificate program in data analytics and centering business analytics.
The edX MicroBachelors and professional certificate programs are affordable and accessible ways for students to get relevant skills and advance their careers in fields that are in demand. As per the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the projection is a much faster-than-average increase in business job openings by 11% and data analytics job openings by 36%. In addition, MicroBachelors® programs are a stepping stone to completing a bachelor's degree.
President of Partnerships of edX, a 2U company, Andrew Hermalyn, said, "The new MicroBachelors MicroBachelors® and Professional Certificate programs from Lehigh will empower learners to gain skills they need to grow their careers, with the MicroBachelors program providing a stepping stone to a fully online undergraduate degree." He also said, "Lehigh joins a growing number of universities creating new pathways to opportunity on the edX platform, and we are proud to partner with them to expand access to high-quality, purpose-built online education."
(Source: Cision PR Newswire)
About edX
edX is a global online learning platform designed to help all learners develop and grow. Harvard and MIT founded edX in 2012 to make the best education in the world accessible to everyone. As a subsidiary of 2U, Inc. (Nasdaq: TWOU), edX provides 48 million ambitious learners with the skills, knowledge, and support they need to achieve their goals. The company is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with the backing of the world's leading universities and companies; edX offers free and open courses, boot camps, professional certificates, credit-bearing micro-credentials, and undergraduate and graduate degrees. The programs provided covers healthcare, technology, science, education, social work, sustainability and more.
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