Why students should be included in teacher recruitment

TES | January 12, 2019

Who’d have thought that old chestnut could still arouse strong feelings? I’m referring to the suggestion by Shaun Fenton, head of the independent Reigate Grammar School and current chair of HMC, that schools should involve students in the appointment of teachers.Regular education tweeters, including Katharine Birbalsingh, Michaela Community School’s high-profile headteacher, and researchEd founder and government discipline tsar Tom Bennett, were swift to denounce the notion. The old battle lines, once drawn up, are familiar and unchanging.The argument against runs that pupils are children, and can’t be trusted to make wise judgements (note the summer’s Tes piece about Ms Birbalsingh and Michaela “I don’t trust them – they’re kids”): they’ll simply vote for the teacher they like most. Moreover, it’s suggested, it’s not their place to choose who teaches them or how: it’s their job to be taught and get on with learning.In the other corner stands the view that, when it comes to teaching, pupils don’t favour teachers who are a soft touch or try to be nice: surveys tend to consistently suggest that they dislike weakness and want “strict but kind” teachers who are in control, and know their stuff.

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Spotlight

Instancy is at the forefront of revolutionizing the eLearning landscape by harnessing the power of Generative AI. Our comprehensive solutions are designed to cater to diverse learning needs, transcending traditional barriers and empowering knowledge workers, trainers, and management alike. For Knowledge Workers, we provide instant access to performance-enhancing information right within their daily workflow. Our system ensures timely and efficient delivery of knowledge, enabling users to perform optimally, right at the moment. For Trainers, our no-code Generative AI-powered tools facilitate rapid and intelligent content creation. This reduces content development costs by over 50% and speeds up the content time by 70%. Our platform's unique blend of smart technology with human creativity offers trainers an unmatched experience in developing blended learning content.

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Talent Development

edX and Shorelight Collaborate to Connect Learners with International Study Opportunities

PRnewswire | July 31, 2023

edX, a leading global online learning platform from 2U, Inc. today announced the launch of a new Study Abroad hub to help edX learners in India advance their education overseas. This new hub, developed in collaboration with Shorelight, a leader in the international education space, will connect millions of edX learners to Shorelight's catalog of over 3,000 in-person graduate and undergraduate programs at top U.S. institutions, including American University, Auburn University, University of Illinois Chicago, University of Dayton, and more. The new Study Abroad hub will connect edX learners from India directly with Shorelight to help evaluate and select an international study abroad program that best fits their academic and career needs. Shorelight will then help learners navigate the often complex study abroad application process and continue to serve as a support system once the learner is attending classes in the U.S. "Shorelight is steadfast in our mission to help international students access top U.S. universities, equipping them with the knowledge and support they need to excel in their academic pursuits and launch successful careers. Our partnership with edX enables us to share this mission with an even broader audience globally," said Tom Dretler, CEO of Shorelight Education. "We're excited to introduce edX learners to the diverse programs offered through Shorelight, bridging geographical boundaries and expanding the horizons of countless students." Shorelight and edX's collaboration comes as more students around the world look to study outside their home country. In 2022, the number of international students attending college in the U.S. grew 4% to nearly 1 million, with the majority coming from India and China. India is edX's second-largest market in terms of registered learners, behind the U.S., and a focus for the company's continued global expansion. "The Study Abroad hub on edX further enhances our ability to support international learners seeking to study in-person overseas – expanding our global footprint and meeting the needs of a significant and growing segment of the education market," said 2U Co-Founder and CEO Christopher "Chip" Paucek. "Together with Shorelight, we are committed to providing learners in India with greater access to relevant, affordable, and high-quality programs from the world's best colleges and universities." About edX edX is the global online learning platform that fuels the world's ambition. edX was developed in 2012 by Harvard and MIT to make the world's best education available to everyone. Today, as a part of 2U, Inc. (Nasdaq: TWOU), edX connects over 76 million people with online learning to meet every professional moment. Together with top-ranked universities and organizations at the forefront of their fields, edX offers thousands of job-relevant programs across nearly every career discipline, from artificial intelligence and robotics to sustainability and public health. About Shorelight Shorelight is a leading international student marketplace in the United States. Our platform connects international students, universities, and service providers to drive student enrollment and performance at scale. We do this so that a more globally diverse population can lead and prosper for generations to come. Together, we help Educate the World.

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Corporate Learning Systems

PowerSchool and Samart Telcoms Partner to Expand Personalized Learning Technology in Thailand

Businesswire | July 25, 2023

PowerSchool ,the leading provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education in North America, today announced a partnership with Samart Telcoms Public Company Limited (PCL) as part of the continued expansion of PowerSchool’s PowerPartner Program. The partnership with Samart Telcoms PCL will support the global expansion of PowerSchool’s channel partner program and deliver PowerSchool Schoology Learning, PowerSchool SIS, and PowerSchool Enrollment to educational institutions in Thailand. “We’re thrilled to partner with Samart Telcoms PCL to extend PowerSchool’s mission-critical education technology solutions throughout Thailand,” said Tony Kender, Chief Revenue Officer at PowerSchool. “We share an aligned mission of providing educators and students with technology that empowers them to realize their full potential and we are pleased to partner with Samart Telcoms to continue enabling digital transformation in education.” The Samart Telcoms PCL partnership will focus on supporting educators and the over 10 million students enrolled throughout Thailand with plans to serve more than 100,000 students across Thailand in the next year. Through the partnership educators across the country can access mission-critical tools that are part of PowerSchool’s international localization framework including PowerSchool’s leading learning management system (LMS), Schoology Learning, PowerSchool SIS, and PowerSchool Enrollment to support even more educators, students, and families and help them realize the promise of personalized education. “At Samart Telcoms we work to deliver differentiated, industry-leading technologies that advance industries,” said Miss Chotika Kamloonwesaruch, Executive Vice President of Samart Telcoms PCL. “We’re proud to partner with PowerSchool to continue expanding innovative education technology solutions in Thailand.” The PowerPartner Program, a global channel partner initiative, leverages PowerSchool’s regional channel partners to support localized marketing, sales, and customer deployment efforts. Currently, PowerSchool channel partners serve customers in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Sub-Saharan Africa, Thailand, India, the Philippines, and Uruguay, with plans to rapidly expand the program this year. 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. About Samart Telcoms Group Samart Telcoms Group is committed to offering intelligent digital technology of international standards to support the management in both public and private organizations as well as to upgrade the quality of their services, readily taking part in driving society towards sustainability. Samart Telcoms PCL classifies its business structure into three distinct Business Groups. The Network Solutions Business Group provides both wireless and wireline technologies. The Enhanced Technology Business Group integrates various information and specialized technologies. Lastly, the Business Application Business Group delivers solutions and services related to advanced software applications to enhance customer efficiency. The company upholds the ISO 20000 and ISO 27001 standard for information technology service management, as well as the ISO 9001 standard for service quality control. Moreover, it maintains 30 service centers nationwide to cater to its customers' needs.

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Talent Development

Alabama Community College System Selects the Instructure Learning Platform to Extend Access to Underserved Communities

PR News Wire | August 31, 2023

Instructure, the leading learning platform and maker of Canvas, today announced that the Alabama Community College System (ACCS), the system of public community colleges in Alabama, has selected the Canvas learning management system (LMS) as part of a major statewide initiative to transform and modernize its learning experience and increase student success. By unifying the learning experience on Canvas LMS along with Canvas Studio, Impact by Instructure and Canvas Credentials, educators across the state can access foundational, evidence-based edtech solutions to support their instruction. Comprised of 24 community and technical colleges, ACCS offers 2-to-4-year transfer, dual enrollment, technical training, adult education and community education for Alabama residents. In 2021 ACCS expanded its usage of Canvas to 12 member institutions. After a successful implementation, increased student access due to a robust mobile application, increased reliability due to decreased downtime and an improved user experience, ACCS now expands its investment by choosing a statewide deployment of Instructure Learning Platform solutions. The proposed solution, which is backed by research and ensures a consistent learning experience across the state, provides a proven approach to extending access at scale. The statewide implementation of the Instructure Learning Platform solutions will be available to all ACCS students by fall of 2024. The statewide implementation is a key milestone for Chancellor Jimmy H. Baker, whose efforts to modernize and streamline operations has improved the department's focus on the needs of higher education students. By scaling operations, including information security, IT and a consolidated approach to edtech, ACCS can now address challenges in a more effective and efficient manner. "Anything that Alabama's community and technical colleges can do to consistently deliver higher education and training in an accessible way that leads our residents to finding their best success is why we exist," said Baker. "We have seen through our academic programs and work-based learning programs, such as Skills for Success and Alabama Career Essentials, that a resident's ability to start their student experience on one platform opens the door to a wealth of other training opportunities throughout our community and technical colleges across the state." "ACCS and the state of Alabama are taking a giant leap forward with accessibility as they address learning deserts, or areas where students traditionally have less access to educational resources and opportunities," said Steve Daly, CEO of Instructure. "We're honored to play a significant role in elevating student success and amplifying the power of teaching throughout Alabama." Alongside Canvas, ACCS students will benefit from Impact by Instructure, a data and analytics solution that improves adoption and evaluates the impact of edtech. Educators and administrators can use these insights to make informed decisions and evolve educational offerings to best suit the needs of students. With access to this timely data, ACCS can help students accelerate the completion of programs and enable them to take any program at any institution statewide. Extending needed educational moments to students in every circumstance will lead to a new generation of educated learners previously excluded. "As a unified system of community colleges, utilization of a common Learning Management System makes sense," said Cynthia Anthony, President of Lawson State Community College. "One of our goals is to eliminate barriers that hinder seamless student experiences. I think a single LMS is a win-win for our students and colleges. We must look at the big picture and remain laser-focused on student success." The ACCS investment further magnifies the impact of the ACCS Innovation Center, an ambitious effort bringing together the state's community colleges, business, industry and community partners to deliver rapid, industry-recognized non-credit training within some of the state's most in-demand career fields. Adding Canvas Credentials to the training programs will play a key role in allowing learners to demonstrate skill mastery in a competitive workforce. "The strategic decision for the Alabama Community College System to have a standardized Learning Management System will simplify the learning process for students that take classes at different community colleges or transfer to another system college, which is significant," said Todd Shackett, President of Southern Union State Community College. "Additionally, it will allow colleges to more easily share faculty and curriculum across schools for better service and more efficiency." This far-reaching program serves as a model for other states seeking to address complex problems prevalent in modern learning environments, such as equitable access and student engagement. By implementing an all-Canvas Higher Education system throughout the state, Alabama promotes continuity and a consistent mobile-ready learning experience which shrinks learning deserts. The Instructure Learning Platform brings together students, instructors, and tools for a familiar digital learning environment in the physical, blended, or online classroom. ABOUT INSTRUCTURE Instructure is an education technology company dedicated to elevating student success, amplifying the power of teaching, and inspiring everyone to learn together. Today the Instructure Learning Platform, comprised of its flagship product Canvas LMS and several products serving K-12 and higher education, supports tens of millions of educators and learners around the world.

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