Equipping education

Open Education seeks to harness the opportunities of the digital information age to provide learners and educators with easier, cheaper and faster access to open learning resources and materials, such as books, articles, research data, videos, simulations and courses. Open Education provides a cost-effective means for educators to provide up-to-date learning resources for students, personalize education by matching materials to students’ understanding and interests, increase collaboration, provide support for self study and competency-based learning.

Open Education is built on three basic ideas: education is critical for personal and societal growth; the essence of education is to share and build on knowledge; and digitization provides a means to improve education by enabling rapid dissemination and essentially cost-free sharing at a global scale. Educators embracing an open model are committed to developing a vast pool of openly shared educational resources that are accessible and adaptable to everyone.

Moving forward

This is possible by using open licenses for educational materials that allow for legal reuse, modification and sharing and making them available to everyone in digital formats. There are already tens of thousands of open educational resources, authored and used by faculty from leading institutions around the world, available to everyone, whether to support learning in an online or in-person course, or enhancing understanding for work or personal development.

By embracing this approach, we are building a strong, open future for education.

Mary Lou Forward, Executive Director, Open Education Consortium, us.editorial@mediaplanet.com

The post The Promise of Open Education Resources appeared first on Education and Career News.

If there is a “No” in any of these answers, it’s time to review my situation and make an effort to re-evaluate and invest in myself. 

1. Am I contributing?

Contributing to the conversation and the delivery of products is a big part of what keeps me engaged every day. If I’m not, I look at all the various factors: the role I’m in, new knowledge I need to acquire, the team and leadership in place, the company direction and especially the products I get to impact. Understanding the reasons I may not be contributing more helps me maintain a positive outlook, which usually opens more opportunities. The key is to not dwell on your challenges, but keep moving forward.

2. Am I learning?

Learning can take on many forms throughout your career. I learn a lot from identifying problems or opportunity areas and talking with the people involved to understand how things can improve. This is also a good way to open new doors within your company or discover a new path for your career. Additionally, I keep a daily pulse on industry trends and connect the dots in my own role and product areas. This is a good investment for your existing job and your future career path. Not to mention a good mental exercise every day to push yourself. 

3. Am I having fun?

Part of the fun of working in technology is the speed of change. You must love change to have fun in the tech industry. Being willing to take risks and quickly pivot is thrilling. I thrive in an environment that evolves and is never stagnant. Mix that with delivering useful and great products, company culture, and people and I’m hooked!

Kelly Schmidt, Senior Director, Platform Product Management, Getty Images, us.editorial@mediaplanet.com

The post Checking Your Career Pulse: 3 Questions to Ask Yourself Today appeared first on Education and Career News.

“For those who are looking to find relevant and meaningful work, it’s key to continue developing current skills and learning new ones,” says Jake Schwartz, CEO of global learning experience company General Assembly.

But most busy professionals hoping to change or advance their careers don’t have time to go back to school to add a skill set to their resume, and people looking to start a rewarding career might not have the time or money to invest in a traditional brick-and-mortar education.

While traditional educations are expensive, lengthy, and require students to take courses unrelated to their careers or interests, career-specific educations offer an affordable alternative to finding a fulfilling career that takes less time and money while focusing in on the students’ areas of interest.

Skills for a fulfilling career

Available online, at traditional colleges, and at vocational/trade schools, career-specific education grants certificates, certifications, and badges, as well as offering professional development and continuing education courses so students can pursue their dream careers while keeping their skills up to date.

“These classes are designed to help improve skills or teach a new skill entirely to a student who’s looking to change careers,” Schwartz explains.

General Assembly’s coursework spans skillsets that include data, design, marketing, and UX, and it offers a variety of experiences, ranging from multi-week long courses to one-time, shorter workshops. Not every individual or student is the same, nor do they have the same interests or goals.

“For someone who is interested in exploring a new topic or needs a quick overview to help support them in their current role, workshops are an easy one-time commitment,” he says. “For those looking to make a career change, often the part-time or full-time courses are the best route. With our global campuses and community, we can empower people with the skills they need to pursue the work they love.”

Empowering employees

Just as continuing education courses can help job seekers find a more fulfilling career, they can also be an important tool to help employers to gain a competitive edge in the marketplace.

Schwartz says the changing workplace and growing tech economy have created an increased workplace demand for individuals with skills in tech, design, data, and business to support growth and help companies stay competitive. He believes arming employees with those skills is the best way to cultivate a best-in-class workforce.

“The current shelf life of technological skills is less than five years, making it critical for employers to encourage lifelong learning in order to remain competitive,” he says, adding that employers can send their employees to these courses online and in person, as well as bring General Assembly in for on-site training.

If professional development programs are not already part of a company, Schwartz concedes it can seem daunting to approach the boss about implementing them. But research indicates companies who offer their employees continuing education classes end up saving in the long-term, as well as building a loyal employee base.

“Employers report a high ROI and large savings on retention for current employees and use this benefit as a work perk when recruiting new ones,” he says. “It costs an estimated 16-20 percent of an employee’s annual salary to replace the worker, so it pays to invest in your current workforce.” 

Ultimately, if the career education course is vital to the job and will help the employee do it better — or more efficiently — there is a strong case to ask for it. “In this digital age, lifelong learning is more important than ever,” Schwartz says. “It’s what will help businesses and individuals stay competitive and in high demand in whatever they do.”

Paula Andruss, us.editorial@mediaplanet.com

The post Career-Specific Educations Launch Careers and Keep Companies Competitive appeared first on Education and Career News.

Missing out on aid

Students who file the FAFSA are significantly more likely to enroll in and complete college, which according to studies can translate into millions more dollars in lifetime earnings. Students also have incredibly good odds of receiving money for college, with 85 percent getting some form of funding, and 92 percent of students from low-income houses receiving grants that never have to be paid back.

Yet a large number of students — 55 percent — fail to file the FAFSA before high school graduation. So what’s happening to all that aid money? Well, nothing. A 2014 analysis found that 1.4 million high school graduates left about $2.7 billion in financial aid on the table because they didn’t file the FAFSA.

Increasing access

Fortunately, the Obama administration ushered in major changes this month that should help students claim more of that money. The FAFSA’s not just earlier; for most, it is also easier. Millions more students can now import their income tax information already filed with the Internal Revenue Service into the form electronically, speeding up the process and reducing the likelihood that students must verify their information again after completing the FAFSA. The change also gives students earlier notice of their federal aid eligibility, which provides more time for shopping around and applying to colleges before admissions deadlines.

But making the form available earlier won’t be enough to fix FAFSA. The next President and Congress should also eliminate unnecessary questions, let more applicants automatically import income data, decrease the use of data verification, and simplify the FSA ID, the new complicated username and password system that has increased average FAFSA completion times by several minutes.

Spreading the word

In the meantime, we need to continue to support millions of underserved low-income, minority and first-generation students as they pursue their educational dreams. New campaigns encourage students to file the FAFSA — no matter what — and offer comprehensive toolkits and many free resources on the FAFSA process, conducting outreach to families and hosting application events. If we each do our part, schools, businesses and nonprofits can reverse the downward trend in submitted FAFSA forms and set millions more students down the path to a bright future.

Kim Cook, Executive Director, National College Access Network, us.editorial@mediaplanet.com

The post How Can We Streamline Access to Financial Aid? appeared first on Education and Career News.

The new norm

These young employees have different expectations than their predecessors. They might be known for seeking job perks, such as in-house massages or unlimited vacations, but millennials also seek greater avenues to professional development.

“It isn’t a work-hard, play-hard atmosphere anymore,” says Joshua Backer, co-founder and president of advertising at Unified, a marketing and analytics company. “Working hard is playing hard. To hire the best talent, you need to invest in them with more than just a paycheck.” 

Keeping up

Despite an employee pool that’s hungry for professional development, some hiring executives lament they have difficulty courting and keeping them. Outdated and tedious training could be leaving employees unimpressed and disengaged. “Millennials prefer short bursts of information that they can access and apply as needed on a variety of platforms,” explains David Campeas, CEO of PrincetonOne, a recruitment services provider.

Alex Khurgin, director of learning innovation at Grovo, a workplace learning technology company, agrees his generation requires new training solutions. “Because millennials have grown up on the Internet with this personalized, on-demand technology, we expect it in every part of our lives,” he explains, “including training.”

What’s working

For many, support comes from microlearning materials where employees can access videos or other tools at any time to train on everything from soft to technical skills. Using these platforms results in lower turnover and higher engagement, which ultimately is a better use of time.

WeWork, a fast-growing provider of shared office spaces, says a flexible learning and development program has been critical, especially as the company zoomed from 250 employees to 1,200 in just 10 months. “It has been one of our most important people functions as far as attracting talent and continuing to develop them,” says Soo Hong, WeWork’s chief human resources officer. WeWork uses Grovo’s learning solution to onboard employees around the world.

But companies are finding when they curate for millennials there is a halo effect on all employees. “Millennial is a mindset,” says Hong. “People all want to learn how to do jobs better.” Khurgin at Grovo adds, “The kind of training millennials are clamoring for are what previous generations wanted and deserved. No one wants to sit through long, boring lectures.”

us.editorial@mediaplanet.com

The post Business Training: Keeping Your Millennial Workforce On-Board appeared first on Education and Career News.

Updating your skills

When you’re at a career-transition point, one of the best ways to turn change into opportunity is by updating your professional skills. And one of the most popular and effective ways to do that is through online learning.

Why has online learning become the go-to option for so many in the midst of shifting career directions? For starters, adults who are pursuing college courses or credentials are often juggling full-time jobs and family commitments along with classes and coursework. Time is critical to these students, and for many, online programs have been what made further education possible.

Now, however, there’s an equally compelling benefit to online learning: the increasing focus among schools on market-driven courses and degrees. As they shift their offerings to better meet the needs of adult students, colleges and universities are now offering online courses, certificates and degrees that reflect the realities of career transition.

“We’ve seen a substantial shift toward career-driven educational offerings—and a corresponding surge in student interest,” says Jason Steele from eLearners.com, a web resource that connects prospective students with information about online education.

More schools now offer single courses for alumni needing to update their knowledge, certificates in new skill areas or cutting-edge degrees in fields that promise to be tomorrow’s job hot-spots, such as medical information, green technologies and cyber security. Given today’s unpredictable workplace, this may be the perfect time to get started on that career transition.

Kim Dority, us.editorial@mediaplanet.com

The post Online Learning Can Boost a Career Transition appeared first on Education and Career News.

Finding solutions

There are solutions for the 40 million Americans with college loans. For example, Beth Blake, a 45-year-old who recently returned to college to get a degree in education, learned she can wipe out her loan payments in under 10 years. Americans with public service jobs, such as teachers or firefighters, are eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness option, a plan where if 120 on time, full monthly payments are made, the debt is erased. Many Americans don’t know about the plan, according to the National Education Association (NEA). Twenty-five percent of the workforce may fit the requirements but only 1 million have applied.

That’s not the only avenue available for those wanting to better themselves by getting a degree.

There’s also the Income Driven Repayment plan where the scheduled payments are determined on income and family size. More than 33 million Americans may qualify, according to NEA.

For those who may not be eligible for the assistance, financial experts advise treating loans like a mortgage and paying more than what is due each month or earmarking an automatic savings plan to be allocated to loans.

Reasonable timelines

There’s more good news for the 40 million Americans who have contributed to student debt. Recently, President Barack Obama signed a “student aid bill of rights,” and announced proposals to try to make it easier to reduce college bills.

“We’re going to require that the businesses that service your loans provide clear information about how much you owe, what your options are for repaying it, and if you’re falling behind, help you get back in good standing with reasonable fees on a reasonable timeline,” Obama said. The president broke the news to almost 10,000 enthusiastic Georgia Tech students last week.

Faye Brookman, us.editorial@mediaplanet.com

The post College Costs Are Up, But So Are Solutions appeared first on Education and Career News.

1. Online courses are ready when you are

Taking online high school classes means you work when, where and how you want. Not an early bird? Log in at noon — your English class is ready for you. Have plans tonight? Log in to get some work done when you get home — your math class is always open. Schedule flexibility is one reason so many students and families are taking their high school classes online.

2. Online classes can help you graduate early

By taking additional credits alongside their high school work, some students can graduate early. This means more time to pursue what you love. Maybe you want to work more hours or start college sooner. Perhaps you’re the youngest professional tennis player ever and you need more time to practice. Take some online classes and you can work towards earning your high school diploma and graduating as soon as you’re ready.

3. Online does not mean working alone

It’s not the 90s anymore — online learning doesn’t happen in an isolated, underground computer lab. When you take an online high school class, you join a community of learners. There is a real teacher, real students to collaborate with and clubs and activities to take part in. This connection can feel deeper than traditional courses. In an online school, much of the teaching is done one-on-one, it’s all about you.

4. You can boost your GPA

Many online schools offer Advanced Placement, Honors and even dual enrollment or concurrent enrollment college-level courses. These can give your GPA the boost it needs to be competitive for college. If your local school doesn’t offer these courses, online high schools may be a way to get weighted credit that can help your GPA.

5. Online learning means you won’t be held back

Everyone makes mistakes. Before online high school classes, failing a class could have meant being held back. Now, by re-taking that dreaded class online, you may be able to replace the course you failed without having to repeat it at school.

6. Online learning helps students figure out how the adult world works

Much of adult life happens online. Including banking, interviews and even remote work. Students who take online classes learn how to navigate unfamiliar situations and working environments. Taking a virtual high school course means that you’ve got a jump start on adult life — it’s an online class benefit that they don’t tell you about. 

7. Get a head start toward college

Want to get ahead of the competition when it comes to college admission? Start college courses while you’re still in high school. A few online high schools offer dual enrollment courses, allowing you to receive college credit from a local community college. You don’t have to drive to your local campus to get the benefits. These university courses count for high school and college credit. Completing them will prove to any college admissions staff that you’re ready for the challenge. They will also save you time and money when you arrive on campus.

While online learning isn’t for everyone, taking even a few virtual high school courses can help you catch up, get ahead and jump start your GPA.

The post 7 Things You May Not Know About Taking Online Courses appeared first on Education and Career News.

Within the MOOC movement, a deep societal context exists to give access to higher education to those who could not afford it or gain access by other means.  Visible as well is the notion that knowledge and collective experience of the many is superior to the knowledge and experience of a single professor.  Evaluation of competencies in the MOOC movement is in the hands of the students who are equipped with rubrics to evaluate others.  With recent announcements granting college credit equivalencies for the completion of courses offered via the MOOC movement, interest in them will continue to grow.

While MOOCS attempt to shift some historical paradigms about higher education, we still have a great deal of work ahead to improve the quality and relevance of the learning experience for students and teachers.  We do not know what either one needs to learn about the subject or how they will choose to repurpose that learning in the future.  Technology enables us to find relevant information, changing our teaching role from conveying “facts” to developing the thinking skills necessary to facilitate problem-solving and critical thinking.  If we provide the student with choices about what competencies would be most beneficial to them and utilize authentic assessment practices, we can dramatically increase the relevancy and purposeful nature of the experience, resulting in genuine educational program improvement.

Online learning has provided a “structure” in which every student is called upon to contribute actively to their own learning experience.  Most students report that online learning provides an atmosphere in which they are more deeply involved in exploring the content and in acquiring the competencies supported by the design of the coursework.

The MOOC movement and online learning have fundamentally changed the expectations of students about what learning should be.  With the proliferation of mobile devices, perhaps our learning experience embraces the new reality of how we desire to learn in the 21^st century.

Dr. Chuck Kater, Associate Vice President Park Distance Learning, Park University, us.editorial@mediaplanet.com

The post The Truth About MOOCs appeared first on Education and Career News.

Seeking answers

History has shown that successful colleges have relied on having a set of diverse, quality programs delivered via alternative formats to pull them through the hard times. They build a quality brand name for themselves, and they market that brand name in the good times and the bad. They deliver their programs through traditional, adult and online learning systems.

They use both face-to-face instruction and online learning systems to deliver the content. In addition, they market themselves via multiple avenues. 

They tell the story of their college through both traditional (print television, radio, magazines) as well as online advertising. Marketing of both traditional and online learning programs is essential for promoting the growth of any institution. Increase of enrollments Online learning enrollments have been increasing while enrollments in traditional programs have been decreasing. The Chronicle of Higher Education (August, 2011) highlighted a traditional college in New England that has integrated online learning into their high-quality program mix.

The college has grown tremendously since 2008 while other colleges have experienced decreased enrollments and many have closed their doors. In summary, quality programs delivered in diverse traditional and online learning formats and marketed through multiple avenues will increase enrollment and enable the college to prosper.

Denzil Edge, us.editorial@mediaplanet.com

The post Amid Falling College Enrollments, Online Programs Present New Financial Stability appeared first on Education and Career News.