View: A New Learning Platform During Pandemic Times? The Must-Have List of Features

Traditionally, the U.S. educational system has been slow to evolve, and the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed that weakness. At pre-pandemic educational shows and conferences, keynote speakers often joked that if Benjamin Franklin were to have visited our country today, the only place he would recognize would be the school classroom. But the classroom has changed overnight, and LMS platforms haven't been incapable to evolve for the new teaching environment. Instructors must radically rethink how to efficiently engage students. The shift from face-to-face to remote teaching requires a non-legacy, new generation, pedagogically–robust Learning Management Systems (LMS). It is not about managing the classroom but coping with the new demands of education. Your new learning platform or ecosystem should be the foundational rock that supports the new learning environment. These are seven key chapters to consider when choosing the right learning platform to deliver an effective, rock-solid experience in this new challenging time. Simplified, user-friendly, and scalable access for students, enhanced with Single Sign-On (SSO) authentication. Interactive and easily accessible, downloadable, offline-viewable content. Easy to use CMS for instructors, not needing to be tech-savvy, and avoiding any dependence on the IT department. Admin dashboard. Mobile friendly, elegant, and visually distinctive UI-UX enhanced platform. Course catalog website, learner portal, landing pages, along with integration with other LMS and applications within the university or business organization. Social-learning powered platform, enriched with digital, blockchain-based, and career-advancement ready credentials. Data-driven and AI analytics dashboard, plug-and-play interoperability with other systems, and Student Information Systems (SIS). Backed by a reliable, experienced–check its portfolio of customers–and forward-thinking LMS supplier and partner, who provides robust post-implementation technical support and is able to optimize the platform with the latest pedagogical innovations. Consulting service review and recommendations.  

Google Introduces New Analytics with Machine Learning and Predictive Models

EdX Introduces Its New 'For Business Subscription' Initiative

MITx Passes the Milestone of 10 Million Enrollments on Its Online Courses

Develop.com IT Learning Platform Updates Its Brand and User Experience

Develop.com online learning platform introduced its new brand and user experience this week, along with new course content and certificates. Boston-based Develop provides on-demand courses on IT for business professionals. It was launched this Spring in partnership with Global Knowledge, recently acquired by Skillsoft. "The new look and ‘Find Your Track and Develop’ tagline encapsulates the goal of the platform for its end users," said Kevin Pawsey, Chief Experience Officer (CXO) at Develop. “The refreshed brand is fueled by a commitment to serve both technical specialists and tech-adjacent workers by helping them discover what course series best suits their needs in an ever-changing, tech-driven landscape,” he added. "Our new site is more user-friendly, visually appealing, and we’ve updated the checkout process to make it easier for you to find the course you want and start learning as quickly and easily as possible," explained James McNamee, VP of Marketing and Sales at Develop.com. Next month, Develop.com will release a Cybersecurity Academy within its platform. It will contain practice with hands-on skills, and include courses on security and password policies, user group management, encryption and firewall implementation, and auditing in Linux domain. Develop recently added these courses: The Linux Administration Bootcamp. A Python For Beginners series. A Security Awareness course. The new website and platform are built upon an Open edX ecosystem developed by the New York-based IBL Education learning software company. New look, same high-quality, expert-led courses with knowledge checks, hands-on practices, and completion certificates. Find your track: https://t.co/wuqABYCAd5 pic.twitter.com/u5Bhg4j59u — Develop (@Develop) October 26, 2020

Udemy's Corporate Learning Division Surpasses $100M In Annual Revenue

Udemy's corporate learning division–Udemy for Business–claimed yesterday that its annual revenue reached $100 million annual recurring revenue (ARR) after a 90% surge in enrollments this year. "This milestone is further proof of Udemy’s successful business model and rapid growth over the last five years," said the company in a press statement. Privately held and headquartered in San Francisco, Udemy hosts 57,000 instructors over 130,000 courses in 65 languages, while Udemy for Business curates 7,000 of the highest-rated courses. Following a $50 million funding round at a $2 billion valuation earlier this year, Udemy serves 80% of Fortune 100 companies, according to its own data. Udemy for Business has become Citi’s most used digital learning content library. Other customers of this division include Unilever, Eventbrite, PayPal, Apple, Survey Monkey, The World Bank, Okta, Unicef, Gamestop, Box, Air Force, Fandom, TIBCO Software, The Walt Disney Corp, Tata Inc., NTT, and Toyota Motors. Peter Fox, Global Head of Digital Learning and Talent Technology at Citi said that "success in today’s rapidly changing world is impossible without an ongoing focus on continuous learning, up-skilling, and re-skilling". “Continuous learning is not only essential to thrive in a changing technology landscape but also absolutely crucial for business competitiveness,” explained Anurag Seth, Vice President and Head of Talent Transformation, Crowdsourcing and Business Continuity, Wipro Limited.

WSU Campuses Switch from Blackboard to Canvas LMS

WSU Campuses and Cal Poly Pomona Switch from Blackboard to Canvas LMS

Educause's 2021 'IT Issues Report' Will Elaborate on Three Scenarios

Canvas LMS Launches a Six Course Certification Training Program

Canvas LMS will launch on November 9, 2020, its certification training program, designed to strengthen knowledge through hands-on experiences and obtain a mastery of skills. The Canvas Certified Educator program will be fully online with four core and two elective courses completed asynchronously within an established date range. It will include customized course content for both K-12 and higher education, along with frameworks, models, and instructional practices anchored in research. Taught in Canvas by the Canvas Learning Services team, each course takes approximately four weeks to complete. They include: Course Core 1: Foundational Frameworks – It explores the impact of technology on student learning and the classroom and how Canvas can help educators improve student achievement, motivation, and engagement. Course Core 2: Engagement Strategies – It examines the ways that Canvas can help enrich teaching practices. Course Core 3: Personalized Learning – It investigates the power of personalized learning and the tools provided by Canvas to create opportunities for student voice and choice within the learning environment. Course Core 4: Transformational Practices – It course evaluates digital learning tools that enhance learning in Canvas as part of its dedication to open standards. Electives: A series of optional K12 or HE courses can be selected by participants based on their interests and needs. Participants will receive a digital badge issued through Badgr upon completion of each course and a digital pathway micro-credential upon completion of the full program. Evidence will be reviewed by the Digital Promise team against passing criteria/rubric. "Our customers want to have a deeper knowledge of the platform and to have credentials and badges that certify their expertise with Canvas to facilitate professional development and career progression," said Melissa Loble, Chief Customer Experience Officer. • Registration online.  

Coursera Lists Its Enterprise Offering at AWS Marketplace

Coursera made its enterprise offering available for purchase as SaaS at the AWS Marketplace (Amazon Web Services). "It streamlines adoption of online learning and makes it easier for companies," wrote Leah Belsky, Chief Enterprise Officer at Coursera. By listing its plan, Coursera revealed its market positioning: 125 user licenses for accessing the Coursera catalog of 4,300 courses and credentials costs $90,000 for 24 months, and $127,500 for 36 months. This way, the pricing per user per month is set around $30, an amount aligned with other learning platforms such as Pluralsight or edX. Currently, Coursera reports having customers such as Novartis, Capgemini, and Exelon. A part of Coursera's offer is its Skill Development Dashboards, which allows tracking skills that the companies are developing by role, domain, and level of mastery.   The Coursera enterprise learning platform is available for purchase on Amazon Web Services Marketplace! Technical teams using AWS can now easily search and deploy online learning for their organizations using Coursera. Learn more: https://t.co/hYofpL9QCj — Coursera (@coursera) October 16, 2020