The University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC), one of the largest public, nonprofit online universities in the U.S., today announced the expansion of an institution-wide coaching initiative designed to bolster its proven current student success model. In collaboration with national student coaching nonprofit InsideTrack, the university will work to refine and scale up its in-house success coaching program to increase support for online students from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds, including working adults, part-time students and first-time college-goers.
“Meeting the needs of today’s fast-changing workforce and society demands that college leaders continuously ask ourselves what we’re doing to become student-ready, not the other way around,” said Susan Hawkins-Wilding, vice president of student success at UMGC. “The simple fact is that there are many entry points to and through higher education, whether you are a first-time college-goer, a returning learner or a military service member or working adult making a transition in the peak of your career. No matter the circumstance, our commitment to every learner is to meet them where they are—and work to remove obstacles every step of the way.”
To help expand its wraparound support for its highly diverse population of first-time students, the university has engaged InsideTrack, which has served more than 3.2 million learners since its founding in 2001 and has developed a coaching model proven to measurably increase student persistence and graduation. Over the course of five months, professional coaches from InsideTrack will work one-on-one with up to 600 first-time students, helping to provide newly-enrolled students with personalized support needed to persist during the critical first year of study and provide short-term expansion of coaching support to UMGC’s growing number of new students.
A member of the University System of Maryland, UMGC’s diverse student body is reflective of the emerging demographics of today’s students: The average age of UMGC students stands at 31. Approximately 79% of its undergraduates work full-time and 35% are juggling work responsibilities while also caring for dependent children. More than half (54%) are underrepresented minorities, and nearly a third (28%) self-identify as African American. More than 53,000 UMGC students are military-affiliated, including those who are on active duty, in the reserves, as spouses and dependents, or veterans.
In addition to the initial focus on first-time students, UMGC has also engaged InsideTrack to provide training, development and certification to its student-facing staff and leaders, which will enable the university to deepen its proven approach to serving learners. Through a set of intensive coach training and development offerings for UMGC staff and administrators, the university will build on its in-house coaching program rooted in InsideTrack’s evidence-based methodology.
“Given the rich diversity of the students we serve, taking a holistic approach to understanding their needs, aspirations and barriers has always been a core tenet of UMGC’s work throughout our history as an adult-serving public university,” said Martina Hansen, senior vice president and chief student affairs officer. “The unique combination of InsideTrack’s evidence-based methodology and the ‘teach-to-fish’ approach will enable us to provide even more personalized support for students as they navigate the complexities of higher education.”
To build the coaching program, a core group of student support staff will participate in a series of InsideTrack Coach Development & Training programs, which equip staff on the principles of effective student coaching and the skills needed to train peers on best practices, creating a scalable model that will enable the university to maintain and expand the program in years to come.
Using data and research to understand the student experience will also be a core component of work. Through the process of interacting with students via phone, email and mobile channels, coaches gather a wealth of insights on the learner experience, which can then be used by UMGC staff and administrators to improve the delivery of student support services and enhance the overall student experience.
“The challenge for many institutions today is that they need support systems that are adaptable enough to meet the needs of today’s increasingly diverse student demographics, but also consistent and proven to drive results at scale,” said Ruth Bauer White, president of InsideTrack. “This is about working with institutions to build their capacity to deliver impactful student support services in a highly cost-effective and scalable manner.”
Crayon, a global leader in IT services and innovation, today announced its strategic partnership with Kahoot!, becoming the newest reseller of the global learning and engagement platform’s tools.
This comes at a time when 3 in 4 teachers believe technology has played a key role in making learning more student-centered following lower levels of engagement and motivation post-pandemic.
Over the last decade, Crayon has delivered dedicated education offerings to more than 400 universities and schools across the globe. This exclusive partnership marks a significant step in the company’s commitment to enhancing educational experiences through cutting-edge technology.
Kahoot! was launched in 2013, with a vision to build the leading learning platform in the world. Since then, the company has grown from a popular quiz tool to a global platform for learning and engagement, now with more than 10 billion (non-unique) participants. With a commitment to constant user-centric innovation, the company continues to help shape the transformation of learning. Kahoot! is today used by more than 8 million teachers for lesson planning, assessment, student-centered learning and more, now enhanced with AI to make teaching and content creation more efficient and powerful.
“We see this collaboration as a pivotal step in expanding our reach and impact in the educational sector,” said Kahoot! CEO Eilert Hanoa. “Joining forces with Crayon’s technological expertise and established academic network will help us to significantly enhance the learning experience for educators and students alike.”
Crayon will now bring Kahoot!’s proven pedagogic merit to bear in its tailored services offering to education providers, which helps them to audit and navigate the complexities associated with deploying multiple vendors. By negotiating on behalf of customers, Crayon assures compliance, cost-effectiveness, and – most importantly – impactful benefits to learning. Additionally, Crayon will support Kahoot!’s existing users by identifying areas that can drive additional value and optimizing their subscriptions.
“With Kahoot! our lecturers have an easy and efficient tool to create and deliver high-quality content that meets the educational needs of their students. This while the gamified learning experience allows the students to actively participate and engage with the content as we meet them on a platform they already feel native to and enjoy. So it’s really a win-win,” said Ole Bjarne Mogård, Senior advisor for Learning and Technology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, a long-time customer of both Kahoot! and Crayon.
“Every day, we see the challenges that universities and corporations face when trying to make learning more accessible and engaging,” said Crayon Executive Vice President of Nordics Michael Jacobs. “The synergy of our core values and industry expertise will help educational institutions and corporations empower people to meet their true potential. Together Crayon and Kahoot! can help make learning more accessible and fun.”
eCampusOntario recently launched the proof of principle for a new AI-enabled tool designed to help learners address skills gaps with personalized educational pathway recommendations. SkillsFinder.ai uses a custom GPT powered by OpenAI to help learners to better understand their skills gaps and find a micro-credential to fill these gaps. Attendees of the Forum were able to interact with the new skillsfinder tool as part of testing the capabilities of generative AI and supporting upskilling and reskilling.
Launched in 2021 and supported by the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities, the Ontario Micro-credential Portal is the platform of record for learners across Ontario to find short courses to learn the in-demand skills employers need. The Portal lists micro-credentials from Ontario’s colleges, universities, and Indigenous Institutes. The new custom GPT tool enables learners to rapidly assess their skills and competencies, match these to what employers are looking for, and find micro-credential education programs to bridge any skills gaps.
This Generative AI tool adds a smart conversational interface that allows visitor interaction and increases their engagement with the platform. By releasing SkillsFinder.ai, eCampusOntario continues its leadership role on behalf of its member institutions in Ontario and across Canada. Over the next month eCampusOntario will be testing the new proof of principle interface as part of experimenting with AI tools to empower learners. For now, skillsfinder.ai requires a ChatGPT account to use. The new Generative AI interface builds on improvements to the Micro-credentials Portal made in 2023 with the Future Skills Centre and the Conference Board of Canada that integrated Labour Market Information (LMI) into the Portal to make it easier for people to find relevant micro-credential programs, and to see 5-year job outlooks and skills associated with programs.
“By enabling people to test the new SkillsFinder.ai we will be able to learn how people interact with and use AI in supporting their personal educational journey,” says Robert Luke, CEO of eCampusOntario. “eCampusOntario is launching these tools to help learners find programs that support their career goals and help employers address upskilling needs in the workforce. The new Generative AI tool also helps our member Indigenous institutes, colleges and universities realize efficiencies and save money in reaching learners while helping to increase incremental revenue through new program registrations.”The eCampusOntario skillsfinder.ai supports workforce development and industry engagement and personal career and learning management for individuals. eCampusOntario has built the new Generative AI interface with Techmien Corp., a Toronto-based software development firm that specializes in creating innovative solutions that incorporate leading edge technologies. The new Generative AI interface on the Micro-credentials Portal also connects to other AI-enabled platforms that eCampusOntario provides its members.
