Author: IBL News

IBL News | New York

The College Board announced this week that the SAT will be delivered digitally —  beginning internationally in 2023 and in the U.S. in 2024.

However, the assessments will continue to be administered in a school or a test center with a proctor present, not at home.

The exam will continue to measure the knowledge and skills the students are learning in high school and that matter most for college. It will still be scored on a 1600 scale.

Students will still have access to free practice resources on Khan Academy.

Other changes will be implemented:

• The digital SAT will be shorter—about two hours instead of three for the current SAT, with more time per question.
• The digital test will feature shorter reading passages with one question tied to each, and passages will reflect a wider range of topics that represent the works students read in college.
• Calculators will be allowed in the entire Math section.
• Students and educators will get scores back in days instead of weeks.
• Score reports will also connect students to information and resources about local two-year colleges, workforce training programs, and career options.
• Students will be able to use their own device (laptop or tablet) or a school-issued device.
• If a student loses connectivity or power, it will not lose their work or time while they reconnect.
• Every student will receive a unique digital test form, so it will be practically impossible to share answers.

The College Board did a pilot project of the digital SAT in the U.S. and internationally in November 2021. Eighty percent of students responded that they found it less stressful and 100% of educators reported having a positive experience.

IBL News | New York

eLearning Brothers, yesterday, announced their second acquisition of 2022 after the purchasing Rehearsal video coaching platform.

The purchased firm was a Chennai, India-based learning design and technology called Origin Learning. The amount of the transaction was not disclosed.

It’s eLearning Brothers‘ fifth acquisition over the past two years.

American Fork, Utah–based eLearning Brothers explained that “its headcount was increased over three-fold.”

The company now has nearly 500 employees, according to its own data.

“Now, with nearly 500 employees, we are uniquely positioned to help organizations of all sizes tackle their learning and development challenges, as well as continue to add features and innovations to their learning technology offerings,” explained Andrew Scivally, co-founder and CEO of eLearning Brothers.

IBL News | New York

Toronto-based learning platform Docebo Inc (NASDAQ: DCBO; TSX: DCBO) announced this week its acquisition of Skillslive, an Australian educational consulting agency, for an undisclosed amount.

With this purchase, Docebo further expands its presence in the Asia-Pacific (“APAC”) region by adding expertise and commercial and professional services capabilities.

“It builds from Docebo’s strong and growing presence in North America and Europe,” said the company.

Skillslive was already a reseller with Docebo. The agency offers consultancy services around the idea of aligning pathways with professional development, competencies, compliance, certification, and accreditation.

The name of Skillslive will be changed to “Docebo ANZ.”

In 2021, as part of its expansion in the EMEA region, Docebo opened a new office in Munich, Germany.

Skillslive has been acquired by @docebo.

We’re looking forward to joining a team that has innovation at its core—and like us too, believes in growing and evolving learning experiences for forward-thinking organizations.

Follow @docebo for future updates. https://t.co/ckuzUvLg54

— Skillslive (@SkillsliveLMS) January 24, 2022

IBL News | New York

A survey from Cengage Group regarding The Great Resignation — the phenomenon that depicts why millions of workers are quitting their jobs — reveals that employees aren’t just resigning. They are reskilling with the hope they can change their career paths, move to new industries, and improve their lives.

In 2021, the number of resigners reached 38 million. Meanwhile, as of January 2022, the number of available jobs in the U.S. hovered around 10.6 million. As they struggle to fill open positions, employers are hiring workers based on skills and potential instead of degrees on a resume.

The majority of those training programs (72%) had a time-to-completion of six months or less. This time frame suggests that resigners prefer short-term courses to help them reskill and get back into the workforce quickly.

The report offers three recommendations for organizations to better support people looking to reskill:

1) Academic institutions should offer more short-term, flexible, scalable, and affordable credentialing programs.

2) Employers need to provide more access to reskilling and upskilling opportunities for career growth.

3) U.S. education and workforce systems must modernize by investing in apprenticeships, hybrid learning models, and industry partnerships.

IBL News | New York

The LMS Market size will grow from $15.8 billion in 2021 to $37.9 billion by 2026, at a growth rate (CAGR) of 19.1% during that period, according to a report from MarketsandMarkets.com.

A major factor driving this growth will be, according to this research firm, the need for more efficient and accessible tools and cloud solutions, both in the higher education and training workforce field. The modalities demanded will include distance learning, instructor-led training, blended learning, either on cloud or on-premises, in academic environments and corporate — mainly in software & technology, healthcare, retail, banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI), manufacturing, government & defense, and telecom.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced businesses to revive their learning and training strategies while tracking their learners’ progress and the effectiveness of their programs.

LMS vendors are constantly improving their offerings “by helping educators adapt to reducing attention spans, with more visuals and less text, more engaging themes and expressions, emphasis on virtual immersive learning, and, eventually, gamification to captivate learners.”

“Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be implemented to create an AI-based mentor who can help understand concepts, suggest courses, and provide feedback to improve student performance.”

“Other technologies, such as data analysis, analyze students’ thought processes and learning styles from their daily interactions, helps them to provide tailored courses and personalized learning experiences.”

LMS technologies will advance with the rise of 5G technology.

The report covers the following vendors: Cornerstone OnDemand (US), Blackboard (US), PowerSchool (US), Instructure (US), D2L (Canada), IBM (US), Infor (US), Adobe (US), LTG (UK), Oracle (US), SAP (Germany), Docebo (Canada), SumTotal (US), Tovuti (US), 360Learning (France), Epignosis (US), LearnUpon (Ireland), SkyPrep (Canada), Absorb (Canada), CrossKnowledge (France), Lessonly (US), Axonify (Canada), BizLibrary (US), Thinkific (Canada), iSpring (US), Blue Sky eLearn (US), Trakstar Learn (Canada), DigitalChalk (US), KMI Learning (US), and Moodle (Australia).