Author: IBL News

IBL News | New York

CUNY (The City University of New York), the nation’s largest urban public university, announced this month that it will invest $8 million in federal stimulus funds to develop CUNY Online, a new initiative meant to produce high-quality online courses and programs through its 25 campuses.

The goal is to launch seven to ten new online associate, bachelor’s, and master’s degree programs by Spring 2023, and complete a total of 13 to 20 new programs by Fall 2023.

The initiative will be led by the CUNY School of Professional Studies (CUNY SPS), which runs more than three dozen online programs. CUNY Online will also serve as the primary portal for the promotion and enrollment of online programs.

CUNY Online will offer dedicated instructional designers, production staff, and project managers to support academic content development, course design, and delivery effectiveness. It will also provide student support services, including tech support, expanded tutoring, and early access to cutting-edge technologies.

Currently, the institution is vetting applications.

“The shift to online instruction that took place during the pandemic demonstrated the great promise of technology to help us meet students quite literally where they live, but course materials need to be optimized, and best practices incorporated, to realize the full potential of these tools,” explained CUNY Chancellor Matos Rodríguez, in a statement this month.

Credits on courses that are transferable across all campuses.

“With CUNY Online, the university has made a forward-thinking investment in online education to ensure that all CUNY colleges may be able to offer more flexible and accessible online learning opportunities. We look forward to bringing our 15-plus years of online expertise to CUNY Online and therefore other campuses within the CUNY community,” said CUNY SPS Interim Dean Jorge Silva-Puras.

CUNY Online is the latest online initiative developed by the University with the help of CUNY SPS. In Spring 2020, CUNY SPS created an award-winning series of workshops in online instruction that drew 3,400 faculty members from across all CUNY campuses as they transitioned to online teaching and learning during the pandemic.

CUNY SPS offers 24 degrees and numerous non-degree and grant-funded workplace learning programs and has been nationally recognized as a leader in the growing online education space.

For the second year in a row, CUNY SPS has been named in the top 10 of U.S. News & World Report’s 2022 list of Best Online Bachelor’s Programs nationwide. The publisher also ranked the school’s B.A. in Psychology No. 2 in the nation on the list of Best Online Bachelor’s Programs in Psychology, out of 55 schools reviewed.

In a new entry for CUNY SPS, the B.A. in Business was ranked No. 30 in the nation on the list of Best Online Bachelor’s Programs in Business, out of 228 institutions assessed. The school was also No. 5 for Best Online Bachelor’s for Veterans.

Founded in 1847 as the nation’s first free public institution of higher education, CUNY today has seven community colleges, 11 senior colleges, and seven graduate or professional institutions spread across New York City’s five boroughs, serving over 260,000 undergraduate and graduate students and awarding 55,000 degrees each year.

IBL News | New York

Europe’s highest valued EdTech start-up, GoStudent, with a $3.5 billion valuation and 11 million users, chose Austin, Texas, for its U.S. headquarters.

Along with this location, this Austrian European unicorn company announced the offering in the U.S. of its individualized, one-on-one, online tutoring for standardized tests, academic support, and interest-based learning, such as coding.

This online tutoring provider, including coaching for standardized tests, such as the SAT, said that it aims to grow its American business to 150,000 tailored sessions booked monthly by the end of 2022. It estimates a potential market of 50 million K-12 students.

GoStudent offers a range of memberships, with a price per session, delivered remotely via video, in 30 subjects, ranging from $32 to $50, based on the duration and level of intensity chosen.

Founded in Vienna in 2016 by Felix Ohswald, CEO, and Gregor Müller, COO, it operates in 23 markets, including countries in Latin America and Europe, as well as Canada and Turkey. It currently employs 1,800 people and works with +19,000 tutors.

Over 1.5 million tutoring sessions are booked each month.

GoStudent said it holds a recent market study stating that over 65 percent of surveyed parents have organized one-on-one tutoring for their child in the past 12 months and have paid an average of $68 per session.

The typical price per session with GoStudent, depending on the package selected, is $41, which is 40% less than the U.S. average, according to the company.

“We are committed to set rates that are more easily affordable; digitalization has always helped to democratize industries and applying this logic to education is long overdue,” said Felix Ohswald, Co-founder and CEO of GoStudent.

Sam Best, an experienced sales expert, was appointed to launch the U.S. market in January 2022.

Currently, there are over 7,000 high-tech companies and 100 incubators, accelerators, and coworking spaces in Austin. The Texan city has the fifth-highest concentration of college-educated adults, and more than one-third of the population is between 25 and 44 years old.

Throughout 2022, GoStudent aims to grow its Austin-based team to more than 130 people, spanning tutor management, customer success, and sales.

GoStudent’s U.S. launch comes just weeks after acquiring the UK-based platform Seneca Learning and Spain-based Tus Media Group. In 2021 GoStudent acquired FoxEducation.

In January 2022GoStudent announced its $340 million Series D funding round led by Prosus Ventures.

Other investors include SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Left Lane Capital, Coatue, and DST Global.

IBL News | New York

ETS Board of Trustees announced yesterday that it appointed Amit Sevak as its new President and CEO.

Sevak will begin his new role on June 15, 2022. He will succeed Walt MacDonald, who has served as President and CEO since 2014 and spent 38 years at ETS.

Amit Sevak has held leadership roles around the world, including at the University of Europe in Madrid, INTI International University & Colleges in Kuala Lumpur, and Universidad Tecnológica de México (UNITEC) in Mexico City. He has served with many nonprofits, including Cambiar Education, CitiBridge, and Education Design Lab. More recently, he provided coaching and capital to EdtTech startups throughout the world at Mindset Global.

“ETS enables education opportunities for millions of individuals all over the world, I am honored to join the ETS family in advancing this vital mission,” said Amit Sevak.

The Princeton, New Jersey-based company was founded as a nonprofit in 1947. It develops, administers, and scores 50 million tests annually, including TOEFL, the GRE tests, and The Praxis Series assessments at 9,000 locations worldwide.

IBL News | New York

AT&T launched this week a free, standards-aligned learning platform for K-12 students that features clips from popular films, TV shows, and animated series, paired with lessons and activities. Some examples include:

IBL News | New York

MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) announced yesterday that it decided to reinstate its SAT/ACT requirement for future admission cycles, saying that this decision “helps us advance our mission.”

“Our research shows standardized tests help us better assess the academic preparedness of all applicants, and also help us identify socioeconomically disadvantaged students who lack access to advanced coursework,” explained the institute.

IBL News | New York

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) launched a new initiative to provide refugee and humanitarian-based immigrant employees with educational and other resources this month.

This program, called the Welcome Door program, will provide access to skills training benefits, including free college tuition and English as a Second Language (ESL) proficiency through Amazon’s Career Choice program.

In addition, it will facilitate customized mentorship, assistance with U.S. citizenship, and other free legal resources.

“At Amazon, we have a variety of jobs and welcome all kinds of people, and we’re proud to offer enhanced support for refugees around the world,” said Ofori Agboka, Amazon’s vice president of People eXperience and Tech for Operations.

Once they’ve arrived in their new communities, refugees often face challenges when seeking jobs and resettlement support. In addition to language barriers and limited government resources, refugees with professional experience often have gaps in their careers, which can limit their knowledge of the latest developments within an industry, according to Upwardly Global, a nonprofit that helps refugees rebuild their careers.

These new resources will be offered to Amazon employees in the U.S. starting in April. The company plans to expand the program globally by the end of the year.

As part of its pledge to help upskill the American workforce, Amazon recently announced a commitment to fully fund college tuition, books, and fees, as well as high school diplomas, GEDs, college preparatory courses, and English as a Second Language (ESL) proficiency certifications, for its front-line hourly employees through the Career Choice program.

IBL News | New York

Lorena A. Barba, Professor of Aerospace Engineering at George Washington University (GWU), and a leading advocate of open source technologies in education, received a Doctor Honoris Causa from the 100-year history Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, her undergraduate alma mater.

She is the second woman to ever be awarded a Doctor Honoris Causa in this institution, following Michelle Bachelet, the former President of Chile. Overall, seven individuals have received this honor—the university’s highest recognition.

“I’m deeply moved,” said Lorena Barba. “This is one of those moments in life that makes you reflect about your own history, about where you come from, and how you got where you are.” The award was conferred on March 8 during a convocation ceremony that coinciding with International Women’s Day.

“Professor Barba is not only an internationally recognized expert on scientific computing, with roles advising the nation via service in committees of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, but she has a long track record of innovation in technology-enhanced learning and open education,” said SEAS (School of Engineering and Applied Science) Dean John Lach.

Barba is an expert in fluid mechanics, thermal science and energy, high-performance computing, and mechanical engineering.

She leads a research group in computational science and fluid dynamics, often crossing disciplinary borders into applied mathematics and aspects of computer science.

It’s been two weeks since this beautiful day, but I’m still basking in the feeling of joy and appreciation. Thank you, @usantamaria, for the great honor! https://t.co/WTg3U9pkLc

— Lorena Barba (@LorenaABarba) March 24, 2022

IBL News | New York

The Open edX organization, now called The Center for Reimagining Learning (tCRIL), announced this week the sessions, speakers, and sponsors for its upcoming 2022 Open edX Conference, scheduled for April 26-29, in Lisbon, Portugal.

The conference theme is “the future of work”. Experts, practitioners, and participants will share ideas, solutions, and tools for up-skilling, re-skilling, and delivering life-long learning. There will be three thematic areas: Pedagogy & Instructional Design, Platform & Product, and Extensions & Integrations.

The opening keynote will be handled by Anant Agarwal, the Founder of edX and currently Chief Open Education Officer at 2U. The talk will be followed by Tobie Langel, Open Source Strategy Consultant, and Paula Marques, Executive Director for Business Transformation & Executive Education at NOVA SBE.

In addition, the organization highlighted the following sessions:

IBL News | New York

Fusion Academy, which brands itself as the in-person personalized education choice for middle and high schoolers, will open four new schools this Spring.

The Grand Rapids, Michigan–based educational group announced this month that it will expand its “model of one teacher to one student for each class” in California, Florida, Colorado, and Tennessee.