Learning Center

Competency-based assessments, or CBAs, are growing in popularity as employers and institutions alike begin to shift from a strict time-based approach to education to a more flexible, responsive, and knowledge-based model. CBAs are a tool to gauge subject mastery and, through those measurements, move a student on to more challenging or useful learning experiences — building efficiency and value in the process. And for graduates of CBA-centered programs, the model offers some very real professional advantages:

We often hear recruitment and enrollment efforts in higher education compared to running toward a constantly-moving target. Especially in the Digital Age, the processes and tools that students use to search, explore, and ultimately choose colleges are changing rapidly.

We all know that for many students, college is just one part of a busy life that’s spent balancing work, family, and friendships. And ironically, the same flexibility that allows students to shape their course schedules around other obligations can put them at a disadvantage when it comes to accessing support services. Often, students who take night classes, weekend courses, or use remote learning tools have a difficult time plugging into those services that are campus-based and follow a more traditional 9-5 schedule.

A recent NPR story highlights how libraries are changing from institutions for book storage to spheres for public gathering. Rather than simply being a space where people consume information,modern libraries are now a space where people create. From businesses to novels, a lot of this creative activity has forced libraries to shift toward technology.

A Prior Learning Assessment (or PLA), is an evaluation that reviews an individual’s educational experiences that take place outside traditional classroom environments. From military service to open-source coursework and from professional experience to volunteering, a PLA factors in ‘the learning of life’ with the goal of applying it toward college credit, certification, or as a basis for further education.

Enrollment Builders will be exhibiting at the 19th Annual Sloan Consortium International Conference on Online Learning this week at Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort - Lake Buena Vista, Florida November 20, 2013 - November 22, 2013. The theme is - Online Learning: A Universe of Opportunities.

By Martin Lind

From time-to-time we like to take a break from covering industry news exclusively and let readers and potential clients get to know Enrollment Builders better. After all, market information and insight is most valuable when it’s applied to drive an institution’s goals forward and feed into specific and well-considered initiatives. With that in mind, let’s examine two of Enrollment Builders’ key assessments – assessments that our consultants are consistently asked to perform for institutions of all sizes and two that we think can provide institutions with immediate benefits.

In 2007 Canada saw the potential of using the internet for education. For people living in rural areas the internet reduces the distance and cost of education. In the 6 years between 2007 and 2013, the internet has changed education more than anyone could have possibly predicted. Education from one particular university can now impact the world through the internet. It begs the question whether online education is replacing on-campus education.