There is much discussion of the perceived “skills-gap” in the postsecondary sector. What can be done to adjust the postsecondary experience so that students graduate with not only a knowledge base, but also the skills needed in today’s workplaces?
One of the attempts to address this issue is the Ontario government’s investment providing blanket access for all publicly funded colleges and universities in Ontario to the online self-service training and skill-development resources on Lynda.com until September 2020.
HEQCO is working with eCampusOntario to assess how students feel about the skills they are gaining from their postsecondary experience, where they feel they could improve and how well the Lynda.com initiative is working to help students gain the skills needed to succeed in the workplace.
HEQCO’s work will be based on answering the following questions:
- Is there a perceived student skills gap and what does it look like?
- How and to what extent are students, faculty and staff utilizing Lynda.com content?
- Is Lynda.com a good tool for student skill development outside of the classroom?
Minding the Gap? Ontario Postsecondary Students’ Perceptions on the State of Their Skills
A group of 6,360 students was recruited through the Student Life Network to complete a 10-minute online survey. The survey focused on both transferable skills (for example, problem solving, teamwork, leadership and organization) and professional skills (for example, financial literacy, data analysis, public speaking and IT skills). Some of those surveyed also participated in focus groups. The results are reported in Minding the Gap? Ontario Postsecondary Students’ Perceptions on the State of Their Skills, a new report published by HEQCO.
Ontario students perceive gap between skills learned in postsecondary and those needed in the workplace Postsecondary students perceive a gap between the skills they think they will need in their future careers and those they are developing while in university or college, according to a survey conducted by the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario […]
Evaluating Lynda.com Platform Usage: An Analysis of 2018–19 Data
About 80,000 Ontario postsecondary students, faculty and staff took advantage of free access to a library of video tutorials provided by Lynda.com during the 2018–19 school year, according to a report that analyzed usage data on the online learning platform owned by LinkedIn Corp.
In 2017, the Ontario government purchased a blanket licence for students, faculty and staff at all public universities and colleges in the province to Lynda.com (now known as LinkedIn Learning). The 2018–19 year was the first full year of availability. The three-year pilot licence is set to expire in September 2020.
80,000 postsecondary students, faculty and staff made free use of Lynda.com library in 2018–19 About 80,000 Ontario postsecondary students, faculty and staff took advantage of free access to a library of video tutorials provided by Lynda.com during the 2018–19 school year, according to a report that analyzed usage data on the online learning platform owned […]