New Upskilling Pathway Helps Colleges and Universities Build Internal Capacity to Create Online Courses

Council for Adult and Experiential Learning and iDesign team up to help adult-serving colleges and universities "insource" online program development

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Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL)

Mar 03, 2020, 11:45 ET

CHICAGO, March 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL), a national nonprofit forging learning pathways for working adults, today announced the launch of a new initiative that will provide professional development and training to help colleges and universities build their own online programs. As a complement to its existing professional development program offerings, CAEL will partner with pioneering instructional design firm, iDesign, to offer a new competency-based education program, called LX Pathways, for education professionals looking to upskill their careers in instructional design.

"As demand for online courses increases, this educational resource will help institutions build capacity to develop their own effective online programs," said Marie Cini, president of CAEL. "LX Pathways coursework will enable our members to create online options aligned to the needs of the adult learners and communities they serve."

Through the new partnership, adult-serving colleges and universities who are members of CAEL will gain discounted access to continuing education courses in disciplines like instructional technology, learning design and online course development. The certificate is based on core competencies identified by iDesign as critical to the instructional design process, including learning theories, project management, LMS fundamentals, mentoring and support, and accessibility requirements. The courses will enable participating college and university employees to access self-paced content, with optional opportunities to share their work and collaborate with peers.

LX Pathways coursework is geared toward the needs of aspiring instructional design and technology professionals, who will receive micro-credentials on their way to earning a certificate after demonstrating essential competencies required for each career path. This learning experience focused on instructional design and technology, LX Pathways will be offered on Course Market powered by Instructure's Canvas Learning Management Platform.

"This is far more than a DIY solution for online learning. It's about helping higher education professionals achieve their full creative and technical potential to develop world-class online courses," said Paxton Riter, CEO and co-founder of iDesign. "For more than forty years, CAEL has helped institutions become more responsive to the needs of adult learners. We're thrilled to work with their team to help more member institutions expand their capabilities as online program builders."

To learn more about LX Pathways, please visit lxpathways.com.

About the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL): Established in 1974, The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) is a Strada Education Network affiliate and national, nonprofit 501(c)(3) membership organization dedicated to partnering with educators, employers, and workforce and economic developers. Together we reimagine how education and employment fit together, and we create lifelong pathways that integrate learning and work. Our aim is to support the engaged participation of adults in thriving talent pipelines and robust economic development in the 21st century economy. Visit www.cael.org to learn more.

About iDesign: iDesign partners with colleges and universities to build, grow and support online and blended programs. We are passionate about helping faculty harness the potential of emerging technologies to design courses and degrees that make an impact, whether they are fully online, flipped, blended, adaptive, or competency-based. Our unbundled, fee-for-service model is rooted in a commitment to flexibility and institutional autonomy, while our analytics platform supports continuous improvement through rigorous measurement of student engagement and course quality. From state university systems to private colleges, our custom solutions pair instructional design with technologies to enable great teaching. To learn more, please visit www.idesignedu.org.

SOURCE Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL)