Blended Learning

Advantages Of Online Learning It’s the time of year when people look back on 2018 and begin planning their training needs for 2019. To any business, knowledge is its greatest asset and the biggest key to achieving business goals. How can you better prepare your teams to perform in a highly competitive environment? Through training. During our in person events, we often hear questions about how to start a business, should I start a non-profit, do you know a good CPA, who is good at raising funds? In 2019, we are committed to providing you with online resources. We reviewed many online learning platforms, took the courses ourselves and are now offering online courses. Check out our on-line course tab on our website. All courses… • are designed for a wide array of learners • combine interactive exercises, videos, and real-world examples or case studies • provides access to an expert in a related field who will answer your questions within 24-hours—through “Ask the Expert” feature • have been approved for CFRE and/or CEU credits among others • are available 24/7 via the Mobile app What are the top 5 benefits of on-line learning? 1. You can learn whatever you want! With online education, you can take any program or course present in traditional four-year universities. For example, let’s say you’re mostly interested in starting a non profit or growing your for – profit business. All it takes is a Google search for such online course, and you’ll easily find the online programs offered by some of the most prestigious universities from all around the world. The great variety of online programs and courses is a huge advantage of this type of education. It doesn’t matter where you live and what you want to study – you can always find a suitable course or even a degree program that you can follow from home. 2. Comfort. Forget about attending classes for hours, sitting in an uncomfortable chair, and suffering from back pain by the end of the day. You will not be bound to physical class session when you opt for online education. All lectures and needed materials are provided via online platforms, so you’ll easily access them from the comfort of your home. 3. Online courses look great on a resume. It doesn’t matter where your career stands at this moment; an online program will always look good on your resume. It will show potential employers that you’re committed to learning and you’re eager to obtain more knowledge and new skills. 4. Self-paced...

UcanB has wrapped up a successful 2016-2017 school year. This year alone, the program incorporated many new schools in addition to the many schools the program has already impacted. The UcanB program differs from most scholastic programs due to the broad range of real-life topics that are taught. The program taught varying topics that the students would otherwise not be exposed to. The topics that the UcanB program brings to these schools vary from technology training all the way to entrepreneurship. The goal is essentially to expose the students to things they might be interested in taking as a career path, or even study in school. The program also recognized that many students don’t end up going onto college, and through the UcanB Career Opportunity Fairs, they have a chance to be offered a full time job on the spot. This year, the program changed the lives and paths of many students who never planned on going to college or doing anything after high school. For example, an 11th grade Propel student said, “The UcanB teacher told me that there are many jobs out there and getting a college degree isn’t the only path. Loving what you do for an occupation is #1. They really helped me.” Due to the positive impact the UcanB program has made in the community thus far, they are planning to add even more topics and assemblies to further the knowledge of the working world to the students. Some of those topics will include ways in which to dress for a job interview or what to wear to a professional workplace. These topics will be taught in a way that is engaging, motivational, and relatable to the students. There might even be a prize for exceptional students. The UcanB program has had an exceptional school year and now looks forward to starting their summer...

Steps To Empowering Your Business Growth Creating business growth takes consistent planning and strategy. Educational webinars are a great source of information and can help you and your business grow.  This can be achieved through business education, regular professional business development and presentations of business events. Check out these top 5 resources for Educational WEBINARs: Education For Business Sake Business education doesn’t end with an MBA. Education should be accepted as a lifelong opportunity for focusing on business trends and curves. By maintaining an attitude of continuous education, opportunities to seek out the most advantageous additional courses provide the extra edge for business growth. Professional Development Along with additional education enhancements, professional business development ranks among the necessary elements for business growth. Professional development requires marketing, sales, management, staffing and executive skills. Achieving the rank of professional isn’t just a matter of title. Development at each phase of business determines the quality of professionalism of the individual. Business Events That Affect Business Growth The business professional seeking optimum business growth employs a give and take attitude toward events that help their businesses. It’s as important to present an event as it is to take part in events. This is the basic structure of networking. Surrounding your business with a beneficial network helps grow business stature. To Grow Your Business Today’s webinars and seminars fill a particular gap that links direct offline events and business presentations with the internet world. For businesses, this is an unparalleled opportunity for growth. The hi-tech world can be a catalyst for advancing business image as well as name recognition, branding and ranking. Creating linked business webinars and seminars produces a well-structured microcosm of vested target markets. The links between webinars and seminars should be seamlessly woven to create an overlapping flow of interest and awareness of the specific business. This is also true for patrons attending webinars and seminars. Thus, the “give and take” attitude becomes the operative for giving patrons a direct link online and off while the business takes in a higher rate of growth. Educate, Develop, Grow Present webinars and seminars with a professional style and content. Contrast this by attending webinars and seminars that focus on educating, developing and growing your business. These may contain new ideas for management structure, creating cohesive team embodiment and financial and economic guidelines as well as current compliance regulations relating to business operations. A tightly knit program of webinars and seminars for patrons and businesses offering them are essential for business...

Wanted: A Skills Gap Solution Stevie Miller The formula for career success was supposed to be simple: go to college, get a bachelor’s degree, and find a job doing what you love that pays a decent living. As our newest generations of college graduates have discovered, the reality isn’t quite so simple. While more and more college educated employees are available, fewer employers want to hire them. Underemployment, that is, either working part time when you want to work full time, or working at a job that doesn’t utilize your education and training, is a persistent problem that has outlasted our recession-inspired unemployment. PayScale reports in a recent study [1] that 46% of American workers identify as underemployed. The problem is caused by what’s known as the skills gap. Despite a large number of people who would like to find more or better work, industries that require skilled workers–but not necessarily the kind of education you get with a bachelor’s degree–are coming up short. The skills gap is most evident in STEM fields, or industries requiring the use of technology, including healthcare, computer science, and especially manufacturing. It’s difficult to find the right employees for these fields, observes the Harvard Business Review [2], because the technology is changing so quickly that many schools don’t offer the right training. Soft skills, such as communication and teamwork, are in increasing demand by employers, but also aren’t offered in schools, particularly because they require one-on-one efforts with students. Employers, meanwhile, increasingly expect prospective employees to shoulder the burdens of training themselves, the US Department of Labor reports. [3] Yet prospective employees are reluctant to take on this training when the technology is changing so quickly that the skills required by one employer are unlikely to translate to the next job opening. Jeff Selingo, author of New York Times bestseller “There is Life After College”, notes: “The goal of universal college has actually done more harm than good because it banished anything that smacks of job training to second class status.” He further writes: “We need more than just one pathway to good jobs in the U.S. What we need is a place like Harvard–both prestigious and rigorous–that will attract students who have talents and interests to pursue skilled jobs critical for the economy that don’t necessarily require a four-year college degree.” [4] 1: http://www.payscale.com/data-packages/underemployment 2: https://hbr.org/2014/08/employers-arent-just-whining-the-skills-gap-is-real 3: http://www.careeronestop.org/businesscenter/recruitandhire/identifyyourhiringneeds/the-skills-gap.aspx 4:...

At the center of Building Bridges for Business’s U can B Program is the mission to provide essential skills and programs to high schoolers, offering coursework and experience that enhances students understanding, their skillsets, and their preparedness for life after high school. An exciting partnership was formed between Aziksa, Inc. and U can B to provide access to Life Learning Courses for high school students in the Pittsburgh region. Aziksa is a cloud-based learning platform that allows students to take courses online, and use curriculum easily and inexpensively – they can take advantage of courses in entrepreneurship, science and technology, green and sustainable science, and a variety of trades. Earlier this year, Aziksa, Inc. established a multi-year contract with U can B to provide a blended learning system that expands students’ access to courses. Available online and on mobile devices, the Aziksa online platform (www.aziksa.com) is easily accessible. Beyond that, the courses provided through Aziksa are deliberately curated to maximize teacher-student interaction through tools Virtual Classroom and Virtual Lab. “We are committed to offering easy to use classes to young people and this partnership will allow more students to take advantage of the U can B offerings,” said Aziksa President and CEO Santosh Jha. With this blended learning program, students can sign-up online and participate in the courses from their homes or on the go all the while still taking advantage of the benefits of interacting with fellow learners and their instructors. U can B’s reach is amplified by innovative services like Aziksa, now able to provide affordable and accessible educational material to a larger range of Pittsburgh students. “We are very pleased to be working with Aziksa. They really understand how best to deliver online learning in today’s world and I know students will benefit from the increased interaction” comments Linda Handley, U can B. The curriculum offered through U can B connects students with entrepreneurs, businesspeople, and nonprofits like Building Bridges, and engages them with the professional experiences of life after high school and college. U can B promotes student development and exposes young people to essential life learning courses, offering curriculum built to best fit a school’s needs. Courses provided through U can B cover themes such as entrepreneurship, web design and SEO, graphic design and animation, veterinary study and animal related careers, sustainability and environmental issues, green technology, and career preparation and networking education. Beyond engaging students with excellent curriculum, U can B also incorporates their proprietary Coffee With film series, a program that showcases industry leaders, politicians, and entrepreneurs sharing their stories and insights from their careers. Partnered with Aziksa, U can B is now accessible to more students than ever. More information about the U can B program is available at the Building Bridges website. Learn more about Aziksa, Inc....

  U can B @ Clayton High School will conclude in May with ‘Career Days at Clayton High’! Career Days will begin with an Interview Competition on May 1th. This will be followed by an in-school Career Fair on May 20th. The Building Bridges for Business U can B Program, a series of career awareness classes aimed at high school and middle school students, launched its first classes at Clayton Academy in Pittsburgh’s North Side on March 2, 2016. U can B classes at Clayton were provided through support of the Verizon Foundation. Topics for middle and high school students ranged from Career Interests to STEM-related Careers to Job Readiness Classes. Students in the middle school were registered for FREE online career profiles via STEM Premier. Students in the high school at Clayton focused specifically on topics such as Work Readiness, Job Search, Interview Skills, and Networking in preparation for Career Days. May 11th Interview Day Students are currently working on resumes and cover letters as a class project. These will be completed and reviewed by Clayton teachers prior to the Interview Day. On May 11th, students will participate in a panel style interview. U can B teachers, Clayton staff, and volunteers from the community will make up three panels. Students will cycle through for individual interviews. A scoring rubric will be used by the panelists to assess students’ interview performance. Three Awards will be selected: Best Interview, Best Resume, Best Cover Letter. Certificates and prizes will be presented to the winners. Certificates of Participation are to be presented to all students who completed the U can B Program. Winners to be announced at the May 20th Career Fair. May 20th Career Fair The U can B team has organized a Career Fair which will take place at Clayton on May 20th between 10:00-12:00. The Fair will be followed by a cookout and celebration. Students, teachers, U can B staff, employers, and volunteers are invited to attend the cookout. Approximately 65 students are expected. Awards will be presented during the cookout and celebration. The Career Fair and Cookout will be a wonderful way to conclude the school year. Students have put a lot of time and effort into the U can B Program at Clayton, and the May 20th event is their reward for that hard work. In addition to the celebration, students will have the opportunity to discuss jobs and careers with representatives from several Pittsburgh-area businesses including but not limited to United States Probation & Pretrial Services of Western PA, Allegheny Health Network, IBEX Global, Career Talk on KDKA, Legal Shield, and Arias Agencies. Arias Agencies, a division of American Income Life, has agreed to participate and present certificates of completion to the students. Title sponsor of Career Talk on KDKA, Arias Agencies has been an on-going supporter and hiring partner of the...