upskilled

16. Solving the Guidance Gap: College and Career Counseling

GUEST: JON CARSON, CEO, COLLEGE GUIDANCE NETWORK.  Public high school counselors are overwhelmed, with caseloads of up to 700 students in the most extreme cases. At the same time, the college and career landscape is rapidly evolving, with new offerings such as bootcamps and certificate programs, and with rising costs making college seem less affordable each year. What's a high school senior to do? Amy talks with Jon Carson about College Guidance Network, a new content company that is helping to bridge the guidance gap.

15. Life Currencies for the Learning Economy

GUEST: STEPHANIE MALIA KRAUSS, AUTHOR, Making It: What Today's Kids Need for Tomorrow's World.  Today's young people have had a childhood defined by "a relentless rotation" of economic stress and other risks to their safety and stability, such as school shootings, climate change, and the Covid-19 crisis. Technology is an ever present force in their lives, and the on-demand world they inhabit forces them to constantly operate at maximum cognitive capacity. To move forward in the world, they will need four key "life currencies": Competencies, Credentials, Connections and Cash. Stephanie describes these currencies and how they are critical as we transition into a learning economy. Find Stephanie on Twitter @stephanie_malia or Instagram @wonder_and_wayfinding.

14. Building Community with a Virtual Campus

GUEST: CARRIE PURCELL, CEO, TECH-ADAPTIKA The pandemic has been a catalyst for change in higher education, forcing us to look at how little the brick-and-mortar experience has evolved over time. As the cost of attending college increases, new models are emerging, like free online courses, boot camps, and microcredentials. In order to survive, residential colleges will have to explore different approaches for how to reduce infrastructure costs and reach a broader audience. One new model is the virtual campus experience, which can facilitate the ability to interact spontaneously with peers,  promote a sense of community, and incorporate online learning.

13. Bringing Data to Action with an Early Literacy Screener

GUEST: CARLA SMALL, CEO, EARLYBIRD EDUCATION. Research shows that 70% of children who were not reading on grade level in first grade continue to not be reading on grade level in eighth grade. Catching reading difficulties early is the key to intervening with reading support to get learners back on track. EarlyBird is technology platform based on brain research that identifies whether a child is at risk for reading struggles like dyslexia, even before they learn to read. Amy talks with Carla Small about the development of this game-based tool and how it has been used effectively to help early readers.

12. Experiential Learning, Experiential Hiring: A Win-Win

GUEST: JORDAN LEVY, FOUNDER, CAPSOURCE. Many students complete undergraduate and graduate degree programs without experiencing a career path or a company culture to determine whether it is right for them. Companies, in turn, hire young professionals without really knowing their potential fit or likelihood of success once they're on the job. CapSource is one of a number of new companies that provides not only experiential learning for students, but also experiential hiring for industry, promising both partners the essential ingredient for success- experience.