In “News of the World,” Zengel’s character, Johanna Leonberger, is left orphaned after her German parents are violently murdered on their farm when she is four. Taken in and raised by the Kiowa tribe, she is later removed by soldiers, and a traveling veteran, played by Hanks, agrees to bring her to a surviving aunt and uncle.
Zengel has received strong reviews for her performance, with critics praising her ability to imbue her defiant and alienated character with a sense of warmth and intelligence, and for channeling the emotional horrors of Johanna’s back story in near silence. Most of her lines are in Kiowa, a language she had to learn for the part.
Can you correctly use the word imbue in a sentence?
Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using today’s Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the word’s definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.
Then, read some of the other sentences students have submitted and use the “Recommend” button to vote for two original sentences that stand out to you.
If you want a better idea of how imbue can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com.
If you enjoy this daily challenge, try using multiple Words of the Day in a 50-word story that you submit to our Monthly Vocabulary Challenge.
Students ages 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, can comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff.
Written by members of our Womxn in Tech Employee Resource Group: Yujia Cao, Rachel Liao, Olwen Puralena, Carolane Bonhaume, Như Lâm, and Emily T.
Coursera’s Womxn in Tech (WiT) Employee Resource Group (ERG) aims to create an environment where women in product, data science, design, engineering, or any roles requiring technical skills, are equally represented, can thrive, and are celebrated for their unique contributions.
According to the Women in the Workplace report in 2019, women see lower representation at every level and are less likely to be part of management and senior leadership in the tech industry. Half of WiT leave by the age of 35 due to various reasons, including culture, discrimination, or career development issues. At WiT ERG, we want to empower women in tech both within and without Coursera by investing in the career development of WiT, building a supportive work environment, and attracting and hiring WiT talent that represents the diversity of our current and future workforce.
In celebration of Women’s History Month, six of us across design, engineering, business development, data science, and product management came together to share our advice and tips for women who are looking to break into the tech industry. We hope this blog post will give you insights and courage to pursue or advance your career in tech!
Olwen Puralena[Product Researcher]: Always consider yourself to be a work-in-progress. This means that people will give you the feedback you need to hear and that you will be receptive to that feedback. Having a growth mindset frees you from seeing challenges as personal attacks. Instead, you see them as stepping stones to becoming a better version of yourself.
Carolane Bonhaume [EMEA Sales Development Representative]: Resilience, adaptability, and persistence are the most valuable skills you need to develop in order to be successful in this field. Associate yourself with someone successful in that field. A mentor-mentee relationship can help you launch or advance your career.
Emily T. [Staff Technical Program Manager]: Be bold! I know the field can be intimidating, but don’t be afraid to just go for it and ask for what you want and need; whether it’s a role, promotion, project, or raise. Be prepared with data and facts to justify the ask. Never sell yourself short.
Yujia Cao [Software Engineer]: Be resourceful. Use the available resources around you to help you achieve your goals: your peers, managers, online articles, webinars, and more. Find people you admire and see how they did it.
Rachel Liao[Data Scientist]:Stay true to yourself. Working in tech can be exciting, challenging, and so rewarding, but it can also be tiring and demotivating. Figure out what values matter the most to you and find a company and team that aligns with your values. Do you want to work in a fast-paced environment or would you rather have a healthy work-life balance? Does it matter if an organization has a flat structure or do you prefer defined levels and rubrics? Do you care to work at a mission-driven company or is it okay if you don’t relate to the product at all? If you’re not sure, then reach out to people in the field and ask!
Như Lâm [Software Engineer]: Whatever company you work for, make sure you seek out the other women in tech there. Once you do, build relationships, and support one another.
There is a good chance you’ll be working on a team where you are the only woman. Because of that, you may constantly doubt yourself because there is no one else that behaves or speaks the way you do.
However, if you’re a part of a community of people who are similar to you, this can help to normalize your experiences. You can build relationships with people who can remind you, either directly or indirectly, that “no, you’re not the only one.” This can help you feel much more at ease and better equipped to handle your inner doubts.
Without that inner doubt, you’ll be able to put your best foot forward everyday at work and reach your highest potential. So, go forth and find your people!
Olwen: I had worked in clinical research for a few years. This involved interviewing people as part of research on new medical devices, tests, and pharmaceuticals. I loved having a job where I felt I could help people, work on difficult problems, and be perpetually curious. Tech had this, too, plus the timelines to go from identifying a problem to having a solution were much shorter. This opportunity to effect change was really appealing to me! Once I saw how enthusiastic and driven people in tech were, I was hooked.
Carolane: I had a list of values and priorities when I was career searching: I liked interacting with people, I needed a decent income, and I wanted a challenge that would test my skills. Sales seemed like the right path for me that checked off all the boxes. Women are rare in sales, even rarer in tech—and when you combine them both together, it’s quite astounding to see the gender gap! I am happy I joined Coursera because at my previous job, I was the only woman on a team with 32 men. I think Coursera is making a huge effort for diversity and inclusion and it was one of the other main reasons why I wanted to join in the mission.
Emily: I love technology and how it can bridge some gaps in our daily lives. The ability and speed to connect with people across the world, distanced learning, ordering meals via mobile—these are just some of my favorites. All three have become pretty vital this past year—especially due to COVID lockdowns—and none of these would have been possible without technology.
Yujia: I was influenced by the Sci-Fi movies I watched in high school which made me think that tech is cool! There are a lot of discussions about future technology and how it has changed people’s lives, and I just want to be part of the force to make the change and to make dreams into reality. Also, my choice to enter tech was a bit of a rebellious act. I was recommended to choose finance or accounting as my major because many of my female peers had already opted for these fields. I was told they would “suit me better.” But I don’t believe there’s such a thing as “suits” when it comes to gender. So I just went with computer science and wanted to see how far I could go from there.
Olwen: I did a lot of research online! I watched videos of researchers talking about what they did and read every article on User Experience (UX) I could find. I also reached out to friends in tech to hear more about what working in tech was like. I searched for people with the jobs I wanted on LinkedIn and used their profiles plus job descriptions to figure out which skills I needed. Eventually, I found several excellent courses on Coursera and spent almost a year growing my skills. This helped me land my first job in tech.
Carolane: I previously worked in finance, but I found that the quality of my performance was not reflected in the pay and recognition I received. In tech sales, I’ve found the contrary to be the case. I think I’m actually doing better than most of my male counterparts. However, some of this may be attributable to a feeling that I think many women have—that we have to do more to earn our place. I think I am quite fierce and competitive. I also feel angry when women don’t have equal access to the best jobs in society—that we face so many blockers. I joined tech not only because it’s fascinating but also to be a part of creating a fairer system.
Yujia: I did a few internships and projects that helped me discover different options for a tech career. I have tried different areas of engineering in my internships, including mobile and machine learning. I even did UI/UX design as side projects but it turned out I didn’t like it. At one time, I got interested in product management, but after talking to some PMs about what they do, I felt that I liked writing code better so I decided not to start a PM career. In general, I really enjoy how fast this industry is growing and how much impact I can make during my daily work. I’ve been able to launch features that are used by millions of users and that level of impact just excites me every day.
Rachel: Seek out other women in your field, in and outside of your company. It helps a lot to have a strong support system and community that you can go to if you have any questions or need advice on work-related situations. You’ll likely also meet other women who are excelling at what they do, which can serve as inspiration for yourself to succeed in tech. You can find these communities through local or virtual meetups, conferences, Slack groups, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
In terms of entering the tech field itself, please don’t feel like you need to have a traditional tech background in order to enter tech. I’ve met people in tech that have come from backgrounds like consulting, teaching, professional gambling, and trucking, who have pivoted and successfully applied their transferable skills to tech.
The job application process for tech can be confusing if you aren’t familiar with it. Make sure to research how tech interviews work—in general, as well as at each company—and familiarize yourself with the different compensation pieces (base, equity, annual bonus, signing bonus, other benefits). Women and people of color earn less than half the equity men do (https://tablestakes.com/study/, by Carta), so make sure you know your worth so you can successfully negotiate.
Olwen: Tech interviews are really different from other roles I’ve interviewed for—from the initial call with a recruiter to the on-site interviews with an interview panel. You can have all the knowledge and transferable skills but if they don’t stand out at each stage, you’ll struggle to get your foot in the door, even with a referral. Start by learning the lingo for your new role. Reading relevant job descriptions can help.
Figure out how to explain the jobs you’ve had so the transferable skills are clear. Recruiters don’t work in the role you want. This means they may not spot your transferable skills in the one minute they give to review your resume. You may need to rephrase words on your resume so they’re familiar to recruiters in tech. Also, ensure your resume has the same keywords as the job description, and make sure to list specific skills that are relevant. You can list them in the skills section on your resume and LinkedIn description.
Lastly, remember that it’s really common for people to have more than one career. The best companies look for that diversity. Show them your enthusiasm, prove how eager you are by taking steps to develop your skills, and just keep knocking on doors until you find the right one.
Carolane: Trust yourself and don’t believe in people that tell you that you can’t do it. Confidence is everything. Find a person in your company you can trust to support and mentor you. My last advice would be to be open to critique and take a step back when someone gives you feedback—most of the time they are just trying to help.
Emily: Find a good mentor who has navigated the field, always be true to yourself, and don’t let anyone knock you down!
Regarding mentorship—in my experience, finding a mentor who is accomplished, enthusiastic and with whom you have a good rapport has been invaluable in helping me along the way of my career, and life. Be honest with them about your needs, goals, challenges, and set ground rules around important issues like confidentiality and cadence of conversations. Each mentor-mentee relationship is unique and you want to allow it to evolve and adapt!
Yujia: NOW it is the best time for you to lean in and make an impact. It’s never too late to pivot careers, learn news skills, and explore a new field. Entering the tech field can be scary, but we have many women in tech that are bright and ambitious and that have made great impact, and this shows us that we can do it, too!
About the authors:
Yujia Cao is a software engineer at Coursera’s payment platform team and co-lead of Coursera’s Womxn in Tech ERG. She is a key player in enabling safe, smooth, and easy payment on Coursera and makes quality educational content easily accessible for learners around the world. Besides work, she likes arts and cats.
Rachel Liao is a data scientist and the co-lead of Coursera’s Womxn in Tech ERG. She drives Coursera’s content strategy through data, and has been a key player in developing Coursera’s international growth plan, identifying content catalog and skill gaps and scaling content topic automation. Before Coursera, she worked on search and ranking for Thumbtack’s three-sided marketplace. Reach out to her via LinkedIn to chat more!
Như Lâm is a software engineer and the co-chair of Coursera’s Womxn in Tech ERG. She likes writing fiction, consuming art made by people from marginalized communities, mango, and hip-hop/r&b. Some of her favorite books are Pachinko by Min Jin Lee and On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong.
OlwenPuralena is a Senior Product Researcher leading research for Coursera’s consumer teams. She leverages her expertise to help teams identify the most important problems to tackle and ensure that product solutions align with learner needs. Key to this is creating compelling stories to build understanding and empathy with stakeholders and connecting insights to actionable next steps for the product team. Her research has focused on products across tech including Android OS and the Pixel phone at Google and Monetization at Facebook.
Carolane Bonhaume is a European Sales Representative for Coursera for Business. She helps organizations change and uplevel the skill set of their workforce so that they can be prepared to face a new future together. Carolane grew up in France, completed her master’s degree in finance while studying at universities in Paris, Hamburg, Honolulu, and Jacksonville. After graduation, she moved to London and started her career in sales, following her passion to build bridges between people.
Emily T. is a staff technical program manager and on the leadership team of Coursera’s Womxn in Tech ERG. She helps lead cross-functional projects such as accessibility and initiatives such as engineering operational excellence. Outside of work, she loves non-fiction reads, geeking out on space/astronomy, and going on adventures with her Siberian Husky T-Rex. Happy to chat and answer questions – just reach out via Linkedin!
Meet Hillary, a marketing freelancer and aspiring entrepreneur who’s learning from the Philippines. She started learning on Coursera at the beginning of the pandemic last year with the goal to gain news skills and boost her resume while in quarantine. Now she not only feels more confident in her marketing skills, she’s also getting ready to launch her first apparel line!
2020 was not a very good year for me. I bet many other people also feel the same way. But when life knocks you down, I believe that one way to approach a setback is to get working and focus on yourself. You can never go wrong with investing in yourself no matter what happens.
During quarantine, I had a lot of time on my hands and I couldn’t go out. I figured that I could be productive even if I was at home. I set aside time to learn while helping our family business thrive during the pandemic. I also kept busy being a freelance social media manager, working out, and pursuing my hobbies.
After a year of taking courses on Coursera, I can happily say that I have become a confident and aspiring entrepreneur and a better marketing and advertising professional. I listed my course certificates on LinkedIn, and now, many companies are reaching out to me and offering me job opportunities that I didn’t think were possible before. The courses that I took helped me not just with my career, but also with my physical and mental health.
Here is a list of courses I’ve completed so far and a description of some of the things I learned:
1) Introduction to Food and Health by Stanford: I took this course to help me with my diet while I was working out, and it helped me start my journey to living a healthier life!
2) The Science of Well-Being by Yale University: My favorite course so far! It helped me live a better life by focusing on what really matters, and it really helped my overall well-being—especially my mental health. It made me rethink the way I view happiness.
4) Viral Marketing and How to Craft Contagious Content by Wharton Online: This course broadened my knowledge of the digital avenues that I can use in order to be a better marketer, and the strategies I can leverage in order to effectively capture people’s attention.
5) Advertising and Society by Duke University: I learned about the correlation between advertising and society, and how exposure to marketing can change people’s perception of a product, brand, or situation.
6) Converting Challenges into Opportunities by University of California, San Diego: Through this course, I learned how to use my strengths in order to face challenges in the corporate world, and how to spot a challenge that can be made into an opportunity for growth.
7) The Strategy of Content Marketing by University of California, Davis: This course helped me understand the importance of content marketing in disseminating your message to the world, and it helped me become the effective and strategic social media manager that I am today!
I aspire to become a successful entrepreneur and marketer in the future. This is, in part, because of my mother. The woman that I look up to most in life is my mother––she’s superwoman! She has managed to grow and sustain our family optometry business for more than 20 years, and I aspire to be like her in the future, managing my own brands.
Photo: Hillary and her mother at their optometry clinic
I’d like to have a career in marketing while also building my own businesses––it’s the best of both worlds. Through Coursera, I was able to become confident in starting my own business. I have been in the process of creating an e-commerce platform to sell clothing and accessories from my own apparel line, and will be launching it very soon!
I was also able to start my own personal website that serves as my online resume and portfolio. I eventually want to share my learnings and knowledge through blogging. I want to inspire others to work and focus on themselves, and for them to be an inspiration to others as well.
My advice to my fellow learners is to never compare yourself to other people when it comes to their achievements. Instead, be inspired by them. We all have our own timelines and things we want to achieve in life. Be proud of your progress every day, and celebrate your wins whether they’re big or small. It will be your time soon and you’ll be glad you pushed through and never gave up. As a woman, people sometimes underestimate what we can do. But we’re proving them wrong and showing them what we are made of.
Bonus fun fact about me: I play guitar and write my own songs which I don’t let others hear. I also do Muay Thai. I’m obsessed with dogs and I love cats as well. I act, sing, and dance, although not really well. I also hosted a Study With Me session with Coursera, which you can check out here!
The pandemic saw a surge in pet adoptions that brought much-needed joy to many families in 2020 and beyond. Did you get a new pet to spend time with during quarantine? If so, what kind of pet was it? What memories and bonds have you created with your furry friends — new or old — during this past year?
Tell us in the comments, then read the related article to learn more.
Students 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.
The word abject has appeared in 79 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Aug. 1 in “The War on Frats” by Ezra Marcus:
In the past month, hundreds of students have dropped out of their fraternities and sororities at Vanderbilt University. They have gathered, digitally, using group-run Instagram activist pages. They have written searing op-eds condemning their own organizations for the student newspaper, The Vanderbilt Hustler.
And they have petitioned the administration to ban Greek organizations from campus.
… In college student newspapers, some have criticized the Abolish Greek Life movement for painting fraternities and sororities with too broad a brush. “AGL is wrong to characterize every Greek chapter as irredeemable,” wrote Jared Bauman, a Vanderbilt student, in a Vanderbilt Hustler op-ed, referring to the Abolish Greek Life movement. “My fraternity might not be perfect, but it’s a far cry from the image of abject depravity that AGL projects.”
Daily Word Challenge
Can you correctly use the word abject in a sentence?
Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using today’s Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the word’s definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.
Then, read some of the other sentences students have submitted and use the “Recommend” button to vote for two original sentences that stand out to you.
If you want a better idea of how abject can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com.
If you enjoy this daily challenge, try using multiple Words of the Day in a 50-word story that you submit to our Monthly Vocabulary Challenge.
The Yale happiness class, formally known as Psyc 157: Psychology and the Good Life, is one of the most popular classes to be offered in the university’s 320-year history.
The class was only ever taught in-person once, during the spring 2018 semester, as a 1,200-person lecture course in the largest space on campus.
That March, a free, 10-week version made available to the public via Coursera, titled “the Science of Well-Being,” also became instantly popular, attracting hundreds of thousands of online learners. But when lockdowns began last March, two full years later, the enrollment numbers skyrocketed. To date, over 3.3 million people have signed up, according to the website.
“We octupled the number of people taking the class,” said Laurie Santos, a professor of psychology at Yale and the head of the university’s Silliman College, of its pandemic-era popularity.
“Everyone knows what they need to do to protect their physical health: wash your hands, and social distance, and wear a mask,” she added. “People were struggling with what to do to protect their mental health.”
The Coursera curriculum, adapted from the one Dr. Santos taught at Yale, asks students to, among other things, track their sleep patterns, keep a gratitude journal, perform random acts of kindness and take note of whether, over time, these behaviors correlate with a positive change in their general mood.
Ms. Oswaks describes the impact of the psychology course on students:
Tracy Morgan, a programming supervisor at the Bob Snodgrass Recreation Complex in High River in Alberta, Canada, signed up for the class last June, as she was in lockdown with her children and husband.
“There’s no reason I shouldn’t be happy,” she said. “I have a wonderful marriage. I have two kids. I have a nice job and a nice house. And I just could never find happiness.”
Since taking the course, Ms. Morgan, 52, has made a commitment to do three things every day: practice yoga for one hour, take a walk outside in nature no matter how cold it may be in Alberta and write three to five entries in her gratitude journal before bed.
“When you start writing down those things at the end of the day, you only think about it at the end of the day, but once you make it a routine, you start to think about it all throughout the day,” she said.
And some studies show that finding reasons to be grateful can increase your general sense of well-being.
Ewa Szypula, 37, a lecturer of French studies at the University of Nottingham in Britain, said she has been interested in self-improvement techniques since studying for her Ph.D. several years ago. “Somewhere along the second or third year, you do feel a bit burned out, and you need strategies for dealing with it,” she said.
One small study from Dr. Santos’s curriculum that stuck with her involved polling 632 Americans to predict how happy they would be if they were given $5 to spend on themselves versus getting $5 and being told they must spend it on someone else. In the study, people predicted that they would be happier if they were allowed to keep the money. But participants consistently reported afterward that they had in fact derived more satisfaction from spending money on someone.
Dr. Szypula had the opportunity to combine her newfound knowledge in a practical experiment on her sister’s birthday. Instead of keeping an expensive dress she had bought, she gave it to her sister.
“I’m still feeling that happiness months later,” she said.
Students, read the entire article, then tell us:
How do you define true happiness? Is it contentment? Joy? Success? Is it the opposite of sadness, the absence of pain? Or is it something deeper? Has living through the coronavirus pandemic this past year shaped your understanding of happiness? How?
Do you generally think of yourself as a happy person? What was the happiest time of your life? What did happiness feel, sound or taste like in that moment? What gave you such deep bliss or joy?
What do you think are the secrets to happiness? Where have you learned these lessons — from experience, friends, family, literature or religious or spiritual study? When you are feeling down or blue, what do you do to make yourself happy?
What is your reaction to the Yale University course and the three big takeaways for students: sleep, gratitude and helping other people? Do you think you will focus on these three things more now? Do you think you might benefit from writing in a gratitude journal every day, as Ms. Morgan did? What else in the article resonated with you?
Do you think society puts too much emphasis on happiness? Have you ever felt pressure to put on a happy face, even if you didn’t feel that way inside? Is being happy one of your life goals? How does it compare in importance with other goals you might have, such as making money, starting a family or striving for excellence?
Do you believe we, as a society, give too much attention to physical health rather than mental and emotional health? Do you think schools should teach students how to be happy? Why or why not? Would you want to take the Yale course, which is now free to the public via Coursera?
Students 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.
Learn Amp is a learning system that is somewhat a challenge to describe, and this is by no means in a bad way. At one time it was an LXP, but it has (as many others in this segment have done) expanded out by adding LMS functionality, along with additional feature sets for folks wanting a bit of talent development, but not a full-blown talent development platform (which as noted in a previous post requires three key items). Thus, they are not a TDP. Nor are they an LMS or an LXP.
Rather they are a learning ecosystem.
An ecosystem requires the following:
Learning capabilities – nowadays these would include playlists/channels, beyond the usual learning paths, assigning content to a person or a group/team or everyone or a certain location, and so forth (which most systems do BTW).
Metrics beyond the basics. I refer to this as advanced tier metrics. Learn Amp has this. Not at a level of BI though (which for right now, isn’t a necessary requirement)
Lots of integrations – Ability to add whatever to your learning system. You need more than 10 to qualify. If a vendor uses Zapier for example as their key integration (it has hundreds of connectors), yeah, they qualify here.
3rd Party content marketplace – A vendor might call it something else, but basically it is partnerships with 3rd party providers whereas the client buys the content and assigns to their learners. A solid marketplace is one that offers free content (via the web or the vendor themselves) and fee-based (most 3rd party). Your own content is uploaded into the system, although there are a few vendors that offer the ability for you to upload your content into their marketplace and sell it.
Ability to record yourself, and upload it – as the learner. They can also do other items, upload audio files, web cam, etc.
Coaching/Mentoring capability – Even at the early stages, whereas folks can be assigned as an expert and learners can select them is a good start.
Skills building and development – The chunk of the market lacks even the basics, but as they continue to develop (and they will), you are going to see a big uptick in capabilities. Think this way, you are seeing the beginning.
Make it a hub or not
Additional items as developed tied to expound the capabilities of learning/training
Video skills validation with scenario-based (available today, but rare in the space), can be tied and often is to coaching/role-playing. This component includes speech indices and metrics.
Learn Amp has 99% of these capabilities, with only video skills validation missing (but coming soon). Some of their areas are stronger than others.
The Review
Due to an on-going hand injury, this is a combo of text and video. If you ever wondered what is it like to have a bratwurst as a finger, let me know. I do not recommend it, unless you are planning on snacking throughout the day.
Learner Homepage
With the Learn Amp system, you – as the administrator can create as many learning home pages as you want, and give a lot of options to the learner to do things that they want in the system. For example, you can assign a certain look with capabilities by learner, group, team, division and so forth. While this is a feature you see in some other systems, what you really find, is the learner being able to click and pick the various dashboards right from the home.
In this example, the default is assigned learning, and then I went ahead and created one called “Choice”, and selected my own widgets that the learner will see.
The learner then at anytime, switch between the learner home pages. (There is no audio for this video)
Example of switching between home pages. You can add or remove the widgets for each learner home pages, referred to as “dashboards”
The Learner Home – Top of the Header
Header on the Learner Home page
Regardless of the learner home page view you choose, there are listings on the top of each page. Again, as the administrator you can choose to keep or remove any of them (although at the present time, Learn Amp assists here when you setup the system, my preference is the admin does it). Thus if you do not want your learners to view a member directory, you can remove it Or decide to change “Assess” to “Validate” you can do this as well.
I liked the member directory angle, simply because if you plan to find ‘experts’, this is a perfect way to do it within the Learn Amp platform.
One item that I would love to see on the learner header is the word “Home” which takes me back to my learner home page. At the present time, getting there is a bit cumbersome, because your only options are
a. Click your logo on each page – It’s visible on the left side
b. Hit the back button on your browser
Drill into the Options on the Header
There is quite a bit you can do as the learner. And as previously noted as the client, you can change the vernacular of each header item, or remove them if you so desire.
The default though is what you see above.
Library
Library View
Personally, I’d prefer to use the term “catalog”, since library tends to have a different connotation in the L&D and Training space (think more of an asset repository). As seen above, you can search by “items”, “learnlists”, and “events”. The default lists Price as an item, but at the present time, Learn Amp does not come with an e-commerce component, thus I’d recommend you remove this as your widget option, unless you are able to integrate or add an e-commerce piece.
I found it pretty easy to move around, although I must admit, the term ELearning was well, varied. In some places on the system it was written correctly as e-learning. Other times, it was ELearning or eLearning. Vendors nowadays across the board, have taken the e-learning term which is an umbrella term and morphed it to refer to “online course”. IMO, you should just say “course” or “online course”. Anyone, it is a peeve, and nothing more.
One area I did like was the separation of CPD away from the catalog itself. You find it at the bottom of the page. As with any page in the Learn Amp system, you can modify it in terms of where items are located, and would do so as the admin for the library.
CPD Section
The more accurate term is “hours or credits”. You can change points to “hours” on the admin side. I did like you could search by number of “points” to reduce down the size. However, what is missing is the visual banner or something that tells me immediately how many “points” that content is worth.
Roll the Video – CPD
The Library – Focused on CPD Capabilities
Events
Events shows the events the learner has signed up for been assigned, as well as events that are open to anyone (and that the learner can sign up for).
One area I did like was the amount of details and options you can show when there is an event. The big winner though was the ability to have a Q/A, discussion, ratings and review.
I’ll skip Tasks, which is exactly what you think it is, uh, assigned tasks to folks.
Activity
Two options here –
My activity – You, the learner
My Team – If you are in a team, you can see the entire team’s learning – with lots of nice metrics.
Activity Options
Assess
Identifies the various “assessment” (my preference is validation) capabilities that are available to the learner. Again, this can be for all learners, just this learner, team, group, division, customers, and so forth, so that they will only see what you want them to see.
Member Directory
If used correctly it can be a very valuable resource for any learner. The directory allows folks to search by a specific name or team or even by expertise, which is to me, the key value takeaway, if you are doing coaching or mentoring.
You can specify the expertise, thus for example, if you wanted someone who is an expert in Marketing, you search by this filter and will pull up the ‘experts”.
By far to me, the most powerful feature on the learner side exists in their profile, which I wish was one of the visible options on the header bar, rather than where it is today – clicking on your profile.
While you can view all these details within the member directory, which is the big win here, as for yourself, and what are your metrics, and data info, currently it sits when you click your image on the header. It is not under “Profile/Preferences”
Profile Power
Overview of You
To me, this is the power of the learner side that is hidden, well, hard to find. Thus it needs to be more visible and prominent in the header, and heck even on every learner home page.
All the data you see above, exists in each profile on the system, dependent obviously on what is selected to be seen by the administrator.
Big wins
Coached By – Awesome, although at the present, I cannot click to learn more about the “Coach”. If I was doing a search in the member directory and came across folks, I may want to know more about Donna here, and just click her name, rather than having to search by her name.
Similar Expertise – Perfect. As skills are brought more into this, it would be great to see what expertise level by skills, for example, top three over 90% per se.
Expertise – Very clear. I surmise at some point, skills will be listed on the main page as well. Always remember that skills is not the same thing as expertise. You may have a graphic design skill, but that doesn’t mean you are an expert in image manipulation.
Other Capabilities
Other Learner Options
Please note there is no audio narration
Other Options a Learner can do in the system
Administration
Normally I would go thru an extensive administration review, but uh remember when I noted my hand injury?
Thus this admin side will be in a series of videos only.
Admin Dashboards
All the dashboards available as an administrator, plus creating a learner page dash
Other Admin Features
You can do quite a bit
Bottom Line
Learn Amp has come a long way. Each release gets better than the last. And while you can say, “Well, that is what every system does,” I can actually honestly tell you, that I have seen plenty that go in the wrong direction.
Thankfully, Learn Amp isn’t one such system.
They are headed in the right direction.
With a metric driven approach to learning acquisition that retains the keys to a successful impact. Results-oriented on all sides, learners and administrators and managers too.
It is a system that is complex enough, yet simple enough.
I know that sounds like an oxymoron.
But, with the Learn Amp system,
They have shown you can be both
And deliver it well.
E-Learning 24/7
Learn Amp is an ideal system for employees, but will work for customer education too.
Aida Corporan has avoided the coronavirus by hunkering down in her apartment at the Bailey Houses, a public housing complex in the Bronx.
But she cannot get away from the health threat inside her own home: mold.
Ms. Corporan, who suffers from artery and kidney problems, said heavy rains have leaked into her bathroom from her building’s dilapidated roof and left behind mold on the walls that cannot be scrubbed away.
… Public housing tenants routinely complain about squalid living conditions, including frequent hot water outages, broken elevators, lead paint and rats. The problems have worsened in recent decades as the housing authority has struggled to get adequate federal funding to maintain its more than 300 developments.
Daily Word Challenge
Can you correctly use the word squalid in a sentence?
Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using today’s Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the word’s definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.
Then, read some of the other sentences students have submitted and use the “Recommend” button to vote for two original sentences that stand out to you.
If you want a better idea of how squalid can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com.
If you enjoy this daily challenge, try using multiple Words of the Day in a 50-word story that you submit to our Monthly Vocabulary Challenge.
Students ages 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, can comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff.
“Love Factory” is a 13-minute film that touches on themes of fame, privacy, technology and the blurring between what is a real, authentic life and a what is a manufactured one.
In this week’s film, we enter the world of two livestreaming agencies in China whose work is to scout promising newcomers and mold them into high-earning stars. But what’s it like working for a company that engineers every aspect of your life — and then requires you to livestream it all day long?
What happens when all you show the world is a manufactured life?
Students
1. Watch the short film above. While you watch, you might take notes using our Film Club Double-Entry Journal (PDF) to help you remember specific moments.
2. After watching, think about these questions:
What questions do you still have?
What connections can you make between this film and your own life or experience? Why? Does this film remind you of anything else you’ve read or seen? If so, how and why?
3. An additional challenge | Respond to the essential question at the top of this post: In China, livestreaming your life is big business. What happens when all you show the world is a manufactured life?
4. Next, join the conversation by clicking on the comment button and posting in the box that opens on the right. (Students 13 and older are invited to comment, although teachers of younger students are welcome to post what their students have to say.)
5. After you have posted, try reading back to see what others have said, then respond to someone else by posting another comment. Use the “Reply” button or the @ symbol to address that student directly.
• Read our list of practical teaching ideas, along with responses from students and teachers, for how you can use these documentaries in the classroom.
