Processes – Echelon Pathways Foundation

Improved Retention

Have you heard your kids repeat an entire section of a movie they like? Maybe you and your co-workers had a similar scenario before a meeting as 1 person made a reference and now EVERYONE is fully on the track of this movie together. Now, think about the opposite. Ask your kid or a co-worker about something they learned in freshman history. Blank stares and silence are likely.

Movies and Education approach content differently. Movie studios want the content to be exciting; the more 1 person talks about how much they enjoyed it, the more likely they are going to make more money on other people buying it. Education curriculums are made to satisfy state academic standards (boring!). So, how can we make topics more relatable and enjoyable to learners?

Applied Learning

Theory is great, but ..real world uses please! What can be done with this information? Why is it important to know? These questions should be easily answerable for EVERY lesson.

Advanced Teacher Tools

Grading. Entering the grades. Preparing for the next lesson. These tasks take lots of time. So, when are teachers supposed to review EACH LEARNER to know who needs help? Answer..? most often, never. Until the parent calls or emails confused how the situation developed, many times it goes unnoticed (squeaky wheel?).

PICTURE most of the material being automatically graded by the platform. WHAT IF the prep for all lessons was completed prior to the course beginning. NOW the teacher can focus on TEACHING and providing INDIVIDUAL ATTENTION. With our advanced tools, the platform can automatically review grades and raise the highest need learners to the top of the list. Additionally, learners can flag lessons they would like assistance with and trigger an individual session with everyone that needs to be included.

Safe Socialization

Social Isolation is one of the biggest complaints of learners in online platforms. Companies providing platforms want to run away from the situation all together to avoid the legality of potential mis-use of these features.

WHAT IF, instead of just running away from challenges, we actually dedicate time to solving them?? EPF is focused on bringing socialization with integrated monitoring for a feeling of community while guarding against negative situations. This will not be like social accounts in mainstream social media, but, more on par with open classroom type socialization.

This also sets the stage for cross-school socialization and collaboration, even in brick/mortar schools. A science project could be a collaboration of learners in Utah, Alabama and Maine. A student council member trying to improve some aspect of their school in Virginia could get feedback from schools in Arizona, Washington or Wisconsin on how they were able to address the topic.

** EPF is HYPER-AWARE of the security concerns surrounding this; we DO NOT take it lightly. Roll-out of this functionality will be cautious and methodical.

The Best Technology for each PIECE of a lesson!

Gone are the days where a book, paper to write on, and a writing utensil were the only tools for learning. Technology tools available today range from laptops/chromebooks, to mobile phones/tablets, all the way to VR/AR headsets. Content types available are also broad with ebooks, audio recordings, video, 360 video, AR/VR experiences, etc. Most learning platforms pick a method or 2 and figure out how to present within that framework to have a simpler/faster way forward.

The EPF platform considers, allows for, and promotes every lesson to be tailored with the most effective technology for the task at hand. If a video presentation is warranted, great. If written content is warranted, awesome. But also, if a virtual or augmented reality setting is the best solution, then we will invest in creating that content as well.

Learn HOW to LEARN

The most valuable skill to have is -knowing how to learn-. As automation and artificial intelligence continue to replace many types of jobs, being able to adjust and grow in knowledge/skills/abilities is key to staying employable.

It will be with rare exception that anyone will be using the same skills in their late 40s that they used in their 20s. By having a curriculum platform that fosters learners to be more self-sufficient at all levels, alumni of this platform will be more competitive in the ever-changing job market of tomorrow and beyond.