Press Release
Global learning technology leader D2L has released its latest in a series of white papers on the future of work, “Maximizing Resilience: Accelerating the Shift to a Learning-Integrated Life.” The series focuses on practical policy decisions that D2L considers essential to deliver on its core mission to transform the way the world learns.
D2L’s work addressing the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic has provided invaluable insight into the trends that were already shaping the future of learning. In a recent survey of more than 1,000 people, conducted by D2L, survey respondents indicated that lifelong learning is necessary and beneficial. At the same time, challenges remain in providing broad accessibility to ensure the benefits are equitable. There is also a clear appetite for more flexibility in skills-building opportunities available to working learners, in particular. Micro-credentialing is just one of the innovative tools that could be maximized to better support working learners and enable the shift to a learning-integrated life.
Lifelong learning and the reskilling and upskilling that it enables is critical to close the skills gap in the post-COVID-19 recovery and to ensure inclusive growth moving forward.
In response to these findings, D2L is recommending that policymakers consider the following four ideas, as discussed in detail in the white paper:
- Investing in educators’ ongoing learning to ensure they have the skills to thrive with digital learning tools.
- Supporting postsecondary education to accelerate the delivery of innovative, flexible program offerings through partnership with other institutions.
- Providing financial support to learners at every stage of their lives.
- Doing more to support meeting the needs of the labor market through better information and common language around skills.
“We have created this series of white papers to prompt discussion, debate, and ultimately action by our leaders and policymakers,” said Jeremy Auger, Chief Strategy Officer at D2L. “COVID-19 has been incredibly challenging for educators, learning and development professionals, learners and their families. At the same time, it has shown us that the trends we saw emerging pre-pandemic are real and accelerating. If we don’t take action now, we risk falling behind and missing a once-in-a-generation opportunity to modernize our approaches to learning.”
About D2L’s Brightspace – Corporate
D2L’s Brightspace is a cloud-based learning platform built for organizations that value continuous investment in people to drive their business success.
D2L’s Brightspace is powering smarter upskilling and reskilling of workforces around the world. It is the one place that supports all aspects of learning with better engagement and productivity through personalized learning. It gives your teams the tools they’re going to love and makes it easy to support exceptional experiences face-to-face or fully online.
D2L’s Brightspace is designed in close collaboration with clients around the world – building a rich set of features to improve engagement, retention and learning outcomes. And it makes it easier to give feedback. It’s worry-free with 99.9% reliability. It’s fully accessible and looks beautiful on any mobile device, making it easier for you to reach every learner.
Like many of our clients, D2L uses its award-winning Brightspace learning platform to support onboarding, compliance training, leadership development, and upskilling of its own employees. This has led to back-to-back #1 in North America awards for new hire and onboarding experiences. To learn more, visit D2L for Corporate Learning.
About D2L
D2L is transforming the way the world learns – helping learners of all ages achieve more than they dreamed possible. Working closely with clients all over the world, D2L is supporting millions of people learning online and in person. Our more than 900 global employees are dedicated to making the best learning products to leave the world better than where they found it. Learn more about D2L for K-12, higher education and businesses at www.D2L.com.