Some schools in the Los Rios Community College District, in concert with LinkedIn, are trying to change the relationship students have with their curriculum. Rather than be relegated to academic textbooks at accelerated cost or scholarly articles written during the Nixon administration, LRCCD is supplying students in some Los Rios colleges with access to LinkedIn’s exclusionary learning software.
Heidi Bennett, professor and chair of ARC’s business department, is acting as curriculum committee representative for the LRCCD in this capacity. She has been working with other LRCCD employees to secure a $5 million grant for the Business Information Professional program at LRCCD, which closed on Jan 31. She is exuberant for what this partnership means for Los Rios students.
“Not only will [this help to] create student networks,” Bennett said. “But when [students] see LinkedIn, [students will] see Adobe certifications, security certifications, or they can go through coding practice, then that badging goes on their LinkedIn.”
Digital badges and online certifications represent a unique trait present in LinkedIn software seldom seen in other major social media players. According to the LinkedIn website, digital badges demonstrate credibility, indicate skills to employers, ease verification for potential employers, engage the badge earners network, help to develop the badge earners personal brand and will unlock new opportunities in the professional world. Certifications work similarly, showcasing a member’s proficiency with software from brands such as Microsoft, Twilio and Zendesk. Highly badged and certified LinkedIn members become more transparent on the social media platform to other accounts that are interested in the skills those badges and certifications insinuate. For a new graduate looking to establish their worth in the job market, that kind of transparency may be worth its weight in 401(k) allocations.
LinkedIn is the top social media platform for working professionals looking to stay connected with each other, share ideas and search for potential job opportunities inside and outside of their friends list, or network as LinkedIn members refer to it. If you plan on using a keyboard to feed and house yourself for the rest of your life, you’re most likely going to utilize a LinkedIn account.
Still, even for those who use it regularly, the LinkedIn Learning software may be something new. As their website states, LinkedIn Learning is “an online learning platform that helps (…) employees develop and build new skills through engaging e-learning and online classes.”
In regard to LinkedIn Learning as it pertains to academia, it fits to consider employers to be faculty and employees to be students. As such, the learning software has the potential to be administered by educators to supplement existing curriculum while being audited through the ever-progressing industry standards being presented on the social media platform.
Cecily Hastings, account director for the California Community Colleges and the Cal State System at LinkedIn, has been working with several Los Rios colleges to develop the learning software for use with the curriculum and beyond. She believes the resources and connections that LinkedIn provide will be valuable for new graduates
“We work with almost every employer in the United States today that’s doing recruiting, so we have paid partnerships with 97 percent of the Fortune 500 and more than 2 million small businesses,” Hastings said in a phone call with the Current. “How do we use the learning platform (…) to help the students make sure that they are developing the skills that align with the needs of the employers that they’re trying to work for?”
This goal seems to be a paralleled development alongside the ARC curriculum. As a stand-alone software, it’s a valuable learning tool, but doesn’t offer much to students in their academic careers. Standing alone doesn’t appear to be the intention, however, as Bennett proclaims in her exuberant fashion.
“If we embed the curriculum that is already on LinkedIn, it now becomes a zero-cost textbook because it’s free,” Bennett said. “But also, they’re getting curriculum that is being driven by industry.”
In a job market shifting as wildly as the technology that supports it, this pairing may pioneer how business students transition into industry magnates.
