Like a fine wine, The Great Gatsby, and a barbecue on the fourth of July, some things never go out of style. And yet, as great as classics can be, there’s also something exciting about innovation and change. Such is the recipe for the new version of PAIRIN’s online soft skills curriculum: a little bit of classic, and a lot of cutting edge.
Last year, we at PAIRIN launched our online soft skills curriculum, a suite of 54 courses for adults designed to facilitate the development of skills such as decision making, empathy and critical thinking. An individual would begin by taking PAIRIN’s free online soft skills assessment, identifying his or her unique strengths and weaknesses. From there, our system would prioritize the soft skills curriculum needed, based on the assessment results.
We’re calling this the classic because, despite this new release, the solid educational foundation our curriculum has been built upon remains fully in tact. We’re keeping all the classic features you know and have come to love, and in our new version, adding several cutting edge new features.
| THE CLASSIC FEATURES |
Here’s an overview of the classic PAIRIN curriculum features, built into the curriculum from the start, and carried forth in this new release:
- COMPETENCY-BASED: Each of PAIRIN’s 54 soft skill courses is designed around a particular competency that a learner will strengthen as a result of taking the course.
- MICRO-LEARNING CONTENT: Each course is broken down into a series of micro-lessons so that learners can move through at their own pace, focused on one bite-sized concept at a time.
- ACTIONABLE STEPS AND STRATEGIES: Each course is also organized around a series of actionable steps or strategies. As a learner moves through a course, they are introduced to these steps or strategies one at a time, each of which can be immediately applied in his or her own life.
- RELEVANT EXAMPLES: Each step or strategy is followed by a specific, relevant example of a character applying it in his or her own life so the learner can see what it looks like in practice.
- BADGING: Once learners complete a course, they earn a Credly badge of course completion.
- INTERACTIVE CONTENT: As they progress through a course, learners click to reveal content and examples at their own pace, as well as moving interactive objects on the slide.
- VIDEO CONTENT: The majority of courses also include video-based content to supplement the core steps and strategies being taught.
- And of course, BEAUTIFUL DESIGN.
| THE NEW CUTTING EDGE FEATURES |
Layered on top of these classic features, we’re also excited to share with you the cutting-edge: a bevy of new features making the curriculum even more engaging and easy to use. Here’s an overview of these new features:
- HIGH SCHOOL VERSION: First and foremost, we are excited to announce that PAIRIN has now added a high school version of our online soft skills curriculum to complement our existing adult version. This includes new content tailored to this age group for all 54 of our online skill courses.
- SOCIAL LEARNING: The PAIRIN online curriculum now incorporates opportunities for social learning. As learners go through each course, they are prompted to discuss course content, with the option to contribute to these conversations via video. They are also provided with a space to initiate their own discussions on topics of personal interest related to the course. In addition, each course has an optional Gallery space in which learners are able to post work samples and solicit feedback from their peers to strengthen their understanding.
- EMBEDDED PRACTICE ACTIVITIES: All practice activities now take place right in the flow of each course. After a new step or strategy has been introduced, learners are immediately asked to apply it in some way through an embedded practice activity.
- VIDEO-BASED ACTIVITIES: Because the best way to build competency is to actually practice using the skill in an authentic context, many practice activities provide a scenario and give learners the opportunity to video record their performance. This video is then used for both self-evaluation and as a vehicle for instructor feedback.
- INSTRUCTOR GRADING & FEEDBACK: Instructors are now able to grade and provide feedback on work submitted by learners. Using PAIRIN’s four-point competency-based rubrics, instructors can assess what level of proficiency a learner is currently demonstrating in their work and provide targeted feedback to help them reach the next level.
- ONGOING SELF-ASSESSMENT: Learners are prompted multiple times throughout a course to self-assess their own progress, using the same rubrics as their instructors.
- MICRO-COMPETENCIES: In the new version of the curriculum, each micro-lesson is now focused on its own unique micro-competency, which is a narrower competency statement representing just one aspect of the larger course objective.
- INTEGRATION INTO ANY LMS: One unique feature is the ability to integrate this entire learning experience into any other SCORM-compliant LMS. That means we can take our courses, new features and all, and embed them directly in another LMS, such as Canvas, Schoology or Blackboard.
So there you have it! With a dash of classic and a pinch of cutting edge, we’re incredibly excited to announce the relaunch of PAIRIN’s online soft skills curriculum. If you’re at all interested in…
…for either yourself or someone in your charge, the path forward is clear. PAIRIN’s online curriculum will help you identify and develop the skills needed for long-lasting success.
To learn more, schedule a live demo of the PAIRIN curriculum here.
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