On 7 February 2022, OpenLearning announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership with the American International Recruitment Council (AIRC) to assist with the delivery and scaling of AIRC’s professional development and training programs for its members, combining the robust OpenLearning online learning platform to empower and boost member engagement.

The AIRC works to safeguard the interests of both international students and enrolling institutions through the promotion of ethical, standards-based international recruitment strategies. It also certifies education agencies based on AIRC standards.

In the new world of work that has been accelerated by the pandemic, research has suggested that online learning increases information retention and takes less time, resulting in significant benefits to this mode of learning.

With the strategic partnership, OpenLearning and AIRC will provide unique opportunities for AIRC members to be engaged with a suite of platform tools such as:

  • Crafting scalable active learning experiences through building rich multimedia courses
  • Motivating learners through real-time course feeds, galleries and progression bars
  • Mentoring and guiding learners from start to finish through course statistics and feeds
  • Aligning and keeping track of learning outcome assessments through learners’ portfolios, and
  • Recognising and rewarding learners through certification of Completion.

These benefits will provide an agile social learning solution to drive member engagement via AIRC’s CPD programs, and also allow members to take advantage of a completely digital and remote collaborative experience through the platform.

Gizelle Rezende, Head of Partnerships at OpenLearning Limited said:

The OpenLearning platform goes beyond traditional instructivist approaches and static learning management systems to deliver authentic, active and connected learning experiences. We are thrilled to support AIRC to increase membership engagement and deliver meaningful and engaging professional development to the education industry.

The Executive Director of the AIRC, Brian Whalen PhD said:

This partnership will assist AIRC in developing and delivering new and improved programs to support our membership and the international enrollment management field. We are very excited to be able to utilize the terrific OpenLearning platform to create value for AIRC members.

The design of the professional training programs will be built on OpenLearning’s lifelong learning platform, utilising a socially constructive approach to deliver a transformative learning experience.