Agilix’s Dawn Academy: Anytime, Anywhere Professional Learning

Last fall, Agilix announced that its new mobile-first, video-centric learner platform, Dawn Academy, would be coming soon (see our announcement and smart review posts); and now they have begun to unveil more of Dawn Academy’s capabilities. Educators can check out the platform by enrolling in free courses, and content providers can still reach out to Agilix to get their courses published.

We had the opportunity to speak with two course authors who have recently published content to get a deeper understanding all Dawn Academy has to offer.

Learning That Is Truly Flexible

Flexibility is integral to the Dawn Academy platform. From being able to access courses on any device at any time to the ease of course creation, flexibility is baked into the Dawn Academy model.

For Michael Simpson, Global Director of FranklinCovey – Columbia University’s Executive Coaching Certification Program, and author of “Unlocking Potential: 7 Coaching Skills That Transform Individuals, Teams, and Organizations,” flexibility is key.

“I am on the road 150 days of a year, working in over 35 countries and I can only work so many days/hours,” he said. But the flexibility of Dawn Academy allows him to deliver his coaching courses at any time. His first course on Dawn Academy is based on the “Unlocking Potential” book which he has “bite-sized into micro-learning, mini-modules on videos.” While the flexibility of Dawn Academy enables him to reach more people without having to travel, it also means more people can access Simpson’s leadership and coaching material from anywhere.

PBL Global’s Founder and CEO Thom Markham also appreciates Dawn Academy’s flexibility. Markham has a mission to bring Project-Based Learning (PBL) to every K-12 school in the world. So far, he’s been to over 400 schools and worked with more than 6,000 educators. But, there are only so many days in a year and hours in a day, and Markham runs all of his own training sessions. Dawn Academy has helped him to extend his reach, with eventual plans to have several dozen PBL courses on the platform. For now, his first course “Plan and Design” is available for free (but only for a limited time).

Meeting Learners Where They Are

Quite often professional development experiences are one-size-fits-all and don’t allow participants to enter at a place most beneficial to them. Herein lies the beauty of Dawn Academy. As Markham described, teachers, can “get into learning from where they are comfortable and where they want to start. It’s on-demand learning where they can choose their entry point.” In the screenshot below taken from Markham’s course, learners can choose to let each video run from the beginning, or they can start with a section of greatest interest to them.

Along with the ability to select their entry point, learners can also choose how and where they want to access the platform. Agilix noted that “Dawn Academy courses play on any device and sync when connected, so you can work on them anywhere, on or offline. Start a course on your phone in your dentist’s lobby and finish it later at home on your laptop.”

Another feature of Dawn Academy courses: they are intentionally designed to be shorter learning experiences. Each module is roughly 15-20 minutes in length. As Michael Simpson shared, the “content is broken down into small chunks, which is how the brain digests data.” As educators become busier and busier with numerous daily responsibilities, it becomes increasingly difficult to devote a full day to the typical professional learning course. Dawn Academy’s short courses meet teachers where they are in the time they have available.

While online learning provides great flexibility to learn at your own pace, it can also at times feel isolating. Dawn Academy has that covered in two ways. The first is by embedding discussion questions into the platform where learners can engage with other users. The second is that Dawn Academy “enables teachers to engage knowledgeable, caring coaches at crucial junctures.” Simpson advised that more than 50 coaches are available who can “support, mentor and reinforce the ideas of the course.” Reaching a coach is quick and easy following the platform’s navigational prompts.

As learners progress through each module, they will also be able to see their progress toward certification, which for many is a motivator to engage in, and complete, their learning journey.

With Dawn Academy, Agilix is planning for the future of teacher professional development. To join them, start by learning more about publishing content by visiting the Dawn Academy webpage. You can also try out a free course, for a limited time, by signing up here.

For more, see:

• Smart Review | Agilix Dawn
• Agilix Announces Dawn to Provide Engaged Learning Anywhere
• Agilix’s Publish Anywhere Delivers Learning Content to Any LMS

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