“The Changing Landscape of Learning in the Academy and in Industry: Technology and Business Solutions Driving Improved Effectiveness of Online Learning”
Presented by Ann Marie Sastry, Founder and CEO of Amesite
Reception to follow
ABSTRACT:
Technological disruption, accelerated by the global pandemic, has reshaped the future of work. To be able to compete, people urgently need new skills. Gone are the days when an earned degree is regarded as the endpoint of an education. Rather, lifelong learning is becoming the new normal, and nearly all future professional continuing education will be done online. Dr. Ann Marie Sastry, Founder and CEO of Amesite Inc. [Nasdaq: AMST], describes a journey from academia to entrepreneurship, that led to her formation of a company founded to effectively deliver upskilling to professionals in the midst of the most rapidly evolving technology era in history.
Businesses presently confront a talent bottleneck created by a convergence of technological disruption, slow-to-change infrastructures, and a dearth of skilled workers. Universities and businesses are now at a crossroads. They can continue to rely upon degree programs to drive revenue for universities, and to require diplomas from academic institutions as a professional credential. Or, businesses and universities can convert to a more agile model wherein workers are continuously upskilled.
Online learning, potentially the most effective, and efficient, means of upskilling large numbers of workers, has emerged as an important part of the solution to lifelong education. However, key challenges remain to be overcome for online learning, including student attrition and the deployability and scalability of online education platforms. The struggle of our society to adapt to remote learning during the coronavirus pandemic demonstrated the extent to which online education lags far behind social media, streaming entertainment, and online retailers in measures of accessibility, scalability, and the quality of the user experience.
In this presentation, we describe the technological and social challenges that must be surmounted to educate future generations of skilled workers. We discuss the need for improved education technologies to drive high retention rates and learner success, and models for the introduction of these technologies that are sustainable for both businesses and universities alike. We also present case studies in the successful implementation of these technology solutions, and offer an outlook on how the learning landscape will evolve in the coming years.
SPEAKER BIO:
Ann Marie Sastry is Founder and CEO of Amesite, an artificial intelligence software company that delivers learning ecosystems for businesses, universities, and nonprofit institutions. Amesite’s Learning Community Environment® systems provide artificial intelligence-driven online learning. Amesite provides customer-branded, cost-effective, scalable, and engaging experiences for learners anywhere.
Dr. Sastry was previously CEO and co-Founder of Sakti3, recognized as one of MIT’s 50 Smartest Companies (2015), and as a Crain’s Detroit Business Cool Places to Work winner (2017), acquired by Dyson in 2015 for $90M. Prior to starting her companies, she was Arthur F. Thurnau Professor (UM’s highest teaching honor) at the University of Michigan, for 17 years. Tenured and promoted early, Sastry was recognized with some of the highest honors in her scientific fields, including the ASME Frank Kreith Energy Award (2011) and NSF’s Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (1997). She has co-authored over 100 publications and 100 patents and filings. Sastry is active in business mentorship and philanthropy, with emphases on education, environment, and poverty alleviation.