www.hrreporter.com 29
Michelle Wong is a
Toronto-based marketing
and communications
professional leading content
marketing efforts at
experiential learning
platform Riipen. For more information,
visit www.riipen.com.
the future, says Furtado.
"This is a positive trend as work-inte-
grated learning should reflect the real
world," he says. "Many companies are
moving to being remote-first and early
exposure to working in these environ-
ments is extremely valuable."
Looking forward
While the pandemic has brought with it
a number of new challenges, it has also
fast-tracked change and it looks like
virtual and remote options for experien-
tial learning are here to stay.
This is great news for students because
it further extends the reach of oppor-
tunities by removing geographical
barriers. Without the need to physi-
cally be in an office, students can apply
to positions regardless of location. This
is especially important for students in
remote or rural areas, living with depen-
dants, or with a lack of reliable transpor-
tation as remote work placements may
be their only option.
Employers have also seen a positive
impact as they are now able to work
with students from anywhere in the
world. These students bring with them
a wealth of knowledge and unique
perspectives to provide fresh insights to
their teams.
Outside of official cooperative
programs, students are seeking out
their own opportunities to develop
their skills and using platforms such as
CourseCompare and Riipen to connect
with employers. It is not unheard of for
students already pursuing an under-
graduate or graduate degree to come
to CourseCompare to find additional
work-integrated learning opportu-
nities, says Furtado. Some of their
most popular subjects include digital
marketing courses, data science courses,
web development courses, and even
coding bootcamps.
Students are demanding experience
and the pandemic has brought with it
the opportunity to grow cooperative
programs and re-evaluate program-
ming to reflect this new digital world.
We have an opportunity to reach
further than ever before and open the
doors of opportunity for more learners
everywhere.
CHRR
"Many companies are moving to
being remote-first and early exposure
to working in these environments is
extremely valuable."
Robert Furtado, CourseCompare
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