5 Ways Certifications and Online Learning can Benefit Students’ Careers

As a modern educator, your goal is not only to instill knowledge, but to do it in the most efficient, personalized, and effective way. You could also say that your goal is to prep your students for the real world, and use your teaching methods and systems to set them up for a thriving professional life. While it’s not all up to you, there’s no denying that your involvement is paramount for the success of their careers.

From the way you teach to the technology you use in the classroom to create lessons that aren’t boring, there’s plenty you can do to set your students on the right path. That said, you should also focus on the benefits that online learning and industry-specific certifications bring to the table.

For the modern student, online learning allows them to take advantage of asynchronous and synchronous learning, along with a variety of advanced tools that different platforms use. On the other hand, completing online certification courses can further help them advance their skills and job prospects.

Let’s put all of this into perspective and take a look at the five ways certifications and online learning can benefit your students’ careers.

Broadening their skillset

First and foremost, we can’t neglect the fact that online learning is one of the best supplementary tools to traditional education. Nowadays, though, eLearning is quickly becoming the norm, driven by the pandemic and inspired by technological advancement. Simply put, online learning and various educational technologies are becoming increasingly available to every student.

You as an educator have a unique opportunity here to influence and inspire a new generation of lifelong learners by embracing the technological change. Online learning is a supplementary tool that you can use to create a more engaged student, fill in the knowledge gaps quickly, and prep them for a successful life after school.

Most importantly, you can leverage online learning to complement the theory with practical examples and broaden the skillset of your students, making them more valuable to potential employers.

Optimizing their UVP for the employer

Speaking of potential employment, as an educator you don’t just want to arm your students with knowledge, you want to arm them with their unique value proposition. Your students should develop their personal approach to their work and their unique UVP that will make them stand out in every interview and every company.

Modern employers are overwhelmed with amazing talent from all over the world, and they are looking for that unique spark in every candidate. You as the educator should help your students discover their unique spark, their strengths, and the unique value their bring to the industry.

This is the type of personalized education that is difficult to achieve without the help of instructional technology and online learning resources. By complementing your curriculums and classes in general with online learning resources, specialized career-building platforms, and digital networking for aspiring professionals, your students can define their career paths and discover their true calling. Make sure to provide them with everything they need to achieve these goals.

Boosting career prospects with online certification

To further set themselves apart and maximize their chances of landing a high-paying job after school, your students should look beyond the essential academic diplomas. In today’s highly competitive job market, it is the talent with the right, industry-specific certifications and advanced skills that will get ahead.

Take the healthcare industry as a prime example. Educators prepping future EMTs, nurses, and various other medical experts should inspire their students to obtain advanced medical certifications like ACLS to boost their career prospects and make themselves indispensable to medical employers. Complementing their base skillsets with an advanced certification that allows them to respond to emergencies at work will invariably boost their standing in the industry.

It’s all about finding the right certifications for your students based on their career choices, passions and strengths. Once they get the right certification for their industry, employers will prioritize them over other applicants, and you will have done an amazing job as their educator.

Leveraging VR and AR for practical experience

As for educational technologies, it’s important to note that AR and VR systems are increasingly finding their way into modern classrooms, and especially online learning. Given the fact that more and more people around the world are buying their own VR headsets and AR apps, you as the educator have an opportunity to build a more engaging learning environment even for remote students.

AR and VR allow you to bring a more interactive and collaborative digital classroom to life, and engage your students like never before. Most importantly, you can use these technologies to impart practical knowledge remotely to develop their skillset and prepare them for work right after school.