Education institutions

Online courses

Create virtual training and blended learning experiences through self-paced online courses. Our e-learning structure allows you to create courses from scratch or using existing content. Easily embed media, connect with community members in learning checkpoints and monetize courses with our built-in e-commerce functionality. Each course is accompanied with a peer-reviewed micro-credential saved to a community member’s profile and easily shared via a micro-credential link. Read more about micro-credentials.

Educational institutions use virtual courses to design blended learning pathways that build upon in-person courses, museum events or staff professional development trainings.

Discussion threads

Unlike boring discussion forums, we’ve designed our discussion threads to be collaborative and easily embedded into learning experiences within your community. Starting a discussion thread takes seconds and can be tied to institutional projects, online training courses, topics of interest or simply getting to know one another in the community. Embed media, tag users and subscribe to discussions for email updates so that you never miss a beat. Take a look at a discussion thread here to see what's possible.

When the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) developed a new student computational thinking game, The Pack, they were looking for a learning platform and partner with a strong background in education to support a robust teacher development program. An online Community of Practice with Participate continues to provide NYSCI educators with asynchronous professional learning experiences, a space to collaborate with other educators and product feedback structures for NYSCI to learn how educators use The Pack in their classrooms and beyond.

A recent shortage in bilingual teachers has led districts to hire teachers needing an additional level of training that districts may not be prepared to provide. To address this situation, Wabash Valley Education Service Center (ESC) built a CoP focused on supporting educators and providing quality professional learning resources for all ELL teachers in Wabash Valley. In this community, teachers across more than 90 districts curate shared collections of teaching resources, share classroom best practices through collaborative discussions and take certified courses with competency-based micro-credentials.

Why Participate?

Education institutions rely on Participate because of our expertise in adult education and professional development. As former educators, instructional designers and education researchers, our team designed our social learning platform to meet the needs of growing organizations and their constituents. We focus on mission-alignment and intentionally partner with institutions looking to better support their adult learners by working together for the greater good, being kind, creating meaningful solutions and growing from successes and failures.

How can Participate communities support my existing blended learning or online training efforts?

If your education institution has existing courses, events or training you’d like to move online, our instructional design team is here to help you transform those into vibrant learning experiences. We’ll take you through a guided process of online learning experience design and draft courses alongside you. Most education institutions come to us with some existing online courses, but if you’re just getting started that’s fine too! We can help you develop content and e-learning experiences based on your institution’s unique needs and goals.

What’s the difference between a Participate community and a Learning Management System?

Most traditional learning management system (LMS) platforms will focus solely on e-courses or forums to guide e-learning opportunities. Within a single learning experience in a Participate community, members have the opportunity to pick a personalized pathway of growth and engage with multiple users through courses, discussions, resource collections, direct messaging and more. Our tool was built for adult learning and collaboration, whereas Learning Management System competitors were often built student-facing first then adapted for adults.

Do I need a Participate community or a Learning Management System?

Participate communities are similar to a social network combining its power with a Learning Management System. If your education institution only needs electronic courses or forums, then LMS software may suffice. If you need a genuine community to facilitate connection and collaboration, then education LMS software may not be robust enough to meet your needs; a community will be a better fit.

Engage professional learners in your educational initiatives.

How education institutions use
Communities of Practice:

Blended learning

Embedded collaboration

Open communication

Knowledge base

Engage your professional learners in authentic growth

Online courses

Deepen your connection with community members

Discussion threads

Peer mentorship

Share updates with whom you want, when you want

Direct messaging

Community announcements

A one-stop shop for your institution's resources

Resource collections