Bridging Students and Teachers in Unprecedented Ways

Consider two students who share the common aspiration of breaking into the technology industry. Both diligently study, maintain stellar grades, and engage in numerous extracurricular activities at school. However, one of them opts to streamline their commitments to allocate more time to attend job fairs, guest lectures, and apply for paid internships within the tech sector. While both students boast similar academic credentials on paper, it's the one who actively cultivates real-world experience and fosters professional connections that gains a significant advantage in the job market.

This is the basis of the Navigator, an online platform facilitating connections between North Carolina educators and businesses to enrich work-based learning opportunities for students.

“The Navigator has given educators direct access to employers when staffing their career fairs. This has allowed them to engage their students with a wide variety of industries, and connected them with businesses they might have otherwise been unfamiliar with. Additionally, it has helped facilitate field trips and worksite tours to various companies around the state,” said Brianna Greene, Program Manager at North Carolina Business Committee For Education (NCBCE).

Developed by Lithios for NCBCE in 2022, the Navigator has become a pivotal tool for students across the state. It represents one of NCBCE’s pioneering initiatives to bridge the gap between students and practical learning experiences. This blog post will dive into NCBCE, exploring their core principle of work-based learning and how the Navigator helps provide students with the skills and knowledge to tackle real-world challenges head-on.

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NCBCE and Work-Based Learning

In 2023, North Carolina was ranked as the number one state for businesses by CNBC. Across 10 comprehensive categories, spanning education, business friendliness, economy, and workforce, North Carolina demonstrated high marks in many aspects of the evaluation.

Fast forward to 2024 and Forbes has recognized North Carolina as one of the premier destinations to start a business, securing a position among the top five states. With a high business survival rate, robust labor pool, and strong investment in small enterprises, North Carolina stands out as an ideal state for budding entrepreneurs. 

To uphold the strength of North Carolina's workforce and the foundation of these rankings, educators must sustain a commitment to delivering high-quality learning experiences for their students. Playing a pivotal role in this commitment is NCBCE, a non-profit organization with over four decades of impactful operations. NCBCE offers distinctive opportunities for students to shine and seamlessly transition into the workforce.

In addition to the Navigator, NCBCE has created many initiatives aimed at advancing work-based learning through awareness, exploration, and hands-on experience. Consider Building Bright Futures, a program that facilitates student access to paid apprenticeships in early-childhood education, or STEPs4GROWTH, a clean energy workforce development initiative. Moreover, LiNC-IT, provides job training for individuals on the autism spectrum. These three unique initiatives are only a corner of NCBCE’s diverse efforts.

At the heart of these multifaceted programs and innovative ventures lies a common thread: the integration of work-based learning into educational settings. By bringing real-world experience to the classroom, students enter the workforce more prepared and equipped with the necessary skills to succeed. Ultimately, connecting students, educators, and employers cultivates a unified vision of a purpose-driven workforce.

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Empowering Collaboration: The Navigator's Impact

The Navigator was built to help bridge the gap between educators and business professionals. It’s a gateway to a wealth of resources for both parties. For businesses, the Navigator provides a diverse pool of young talent and opportunities. Through a simple sign-up process, businesses gain access to their own platform where they can create and post various opportunities, or “resources” for educators and their students. 

Conversely, teachers and educators can access their own platform via their NCedCloud account, granting direct access to resources, events, seminars, and invaluable information to enrich classrooms with real-world learning experiences. With Lithios’ key updates to the Navigator, teachers can create their own requests for specific learning opportunities, allowing them to discover curated content aligned with their students’ educational needs. This dynamic interaction fosters a two-way channel wherein businesses share their resources while educators contribute content tailored to their preferences. 

Another key feature includes the Bookings section for educators and teachers. 

“The 'Bookings' feature on the Navigator has allowed for a seamless experience when educators are interested in selecting a live opportunity from an organization. Educators can choose the date and time that works best for them, and the educators can confirm or reschedule directly on the website,” said Green.

Currently, the Navigator boasts a total of 23,177 users across the state, including 21,976 teachers and educators, and 497 business users. As businesses increasingly recognize the value of engaging with student learning, the Navigator emerges as a convenient and effective platform, facilitating mutually beneficial interactions between teachers, students, and businesses statewide.

A total of 340 businesses and 2,525 schools and charters actively use the Navigator, resulting in the creation of 1,466 unique resources. Each resource represents a distinct opportunity for students to enhance their education and skill set in the workforce.

Ultimately, the Navigator is paving the way for a diverse and prosperous future workforce. Even individuals outside the education or business sectors can leverage the platform, benefiting from Lithios' development of a public-facing interface and numerous enhancements to the user experience. This accessibility enables anyone to explore the wealth of resources available on the platform, fostering scalability and generating innovative ideas for student learning and workforce success.

“There have been several enhancements made to the user experience, including the ability for admin users to export the contact information of all of the users sorted by county, which makes it easier to reach out to individuals about various opportunities. Additionally, the in-depth level of data tracking has helped the NCBCE team clearly communicate the Navigator's impact to stakeholders and prospective users,” said Green.

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Future-Ready Workforce

Reflecting on the earlier example of the two students aspiring to enter the tech industry, the Navigator has emerged as a transformative tool that empowers both to gain relevant skills, industry insights, and valuable networking opportunities while still in school. Beyond these immediate benefits, workforce education enhances their employability and increases motivation. For local businesses and the wider community, work-based learning serves as a cost-effective way to train and identify potential future employees, fostering collaboration and contributing to economic growth.

Ultimately, the Navigator is helping to form a future workforce that is adaptive, resilient, and equipped with the skills needed to thrive in the dynamic business landscape. 

“The Navigator is a resource for state-wide connections between business professionals in a vast array of industries. I have found guest speakers and off-site learning experiences for students. Making connections between curriculum and the larger world of careers is made easy with the Navigator," said Wendy Gressett from Moore Square Magnet Middle School.

As North Carolina continues to prioritize work-based learning initiatives, the Navigator will play a crucial role in shaping the state’s workforce for years to come.

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