Montreal, August 2021
As the world started opening up again to the soundtrack of a long-awaited summer, the Linkr crew took some time off to seriously unplug, relax, and reflect on the profound changes brought by the past eighteen months.
How much do we love learning?
A year ago, we revisited our “Why”, returning to the source of inspiration for this unique education platform: to re-instill our childhood love of learning as adults, through an experience-driven, highly human, collaboration platform.
Part of what makes the learning experience so thrilling is exchange - the act of imparting, receiving, encouraging, and building on knowledge within a supportive community environment. So much of the joy and productivity of our learning experiences hinge on interactions with educators, peers, and mentors. These deeply human relationships help shape and leave lasting impacts on our learning journey.
Linkr was designed to serve this personal and interpersonal dynamic, using technology to facilitate the most critical aspect of learning that even the most sophisticated AI could never replicate or replace. Now more than ever, we’re realizing that community and collaboration are at the heart of everything we do. Whatever the body of knowledge, there exists a community of passionate lifelong learners driven by the same thirst.
We’ve always positioned Linkr as a powerful tool for galvanizing and increasing the impact of all types of communities united by a common love of learning. In 2021 we chose to truly own that position by moving our platform and story to www.lovelearning.org.
The Great Pandemic Pivot
Like so many ed tech platforms, the sudden and swift pivot into online learning so many institutions and organizations were forced to make, created both crises and opportunities. Education organizations and institutions alike scrambled to establish virtual versions of themselves that were secure, easy to adopt, and reflected their unique brand and values - no easy feat!
Many education institutions with an existing learning management system looked there first for expanded capabilities, since their students and faculties were already onboarded. However the limits of an LMS quickly became apparent. Technically complex, closed to outside participants, and a design that feels rather cold and clinical make both engagement and growth non-starters.
A great many turned instead to a patchwork of free and familiar platforms (Google, MS Teams, Facebook, et.al), none of which manage to tick every box. Yet those who did find their way to Linkr quickly discovered a pretty straightforward solution: an easy, manageable, secure homebase that allows them to launch projects and programs within an environment that fuels genuine engagement.
For Linkr, the pandemic brought to the fore what we’ve believed for so long - that engaging virtual collaboration can enhance the learning journey exponentially and strengthen community ties, when all the right front and backend boxes are ticked.
The Pudding
Linkr platforms are best at managing learning communities that revolve around specific projects or programs - no limits on how many at once - that require a secure homebase. They’re ideal for managing communities where members might be a mix of educators, learners, and administrators, hailing from different departments or institutions, countries or even continents. They can be operated as an adjunct to an institutional LMS, or carry the load of a central hub for an entire organization with thousands of members around the world.
The Global Centre for Pluralism uses their linkr to host communities of practice, support webinars, test new tools and programs, and grow a learning community around their pluralistic curriculum.
"We’re very happy with our interactive platform, as it has allowed us to manage and support a growing global community of educators. We are also more than satisfied with Linkr’s customer service - they fully grasp our work and mission and provide support in a timely, professional and thoughtful way.”
- Nicole Fournier-Sylvester, Ph.D., Education Manager for the Global Center for Pluralism
Hart House, a learning community associated with the University of Toronto, is using a linkr to launch a program that harnesses the power of globally networked teaching and learning. Their Global Commons is a community of educators and learners from various institutions collaborating on meaningful issues.
"Linkr made it easy for us to manage communication and assignments, and effectively co-create space for collaboration and dialogue among our global cohorts of students and educators based in 5 separate higher education institutions around the world."
- Marco Adamovic, M.Ed Coordinator, Learning and Community for U of T Hart House.
Engaging for the Future
As the lessons from this pandemic continue to be felt, we’ll be sharing stories of how Linkr continues to help education organizations and learning communities connect better with their members and provide a more enriching, dare we say thrilling experience!
Feel free to contact us if any of the above resonates for you or your organization. We’re here to help.