This post comes from Information Week.

The demand for IT skills has become ubiquitous across every industry globally. The market for IT professionals is strong and is still the fastest-growing sector in the U.S. economy, with more than a million new jobs projected to be added between 2004 and 2014. Five of the 30 occupations projected by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to grow the fastest by 2016 are IT-related, led by network and data communications analysts, software engineers, and systems analysts.

The growth in IT-related positions is driven by new opportunities to leverage technology in the organization, and by businesses recognizing the impact that IT can have on revenue. Another important factor contributing to the growth in demand for IT talent is beginning to appear in news headlines: “By 2010, 40% of the U.S. workforce is set to retire.” The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that in 2010, there will be 52% more people in the 55-to-64 age bracket than there were in that age group in 2000. Organizations will face significant knowledge loss because of retirements over the coming decade. Click here to read the rest of this  article.

CourseAdvisor, an established marketing and lead generation company operating one of the top online education directories, and Eduventures, the leader in shared-cost, data-driven research and consulting for higher education, today announced results from an online poll of executives representing more than 120 postsecondary educational institutions. The poll found that more than 53 percent of respondents agree that adult learners are the most challenging group to reach and retain. “With the enrollment of college students age 35 and over projected to increase by 7 percent over the next few years, understanding how to communicate with adult learners is extremely important,” said Noah Carp, Senior Analyst, Eduventures. “By taking a data-driven analytical approach to marketing and recruiting, the likelihood of finding the right student for the right program at the right school can increase tremendously. As a result, the challenges of retention can also be lessened through an informed and well-executed recruiting strategy.”

Additionally, participants noted that parents (48 percent) and peers (47 percent) continue to be the biggest influence for students when deciding on colleges and programs.

Participants included senior level managers from the Admissions, Marketing and Recruitment departments and were surveyed during a recent webcast led by Noah Carp, Senior Analyst with Eduventures, and Justin Klapprodt, Director of Strategic Analysis of CourseAdvisor. The webcast discussed the shifting student composition and the best methods of reaching those students, how the millennial explosion is having an impact on traditional four-year programs, why adult learners are turning to online education programs, and best recruitment practices. The webcast, “Recruitment and Retention Strategies for the Changing Student Profile,” can be viewed at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/970140809.

“The postsecondary market is experiencing a generational shift. More adults than ever are going back to school, and the glut of high school applicants is keeping acceptance rates low and competition at an all-time high,” said Justin Klapprodt, Director of Strategic Analysis, CourseAdvisor. “College admissions officers and marketing professionals need to re-evaluate their strategies as they incorporate generational behaviors into marketing and enrollment programs to reach various student profiles.”

About Eduventures, Inc.

Eduventures is the industry leader in shared-cost, data-driven research and consulting for higher education. Eduventures is dedicated to helping colleges and universities become more efficient and successful institutions. More than 300 higher education institutions participate in one or more of Eduventures’ seven Learning Collaboratives: Continuing and Professional Education, Development, Enrollment Management, Online Higher Education, Schools of Education, Student Affairs, and Summer Sessions. These collaboratives provide members with research reports on current trends and issues, custom analysis, implementation support, and opportunities to network with fellow professionals. Additionally, Eduventures provides consulting and management services to colleges and universities, drawing upon market research, data analysis, and best practices developed through the company’s Learning Collaboratives. More about Eduventures can be found at www.eduventures.com.

About CourseAdvisor

CourseAdvisor helps postsecondary schools maximize enrollment with high volumes of qualified leads. Combining mathematical modeling, behavioral analysis and sophisticated search technology, CourseAdvisor, owned by The Washington Post Company, predicts and adjusts for new behaviors to stay ahead of enrollment trends. Currently, more than 2.5 million students use CourseAdvisor’s leading online education directory, CourseAdvisor.com, where they can match their skills to online degree and certificate programs from over 500 educational institutions and 8000 programs. For more information, please visit http://www.courseadvisor.com.

Frustrated with the inability of traditional flashcard-style, language-learning tools to support his desire to learn Japanese over a lifetime, German physicist Dr. Marc Busch launches Comprehencia.com, an advanced online learning support portal.

The way Dr. Marc Busch tells it, there has been for far too long a gaping hole in the tools that exist to help people learn languages and build vocabulary. Comprehencia.com, Dr. Busch’s brainchild and newly launched online language learning support portal, fills that hole. The newly launched portal allows language learners, classmates, teachers, families and friends to study content individually or collaboratively by forming online study groups; by creating, importing and sharing word and data lists online; and by monitoring the learning progress over time. Comprehencia.com members pay as they study, in three-month increments, allowing for even very long gaps in study as so often happens in life. Comprehencia.com also addresses several critical issues common with traditional flashcard-style learning tools.

“There are two major issues people run into when using flashcard-type tools to help them learn a language,” says Dr. Busch. “First, flashcards alone can not account for the unique learning history of each word—the cards can not ‘know’ whether it took you a long time to learn the word because it was difficult for you, or whether you learned it was easy for you and quickly learned. Second, flashcards do not account for our tendency to forget over time. If you come back to your flashcard box system after not studying for an entire year, like I did when I was studying Japanese, you will find that the box represents your learning from a year ago, when you last studied. It does not truly represent what has been going on in your mind.”

Comprehencia.com, leveraging computer power and a sophisticated algorithm, resolves those issues. The system considers how a learner learns each flashcard item, the passage of time and a learner’s tendency to forget. “In Comprehencia, your flashcards are always in motion,” explains Dr. Busch. “The total word pool changes every second based on how you learned each word or item and how long it has been since you last studied. Comprehencia.com reflects and adapts to the changes in your mind, even when you are not studying.”

According to Dr. Busch, it is Comprehencia’s ability to store and reflect a learner’s whole learning history over time—even over a lifetime—that sets his language learning portal apart. “I believe that anyone who has ever spent time learning a language only to have to start over again from scratch after a lengthy pause will appreciate what Comprehencia offers,” he explains. “Use it for a year—take a break—and when you come back you will not have to start again from scratch. Comprehencia lets you continue your learning over the whole of your life.”

Students, teachers and others interested in learning more, in taking an online tour of the system, or in signing up for a free trial should visit http://comprehencia.com.

About Comprehencia

Dr Marc Busch has spent the last few years working in industrial research and has headed up a number of international projects in the fields of molecular imaging and computer visualisation. In his spare time, Busch enjoys learning all about Japan and the Japanese language. His own frustrating experience with the many Leitner-type flash card programs gave him the impetus to start Comprehencia in August 2007. The object of the program was to develop an algorithm which can realistically model the state of knowledge of the learner even after fairly long learning breaks. The result of this research is the online portal http://comprehencia.com, where learners all over the world can use this algorithm for their own language studies.

Media Contact:
Dr. Marc Busch
Kronenburger Strasse 28
50935 Cologne, Germany
Tel.: +49-221-2590-1624