Smart Horizons Career Online Education, a NexPort Solutions Partner, has been named a 2021 Cognia™ School of Distinction for excellence in education. Cognia, the global nonprofit school improvement organization, recognized 59 schools and 20 systems across the globe as Schools of Distinction.
Smart Horizons Career Online Education is part of Cognia’s inaugural Schools of Distinction program that recognizes pre-K–12 education institutions that exemplify excellence in education and service to learners. Cognia selected Smart Horizons Career Online Education as one of the 59 schools and 20 systems out of more than 1,200 institutions that were eligible for its 2021 Cognia Schools of Distinction. 
“We are honored to be recognized as a Cognia School System of Distinction,” said Dr. Howard Liebman, Superintendent of Schools for Smart Horizons Career Online Education. “This certainly validates our work and continued success in re-engaging adults into the educational system.”
Smart Horizons Career Online Education first earned Cognia Accreditation in 2011 and reaccreditation in 2016 and 2021. Smart Horizons Career Online Education participated in Cognia’s rigorous Accreditation Engagement Review process, which is based on research-based performance standards. The process includes a third-party review by education experts of evidence, interviews, and classroom observations. The evaluation covers Leadership Capacity, Learning Capacity, and Resource Capacity, as well as a demonstrated commitment to continuous improvement. 
“Smart Horizons Career Online Education is to be commended on their award as a School of Distinction,” said Dr. Mark A. Elgart, President and CEO of Cognia. “Cognia Accreditation is already a mark of distinction recognized around the world. Being named a School or District of Distinction further recognizes the commitment to excellence in education Smart Horizons Career Online Education has for its learners,” he added. 

For Cognia Global Network member institutions, Cognia offers an opportunity to be further recognized as a school or system of distinction in the year in which an accreditation engagement review is held. Unlike the typical five-year accreditation cycle, this new program recognizes institutions that have hosted a Cognia Accreditation Engagement Review within the recognition year. Learn more about Cognia membership online at Cognia.org.

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​Our team has decades of experience assisting organizations in delivering their training online. Our Learning Management Platform, NexPort, is trusted by Fortune 500 Companies and educational institutions, managing millions of enrollments. NexPort is a high availability, cloud based service that allows our partners to host one or many campuses. NexPort Analytics allows in-depth analysis of student behavior and progress while NexPort Campus allows partners to manage students, instructors, and curriculum for online delivery. To learn more about what we can do for your organization contact us today.

The NexPort Campus 6.6.0 release introduces many enhancements and new features. These include enhancements to the media library, better paging and filtering of catalogs, editable notification templates, and improvements to the search capabilities in many areas. Most notable among the new features are the Web Conferencing Assignments which allow instructors and curriculum developers to schedule and launch Zoom meetings directly from an assignment in a section.

Web Conferencing Assignments
With the release of version 6.6.0 curriculum developers and instructors now have the option of including scheduled web conferences directly in their classrooms. Web Conferencing Assignments can be included one or many times in a section and allow instructors or other chosen panelists to interact with students. They can be used for webinars, workshops, lectures or any other virtual gathering. Attendance is tracked within NexPort and grades can be given manually or automatically. Furthermore recorded web conferences can be made available after the live conference is over.

Notification Templates
Administrators can now override the notification templates for many notifications NexPort sends out. The custom templates can include most VTL properties. This allows administrators to control outgoing messages such as notices of assignment status. These settings can be found under the Organization -> Customize Tool -> Notification Settings.

Media Library Improvements
The media library used for including media in the media assignment has received a few improvements. FIrst, we added the improved uploader that allows multiple file uploads and is more reliable. Paging has been added and the thumbnail previews improved.

Paging and Search Improvements
The Catalog tool is now paged and includes a search feature. Many of the paged lists and admin searches will now remember your last search term and page even when you leave and return. The ticket batch listing is now paginated and, finally, the Courseware Assignment now allows curriculum developers to search for courseware by manifest ID as well as by name.

iSCORM Courseware Support
The NexPort SCORM player now supports the iSCORM extension to the SCORM 1.2 specification.
The IScorm Spec is a Super Set of the ADL SCORM 1.2 Specification. IScorm is designed to provide a few missing features to the SCORM 1.2 API while still supporting most of the original SCORM 1.2 specification. Here are a few goals:

• Add ASYNC callbacks to LMSInitialize, LMSCommit and LMSFinish
• Expose an alternative to the standard window.api object instance that is less generic
• Expose versioning

You can learn more at the iSCORM Spec site, https://github.com/NexPort-Solutions/iscorm .

Many Other Improvements
NexPort Campus 6.6 introduces many other improvements. These include an upgraded data tier, better support for high availability clustering and many bug fixes. A list of cases is shown below. If you would like to have more detailed information about any of the features, enhancements, or cases please contact us.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County has announced that they will offer Smart Horizons Career Online High School (SHCOHS) to parents of the children enrolled in their various programs. SHCOHS will be provided free of charge in an effort to help parents earn an accredited high school diploma and improve their immediate and long-term employment outlook, while enhancing family stability.

Located in Fort Lauderdale, FL, Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County serves over 12,500 youth ages 6 to 18 each year. Youth services and programs focus on everything from education, social recreation, health and physical education, to leadership and citizenship development, cultural enrichment, and personal adjustment with one-on-one counseling.

“This program encompasses what Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County is trying to do—serve the family as a whole,” said Chris Gentile, the Co-CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County. “Having the ability to provide these resources for our Club parents not only creates a brighter future for them, but a brighter future for our youth.”

Also based in Broward County, SHCOHS offers competency-based, workforce-aligned high school education for adults and older youths. The nationally accredited program blends flexible online delivery with extensive student support services and individual academic coaching.

“Smart Horizons Career Online High School shows what Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County is doing for the community,” said Tom Godart, Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County Board Member. “This program can break the cycle and create many opportunities for the families we serve.”

It is estimated that approximately 215,000 adults in Broward County lack a high school diploma, with more than 240,000 people living in poverty.1 Data show that high school graduates earn $250,000 more over the course of a lifetime,2 contributing an additional $957,600 to their local economy.3

In addition to a high school diploma, as part of the program parents will earn a workforce training certificate in fast-growing fields like home care services, food services, or commercial driving, or in career pathways such as retail customer service, security, child care, or office management.

“We are pleased to be partnering with this local non-profit in an effort to break the cycle of poverty in our community,” said Dr. Howard Liebman, the Superintendent of Schools for the SHCOHS district. “Earning a high school diploma builds a critical pathway to brighter futures, opening doors to employment opportunities or further educational attainment.”

About Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County is a nonprofit 501(C)(3) private agency. Founded in 1965, the mission of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County (BGCBC) is to enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring and responsible citizens. BGCBC’s goal is to provide world-class Club experiences that ensure success is within reach of every child who walks through the doors. They rely on funding raised by the Board of Directors, special events, general donations, corporate sponsors, foundation support, endowments along with various federal and local government grants related to services for at at-risk youth.
For more information please contact 954-537-1010 or visit www.bgcbc.org.

About Smart Horizons Career Online Education
Founded in 2009, Smart Horizons Career Online Education (SHCOE) is a private, Cognia-accredited online school district. SHCOE offers online high school diploma programs designed to reengage adults and older youth in the educational system and prepare them for the workplace or postsecondary education. The high school program includes a vocational certificate in career pathways such as Home Care Professional, Child Care, Office Management, Security Professional, Commercial Driving, Retail Customer Service, Food and Hospitality, Hospitality and Leisure, and General Career Preparation. To date, more than 11,000 students have graduated from the SHCOE district. For more information, visit shcoe.org.

NexPort Solutions Can Help
Our team has decades of experience assisting organizations in delivering their training online. Our Learning Management Platform, NexPort, is trusted by Fortune 500 Companies and educational institutions, managing millions of enrollments. NexPort is a high availability, cloud based service that allows our partners to host one or many campuses. NexPort Analytics allows in-depth analysis of student behavior and progress while NexPort Campus allows partners to manage students, instructors, and curriculum for online delivery. To learn more about what we can do for your organization contact us today.

Sources: 
1 U.S. Census Bureau, Quick Facts, Broward County, Florida, https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/browardcountyflorida/PST045216.

2 Alliance for Excellent Education, The Graduation Effect: Every Student’s Potential to Influence a Community, a State, and the Nation, November 2017, http://impact.all4ed.org/.

3 2020 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Current Population Survey, www.bls.gov/emp/chart-unemployment-earnings-education.htm.

NexPort Solution's Partner, Smart Horizons Career Online Education (SHCOE),  announced today that it has earned system reaccreditation by Cognia™ Accreditation Commission, a nonprofit organization that provides quality assurance for schools, school districts, and education service providers. Originally accredited in 2011, SHCOE’s 2021 reaccreditation is for a five-year term.
Cognia, formerly AdvancED, recognizes school districts that demonstrate the following: rigorous standards that focus on productive learning environments, equitable resource allocation that meets the needs of learners, and effective leadership. Earning accreditation from the Cognia Global Accreditation Commission means that the SHCOE school district and all its schools are accredited, and that SHCOE is recognized nationally as a school system that meets Cognia Standards of Quality and maintains a commitment to continuous improvement.
Dr. Howard Liebman, Superintendent of Schools stated, “Systems accreditation as conferred by the Cognia Global Accreditation Commission demonstrates to our stakeholders our commitment to excellence, our openness to external review and feedback, and our desire to be the best we can be on behalf of the students we serve.”
Dr. Mark A. Elgart, President and CEO of Cognia, stated, “Cognia System Accreditation is a rigorous process that focuses the entire school system and its community on the primary goal of preparing lifelong learners in engaging environments where all students can flourish. SHCOE is to be commended for demonstrating that it has met high standards and is making progress on key indicators that impact student learning.”
During the reaccreditation review, the Cognia team uncovered a deep sense of the “culture of hope” within SHCOE, noting the following themes:
Academic coaching is the cornerstone of SHCOE’s programs and the academic coaching system provides excellent practices for adult learning.
Partnerships with public libraries and corporations across the country provide rich connections between the adult students and SHCOE.
SHCOE is a highly mission-directed and strategic organization with passionate leadership guiding the way.
SHCOE is a data-rich and information-rich educational organization.
Cognia is the parent organization of the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI), Northwest Accreditation Commission (NWAC) and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI). Parents and interested community members can learn more about the Cognia Accreditation at cognia.org.
About Cognia
Cognia offers accreditation and certification, assessment, professional learning, and improvement services to institutions and other education providers. The result of the merger of AdvancED and Measured Progress, Cognia was formed to bridge the gap between school evaluation and student assessment. As a global nonprofit working in over 80 countries, our 36,000 institutions serve and support nearly 25 million students and five million educators every day. Cognia serves as trusted partner in advancing learning for all learners. Find out more at cognia.org.
About Smart Horizons Career Online Education
Founded in 2009, Smart Horizons Career Online Education (SHCOE) is the world’s first private accredited online school district. SHCOE offers online high school diploma programs designed to re-engage adults and older youth in the educational system and prepare them for the workplace or postsecondary education. The high school program includes a vocational certificate in career pathways such as home care professional, child care, office management, certified protection officer, homeland security, commercial driving, retail customer service, food services, hospitality, and general career preparation. For more information, visit shcoe.org.

Our team has decades of experience assisting organizations in delivering their training online. Our Learning Management Platform, NexPort, is trusted by Fortune 500 Companies and educational institutions, managing millions of enrollments. NexPort is a high availability, cloud based service that allows our partners to host one or many online campuses. NexPort Analytics allows in-depth analysis of student behavior and progress while NexPort Campus allows partners to manage students, instructors, and curriculum for online delivery. To learn more about what we can do for your organization contact us today.

Growing up in a single parent home in Arkansas, Monthodsha Burl found grade school to be an outlet for her. But, when she started high school, she also started to struggle with her coursework—and she didn’t have anyone at home to turn to for support. In her senior year of high school, Monthodsha dropped out.
Now, 23-year-old Monthodsha wants a better future for her 3-year-old son.
“When my son’s father passed away a year ago, I knew I would need to complete my high school education in order to get a higher paying job—and create a better life for my son,” she said.
Getting back on track with help from her employer
At work, she spotted a flyer promoting the opportunity to earn her diploma for free through Career Online High School (COHS). McDonald’s offers COHS to restaurant employees as part of the Archways to Opportunity educational benefits program. After Monthodsha considered the GED and other online high school options, she knew COHS would be the right fit for her.
“COHS immediately felt like a better fit to earn my high school diploma. It’s more like real life—and it meets students where they already are,” she said. “They accepted transfer credits from my other school, so I was able to start my program with credits already under my belt.”
And with those credits, Monthodsha earned her diploma—the stepping stone she needed to be accepted at the University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton. She’ll pursue an associate’s degree starting in the fall.
Finding support when and where she needed it
Monthodsha credits her success to working with an Academic Coach and having access to tools that helped her progress in her coursework. Whether it was texts and emails from her Coach or online tutorials, she was never without support.
“Having an Academic Coach is better than having a counselor,” she said. “My Coach was very hands-on and always available to answer my questions—whether they were about coursework, going to college, or just advice about life.”
She also appreciated the ability to work at her own pace. “At first I was overwhelmed, but as long as you take notes, you’ll be fine. And if you fail a test, you’ll learn why—so you can understand better for the next time.”
Reaching for her goals—and inspiring others along the way
“If I can do it, you can do it” is more than just Monthodsha’s parting advice. She shared that a friend of hers who works at another McDonald’s restaurant is now planning to apply to the COHS program after seeing Monthodsha’s success.
“I told her, in addition to a diploma, you also earn a career certificate. I am so proud of that accomplishment. It makes me official,” she beamed.

Smart Horizons Career Online High School (SHCOHS) is part of the world’s first accredited private, national online school district. SHCOHS offers affordable, career-based online high schools that serve adults and young adults who need high school diplomas in order to access better career and educational opportunities. The SHCOHS is a NexPort Solutions Partner and their program is managed and delivered using the NexPort Learning Management Platform.

Our team has decades of experience assisting organizations in delivering their training online. Our Learning Management Platform, NexPort, is trusted by Fortune 500 Companies and educational institutions, managing millions of enrollments. NexPort is a high availability, cloud based service that allows our partners to host one or many campuses. NexPort Analytics allows in-depth analysis of student behavior and progress while NexPort Campus allows partners to manage students, instructors, and curriculum for online delivery. To learn more about what we can do for your organization contact us today.

For 43-year-old Marvin Sandoval, the journey to earning his high school diploma started in his home country of Guatemala. When he left home to follow in the footsteps of his older brothers and immigrate to the United States, Marvin was just 17—and had not been to school in a number of years.

“In Guatemala, education is only free through middle school,” Marvin says. “I am the youngest of nine sons; my family did not have money to pay for my studies.”

Soon after arriving in the U.S., Marvin found employment with McDonald’s—a company he’s proud to still work for more than 25 years later.

Education that works for the full-time employee
During that time, completing his high school education was never far from Marvin’s mind. Yet, many of the avenues he explored felt more like dead ends. “I pursued various adult education opportunities, including the GED, but I struggled to complete them while working.”

Through a McDonald’s restaurant employee benefit, Marvin enrolled in Career Online High School (COHS). “COHS was the perfect solution,” he says. “The program allowed me to juggle work and family—and complete assignments at my own pace.”

Finding success through academic support
Flexibility is just one of the aspects of COHS that helped Marvin achieve his academic goals. He also credits both his manager at McDonald’s and his COHS Academic Coach with helping him stay motivated throughout his program.

“My COHS coach was so supportive, always sending me messages of encouragement,” he says. “She would tell me: ‘Even though it feels like no one is watching, I am here.’ Those messages kept the fire in me.”

Completing his degree wasn’t without its challenges. Marvin often felt like he was starting his education from scratch, having no school records or transfer credits to build upon. He recalls the many nights he’d fall asleep with his computer on his chest, exhausted from working but eager to stay on the path to graduation.

He persevered—and his hard work paid off. He completed all 18 credits, four months ahead of schedule. “Looking back, I know my coach’s support made all the difference.”

A stepping stone to what comes next
Today, not only is Marvin a valued area supervisor for five McDonald’s restaurants, he’s a proud graduate of the COHS program.

“Earning my high school diploma has given me a sense of purpose and accomplishment. Next, I plan to continue my education with a focus on criminal justice.”

And as for Marvin’s family? “My 83-year-old mother is my inspiration—she learned to read at the age of 63,” he shares. “She’s so proud to hang my graduation photo on her wall for everyone to see.”

​Smart Horizons Career Online High School (SHCOHS) is part of the world’s first accredited private, national online school district. SHCOHS offers affordable, career-based online high schools that serve adults and young adults who need high school diplomas in order to access better career and educational opportunities. The SHCOHS is a NexPort Solutions Partner and their program is managed and delivered using the NexPort Learning Management Platform.

​Our team has decades of experience assisting organization in delivering their training online. Our Learning Management Platform, NexPort, is trusted by Fortune 500 Companies and educational institutions, managing millions of enrollments. NexPort is a high availability, cloud based service that allows our partners to host one or many campuses. NexPort Analytics allows in-depth analysis of student behavior and progress while NexPort Campus allows partners to manage students, instructors, and curriculum for online delivery. To learn more about what we can do for your organization contact us today.

Many online learning courses cover complex and technical topics. Learners are often compelled to undergo training for their jobs. They may, for example, be required to attend compliance training or learn to operate certain programs. In order to be effective, training needs to hold people's attention. It isn't enough to bombard learners with data. Bored users are seldom successful. Here are some ways to make even the driest topics more interesting.

• Social learning. Working together helps learners stay focused. When two or more people combine their efforts, they can discuss questions and clarify points for each other. Provide tools for learners to collaborate on your platform and encourage them to connect on social media. 
• Gamification. Transforming a learning exercise into a game makes it more fun for everyone. Just about any subject can be gamified with compelling visuals and creating an interesting challenge such as a race, treasure hunt, or fighting zombies. Users are then motivated to get through the material to improve their scores. 
• Microlearning. Breaking up complex information into smaller chunks makes it more accessible.  
• Complement online training with live training and informal learning activities such as company outings, mentoring and encouraging social media engagement.

​Not everyone learns the same way. There are visual, aural, and kinesthetic learners. Of course, many people are a mixture but most have a dominant learning style. Accommodating different learning styles is a challenge for classroom instructors as well as creators of e-learning programs. With online learning, however, there's the danger of creating an oversimplified course that only addresses one learning style. For example, if your course is mainly composed of graphs, charts, and other images you're focusing on visual learning.

It's important to create a diversity of tools for all types of learners. One of the benefits of e-learning is that learners can access material at their own pace. Thus, a visual learner might re-watch videos while an aural learner can re-play audio files. Kinesthetic learners might prefer hands-on material such as games.

In many industries, employees come from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. Not everyone is tech-savvy. If learning applications are too difficult to use, it defeats the purpose. You want learners focusing on absorbing the material, not having to spend hours learning how to use the platform. Another issue is that people use a variety of devices and operating systems. 

• The platform should be intuitive and easy to navigate. Learners should be able to easily adjust controls such as volume and go back or forward on videos and other presentations. 
• Choose a platform that's accessible from all widely-used devices and platforms. It should be mobile-friendly, for example. 
• Support should be available if learners have questions or run into problems. A FAQ is good for answering common questions. There should also be reliable support by phone, email, and/or chat.

​If the course material is too theoretical and abstract, learners may not come away with the real-world skills they require to apply what they've learned. Some e-learning content is heavy with data and theory but doesn't really illustrate how the information can be utilized. You can bridge the gap between theory and practice by introducing role-play and interactive videos. Dramatizations can work for certain topics such as compliance training for harassment. With interactive videos, learners can provide feedback and test their knowledge. Simulations and gamification can also bring issues to life in a realistic way.

With any type of training, it's important to evaluate the results. You want to know what is and isn't working so you can make improvements. On the one hand, e-learning is the perfect environment for tracking certain types of data. If users are taking tests or assessments, for example, it's simple to score the results. In other ways, however, it may be more difficult to evaluate the training's effectiveness. For example, if a course is covering many topics, you may not be clear about what people are absorbing. Additionally, assessments taken right after training don't reveal how long users retain the information. 

• Use a learning management system (LMS) that provides ample resources for evaluating the effectiveness of the training.  
• Incorporate quizzes and tests into training as much as possible. Aside from helping you track results, these are useful for the learners to let them track their progress.  
• For training that's not mandatory, track the drop-off rate of courses.  
• Ask for feedback after each course. Learners can often provide insights into issues with training that might not be obvious to developers.  
• Offer refresher courses regularly to keep the material fresh in learners' minds.

Industries are transforming faster than ever. Training material, to be effective, must contain the very latest information. In some cases, such as compliance training, it's essential to include the most recent compliance rules. In all cases, you want to make sure learners are getting the most relevant and timely training. You may also want to make changes to improve the overall effectiveness of the course. You might want to include new features and remove ones that proved ineffective. 

• Make changes based on evaluations. We already noted the need to track results. It's equally important to make improvements when appropriate.  
• Stay current with the latest changes in your industry. Make note of any crucial changes that should be included in the coursework. There should be consistent feedback between team members who track recent changes and e-learning course developers.   
• Create master courses that contain the fundamentals and evergreen content. You can then supplement and re-purpose the master course as necessary.

​All types of learning and training come with certain challenges. In many ways, e-learning is more efficient than traditional learning.  For example, it's generally faster to update material with online platforms than to publish hard copies of books and other printed materials. However, if you want to get the most out of your e-learning courses, it's necessary to carefully assess learners' needs and strive to consistently improve the platform.

Our team has decades of experience assisting organization in delivering their training online. Our Learning Management Platform, NexPort, is trusted by Fortune 500 Companies and educational institutions, managing millions of enrollments. NexPort is a high availability, cloud based service that allows our partners to host one or many campuses. NexPort Analytics allows in-depth analysis of student behavior and progress while NexPort Campus allows partners to manage students, instructors, and curriculum for online delivery. To learn more about what we can do for your organization contact us today. 

Once again the team at NexPort Solutions has celebrated the holiday season by gathering together to enjoy each others company and play a few competitive games. This year, in light of the pandemic, we gathered virtually on Zoom. We started in the morning with a quarterly retrospective and gathered for the holiday party in the afternoon.

At the party, we played a combination Christmas Trivia/Scavenger Hunt and held an Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest. The winner of the sweater contest was selected by a vote and received 10 points. Each trivia question was worth 1 point and each scavenger hunt puzzle was worth 2 points. The person with the most points won a $50 Amazon gift card. This year's winner was our intern Will Hughes!

You can check out the trivia/scavenger hunt here. Look below for pictures of our Ugly Sweater entrants.

​From the entire NexPort Team we hope that everyone has a safe and enjoyable holiday season!