LinkedIn Learning Launches to Bolster Professional Development in UTEP Community
Last Updated on November 17, 2020 at 12:00 AM
Originally published November 17, 2020
By Elizabeth Ashby
UTEP Communications
Students, faculty and staff from The University of Texas at El Paso will notice a new application when logging into my.utep.edu.
The newly launched LinkedIn Learning tool provides access to thousands of professional and personal development resources for the UTEP community, including students who graduated in Spring 2020.
These courses, which cover a wide range of topics including leadership, management, marketing, business analysis and education, are available free to those who log in from my.utep.edu, thanks to funding from the federal CARES Act. Access will be available through September 2021, and a LinkedIn account is not needed to access the platform.
Users are able to set goals for the week, access a range of beginner to advanced courses, and earn certifications in their fields. Once they sign up on the platform and detail topics of interest, they are led to a home page with a range of video lessons tailored to their interests.
Students, faculty and staff who are experiencing more online learning and remote work can use the tool to supplement training that is less accessible outside of a traditional face-to-face setting.
“We are hopeful that students, faculty and staff will see the benefit of LinkedIn Learning,” said Louie Rodriguez, associate vice president for divisional operations and strategic initiatives in UTEP’s Division of Student Affairs. “Because of our transition to online learning and our limitations of offering in-person training, LinkedIn Learning is helping fill that gap.”
Faculty can pull content through Blackboard, while students and staff can tailor the video courses to their career goals.
“LinkedIn Learning offers members of the UTEP community opportunities to enhance professional development based on their diverse needs and interests,” said Betsy Castro-Duarte, director of the University Career Center and project lead. “CARES funding allows us to pilot test resources like LinkedIn Learning (LiL) while we are away from the campus.”
The more than 16,000 video resources offered through LinkedIn Learning, which acquired Lynda.com, have been used in the past by faculty members who saw value in integrating video learning courses in their coursework.
Graphic design lecturer John Dunn started using video instruction when he noticed that students would more effectively retain knowledge from video tutorials on Adobe Illustrator.
“I’m a strong believer in online learning,” Dunn said. “Students could learn how to teach themselves, they would learn more and retain it, and they would be challenging themselves. That’s when I started using the videos, so I was able to spend time in the classroom working with the students hands on.”
The support of LinkedIn Learning is part of a mix of programs that would serve as an investment in the University and could make an impact beyond this one-year designation of this funding, Rodriguez said.
“You'll see through the various programming ideas that we have it is a mix of exactly that, and so LinkedIn Learning is one of those examples,” he said.
Other CARES programming examples aimed at bolstering student success include the Entrepreneur Bootcamp run by the Mike Loya Center for Innovation and Commerce, the Employer-Led Professional Development Institute, and the CARES Internship Program run by staff at the Career Center and the Center for Community Engagement.
Register here: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/activate
See a video tutorial here: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/how-to-use-linkedin-learning/how-to-access-linkedin-learning-2?u=48759572
