Workforce Readiness

Pearson and Forage Team Up to Bring Job Simulations to College Students

• By Kate Lucariello
• 11/27/23

Textbook and courseware company Pearson and job recruiting company Forage have announced a partnership to incorporate job simulations into Pearson's MyLab platform and Pearson+. The starting Forage job simulation integration will be offered in November 2023 to Pearson MyLab students studying in 15 different disciplines in business and economics.

Later this year, Pearson+ users will be able to access Forage's full 350 job simulations library. Starting in 2024, students will be able to earn badges from Pearson solution Credly upon completion of a Forage job simulation.

The existing MyLab courseware platform allows educators to design, track, and assess student coursework. Features include:

• Freehand grader: Students upload assignments, demonstrate their thought processes, and get helpful feedback. Students can use the MyLab app on their computers with select titles.
• Dynamic study modules: Modules pose questions adapted to each student's individual progress and give feedback to help them advance.
• Targeted feedback: Educators can adjust lectures to students' needs and goals.
• Pre-built courses and assignments: Courses come with specific expert-developed foundational content that can be tailored to an educator's teaching needs.
• Early alerts: Students struggling, falling behind, or who may need extra help can be flagged with an algorithm in MyLab that projects risk levels and alerts instructors.
• Learning catalytics: Educators can use this interactive student response tool to pose questions and build surveys to assess student understanding, using real-time data to adjust instruction as needed. The tool can also group students into discussion, team-based learning, and peer-to-peer learning groups.
• Pearson+ channels: Short videos and practice materials provide content for students seeking more information on a topic. Students can also access the learning community to discuss materials, get peer help, and rank the videos and practice materials.

The addition of the free Forage job simulations ensures that students can explore what they are studying in their courses in the context of what it would be like to work in that field and for specific companies.

"Preparing for the workforce can be daunting for any college student," said Tom ap Simon, Pearson's higher education division president. "Now students can build their skills anywhere, anytime, inside the same trusted Pearson platforms they already use for their studies."

"Forage simulations allow students to explore what it's like to work in their desired field and gain practical skills to bolster what they've learned in the classroom. Students also have the option of letting companies see their completed work," the company said.

"Through this partnership, Forage will build on Pearson's offering by giving students access to job simulations authored by some of the world's most iconic employers," said Tom Brunskill, Forage CEO.

Some of those companies include Red Bull, GE Aerospace, and Citi.

After completing a Forage simulation, student Alvin Fan was hired by Citi.

"This program on Forage is like having binoculars," Fan said. "You aren't experiencing the entire environment yet, but you get to peer across to see what it's like, piecing together what you have read about. After the Citi program, I knew what skills I needed to focus on. It helped me to understand what I need to work on and what I might be good at."

Visit the Pearson+ page to learn more about its features.

To learn more about Forage, visit its Education page.