Hoonuit Buys Ed Training Company, Offers PD Credit Through U North Dakota

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 11/01/17

Online training and professional development provider Hoonuit has bought Whitewater Learning, adding 16 courses to its PD portfolio. The acquisition has allowed Hoonuit (previously named Atomic Learning) to introduce a new "Pathways" bundling, which combines multiple related modules to create a larger training concept that can earn the student college credit. Hoonuit also offers more general online training for numerous technologies.

Under an agreement with the University of North Dakota, educators can use the courses Hoonuit and Whitewater have created to earn professional development credits.

However, by completing a Pathway set, educators can earn a graduate credit through U North Dakota by working with an instructor of record at the university, receiving feedback on assignments and creating a "final reflection" paper that ties together the learning. The Pathways solution pulls together 15 or more hours of PD modules, including required and elective modules. Among the bundles are pathways covering "Creating Your Online Course," "Reading Essentials" and "Using Data in Education."

Hoonuit has finalized 13 pathways with the university for accreditation and plans to continue to expand its accredited course offerings and expand its university partnerships to other institutions. The initial accredited courses are currently available in the Hoonuit platform.

"Through accreditation, we are able to signal to educators which professional learning content is truly going to move their teaching abilities to the next level," said Kyle Knutson, coordinator of professional development for educators at the university, in a press release. "This partnership recognizes the high caliber professional development opportunities offered through Hoonuit."

Among the PD offerings now available from the combined companies are courses covering:

  • Administration and leadership;
  • Classroom management;
  • Community outreach;
  • Data usage in education;
  • Instructional strategies for substitutes;
  • Math and reading;
  • Online class creation;
  • School safety;
  • Special education needs; and
  • Technology integration.

Hoonuit's offerings are in use by faculty and students at Miami University in Ohio and the University of Alaska Anchorage, among others.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

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