STATE OF EDTECH 2023-2024: The Minds Behind What’s Now and What’s Next, featuring: >> 10 edtech companies to watch >> EDTECH’S TOP 100 [from K-12, to higher ed and workforce] >> 1000 companies transforming education Link to Download Issue
Workforce has been cited in Site Selection Magazineâs annual survey of corporate consultants as the No. 1 factor in site selection decisions for several years in a row. The 2023 Workforce Guide is a special report providing insight into workforce development partnerships and practices across the U.S.
Members of a South Carolina industry association say a fun online game with prizes could put young people in line for prized STEM careers.
The industry is life sciences, the fastest-growing industry among South Carolinaâs knowledge economy sectors, having grown by more than 42% since 2017. The organization is SCBIO, a statewide life sciences organization representing more than 1,000 organizations statewide employing more than 87,000 professionals across the sectorâs entire range of disciplines. In early November 2022, it partnered with Skillionaire GamesTM â the business-to-consumer side of Greenville-based education technology firm skillsgapp â to announce the recent launch of Rad Lab, a mobile phone game that provides organizers with trackable geographic data and customizable incentives based on a playerâs location, performance and proficiencies as they compete to gain ever-higher levels of skill in various STEM-based life science areas.
Using mobile gaming to help young students understand existing jobs
According to research, 95% of U.S. teens have access to a smartphone. Tina Zwolinski, co-founder and CEO of skillsgapp, says there is great opportunity to introduce young students â via their phones â to career options.
âSkillsgapp is a workforce pipeline initiative and the tool that we use as part of that initiative is mobile gaming,â explains Zwolinski. âWe focus on middle school and high school ages. Thereâs a real opportunity through career awareness to help them navigate. High schoolers have to make decisions on what theyâre going to do after school. Those are really important years of influence.â
In addition to soft skills, Zwolinski says game models â which not all have launched â focus on cybersecurity, aerospace, automotive, skilled trades, advanced manufacturing, agriculture, STEM, and life sciences.