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Ed-Tech Partnership Offers Virtual CTE Courses in Skilled Trades

The K-12 courseware company Edmentum has added trade-specific online career and technical education courses for middle and high school students from Interplay Learning to its platform.

3D rendering of virtual human silhouette wearing a graduation cap on a technology background illustration, concept of online education or e-learning.
A pair of K-12 software companies are partnering to meet demand for more trade-based career and technical education (CTE) by integrating their offerings and including virtual simulations.

According to a recent news release, the K-12 courseware company Edmentum added online courses from Interplay Learning, a maker of immersive training classes for skilled trade work, to its CTE platform under the name Edmentum Career: Trade Prep. The courses use artificial intelligence, immersive simulations and virtual reality to teach middle and high school students about trade work in nine fields: electrical, plumbing, HVAC, appliances, facilities maintenance, clean energy, multifamily maintenance, residential construction and solar.

The news release describes the virtual environments as a means for students to practice essential trade skills without requiring them to handle live equipment, or the school to maintain costly CTE facilities.

Student demand for information about these fields has grown as the work has become more technologically advanced, according to Edmentum President and CEO Jamie Candee, whose company counts 6 million students as customers worldwide. The news release cites a 2024 survey of 1,000 people ages 16 to 26, conducted by the home-services technology company Thumbtack, in which 55 percent said they were considering a career in a skilled trade.

“As technology rapidly reshapes the skilled trades, we've seen an explosion in interest — among both educators and students — in these fields,” Candee said in a public statement. “But providing meaningful exposure and hands-on learning in HVAC, electrical, plumbing and other high-demand trades often requires a significant investment in equipment and specialized staff that is out of reach for many schools."

By using immersive technology and simulation-based content, Candee said schools now have a safe and cost-effective way to “dissolve barriers to experiential learning and scale access to job-ready training.”
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