upGrad KnowledgeHut aims to upskill another 50,000 global learners through immersive learning experience platform, PRISM, by end FY22

By India Education Diary Bureau Admin On Oct 22, 2021

Mumbai : upGrad KnowledgeHut, a 100% subsidiary of Asia’s higher EdTech major upGrad announced its ambitious target of upskilling another 50,000 learners through its immersive learning experience platform, PRISM, by end FY22. upGrad KnowledgeHut is bridging the technology talent gap via PRISM, through short-term software development courses aiming to get learners job ready. The number of learners using the PRISM platform stood at close to 80,000 as on October 1, 2021.

PRISM offers a powerful 360-degree, outcome-based learning experience on a single, easy-to-navigate skill-building platform. The platform gauges conceptual understanding and knowledge retention of learners through integrated LIVE interactions, instructor-led sessions and microlearning capsules with assessments at every level. Mapped to the evaluation framework, these assessments help the learner get valuable insights around their strengths and weaknesses, to further improve their core knowledge and skills. Industry standards such as Bloom’s taxonomy levels are integrated into the mapping of learning assets, ensuring highly effective assessment and pedagogical effectiveness.

With nearly 12% of the $240 billion corporate training market spent on tools, there is a high demand for learning experience platforms which bring together embedded hands-on learning with intelligent search, many forms of assessment and advanced analytics. Keeping these factors in view, PRISM has AI/ML integrations, Deep Learning and NLP systems, experience API (xAPI), personalization with predictive analytics, adaptive learning, adaptive assessments, content recommendation, gamification, and advanced analytics in the pipeline.

Addressing this growing demand through the KnowledgeHut acquisition, upGrad is strengthening its foothold across international markets by venturing into global short form course offerings. Furthermore, with the access to KnowledgeHut’s 250K global learner pool upGrad is aggressively pushing to achieve its ambitious global expansion plans.

The online learning market alone is estimated to grow to $350 billion by 2025 according to a Forbes report. The projected growth in the immersive technologies market—expected to grow at ~38% CAGR over the next decade—is an indication of the rise in global demand for immersive learning platforms, especially across the United States, United Kingdom and Singapore.

Subramanyam Reddy, CEO, upGrad KnowledgeHut, said, “With the pandemic disrupting industries and causing increased levels of anxiety among the global workforce, the importance of upskilling cannot be denied. We can see automation taking over traditional jobs, making outcome-based skilling the core tenet to drive resilience for the future. To ensure a competitive edge in a changing employability landscape, there is an urgent need to address the emerging skill gap as is evident from the falling employability levels. This can only be achieved by offering professionals a chance to upskill and work simultaneously, to mitigate the financial burden. This is where our learning experience platform, PRISM will help in upping the learning curve with an immersive virtual learning experience personalized through NextGen Diagnostic Assessments and Skill Mapping. The rising demand for our learning courses has given us the confidence to target another 50,000 learners by the end of FY22″

Mayank Kumar, Co-Founder & MD, upGrad, said, “At upGrad we have been focused on offering industry relevant courses that enable working professionals to simultaneously work and up-skill themselves, without loss of pay acting as an inherent deterrent. To realise this vision, we have entered into the online short form courses, which requires a relatively lesser time investment on the part of the learners to be upskilled in industry relevant skills with immediate real-world applications. Furthermore, leveraging KnowledgeHut’s global presence will allow us to access the global learner pool, and expand our program portfolio, thus strengthening upGrad’s presence across the world.”

Post the completion of training, upGrad KnowledgeHut offers career guidance on implementing the technologies, methodologies, and frameworks back at the workplace to address project challenges that may arise. Industry experts handhold PRISM graduates with personalized mentoring for six months, while community forums provide an opportunity to forge connections with peers and mentors.