Digitize Pathways
A group of local learners have begun an innovative digital skills program focussed on enterprise and employability, and it’s having a powerful impact on our community.
Lornshill Academy has partnered with Alloa-based ed-tech start-up Digitize to offer a group of learners a future-focused learning programme and digital skills curriculum that will see them work on real-life challenges and projects. Digitize Pathways is a mentored program developed by Clacks based start-up – Digitize, based out of Co. Lab in Alloa. The programme sees the learners work through practical online challenges to earn skills badges in crucial digital skills in topics such as cloud communication and collaboration, cyber security, data analysis, web design, games development and digital marketing.
Digitize Pathways learners are partnered with a digital mentor who meets with them to support their progress. They have supported in-person sessions at Co. Lab to get a taste of a modern working environment in a digital business. The Digitize Pathways programme also sees them develop a portfolio website/digital CV to showcase their digital skills and achievements and the opportunity to work on a live project. The live project will see the young people develop a real digital solution either in partnership with a local organisation/small business or through their online enterprise.
The traditional model of academic education and career pathways isn’t for everyone, and the digital revolution offers new skills and pathways to careers. This has been clear to the team behind Digitize from the beginning; last year, Digitize Pathways supported three local unemployed young people into full-time digital careers. We’ve seen such a change in these young people, their confidence and their place in society. They now have experience and a portfolio of projects demonstrating skills that are in-demand. It’s uncovered for us a real need for this to be scaled and other young people to benefit as our initial cohort have.
Pam Currie, Digitize Founder said:
“We’ve been so proud of the fact that we can support young people into exciting digital careers. And that’s the key thing really: it’s not just a pathway to employment but to employment in digital roles that are in demand and offer long-term prospects. A career as a social media manager or web developer could open up so many opportunities. Even general digital skills are proven to lead to higher earnings and increased employability”
A mum of one of the young people in our program has spoken about an immediate positive impact after only a few weeks of the programme and the whole project team is really excited about what we can achieve for young people like her:
“I’ve never seen her so engaged in learning. After her call with her mentor she worked through her Digitize work until 4pm. This has changed her life!”
Jasmine plans to develop her own e-commerce business as part of the programme and is developing her skills in product development and digital marketing as she builds up to launching her own enterprise.
The impact that Digitize has had on young people is felt by educators at Lornshill Academy:
“Working in partnership with Digitize has been a fantastic opportunity for our young people at Lornshill Academy. The staff involved in the programme have been extremely supportive and have provided an excellent environment for our young people to thrive. Our pupils and parents speak very highly of the programme and I am excited to see how they continue to develop their digital skills at Digitize and beyond.”
Kayleigh McMahon, Pupil Support
“The Digitize Pathway project has been really exciting and has allowed us to explore more diverse and bespoke pathways to try to support every young person with their learning. We are really pleased with the progress of all the young people involved and look forward to developing our partnership with Co.Lab over the coming months.”
Phil Arnold, Deputy Head Teacher
Funded Adult learning
The Digitize team has a large number of funded places available to adults looking for employability skills in digital. The program sees you work online through practical challenges that will see you learn by doing and earn badges for your achievements. It’s supported by drop-ins at Co.Lab and for more information please contact our onboarding manager: Courtney Steedman
Low cost and funded digital support for businesses/schools
The Digitize team is keen to work with partners in local schools/organisations/business to provide digital services. This will allow our Pathways learners virtual work experience opportunities doing real life projects. Do you need support with website development or digital marketing? Could your staff benefit from training in Microsoft 365 or Google workspace? Get in touch with Carole Harper from the Partnerships team to discuss how we Digitize can help. Some of our projects can be funded and we offer a low cost monthly fee to have access to our teams of interns.
