PRINTING United Alliance is proud to support the students and educators shaping the future of the printing industry. Through our iLEARNING+ Member Series, we spotlight how students and professors are using the Alliance's iLEARNING+ platform to enhance instruction, build industry skills, and strengthen workforce development. The following is a Q&A with Dr. Celeste Calkins, assistant professor at Illinois State University.
How have you incorporated PRINTING United Alliance’s iLEARNING+ courses or certifications into your program’s curriculum or classroom activities?
To start, I love the opportunity for my students to see that the content we cover in the classroom is real-world applicable. Meaning, I can direct them to some of the iLEARNING+ courses, and they will see similar content. It makes it more real for them when they can engage in that way. I currently teach two senior-level courses where we utilize the iLEARNING+ certifications (Digital Print Estimating and Color Management Fundamentals). I believe the opportunity for students to complete the certifications and then place them on their resume and/or their LinkedIn profile as they head out looking for careers helps to set them apart.
What impact has the Alliance’s iLEARNING+ platform had on your students’ engagement and motivation to learn more about the printing and graphic arts industry?
The real-world application, I think, is what keeps them most engaged. It is one thing to have a lecture about color models and ICC profiles in the classroom, but to have similar content shared from an organization like PRINTING United Alliance, it hits differently. When I use the estimating certification course in tandem with additional course content, I think it acts to reinforce the importance of the information. It also motivates them to do well in the course, as they know they need to pass the exam to earn the certification. They tend to stay more on top of the material and ask more questions.
What is the value to you, as an educator, of being able to provide your students with free access to iLEARNING+ courses and certifications?
These courses and certifications help set our students up for success in the field. To come out of their undergrad with two industry certifications as well as other course experience shows industry leaders that they are motivated, engaged, and prepared to continue learning in their career. Seeing my students take the knowledge they receive in class and through iLEARNING+ and be successful in this industry is one of the most rewarding things there is. To have employers reach out asking for more of our students based on the success of those who came before is priceless.
To be honest, these are not just a benefit for the students either! It is a tool we use as educators to help us stay on top of industry trends, new technology, and new tools/tricks within software applications as well! We sometimes have a tendency to stick to what is comfortable and familiar, but that doesn’t serve our students for where the industry is at now. We, too, must continue to learn and grow our knowledge so that we can pass it on.
How do you see the Alliance’s iLEARNING+ platform helping to align academic training with current industry standards and workforce needs?
The Alliance does a great job of keeping new content coming. It is one of the resources I seek out each year as I prepare for new classes or update curriculum. It keeps us up to date. The more I can learn as an educator about what the industry faces, the better I can prepare students for the workforce. It also offers an opportunity for our students to stay up to date and engage with changes that may have occurred during their own academic training. Even though our courses at Illinois State span a 16-week semester, we cannot cover everything. iLEARNING+ is an additional resource students can take advantage of to learn more in a particular area of interest that could benefit their career search or other job opportunities down the road.
What additional topics, resources, or tools would you like to see added to iLEARNING+ to best support your curriculum?
I love the inclusion of AI into the conversation. I think this has been one of the biggest challenges in the academic realm—how do you teach the use of AI as a tool for success rather than as a tool that inhibits true learning? I look forward to learning more about how AI is being used in areas of estimation, prepress, and color management; that information will be key to setting students up for success in these areas. I think expanding into areas of hybrid print production, as that becomes more common, could be beneficial, as well as discussions of automation within the industry from prepress through finishing would be very informative.
For more information on iLEARNING+ or to start exploring courses and certifications today, visit: https://www.printing.org/library/ilearning.