This year’s two new LERN Recommendations are that EVERY program should offer classes for:*Boomers.*Kids and Youth. Even programs focused on professional development and workforce development can reap the rewards from programming to Boomers as well as to Kids and Youth. The reason is money, both for your program and to your other financial contributions to

No other conference has it.New! “Innovations 2025” is an exclusive report for organizations attending this year’s 2025 Annual Conference. You get the report on the pioneering breakthrough innovations in the last twelve months: 1. Authentic Programming   A new strategy to customize and create new programming for different neighborhoods and communities. 2. No-Cost 5 Step SEO  

   From over 40 great tips from LERN members, our consultants picked the 9 Best Ideas for this year. Here they are, with links to 2-4 minute videos for more information. #1  Increase spending on marketing for classes that are already doing well.Click here for more information https://youtu.be/CWNiABBRFfQ #2 Do Instagram reels of 15-30 second

For programs having trouble finding quality local AI instructors for your in-person classes. Get our online “AI Certificate” in your next print brochure. Our online faculty will take care of your customers. Bring this critical workplace and professional development skill to your community. Click here for the full description. Our “AI Certificate” premiered in February

Get the benchmarks, comparisons and data from your fellow programs in the same institutional setting. Dashboard Level 1 is FREE, even for non-member programs. Coming soon! Dashboard  Level 2. Keep reading to find out about Level 2. Dashboard Level 1For Dashboard Level 1, we ask 5 quick multiple choice questions. We ask for a range,

   From award winning LERN members, here are three Best Practices this year.  Best Staffing Practice   Recruitment and retention of staff, including part-time and temporary summer staff, is now one of the top issues in the field. A Recruitment Fair is one key element in a new initiative by the most innovative programs to nurture

This spring we celebrate the achievements of Jill Korsok, our chief elected officer of the LERN Board of Directors for 2024 – 2025.  Ms. Korsok is a recreation professional with, and Director of, Orange Community Education and Recreation in Pepper Pike, Ohio.   She showed, once again, how professionals with Recreation Departments have created initiatives and

Registrations are strong for two big events for universities and community colleges this spring. New. Pathways: Noncredit to Credit   A hot topic, you get the experience and successful practice from two leading continuing educators who have had big success with developing Pathway programs at their institutions.   Join Gloria Smith of Dallas College, Dallas, TX; and

A new community college research report finds that a minimum of 5% of noncredit students later become a credit or degree student at the same college within four years. Download the report here.      “The implications for community colleges are significant,” concludes Julie Coates, Senior Vice President for LERN and the report’s lead researcher.  The LERN

If anything, the buzz over AI in the field of lifelong learning programming is growing. Bold new predictions about AI’s use for programs were announced by Dan Belhassen, North America’s guru on etools. An annual conference hit for over ten years, Belhassen made these remarks and predictions at this year’s conference. The 5 most notable

New financial contributions you make to your institution have been discovered. You and your program make more financial contributions to your institution than central administrators know about and measure. In a blockbuster breakthrough this fall, Laura Stevens Matchett of Traverse City, MI, unearthed three new financial contributions many programs make to their institution. She received

Rewriting course descriptions with Chat GPT is one of the top uses for AI right now. That according to polls taken at a discussion about AI led by Billie Diaz of Palatine, IL; and Scott Silverman of Santa Monica, CA. What Platforms You Use    Some 150 professionals responded to the question, “What AI platforms

  Enticing rewards highlight a new campaign kicking off this month.   Members get your choice of one of the following:1.Half price dues for the next two years; OR2.Free LERN Institute registration, worth $800.    The new member you recruit also gets rewarded for joining LERN.The new member, or a previous member whose membership expired prior