The Client
Stride, Inc. is reimagining lifelong learning as a rich, deeply personal experience that prepares learners for tomorrow. Since its inception, Stride has been committed to removing barriers that impact academic equity and to providing high-quality education for anyone — particularly those in underserved communities. The company has transformed millions of people's teaching and learning experience by providing innovative, high-quality, tech-enabled education solutions, curricula, and programs directly to students, schools, the military, and enterprises in primary, secondary, and post-secondary settings. Stride has delivered millions of courses over the past decade and serves learners in all 50 states and more than 100 countries.
The Situation
Each year, Stride hosts an online conference, Promising Practices, to showcase the innovative practices of teachers and school leaders critical to students' success. Conference popularity and attendance have risen steadily year-over-year (+11%) for the past three years since 2021.
During Promising Practices 2023, more than 5,000 attendees from dozens of online schools nationwide needed a way to easily select sessions from more than 70 different online offerings. The company realizes that to compile and deliver conference resources, creating a Portal in its Acquia DAM platform would provide a fast and easy solution.
The Challenge
The timing was crucial. With a reputation for practical, use-it-today topics, Stride’s conference handouts and post-conference recordings needed to be available to each participant as quickly as possible.
The Solution
Stride constructed an Acquia DAM Portal for conference resources to ensure handouts and post-conference recordings were available to each participant as quickly as possible. On conference day, attendees accessed the portal to download handouts. After the conference, Stride processed session recordings, uploaded them to the DAM as they became available, and linked them to the portal. It took less than two days for one teammate to build and less than six days for two teammates to upload and tag 129 items. Uploading all session recordings all to the DAM for the after-conference resource portal took less than a week. It was very convenient for Stride’s purposes and took less time than building a dedicated website or uploading to Meridian, both of which were considered in the company’s initial plans.
The Results
With nine out of 10 participants satisfied with the conference overall, Promising Practices was well- received. The most popularly attended sessions were those that focused on engagement, diversity, and self-care:
- “Features that Empower 100% Engagement” - 43% participation
- “Diversifying the Curriculum” - 36% participation
- “Having a Full Cup: Self-Care and Teaching” - 28% participation
Sessions that drew the highest satisfaction ratings (90% or higher satisfaction) include "Bitmoji Classrooms for K12 Teaching,” “Bienvenid@S A Stride,” and “Supporting LGBTQ+ Students 201: Becoming an Equity Champion.”
Participants’ qualitative feedback — including the following statements — highlights their appreciation for timely resources: “This is why I LOVE Promising Practices! It’s like Christmas. Thank you for all of the resources as well as the opportunity to reflect and challenge myself to improve.” And, “Thank you! As always, Promising Practices was amazing and full of applicable takeaways I can immediately implement in my classroom."
