Overview

A digital or electronic platform is a technology-enabled software solution, an interactive online service that facilitates the exchange of information, tools, and resources. These platforms act as virtual meeting grounds, connecting users and enabling a wide array of activities, from simple communication to complex transactions. Within the learn-and-work ecosystem, various types of platforms play crucial roles. This includes platforms specifically designed for learning, offering courses, tutorials, and educational content; those focused on business and workforce development, providing tools for collaboration, project management, and skill enhancement; and career navigation platforms, which assist individuals with job searching, resume building, and professional networking. Each type of platform contributes to a comprehensive and interconnected digital environment supporting individuals throughout their educational and professional journeys.

Learning 

Learning platforms create robust educational experiences in a variety of ways. They're accessible on computers, phones, and tablets, making learning flexible for everyone. Platforms offer interactive engagement with instructors, peer discussion, activities, and quizzes. Content presented on learning platforms can include articles, reports, blog posts, slide presentations, and videos. Platforms are increasingly used to enable the seamless sharing of learning and employment records among groups (schools, higher education institutions, employers). 

• Blackboard by Anthology is a comprehensive learning management system (LMS) that provides a digital environment for instructors and students. It enables instructors to organize, store, and share a wide range of course materials securely, including documents, presentations, videos, and links, often leveraging cloud infrastructure. Beyond simple content sharing, Blackboard facilitates dynamic educational experiences through interactive tools like discussion boards, assignments, quizzes, virtual classrooms, and a centralized gradebook, all designed to foster communication, collaboration, and assessment within an online learning environment.
• Google classroom offers free tools for classrooms and schools—as well as more advanced tools and resources for a set rate.
• Microsoft Learn offers training, Microsoft certifications, and other content that allows learners to tailor their training and development pathways to their skill levels and areas of interest.
• MERLOT offers a rich online platform for curated learning materials and support resources, led by an international community of educators, learners, and researchers. The extensive MERLOT collection includes tens of thousands of specialized learning materials, practical exercises, and ready-to-use Content Builder webpages, complete with valuable user comments and organized bookmark collections.
• Demola is an international, city-focused innovation platform that functions as both a learning tool for learners and an innovation lab for companies. It brings together university students, educational institutions, organizations, and foresight experts to develop product and service prototypes that solve real-world problems. In typical 3-month projects, students collaborate with companies and stakeholders, guided by a Demola futures analyst. Demola manages the project, defines deliverables, and ensures quality. This provides students with valuable real-world business experience as part of their studies, while companies gain fresh perspectives and innovative ideas. Originating in Tampere, Finland, Demola has expanded to cities like Vilnius, Budapest, and Oulu. To date, approximately 1,500 students and 100 corporations have completed about 250 projects, with over 90% adopted for business use.

Business & Workforce Development 

Using a digital platform, companies can share information to innovate new products and services and enhance collaboration. Digital platforms can create powerful network effects as more members participate. Many companies use digital platforms to aid in their hiring and recruiting process by matching their job descriptions with candidates’ resumés. 

• Monster Jobs focuses on the recruiting industry. The company leverages advanced technology using intelligent digital, social and mobile solutions, including the Monster.com® products and services.
• Training platform company Litmos provides content designed for employees, partners or customers.
• HackerRank offers a platform for employers to evaluate programming skills for hiring tech workers, and also features a platform for individual developers to practice coding and participate in competitive programming.
• The SkillUp coalition helps workers transition to better careers with coaching, training, and job resources aligned to the fastest-growing industries in the country. The nonprofit coalition includes over 90 training and education providers, tech firms, employers, and philanthropies. It is  dedicated to supporting the upskilling needs of workers who earn less than $40,000 annually and were displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Career Karma offers workers personalized matches with job training programs and connects them to a community of peers, mentors, and coaches. Its current primary focus is to help users find tech-related job training programs, particularly coding and other tech bootcamps.
• Workable is a comprehensive, cloud-based recruiting software that aims to streamline the entire hiring process. It offers an end-to-end solution for businesses of all sizes, from startups to large enterprises. In 2023 it acquired Drafted, a recruiting and referral platform searches employee networks to source open roles. The platform integrates outreach and tracking tools, syncs with the client’s applicant tracking system (ATS), and disregards demographics to remove bias.
• Fuel50 helps companies transform their talent development strategy by matching employees to internal opportunities based on their skills and talents. Through skill gap analysis, connections to mentors and learning opportunities, 360-degree feedback, gig assignments, and AI-driven growth experiences, Fuel50 also provides organizations with workforce data to inform strategic business decisions. FuelMarketplace is an offboarding platform that helps workers with outplacement transitions and career development—as well as offering personal coaching and other resources.
• PAIRIN matches individuals to optimal careers, professional development opportunities, and jobs. The PAIRIN Survey measures 102 attributes. The My Journey platform personalizes career, education, and development recommendations based on individuals’ unique abilities, situations, and life stages. It also facilitates direct connections to state government resources and offers assessments, tools, and applications that aid career navigation.

Career Navigation 

Digital job boards and career development sites such as LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Indeed, and Google Jobs offer features that allow for more user-friendly employment searches and application processes. Applicant communication tools allow companies to connect with workers via text message, and new assessment technologies have begun to break down bias in hiring evaluations.

• Mentor Spaces is a community-driven mentorship platform designed to make it easier for companies to attract and retain diverse talent. The platform is designed for underrepresented students and early-career professionals from diverse backgrounds. Members are identified as either Protegés or Mentors.
• CareerExplorer by Sokanu helps people find and pursue their best career fits through a free 30-minute assessment of interests, past experiences, and personality. The platform draws on job satisfaction data from millions of prior assessment-takers. This data offers users ranked lists of career profiles that include job descriptions, salary scales, and training pathways. Users who pay for a premium membership can obtain a complete list of their career matches and additional insights on how a given career may or may not be a good fit.
• MyBestBets is an interactive web and mobile application incubated by Jobs for the Future. It helps low-income, under-credentialed young people make their  “Best Bet” for career pathways. Ideally, these choices will lead to an in-demand, family-sustaining job that maps to career advancement through training and/or higher education. The platform is deployed through education and workforce systems and intermediaries that focus on individuals ages 16-24 who are not connected to school or work.
• CareerNaksha, based in India, offers AI psychometric tests, extensive research tools for career search including assistance with university admissions, and connects users with counsellors.

Ecosystem Relationship

Platforms offer new pathways or means of service to many components of the learn-and-work ecosystem. They enhance information sharing and provide easily accessible tools to support learners, employers, and other groups.

Alternative Terminology

• Platforms
• E-Platforms
• Digital Platforms
• Employer Platforms 
• Skills Platforms
• Navigation Internet Platforms 
• Open-platform Schemas
• Electronic Learning Platforms
• Learning Management Systems
• Hiring Platforms
• Learning Experience Platforms (LXPs)

Resources

What is an eLearning Platform and How Do I Choose One? | SAP Litmos (2022, September 7)