Do you remember the first time you were in a competition? You may have won, or you may have lost. Either way, you learned something about yourself and the value of preparation. Nobody gives you the win. You earn it. 

CTeLearning is proud to announce its participation in a new virtual competition model in partnership with the Web Professionals Organization. 

Our engaging STEM curriculum helps set the foundation for the new competition model. In cooperation with the Web Professionals Organization, we spearheaded an effort roughly one year ago to embed certifications into curricula to improve student outcomes and remove end-of-course test anxiety. This new competition model builds on this work with innovative international events. Through this model, all certifications, micro-credentials, badges, and competitions are free.

This model is part of our effort to help administrators meet the funding requirements so they can continue to provide the tools teachers need to upskill students, open up career pathways, and ensure students’ career readiness for high-skill, high-wage, and in-demand occupations. 

Competition overview

The competition model is the culmination of the Three Cs—curriculum, certification and competition:

• Curriculum: we create the foundation for your students to learn through a media-rich, real-world and project-based approach. This is not about simply learning coding skills, but engaging in the concepts, hard and soft skills that we know are important as professionals. This creates the whole learner who becomes a whole professional. 
• Certification: the curriculum prepares the students to earn international industry-recognized certifications. However, our model of certification represents far more than passing an exam—our certification represents the whole learner and whole future professional. Students are acknowledged for completing a career readiness body of work. The capstone in each learner’s portfolio is the student’s ethics in the workplace micro-credential and their international industry-recognized certification. 
• Competition: finally, we offer the learners the opportunity to compete and showcase their skills on an international stage. The international context of the competition reminds learners that they are part of a global community. Regardless of how well students do in the competition, they learn valuable skills in meeting project expectations and having their work stand with the work of those around the U.S. and the rest of the globe.

Our certification and competition partner, the Web Professionals Organization, has been running the National Web Design and Development competitive event hosted by SkillsUSA since 2004 and recently started to support the SkillsUSA state events as well. Our CTeLearning team has been working with the Web Professionals Organization and SkillsUSA since 2012. 

Our experience in running online game design competitions helped us support the Web Professionals Organization when the COVID-19 pandemic forced a change in the competitive event model from in-person to fully online. We are looking forward to bringing our competition experiences in artificial intelligence, robotics and game development as we work together to fulfill our mission with this new international career competition model.

We are very excited about partnering with the Web Professionals Organization so our schools can take part in these competitions beginning in the 2022-2023 school year. The virtual competitions will run so that both fall and spring semester learners can participate. The following competitions will be offered:

• Future Web Designer: web design is an in-demand and high-paying career most people think of when they hear the term “web professional.”  The U.S. Department of Labor cites the web design profession as one of the most high-demand, high-skill and high-paying.
• Future Web Animator: web animation is important as companies look to market and brand themselves. It is one of the most important tools web professionals can use to help their clients propel their stories with or without dialogue. This career path has a ton of opportunities in web marketing, media and entertainment industries. 
• Future Web Game Designer: web game design is important as it attracts new audiences to a website and allows new markets to discover brands organically through social media platforms. The game design pathway also teaches the value of interactivity in engagement. Web game development is all about combining stories, graphics, and choice into playable experiences. 

There will be awards issued to top-performing future designers and to acknowledge schools nationally for their work in preparing future professionals. In the future, we plan to offer similar competition for post-secondary and workforce partners.

Steve Waddell, founder and lead developer of CTeLearning, spoke about the excitement surrounding the new competitions: “I speak on behalf of the team here at CTeLearning when I say that we are so proud to have partnered with the Web Professionals Organization to bring this new competition model to teachers and students in career and technical education. This model incorporates the Three Cs—curriculum, certification and competition—to enable students to learn, develop and utilize skills. All of this prepares them for their futures in post-secondary education and the professional world, equipping them with in-demand skills for high-paying STEM careers. We look forward to working with facilitators across the country in implementing these virtual competitions and delivering valuable experiences for students no matter where they live—whether rural, urban or suburban.”

Reach out Today

We often hear from administrators, department chairs, and teachers about difficulties in meeting the requirements of Carl Perkins funding. Our new curriculum, certification, and competition approach help districts around the country meet these requirements while delivering valuable experiences for their students. Contact Steve Waddell, our lead developer, directly at 877-828-1216 or swaddell@ctelearning.com to learn how we can help your school.