COVID-19 Writes a Prescription for Change: Unbundling/Rebundling Learning

Published in Evolllution, by Holly Zanville and Van Ton-Quinlivan

The traditional methods of higher education delivery never worked quite well enough for job preparation and reskilling, according to many employers. Then came COVID-19, wreaking havoc on the world of work and effectively deconstructing the college experience. At least for now, the pandemic has decoupled dorms, sports, in-person instruction, socialization, tuition, and other elements of the college experience from the learning itself. This unbundling of education opens up the space to reimagine how the future of learning will reassemble its component parts, especially for adults. Can we rebundle higher education in better ways to ready adults for the future of work? Can learning systems reassemble to enable continuous and lifelong learning that keeps pace with the unrelenting rate of change?

In fact, various forms of reassembly are underway right now. New delivery systems have already made the 180-degree turn, moving to widespread online instruction and hybrid approaches. Coming next is major curricular change because the old methods of job preparation and reskilling are increasingly outdated. Unbundling and rebundling learning is a promising prescription for change in the fluid pandemic environment. And while institutions that serve up the traditional in-residence college experience may return to that mode, adult workers and employers can’t depend on it for their future.

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Listen in to the latest episode of Workforce Rx with Futuro Health for insights from Dr. Rishi Manchanda, CEO of Health Begins, which works across the country to improve the social drivers of health and equity.

Futuro Health's CEO talks with Dr. Manchanda about the intersection of public health and workforce development. Dr. Manchanda is a physician, author and healthcare leader whose career has focused on developing new strategies for improving health and resources for communities. He’s best known for a popular Ted Talk and book about “upstreamists,” or healthcare workers who help improve care by addressing social needs, such as food and housing.

Clarice F.’s work as a part-time personal shopper came to a halt when the pandemic hit. Her husband, George, also lost his job as a paralegal. They were left without work, an infant to provide for – and pondering what next?

The answer came to them in the form of a Facebook post by Clarice’s sister-in-law. The post promoted Futuro Health’s Medical Assistant Program. The program fees were being waived for students beginning their educational journey in 2020.

It was a perfect fit. Both Clarice and George had been interested in careers in the medical field. They were ready to do something new, something that would allow them to give back to their community and make a difference.

“We both have that nurturing spirit and that customer service and just wanting to be able to meet people’s needs,” Clarice said.

They both applied to the Medical Assistant program and were accepted. Teaming up as study partners, the couple completed the program’s two required prerequisite courses – Medical Terminology and Anatomy & Physiology – from Pima Medical Institute and are set to begin the 10-month Medical Assistant program in November through Western Governors University.

Clarice is excited about her new career and wants prospective students to know the decision to enroll in Futuro Health was a life-changing one.

“It’s been a blessing because financially we wouldn’t be able to afford this on our own,” she said. “It’s a win-win situation. You do the work, you get in and you get it done, and you don’t have to break the bank.”