DC implements new software to enhance experiential learning for students

Durham College (DC) students have a new avenue for receiving experiential learning opportunities thanks to the college’s recent implementation of Riipen, a software platform that connects educators, industry partners and students together for course-based micro-experiences.

Driven by DC’s Career Ready Fund initiative funded by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU), Riipen gives instructors the opportunity to search for or submit desired real-world work-integrated experiences with industry partners that they can embed into curriculum as in-class assignments, competitions or longer duration projects.

The three sided nature of the software, with educators, industry partners and students all having the ability to initiate projects, allows for better experience-matching and increased efficiency, aligning DC and industry in a way that scales quickly.

With the world’s largest library of proven experiential learning project templates available through Riipen for instructors and industry partners, faculty can select dynamic business challenges for students to solve in real-time that will enhance learning and better prepare them for the workforce.

Riipen was recently piloted successfully by classes in the School of Business, IT & Management, and several other academic schools have already identified opportunities for implementing the software in the new year to take experiential learning opportunities for faculty, staff and students to the next level.