Students at UPSAT now have the opportunity to build their entrepreneurial skills and leave university with a fully developed business idea. UPSAT has collaborated with innovation consultancy, Connect’Innov, to run an entrepreneurship programme for third-year students.Learners enter their HealthTech projects into the competition, which is judged by a panel of industry professionals.
The learners with the top projects are then entered into a mentorship programme, where they are given guidance around product design, distribution strategies and business development. This partnership began in 2020 and will continue in the 2021 Academic year, offering learners the opportunity to learn new skills in a practical, hands-on way.
We are in the transformation of the fourth industrial revolution. The increase in human-machine interaction will create new types of jobs and a demand for specific “digital” and “human” skills.
At Honoris United Universities, we believe in future-oriented learning to prepare you to harness technology and innovation to thrive and compete in automated, data and AI-driven realities. We believe in empowering you with an academic and skills experience that lead to cognitive agility and a mobile mindset – attitudes and behaviours of success. Based on global research and extended analysis, these beliefs led the Honoris Academic Council to design the Honoris 21st Century Skills Certificate.
A unique program that blends the skills that matter for the new world of work. A program to keep you distinctive and in high demand provided through a best of class online experience to learn wherever you are, whenever you want, on the device you choose.
The Honoris 21st Century Skills Certificate is sponsored by, the Honoris Online Academy, a platform to transform the next generations of World-Class African Human Talent: able to impact the continent for a brighter future.
PROGRAMME DESCRIPTION
The Honoris 21st Century Skills Certificate is a fully online programme that trains you in the eight skills most in demand by employers and for the future of work: behavioral intelligence, critical thinking, creativity and design thinking, communication, collaboration, coding, data analytics, and entrepreneurship.
Outcomes:
This programme will empower you to take a reasoned approach to
designing creative ideas, teach you how to communicate these ideas,
and guide you on how to efficiently lead a team. It will boost your
digital and data literacies, through coding and data analysis. And finally, you will learn how to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset and the
necessary marketing and financial skillset to create and run your own
business.
Duration:
• Programme length: 100 hours of taught materials
• From registration, students will have 12 months to complete the
certificate
Assessment and certification:
• Formative assessments online through quizzes
• Badging for each module and a certificate for overall completion
of programme provided through the Blockchain
PROGRAMME SYLLABUS
The Honoris 21st Century Skills Certificate is articulated in a 4-step pedagogical approach. The learning journey is self-paced and divided into
4 modules.
MODULE 1 : PERSONAL SKILLS
COURSE 1 : Harness Emotions to Be More Effective
• Identify your needs and emotions to thrive your productivity
• Use auto-empathy for decision-making
• Improve communication through empathy
• Give positive feedback
COURSE 2: Unlock your creative potential
• Free your creativity
• Ask the right questions
• Bring on ideas
• Be creative in groups
COURSE 3: Find innovative solutions through design thinking
• Understand key design-thinking principles and process
• Adopt the appropriate mindset
• Identify the root cause
• Solve a problem through multidimensional analysis
• Conceive a solution to a problem
• Build a prototype
• Test a prototype
COURSE 4: Sharpen your critical thinking
• Understand critical thinking in the tech age
• Set a foundation for critical thinking
• Strengthen your arguments through convincing reasoning
• Spot holes in reasoning
• Take an open approach to others’ arguments
• Express ideas persuasively
• Manage your time and attention for clearer thinking
MODULE 2 : SOCIAL SKILLS
COURSE 5: Improve your personal effectiveness
• Manage your stress
• Improve your task management
• Master your time
• Optimise your energy
• Communicate efficiently by email
COURSE 6: Give a boost to your communication style
• Understand key communication principles
• Reinforce your message’s impact
• Captivate your audience
• Solve conflicts
• Be empathetic
• Communicate well remotely
COURSE 7: Get your team working together
• Develop trust
• Share a common vision
• Benefit from intergenerational differences
• Solve issues with a constructive approach
• Collaborate remotely
MODULE 3 : DIGITAL SKILLS
COURSE 8: Coding
• Understand how the web works
• Introduction to coding: developer tools, code in HTML and CSS
• Design, develop and launch a website
• Discover web analytics with Google Analytics
COURSE 9: Data Analytics
• Understand the evolution from excel to SQL
• Intro to Data Analytics
• Discover Python for data collection
MODULE 4 : ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS
COURSE 10: Bring life to your entrepreneurship
• Build your entrepreneurship mindset
• Create solutions to a problem
• Switch from idea to innovation
• Sell your idea
• Rally a team
COURSE 11: Run your Business
• Know your market
• Make a complete analysis
• Master the basics of company strategy
• Build your business plan
• Measure the profitability of a project
• Create some value
• Financial acumen
COURSE 12: Master marketing digital keys
• Understand your digital customers
• Manage the digital shift
• Nurture your product with digital
• Build your digital communication strategy
• Structure your omni-channel distribution
• Redesign your pricing policy in the digital age
A UNIQUE AND ENGAGING LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Adopting the latest cognitive research to maximize skills acquisition, the learning experience of the 21st Century Skills Certificate offers guided path journeys with multi-activities and in varied format designed by international experts from some of the world’s leading universities to ensure engagement during the online learning journey.
The programme is run in partnership with CrossKnowledge, one of the world’s leading e-learning platform* , and with Le Wagon, Le Wagon is the #1 ranked coding bootcamp worldwide**.
* CrossKnowledgewas ranked #1 in the Craig Weiss annual Top 50 Learning System.
**ranked as world’s #1 coding bootcamp according to students on Switchup for the 3 last years
Blending the most in-demand soft and digital skills, the 21st Century Skills Certificate will be issued through blockchain technology
Casablanca / Durban / Tunis / Abuja, September 23, 2020 – Honoris United Universities, the first and largest pan-African network of private higher education institutions, today announced the launch of the Honoris 21st Century Skills Certificate to further enhance the employability of its students by equipping them with the most in-demand soft and digital skills required to thrive and be competitive in the 21st century world of work.
Based on global researches and engagement with employers across the continent, the Honoris 21st Century Skills Certificate has been developed by the Honoris Academic Council, a pan-African team of faculty representatives with exemplary backgrounds and academic experience. Chosen for their unmatched expertise in their fields, including online learning and digital technology, the Council’s work is an important
investment in the development of world-class human talent: agile, collaborative professionals with an entrepreneurial mindset able to transform and impact Africa.
The Honoris 21st Century Skills Certificate delivers skills training in areas highlighted by industry analysts and by the demands of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR), ensuring that graduates enter the world of work
empowered with high cognitive skills and digital literacy competencies that are necessary to navigate our changing world.
The online program will train students in the eight most in-demand skills by employers and for the future of work: behavioral intelligence, creativity and design thinking, critical thinking, communication, collaboration, coding, data analytics and entrepreneurship. These skills, which serve as a driving force for the 4IR, ensure that Honoris graduates keep up with the dynamics of the labor market. Of note, whilst English is the de facto language of business, coding is the new second language for the 21st century, an area which all students, irrespective of their area of study, will need to understand. This understanding of coding, which is included in the certificate, will contribute to developing a computational thinking approach to problems, allowing for new responses to changes in the digital economy.
The 100-hour program is being deployed to all students across the network. It constitutes a four-module design including personal, social, digital, and entrepreneurship skills which will be embedded in Honoris member institutions’ curricula.
This certificate, powered by the Honoris Online Academy, demonstrates the network’s ongoing commitment to providing student-centric learning environments, designed by combining academic knowledge with entrepreneurial and workplace skills and credentials, to ensure graduates are equipped with the digital know-how and hybrid skills to meet the needs of the changing job market.
Commenting, Chief Strategy Officer of Honoris United Universities, Laura Kakon, said, “The world of work has entered an era where nothing is guaranteed. Employers are adopting new ideas and technologies
at a rapid pace and as a result, students need to keep up with the latest innovations and technologies in order to remain competitive and in high demand. At Honoris United Universities, we believe in futureoriented learning to prepare our students to harness technology and innovation, in order to thrive and compete in automated, data and AI-driven realities. We also believe in empowering our students with an academic and skills experience that leads to cognitive agility and a mobile mindset, two attitudes and behaviors of success. The Honoris 21st Century Skills Certificate will help bridge the skills gap in Africa by preparing our graduates for the future world of work.”
A “Best of Breed” Unique Program
The Honoris Academic Council designed this unique online certificate program in partnership with two leading digital learning providers, CrossKnowledge – the world’s e-learning pioneer and Le Wagon – world #1 coding bootcamp*, whose mutual areas of expertise in soft and digital skills are highly complementary.
The Honoris Online Academy
The announcement of the new Honoris 21st Century Skills Certificate also coincides with the launch of the Honoris Online Academy – a best-in-class online platform dedicated to skilling and upskilling programs focused on soft and digital skills that matter for the future of jobs. Adopting the latest cognitive research to maximise skills acquisition, the guided experience offers path journeys with multi-activities and in varied formats to ensure engagement during the online journey.
The Blockchain Diploma
Beginning with the 2021 academic cycles, Honoris graduate diplomas including the Honoris 21st Century Skills Certificate will be issued through blockchain technology by virtue of a partnership with BCdiploma.
This will provide each graduate with a unique URL that makes it possible to share their verifiable and tamper-proof diplomas digitally. The blockchain technology ensures that students have a life-long shareable access to their verified certificates for employers and professional networks. For the certificate, Honoris will issue one blockchain certification badge per module and a certificate upon full completion. The issuance of digital diplomas provides employers with the guarantee that any certification presented by graduates is 100% authentic.
These digital and skilling initiatives reflect Honoris’ commitment to embracing the digital transformation across the student journey and its strategy to reshape and rethink education to continually improve learning outcomes across the continent.
About Honoris United Universities
Honoris United Universities is the first and largest pan-African private higher education network committed to educating the next generation of African leaders and professionals able to impact regionally in a globalized world. Collaborative intelligence, cultural agility and mobile mind-sets and skills are at the heart of Honoris’ vision of higher education. Honoris United Universities joins the expertise of its member institutions to develop world-class African Human capital that is competitive in today’s fast-paced, demanding and increasingly digitized labour and start-up markets.
Honoris United Universities gathers a community of 45,000 students on 60 campuses, learning centres and via on-line, in 10 countries and 32 cities. The network counts 11 institutions: multidisciplinary universities, specialized schools, technical and vocational institutes, contact, distance, and online institutions. Students have an opportunity to experience exclusive partnerships and exchange programs in more than 60 universities across Europe and the United States. Over 280 degrees are offered in Medicine, Health Sciences, Engineering, IT, Business, Law, Architecture, Creative Arts and Design, Media, Political Science and Education. www.honoris.net
About Le Wagon
Le Wagon is a coding school that offers short and intensive coding bootcamps. Le Wagon’s mission is to enable the greatest number of people to learn technical skills in order to update their skills, change careers, or launch their project.
The school offers a web development course, recognized as the best coding bootcamp in the world, as well as a data science course. Launched in 2013, Le Wagon now boasts an international presence in 39 cities around the world, an alumni community of 8,200+ people from all walks of life, a proven teaching method, and a corporate offer for companies to train their employees. www.lewagon.com
* #1 Coding Bootcamp on Switchup (ranked as Best Bootcamp by Switchup for the 3 last years) and #1 Coding Bootcamp on Coursereport.
About CrossKnowledge
CrossKnowledge provides digital learning solutions that enable the success of individuals, teams and organisations through skills acquisition. It delivers an integrated and personalized learning experience with a digital content library created with world-renowned experts to bridge the gap between academic programs and skills required in the professional world and to develop future young professionals with the right set of skills required by business players. The learning platform is built with human and artificial intelligence, and unmatched accountability with a dedicated Client Success Team. CrossKnowledge helps L&D, managers and learners acquire the skills they need to succeed. Part of Wiley, one of the world’s largest research and education providers, CrossKnowledge has 20 years of experience in digital learning, serving over 12 million learners in 130 countries. www.crossknowledge.com
About BCdiploma
Deployed in more than 90 institutions in a dozen countries, BCdiploma offers a turnkey service to create and share blockchain certificates for all academic documents: diplomas, transcripts, acquired skills and more. BCdiploma is the first organization to offer 100% blockchain certified Open Badges for micro-certifications. BCdiploma helps companies become leaders in student experience and save valuable time by dematerializing processes. www.bcdiploma.com
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses found in both animals and humans. Some infect people and are known to cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Novel coronavirus 2019, a respiratory illness, is a new strain of coronavirus that has not been previously identified in humans. It was reported in Wuhan, China in December 2019.
How does it spread?
The disease can spread from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth which are spread when a person with COVID-19 coughs, sneezes or just breathes out.
People can catch COVID-19 from others who have the virus, particularly if they are close to that person and breathe in those droplets. In addition, these droplets can land on objects and surfaces that can come into contact with the person.
What are the symptoms and how dangerous is it?
As with other respiratory illnesses, Novel coronavirus 2019 can cause symptoms such as a runny nose, sore throat, cough, fever and feeling sluggish. It can lead to pneumonia and/or breathing difficulties. More rarely, the disease can be fatal. Older people, and people with pre-existing medical conditions (such as diabetes and heart disease) appear to be more vulnerable to becoming severely ill with the virus. There is currently no vaccine available to protect against coronavirus.
How long does it take for symptoms to show?
The incubation period (length of time it can take before symptoms become evident) can be up to 14 days.
What are the steps I can take to reduce my exposure?
As a reminder, the coronavirus is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person.
Between people who are in close contact with one another (within about 1-2m)
Respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes
As the virus spreads through the world, below items you can undertake to reduce the risk to yourself, your family and the campus communities:
Wash your hands well and frequently with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub
Substitute a smile for a handshake, don’t share eating utensils or cups
Avoid touching your eyes, nose and/or mouth
Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces
Cough or sneeze into your elbow or use a tissue to cover it, then throw the tissue in the trash
Avoid close contact with others, particularly in enclosed spaces
Stay home when you are sick
Do not travel if you are feeling unwell. If you show symptoms of coronavirus at arrival airports, you may well be refused entry or quarantined and you will probably need to follow in-country procedures. It may also prove difficult to get you home until tests confirm that you do not have coronavirus and symptoms have subsided or been treated locally.
What actions should I take if I live or have travelled to an area which has had reported cases and I develop coronavirus-like symptoms?
If you are feeling unwell and showing coronavirus-type symptoms, you should isolate yourself and seek medical attention/advice directly.
Who is at risk for COVID-19?
People who have been in close contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19 or who have been travelling in parts of the world where the virus is actively spreading are most at risk of COVID-19.
What travel precautions should be taken?
If you intend to travel out of your home country, it is essential that you check the updated list of countries affected by the COVID-19 outbreak before booking any flights. Inform yourself via guidance provided from the local authorities as well as the authorities from the destination country.
What if I have recently returned to my home country from an affected country or region?
If you have recently returned from an area where there is thought to be an active spread of the disease in the community, you should immediately stay indoors and avoid contact with other people as you would with the flu. You should follow this advice even if you do not feel unwell in any way. Check with your local authorities for guidance on being tested for detection of the virus.
Where else can I get information and advice about COVID-19?
We are being guided by a number of leading institutions such as World Health Organisation (WHO), Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and International SOS. Helpful websites are –
UPSAT isclosely monitoring internationaldevelopmentssurrounding the coronavirus healthcrisis(COVID-19), which has been declared a global pandemic by the World HealthOrganization.
Eachmember institution has been adhering to the guidancefromtheir respective authorities and from national directives (e.g., Ministries of Health, Ministries of Education, Labor Departments, etc.), in addition to the advicefrom relevant authoritiesaround the world. A ContingencyCommittee has been constituted in each of the network’s institutions, comprisingfunctional leaders and experts in the communities. Thesecommittees are leadingvariousmeasures to protect the health and the safety of ourstudents, staff and faculty.They are foremostadvocatingawareness and safety by havingthesecommunitiesinformed via regularposts and information disseminated via eachinstitution’sofficial communication channels, online and offline.Within the network, all students have hadaccess to the ongoingstatus and the spread of COVID-19 worldwide and its impact on humanhealth. Necessarymeasures and sanitaryprecautionsrequired to avoid contamination have been put in place. Awareness sessions–bothphysical anddigital-are taking place and theseincludeseminars for students, faculty and staff.
Throughits network and relationships, UPSAT has strong expertise and access to distance and online learning–thesewillform the basis for studies to continue in the mostappropriateform for a greatmany of ourstudentsas the situations merit.
At the current time:
All educational institutions in have been instructed to closeby the local authoritiesas ofMarch 12(twodaysahead of the regularlyscheduledspring break), untilfurthernotice.
The leadership teams in Tunisia are working to prepare continuation of studies, per the above plans, in coordination with, and per the indications of the local authorities.
Of note, at this point, there are no reported cases of the coronavirus at Honoris,includingstudents, staff and faculty.
Awareness sessions were organized for the benefit of UPSAT students in collaboration with the Directorate of School and University Medicine and the Regional Health Director of Tunis at the Ministry of Health.
As part of the UPSAT Optometry Days in their second edition, Dr COMBE leads a series of conferences and workshops with profiles of the 2nd and 3rd year of the Optical License from UPSAT Tunis and UPSAT Sousse and this from March 10 to 12, 2020 .
The ASTP organizes in collaboration with UPSAT SFAX its 9th congress on March 7 and 8 on Fascia therapy and Perineal reeducation and free communications
Club Para Sans Frontières, just a few days after its launch, created its first event, a health screening action with project volunteers: 20,000 trees to plant.
This health screening action was carried out by our students from UPSAT Sfax (all sections combined).
with a nutrition training carried out by ola gargouri and an effort rehabilitation training carried out by makram elaoun and nawres bouzayani
This morning was complemented by a Royal breakfast prepared by our students
