Boca Raton, FL, Dec. 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brandon Hall Group, the leading independent HCM research and analyst firm, has announced the winners of the 2024 EdTech Excellence AwardsTM, celebrating organizations that have revolutionized learning through innovative technological solutions across more than 30 categories. The EdTech Excellence AwardsTM recognizes breakthrough achievements in educational technology, spanning from innovative AI-powered learning solutions to comprehensive learning management systems. Categories include Best Adaptive Learning Solution, Best STREAM Solution, Best Innovative Generative AI-Powered Learning Solutions, Best Mobile App for Education, and Best Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality Solutions, among others. A complete list of this year's winners, along with past recipients, can be found at excellenceawards.brandonhall.com/winners/ . "The Excellence in Technology Awards continues to showcase the pinnacle of innovation in the HCM space," said Rachel Cooke, Chief Operating Officer of Brandon Hall Group. "The submissions we received this year represent groundbreaking solutions across learning, talent management, talent acquisition, HR, workforce management, and sales enablement technologies. The global diversity of our applicants reflects how technology is breaking down barriers and reshaping the future of work." This year's entries demonstrated remarkable advancements across crucial educational technology areas, including personalized learning platforms, digital courseware solutions, classroom management tools, and innovative assessment solutions. The awards particularly highlighted emerging technologies such as AI-powered learning tools and virtual reality applications that are transforming the educational landscape. "What sets our awards program apart is our unwavering commitment to a rigorous, multi-tiered evaluation process," said Mike Cooke, CEO of Brandon Hall Group. "Each submission undergoes detailed assessment by industry veterans and our expert analyst team, followed by a thorough executive review. This methodical approach, combined with our points-based scoring system, ensures that every award truly reflects excellence in innovation and measurable business impact." The winners will be honored at Brandon Hall Group's HCM Excellence Conference 2025, taking place January 28-30, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Florida. At the conference, winners will have the opportunity to showcase their innovative educational technologies and share best practices during special sessions. For more information about the conference and to register, visit excellenceconference.brandonhall.com . About Brandon Hall Group Brandon Hall GroupTM is the home of the most prestigious and sought-after awards in Human Capital Management. For over 30 years, our awards programs have set the gold standard in recognizing organizations for innovative and effective HCM practices. The EdTech Excellence AwardsTM are part of a comprehensive recognition program that includes our flagship HCM Excellence Awards® - known as the "Academy Awards of Human Capital Management" - and our new Voice of the Employee Awards. Our awards programs attract entrants from leading corporations worldwide, as well as mid-market and smaller firms, with diverse categories spotlighting the most innovative organizational achievements and the solution providers who power them. The rigorous and impartial evaluation process leverages an international panel of veteran industry experts and Brandon Hall Group senior analysts, providing winners with both international recognition and critical insights to accelerate their business growth and impact. At Brandon Hall GroupTM, we don't just celebrate excellence - we provide a platform for sharing best practices that drive the industry forward, empowering excellence in organizations around the world and advancing the HCM profession as a whole. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.Cowboys set to host Bengals under open roof after falling debris thwarted that plan against Texans
An online debate over foreign workers in tech shows tensions in Trump’s political coalition
NoneBy MICHELLE L. PRICE WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — An online spat between factions of Donald Trump’s supporters over immigration and the tech industry has thrown internal divisions in his political movement into public display, previewing the fissures and contradictory views his coalition could bring to the White House. The rift laid bare the tensions between the newest flank of Trump’s movement — wealthy members of the tech world including billionaire Elon Musk and fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and their call for more highly skilled workers in their industry — and people in Trump’s Make America Great Again base who championed his hardline immigration policies. The debate touched off this week when Laura Loomer , a right-wing provocateur with a history of racist and conspiratorial comments, criticized Trump’s selection of Sriram Krishnan as an adviser on artificial intelligence policy in his coming administration. Krishnan favors the ability to bring more skilled immigrants into the U.S. Loomer declared the stance to be “not America First policy” and said the tech executives who have aligned themselves with Trump were doing so to enrich themselves. Much of the debate played out on the social media network X, which Musk owns. Loomer’s comments sparked a back-and-forth with venture capitalist and former PayPal executive David Sacks , whom Trump has tapped to be the “White House A.I. & Crypto Czar.” Musk and Ramaswamy, whom Trump has tasked with finding ways to cut the federal government , weighed in, defending the tech industry’s need to bring in foreign workers. It bloomed into a larger debate with more figures from the hard-right weighing in about the need to hire U.S. workers, whether values in American culture can produce the best engineers, free speech on the internet, the newfound influence tech figures have in Trump’s world and what his political movement stands for. Trump has not yet weighed in on the rift, and his presidential transition team did not respond to a message seeking comment. Musk, the world’s richest man who has grown remarkably close to the president-elect , was a central figure in the debate, not only for his stature in Trump’s movement but his stance on the tech industry’s hiring of foreign workers. Technology companies say H-1B visas for skilled workers, used by software engineers and others in the tech industry, are critical for hard-to-fill positions. But critics have said they undercut U.S. citizens who could take those jobs. Some on the right have called for the program to be eliminated, not expanded. Born in South Africa, Musk was once on an a H-1B visa himself and defended the industry’s need to bring in foreign workers. “There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent,” he said in a post. “It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley.” Related Articles National Politics | Should the U.S. increase immigration levels for highly skilled workers? National Politics | Trump threat to immigrant health care tempered by economic hopes National Politics | In states that ban abortion, social safety net programs often fail families National Politics | Court rules Georgia lawmakers can subpoena Fani Willis for information related to her Trump case National Politics | New 2025 laws hit hot topics from AI in movies to rapid-fire guns Trump’s own positions over the years have reflected the divide in his movement. His tough immigration policies, including his pledge for a mass deportation, were central to his winning presidential campaign. He has focused on immigrants who come into the U.S. illegally but he has also sought curbs on legal immigration , including family-based visas. As a presidential candidate in 2016, Trump called the H-1B visa program “very bad” and “unfair” for U.S. workers. After he became president, Trump in 2017 issued a “Buy American and Hire American” executive order , which directed Cabinet members to suggest changes to ensure H-1B visas were awarded to the highest-paid or most-skilled applicants to protect American workers. Trump’s businesses, however, have hired foreign workers, including waiters and cooks at his Mar-a-Lago club , and his social media company behind his Truth Social app has used the the H-1B program for highly skilled workers. During his 2024 campaign for president, as he made immigration his signature issue, Trump said immigrants in the country illegally are “poisoning the blood of our country” and promised to carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history. But in a sharp departure from his usual alarmist message around immigration generally, Trump told a podcast this year that he wants to give automatic green cards to foreign students who graduate from U.S. colleges. “I think you should get automatically, as part of your diploma, a green card to be able to stay in this country,” he told the “All-In” podcast with people from the venture capital and technology world. Those comments came on the cusp of Trump’s budding alliance with tech industry figures, but he did not make the idea a regular part of his campaign message or detail any plans to pursue such changes.None