In early 2022, ApplyBoard announced its first acquisition: rising-star technology solution TrainHub (formerly Panda Portal), the only industry training ecosystem made specifically for international education professionals. While it operates in partnership with ApplyBoard, TrainHub has retained its structure; it is, and will remain, a completely standalone solution.
So, what has the TrainHub team been up to in the past year? We recently caught up with TrainHub founder Jimmy Battaglia for a peek behind the curtain.
Keep reading to learn how TrainHub is providing much-needed support for international students and recruiters alike—plus, how it upped its security game and refined its user functionality throughout the past year.
First Things First: What is TrainHub?
TrainHub is an international education training ecosystem, designed to make industry onboarding and training easier and more accessible than ever before.
TrainHub’s innovative platform helps over 150 partnering universities and colleges provide their recruitment partners with accurate, detailed, and high-quality training materials.
Prospective international students rely on the knowledge of local advisors (also known as student agencies, recruiters, or recruitment partners) when making life-changing decisions like where, when, and what to study abroad.
Advisors using TrainHub can access reliable on-demand training that they know is up-to-date and approved by their partnering academic institutions. Plus, users can learn at their own pace with micro-learning modules.
That means recruiters and student advisors worldwide can access all the training they need on one platform. Academic institutions using TrainHub know their latest approved training materials are accessible, anytime, to all of their partners. Not to mention the hundreds of hours in administrative time everyone saves.
For another look at innovation in education technology, read our article on why Virtual Reality can make learning more accessible and affordable.
How Does TrainHub Support International Students?
By giving study abroad advisors the information they need to properly and reliably advise these students, TrainHub positively impacts the lives of millions of students striving to achieve their study abroad dreams.
At its core, TrainHub is all about supporting people:
- It gives advisors the latest information, resources, and support they need.
- It lets higher education professionals easily share their institution’s most important learning resources with partners en masse.
- Students everywhere receive accurate information that positions them for study abroad success.
Student advisors play an important role. Learn one of their stories in our Q&A with an ApplyBoard Recruitment Partner!
“TrainHub’s mission is personal for me,” says Jimmy Battaglia, founder and Head of TrainHub. “When I first came to Canada as an international student in 2009, the advisor I worked with was amazing. She provided model service, gave me great advice, and guided me to make the right decisions. She followed up to check on me all throughout my studies.”
What concerned Jimmy was that many of his fellow international students and friends didn’t get the same quality of advice that he did. They weren’t given the right information, or were guided toward short study programs which didn’t let them pursue a post-graduate work permit after graduating. They wanted to stay and work, but were forced to return home instead.
“They got bad advice and had to give up on their dreams,” Jimmy says. “It’s heartbreaking. The agencies those students worked with just didn’t have the knowledge.”
Under normal circumstances, properly training any study abroad recruiter is a lot of work. Every destination, academic institution, and study program has its own specific set of rules to know. TrainHub makes this process easier, providing frictionless access to information, professional development, and support.
How Has TrainHub Grown in the Past Year?
Anyone in the industry can benefit from using TrainHub’s innovative platform, whether or not they’re a partner of ApplyBoard. TrainHub is the international education industry’s dedicated training ecosystem—full stop.
So what are the biggest developments TrainHub has made since the acquisition? First and foremost: bringing TrainHub’s systems in line with ApplyBoard’s security and infrastructure standards.
“ApplyBoard cares deeply about data management and data security,” says Jimmy. “The team here helped ensure TrainHub’s backend is up to or better than modern standards. Secure, stable, and ready.”
Another major development focus has been on adding new functionalities to support a wider market. TrainHub now offers enhanced management controls, making the platform even easier to use within large operations. New owner controls better cater to large and medium enterprises alike, with segmented levels of access available within one organizational structure. This way, the agency owner has full control over which training materials to prioritize within their own team.
These updates are just the tip of the iceberg for TrainHub. Accessible training resources, professional development opportunities, and micro-learning are always in demand. TrainHub makes training easier and better for everyone. And future students are better off for it.
So, what’s next for Jimmy and TrainHub? We can’t announce the details yet, but ApplyBoard recruitment partners have a lot to look forward to!
With all these pieces in place, 2023 is set to be the year of TrainHub. Keep your eyes on our blog for more updates!
Interested in joining the TrainHub ecosystem? Get started on the TrainHub website!
