Introduction to Oregon Connections

All Douglas County educators and schools have access to an amazing career education tool called Oregon Connections through the Umpqua Valley STEAM Hub – We would love to share this resource with you!

Access the most current information on upcoming industry chats, virtual field trips and training sessions for Douglas County educators and students. 


Click here to register and access events

Why Oregon Connections?

  • Have students ever asked you why they need to know something? Do you wish you had more tools and resources to help students connect what they are learning in school to potential future careers? Do you wish you could organize field trips and guest speakers, but don’t have the time and resources to organize these?

If you have any questions about gaining access to Oregon Connections or upcoming training opportunities, please email us at dcoregonconnections@gmail.com.

For Educators: Access the Oregon Connections Website

Visit oregonconnections.nepris.com/home/v4 and sign up for an Oregon Connections account. New users will automatically have a “bronze” account, which is the free version and has limited access for some features of Oregon Connections. The Umpqua Valley STEAM Hub will provide you with a free platinum license, which will allow you full access to all the platform offers. Email us at dcoregonconnections@gmail.com if you would like to receive a free platinum account and full access to the platform.  

Ways to Use Oregon Connections

  1. VIRTUAL INDUSTRY CHATS Oregon Connections, powered by Nepris, offers daily opportunities to join live, virtual chats with professionals on a variety of topics that prepare students for college and career. The topics follow the national themes in education along with several unique series being offered throughout the school year. With one click, you can sign up to participate in one of these chats along with other classrooms from across the country. If you can’t participate in the virtual industry chat at the live time, you can request a copy of the video to be sent to you after the session. The Umpqua Valley STEAM Hub organizes local, Douglas County industry chats and virtual field trips regularly. If you sign up for Oregon Connections and request a platinum license from us, we will keep you informed on all upcoming local virtual field trips offered in Douglas County.
  2. VIDEO LIBRARY All live sessions featured in Oregon Connections are recorded and available in the video library to watch at any time. You can browse the video library by topic as well if you are looking for something specific. All local sessions and virtual field trips that have taken place in Douglas County can be found here. This is a great way to showcase local career opportunities with your students!
  3. EDUCATOR REQUESTED SESSIONS Any educator can request a customized session with a virtual guest speaker. This is great for planning and scheduling purposes, as well as to give your students access to one-on-one conversation with a virtual guest speaker.  This feature of the website takes a bit more time to utilize as opposed to the “one click” ease of joining a live industry chat that is already planned. We recommend attending one of our virtual trainings on Oregon Connections so you can get a more in-depth view of requesting customized sessions. A recorded version of our one-hour introductory training can be found here in the Nepris video library.  You can also contact us via email to learn about upcoming live training opportunities offered through Zoom.  
  4. CAREER EXPLORER & STUDENT ACCESS  The Career-Explorer tool is a succinct way to look up basic information about a variety of careers and compare information with other careers.  Educators can use this tool in a whole-class demonstration or also encourage students to create an Oregon Connections account and explore the tool on their own. Students have access to the Career Explorer tool as well as the video library of recorded sessions. There are many options for getting students set up with their own Oregon Connections account. Attend one of our trainings to learn more about this feature! 

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