Author: Admin

The secret behind Tik Tok success every student marketer needs to know

“You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, but you do need to think about how your content will work on Tik Tok”

Do you ever find yourself giving Tik Tok one quick look and being totally overwhelmed by the confusing dance routines and ‘Mr Sandman challenges’? Don’t worry, you’re not alone, writes Eleana Davidson, marketing executive at Akero and Natives.

Frantic, fast-moving and creative, Tik Tok is the natural home of Gen Z. But how to include it in your student marketing is a whole other ball game. So what if we told you that there’s a way to access the estimated 200 million+ UK 16-25 year olds currently on Tik Tok and get your brand in front of them in a place where they’re already hyper-engaged and receptive.

In an efficient, simple, clever way, harnessing the know-how of experts 10 years in the student marketing game. All while being cost-efficient and result-guaranteed. Yes, you’d probably say it sounds too good to be true. But it’s not – and it really works.

Let’s take a look at the challenges all student marketers face at one time or another, and give you the secret to overcoming them.

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Universities Launching Pathways Themselves, Part 3

“Too often, we see communication that’s unidirectional from institution to agency”

Part 3 of our 4 part series on pathway programs. For part 1, please click here

In addition to Larry and Rick, who authored blogs #1 and #2, there is another co-author on this blog: Vanessa Andrade is director, International Partnership & Program Development and Deputy Senior International Officer at California State University, Northridge.

In our previous blogs, we noted that if you are thinking about a pathway partner, it is likely you are seeking outside help to overcome internal resource constraints.

Our contention throughout this series has been that much of the value that third-party pathway providers offer can be developed in-house, using a coordinated approach we call the Coordinated International Student Success Infrastructure (CiSSi) model.

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To print, or not to print: that is the question

“Although digital seems to offer several benefits… print media has a very important role in customer behaviour”

Over the past few years, the digital age has had a major impact on how business is done. Many companies in our industry have shifted focus to email marketing, blogging, video and social media marketing to raise brand awareness, increase website traffic and boost sales.

The one medium that is largely overlooked is print media. As CEO of multiple companies embracing the digital age, why do I still believe that print provides incredible marketing opportunities and still has a place today within our education industry?

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Want student-first admissions processes? Look to your student services peers

“When we hewed closely to student needs and perceptions… the international student and scholar community flourished”

Ryan Fleming is a client director with IDP Connect. In this blog, he discusses the importance of institutions paying attention to students’ needs and perceptions when considering new policies or processes.

About nine years ago, I embarked on my international education career by joining the international student and scholar services (ISSS) team at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. Though I didn’t realise it at the time, my years in Kent would prove formative for the way I approached a subsequent career lane change into the private sector.

At Kent, my role was equal parts strategic and operational: build the systems that would support and nurture students while simultaneously counselling them personally within the framework of that system. For my teammates and me, international orientation involved equal parts planning and delivery: figuring out what students needed to know, when and how they needed to know it, and then being the ones to tell them ourselves.

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Canada and Australia: The dark horses of international education

“The diversity in Canada’s student population is something that Australia is looking to replicate”

Graham Edward is Enterprise Sales manager at edtech platform, Cohort Go. In this blog, he discusses some of the similarities and differences between the “dark horses” of international education, Canada and Australia.

 With roughly five million students studying internationally in 2017 alone, the future looks bright for international educational institutions – especially those in Canada and Australia. These two countries are consistently ranked in the top five for inbound international students. When you consider that the top two countries on that list – the United Kingdom and the United States – are facing continued political challenges that could potentially alienate students, the maple leaf and southern cross shine as top contenders.

Between 2016 and 2017, Canada recorded a 17% increase in international student numbers, and for the first time last year, leapt ahead of both Australia and France to become the fourth most popular destination for international students globally.

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What makes the Middle East attractive to international students?

“The university culture in the Middle East is vastly different from that of the western world…but students are eager to experience new cultures”

When thinking of the Middle East, ‘Education’ may not be the first thing you think of, writes Fazreen Razeek of Middle East education guide Edarabia. However, the last decade has seen a major shift, with the building of world-class universities, and in attracting international students from all over the world.

Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates have continuously led the development of private schools in the region, with enrolment growth at 5% in Abu Dhabi and 4% in Dubai. Both cities account for 60% of the private K-12 market with ongoing year over year growth.

The Middle East is considered to be one of the fastest-growing regions for international education; the diverse cultures in each country expose students to experiences they would not be able to encounter anywhere else.

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Post-Brexit, UK should not overlook the role of ‘technology’ in providing global education

“Everyone for the foreseeable future is going to be developing work and social relationships, based on virtual networking”

On January 8th, the U.K. parliament voted against an amendment that went unnoticed beyond the few students, educators, and policy advocates who took to Twitter in angst.
The amendment insisted that the government maintain full membership in Erasmus, EU’s student exchange programme, and negotiate terms before the transition period ends in December 2020.

What did the vote mean? What indication it gives as to the faith of the UK’s participation in Erasmus+ post Brexit? From the launch of the program in 2014 to 2018, UK projects received €680 million in Erasmus+ funding, and 167,000 participants from the UK benefited from Erasmus+.

Brexit may mean the country rejects globalisation as an economic model but that doesn’t automatically translate into the rejection of global education. After all, the skills and attitudes gained from intercultural and international learning, as well the values it represents such as freedom and tolerance, are as British as they are European.

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International schools can no longer access the DBS…what next for safer recruitment?

“ We ALL have a responsibility to safeguard children. This should be at the core of every recruitment decision made within an international school”

 

ACRO Criminal Records Office senior manager Thomas Mason explains how international schools can still put safeguarding at the heart of every recruitment decision despite no longer having access to DBS checks.

A state of limbo

 In early September 2018, the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) announced that they would no longer be accepting DBS checks for international schools where the recruitment decision is not made in England or Wales.

This meant that international schools could no longer access enhanced or even standard DBS checks to assess whether or not applicants were suitable to work with children.

While this may have caused concern for key decision-makers within international schools and the education sector overseas, an alternative product exists, which fills the gap created by the loss of access to the DBS.

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The core considerations for international teachers in new cultures

“There’s a world out there to explore and teachers are uniquely placed to experience new surroundings while helping the next generation”

There are many benefits to teaching abroad and it is becoming a more popular choice for teachers with the current state of Britain’s educational and political system.

If you are considering or have already made the decision to teach abroad then there a few things you might want to consider before making the move. Do your research on locations and schools where you would like to teach before applying and accepting any offers. See what the job has to offer as a package, different countries may offer different packages.

A large number of international teaching packages should offer a competitive salary and include accommodation, medical insurance, visa costs and annual flight allowance.

All of these elements are dependent on if you’re moving alone or with a partner and/or children. If you have children, your school should provide free school places for them if they are unable to attend the school where you work.

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Learning from the US: new ways to evaluate & record skills and competencies

“Seeing online education as a ‘cheaper’ way to deliver higher education has long been debunked in the US”

 

Finding new ways to teach and accredit soft skills has never been more important, writes director and co-founder of UK Education Guide, Pat Moores. In this blog, she explores some of the lessons that educators can learn by observing the practices being adopted stateside.

At a recent presentation at the British Council’s International Education Conference, I was interested to note that none of the attendees at my session had ever heard of Western Governors University (WGU) or Competency-Based Education (CBE).

No big deal, of course, there are well over 5,000 US colleges, so not having heard of one is hardly a crime, but why does WGU matter and why does CBE matter too?

It is estimated 85% of jobs that will exist in 2030 haven’t been invented yet and 65% of children starting school will one day hold jobs that do not exist now. It is widely anticipated that many existing jobs will be replaced by robots/AI.

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