Category: Edtech

Why universities globally should consider how they fit into the micro-accreditation landscape

“Shorter in duration than traditional programs, micro-credential programs enable students to gain specialised certifications for specific skills or knowledge areas”

The economic landscape learners face today is rapidly shifting. A generation ago, a career spent in one role was commonplace. Today, the need to reskill to hold multiple careers over a lifetime in the workplace appears to be quickly becoming the rule rather than the exception.

The skills gap created by this dynamic is also an opportunity. Short programs, such as micro-credentials with specific goals, are an opportunity for higher education institutions to widen access for non-traditional learners to gain the skills needed to compete today and provide an avenue to deliver lifelong learning for more workers tomorrow.

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Unleashing edtech needs more than tech: lessons from Africa

“Africa needs a new model for learning and development, a plan to point the path ahead to a future of opportunity”

The eLearning Africa annual conference, the largest and most comprehensive knowledge sharing event for technology-enhanced education, training and skills on the African continent, has just wrapped-up.

Speakers from around the globe converged in Dakar, Senegal to address the theme of the conference “New Model Learning: Innovating to Become Sustainable, Self-Reliant, Equitable and Resilient”.

It is true; Africa needs a new model for learning and development, a plan to point the path ahead to a future of opportunity. UNESCO estimates a shortfall in teachers in sub-Saharan Africa of 15 million. Worse, teachers struggling to help students often have little or no support.

These shortfalls go some way to explaining why in sub-Saharan Africa, only 10% of children can read a simple sentence by the age of 10.

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Trends for agility: HE is evolving at an unprecedented pace

“Higher education is evolving at an unprecedented pace and institutions must be proactive and agile if they’re to remain competitive”

The world is changing.  From the workplace to the study place, higher education is also being forced to evolve and adapt to the changing demands of students and tomorrow’s careers. Since the 16th century, education has involved spending a good deal of time sitting in a classroom absorbing information before heading out into the working world to put it to use.

But the speed of change around us means that how we are taught today and the content we are taught about may well be redundant the next, causing higher education to rethink its framework and teaching methods for the careers of the future.

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Hologram technology: transforming integrated learning across international campuses

“The benefits hologram learning can bring to classrooms cannot be overstated”

At HEC Paris in Qatar, we are sensitive to the demand for learning beyond traditional methods – for it to be more effective, efficient, and impactful. That is why we recently deployed holographic technology, helping achieve seamless integrated learning across international campuses.

This creates a novel teaching model for today, and for the future metaverse – fit for fighting the so called ‘conference call’ fatigue.

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ChatGPT in education: to ban or not to ban?

“Overall, I offered 20 questions to ChatGPT, and around 15 of its answers were correct”

In the last few months, we’ve seen many discussions on ChatGPT’s potential to disrupt certain fields and steal jobs. Copywriters are weak at the knees, and software developers are getting nervous. Education isn’t just a target – it’s already massively affected by AI. For instance, 17% of Stanford students confessed anonymously to using ChatGPT for their quarter assignments and exams.

Will it become a trend? Should we fight this process or accept the inevitable?

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Improve digital experience for all by focusing on international students

“Broadly, international students have a greater variety of attitudes and a greater variance of digital skills than their UK counterparts”

International students coming to the UK are an increasingly diverse group. They arrive with a breadth of personal perceptions, cultural backgrounds and prior experiences both inside and outside formal education. These experiences impact on how well they use digital technologies to learn.

This diversity means that the digital experience of international students coming to the UK is inconsistent with all their needs.

The problems these students face can be tackled by higher education providers taking a more inclusive approach, focusing on equity and outcomes. They can create a digital experience that benefits all students, not just international students.

The Jisc team has embarked on a four-phase research project aimed at understanding the digital experience of international students studying in the UK. Our findings and initial recommendations from the first phase will be published in the middle of April 2023.

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How should universities respond to robot writing?

“At one end of the spectrum are ‘the accommodators’ who see the inevitable rise of AI and conclude that fighting it is pointless. But this is a false dichotomy”

The arrival of automated essay-writing software has sent shockwaves through the global higher education sector. Academics and administrators are urgently debating how to respond to a technology that could make cheating a run-of-the-mill, free, and potentially acceptable behaviour for millions of university students.

Just last year Australia’s higher education regulator, TEQSA, was busy blocking access to scores of essay mills – websites that offer to write essays for students – usually for a few hundred dollars, with turnaround times of 24 hours to two weeks. That response now feels like it came from a bygone era, in the face of the game-changing ChatGPT, the new AI algorithm that can respond to nearly any prompt by spitting out original text right before one’s eyes.

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What degrees in the UK have the best prospects for 2023?

“Investing for the long haul results in a greater pay off and this applies to what is arguably the first investment in our life – our education”

Despite evolving edtech and new age subjects like “Surf Science” and “Klingon”, one aspect that remains unchanged for prospective students is the daunting task of choosing the right career path. When it comes time to enrol in university, you’ll have to decide on your career path and the best degree to get for your future. This can be incredibly overwhelming as many points factor in the decision making process. You’ll have to consider your career growth potential, the global economy and of course, job prospects upon leaving university.

While it is vital to select a degree that you have genuine interest in, it is also important to know the prospective job opportunities that come with your degree upon leaving university. Considering most Brits (over 60%) find themselves in jobs for which their field of study is irrelevant, learning app Preply set out to inform students of the potential prospects that come with the list of degrees they can choose from. Investigating popularity, demand and salary prospects, their score-based ranking comprises of sector growth, job listings, flexibility, average salary, course availability and average search volume.

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Communicate with confidence when studying abroad

“New technology is making overseas learning experiences even easier”

Based on a recent survey conducted by Palaver, frustration (50%) and embarrassment (49%) are the top two emotions experienced when trying to speak local languages abroad.

As a result, we often rely on others to speak English instead. However, this restricts our conversations and ability to connect with others – particularly when studying abroad – as we depend on building new relationships to prevent loneliness.

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EdTech still going strong with £3m investment in UK HE skills training platform Aptem

“The world is rapidly changing, with globalisation giving way to protectionism”

Aptem (MWS Technology Ltd), the market-leading SaaS software provider for apprenticeships, vocational training and employability, has secured £3 additional funding at a valuation of £33 million from long-term investors 24Haymarket and Guinness Ventures. Despite UK crises and talk of funding cuts, alongside a level of disenchantment with online learning in HE, EdTech is still seen as a good bet.

It is no exaggeration to say that the UK is in a political and economic crisis. With a new government (albeit the same political party) every two years and three different education secretaries in 2022 alone, the impact on education has been stark. Reliant on stability and continuity, particularly in an era of funding constraints, the sector is struggling to deliver the skills the UK needs.

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