Category: Innovation

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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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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2023 predictions for UAE universities

“The higher education landscape in the UAE is on an exciting and dynamic journey and is now a destination of choice for many students”

The UAE has 11 universities featured in the rankings for the top 1,000.  It’s an impressive feat for a country that founded its first university, the United Arab Emirates University, in 1976, but how have they achieved this?

When you ask anyone working in higher education what 2023 looks like, the response is positive. Post-pandemic, the higher education landscape is filled with visions of a digital age and driving research to change the world.

This stems from what has been happening on college and university campuses for the last two years; fuelled by the pandemic, worldwide digital transformation, new learning formats and exploitation of the latest innovative technologies that can take educators and learners to another level beyond the zoom’ pandemic days. The UAE is no different.

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Using edtech to develop the voice of the next generation

“Edtech platforms that enable young people to collaborate and share their opinions and ideas hold immense potential in facilitating student development”

In June, Qatar Foundation’s LEAPS 2022 Summit saw education experts from around the world come together to share insight on future-proofing and progressing education by disrupting traditional learning methods. Through the focus of re-imaging education, conversations shed light on the need to prioritise teaching both creativity and kindness in lessons, not just traditional subject matters.

A key facilitator of this type of teaching is edtech, which provides platforms for students to develop their own voice and abilities, together with others in online communities.

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Designing for a rapidly changing world

“To develop the education paradigm, we should look more to our physical environments”

Some 65% of children entering primary school today will ultimately end up working in completely new job types that don’t yet exist. Designing learning environments for an unknown future call for flexibility, says learning space creator Rosan Bosch.

The lifespan of knowledge and skills acquired in school continues to shrink. Science and technology evolve in a pace that constantly push our global work force to become more adaptable and agile, and despite of this fact schools still have the same layout that was developed for rote learning.

The layout of schools resembles the layout of prisons. Instead, schools should be flexible and encourage different ways of learning.

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Higher education needs international student engagement more than ever – and the solution is clear

“Set up right, chatbots in higher education can handle over 80% of all queries”

International student engagement is crucial to higher education, from the first touch to the last. Each interaction is vital – from engaging with prospective students to support admission targets, to connecting with current students to ensure they feel supported and don’t add to the worryingly-high dropout rates.

However, many departments are struggling to connect with international students, and it’s having a clear and damaging effect. In the 2020-21 academic year, the number of international students at US colleges fell by 15%, according to the Institute of International Education and the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

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Reimagining university life: how operational leaders are creating the post-Covid campus

“University chief operating officers had an opportunity to rapidly transform operations and find new ways to partner with their executive peers”

Across the globe, universities are planning for a post-pandemic future. Many university chief operating officers are thinking about what the bricks-and-mortar campus should look like if hybrid teaching becomes the norm.

If students are hesitant to return to packed lectures in large theatres and staff are unwilling to commute five days a week, how should universities use their campuses? And how can operational leaders support faculty and students as they research, teach and learn in new ways?

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Transforming Thai higher education through global partnership

“Thailand’s unique location in South East Asia  sees it poised to become a regional education hub, an advantage the UK cannot ignore”

In response to Thailand’s ambition to internationalise its higher education system, the flagship Thai, UK World Class University Consortium initiative pairs seven Thai universities, through 15 research projects, with 14 lead UK university partners. This impressive partnership empowers outstanding collaboration on topics high on the list of national agendas.

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Covid proved universities could rapidly innovate, don’t stop

“Issuing digital credentials, authenticating in Blockchain-secure digital wallet, verifying with the click of a button. This is all possible now”

As the Colorado Avalanches – the Denver-based ice hockey team – played for their spot in the Stanley Cup, tertiary education admissions teams discussed the avalanche of international student applicants this year. The NAFSA international education conference was in town.

Naturally, the conference mood was positive. People were happy to be back in person at the famed NAFSA event. It had a real sense of “business as usual”. The conference theme was “building our sustainable future”, but the talk in the expo hall was all about getting numbers back to pre-Covid levels.

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How higher education is driving sustainable development

“None of the SDGs can be achieved in isolation: to truly deliver lasting change, collaboration between universities and partners around the world will be critical”

In an opening address to the Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers late last month, Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta sounded a clarion call to government education ministers around the world.

They should, he said ‘be alarmed to note that, by 2050, Korea and Japan will be enrolling 80% or more of their high school graduates to higher education, while countries such as the Central African Republic and Niger will be struggling to reach 5%.’ This gap, he said, was a critical issue for the Commonwealth, whose 54 member states are home to one in three of the world’s young people.

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