Category: Innovation

Migrating digital natives to home-learning in the wake of school closures

“The human interaction aspect of e-learning is crucial for student success and wellbeing – and for teachers too”

This latest blog is by Daniel Jones, Chief Education Officer of Globeducate, one of the world’s leading international school groups that has seen schools in all markets migrate to temporary home-schooling due to Covid-19 in less than a month.

Having anticipated possible school closures early in the new year our leadership team began planning a global strategy for online learning by the start of February. When the news of school closures in Italy broke, ICS Milan, Rome International School and Southlands International School were ready to launch their virtual learning programmes for students aged 3 to 18.

What has been asked of students and teachers all over the world has been immense – students have had to adapt to learning at home, away from the routine of school and the familiarity of their friends and teachers, and teachers have been engaging students in an entirely new environment.

“Education is an important and lasting way in which university-affiliated think tanks can impact the world”

By connecting the worlds of the practitioner and the scholar, says Aaron McKeil of LSE IDEAS, think tanks – university-affiliated think tanks especially – act as conduits between the two.

They strive to convey concepts and ideas from academia to practice and to bring experience and insider knowledge from practice to academia. Research and working groups are some of the most common mediums for this activity, but education has an important function and role too.

Think tanks, especially university-affiliated think tanks, can provide education by conveying academic knowledge to practitioners, at various levels. They can also provide education by connecting students to the distinct type of expertise that professional practitioners can provide.
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Rethink 2020: Five trends to watch

“In these trying times, rather than fret about the future, it’s useful to take a step back and assess”

Recent head-spinning events – raging fires causing university closures in Australia; the UK exiting Europe; and most recently, a coronavirus outbreak bringing global mobility to a standstill – has the international education sector battered as if by a hurricane of headlines, writes Anna Esaki-Smith, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Education Rethink.

While none of these occurrences relates directly to education, they pose fundamental risks to an industry whose very core is rooted in the free movement of people. However, in these trying times, rather than fret about the future, it’s useful to take a step back and assess.

In Education Rethink’s latest report, Rethink 2020: Five Trends to Watch, we go back to basics by examining the foundational undercurrents driving student mobility towards the English-speaking world.

Consider that, in 2019, the total population of international students across the US, UK, Australia and Canada – grew by more than 115,000, according to the latest student visa issuance data.

But focusing on increasing numbers alone is not enough. Where are students coming from? And what are the factors driving those flows?

March 4, 2020
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Innovation, International student recruitment, USA

Is COVID-19 a moment for online education to take the lead?

“Beyond helping the students and the industry, edtech can also help with the impact of the coronavirus more generally”

As the international education sector grapples with the impact COVID-19 is having on student mobility, Chief Content & Partnership Officer at FutureLearn, Justin Cooke, argues that the technology is available for the education sector to lead the way in combating the coronavirus, both the spread of the virus itself and its impact on learning and economies.

In the US, Chinese students make up over one third of all international students. In the UK, one-third of all non-EU students at British campuses are now from China. And in Australia, Chinese students make up 10 per cent of all students. It is clear that Chinese students represent a significant percentage of international cohorts so it’s no surprise that the education sector, as well as those students, are being impacted by the coronavirus. But the question is what are we going to do about it?

With the coronavirus and the related travel bans, many Chinese students can’t enter the countries they are supposed to be studying in. This impacts their studies, of course, but also the economies of those countries.

“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?

“360s are a brilliant online tool for international students to use in helping them make the right decision for their education needs”

Ash Burling is a senior photographer at Revolution Viewing – the sector’s leading provider of rich media solutions. In this blog, he explains why viewers like 360° images so much and why you should be using them in your international marketing.

If a picture says a thousand words, how much is a 360° one saying? Well to be honest: a lot more. 360s get the international viewer right into the heart of a university environment so they have a completely immersive experience of viewing it.

Imagine you’re a student in Dubai looking to study at the University of Hull, but you’re unable to visit. No worries, just check out the 360 tour we made for them! You get to explore the full campus and the facilities from the comfort of your own home.

January 22, 2020
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Innovation, International student recruitment

Three takeaways from the Third International Strategy of Impact Conference

“With today’s mounting pressures on research funding… research practitioners in HE, government, and NGOs face a mounting challenge”

Research has a long tail. The vaccine for Polio — the devastating viral epidemic linked to thousands of cases of paralysation and death in the first half of the 20th century — was launched in 1955.

The impact is still being felt today (and forevermore): according to the World Health Organisation, more than 18 million people walk today who would have been paralysed without the vaccine. Yet, the initial exploratory research project that looked at the poliovirus started and finished decades ago.

It’s precisely this recognition of the long-tail effects of research that is driving an emerging conversation around the assessment of research activity both in the UK and globally.

With today’s mounting pressures on research funding, especially following the global credit crunch, research practitioners in higher education, government, and NGOs face a mounting challenge: how can they continue to expand the borders of intellectual discovery, while investing in research activities that lead to impact and achieve the desired mission?

“The modern Gen Z student is critically insightful about what they expect from higher education study”

What exactly is meant by academic development? Perhaps you know it as ‘educational development’ or ‘teacher development’ in higher education? In a sentence, it is professional development that supports the improvement of quality in tertiary education; by enhancing all dimensions of learning, teaching, assessment and scholarship in higher education.

In Britain, Australasia and parts of Europe and Asia this falls under academic staff professional development; or instructional development in Canada, or faculty development in the USA. Such programmes and activities have been a feature of more mature tertiary education systems for more than 40 years.

“If this practice was rolled out more widely, the information would alert universities to who is at risk”

AI could soon be helping universities spot students who are struggling early so they can better support them and prevent them from dropping out, says Fred Singer, CEO of platform Echo360.

Imagine you’re a lecturer in the early days of teaching a large group of first and second-year students. You’re still getting to know your audience, but there aren’t many questions coming from the room, making it hard to confirm students’ understanding of the topics being covered.

You’re confident about the quality of your lecture, but questions linger.

Are some students struggling silently due to a limited grasp of English? Does the lack of questions indicate confusion rather than comprehension? Are students opting out of group discussions because they’re shy or because they don’t understand the concepts being debated?

“We must recognise the power of STEM learning and its potential to equip our children with the skills they will undoubtedly need in the future”

STEM is a real buzz word in the education sector at the moment and it seems to be its answer to everything.

Many educators and policymakers increasingly argue that more and more areas of education should focus on STEM, to future-proof our kids for a world that seems to be ever more technology-driven.

But what does STEM actually mean, and is it really the answer to everything?

STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. These are the top-line subjects that make up the acronym, but a wide range of specific academic disciplines such as Chemistry, Astronomy, Statistics, Biology, Electrical Engineering and Psychology all fall under STEM.