Category: New Zealand

Manaakitanga – a warm Kiwi welcome to international students

“One by one each had their moment and their selfie with New Zealand’s prime minister”

In New Zealand, manaakitanga means to show respect, hospitality, care, generosity, and care for others. Not only the people themselves but also their stories. That is what the warm welcome to international students’ event symbolised and demonstrated on September 2 when New Zealand’s Prime Minister and Minister of Education attended an event in Auckland.

Hosted in the University of Auckland Waipapa Taumata Rau Unleash Space, first opened by the Rt. Hon. Jacinda Ardern in 2018, this space is predominantly a student co-working space nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit. Government and Education leaders came together to honour and celebrate the return of international students to New Zealand.

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How Google Trends can assist education providers during times of uncertainty

” This dataset in the time of COVID-19 can prove to be a useful tool in gaining a better understanding of some of the extraordinary changes”

 

The international education sector is dealing with a period of uncertainty, complexity and confusion, unlike anything we’ve known before, writes Keri Ramirez, managing director of  Australia based consultancy firm,  Studymove. 

To mitigate the uncertainty created by COVID-19, this month we looked at a different data source which we thought would help support education providers in their current and future decision making.

Google Trends analyzes a portion of the three billion daily Google searches and provides data on geospatial and temporal patterns in search volumes for specific terms. It is a useful tool to assess the change in the intentions of individuals based on their online search activity.

The power of Google trends is the ability to report real-time insights on what the audience is thinking. This dataset in the time of COVID-19 can prove to be a useful tool in gaining a better understanding of some of the extraordinary changes affecting the international education sector worldwide.

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Finessing the digital marketing campaign

“International universities are pushing boundaries in a bid to keep students, the public and educators interested”

Digital engagement has become the number one priority in international education. A dynamic, and rapidly expanding sector, #intled has moved from a humble advert in a newspaper to daily hashtags and ed tech galore.

International universities and organisations no longer feel the need to toe the line of conventional marketing; they are pushing the boundaries of the new, in a bid to keep students, the public and educators interested.

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International Education in New Zealand: New Applications for “№8 Wire”

“Policymakers are positioning international education within a fragile eco-system where sectors of the economy could collapse without the contributions of international students”

 

In 19th century New Zealand, №8 wire was the preferred wire gauge for sheep fencing, so farms often had plentiful supplies. It was said that one could just about fix anything with a handy piece of №8.

Over time, the idea of №8 wire came to represent the ingenuity, resilience and resourcefulness of New Zealanders and became a symbol of the nation’s ability to improvise and adapt. Today, New Zealand faces an array of more complex challenges.

As if with a piece of №8 wire in hand, Anthony Ogden, executive director of education abroad and exchanges at Michigan State University writes, the nation’s leaders have begun to reimagine international education as a viable strategy that can be repurposed to solve some of the country’s pressing challenges.

Although international education is generally discussed in relation to international student and scholar mobility, it is being framed in New Zealand as a dynamic industry in terms of export value, immigration, and as “supply chain management” to bolster the domestic workforce.

The nation’s policymakers are positioning international education within a fragile eco-system wherein certain sectors of the economy would potentially collapse without the economic and workforce contributions of international students.

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