Page 2 – Industry insight from professionals in international education

AI can enable educators with new superpowers

“AI can recommend content and the most efficient learning path for each individual learner”

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if teachers had superpowers? With all the demands made of them – keeping track of slow learners, paying attention to gifted students, checking homework, grading tests, no wonder they struggle. But we can enable educators with superpowers today using artificial intelligence, the perfect solution for learners.

No, institutions don’t have to start hiring data scientists to build complex algorithms. Edtech companies have done all the work. All it takes is an IT manager to plug the AI brain into whatever learning management system an institution has adopted with something called an Application Programming Interface, or API.

APIs are like pipes that connect one software system to another. Suddenly, the LMS that instructors use to assign homework or grade tests has a brain of its own.

“More must be done to enable people whose first language isn’t English to access the truth”

More than a quarter of the internet is written (and spoken) in English making it one of the most popular languages online. And, given that 94% of the world does not speak English as a first language, it also means that reading English is often the first step to accessing robust, trusted information in a digital first society.

Our recent report, The Matter of Fact, revealed that two thirds of people (67%) globally turn to Google and other search engines when looking for factual information, while 37% turn to social media – rising to 44% of Mexicans, 43% of South Africans and 54% of Indians.

With our devices at our fingertips, we instinctively turn to the web, whether that’s to quickly fact check something we’ve read or to support our studies.

“Nearly all Pakistani vice-chancellors, rectors and senior higher education leaders have received training in the UK since 2010”

A recent study has revealed that University College London generated £9.9 billion of economic impact across the UK in 2018/19. This equates to the trade boost delivered by the 2012 London Olympics. According to the UCL management, this could only be achieved in collaboration with the varsity’s partners as 77% of UCL’s academic partners are based outside London.

Nothing exists in a vacuum, and higher education is no exception. This stands true for the tertiary education sector in Pakistan.

While the sector is growing fast – with more than 230 universities across Pakistan – the challenges of equitable access, quality and relevance continue to remind us of the potential this sector could possibly unleash and contribute back to society and the economy. A well-connected higher education sector can co-create, curate and cross-pollinate ideas, knowledge, experience, skills and learning across multiple platforms, and hence it is breathing, alive and always open for new interventions.

September 5, 2022
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British Council, Higher education, Transnational education, UK

The challenges and opportunities of a strong dollar for international students

“Students should also be reminded that loans are only one option to fund their overseas education”

With the US dollar now worth nearly as much as the euro, you might be looking forward to your next Italian vacation. But the same economic trend poses both a challenge and an opportunity for students from around the world.

The Indian rupee has fallen by 6% since January, and the Chinese yuan hit a record low in July. Other countries are experiencing similar trends – though perhaps none worse than Sri Lanka, whose rupee has fallen by half since March. This means that students from these countries could encounter a major financial shortfall when it’s time to pay tuition.

“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.

“As we dust ourselves off, we find ourselves trying to embrace and rebuild study abroad in a new way”

Study abroad isn’t what it used to be.

With the collapse of many programs and the seat-of-your pants decisions to cancel, withdraw, shift, digitise, and more in the last two years, many study abroad programs were forced to reduce staff and/or create efficiencies and alternatives to students’ amplifying experiences in the world. Karin Fischer gives a strong voice to the stress and devastation of Covid on study abroad offices in her Chronicle of Higher Education article, raising more questions for the field of international education about our future, and the student experience.

“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.

“With the cost of education and living expenses on the rise, it is becoming increasingly difficult for students to afford a quality education”

The rupee has been on a downward spiral for the past few months and hit a new low against the US dollar last week. This has caused many students and parents to rethink their plans for studying abroad, writes Prajwal Ikhar, co-founder of EduCred India.

The cost of studying in the US has always been high, but the rupee’s recent depreciation has become even more expensive. Besides the US, the cost of studying in countries like the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada has increased by at least 10% in the last few months. But for students planning to study in the US, the pain is too much as they are now facing a 20-30% increase in the cost of their education. This is a major deterrent for students who have plans to study abroad.

August 2, 2022
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Higher education, Immigration, India, Study abroad

Why getting the university digital experience right will attract more international students

“Students expect their university’s digital experiences to be as good as services like Facebook, Amazon or Netflix”

Historically a strong university brand has to a certain extent guaranteed student numbers and in turn high National Student Survey scores, but for the current TikTok generation of students who expect high-quality and personalised digital experiences in every aspect of their lives, their education is no exception.

Yet despite the Covid pandemic accelerating the move to digital, most UK universities are still not offering what students would regard as ‘state of the art’ digital experiences. The result – a digital experience gap between what students expect from their universities and what is being offered.

July 28, 2022
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Edtech, Europe, Higher education, Teaching, UK

New minimum standards for boarding schools – view from the Guardianship sector…

“Key commercial organisations in the sector agree that closer collaboration will be needed between schools and guardians once the new standards are in place”

The Department for Education’s updated National Minimum Standards for Boarding Schools will come into effect from September 5 2022 and apply to boarding schools in England.

The document contains 23 Standards across all areas of governance, including: boarding provision; health and wellbeing; safeguarding & health and safety. One of the major changes of the updated NMS is a new standard dedicated to educational guardians.