International universities adopts GLOCAL mantra

“The world is rapidly transforming, and with it, our education systems need to evolve to”

In the past, it was accepted that an education system which revolved around competitive exams would prepare students for the job market. Accumulating knowledge was the driving force behind success, but now after digital disruption, (where information is available at your fingertips), this is not the case anymore. The world is rapidly transforming, and with it, our education systems need to evolve to.

Jobs today are fluid, requiring an array of skills ranging from critical thinking, communication and domain knowledge. Further, with the advent of artificial intelligence, Internet of Things and other technological advancements, nobody knows what the careers of the future will look like, what activities will be uniquely human and how organizations will find a balance between automation and human delivered output.

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Generation Greta: education & the global climate crisis

“A student could do 10,000 hours of contact time in the classroom, and only hear about environmental issues or discuss the effects of climate change in ten of them”

Barnaby Sandow, Head of School at ACS International School Cobham, asks how we can re-focus our approach to education to realistically frame the growing global climate crisis.

Environmental education is not consistent in the UK. Whilst it encompasses multiple topics and skills, environmental education has no defined syllabus or structure, which means in practice, it’s a subject matter that ‘falls through the gaps’.

It’s entirely possible that a student could do 10,000 hours of contact time in the classroom, and only hear about environmental issues or discuss the effects of climate change in ten of them. As each #FridaysForFuture protest passes, it’s starkly obvious that we need an education ready to support ‘Generation Greta’.

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What next for differential pricing?

“News of different price arrangements based on country could very easily go viral with a negative impact on reputations and on business”

Language schools in many parts of the world will often charge a lower price to say, a student from Colombia than to a student from Saudi Arabia, a lower price for a Turk than for a Japanese. 

This practice is commonly referred to as “pricing to the market” and has evolved in large measure because course rates can be viewed as unaffordable – or at least as uncompetitive – by students in certain countries or regions.

Schools may refer to “special offers” or “country promotions” as a rationale for the discounting; those terms are, however, frequently used as a cover for what is, in fact, a permanent differential pricing policy.

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Looking for a Pathway Partner? Maybe Check in the Mirror

“Even without a partner, you can still benefit from emulating the best elements of outside pathway providers”

If you are looking for a pathway partner, it is probably also true that you are looking for some kind of overarching structure to guide your international student management on campus.

You’re also not alone; in 2009, only two outside pathway partnerships existed in the US, while seven years later, there were 55*. Why such interest in partnering? Pathway Providers are most often selected by universities because they bring added value to a university’s international student lifecycle, from student recruiting to student support and career success.

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Cost-effective translation for international education

“Translation is, after all, at the core of the international education experience”

International education is all about teaching and learning across national and linguistic borders. How can institutions and teachers best overcome language barriers and communicate better with foreign languages audiences? 

We consider the different options available: working with professional translation agencies, working directly with translators via freelance networks, and “doing it yourself” with Artificial Intelligence-powered machine translation software. We will consider the pros and cons and relative costs of the various approaches along with best practices, tips and tricks for improving outcomes.

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How ‘Safety’ is moving up the agenda for international students & their families

“The pressure is on UK schools to make their schools as attractive as possible when it comes to projecting a ‘safe’ image”

Maryland lawmakers have approved a bill that will allow Johns Hopkins University to form its own, private police force to enforce the law on campus. Meanwhile, in the UK, over the past three years, universities have paid more than £2 million to 17 police forces in exchange for support.

Spending is rapidly increasing and the University of Northampton now has six fulltime police officers seconded to the University for 3 years, at a cost of £775,000. Safety is increasingly front of mind when students are deciding about overseas study locations. In IDP’s annual survey of almost 3,000 students in the five main overseas study destinations (US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) Canada leads the way in terms of ‘safety’ versus its international rivals, with the UK ranking 4th out of five.

Also, students from China are now reported to be as concerned by the safety of the destination country in which they intend to study as they are the relative academic position of their institution, according to the latest report from the Beijing Overseas Study Service Association.

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The most important job in the world

“Collectively, we need to tackle the learning crisis for the one in two children being failed as they never even learn the basics”

Teaching is the most important job in the world. The quality of any nation’s education cannot exceed the quality of its educators. Each teacher has the opportunity to shape and impact tens of thousands of young lives over the course of their career. It is not unusual to hear someone reflect on a favourite teacher from their school days or to ascribe their success in life to the advice or guidance given by a teacher.

Yet, in many low and middle-income countries teaching is an extremely difficult profession. Once trained, teachers can find themselves teaching in a range of challenging situations; days away from the nearest town; with little or no support or guidance; textbooks that aren’t aligned to the material or the age of the children they are attempting to teach and overcrowded classrooms with children sitting on the floor.

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Ideas To Make Your Students Love To Learn English

“If a student genuinely wants to learn English, then the motivation to learn English should come from within a student”

A teacher plays an essential role in motivating the student to make them love English. But it is not as simple as you think – motivation should come from inside. Many non-native students have an urge to learn English since the language is necessary for them to reach their ultimate goal. But there are different strategies to help your students learn English.

  1. Create creative lessons with the conceptional understanding

Conceptual understanding makes learning easy and deep. A student who went through the process can apply it across various domains, especially the things which they have learned in class.

The process helps a student to learn more than what’s there in their syllabus- all the facts and methods. Create lessons which are flexible, creative and assess conceptual understanding. If you try to raise your student’s block on English, then teaching English would be easy.

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Leadership – a key focus for this year’s Australian International Education Conference

The conference will provide a platform to showcase the people, practices and nations that are driving change

‘Leading the way’ will be the key focus for the Australian International Education Conference (AIEC) in Perth this year.

Hosted by IDP Education and the International Education Association of Australia (IEAA), the conference will explore how sectoral and industry leaders navigate through increasing disruption, technological developments, policy changes, and changes in international student demand.

The conference will provide a platform for leading experts to showcase the people, practices and nations that are driving change and showing leadership in the sector through new approaches to international education, technology and research.Read More

Interest in the UK on the rise following the reintroduction of the post-study work visa

“The impact for universities and colleges specifically is crucial”

The UK government’s announcement on September 11 of the re-introduction of the post-study work visa for international students was a welcome piece of news and one with immediate impact. Two weeks post-announcement you can already see the following from IDP Connect data.

  • A significant spike of interest from Indian students
  • Postgraduate interest increasing
  • A major spike in postgraduate interest from Indian students

Although the new “graduate route” won’t come into operation for students starting until 2020-21, previous policy announcements have often had an immediate impact on the online search activity of prospective international students.

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