Inventor’s life could inspire business schools worldwide

“His passion for education and inspiring future generations to take a chance was legendary”

Trevor Baylis left school without any qualifications but went on to become one of Britain’s most renowned inventors. Kamal Bechkoum, head of business and technology at the University of Gloucestershire reflects on the mark that Baylis left on the world and what higher education institutions can learn from his genius.

I was tremendously saddened to hear of the recent death of Trevor Baylis OBE, creator of the wind-up radio that helped millions in the developing world access essential and life-saving information.

His passing marks not just the loss of a great inventor; it also offers an impressive life story that business, science and technology schools across the globe can learn from when encouraging their students to fulfil a need, doggedly protect one’s own intellectual property, or face down the seemingly impossible. 

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How the Vietnamese Use the Internet, Including Social Media

“Since most young Vietnamese, including those planning to study overseas, are online, one question to ask yourself is: how big is your digital footprint in Viet Nam?”

With 57 million active social media users, it comes as no surprise that most Vietnamese get their news from the Internet. Mark Ashwill, managing director of educational consulting company Capstone Vietnam delves deeper into the country’s online habits.

In a population of about 96 million, 64 million Vietnamese are online, which adds up to a remarkable Internet penetration rate of 67%, according to the new 2018 Global Digital suite of reports from We Are Social and Hootsuite.

57 million of them are active social media users, a penetration rate of 57%.  To put this in perspective there were 204,125 Vietnamese online in 2000 and nearly 21 million in just eight years.

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U.S. is Losing an Opportunity for Economic Growth

“International students studying in the US become powerful contributors to the economy…impacting foreign relations in ways that can lead to global growth. “

It is easy to view the value of international students in terms of economic impact says Gretchen M. Bataille, senior consultant at Navitas USA. But, as she explains, international students contribute much more than tuition fees, and unfortunately, the US seems to be missing the memo. 

Education is not often considered an export. However, contrary to images of barges laden with goods, the United States’ most valuable exports are services, including education. In July 2017, services accounted for over one-third of total exports at $65.8 billion.

International students studying in the US become powerful contributors to the economy and contribute new ideas, lifestyles, values, and experiences to their home countries, transforming their local economies and impacting foreign relations in ways that can lead to global growth.

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Chinese parents boost the UK’s £20bn higher education market

 “Parents in China are expecting to contribute on average £72,738 towards their child’s higher education abroad”

Thinking of international education and the boom in mobile students in the near past, we often think of the students as the drivers of change. And of course they are at the centre of the business – it wouldn’t exist without them – but there is another group that also deserves our attention, writes Trista Sun, global head of international and cross border at HSBC. Parents of mobile students, especially Chinese parents, are key to the international education economy.

Despite many concerns about the international political environment, globalisation of education showed no sign of stalling in 2017, creating vast opportunities for universities around the world. The UK in particular saw strong benefits from this, with international students bringing an estimated £22.6bn to our economy, as revealed by new figures from HEPI. We owe a great deal of this income to ambitious parents in China who are going to great lengths to make their child’s plans for university abroad a reality.

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Why the Duke of Edinburgh Award is important for international students

“The DofE has progressed to become more than an outdoors leadership challenge… it now reflects a much more diverse and interconnected world”

In today’s highly competitive world, young people are under enormous pressure to succeed. However, success is rarely achieved without a helping hand or a positive, life-changing experience, writes Clare Lane, head of sport at Bellerbys College.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award was set up in 1956 to help young people from all walks of life navigate the challenging path to adulthood; broadening their life skills and preparing them for their future work or studies.

While individual institutions around the world may offer similar programmes, as far as I’m aware there isn’t a program on a national level comparable to the DofE Award. Agents may not be aware of the benefits the program presents tor international students in particular, which is why we should be talking about it today.

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Youth around the world need higher education for a bright future, including refugees

“Working in a refugee camp requires addressing basic needs in addition to providing programs that allow for flexibility while holding students accountable to high standards.”

A graduate of Kepler, a program that works in partnership with Southern New Hampshire University to offer US accredited degrees to students in East Africa, Landry Sugira is an advisor in the Kepler Kiziba refugee camp.

When I was growing up, my parents used to ask me, “what do you want to be in the future and what does it require in terms of education to reach there?” I thought that this question was a bit ridiculous because I did not fully understand how important education can be. Since obtaining my degree and now working as an advisor in a higher education program, I understand why they asked that question.

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How will English language exams change in the next five years?

“As specific IELTS and Trinity exams are linked to visa applications it is unlikely a fully online provision will be deemed secure enough in the next five years. However, this doesn’t mean that for other purposes, English Language provision and exams will change significantly.”

With online English language courses gaining in popularity, Pat Moores, director and co-founder of UK Education Guide, looks at whether English tests will increasingly be offered online. Specific exams are linked to visa applications, but does that mean provisions cannot change significantly for other purposes?

The appetite for learning English shows no signs of slowing up. According to latest figures from the British Council there are over 1 billion people currently learning English worldwide.

There is also deepening interest in online delivery of English language courses. For example in May 2015, FutureLearn launched its free course ‘Understanding IELTS: Techniques for English Language tests’.

Over 2 million learners have now signed up for the IELTS course across multiple runs.

But what is the broader picture?

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Broadening access to education across the globe

“The number of 18-year-olds from disadvantaged backgrounds embarking on full-time undergraduate courses has increased 52% since 2006”

Across the world, over 159 million children have no access to pre-primary education, and 57 million remain out of school at primary school age. A staggering 103 million youth worldwide lack basic literacy skills, with more than 60% of these being female. Though global efforts are being made to redress these problems, UK HE has a vital part to play in advancing worldwide education, writes Sean de Lacey, head of sales at Diversity Travel.

The growth of online education and university expansion through branch campuses have helped to broaden learning possibilities for some, particularly in developing countries, whose access to traditional education routes may be restricted or in some cases shut off entirely.

“As popular as their uptake may be, the completion rates for MOOCs remain stubbornly low”

Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) provider Coursera, which works with some of the world’s leading universities and prides itself on offering top-quality education to anyone, has in excess of 24 million users worldwide. A huge 45% of these users are from developing countries.

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How to encourage students to pursue a career in the international education sector

“Let students know that the opportunities for professional development are vast in the international education sector”

For those already working in the international education sector, you know what a rewarding career lies in store for those just starting out, writes Laura Slingo of CV-Library. But for the vast majority of students currently studying, they are unaware of the opportunities that could be waiting for them. You can find more advice 

To share your knowledge and encourage more students to pursue a career in the international education sector, here are our five tips:

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Best practice for welcoming international students

“There has never been a greater need to welcome and support international students so their experiences are happy ones”

In a time of far-right movements in Europe, Trump in the US and Brexit in the UK, international students need to be welcomed more than ever, argues Pat Moores, director and co-founder of UK Education Guide. She digs into recent best practice studies that ensure international students feel welcomed and supported.

Across the globe there are, at best, ‘mixed messages’ from national governments about how welcome international students are, making the complex marketing exercise of attracting and then welcoming international students even more challenging.

Therefore, there has never been a greater need to welcome and support international students so their experiences are happy ones and they then become advocates, promoting study in the UK and other host countries.

Historically, universities felt it was most helpful to have separate fresher’s weeks for international and domestic students, but some are now feeling that this separation right at the start of the student experience is not helpful.

As the Guardian has reported, Bournemouth University made a conscious decision to bring home and international students together during fresher’s week.

“We used to have a separate induction programme for these students, but we felt that it was isolating them,” explains Mandi Barron, Bournemouth’s head of student services. “Now we just badge some events that we think would be particularly useful for international students, but non-international students are welcome to attend if they want.”

The university also runs pre-arrival webinars on topics such as visas and UK culture for students, and trains staff to be aware of the different cultural needs they may encounter. But it is also wary of treating international students differently.

“We try not to focus on a homogenous group and more on individual needs,” says Barron. “Rather than having an international students department, we have a one-stop-shop service for all students, because if you’ve got an accommodation problem you’ve got an accommodation problem, and a complaint is a complaint, whether you’re international or British.”

Whilst Bournemouth is approaching the task of welcoming international students from the perspective of focusing on similarities, rather than differences, between students from different nations, Nottingham Trent University is taking a different approach.

The university is trialling a new scheme that helps international students celebrate their differences in background and culture. A project funded through a UKCISA grant sees international students lecture other students on aspects of their home culture, helping them gain academic confidence while educating others.

“It’s very small scale because it’s the first year they’ve run it,” UKCISA director of policy and services Julie Allen explains. “But this is a really good example of recognising the resources that these students are bringing rather than thinking that students who’ve come from outside the UK are in deficit or need additional support.”

The focus of celebrating differences to help educate the whole student body is backed up by research in the US. Contact between domestic and international students has also shown significant benefit to domestic students, as recent studies of US alumni have found, a significantly larger proportion of highly interactive (in terms of international student engagement) U.S. students in one cohort not only seriously questioned their political beliefs, but also challenged their beliefs about other religions, other races or ethnicities, and people with other sexual orientations, than did their non-interactive peers.

These initiatives highlighted have an important aspect in common – they are clear that forcing ‘integration’ is not a good way forward. Bournemouth’s initiatives are aimed at treating each student on their specific needs, regardless of country of origin and Trent is celebrating the individual experiences of overseas students to help benefit the whole student body.

Further afield, in Canada, the Université Laval in Quebec, which came top in the 2014 International Student Barometer for its welcome experience, focuses on a broad program to help its international students adapt to student life in Canada. The program focuses on practical issues like support in setting up a bank account and links to local families to experience Quebec culture.

Alongside helping international students understand local practical and cultural differences, there is also a requirement to be immediately ready to help international students who need additional learning support.

While US and UK pedagogy is more interactive, a recent US study* has once again highlighted that some international students simply don’t understand what is expected of them within the learning environment. For example, many are surprised that they are expected to answer questions and offer viewpoints in class or seminars.

A final note is a recent study completed by igraduate that shows that the challenges faced by international students on arrival are somewhat different from the fears prior to departure. Therefore, improving online sources of information and online interaction with a university and other students prior to arrival can arguably help address some of these concerns.

“Universities can produce their own closed MOOCs designed specifically to educate their foreign students about life on campus including insights about cultural norms. These could be offered as part of the recruitment process as part of a ‘no surprises’ approach,” suggests Simon Nelson CEO from FutureLearn, a social learning platform that offers free and paid-for online courses and degrees from over 150 leading universities and organisations across the world.

*The findings are from the survey Policies and Practices in Enrollment and Student Affairs, which was conducted in March 2017 by Maguire Associates of Concord, MA, for the ETS TOEFL Program. The results are based on the responses of 556 recruitment and admissions officers at two- and four-year, public and private institutions, including both undergraduate and graduate programs.