Human Potential
Education Industry: Set the Curriculum With the Right Technology
“If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow” – John Dewey, educational reformer
The education industry is turning John Dewey’s vision into a reality by investing in technology that is enabling them to deliver learning that is truly modern, innovative and meets the next generation needs of the industry.
Changing demands for education: Open to All, Any time, Any place
Learning is no longer restricted to formal structured programs or to the young. Learning throughout one’s career to keep pace with new concepts has become a necessity.
Connected devices are transforming the learning experience with people learning seamlessly and collaboratively via different channels, through their phones, laptops and via social media.
Rise in mobility and flexibility owing to global work environments, is creating demand for learning that can be availed on the go.
The above trends have led to new disruptive services like virtual classrooms, digital assessments, advanced learning tools, digital tutoring, gamification of learning, adaptive learning and hybrid learning environment.
Technology to Help the Education Industry Realize the New Business Trends
Reinventing credentials for effective matching of skills and jobs
Digital Credentials using Blockchain
Student success and personalization
Predictive analytics and nudge technology to “push” students into making better decisions
Cyber Security in Education
Next Generation Security to address challenges of privacy and security in a data driven ecosystem that is dominated by new mergers and business models
Robust education ecosystem that benefits students, teachers and parents
Conversational AI can be anything from a teacher’s assistant to a campus buddy
Universities graduate to offer more value
New expectations have encouraged universities and education providers like Khan Academy and Coursera to invest in technology to provide learning like the MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) that is available on demand, can be customized and adapted to the pace of the learner thus providing greater value for money to the students and creating new revenue streams for the providers.
The acquisition of Kaplan University, an online learning platform company, by Purdue University in 2017 is a good example of a new business model where a state funded institution is attempting to widen its reach in unconventional ways. Another American institute, the Brown University is investing in Digital Classroom, Cyber Security, and Analytics to offer tools that are more user-centric, collaborative, and innovative in powering greater levels of engagement throughout the university.
Universities are also revisiting their curriculum, making them more consumable, addressing the needs of the non-traditional learners’ for individualized learning, and promoting collaborative learning that is better aligned to the job market.
New delivery models are coming into play including online, on campus, and hybrid. Use of web based tools and methods to design new online courses, developing new teaching practices to help include digital content into regular curriculum and exploring alternative teaching channels are strategic decisions that education providers are taking.
Newer Technologies for better education and business outcomes
Though slow to adopt, educational institutions have finally started to embrace technology, however there is still a lot they can do. Key technologies such as Digital Credentials, Digital Assessment, Next-gen Security, VR/AR, Blockchain, and AI conversational interface (ChatBots) can help them do more. Know more at the Infosys - Navigate Your Next.
VR and AR open the door for interactive learning with 3D models giving students as near an experience to ‘doing’ things. Gamification makes learning fun and easy encouraging healthy competition amongst learners. Digital Assessments are learning oriented, encouraging student participation and peer reviews. ChatBots assist teachers to focus more on giving personalized attention to students while it takes over tasks like grading tests or designing personalized learning programs.
Innovation in education is not restricted to only providing new ways of learning but it also includes applying technology to solve business problems in the industry. For example, using cognitive intelligence to predict which students enrolled on a trial subscription are more likely to convert to paid subscription, in order to plan more ad-spend to achieve higher retention rates.
Another example is identifying students who are likely to struggle in a graduate school, based on their financial background, nationality and academic record to tailor intervention programs that can help them during the application process.
To deliver next generation needs, universities will have to invest in implementing or upgrading their aging technology infrastructure. This opens up opportunities for education service providers in the areas of:
SAAS solutions for managing Universities/ Schools – IT departments of educational institutions are usually small; SaaS provides an option to scale up without the additional burden of management. SaaS solutions offer virtual management of academic processes that is cost effective and supports cloud-based learning accessible on any platform connected to the internet.
Learning platform connecting students, teachers and parents – Learning platforms are key to managing the education workflow. It allows sharing of content (submission of work, giving out grades), drive discussions (on forums), host live videoconferencing (via mobile phones). New age platforms are offering higher interoperability, native web hosting capabilities, mobile support and more. Universities should take a relook at the options available today.
Case management for Student Lifecycle Management or Student Information Systems (SIS) – The average SIS in any institution today is old and hinders the adoption of new models. In many places, operations work in siloes threatening data integrity. Integrated systems that can provide end to end solutions to enhance efficiency are emerging as a popular choice.
Online, hybrid, and pervasive learning techniques - Educational institutions and platforms are collaborating to deliver education through different channels and formats and addressing needs like cultural sensitivity, learning through authentic situations, micro learning, problem-based learning, learning by playing etc.
At Infosys we believe, education is a catalyst to creativity, innovation, and finding new ways to solving problems. Educationists need to learn new ways of driving not just delivery of education but driving better value for the whole industry.
