In a recent post we looked at how Higher Education institutions might take advantage of the transition to online education and tap into new market segments to diversify income sources and offerings.
And now, we look at four ways that Higher Education institutions can maximise success during that transition.
The tips in this blog can be leveraged for servicing current students in academic courses and also when looking at ways to serve new education market segments.
- Understand your Audience
Doing your homework will serve your institution well today and into the future. Understanding your current student body and your potential student body can help arm you with information that can help guide your strategy. Things you really need to understand include: what access do they have to technology. What language do they speak and do you have the technology to support that language engagement? Are there any accessibility challenges that they might face and can you support that? What emotional support needs might they have and can your teams adapt to delivering this in an online setting?
- Capture Data, and Test, Continuously
A key advantage of delivering education online is access to data. Make sure you prioritise data capture from the onset to validate prototypes and to continuously develop and optimise your portals. How can your teams learn from the data that’s captured, and how can you put the student at the centre, learning about them, and adapting the experience based on their behaviour. There are a lot of opportunities to use machine learning to enhance the digital experience of your learners, but much of this depends on the foundation you build at the onset.
- Marry Human Needs and Trends
Just because a course is delivered online, doesn’t mean that human needs are dismissed, actually, they become much more important once the face to face interaction is removed. It’s the responsibility of the institution to ensure they are offering an environment and services to support students to thrive.
Looking at core human needs and also trends can help during this process of ideation. For example – students need connection with others to support their emotional wellbeing, and there is a trend in peer based learning. How can we connect the two? This type of pattern matching can be really helpful when developing the online student experience.
Other trends you might see as having relevance include: gamified learning, skill sharing, use of communication apps like WhatsApp, WeChat etc. Trying to find the intersection between trends and human needs can really help you build something that hits all the boxes and that will truly benefit your students’ virtual experience and also offer you competitive advantage.
- Meet Engagement and Language Expectation
A challenge for universities in delivering online education is ensuring staff are equipped with the right tools to support students while scaling limited resources like knowledge and expertise. Students want to engage with institutions in familiar ways, like they do with family or friends. Channels like chat, social messaging, communities, and self-service continue to grow in popularity, and students, just like customers – expect fast, personalised support.
Transitioning to an online environment will likely mean more questions and student support cases in languages that you may not be able to support at maximum capacity. At KantanMT, we’ve developed a platform to help you take control of this scenario. KantanSkynet provides AI powered translations to support teachers, mentors, and student success teams, enabling them to serve students in their native language in real-time while retaining the school’s voice and tone, and the authenticity of engagement that your institution is known for.
Now you can enhance agility by shifting the hiring focus away from language expertise to course knowledge and students understanding. With highly secure, regulated usage scenarios, KantanSkynet supports both private and public editor communities and omnichannel integration. Choose from LiveChat, Ticketing, FAQ, select-service content and chatbot services, among others.
Interested in learning whether KantanSkynet is the right fit solution for your college or university? Reach out to Jim Nolan today (jimn@kantanmt.com)