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Digital Transformation

Digital Transformation in Higher Education: Things to Know

 

Today, there is much talk of ‘digital transformation’. This is an important concept for education institutions to embrace as the world looks to be more effective in getting results for their ‘customers’.

What Is Digital Transformation in Education?

Digital transformation is the use of technology to improve effectiveness and efficiency in teaching and learning delivery. Technology has become central to enhancing the student experience, supporting student progression, and improving the quality of teaching and learning methods. Digital transformation is not just about updating existing technology. It is about adapting processes and procedures to incorporate digital technology to create better results – which could be in aid of the retention of students, supporting teaching techniques, driving higher attainment, enhanced engagement, or in delivering an excellent overall experience for both the student and the educational institution.

What Has Caused This Rise in Digitalisation of Education?

The 4th industrial revolution marks a fundamental change in technological advancement and the rise of new technologies to replace, automate and enhance traditional methods of working that affects us all. Digital transformation is central to instilling this change, representing the enhancement of core processes and practices using technology and data.

The use of technology in education is certainly nothing new with many universities at the forefront of E learning however, there is no denying that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a leading role in pushing the use of technology forward and has forced our hands to embrace these technologies more rapidly or replace what was only physical with a digital alternative. It is now widely recognised by institutions that digitalisation in education is paramount to providing positive learning experiences and student choice, driving future innovation in practice and delivery and of course, survival in the new digital world as access to education becomes a global service. It is important to note that digital transformation is not a one-off exercise, it is a continuous cycle, with emerging technologies, with new problems to solve, and so it is also always evolving.

What role does data play in digital transformation?

The use of technology creates a wealth of data that reflects user interactions. This data is an invaluable source of insight that informs institutions on how students are learning, what is working and what needs to happen next. Educational data used in this way is often referred to as learning analytics.

Analysis of student engagement data is helping institutions to better understand students’ participation in their learning and individual learning behaviours. Armed with this intelligence, institutions can make more meaningful, personalised, and relevant predictions to drive changes to course design, resources and student support methods based on proven success. The ability to make data driven decisions is key to successful digital transformation and the future development of education.

How Technology Influences Future Education

We are already seeing emerging technologies being used in education settings such as virtual and video-assisted learning, VR and AR robotics, chatbots, the Internet of Things, and blockchain for data security and certification. The adoption of new technology will continue to impact the way education is accessed, consumed, and experienced. Making it easier for anyone to learn from anywhere and creating advantage in this increasingly competitive global landscape.

How Can This Benefit Universities?

Student success and satisfaction lies at the heart of every university mission. Digital transformation will help to enhance the quality and value they are providing to their students by helping them become a more innovative, proactive, and efficient organisations. And, in turn give every student the best chance of a successful outcome.

How can Solutionpath help with digital transformation?

In this digital environment, it is safe to say that technology and data have become critical components to drive institutional strategies such as, retention, attainment, and wellbeing initiatives. Student engagement data is a proven key proxy for positive student progression and is a valuable indicator as to when a student needs support.

A common challenge for universities is that there is a lack of visibility and understanding of students’ engagement with their course. The data itself is often siloed across systems and can be deemed hard to access, manage and interpret. When data is exposed, it is not always clear how to make the most of the data that an institution has.

Here at Solutionpath we have created a student engagement analytics system called StREAM that enables institutions to readily collate existing data from a range of digital systems (that represents their student’s participation in university) and uses a calculated approach to presenting student engagement data to both students and staff. This delivers a university specific objective measure of each students’ participation delivering several key features such as:

  • A daily score (with simple categorisation) to support action
  • Engagement and interventions history to track actions
  • Communications and messaging to co-curate success
  • Intuitive dashboards to deliver a universal tool for collabloration

With StREAM we make it easy to transform your data into actionable insights, so that you can make a difference quickly.

StREAM is used by universities across the UK (United Kingdom) to:

  • Gain a holistic view of what engagement looks like at cohort, course and individual level which support not on individual success but course design and delivery analysis
  • Identify changes in engagement behaviour that may be an indicator to struggling students, not only academically but for wellbeing reasons
  • Make timely interventions to offer support, advice and guidance getting upstream of a crisis
  • Refer students to support services easily and track outcomes
  • Create impact analysis to review what interventions work to develop best practice and drive operational excellence
  • Compare courses and resources to establish best practice and inform universities how to improve programmes of study

StREAM will not only provide efficiency in the way you process and action data but will help future decision making across the institution and support the adoption of modern technologies and understanding their effectiveness in the future delivering a richer student experience and drive institutional excellence.

 

If you want to find out more about digital transformation and how data can improve learning, outcomes and experience you can watch a recording of Professor Neil Morris discuss what digital transformation means for higher education in his introductory speech.